Thank you so much, everyone who commented on my last post. It means a lot to me. And you'll be relieved to hear that later that day I had a whole breakdown/cryfest that resolved a lot of the lingering issues, and I have been up and about for well over a week. Just in time for a CRAZY MIDTERM WEEK OF DOOM.

As proof of my gratitude, I will not complain about the midterm madness and will instead move on to lighter topics.

Things I have been doing with my time that you might actually be interested to hear about:

Merlin fandom (through Delicious) - I think I need to have Delicious taken away from me. It is a terrible and addictive timesuck and my network is far too enabling of the crazy fangirl indulgence. My Bradley James love continues to reach new heights of creepitude every day.

( Anime-related bold points: Code Geass, Zoku Natsume Yuujinchou, Earl and Fairy )

Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Okay, so I am watching the show for the first time? I'm kind of in the middle of season 2 right now? I'm enjoying myself, but in true Elizabeth form failing to really love it because it has been over-hyped? However, I've heard the show doesn't really get truly awesome until like, season 5 or so? And Bradley James is a huge fanboy, so I figure this is just another way I am succumbing to the insanity of my love for him.

Antique - As in the Korean movie adaptation of Antique Bakery with the general hotness factor, and in particular the gay text/subtext quotient, turned up to 11. Basically, already awesome Antique Bakery now with SMOKING HOT GAY LOVIN' with a French Jonathan Rhys Meyers look-alike. And THREE-DIMENSIONAL(!) insanely delicious-looking pastry. And insanely GORGEOUS set designs and cinematography. And INSANELY INSANE RANDOM MUSICAL INTERLUDES. I basically watched this movie with my mouth hanging open the entire time.

Also, I had another Merlin dream where I was traveling with the gang in a kind of modern world, where we all had monster companions. Like, I'm talking digimon/pokemon, Japanese fighting familiar, amalgam-ish monsters. There were stock poses and cg sparkle effects and shit. My subconscious is an amazing place.

SO. A MONTH LATER, I HAVE A LAPTOP AGAIN. HP customer service is really good, but I cannot say the same for their incompetent tech support division.

In celebration of my return, have a Hikago art meme. Though I think I completed it in the spirit that art was a very vague term that can encompass tooling around in paint with my roommate's tablet.

( I think we can take away from this that I should never pursue a professional career in the visual arts. )

OH MAN, NEW EPISODE OF ZOKU NATSUME YUUJINCHOU, YOU GUYS. SOOOO GOOD. I like Natsume Yuujinchou best when it is like this, when it makes me tear up and appreciate all of the people in my life who make sure I never spend a day alone. The new season is really good so far, I am so gladdddd.

Also, I am really, REALLY excited for next week's ep. Totally polishing my slash goggles, hahaha! *rubs hands together*

ETA: Listening to this song (In This City, thanks thisissirius! <3), it actually fits reaaallllyy well with Natsume Yuujinchou. Like I needed another fanmix bunny. :(

So, my life right now. I don't even know where my time is going. I haven't read my FList since the last time I posted. Which is not to say that I haven't been following the LJ. On the contrary, I seem to be around quite often. It's just that it's become a very specific following of very specific things. For example, the shit-ton of Janto fic I've been reading lately. And the fanmixes I've been downloading. And the communities and friends I can be bothered to check up on when I see them pop up on my Firefox alert for new FList posts.

So. I've been reading a shit-ton of a lot of things in the past month. Most of it is shoujo manga. Basically, any and every short shoujo manga that comes up in goosygirl_icons. That girl has fantastic taste. It has become a problem. A time- and bandwidth-consuming problem.

Also, I've been following Nodame Cantabile season 2, which, can I just say, ack. The picture quality in the second season has dropped off the charts. It still has great voice actors and a great story and its the quality and not the aesthetic that's changed, so it's bearable (not like, say, Antique Bakery, which I still haven't watched because the aesthetic quality of that anime is abhorrent to me), but still. It pains me in a the way that one might be pained to see their lover make a horrible faux pas. You love them, right? But you kind of don't want to be seen with them. Oh Nodame, you are not making it easy for me to spread this love I have for you.

What else, what else. Well, there was a lot of school stuff going on this October as well. I had midterms and an insane paper/presentation thing on Yeats whom, let me qualify, I have loved for years, but possibly never want to hear another word about ever again. I ended up dropping that Psych class and my life is a thousand times better off for it.

Over the past long weekend (Columbia closes up for Election Day weekend) I re-watched Torchwood, every episode of Doctor Who with Captain Jack, and also, incongruously, The Sarah Jane Adventures. Then Wednesday night I was cleaning out my gmail account and ran across arekuru's old rec of the Kimi Wa Petto drama, and randomly decided to start watching it. Such a wonderful mistake. I stayed up all night and ended up sleeping through my first class, but GOD, OH MY GOD, I LOVE KIMI WA PETTO. I've been rereading as much of the manga as I've been able to find online. God, no josei will ever be as great as this one. Love love love.

Oh and OBAMA GOT ELECTED. THAT WAS PRETTY COOL, EH?

This is me attempting not to make this into an insane tl;dr post, but I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying their lives as much as I have been enjoying mine. If you haven't, I advise you to repeat the words "PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA" to yourself as many times as it takes for the awesomeness of that statement to sink in. :D

So I've kind of been ignoring the Intranets in favor of being with people in RL. How strange! How new! I've reached this strange plateau where I am consistently about 70 entries behind on my flist.

Well, behind on everything except thremedon and mistful. Speaking of, NEW COVERRRR. Speaking of, LASSST CHAPTTTTEEEEEERRRRRRRS.

( Some DDG fangirling and some fandom-related ranting. )

Moving on to other aspects of my geekery, I have finally seen the original Star Wars trilogy and The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. My nerd cred has received a major boost!

As for other endings I've experienced lately, ( cut for some anime fangirling of Itazura Na Kiss and Natsume Yuujinchou, minimal spoilers for series/season finales. )

On the RL nerd front, I went to (1) Equus last Wednesday for a pre-season showing and only paid $30 because Columbia is very good to its students. I loved it. I loved it so much I didn't even pay attention to DanRad's exposed package. I also went to (2) NY Anime Fest on Saturday, which was a nice time. I got to hang out with some cool firsties and splintercat and her boy-thing. And then, (3) Neil Gaiman's tour stop for NY was at Columbia['s Teachers College]! I take inordinate pride in this. Yay for Columbia supporting the geeky side of book-learning! So I went and had a lovely time listening to Neil be funny and wise for two hours, and now I have a signed copy of The Graveyard Book to show for it, even if I don't know when I'll be able to read beyond the first chapter.

Which brings me to the actually real RL front, where school is sort of getting away from me. I have a paper due for Romantic Poetry on Monday, which happens to be the day of my Psych midterm, and I am not ready for either. Can I write five pages on the use of the word "minstrelsy" in Coleridge's poems? I like the idea because it allows me to explore interpretations we already touched on in class (automatically know I'm not doing it wrong!), but still, writing an entire paper on one word could present a challenge.

(Also, I really want to drop Psych? The readings are unbelievably boring, it really does nothing for my transcript, and I have discovered I have issues with being awake at 8:30 on a Monday morning, surprise surprise. However, I've already promised my friends in that class that I would do a share of the study guide, so I am forced to stay on until the midterm, which is the day before the drop deadline? Dilemma...)

Also, one of my friends--previously referred to on this journal as Paypay--is in the Sign Language Club and has been teaching me things. Today, I learned how to sign "L-U-K-E, I (AM) YOUR FATHER" and "NOOOOOOOO." Also, "What's up, zebra?" is our new unofficial catchsign. You heard it here first.

And thus, this tl;dr post to break all tl;dr posts has come full circle at 6 o'clock in the morning. It is time for me to put this and myself to bed.

For a couple of days now, splintercat and I have been in an epic discussion about the State of the US Anime Sub-Culture over at her journal. It's sort of devolved into talk about various anime, now, but the epic continues. In the midst of this, splintercat brought up the annoying-as-hell prevalence of rabid FMA fans (debate: FMA, best or best ever?), to which I replied jokingly, implying that I was one (which, sort of, yes) and revealed my love of the Ed/Al. I'm sorry, I'm sick.

But anyway, we were talking about FMA, so last night I popped in my copy of The Conquerer of Shamballa and had a little extended fangasm. I should probably qualify, THIS MOVIE ISN'T GOOD... UNLESS YOU LOVE AL. And I happen to love Al with the fire of a thousand suns. THIS MOVIE HAS NOT ONE, NOT TWO, BUT THREE VERSIONS OF AL (Armor!Al playing for the cute, German!Al playing for the hot, and re-bodied!Al, playing for the GREATEST WOOBIE IN THE UNIVERSE, I GIVE MY HEART TO YOU A THOUSAND TIMES).

And it will always hold a special place in my heart because I saw its premier at Otakon06 and no movie experience is more endearing than screaming along with thousands of other totally rabid fans at all the good bits. Had same experience with the Gravitation OAV at Otakon05. Although I might argue the Gravi OAV is better than the actual show. Sort of apples and oranges though.

The FMA movie also has one of my favorite Laraku songs ever, Link.

So I spent all of today doing last minute shopping for college supplies and playing Laraku songs in the car at top volume. My mother really should be canonized.

In other news, copperbadge is currently releasing a new fic about blue!doctor/new!doctor/hand!doctor adjusting to life, post Journey's End. It is appropriately titled, In Another Life. Jack's just appeared in the new chapter and I've sort of gone insane with glee. Basically, it is the best thing ever, and everyone in the fandom should be reading it. Do I even need to tell people? It should just be a given that if copperbadge writes it, it will be awesome.

For the second time in my life, I stayed up all night reading Sleep Is For The Weak reviews. Get it? I am not getting sleep because sleep is for the weak.

*bangs head against desk multiple times*

I swear to God, I've taken a step beyond nocturnal and have now become omniurnal. I should try xkcd's 28 hour day, I could screw that up even more than it is already screwed up.

...Alright, now it is 5 hours later, and I've sort of slept. I napped on the couch in a very determined manner. I might have been dreaming that I was reviewing an anime that doesn't exist for most of that time. That was definitely a way more enjoyable this-is-your-brain-on-TMI dream than I have had before. The last one I can remember was an anxiety dream I had in high school where I was studying calculus that took place the night before my actual Calculus BC AP test. Studied a little too fervently for that one, I think. Thinking too much about anime is infinitely preferable.

Also, regarding the latest episodes of Itazura na Kiss, OH MY GOD, IT IS NEW MOON/ECLIPSE ALL OVER AGAIN. WHAT THE HELL.

Keita actually scares me with how much he resembles the Jacob Black of my imagination (please note that second link is official art from the Japanese edition of New Moon). Plus, the plot parallels are frankly eerie: he's the hot to Irie's cold, he's the best friend who wishes he could be more, his and Irie's rivalry simmers just below Kotoko's notice, etc etc etc. Now all that needs to happen is for Kotoko to cry her eyes out for the equivalent of 500 pages and then to have Irie's baby with Keita playing the emotionally tortured midwife.

ETA: Was that a spoiler? My bad. :/

( 1. Otakon this year was... )

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm starting to recognize that I am not a mainstream anime fan anymore. I'm not even normal in my sub-culture of choice. How facepalm inducing is that? Why can't I just be a Narutard like everyone else? (HahaHA.)

2. I sort of acquired a new laptop. I like it because the keyboard is more defined and it has a webcam, but it has VISTA AND I AM GOING INSANE I SWEAR TO GOD, WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH THIS OPERATING SYSTEM? Actually, it really isn't so bad all the time, there is just one particular problem that is driving me up the wall:

For some reason when I run Firefox, it works fine for a while, but then I'll randomly close a tab and suddenly the whole program will close like its been Ctrl-Alt-Deleted. Arg. Need Firefox. Do not want. I think it has to do with this computer's version of Norton, which I can't seem to get a handle on. Seriously, it is cramping my style. I'm wondering if reinstalling Firefox will help at all, but I am not technologically saavy in any way, so if that helps I'll never know what caused the problem in the first place to avoid triggering it again.

I'd ask my FList for advice but I think the vast majority of you are Apple users, you smart, smart people. *sighs self-deprecatingly*

So... Natsume Yuujinchou is pretty darn cool? I hate the fact that I have this HUGE HUGE WEAKNESS for characters like Natsume. Lost characters who are just aching for a kindred spirit. I hate that I identify with these kinds of people, but I can't help but love them despite myself. AND OH MY GOD, MADARA/NYANKO-SENSEI, WHAT THE SHIT, WHY ARE YOU SO AWESOME?

I'm so behind all my other shows, what is wrong with me.

Anyway, I recently finished the Librivox recording of Pride and Prejudice that's done by Karen Savage. HEARTILY RECOMMEND. She has a smart English accent and she "does the voices," but not in a hammy way, which is just how I like it. And then I went nuts and re-read all my favorite P&P fanfic and also maybe Mr Darcy Takes A Wife. Oh self. You so trashy. Although I found it funnier this time around? I'm mildly disturbed saying this, but I actually enjoyed it more having read P&P just before it. Does that make any sense at all?

I have been listening to a prodigious amount of ABBA and ELO. I bought their greatest hits CDs with the last of my iTunes gift card money. ABBA is rather self-explanatory, but oh my God, Electric Light Orchestra. When put up against my recent hardcore classical music immersion after Nodame, their classical touches just send thrills through me. Also, my Dad stole my CD backup of the ABBA and has been playing it non-stop. This included hijacking the mix I painstakingly created for my mother's party, and telling everybody how awesome they are and how they should listen to them, which, I can't even explain how unnecessary that was in my pop-oriented family.

Actually, regarding the party, we were rained out of our usual outdoor location, which rather literally put a damper on things, but we made due at the house, even if it was in no way prepared for visitors. It also put a strain on the theme, seeing as we were no longer in the park, but everyone took that better than my mother. Half of them didn't even get what the theme was, hahaha. It didn't stop us from making them wear (New Years, plastic) top hats!

I also reread How To Marry a Marquis and Sorcery and Cecilia, and in my fit of Regency love, I dragged my mother to two separate libraries one day when our true motive for going out was to acquire a Personal ID card for me from the DMV, since I've given up even the pretext of acquiring a driver's license in the near future. We went to one library before the DMV which required doubling back, and then after the DMV we stopped at the other library which was 20 minutes out of our way. My mother is a saint.

So I acquired To Catch An Heiress, the "prequel" to How To Marry A Marquis, as well as Darcy and Elizabeth: Days and Nights at Pemberly, the sequel to Mr Darcy Takes a Wife. To Catch An Heiress was AMAZING. The ending didn't quite live up to the beginning or middle, but SUCH a beginning and middle! I had to put the book down multiple times because I was laughing so hard I couldn't read for my shaking. Most of those times involved something with Blake's butler who was HILARIOUS. I made a start at Darcy and Elizabeth, but I got 60 pages in with no humor, intrigue, or truly, anything of interest sighted which was about the time I consulted the reviews on amazon and saw that even people who 100% enjoyed the first were thoroughly disappointed by the second and I put the book down like a hot potato. Sigh. I've also acquired Mr Darcy Presents His Wife, which I'm hoping is at least marginally more interesting. Also, These Three Remain (twice in as many months!) and have been rereading favorite passages. My love of Dy only grows upon reacquaintance. And to round out the numbers, I also took out two Heyer books, even though they are in large print, which annoys me. They're Heyer; that should count for everything.

I've made a (very) unofficial goal for myself to have finished 15 books by the end of the summer. Just for reference, I've read 9 books so far: Aidan's Darcy Trilogy, Victory of Eagles, Pride and Prejudice, Mr Darcy Takes A Wife, How To Marry a Marquis, Sorcery and Cecilia, To Catch An Heiress. Don't think I don't see the running theme, it will be broken by Breaking Dawn whenever I get around to that. Speaking of, I avoided the release frenzy on principle, but I'm chafing at all the spoilers on my flist. I swear, when Deathly Hallows came out I barely stumbled over spoilers even when I was looking for them. What the hell, Twilight fandom.

So uh, yes. My week. There you go. OTAKON THIS WEEKEND! I realize I never posted about it here, but I semi-solved the problem of companions. Two of my friends are coming along, even though neither of them is any kind of anime fan. One is intrigued by the novelty, and the other's boyfriend is going to be there. Plus, I'm deep discounting their fare in the hotel since I'd rather have them there than be alone, so it is a cheap weekend away for them. I figure they can ditch me for a few hours if the endless parade of panels and merchandise begins to bore them. They have assured me they are up for a laugh, which is all I really care about. I'm excited! :D