Shadow Dreams

Ouch!

2008-05-12T06:05:34Z

Yikes! Run, Visa card, run! That's all I can say. >.<;

Finally finished FSU's scarf in the wee hours this morning... or maybe not so wee hours. I think it was a little after 6AM by the time I finished the last of the garter stitch border and had casting off left. ^^; I'll admit I don't mind meeting 6AM from that end of the clock cycle, but... >.<;; Somehow, I don't think it wise to meet 6AM in that fashion. ^^;

Vampire Knight continues to hold my interest. To the point where I'm trying to hunt down the manga and novel. ^o^ No idea how much we'll be able to get right away from Iwase compared to whatever I might have to order from Japan. Unfortunately, the novel seems to be out of stock at the moment and waiting for a second print run. *sigh*

Otherwise, I've been very, very badly bitten by GH doujinshi on Yahoo auctions. To the point where I seriously need to kill my buying power for a while. My problem is wanting my three favourite circles' books - NOW. *sigh* One of them is fairly reasonably priced (~1500-2000 per book) while the other two are usually much higher priced (Y2000-4000 per). This doesn't leave much leeway to experiment with circles I'm unfamiliar with. >.<; Ah well. Once I have sufficient material accumulated, I should be able to slow down. After all, the circles come out with things a few times a year at best, so I'm playing catch up right now. Unfortunately, the backlog can be bad for circles that have been around for some time. ^^;

Once I finish driving myself bankrupt this week, I'm going to get my deposit refunded so I can't do any more buying until Comiket. ......Or at least no more buying unless more of my top three can entice me out of hiding (which unfortunately, can be exceedingly easy.) ^^;

I did lose out on one auction for four new titles this morning. I'd been debating buying the books via auction (~Y8000 with auction fees, etc.) vs buying new at a shop (Y9100), but buying it through the shop allowed me to pick up a title I've been hunting for for some time but hadn't been able to find on auction on its own. (Ibara 1! Yay! [I have 2, 3-1, and 3-2] I'll finally be able to understand what's going on in this story!) I certainly can't complain. :P

As it is, I'm debating doing summaries for some of these silly things, although I have to admit, I don't have that many yet. ^^; Shall see how that thought works out. Of course, if I do, it'll probably be very heavily skewed towards those circles I like as well as being skewed towards investigative stories. :P Gee, can we tell where my preferences lie for GH? :P

Oh well. At least the scarf is now done so I can get back to a bit more typing style activity. :P First up, Mona's translations. :P Next up... depends on when Mona's stuff is finished. (Hopefully in the next couple of days.)

Finally catching up on anime watching

2008-05-06T07:30:46Z

......FSU wanted me to knit her a scarf for in the house using a yarn (alpaca cashmere tweed) that recently came for one of her sock clubs. The yarn itself is fairly heavy, and there's absolutely no way in this world we'd make it into socks. I already have one pair of alpaca socks made from a thinner yarn, and I can't even wear them for more than half an hour. Can you imagine what would happen if I made a pair of socks from something even heavier?? I don't need melted puddles of FSU to clean up! :P

But the pattern I'm using for her scarf is extremely simple and basic that I can watch anime while knitting, so I've managed to get caught up on a few series at least. :P So far in my watch list that I'm caught up on is Vampire Knight (I'm quite enjoying this one actually; I'll have to think about whether I want to follow the manga for it as well), Nabari no Ou (...bat wings anyone?? ^^; ), and Amatsuki (intrigued by this one so far). I know there are other series I still need to catch up on, so hopefully I'll be able to do that, but... I only have one more ball of yarn left for FSU's scarf before I'm freed from catatonic knitting, so we'll see how much more watching I get done. :P This scarf was an unexpected albeit short side trip for me, so I should be back to what I was expecting to be doing shortly. :P

Argh!

2008-05-05T00:50:18Z

Nooooo!!! What happened?!? >.<;; Ack! Ack! Ack! I can't find out what went wrong until after the 7th!

I was *sooo* hoping to win that auction, so why's all the info from the auction suddenly wiped out?! From the winning bid, I should've won it too. *cry* I *don't* want to have to get this through Mandarake since it's going for ~Y6500 whereas I should've been able to get it for less than half that by auction. *sigh*

......We now return you to your regular programming. :P

Ravelry drama?!

2008-05-01T07:51:43Z

Oh good grief! I have to admit I never expected to see the sort of drama I've been seeing on the Mystery (Misery) Lace forum. Knitters aren't children, and while I can understand the need to vent... *sigh* I've been in a number of flame wars and other nastiness online (hey, I've been on BBSs since '91 and the internet since ~'95), so the stuff that's been happening on Ravelry isn't as openly toasty; it's more of an insinuating ugliness. >.>

That said, the Jitterbug Scherherazade's Slippers should be finished by this weekend at my current pace. The poor Confetti ones are still stuck shortly after the heel turn. :P All in all, these socks have been a frustrating but fun knit. Frustrating because of the various errors throughout the pattern, and fun because it's occupying enough without being too demanding on one's attention.

I was hoping to get right back to other things once these socks were finished, but FSU suddenly asked me to make her a scarf today. She's been feeling chilled lately, so I'll be doing that first. The pattern's already been picked out, and I'll be using the 'sock yarn' that came with part of her b-day present (Red Bird's SOTEOM club) - Estelle's Alpaca Cashmere Tweed.

ginny_t, I don't know where you are in the pattern, but here're all of my fixes and notes for the pattern:

r45 - instep pattern start with m1p not purl as written.
r53 - last decrease stitch SSK not k2tog
r65 - k3 YO SSK k5 k2tog YO k2tog k1 k2tog (mirror change on left side)
r95 - k5 should be k4 (on left side of detail chart; fixed on dual chart)
r113 - centre heel stitches YO k1 YO should be YO [sl1, k2tog, PSSO] YO
r151 - remove k2tog next to right centre YO (sic k2tog YO k1 YO should be k1 YO k1 YO…)

Shifting stitches (+ move end stitches to the heel; - move stitch to instep)
r99 +
r101 +
r103 +
r113 +
r121 +
r123 +
r125 +
r129 +
r133 -
r135 -
r137 -
r141 -
r143 +
r147 -
r149 +
r151 +

I don't know if there are any other shifted stitches before r99 as my Jitterbug socks were beyond that point by the time I started keeping track. ^^;

Anyhow, I think that's about it for these socks for me. I figure I'll finish the Confetti pair as well over time. ^_^

Otherwise... Mona, can you double check the scans for the first SS in that doujinshi or see if there was any errata sheet included with the volume? I keep feeling like I'm missing a paragraph or two, but not so much as a page. *confused*

Okay...

2008-04-19T06:31:16Z

So, the cold's still with me, it *snowed* all day (and is expected to snow for the next few days), but above all, I've been summoned for jury duty. *sigh* All female members of this family have now been summoned for jury duty while none of the males have (to FSU's and my knowledge). It's made for a strange day. ^^;

On a plus note, Scherherazade's Slippers are mostly progressing well; I haven't run into any further issues with the pattern. (I should've checked the blog posts for this project before casting on. One blog mentioned "modifications - creative chart reading" or something along those lines. That would've been rather informative actually. ^^; )

In any case, I have one more heel to turn and get the Confetti pair up to row 105 before going back to the Jitterbug pair. I'm not sure why, but I seem to be doing both of them still. This is bad because Leafling is waiting on the sidelines but without any needles to be put on. (Not unless I finish the Celtic Braid socks in record time that is. Hah! Yeah right.)

I really want to get my hands back from these socks. Unfortunately, I only have the one pair so when they're engaged with pointy little sticks, they can't be typing away on the keyboard. This is definitely problematic. >.> (Even more "problematic" is that it took three tries to spell that one word. The brain is devolving into serious mush at the moment.)

And to top off this whine(?) fest, cherry flavoured extra strength Neo Citran tastes like powdered acetaminophen with pseudo-cherry flavouring added to it. It's tweaking at the gag reflex. >.> With that lovely thought, I'm going to go crawl off to bed and hope the terrible cherry gunk kicks in and whisks me off to oblivion. Barring that, I'll read Leafling's pattern and try to make sense of some of the weird stitches I'd heard were supposed to be in there. (Good sleep material. :P)

Scherherazade's Slippers sigh

2008-04-16T03:32:37Z

Ugh. Woke up with a sore throat yesterday, still had it today with a headache and chills added in. Of course, it did snow today, so the chills could be anything and the headache could be weather related. *laughs* Either I'm in denial, or I'm coming down with something. Will probably know better tomorrow. ^^;;

Working on the slippers some more and I'm not sure what's happening. I've spotted issues with rows 45 and a probable stitch mistake in 53 (k2tog should be SSK), but now I'm stalled at 65. I think someone on Ravelry mentioned running into a problem there and eventually frogging. >.> Hopefully the brain will kick in. The working stitch # is as listed (42), but from what I'm reading, you need 44 to work the pattern, so the question is does r63 need to be fixed or...? Not sure yet.

ginny_t, have you reached r65 yet and did it work for you?

Otherwise, a bunch of doujinshi arrived yesterday from Japan. Yay! ^^; Unfortunately, I've managed to read through almost all of them. O_O;; I think I need to find more to read. ^^; Back to staring at the pattern. *sigh*

[ETA: Never mind. Found the problem. >.> ]

[ETAx2: NTS: r65 mirror left on right; r67 use k2tog and SSK where removed in r65]

Oh, good grief!

2008-04-13T22:30:22Z

You know, you're 72 right now, so *what* do you think you're doing falling out of a friggin' tree?! I swear, you're definitely *his* father, not mine (nor FSU's)! I'm neither that clumsy nor that foolish. (For one thing, I'd call a tree trimming service.)

And that is how my day began today. I have since discovered how badly organised our Health Region online and phone-in service is and just how bad the walk-in situation is here. The Stelmach government can increase our health care budget as much as they like; if they can't bloody well get enough doctors with our current budget, how is increasing that budget going to get more doctors here? (Unless you're talking increasing the incentives to come.)

In any case, male parental has now been sent off to the 24 hour clinic downtown (20 mins by car) even though the bloody hospital is far closer (5-10 mins). He has a gash on his arm that needs cleaning up and probably stitching (as well as a Tetanus booster I'm sure), but he certainly doesn't need the emergency centre. And for those who are thinking why downtown, the walk-in clinics here are *both* closed (5 mins on foot). Two others nearby are closed. I realise it's Sunday, but at least two of those four are supposed to be open on Sunday afternoons, but because of staff shortages they're closed. *sigh*

And apparently mine is not the only digital camera that's decided to take a walk. ^^; But I now have photos up. Some of them show certain aspects that was bugging me about Scherherazade's Slippers. :P In any case, the photos. :P

	Scherherazade's Slippers Using Jitterbug in Lapis
	FSU's Rare Gem FSU had a hidden key on her last Rockin' Sock Club skein. ^o^
	Scherherazade's Slippers Using Confetti colour 9009(?)
	Scherherazade's Slippers The icky with a transferred stitch on the edge. ...I don't think you can see it actually. ^^;
	Scherherazade's Slippers Can you tell the difference between m1 knit in the front vs the back?
	My scarf As yet incomplete and unblocked (obv). I've also lost the pattern even though I was in the midst of a pattern row... >.>
	Amethyst Socks By FSU. Purdy. It took a total of 7 days to finish for her.
	Celtic Braid...? ...You can call this... begun...?
	Petroglyph My latest stockinette sock(s). Yarn from Lisa Souza.

And hopefully the male parental will learn, but I shure wouldn't bet on it. The idiot insisted on finishing the trimming of the stupid tree before going to the clinic. *sigh*

Scherherazade's Slippers Take 3

2008-04-13T06:25:14Z

And here we go again. ginny_t, I hope you haven't begun this one yet, because I've decided that the first way I did things is indeed the best again... >.>

FSU picked up some fingering 3-ply for me to try out with this pattern since we're still not sure how the gauge will work out with the Jitterbug. FWIW, Jitterbug is a bit heavier than the Lisa Souza yarn I've been working with all this time. The yarn I'm trying out this time is DGB Confetti and is ~210m/50gm (30 stitches/42 rows per 4" on 2-3 needles (US size?) I'm using the same size needles with the 3-ply as I am with Jitterbug - 2.75mm). I will admit, I'm suspecting she's gone too far the other way with this yarn and I need a thinner fingering 4-ply. We'll see as the socks progress.

In any case, the problem transferred side stitches came back and haunted me again, but I'm getting ahead of myself. FSU suggested a slight variation on the pattern again as I once again misread the m1 knits as YOs. That symbol's just too similar when you're not thinking! So, the variant I've been doing so far is first row knit, begin pattern row knit heels first and instep second! For the right side m1 knits = m1 knit through the front loop (picked up back to front), and left side m1's = m1 knit through the back loop (picked up front to back). This is kept consistent throughout the pattern. (I guess this is a normal thing to do with toe-up socks?)

This continues until row 17 where the transferred stitches start happening. I think I've tried pretty much everything when it comes to these stitches now... >.> Anyhow, what I've tried and found:

1. Heels first, instep second; transfer stitch from instep to heel needle unworked and k2tog with first stitch, k28, SSK with first stitch from instep (currently being used with the Jitterbug socks) - this results in a slightly larger sole but the end stitches are the neatest.

2. Heels first, instep second; knit to last stitch on even round on instep, knit stitch on new working needle, k2tog, k26, SSK, k1 from instep needle, instep pattern as written! - this is probably what the designer wanted, but they never said to work the end stitches!

3. Instep first, heels second... there are two choices, slip the first instep stitch to the heel needle before working the instep pattern, or knit the first stitch and transfer it later. Either way, that first instep stitch throws the pattern off if you ignore it. The first method of slipping the first stitch leaves a slightly larger hole compared to the second.

FWIW, the first is the easiest method as everything is on the same level, but the bottom sole has 2 knit stitches more than written on the chart. I don't know if there'll be a real difference between #1 and #2 when it comes to how the socks look in the end. #2 keeps the number of knit stitches on the sole as per the chart. Neither chart indicated what to do with the end transferred stitch, and I don't think I saw any written destructions for that part either. >.>

Once you've decided on your method for the transferred stitches, the actual pattern isn't that difficult; there are just various stitches and symbols to keep track of. (Or if you're me, not keep track of and end up picking your way back.) However, if you've done any lace knitting, it should be simple enough. As for the different m1 knit stitches I'm doing at the moment... I'll admit, I didn't really pay attention when doing the Jitterbug socks, but there is a slight difference because of the stitch slant. I'll try taking some photos tomorrow to illustrate this. ^^; (FWIW, I've been doing all my m1 knits through the front loop and not the back as written in the instructions.)

And with that, I'm going to double check the m1 purl stitch direction tomorrow and double check my gauge once I reach the end of the first chart. (It seems to be 8 stitches/inch, but that's what I thought with the Jitterbug at this point so I want to make sure once I'm out of the main increase stage.) It could be I'll be doing this all yet again with a thinner fingering 4-ply... >.>

Tagged? Again...?

2008-04-12T07:43:45Z

Somehow, this seems to be more suited to my fic journal, but... *shrug*

Anyhow, *someone* decided to tag me on the fanfic writer meme. >.<;;

How about a brief introduction.
Hi. I'm Shadow.

Too brief?? Umm...? *thinks* That's all that's coming to mind. Sorry. ^^;

Fabulous, and what got you into fanfiction to begin with?
......I'm not sure. I know the first fandom I wrote for, and we were pretty insane there. It was half RPing in terms of a fandom, so I guess it made a logical progression from there.

I see. So what kind of fanfiction do you like to write?
Most things as long as I can 'see' it. If I hear someone complain about something being unlikely, not working, or weird, I'll try thinking of ways to make it work. But mostly, I like to watch the characters interact and be together.

Do you find writing easy? Hard? What are the aspects of writing you struggle most with?
Hrm... neither really. When I'm in the mood, it can run away on me, but when I'm not, it's worse than pulling teeth. Still, if you want something written, I can probably come up with something in terms of 'this'll work', but it might not be the most inspired.

Probably intensity is one of my weaker points - that getting the characters feelings to come across firmly in different ways, both subtle and non-subtle. Likewise for scenes. I don't think that really comes across as strongly as I want it to.

Write a few sentences or so of your favorite pairing or character.
Ehhh?! All of a sudden?? Umm... I'm going to cheat and put a clip to one of the stories I... probably won't get around to writing for ohhh... a year at my current rate. ^^;;

Naru slipped into his office warily seeking the person he sensed had entered his domain. He slowly made his way further into the room before finally making his way to his desk. There, hiding in a corner below, was Mai curled in a small ball, sound asleep.

He sensed Lin enter his office as he knelt on the floor behind his desk.

"Mai."

Mai didn't react.

"Mai," he said more firmly, but again, she didn't move.

Naru sighed before reaching under his desk. "Mai!" he said sharply as he shook her firmly.

"Iyaa!" Mai shrieked as her eyes suddenly snapped open. She jerked away from Naru and straightened up... or at least tried to straighten up when she slammed her head hard into the bottom of his desk.

Are there any fanfiction clichés or trends you're sick of or just can't stand?
Cliches are cliches for a reason, and when well done, they're okay. When they're over done, or done poorly... *sigh*

On ff.net, I can't stand how some authors beg readers to R&R. Likewise, the failure to label things as AU or what have you is very annoying because I'll be expecting things to be normal only to be thrown into something completely other. Otherwise... I hate it when the characters are completely out of character for no reason other than author laziness or whim. Also, an author's OTP is their OTP, that's fine. If I know what the pairing is, I'm reading the story because I want to see how it's done. I don't enjoy character bashing by an author simply because they can't make their pairing work otherwise. Make the pairing work on its own merit.

Oh! Spelling, grammar, and plot. They don't have to be perfect (because they simply won't be), but at least try for reasonable spelling and grammar. Sadly, it's common to spot errors within the first paragraph of a work, even in professional writing. Having a good plot is also something that I often want, but don't often get. For one shots, that plot is often going to be minor, but major plot holes or contradictions in larger works is something that really annoys me.

Are you guilty of any fanfiction clichés you hate? Or any other ones?
Oh, I'm sure I am. ^^; I don't have a true beta for my writing, so there're lots of grammar points I'm missing in my read throughs; I use cliches sometimes because it keeps things moving, and having tumble weeds suddenly roll through the office usually doesn't go well in the middle of Tokyo regardless of what sort of office it is; and I'm sure I miss or forget plot points in my own stories that eventually come back and bite me. The trick is to try to keep them all down to a minimum and, if you do end up using something annoying, to do it in a way that is interesting or different.

What was the first fandom you wrote for, and do you still like/participate in it?
Star Wars X-Wing PC game in CIS's FSCombat forum. Oh my... that was a very long time ago! ^^; I've long since left the squads and all that there, not to mention CIS is virtually non-existent now. (It might be worth mentioning that the stories written in there were mostly POVs / self-inserts. *laughs*)

Name your OTPs or most frequently written pairings/characters and explain what it is about them that you love to write.
Naru x Mai! ^o^ *laughs* I love the chemistry between those two; they really do complement one another well. Naru's terrible at expressing himself; Mai's as easy to read as a book. Naru's so analytical; Mai's instinctive. It goes on and on. There are other pairings that are also fun, but these two can be so much fun to watch. :P

What would you call your writing style?
Ouch! Uninspired or bland probably. It's definitely missing a certain flair which I wish I had. I remember working on joint stories when on CIS, and Avery always made things that much more intense and inspired with her edits. (Don't get me wrong, I don't think my writing's bad, but it's missing a certain 'je ne sais quoi'.)

Do you read other people’s fanfic? If so, what do you find yourself reading the most?
Definitely, although most of what I read is in Japanese. I love long investigative fics, but just about anything goes as long as the characters are kept in character. (Long investigative stories might be my fave, but they're hard to find sometimes!) There are some fics in Japanese that annoy me as well because they're not in character. I also love some of the AU stories I've read. Black cat Naru is definitely one of my faves. ^^;

Name one thing you'd LOVE to write, but have been too afraid or shy to do.
Eep! Like many others, probably a lemon. I can see something mentally, but describing and writing it... *sigh* I could use an awful lot more experience in writing (and translating) before I'd truly be up to writing something like that. ^^;

Do you have trouble taking criticism? Or worse yet, do you have the dreaded bloated ego?
Hmm... I do like constructive criticism because it can only help my writing, but I need to learn how to ignore unimportant comments and asides more. Other people's personal preferences (esp. OTPs) or concepts can get me derailed looking for issues when they might not exist. Of course, there's the bigger problem of if something is wrong and I simply can't see it for whatever reason. That one's spooky. >.>

I do have a certain amount of ego invested in my work; I won't deny that. I write things and put it out because I like what I wrote. I'm not likely to put something out in the world that I think is pure crap; I do believe in having some confidence and pride in my work. Most important, is keeping everything in balance and not going too far either way. Actually, I think this is why I despise how writers beg others to R&R on ff.net or refuse to write if they don't get X number of reviews. Getting reviews is nice and all for the ego, yes, but what's the point of begging your readers like that? I believe writers will write regardless simply because they have an image of something they *want* to write. The rest is gravy in that sense. Of course, it's the constructive criticisms that knock you off your pedestal and help you improve. ^_^

When you write, is there anything that helps? Music? A quiet room?
It depends on how I'm feeling. Sometimes any sound annoys me and I need silence. Other times, certain sounds annoy me and I need to drown them out. Mostly I work in silence, but on occasion I do listen to some classical. (I'd listen to jazz and other things too but have no idea where most of my CDs are. ^^; )

What inspires you?
Just about everything. A comment, a scene, something I read... there are cues and prompts all around us all the time. My biggest issue is drive. If I'm pulling teeth to write, chances are, you'll 'hear' it in my writing.

Lastly, how would you sum up your fanfiction experiences and yourself as a writer?
I'm too inconsistent a writer and need more experience overall, but ultimately, it's something I do for fun. Mostly, everything I've written has been well in keeping with that concept. ^_^

Good or bad? Definitely Bad... >.>

2008-04-11T17:47:50Z

So, I've finally caved in and am trying out an auction service so I can buy things from Yahoo Japan's auction site. I think this is an extraordinarily bad thing for me to do, and I'm going to have to kick myself off the service. I mean seriously! The temptation is horrible!

I don't know if anyone remembers this post, but... temptation won out, and I bought two volumes of RichMore magazine, for what will probably be ~Y2000 each once all the service charges are included (but not including shipping). If only the magazine were available from Amazon, I could include it with our book orders here. *sigh*

Oh well, it's interesting to see doujinshi both really cheap and super overpriced. Of course, it doesn't help that I'm being exposed to doujinshi circles I've never heard of, and there's even one with some (what looks like) LinxNaru that I'm *sorely* tempted to pick up; it's by Inada Shiho herself. ^^; There are a couple of other doujinshi by her that I've found as well as one that's thought to include some work by Ono Fuyumi; that one's supposed to include the preface to Naru's paper regarding the paranormal. (It's also supposed to include some stuff about Naru's childhood.)

I should never have gone wandering into Yahoo Auctions. I could've lived in blissful ignorance. >.<;; I suppose the good thing is that these doujinshi are a lot more affordable than the one that's supposed to include a number of short stories for both GH and 12 Kokuki, but... *sigh* I am *not* giving in to temptation... I hope. (Actually, I can't afford to give in right now. :P I just don't know about when my birthday eventually rolls around. It could be bad if it's still available then. ^^; )

ARGH!!

2008-04-08T04:00:45Z

Rippit! Rippit! Grrr. Stupid. Read the pattern! That's not a YO; that's a m1! >.<;; *sigh* At least I only made it to row 15 before realising I was misreading the pattern. Of course this is while I was struggling with my first pair of toe ups... >.> Yeah, auspicious start for these socks. On the plus side, Jitterbug is nice stuff. ^_^

Otherwise, I finished my petroglyph stockinette socks yesterday and they're now waiting their first bath before getting worn. :P The Amethyst socks FSU made me were washed this weekend. Whoa, Sea Wool reeks of wet wool; it was pretty nasty. O_O;; Hopefully it'll lighten up after a few washes. Unfortunately, some of the dye did come out in the wash, but it's still nicely purple. ^_^

Ravelry - ack!

2008-04-01T06:37:19Z

Dear Ravelry,

Please give me back my evening. >.<;;

Yours,

-S

Ouch! Too many pretties to look at there, and I have *no* idea how I'm supposed to organise all the stuff we have over here into my profile. O_O;; Basically, I started looking around my chair and going, "oh, what's this stuff?" - add to profile, "oh, what's that stuff?" - add... ^^;

That said, a note was sent to all Year of Lace participants that some folks have had problems with their skeins, so FSU and I balled, and... Yeah. 4 knots, 18-19 slubs (~9 need to be cut out), and 3 bad spin spots (1-3" long). This isn't the first skein I've balled from this company, but it was one of the worst skeins I've ever wound; it was much worse than semi-felted alpaca. (The other skein we've wound from this company balled beautifully, so it's definitely a skein issue.) Apparently, the girls at m1 are working on the problem and hope to get replacements out to folks.

Personally, I'm not in any rush. The pattern's okay, but I'm not overly fond of the colour. I have a skein of merino that would work but... There's a defenseless skein of Socks that Rock (medium weight) that I'm currently stalking. I have ~1.5" left on my petroglyph socks (plain stockinette) before I start turning heels. Of course, it would help if I stopped playing leap frog on length with those... :P

Otherwise, I suspect I'll have a new pair of socks tomorrow or the day after. FSU has knit up a storm and is almost set to start on the toes. Yay! New socks! Maybe I'll give petroglyph to FSU although I'm not sure if she likes this much ribbing (3") let alone this colour. Her last pair for herself were supposed to be superwash (with nylon content!) but weren't. >.<;; All that work went poof. Poor girl. I've since taken to putting hand-knit socks through the delicate/hand wash cycle and hang drying. I don't want to risk shrinking my socks. ^^;

Anyhow, I think I'll lay low for the rest of this 24 hr period. >.>

FC2 J blogging (cont'd)

2008-03-28T05:32:01Z

Not too much for today. Mostly a little additional tidbit on friending as well as info on the latest update email that folks may have received.

Basically, it's now possible to have friends' comments be posted immediately on your blog while anon comments are screened to prevent spam. (Comments from unknown people would be approved through the comment admin screen and then show up on your blog.)

I haven't checked on the settings yet, but the instructions are pretty simple:

1. Log-in to your blog admin page
2. Go to 環境設定の変更→ブログの設定→コメント設定 from the left menu bar. (user settings-> blog settings -> comment settings
At 承認設定で, select 「ブロともの場合はすぐに表示」 (At "approval settings" select "immediately display comments from blog friends")
3. Hit 「更新」 (apply)

// end relevant email info

But, before that, there's approving friending.

When the system has information for you, it'll put a pink notice on the top of your announcements page like this. If you hit the link, you'll be taken to the blog friending admin/consent page. (Hopefully, the other person will write something more meaningful than I did here... :P ) You have the usual are you sure? confirmation page, and you're done. ^_^

You can always change things later on in the blog friends admin section where you can remove people from being friends.

Just a mini-update on the J-blogging side today. The latest screen shots are currently at the end of the fc2 gallery, but I'll probably be moving the images to be next to the friending info later. (I'm on Haku, so I can't make out enough detail from the gallery admin thumbnails. ^^; )

And because I got a note about these in my email the other day, and they amused me to no end... Yum...?

Methinks I'm too easily amused. ^^;

P0rn!

2008-03-26T07:22:33Z

(Sorry Mona, I don't think this post is for you. *laughs* )

Intrigue! FSU's Rockin' Sock Club kit arrived today. I'm actually really glad I got her that membership for Christmas even though they accidentally emailed the bill to her rather than to me. ^^; I warned her that might happen when I wasn't getting an invoice and I'd heard they'd started billing people. (I'd asked for the bill to be sent to me since it was a present, but... *shrug* Oh well.) The RSC kits have impressed me so far. This time, along with the yarn and the emergency stash were other little goodies and a little 'hidden key' game. If you have a hidden key, you win a free rare gem skein of sock yarn. I wonder what colour(way) it will be...? ^o^

I'm liking the colourway and the pattern for this month's RSC kit, so I'm debating stealing her yarn, but... my first YOL kit arrived. ^^; It shipped with a skein of Claudia Handpainted yarn! ^o^ I haven't read the pattern yet, so I'm not sure if I'll actually cast on or not. ^^; The pattern was done by Sivia Harding and has a beaded border. Eek! ^^; Decisions, decisions. I'm leaning more towards the socks. Hand-knit socks... *_* ...although I'm a spoiled kitty.

FSU's currently going a mile a minute with a nice dark purple pair for me. Was it Saturday? She came home, asked me what colour I liked (of four Fleece Artist Sea Wool choices; any of them were fine, but the Amethyst volunteered by falling out of the bag), handed me two pattern books, said pick a pattern, and went off to ball, while I went through patterns and photocopied the necessary pages. ^^; I think she's over half way through the 14" length we usually do (top down). O_O;;

Meanwhile, I still haven't finished my plain Petroglyph socks... >.<;; (Two or three more inches until I turn the heels. ^^; ) Of course, I still have those grey Celtic Braid socks to do... Umm. ^^; Must make FOs rather than piling up UFOs. *sigh* Yeah, right. Watch me rob FSU tomorrow. :P She received a 10% off coupon with this month's kit, so it's not like she can't buy more yarn at some point. And then I can try making my first set of short socks. (We'll completely ignore the fact that I did in fact rob her once this year - Simply Socks has a sock yarn of the month club. For three months you get a special hand-dyed yarn. I can't remember the second month's yarn, but the first month was Fleece Artist Somoko and I love the colourway: grey to bluey-green. *___* )

And here I was trying to go on a yarn moratorium this year. No yarn purchases except possibly for sock yarn. ......Mind you, I haven't purchased any yarn this year! I signed up for YOL back in October or so! :P

And FSU is looking at possibly joining Red Bird Knits SOTM club (or maybe their SOTEOM club?) Her membership to m1's club is expiring soon, and I think she wants to try somewhere else. Red Bird is interesting since it doesn't have that harsh lump sum beforehand. YOL was pretty harsh since payment was back in October or so, and I just got the first kit today. That's quite the lead time for payment even in my books. Red Bird's club scares me though. Some of those patterns! The Latvian wedding socks or the faux fair isle patterns?!? Yikes!

Does anyone have any suggestions for sock clubs? ^^;;

Wow! That was a lot of "Yay! Yarn!" and "Socks!" ^^;;

Otherwise, finally managed to watch some of the Spring previews. On my list to definitely check out is Nabari no Ou. There were a few other titles that were maybes. (Don't have my list with me, so I can't really comment much right now. ^^; )

(And I am feeling better now; yesterday was just weird. ^^; Thanks everyone! ^_^ )

Some numbers for the curious (re strike)

2008-03-25T02:21:53Z

And apparently I spoke too soon. Numbers are starting to come out regarding the strike on Friday, and as expected, it's pretty confused because of the various factors involved. This post shows new accounts and account activity on LJ over the past several years. There's a link in this post that also has a previous stats post which is also interesting, overall. (And for comparison, some people might find this interesting as it shows Insanejournal's account numbers in ~the past year.)

This is the primary post regarding numbers around the strike. The initial graphs only deal with the Russian / cyrillic population. The interesting graph would be the Fridays activity, but I don't have the statistical background to know if or how to determine whether the drop is truly significant. It is interesting to see however.

I did a quick check of the overall stat numbers, and they're updated at 00:00 of the day which would suggest there's probably a 24 hr delay in reporting stats (sic 22nd's stats released on 24th date stamped report). Either that or they're running that stat compilation at lightning speed. It *is* possible that stats are released slower still, but I didn't see an actual date included with each report. :?

In any case, here are the first inklings of numbers along with some more general numbers. Draw your own conclusions; I have no idea yet if there was any significant result. ^^;

A few more details (J-blogging)

2008-03-24T04:48:55Z

And a few more pages to help people move around on the j-blogging site.

Plug-in editing detail page - This seems to be standard for all plug-ins

http://pics.livejournal.com/kagedreams/pic/0005fx5s

Friending:

http://pics.livejournal.com/kagedreams/pic/0005g0kq

http://pics.livejournal.com/kagedreams/pic/0005ha24

http://pics.livejournal.com/kagedreams/pic/0005kekx

http://pics.livejournal.com/kagedreams/pic/0005prp1

http://pics.livejournal.com/kagedreams/pic/0005qpxw

Friending is a two-way process, so while you can request to friend a blog, the other person must either approve the friending 承認 or refuse it　拒否. A message in pink will show on your announcements page when you log in if you have a friending (or other?) request. (Sorry, I accidentally overwrote that image the other night. >.> )

ULing files

http://pics.livejournal.com/kagedreams/pic/0005rtxw

http://pics.livejournal.com/kagedreams/pic/0005s72y

With user icons ULed (maybe label them all as icons so you can search for them in your list of files), you can then insert them at the beginning of your post. I've changed my settings to allow images to be added without certain formatting (you can change this in the post itself) and added the following formatting hspace="10", vspace="10", align="left".

When you first create your journal you may see something like this:

http://pics.livejournal.com/kagedreams/pic/0005t1d2

It's an advertisement from your sponsor. Literally, if you don't update, you get an ad on your blog. If you do update, they're not there. Certain other services do use adverts elsewhere (IIRC webclap does).

Hope everyone had a great Easter! ^_^

More details on J blogging

2008-03-22T07:01:47Z

Yikes! Lots and lots of pictures for the J blogging site. ^^; Not yet covered (superficially) are trackbacks, communities, blog friends, mo-blog, and tools onward. I still might need to look at some of the more common plug-ins in greater detail for people (and me) to set them. ^^;

Anyhow, starting from here you'll find pictures (in order) for the blog settings (7)

http://pics.livejournal.com/kagedreams/pic/00041bsk

http://pics.livejournal.com/kagedreams/pic/00046gdp

http://pics.livejournal.com/kagedreams/pic/00043ggk

http://pics.livejournal.com/kagedreams/pic/00045zyt

http://pics.livejournal.com/kagedreams/pic/00047633

http://pics.livejournal.com/kagedreams/pic/00048xeg

http://pics.livejournal.com/kagedreams/pic/000497kz

blocking/blacklisting visitors (1)

http://pics.livejournal.com/kagedreams/pic/0004a40b

and miscellaneous functions (2). I haven't translated the mobile blogging (mo-blog) function as I'm not sure if anyone's interested in it. (I'm not sure how accurate I'd be since I'm not familiar with how it's done. ^^;

http://pics.livejournal.com/kagedreams/pic/0004bhr7

http://pics.livejournal.com/kagedreams/pic/0004c26w

Following those are changing your password

http://pics.livejournal.com/kagedreams/pic/0004d3wa

which directs you to http://id.fc2.com/

http://pics.livejournal.com/kagedreams/pic/0004epby

Click on change user info and get here.

http://pics.livejournal.com/kagedreams/pic/0004ffqc

Hit change password.

http://pics.livejournal.com/kagedreams/pic/0004g1h8

Next is blog visitors. You automatically track FC2 visitors if they're logged in. (Setting can be changed.)

http://pics.livejournal.com/kagedreams/pic/0004pcbx

And blog clap.

http://pics.livejournal.com/kagedreams/pic/0004rp3x

Your hourly clap stats (might be interesting if you're a really busy site).

http://pics.livejournal.com/kagedreams/pic/0004s7wp

Setting your blog clap page

http://pics.livejournal.com/kagedreams/pic/0004tqg2

http://pics.livejournal.com/kagedreams/pic/0004wx4p

Your messaging system box

http://pics.livejournal.com/kagedreams/pic/0004xxt3

Categories - tags by any other name

http://pics.livejournal.com/kagedreams/pic/0004yzpf

Setting your templates

http://pics.livejournal.com/kagedreams/pic/0004zgzd

You can also edit the layout / CSS yourself

http://pics.livejournal.com/kagedreams/pic/000501x9

Or if you're like me, you can find an official template to use

http://pics.livejournal.com/kagedreams/pic/00053a65

Or, like another blog I've set up there, you can drown in the myriad of user submitted templates. My other blog (mostly for testing) uses Flash if I'm not mistaken. ^_^

http://pics.livejournal.com/kagedreams/pic/00052fgx

Then there are plug-ins for your blog.

http://pics.livejournal.com/kagedreams/pic/00054zbh

http://pics.livejournal.com/kagedreams/pic/0005545s

Again, you can use official plug-ins

http://pics.livejournal.com/kagedreams/pic/000561gk

http://pics.livejournal.com/kagedreams/pic/00057f01

http://pics.livejournal.com/kagedreams/pic/00058x4x

Or you can use user-submitted plug-ins

http://pics.livejournal.com/kagedreams/pic/00059f7z

Link list

http://pics.livejournal.com/kagedreams/pic/0005apc6

Setting your profile page

http://pics.livejournal.com/kagedreams/pic/0005bk2x

Strangely located in this massive list is the page for editing previous posts.

http://pics.livejournal.com/kagedreams/pic/0005cda6

As well as a clean copy of the left menu bar:

http://pics.livejournal.com/kagedreams/pic/0005dc41

http://pics.livejournal.com/kagedreams/pic/0005e74e

Updated posting screen 1b.

http://pics.livejournal.com/kagedreams/pic/0004q857

If I've missed something or if there's a problem with any of the shots, let me know. ^_^

I think one of the main things to get done still is file ULing. That way you can UL your icons and add them to the start of your post if you want to have some form of iconing. ^^; I tried it out on my blog and I'll admit, it's a bit tricksy to figure out exactly how much space to leave around the image, but it's not too involved comparatively. ^_^

Whoops! Getting late now. Bedtime. :P (Hopefully there wont' be too many more of these posts to go. ^^; If anyone wants to set up a blog on fc2, but would like some help, feel free to yell. ^_^

More J Blogging

2008-03-20T08:17:19Z

And as per the title. :P I will admit this much; regardless of whether anyone actually tries out their site or not, it's actually interesting to see how the service is laid out. I'll also admit, it's going to take some time to do all this because it's quite long and almost tedious in a way (some places have lots of repetition). I don't think I've looked at the back end of any journal/blog software as much as I'm looking at this one. It's quite detailed really.

I've managed to go through a number of initial pages, but some of these pages are quite long and detailed. Most of the pages have been screen-capped and had translations put on the pages. So... on with the pages! :P

Login page:
http://pics.livejournal.com/kagedreams/pic/0003hets/t9678z

Goes to the first admin page:
http://pics.livejournal.com/kagedreams/pic/0003krps/t9678z
http://pics.livejournal.com/kagedreams/pic/0003pf95/t9678z
http://pics.livejournal.com/kagedreams/pic/0003qwe8/g44

Posting:
http://pics.livejournal.com/kagedreams/pic/0003rgh1/t9678z *
http://pics.livejournal.com/kagedreams/pic/0003s151/t9678z
http://pics.livejournal.com/kagedreams/pic/0003tgcs/t9678z

*For genre, you can choose the genre of your post from the following list... O_O;

Diary, News, Blog, Mo-blog (cellphone blog), Music, Movies,, Politics/econ, Online games, Games, Anime/Comics, Books/Magazines, Novels/Lit, Car/Motorcyle, TV/Radio, Idol/Stars, Work, Romance, Fashion / Designers, Wedding / Home Life, Child rearing, Pets, Hobbies, Life, Finance, Affiliate, Gourmet, Health/diet, Business, Computers, Mobile phones/PHS, Photography, Regional News, Travel, Foreign News, Sports, Finance, School/Education, Volunteer, Learning/Culture/Arts, Humour, Gambling, Puzzles, Single/Free, Body/Soul, Subculture, Other

User settings page:
http://pics.livejournal.com/kagedreams/pic/0003ygar/t9678z

*Genre: see previous list

Blog settings pulldown menu:
http://pics.livejournal.com/kagedreams/pic/00040yyw/t9678z

Sadly, I'm still only in the middle of the blog settings page, but it's quite long. >.> Thankfully, I don't think the rest of the admin pages are all that long. I did run into something that was rather interesting though; there's a spam filter where "XX% or more alpha-numeric content" is deemed as spam. While [100%] means only alphanumeric is allowed. I... never expected that sort of filter! That's actually quite limiting if you want to allow both...? I'll have to see if there's some sort of switch to kill that filter otherwise it allows J or E but never the twain shall meet! ^^;

And WRT the latest LJ stuffs, much has happened during the last day. I'm going to list the links as they happened (or I think that's the order they happened...).

Another translation of the interview here.

Various posts regarding the content strike and other possible actions were posted in both no_lj_ads and "ljspeaks. (Sorry, there were a number of posts, so I'd suggest going direct.)

A post in lj_2008(??) including actual use of the specific words "we apologize". The post itself is probably worth reading as there's other material beyond the apology that people might want to read and consider.

Nossik makes a statement in English.

And the Content Strike is still on.

There are still a lot of questions that remain unanswered that really do need to be addressed even if it goes into stupidity. The events that led to everything getting so out of hand is an incredible show of just that. I think I'm going to let my own thoughts stew on this one for a bit. There's been a lot that's happened from this, many things have gone unaddressed, some things are said to have been taken out of context etc. which is possible but... That's a problem when going across languages and cultures, but there's been more to Nosik's activity than the one interview in this mess.

I've been of two minds about the strike itself, but I think I'll use this weekend to do a certain something for Mona (because she deserves it always :P ) and to finish off two chapters of some fics I'm working on. I'll also keep plugging away at translating the J blog pages. (It's good for me to learn the backside of that site, and I do like all the layouts!) *___*

J blogging with fc2.com

2008-03-19T07:02:26Z

*laughs* And why not? It could be fun! ...or at least insane. I'm still fumbling around in there, but I have to admit, there are some really nice features that I like about their blogs. The main things missing that I've noticed is icons and mood themes and the ability to have multiple blogs on one account. I suspect for some people that will be a major turnoff. (I don't think there's a plugin for them... or at least, I haven't noticed one yet.)

Just a quick note, I added notes directly to the images with Paint, so there will be overlap between here and the images. Hopefully the notes on the images will mostly be sufficient to help folks along, but there will be a couple place where you'll want to check the details inside.

One of the things about fc2.com is that they're a major web service provider, so they offer things like free webspace, forms, BBS, blogs, counters, hit analyses... and most of these services are free in exchange for a small banner. For webpages, the adverts are at the bottom of the page and are easily coded to remain out of readers' view. In the case of the blogs, there are some fc2 specific ads as well as fc2 blog adverts on the page. They're fairly innocuous and can be coded to be at the very bottom of the page as well.

My own recently set up blog there. There's an easier way of accessing the blog which is with http://blog.fc2.com/?user=kagedreams so you don't have to remember which blog server it's on. ^^;

Anyhow, on to the fun stuff...

Everything starts at this page

Pic 1 Click on the banner in your browser and you'll go to...

Registration step 1

This page reads as follows:

In order to use FC2Blog, you need to register for an FC2ID.

Users already in possession of an FC2ID can log into the blog from the Top Page.

Please read the service agreement and continue with registration only if you agree to those terms. (Fairly standard TOS agreement and limitations of service. You might want to stick it through Excite's webtranslator (or similar) if you want to double check the provisions.)

[Enter your mail address]

A temporary registration email will be sent, so please enter a working email address. There will be a confirmation URL included in the email; upon clicking the link you will be taken to the registration page.

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In order to avoid automated registrations, visual confirmation is used. Numbers are written in either hiragana or katakana in the image below. Please enter those numbers using (half-sized) numerals. If the image is unclear, please click here to change the image.

Enter the numbers here:

[Next]

++

Note: You need to know how to read the numbers

1 いち　イチ
2　　に　二
3　　さん　サン
4　　よん　ヨン
5　　ご　ゴ
6　　ろく　ロク
7　　なな　ナナ
8　　はち　ハチ
9　　きゅう　キュウ
0　　ぜろ　ゼロ

++

You will get a message as follows:

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First email note:

[your email addy]-sama

If you did not request this email, please delete this message.

Thank you very much for registering with FC2ID. You're temporary registration has been completed. To complete the registration process, please go to the link below.

When you click the link, you'll be taken to our email confirmation page. If this page does not automatically open, please copy and paste the link below in your browser bar and hit Enter.

Email confirmation page

Email:
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Register

Next page:
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Second E-mail

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Thank you very much for registering with FC2ID. The following is your registration information. Please keep this in a safe location. (This message is an automated mail.)

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Part b

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Mail Address
BlogID: 2-20 charas, a~z, 0~9 (button: check for availability)
You cannot change your blog ID after registration

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Blog Title 1-40 charas

Blog Genre: It's possible to communicate with people who have the same interests as you.

Choices in order: Diary, News, Blog, Moblog(?), Music, Movies, Politics, Online Games, Game, Anime/Comic, Books/Magazines, Novels/Lit, Car & Auto, TV / Radio, Idol/Stars, Work, Romance, Fashion/Brand, Bridal/Homelife, Child Rearing, Pets, Hobbies, Life, Finance, Affiliate, Gourmet, Health/Diet, Business, Computers, Cellular Phones/PHS, Photography, Regional, Travel, Overseas, Sports, Finance, School/education, Volunteering, Learning / Culture / Art, Humour, Gambling, Puzzles, Single/Free, Body & Soul, Subculture, Other, Adult

%If you are creating an adult or social site, please make sure to check 'adult'

%Once 'Affiliate' or 'Adult' has been selected, you cannot change this.

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++Sorry forgot to capture that screen and the next one ^^; ++

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Please log in with your User ID and Password from the administrative login. Let's try making an entry and getting a feel for how things work! It's easy to post with FCBlog! There's no annoying formatting!

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1. After logging in, click on the "make new post"button on the left menu.
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FC2Blog
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(second link is to request support)

Wow, that was long! Hopefully it makes sense for anyone daring enough to give it a try! ^^;

When it rains...

2008-03-19T05:35:41Z

*sigh* I discovered a bunch of updates had been released for Haku (my EeePC) and started DLing them yesterday when some of them started failing to load. Last night, when I checked on him, I came across an interesting sight... I had a bottom menu bar and a blank, black screen. O_O;; To say the least it was quite shocking. At first, I thought the desktop had crashed or it failed to load or something, and tried rebooting. No good. >.> Unfortunately, I'm so not Linux savvy, that I had no idea what to do! ^^;; End result, I reset the entire system to factory default. The good thing is that Haku has no data on him; everything is kept on USB drives. (Whew!) Also good, it was really quick and mostly painless. (I had to look up his password again. Whoopie.) The bad thing...... I lost my web browser's settings and links? Oh! And I lost my Start Menu icon. I modded that in there. :P All in all, an interesting night with more updates waiting to be reinstalled again. ^^; (Hopefully it won't do the same thing as yesterday).

Otherwise... unfortunately, the debacle that has been arising from everything with SUP's handling of the discontinuation of Basic accounts continues to spiral into the netherhells. Really, I should be working on my fics or even a translation would be good to work on... okay, I sort of worked on a translation, but not of the sort I'm normally interested in! ^^;

I will admit, some of the last pages of comments on news were spiraling out of control, but some of what was also revealed was pretty depressing. I keep hoping that the attitude that is coming across from the Russian owner's side is a problem with translation/interpretation and isn't actually intended to come across that way. If it is meant to come across the way it has been so far... *sigh* It's decidedly disappointing and sad.

Of course, for LJ users, it means being caught in an awkward catch-22. Drive the journal into bankruptcy and it's game over; give money and you're giving tacit approval for how things are being run. Of course, there will also be the masses who do nothing which may well keep things going anyway. I've already decided what will happen with my paid account, and my other basic accounts will remain basic.

I have made a few accounts elsewhere including Xanga and Insanejournal. IJ is under my fic journal name, while Xanga is with my regular account name. I've also been puttering around fc2.com. There's a new site which has yet to go live, which sounds like it will be similar to IJ but hopefully without the same connotations as IJ; I'm not overly fond of that aspect. It'll be interesting to see what SUP decides to do once the Content Strike is over since they've pretty much indicated they're not going to do anything until after that. For those who are interested and haven't read it yet, someone posted a translation of the interview with Anton Nosik. I'd link the original interview, but I don't have it handy at the moment. Sorry. >.>

In any case, I'll be posting a quick guide (or at least the sign up guide) to joining fc2.com. This might be good for those people who are trying to learn Japanese or are interested in challenging themselves by using a J blogging system. ^_^ And of course, those who are interested in a personal journal with 1GB of space, file UL space, counter, webclap, trackback, RSS, fully customisable layouts... are also welcome to take a look. ^_^ I'll try to work on posting guides etc., but these take time. I might have to look for new drivers for my tablet. My mouse and pen don't work well with Gimp either. >.> (Maybe I'll pull out my bluetooth mouse...)

Anyhow, sign-up info to follow once I get it together. The unfortunate thing about fc2.com is that your address isn't as easy to remember as it is here. ^^; There is some privacy function with friending, but I haven't investigated that part fully yet. ^^;

Bagels and SUP

2008-03-17T04:09:05Z

*drama mode* Argh! My bagels! The oven killed my bagels! >.<;; I decided to try making bagels for the first time in ~a decade, and everything went well... okay fine. I lie. My bagels floated in the water rather than sinking first during their brief boil. But they *burned* in the oven! >.<;; I need to hunt down my oven thermometer and double check the temperature of that sucker. *sigh* A lot of hard work and kneading down the drain as it were. >.>
*end drama mode*

I'm sure most folks out there have at least noticed the latest changes LJ has implemented to the accounts. While I haven't said anything about it yet, I have been following much of the insanity that's gone with the changes. There are a couple of things that have since arisen though that has caught my attention even more than the 'let's try to slip a change by them, insult them, but definitely not apologise to them' bit. (No, I don't view SUP's attitude very favourably.) Namely, the adult content cut doesn't resolve to the page if you're not logged in (it used to be you had to hit the consent button and it would then give you the content, but it constantly loops to the consent page instead) and the "censored" interests page. I don't normally look at the interests page, but I don't like the idea of having it censored. There's some signs that the censorship might've been from earlier on; I won't say I'm the most observant person out there.

Since this account is a permanent account, I doubt I'd completely abandon LJ, not to mention I have too many ties and friends here, but I'm also definitely not wanting to financially support SUP any further. yumenokage will not be renewed when the account comes up in June and I don't plan on returning to paid status unless LJ makes some serious improvements in their attitude towards customer service. Business is business, yes, but I didn't think being insulted was supposed to be a customer privilege. *shrug*

In any case, just in case things go seriously horrible, I was wondering what other options are out there for my lesser private accounts. I've picked up an IJ account just in case, but it's not exactly the most aesthetically pleasing site out there, and it doesn't strike me as having the same community feel as LJ does. I have debated running a blog on a personal site and leaving it at that, but I'm also a bit curious about the other sites out there. I am on Ravelry, but haven't taken much of a look around yet. Also, my account name is under my real name. (Not to mention Ravelry is quite specific. ^^ ) As popular as Facebook seems to be here, I haven't tried it nor have I tried... Myspace(?). So, I was wondering if folks could give me a brief rundown on the pros / cons on the other sites and blogging sites. Any info folks can share would be most appreciated! ^o^

And lastly, there is a one day content strike planned for LJ for folks to (silently) 'voice' their protest over recent changes to basic accounts. Personally, I don't have an issue with the actual change, I have an issue with how it was done and SUP's reaction to users' reaction to the change.

blink I passed

2008-03-04T19:21:04Z

Just a quickie note that I passed JLPT-2. I was a bit surprised because I did better than I expected (especially since I expect I bombed the first reading comp question amongst several other silly errors). I guess this means I'm writing JLPT-1 in Toronto this year...? (I didn't do exceptionally well, but I did reasonably well.) Eep!

In any case, fair warning for folks over there I guess. ^^;

Yikes I've been remiss! >.<;

2008-02-29T18:15:08Z

Okay, yes I've been busy with other things, but ouch! >.<;; Not a huge amount to say, but I though GH fans would like to know that Ghost Hunt Vol 10 has been slated for release (again, again) in Japan. The release date is April 11. Hopefully it'll actually make it out this time. ^^;;

I finally picked up the latest Saiunkoku book and Shounen Onmyouji book. At a glance the latest Shoumyou is the first volume of a new story line, but I haven't managed to site down with it yet. Shall have to see how it goes. ^o^

Kokumono... ^^;; I did read parts of it, more like flipped through parts, and... I have to read the last story about Reishin and Yuri-hime! I can't believe he did that! There's also a really cute kakioroshi(? I think that's what it was) at the end. I definitely liked that one. Will have to look at scribbling things for it later. ^o^

Otherwise... not a heck of a lot on this end. :P I was rather bemused yesterday when I ordered some soap only to receive my order confirmation with this note: Your order will be fulfilled within 4-6 weeks. O_O;; Thankfully, I received a follow-up email today and it'll be mailed tomorrow. ^^;;

Tagged...?

2008-01-25T03:52:43Z

Hmm... someone decided to tag me with a meme. I'll have to think of suitable retribution for this later... *eg*

Each blogger starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.

* Bloggers that are tagged need to write on their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
* At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.

Eight random facts about me/habits of mine:

About the only cosmetics I'll wear is lip gloss (and sometimes concealer) unless I'm going out out

Weird / dorky things amuse me to no end

I love kitties even though I'm a bit allergic to them.

I sometimes take antihistamines in order to knit with mohair. (Hey, sometimes you need to take drastic measures :P )

I like having glasses and would rather live with them than have lasik surgery

I sometimes seem to have the mistaken belief that if you stare at something long enough it'll osmose into you and you *will* understand. For some reason I haven't figured this one out yet... ^^;

I'm a bit, kind of, sort of, some what, rather, a lot, completely obsessive sometimes. :P

My #1 tea love is Twinings Earl Grey but I haven't had any for several years now. Death to bad reactions to bergamot! *cry*

I have a concept for my revenge, but am not sure I'm willing to stoop so low as to do something like that. :P And since I'm not above tormenting others either...

Tag: toriru4ever, ginny_t, umadoshi, hezziwig, wombat_1138, sekitx2, minkyleigh, and ichi_san :P I'm being a bit evil this time in my choices. Anyone who doesn't want to do this meme should feel free to ignore having been tagged. ^_^

Silliness (fandom meme)

2008-01-11T05:48:34Z

I'm not sure why, but I suddenly felt like doing this. Maybe because ff.net's being a pain... :P

Nabbed from akinarei and yamikakyuu

Pick a fandom, and I'll tell you the following:

1. The first character I fell in love with:
2. The character I never expected to love as much as I do now:
3. The character everyone else loves that I don't:
4. The character I love that everyone else hates:
5. The character I would shag anytime:
6. The character I'd want to be like:
7. The character I'd slap:
8. Favorite character:

9. Who are your five favorite characters?
10. Who are your five least favorite characters?
11. Which character are you most like?
12. What is your deep, dark secret regarding this?

13. A pairing that I love:
14. A pairing that I despise:
15. What are your five favorite things about your fandom?
16. What are your five least favorite things about your fandom?

Of course, if you pick a fandom I'm not familiar with, I'll tell you. ^^;; I don't list many fandoms on my interests list. ^^;

We now return you to your regularly scheduled program... ^^;;