SPACEMANTIS

Need input from the family folks in my Friends list on a point of order considering guest etiquette.

I have a married couple I hang out with at least once a week- we get together, eat some dinner, watch some TV, and just do generally low-key stuff since they have twin two-year-old girls. Usually I go to their place 'cause its a lot less hassle for me to come visit than it is for THEM to come visit ME.

Last Thursday, however, they decided they wanted to come to MY place. I made some dinner, they came over, and we ate and watched TV for a few hours.

Now, these kids are pretty close to being toilet trained; they're in Pull-Ups these days, but they're pretty good about usin' the big-girl toilet. They DO have accidents from time to time, though, but the whole time they were at my place, they each used the bathroom a couple times, so I figured everything was fine.

Fast-forward to this afternoon; I was working in the office and suddenly, I hadda go. The guest bathroom's just outside the office, so I opened the door, and WHEW, SUCH A STENCH. Sitting right there in the trash can: a soiled Pull-Up.

I... I'm at a loss. At no point did the mother mention that she'd dumped a loaded diaper in my bathroom trash can. What's the protocol, here? Is it incumbent upon me as a host to check these things when they leave? Is this something I'm supposed to KNOW? I mean, I've lived on my own for goin' on six years now, and I'm pretty expert at Guess That Smell, and y'know- two-year-olds, usin' the bathroom, maybe certain things should be taken as given?

Or am I right in thinking that I need some new damn friends? I'm a gracious host; sure, if you wanna take your nasty diapers home yourself, I'm not gonna stop you, but I don't EXPECT you to take your soiled diapers all the way to the curb. At least let me know it's IN there, right? Don't let me accidentally stumble upon it two days later, then have to make a special trip to pick up air freshener to try and get the smell outta my house!

But that's just the single-guy perspective; is there some unwritten rule I'm unaware of?

I have a quandary! ( It involves home entertainment! )

Artpost! But first, an addendum to the last entry- completely forgot one of the most significant finds I made up north!
( TAKE IT TO THE MAX )

There- now that I've taken care of THAT, let's get on to the main attraction- ( PRETEEN LESBIANS )

And now, appropos of nothing, a fairy riding on a frog's back.

"This week?" HA! That line works every time, I swear.

Seriously, though, I had the best of intentions, but "this week" turned into a 72-hour workfest, culminating in a weekend spent working 7am to 9:30pm on both Saturday AND Sunday, then making a three-hour drive home Sunday night. I managed to partially make up for missing a weekend by spending most of last Monday passed out on my couch in exhaustion, but there's just nothing like the real thing, and I've done my best THIS weekend to do as little as humanly possible!

But shoot, last time I talked about all the haute cuisine I ate while in Toronto... shoot, going on a month ago now; let's talk a bit about the great places the city has to offer a couple of dorks!

( On the mean streets of Toronto )
All in all, not a bad week's vacation! Thanks again to Kou and her awesome mom for putting up with me living in their basement for a week :D. Can't wait to do it again!

NEXT TIME: That damn art post I mentioned last time. Don't have any more double-work-weeks planned for th future, so maybe I'll actually get it up in a more timely fashion!

Jeeeeeeeez, enough with the 95-degree heat already! It's the middle of September* already! Summer's practically over! Where's the damn FALL!?

( I mean, just gimme a SIGN already- )

*Yeah, I know, September 27th, but it actually WAS the middle of the month when I took these photos. Been a lot goin' on, y'see!

( Work stuff! )

But y'know, there's just no better way to celebrate getting a new job than to take a week off after only working at it for TWO weeks! ...No, wait, that's an AWFUL way to celebrate. ( YUKON HO! )

There's loads more to show and tell, but all this talk of food has reminded me that it's nearly 8 and I have a steak and potato that ain't gonna cook themselves. More to come sometime this week, including a delayed art post!

Sat down this past weekend and decided to get crackin' on my Current Projects folder. There are eight things in there, and six of them can be rocked right out if I just sit down and draw something already.

WARNING: It's gonna get raw, and most links behind this cut aren't safe for work.

( Backlogrolling )

Shax: If you could change one thing about me, what would it be?
Kou: I dunno!
Kou: Your tum tum?
Shax: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Shax: My stomach?! But I like my stomach- it's where I keep all my food!
Shax:So you'd rather have washboard abs, eh? Or maybe it's too hairy and I need to shave it?
Kou: D:
Shax: Hey, you brought it up- elaborate >:3!
Shax: Seriously, I'm legitimately curious about this kinda stuff
Kou: Less pudge D:

This conversation took place almost two and a half weeks ago. Kinda unfortunately timed, as it also took place just before I had to head down to South Carolina for a couple days of work, and just before the July 4th holiday during which both my Dad's and nephew's birthdays took place. Soon as all THAT was out of the way, though, Kou and I struck a bargain- the details of it must remain secret, but basically, it boils down to me having to lose twenty pounds in two months.

( I'M THE BEST A-ROUND NOTHIN'S EVER GONNA KEEP ME DOWN )

BUT HEY, enough of me blathering on about drastic lifestyle changes and what-not; ( how 'bout another art-post? )

General life update coming soon, but for the moment, I gotta put a call out to all my cartoon-liking friends: Any of you know of a decent repository of vintage animated feature posters? Ideally, what I'm looking for are things from the EARLY days of feature animation- posters for theatrical shorts from the '20s and '30s would be great, if such things exist. Not really looking for stuff to buy; I mainly need them for reference material.

All right- off to work with me.

Oh hey, been a while since the last art post, huh?

That's largely because I haven't been too serious about making any. From just before Christmas 2007 until somewhere around February of this year, we had pretty much an all-go no-stop work schedule at the day job; I'd work long hours during the day and get home wanting to do nothing more than watch a little TV and go to bed. Since then? Well, you see me updating LiveJournal at 9:30 on a Thursday morning; things have slowed down quite a bit.

( First a little self-critique )

But hey, if I don't wanna draw princess-in-peril stuff, there's no law that says I can't sucker someone else into drawing it for me! ( This part contains the actual art post. )

Since he hasn't done (or at least distributed) anything of this nature before, my friend's asked to remain anonymous, and for this pic to be pretty limited in distribution. I know it probably goes without saying, but please don't go posting it up all over the place :D.

Just ate a couple of cookies, so we can count that as "breakfast", making it safe for me to warn you all of a terrible scam I just dreamed about!

( WARNING TO ALL PLAYERS OF ANIMAL CROSSING )

Man, it's Wednesday Night, I just died in Animal Crossing and nunuu is still ignoring me so she can play Prototype. This straight up cold sucks a peter- ( I'm gonna watch some TV! )

Say, with all this TV-watching time I seem to have, I should probably use some of it to try drawing something again.

Brown-and-turquoise is the WORST color pairing since black-and-hot-pink. Who's with me on this one? I never thought I'd actually start to miss lime-and-white.

I made offhand mention of BIG DOIN'S last entry, mostly to distract any readers from the fact that I have become a Guy Who Takes Photos of His Toys. Kou gave me that little Rin Kagamine Nendoroid figure for my birthday last month, and truthfully, I mainly decided to take pictures of these things to show that they DO come with more than the creepy blank-face option. The Lendoroid counterpart and the Figma Twins, as well as the Figma Miku Hatsune that appears towards the end, were all paid for with my hard-earned AmeriBux. I've had friends mention a guilty fascination with the whole Vocaloid concept, and honestly, I think it's fine to have such an attraction. I just wish I didn't like the Kagamine Twins so much, 'cause you gotta buy TWO of 'em.

It's now been a month since nunuu left, and a month-and-a-quarter since she came down to visit in the first place. We really didn't do much in the way of going, seeing and doing; mostly checked out the area shopping centers and played it real low-key, enjoying the pleasure of each others' company. I DO think she went away from North Carolina this time with a more favorable opinion of the state; at the very least, she now knows she's not the only Asian in the state, 'cause her ribs are probably STILL black-and-blue from all the times I kept elbowing her, pointing frantically at Asian passers-by in the mall and going "YOU SEE? YOU SEE? YOU SEE?"

Been in kind of a funk ever since she left. We only see each other once, maybe twice a year, but the way I feel when we're together just makes me feel all that much WORSE when she's NOT around. She's the Real Deal, and I'm currently in the process of arranging a trip up to Mississauga in September to visit her, and hopefully win her after single unarmed combat with her mother. I understand that is their Way.

Slightly bigger job-related doin's have been in development, and I'll be getting to those in a separate locked entry for gratuitous identity!

AAAAAAA

(big doin's around here- will update this weekend, likely)

[20:19] Shax: Still bummed about the dream. THE POOR CHILDREN TT
[20:19] Kou: What was it abooot?
[20:20] Shax: Two Transformers who loved briefly, and the terrible aftermath TT
[20:20] Kou: ^^!!
[20:23] Shax: After Autobot and Decepticon finally make peace and work towards a better future for Earth AND Cybertron, former Decepticon Soundwave (in his bigass SUV altmode from the Animated cartoon) volunteers to work at an orphanage to get closer to a female Autobot whose name I've forgotten. While there, he develops a strong attachment to a handful of the orphans, becoming something of a father figure to them (though his main role is to serve as transportation).
[20:24] Shax: One weekend, Soundwave and his girlfriend volunteer for chaperone duty as they all go on an overnight stay to a giant gathering of kids of all ages. It's kind of like a convention mixed with Team Fortress 2 - you can have a player model mapped over your body to participate in one massive game of Capture the Flag, with different classes and what-not. Soundwave spends most of his weekend watching the kids, but keeps trying to make time to hang out with his girlfriend, too.
[20:25] Kou: ^^;;;;
[20:25] Shax: The supervisor of the event calls him in, though, to tell him that his name isn't on the guest list and he's going to have to leave. "But I'm a chaperone for _____ Orphanage!" he protests! The supervisor looks it up, and sure enough, the only chaperones signed up for that orphanage are his girlfriend... AND CYCLOTRON, who she's secretly been seeing on the side.
[20:25] Shax: CYCLOTROOOOOOOOOOOOOON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
[20:26] Kou: ^^;;;;
[20:26] Shax: So Soundwave reverts back to his Decepticon ways and lays waste to the entire event, then follows it up by torching the orphanage, vowing never to open his spark-chamber to anyone ever again. THE END
[20:26] Shax: This has been a presentation of Shax Is A Goddamn Dork Theatre. Join us next week when the Thundercats decide: WHO WILL LIVE AND WHO WILL DIE


[20:27] Kou: Goofy ^^;;;;

Oh wow. So nunuu is coming to visit in a week, right? I'm trying my best to whip this dump into a shape that suggests I have a MODICUM of personal hygiene about me, and that includes going through all the closets and finally finding a place to put the stuff in all the boxes crammed therein.

While going through the last box in the guest bedroom's closet, I found something I'd long since buried and forgotten.

HEY kyubikitsy, REMEMBER THIS?

( Cut for image intensivity )

Yes, I got this shirt... oh, god, around 18 years ago; Kitsy made some as part of a school art project if memory serves, and offered 'em to us guys on *Prodigy's Anime BBS. I must've worn it once or twice a week during my sophomore year of high school. I'd only ever seen Akira, Project A-Ko, Megazone 23 Part 2 and a handful of Lodoss episodes. The only manga I'd read were five or six of Viz's translated monthly single-chapter Ranma 1/2 releases, also sent to me from Hawai'i by Kitsy since North Carolina was an anime/manga WASTELAND at the time.

I still pronounced "Akane" as "a-cain" and Ryouga as "rai-oo-gah."

REALLY sad thing? It probably fits better NOW than it did back THEN. But no, it's been given a place of honor in the guest bedroom closet, 'cause now that Kitsy's a big-time hotshot webcomic artist, it can only increase in value. Next time my travels bring me anywhere near you, Kitsy, expect to have to sign this thing :D.

LATER TEXAS

Never liked your shithole of a state anyway.

I've never been exactly what you'd call an "early adopter". I didn't get my first CD player until 1995. My first (and current!) DVD player was my Playstation 2. I STILL don't own what anyone would accept as an HDTV; it IS high-def, but maintains the old 4:3 aspect ratio and is a CRT to boot. In a world of quad-core processors, my desktop's still running on the first-generation AMD Athlon 64 processor I bought for it back in 2004, when it was ALREADY yesterday's technology.

So I guess on that level, it's only natural that I wouldn't understand all the hype about Amazon's Kindle 2. I know FIVE PEOPLE who have gotten one recently, and they're all "KINDLE 2 BITCHES YEEEEEEEEEAH". I know a handful more who want one SO DESPERATELY it hurts. I dunno. I just don't know.

( Really not gonna try to pee in you Kindle 2 folks' digitized cornflakes, I swear )

SO DANG, FOLKS, what is it all about?! Can I access spy satellites with it? Does it produce safe, clean heat that can keep my legs warm for up to six hours? Is "Blowjob attachment" among the list of upgrades from the Kindle 1? I REALLY WANNA KNOW

Thanks to the folks who offered advice on my last entry! Honestly, I still can't believe that a remote-control operated PC is THAT hard to find; I guess I just overestimated the laziness of your average computer user. Anyway, the advice was appreciated; unfortunately, it's a moot point, because...



POWERBOOK G4
2006-2009

( Shax does his bit for the economy )

SO THAT'S HOW I SPENT ABOUT A THIRD OF MY TAX RETURN. Put a bit more towards:

• A bag to carry this thing around in- figured it was time to step up from my old high-school Eastpak.
  
  Incidentally, it's REALLY hard to find a good laptop messenger bag that a) fits a 16" laptop, b) is reasonably priced and c) doesn't make you look like an asshole. Seriously, unless you're interested in some black nylon horror with fifty pockets, tactical weave shoulderstrap and carbon-fiber webbing pockets all over- including one for easy, convenient storage of your bottle of mocha biotein-infused chai tea vitamin water, your choices are somewhat limited. I don't want something that makes it look like I"m ready for a weekend full of BASE jumping- I just want something I can shove my laptop in that'll keep it protected, but not necessarily call attention to the fact that I'm carrying around a laptop.
  
  The whole bag-shopping experience has made me realize that I have a TRULY RIDICULOUS number of hang-ups about my accessories.
  
  
• Dragon Quest V- I hear it's pretty good! Determined to finish Retro Game Challenge first, though- still have to beat Guadia Quest and Haggleman 3. So I should be ready for DQ5...oh, right around the time DQ6's localization comes out.


• Couple years of Otaku USA magazine. I figure since some of my favorite podcasters and at least one Internet Chum contribute to this magazine, buying a subscription would be the easiest and laziest way to support 'em. I'm assuming Mr. Macias pays you guys to write for the magazine, Zero?
  
  Apparently, my first issue will have Dragonball GT all over the cover. Not sure whether that's ironically fitting, or whether I should request it be mailed in a brown paper envelope like a porn mag.

And the rest will most likely go towards a trip back up to Toronto later this year.