A Spoon Full Of Sugar

We're Moving!

2009-04-24T08:32:00.000+09:30

I've moved my blog to my new Website! Please keep up with me there!

http://web.me.com/melwil82/

That's all you've got to endure

2009-03-21T18:44:00.003+09:30

Back at Gaia

It's been a pretty busy little week. I've had to catch up on all my homework because of my sick week. I'm caught up now thank god, but I still have a ways to go. Phill's friend Ben helped me so much with my progamming assessment, i was ready to have a hissy fit over it. But i got it in the end.

My scolarship was approved and i was totally stoked. I'm still overwhelmed. Thanks Ra, you were the biggest help eva!

The reason for the pic is it's my little character on Gaia Online which I've started up again on. It's an online forum where you chat with people to earn gold for dressing up your little avatar. I find it totally adictive, and am surprised to see people on there from forever ago. So far I'm having a lot of fun and am hoping to enjoy it again for a while. at the very least, it's nice to break up the homework, which I'm going to do now o.O

Just a quick update today anyway, love you all

looking up at th start of the world

2009-03-05T20:01:00.004+09:30

Wendy's Birthday

Sometimes music just sums up everything. Today I've been listening to 'How far we've come' by Matchbox 20. It has summed up my feelings for the day. really, it's fantastic to sing to loudly and will just about push you to tears if you're feeling like I am. It's quite a frelling passionate song when you just let go. So what's with the strange start for this blog? It reminds me of how amazing I'm feeling right now. How I've come, in such a short amount of time, to realise where I want my life to go, and how amazing people in my life are right now. Really, just look how far I've come?

I dont think I'm in the right frame of mind to write a proper blog, so I attach a video done to Pirates 3 that just sums it all up. LOOK HOW FAR I'VE COME!

Tick Tock Tick Tock

2009-02-26T19:45:00.003+09:30

Aria the Animation

I'm a little sad to see this anime end. It's become my morning routine for the last few months and it has been a nice steady pace instead of boring or full on crazy. It was slow and smooth and kept me in a comfortable place for a while. Fantastic to wind down to as well, I surprised myself by making room for two episodes a day when I could find the time. I even fell asleep to it once. That must sound like a contradiction, but let me put it in context. I once had a teacher who could put you to sleep with her voice, it was lovely, soft and lulling (amusingly she was teaching how to handle babies in childcare) and more then once you would just drift away listening to her voice. Aria the Animation (and following series's) is like that. A soft, steady hum of an anime that takes it's time drawing you in, takes you no where, but makes it the most enjoyable ride ever.

Aria is about Akari-chan, a young woman who leaves Man-home (Earth) for Aqua (Mars) the now terraformed water planet to become a Gondolier. Though it sounds like it should be a science fiction anime, that's where the genre stops and goes entirely into a Slice of Life anime. Her training takes place with the Aria Company, a tourist based company ferrying people around Neo-Venice on Gondolas, where only a Prima and Apprentice work at one time. The series follows Akari and her friends Akia and Alice, from rival companies, through their life and training to become Primas.

There are many wonderful things about this series, but I should get one of the glaringly obvious flaws out of the way first. Aria is a Slice of Life anime in every sense of the genre. It takes photographs out of these girl's daily lives. There is little to no drama, romance or anything like that. I'd even say the plot is non existent with the exception of the last five episodes, but even then it's simply the conclusion rather then cluttered and hectic (like Eureka Seven). This is considered boring to a lot of people (my boyfriend included) but I'm quiet a fan of the genre and enjoy it's lack of shock value. It's like a good hot chocolate rather then a coffee or something more exciting.

However it is obscenely beautiful, as the picture above suggests. As most of the anime takes place on the water, its sky blue, dull grey, bright orange and deep purple depending on the time of day or the season. The character development is so fricken subtle it's not till you watch the first episode again that you realise how much the girls change. The Japanese cast amazingly well chosen, not once did I cringe at their voices, which can often happen if they're picked wrongly. And the musical score brought a tear to my eye more then once.

the ending was wonderful and I will certainly cherish this anime as one of my favourites.

Whoops, that's the timer, time for dinner. Quick happy birthday too my little brother, he's 25 today!

the deepest cuts are healed by fate

2009-02-23T20:21:00.005+09:30

How I feel about my old job

Wow. I can't believe I've been a week out of work. At the moment, I have to say, I don't feel like I've left. I still feel the same aggravations when I think about it (I wonder when that will stop). People (read: old customers) ask me what I'm going to do now, and when I say 'full time uni' I get one of two responses. "That's fantastic" and "Oh". The "oh" is obviously is a piss off, like being a Uni student isn't a million time's better then working at shell, but they were few and far between. All in all, most people seemed stoked for me. I have to admit, I'm pretty stoked myself. It's a big step (and some times it feels like I'm standing on the edge of a cliff and I have this wicked case of Vertigo) and I'm taking it. I'm making big changes in my life, and frikken hell, I deserve them!!! I am the only person who can make my situation better, and I'm going to do it.

On a related note, the first class at Uni started today. It's good, I even spent some time on some homework. I'm hoping to get a head start and not fall behind this semester like I did last semester. Having this extra time helps a lot, even if I'm helping out Phill it's not as strenuous as working at Shell. Besides, this task actually tickles my creative writing skills and therefore fun to write. I'll probably hand it in as soon as I can so I can focus on whatever else they throw at me.

I have my Driving test in a week (freak out) and I'm doing a hell of a lot of practice at the moment. I need to slow down a lot more before before corners and fuck I hate parking, but I think I'm doing pretty good. Soon I'll be driving to visit everyone!!!

the most exciting thing? A teaser for the new Vampire Diaries book!!!

Love ya!

Join the joyride!

2009-01-30T11:41:00.004+09:30

My family is crazy fuckers

Feeling pretty zen at the moment. For all the stress and fuss of the last two weeks, right now I feel quite settled. I'm very excited about doing my Cert 4 in IT this year, some of my class mates come into my work and have said they're doing it too, which is fantastic I must say. They're always funny and know so much that it's very helpful to have them in class. Valve cant make it to classes, such a bummer, but like I said, I've done these courses often enough with people I don't know I'm pretty use to it now. and at least this time, there will be people from last year's class that I know. Maybe they'll start doing the LAN games after class again, I'd enjoy that :P

But yeah, pretty zen. I'm starting to feel like I'm doing as much as I can to make this transition as easy as possible, and that the universe will take care of everything else. Anime nights have helped. I got together with Wendy, Roz and Jasmine and we watched three hours of anime on wednesday. I cooked dinner and we all enjoyed it. We had a very good giggle and it looks to be a weekly event. Between that and my D&D nights I'm keeping pleasently social and enjoying it muchly. (and my Elf/monk is now level 4!!!!)

And I truely cant wait to finish work in two weeks. Like really, you have no idea.

Whoops, now running late, gotta go put dinner on in the slow cooker, yum yum yum! Love ya!

Computer's dont run themselves

2009-01-27T23:30:00.005+09:30

Ever17 Game

So I've been wanting to write a review of this for like ever! Ever17 happens to be one of the best games I've ever played, much to Phill's disgust. Ever17 is a particular sort of game for a particular sort of game player. It's called a 'Visual novel' it actually plays like a 'choose your own adventure' books I use to love reading as a kid. It's also a Japanese game, so they speak Japanese through out and to understand there's a lot of reading to be done. I loved it, but it took a long time to get through the five 'good' endings, especially as it doesn't work on my adorable little Mac.

Coco, possibly my fav character.

The storyline is pretty simple from the beginning, five people stuck in a state of the art underwater theme park which is going to sink in seven days in the non to distant future. You progress through reading all the way and you get to pick the view points of one of two protagonists, and follow the storylines through to their conclusions.from each of the boys point of view you can end up with one of two girls. The fifth girl, the last storyline is the most fantastic and ties all of the wonderfullness together. Truly the most fantastic bit, it covers everything from 'third eyes' to people from the forth dimension. there's love and silliness. Immortality, AI's, fatal diseases. I spent a good portion of the ending in tears.

You and Sara sleeping

The character interaction is the best thing. You truly get caught up in the lives and happenings of these people. The intricacies of it all is simply amazing how their lives intertwine. In the end I was simply amazed at how much thought went into the way it all the way through. The images were truly marvelous in the important parts and sometimes i never wanted it to end. the main hassle was the length. sometimes you were reading the same things all five times and you had to be careful when fast forwarding things that you didn't miss anything important. And the walk through was essential, there were also three bad endings that would have made it terrible to have to replay. In the end i couldn't get enough of how it all ended. It's just something you have to play for yourself to truly get it (and I have it if you want to borrow). And now I'm off to bed!

The whole cast

So superficial, so immature

2009-01-23T11:52:00.005+09:30

There are reasons why I watch Sailormoon

It really has been one of those weeks. All the things that I have been waiting to happen are starting to happen and it's one of those scary life changing turns and it's throwing me into a loop. I handed in my resignation this week. A ten year saga if my life over. Shell only ever meant to be a part time, while i decided what to do with my life, is going. Three weeks left. This is a good thing. I just have to convince the rest of myself that it's totally worth while. It's not that I'll miss the job, it's the money. We'll be living on one wage and that's a bit frightening. We should be fine, Phill's making enough money for both of us. It doesn't make it any easier in my stupid brain.

Applying for Austudy has been more difficult then i thought. With the amount of people getting money from the government for doing nothing (ex-roommate for example) you'd think it was easy. It took me well on two weeks to get all the paperwork organised, and I'm still confused. It's sent off now, but goodness, crazy.

Phill's tax, due in October, is taking us forever to pull together. Our room is full of reciets that I've been shifting through. His mum (our accountant) wants it all by today and I'm pulling my hair out.

I'm also trying to get the Scholarship written up and sent, one less thing to think on. It's really hard to sell yourself to strangers. I feel like a big fibber, all this blowing stuff totally out of proportion so they'll give me money (if I'm lucky).

It's all very overwhelming and crazy like at the moment. All I can do is keep breathing and prioritizing one thing at a time. I'm looking forward to enjoying the weekend.

But there has been a few bonuses for the week. 1) My kick ass friends coming to my aid whilst I was drowning in stress. Hugs and love to you all. 2) Phill's friend Valve is going to do my course with me. 3) Kara's going to Italy! I'm so not jealous. Not at all. 4) was reading through stories and am Writing again. I know crazy! 5) Host Club finally arrived!!!! 6) And last week I finished Ever 17, the game I'm going to review at some point. Totally fantastic.

Be good my loves, I have to go clean now (more work). You should watch this

I could be Voilet Sky

2009-01-11T14:12:00.004+09:30

Eureka Seven

Wow. It's been a while since I've spent almost all day watching an anime. But with 4 episodes to go on this 50 episode gem I had to finish it off. Eureka Seven had a lot going for it. Gorgeous character design, intriguing storyline, a very well developed romance. I'm still reeling from it's conclusion and am left wishing I knew more of what happened in those last few episodes. The best thing about Eureka Seven is it's an anime for people who dont like Mech animes very much (evangelion, gundam etc) but has Mechs in it.

The best time to write these blog entries is just after you've finished because you're head's still full of all the details.

Eureka Seven is a coming of age romance story and in both those genres it excels. It's about a 14 year old boy, Renton, bored with his small existence in a small town with just his grandfather for company. Then Eureka lands on their house with a gaint mech that needs repairing. For Renton it's love at first sight and he leaves with her. Then it gets complicated and intriguing and you just have to keep watching.

I'd have to say its more of an older girls anime, the character development is the key to this series, not the mechs or the gun fights. It's also confusing, but you have to remember its from a 14 year olds perspective. He doesn't need all the technical details or pycologists evaluation on certain characters (*cough* Dewey *cough*) he just needs to know basic details and faith in Eureka. So yeah, that's a bummer, there's a lot of things at the end where you go 'but what happened with them?' But I don't feel the need for a continuing series or even an epilogue. I am quite content with the 'love over comes all obstacles' ending.

Phill got bored, but I think that's because of the care they create connecting all the characters. With all the info, the last 15 episodes were fast paced and left me reeling with one thing to another. The relationship with Eureka and Renton was fabulous. Well paced, they get together quite early on, only strengthening their bond through the remaining story arcs.

And best of all, it's pretty. The colours are bright and full, none of these dark shadows that a lot of animes lean towards. and it's constant, even in darker areas of the plot, the colours are still amazing, if a little out of place. The music is also lovely.

So all in all a dramatic love story that doesn't clutter the end with stupid gag episodes (like Oh! My Goddess did, totally ruining a beautiful love story grrrrrrrr) and I'm on to a new series tomorrow. Well, if I can get off Spore for ten minutes to watch something.

Got me Whistling a private tune

2009-01-04T16:10:00.006+09:30

At my Folks going away jan 2009

So it's that time of year again, my folks leave on Wednesday. I cant believe it's so close, I'm not looking forward to it. They'll be in Wagga Wagga (a good weeks drive or a 6 to 7 hours on a plane away) for at least three years. I always get a little upset about it.

I know that it's all in my head. I know that this is really good for mum and dad. Dad hates his work up here and the position he's going into will be just wants to do at the moment. Mum will be closer to Grandma and be a source of her famous plum sauce. This move is good for them and I'm glad they get to do it themselves.

But I'll still miss them. I like having them close by, and I like just visiting on the free weekends. I know they'll miss us to, they're going to be without any children near by for the first time in 26 years. It's good we're independent, and that we're all making it on our own, but nothing beats a hug from mum when I'm feeling like crap or the easy ear when i need to talk my way through a problem. I know there's going t be so much happening in my life over the next three years that I wish they didn't have to be down south for.

So I wish them good luck and enjoyment of all their chicks having left the nest. They'll have a good time and it gives them a chance to spend more time with mum's family, which hasn't happened for a while. And I'll miss them and wait for them to come home.

Most wonderful time of the year

2008-12-26T14:08:00.003+09:30

Best Present Ever!

Phill and I cleaned out pretty good this Christmas. A slow cooker, two banquet cookers (one of which I'm hoping will be a blender :)). This is the picture Phill framed for me, it's so beautiful and totally me. I got Spore, which I love, and am getting so high up with my little creatures. Phill got a lot of Anime, which we're watching now, and a fair bit of monies.

All in all it was a lovely day. We ate so much and got so full. Phill's Sister said some lovely things to me and I know I'm going to love Phillbert for a long time.

We're about to go to the movies, it's Phill's birthday today and he wants to see madagascar 2. So I loves you all just wanted to show off my pretty present.

Now we're up to bat

2008-12-23T17:04:00.003+09:30

Sydney Zoo 2007

Aside from being two days till Christmas, a few interesting tidbits this week. First up, popped my knee out last night. Yes, it's as painful as it sounds. did a face plant with the concrete, now I ache terribly all over, have some nifty knee bruises and a wicked gravel rash up my arm. Ow ow ow. so I'm mighty sorry for myself today. As always, it was something dumb, I wasn't watching what I was doing, stepped on an empty chip packet and my foot went one way while the rest of me went the other and POW! pavement.

This picture is the last one I did, scuffing my feet at the Sydney Zoo and down i went again. While the other people and zoo staff were hovering and annoying, wendy and Jasmine took photos and videos of me. I tell everyone the same thing, it's like a sprain, hurts like a bitch for the first few minutes then only stairs cause a problem. It's the fall that hurts the most, my big lump of a body goes down like a sack of poo and it smarts for days after. This time around it hurts particularly well cause i was in a hurry when it happened this time and wasn't able to go down gracefully like I normally would.

So why haven't i done anything about it? I'm shit scared what they're going to tell me. I have visions of pins in my knee and a noticeable hobble. I know they're going to have to do something pretty major, peoples knees don't pop out cause they scuff their feet or twist funny (unless they're netballers). Something that only happens twice a year is almost preferable.

I am forcing myself to confront this, it's slow going though. I'm trying to find what i have and what i can do, it is frightening, the idea of having trouble walking, risking it happening more frequently. All these things turn my tummy into knots. And it's frustrating. It's like one of those irrational fears that keeps you from going to a dentist or doctor or councilor because you don't want them to tell you what you've feared is actually true and not paranoia. Still, a doctors visit is the first step and I'll do that when there is spare cash and time.

Loves you!

Would I spend forever here, and not be saticfied?

2008-12-16T10:46:00.004+09:30

Phill and Mel June 2008

So I keep putting off this particular blog. I don't like to complain constantly about something. I'm very aware of my limitations in 'changing' my life, both designed and realistic. I worry that if I complain a lot one of a few things will happen a) people will try to help me when i just want a compassionate ear b) people will have heard my complaints so often they wont hear a genuine cry for help and c) I will waste away in my complaints, making a bad situation so much worse.

At the moment I'm sitting pretty with option C.

My situation at work has gotten so bad I'm getting headaches just from walking in there. I'm actually making myself physically sick being in there. I had a week off last week and it's done nothing to make me feel better. And it's all to do with the customers and the lack of support for staff. Cause, you know, the customer is always right, even if they're wrong. You have to be nice and polite even if you feel like jumping across the counter and beating the customer to death with their own bottle of coke.

Policy an rules mean nothing to someone who says they want one non refundable product, are asked if this is what they want, only to say they meant something different when you've already printed it out. Then suddenly 'non refundable' means nothing to them because 'I'm the customer and you must service me'. After explaining to this man over (and over) again for 15mins I had to call the police because he was basically stealing because of his refusal to pay for it. It is not the first time its happened, it wont be the last. There was even another staff member on who agreed with everything I did, she even said she would have done the same with a lot more shouting involved.

Not just stupid people, but Nightcliff is full of little shits at the moment and they like to come in and help themselves to everything in the shop. and the companies official position? Just let them do it. Thats right. If they cant be locked out where not to do anything because of how violent they can get. Wow, and that makes me feel o so safe. And they are, even a small group of 15 year olds are frightening, they throw tantrums, I've had them threaten to follow me home and beat me up, throw stuff around the shop at me. I had a few days off and a psycratist visit after that one. And this happens every shift. They wont put a security guard on with us. They wont even let us have a second staff member on.

So I'm leaving. I've taken control of a truly terrible situation, and in my resignation our regional manager will know exactly why a staff member of ten long years is leaving. And hopefully he'll do something about it. It'll be too late for me, but it would be nice to know the other staff will have a little security. I have 8ish weeks to go (6 weeks at best, 8 at worst) and I'll start helping Phill out with his work and do full time tafe. If I need to I'll get some casual work if we start having trouble keeping up with the bills, but I've had enough of shell and I cant wait to leave. so there we go, that's why I've been so quiet lately. Every sentence out of my mouth has been about work for the last two months and it's eating me up inside. I'm just so tired...

Loves you all

Wanna feel the fever

2008-11-26T17:34:00.002+09:30

what I'm watching right now.

I finally have my computer back, I've spent the day reinstalling everything and I think I'm finally caught up. Still, she's pretty empty. All my photos, anime, music, stories missing. So I've had to go hunting for them, and pick up some new stuff while I'm at it.

YouTube is fairly terrible quality for music videos, I download them from from AnimeMusicVideos if I'm going to keep them. I'm pretty geeky, but I'm not nearly as crazy as the people who make these music videos. They must have plenty of time on their hands, some of them are very well done.

This one's real pretty

They really do remind me of why I love my anime. Just a short update for today, so you can see what I've been doing

True, so True

Welcome, swallows, dip and swing

2008-11-12T19:58:00.002+09:30

Best. Photo. Ever 2007

So it's been a busy couple of weeks. Between the flu, the last couple of weeks of Uni and all that I'm falling a bit behind on everything, even my anime watching. My poor blog has even progressed to a sad one post a week. Still, two/three weeks and my classes will cease and I'll have nine extra hours (plus homework time) a week to play with. Phill's going to start teaching me the ropes of the business, I'm gonna do a spring clean and hopefully organise an impromptu Christmas party/bbq. With all these thoughts of the end of the year filling my head I'm looking back at what I've done with my year and it's quiet pleasing.

I moved in with my boyfriend and kicked out the interlopers. We celebrated our first year together. Tash had a beautiful bouncy boy and Kara got married and started her PHD. I will have completed my Certificate 3 in IT and be primed to start my Cert 4. I am learning how to drive o.O Wendy, jasmine, Roz and I (and maybe Leah and Andy) are planning a trip to Japan in two and a half years. All in all a pretty fab year.

That doesn't mention the multiple crazy things I've done. Watching all 6 star wars in one weekend. Seeing Wall-e 3 times at the cinemas. The decision to start reading all my books in alphabetical order. Deciding to quit shell at the end of the year. The excellent toblorone cheesecake recipe I found. Watching Heroes season 2 with leah and roz. Starting a D&D campaign. Finishing playing Warcraft 3. ... The list is wondrous and endless.

So here's to the last month and a half of this year. Whilst not as memorable as last year (I went to Europe and had sex for the first time, not in Europe though) still fab.

O, probably not interested, but all my books are in alphabetical order to the authors last name, like the library, and I'm only up to B. It's very sad

Love Mel

It's a Bright New Star

2008-11-04T21:17:00.002+09:30

Host Club Music Video

I can't stop singing Host Club's praises, this beautiful little Music Video brings a tear to the eye really. Kiarrens won the Best Romance category at the Anime Boston this year and when you watch it you'll understand why. I had to add to my blog, just so pretty *sigh*

Silver Wolf by Alice Borchardt

The best thing about being sick all week is the amount of reading you get done. I finally got the Wolf Trilogy by Alice Borchardt, Anne rice's sister. It's taken me almost six months to read it, not because it's bad, but because it's just so full on. Each page if a flowing history and rich world. It's all about Rome in late medieval times, when King Charlemagne was just starting his rule. About a young french woman living in Rome. Her name is Reagen and she is a wolf shape shifter. She has to be the best thing about the series, she grows so much during the course of the first and third book. She learns to trust and love the wolf within her, she falls in love, drives her fowl uncle and cousin away. She becomes a queen among a pack of wolves. Aside from the second, based on her husbands past during Cesar's time, it's fantastic. the other pity is that the series ended with only the three books, the out comes of so many of the characters is left hanging, to the point that I didn't realise I was reading the last page until it was over. I do feel a little jilted because of it. Still, a truly beautiful series. I had tried to read it in high school, but didn't get passed the first book, but now, amazing, there's so much intrigue and back stabbing among the ruling class of that time that it's just a delish read, especially with innocent little Reagen in the middle of it all. Remind me to lend it to you when you have a free minute.

I feel so funny deep inside

2008-10-19T21:41:00.009+09:30

Shugo Chara

YaY it's Wednesday again. And today, to be random, I'm going through some of my anime picks this month. Basically it's what I'm watching at the moment.

I try to watch one Anime at a time, but right now it's not working. Some of the animes I'm watching at the moment have gotten boring, some I only watch with certain individuals, and others I've teased myself with an episode here or there. It's all very series buisness :P

The first one is Shugo Chara. the first thing that comes to mind is how PINK this show is. As a girl, it's fantastic. The storyline is light and easy, and the animation is clear, crisp and down right cute in most parts. The story, at the moment, is easy enough to follow. Everyone has an egg inside them, containing their 'would be self'. If you wish hard enough the egg hatches, giving you a Guardian Character (Shugo Chara) which is the person you could become. It's a pretty simplistic showing of your true self, like a childlike version. Amu, our leading lady, has three eggs with three completely different personalities. This, for reason not yet explained, makes her special and she can 'character change' into these personalities.

My Magical Girl fetish goes far, and Shugo Chara tickles all the best things about one. and at 53 episodes so far, it must pull a fast one on a serious storyline later on. But 11 eps into it and I'm hankering for more. A good sign.

Kyou Kara Maou

This is Kyou Kara Maou. It actually just feeds on my love for cute boys. 5 fellas of different personalities running around in a medieval setting. The problem is, I've watched 100 episodes so far. the story just keeps getting stagnet. It's like they keep rehashing the same storyline and it's frustrating. I keep hoping it's going to get better but it doesn't seem to be. If it doesn't get any better by the end of this second series I'm canning it. But at least it's pretty to watch.

Ouran Host Club

I've actually watched all of Host Club. Let me say it's a fantastic little series. It's funny, makes you smile and not too oddball that it would turn anyone off it. Host Club is the best anime I saw in 2007 and the English dub version is finally coming out and I sooooo cant wait to get it (well I can, but you know, anime is evil and i wants it). In fact if you click the picture it takes you to the first episode. Funamation was kind enough to offer it as a preview, they're the next best thing in the Western anime world, they're actually doing fantastic work at keeping the serieses they bring out as close to the japanese as possible. They're also choosing fine voice actors for the characters. I watch my anime 80% in Japanese with subtitles. After a while you just get use to it, esp when all my downloads are subtitled. But in esscense, sub and dubbed are incomparable. Hard core anime fans sneer at the english versions, but compared to Japan, we just dont have the wide range of talent that they do. At anyone time there are thousands of registered voice actors/actoresses wanting employment in Japan. It's at the same competive level as Holloywood actors and actresses are. So saying the english dub isnt as good is stupid, America just doesn't have the same resources as Japan does, they cant be as picky. The English dub of Host Club is amazing, still had me in stitches as much as the japanese. And this way I can make a sandwhich at the same time instead of having to be glued to my laptop so not to miss what they're saying.

Lucky Star

Usually I don't buy anime if i haven't seen it or read it first. This is one of the notable exceptions. Lucky Star I'd read reviews about that gave it nothing but praise. They all had one warning though; if you didn't consider yourself an anime fan it isn't for you. And it's true. Lucky Star is full of cultural and nerdy references that make my head spin. It's conidered a 'Slice of Life' anime, which means it focuses mostly on everyday conversations and seems to go no where. This is charming in its way (I love this genre so it never phased me) there's no big explosions or life shifting happenings, just everyday conversations with a bunch of school girls. It's also pretty and bright. Phill's not big on this one, but wendy will watch it with me. In the end it was a lucky buy, these things usually go to poo (D.N.Angel ans His and her circimstances were two that did).

So that's enough anime for today. Watch Host Club if you've got a spare 30mins.
Love Ya

Iron Man

2008-10-12T17:25:00.006+09:30

Mel's Manga Collection October 2008

So Today I'm being a little geeky. This is my Manga Collection, I love it to pieces. I've been collecting for well on 10 years now and I have a lot to show for it. I have 25 finished series, 10 caught up series and 11 unfinished. It fits nicely on my big bookcase with just a tinsy bit of space for more :D I buy one book a month at the moment, due to the lack of funds, but it has been worth it. I have 46 series that I reread all the time. They're quick and easy to read with in half and hour. Some of them are fantastic stories. All in all it's a very fine collection.

The series with the most books (that I've got so far anyway) is Fruit Baskets sitting pretty on 20 books. Ranma 1/2 only has 8 books, but the series has 34 all up. The most I've spent on one comic... $100. That was the final Sailor Moon Comic, which went out of print mid 1990s. It was worth every penny, the series was amazing, a dream to own the whole thing. But I wouldn't pay that much for any other comic. My favourites are Sailor Moon, Fruit Baskets and Full Moon. There's none that I dont like, luckily, cause there's no where to 'check out' whether you'll like it or not. You've just got to guess.

So that's my comic Collection. The photo's not fantastic, but you can see all the figurines i've got floating around as well. Love you all.

Am I suppose to Walk on by?

2008-10-08T17:11:00.005+09:30

Tash's going away 2006

Today's been pretty cruisey. Everyone's on edge about the constant power outages. We're just waiting for the next one too hit and for no power for up to a week. Yeah, fun times. I'm only buying food as we need it, I refuse to throw out anything else.

I had a Presentation this afternoon for class, and aside from my usual 'freak out', I didn't do to bad. I was ready for it for a change, had actually written down everything that i needed and read through it a few times. I covered practically everything I needed. This presentation finishes off a major component of my course, and though I still have 8 weeks to go, I'm looking forward to this last stretch.

Wendy and Jasmine (litter sister + her best friend) are coming over for dinner tonight and some hard core anime watching. We try for once a week and we watch a disk of a series. We're watching Negima at the moment, but Jasmine gets to pick our next anime so god knows what that'll be. The idea is, that when Jasmine goes to Adelaide in January, Wendy and I can do something on a Tuesday/Wednesday afternoon. It'll hopefully give us something to stay sane when Uni kicks me in the nads next year. The Cert 4 is suppose to be a lot more full on.

Did you notice that the heading's for my posts are always what I'm listening to when I'm writing. Usually its music, but sometimes its a movie or something Phill's watching. Fun, eh?

Okay, off to bake some cookies, Love yas.

Lost

2008-10-04T17:19:00.002+09:30

Cardcaptors

So it's official, I got my last Christmas present this week. That's it for this year. Now I just have to get around to buying some Christmas cards and printing some photos to send everyone (emailing me your postal address is a good idea). But that wont be for a bit, I'm sure if I started sending you all Christmas cards now you'd have heart attacks :D

Phill's got me watching the third season of Lost, which is turning out to be rather interesting. Between that and the third season of Supernatural we're watching an awful lot of DVDs. It helps with the Flu. Yep, we both have the Flu of doom. It's sucking up all our energy, i took yesterday off work just cause I am that tired.

The power outages at the moment aren't helping any. We've had three in as many weeks and Thursday nights one lasted a whooping 12 hours. It's terrible, the substation keeps blowing up, and leaving most of residential darwin without power for hours at a time. As you can imagine this is very frustrating.

Again this is short, almost time for dinner. Loves you

mmmmm Chickan... Good!

2008-09-28T21:17:00.003+09:30

Tobelrone Cheesecake

Look, this is what I've made. I spent last Friday afternoon making this sweet thing. It's the first time I've ever made a Cheese Cake and was the most interesting experience. I don't have a proper blender, I have one of those 'stick' blenders, handles soups really well, chunky cake bits... Not so well. Still, it was fun squashing philadelpia cheese into submission. The taste, heavenly, if you like cheese cake. Not so interested in them myself, I still enjoyed it, I rarely make desserts so it was a lot of excitement.

Surprisingly I got the reciepe from some junk mail. But it's also Here if you want to give it a go. I didn't use Chocolate shavings for the topping. Instead I settled for chocolate drops. shavings would have been a waste in this heat, but it was still yummy.

Ok, Phillbert is watching the 5th Element and I am being distracted. Love you guys.

I knew I loved you before I met you

2008-09-24T22:56:00.006+09:30

Wall-e 2008

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRg!! So yes, our oven died today. Stupid fricken thing. Worked fine last night whilst I was cooking the Lasagna, then died tonight. Stove top still works, but the oven and grill both don't heat *hissssssssss* You know it does this because 90% of the things I cook are in the oven, right? Completely ruined tonight's dinner (cant trust pork in a half heat oven, breeding ground for all those interesting germs) and basically most of what's in the freezer. Oh So frustrating.

Still, we managed to make it to Wall-e this evening. So fantastic. You totally believe these two robots, who say less then four words between them, are in love with each other. It's all about how they move, they look, the details. And I'm a sucker for a love story. I wasn't bored with the lack of dialogue, in fact it made it a lot more believable, these are two robots created for singular purposes, language was not one of them. And the things Wall-e did amused me so.

But there's a bunch of animated movies coming out that I'm looking forward to. Space Chimps, Igor and Bolt to name a few. I really love my little animated movies, they are light, fluffy and almost always allow me to get caught up in a sweet ass story. I like drama and such, but they usually require a mind at the same time. I'm at a cinema to forget my mind. Hellboy 2 perfect in that was, it was so pretty that I spent most of my time enjoying these 'out of this world' creatures.

Still, Phill and I are hoping to make it to the movies every couple of weeks, it really is the nice, easy, avenue for getting out of the house. But for now it's Sayonara my peeps. sweet dreams

Drowning in a sea spilt from a cup

2008-09-21T12:37:00.006+09:30

September 2008 My Level 20 Warrior

So this is what I've been doing with my weekend. It probably doesn't seem like much, but I got my little Warrior up to level 20 on World of Warcraft(WoW). Now I can Duel Wield which is sweet as. It's so friggen difficult to level a warrior by yourself, at low levels they're so squishy and with no Healer running around to help you spend a lot of time running back to your body. Very, very frustrating. And online games are harder because of the inability to use 'cheat codes' when you get frustrated.

All in all online games are lost on me. I just don't play enough to pay subscriptions every month. I keep WoW because Phill and I both play on the weekend for half a day. We have a Paladin (mine, her name is Lita) and a Shaman (Irilia for Phill). They're both pretty invincible as a team and we're pushing level 50 together. When Lita gets to level 60 we can start doing Raids together with Phill's guild which I'm actually looking forward to. But all in all, I get the same pleasure from non Internet games. I'm plowing my way through Warcraft 3 so I can give it back to dad before he leaves, but I'm still only a quarter of the way through. I just don't play often enough, there's so many other things to distract me.

I'm looking forward to getting a copy of Spore, it'll play on my little Mac which is always a bonus. And I really wanna get stuck into finishing the Myst series, I really cant wait to see how that storyline ends. But that's all in the category of 'when i have spare time' which never seems to happen. So for now I'm just happy my little Warrior is level 20, another 10 levels and I can buy her a mount, which means no more walking YaY.

Ok, time for cleaning!

Fly away with you until the night...

2008-09-17T14:14:00.006+09:30

This is sort of how I'm feeling today. I had an assignment due, plus a presentation. I'm bushed, a full day of Uni really takes it out of me. We're going to see Hell Boy 2 tonight, which is a bit of fun, though Phill's a lot more into it then I am. However, I wasn't that much impressed with the first one, so I cant say much about it. Phill's playing his new Warhammer Online game, which he is very happy about, and I'm using this couple of minutes to write before I head to doing dinner.
My course is going really well, if frustrating. I've been working so hard to get my Assessments in on time and some of the class haven't finished ones from two weeks ago. No words to express my grumpiness with this. They'll probably pass too. *sigh* I cant control what others do, but I'm taking this really seriously this and it irks when others dont.
Sadly enough that's it for today, dinner needs getting on the table. So, Sayonara my sweets and have a good evening.

It started out as a feeling, Which then grew into a hope

2008-09-14T16:29:00.007+09:30

Notre Dame September 2007

I cant believe that a year ago this is where I was. It's still like a dream really. The Notre Dame is one of the most Spiritually overwhelming places I've ever been. I'm not a terribly religious person. I believe in God, but I like to keep my opinion to myself. Enough people out there try to force people to believe in something they don't want to, why should I add my two cents? I do get miffed when people try to tell me he doesn't exist, my beliefs have nothing to do with their opinions, but I don't like getting into fits about it. Me and God have better things to do with our time.

Still, walking into the Notre Dame I was almost ready to sign on to full crazy zealot. I was there in time for afternoon mass and the singing, the incense, the stain glass and high arches. It was all massively overwhelming. It was so much to take in and really, i felt like I'd burst. I felt like I'd made a pilgrimage I hadn't even known I'd been on. I lit a candle at Saint Joan of Arcs statue and told my Granny I'd done it, I'd made it somewhere so beautiful it brought me to tears just being in it's halls. It still makes me cry thinking about it.

I hope all of you get to somewhere that does that to you, whether it's a rain forest, a beach or church or temple. On a side note, at Stonehenge i called Kara and my Phill and cried with both of them, and lit a candle for Pop in a beautiful German church.

Making me Laugh

2008-09-09T15:52:00.004+09:30

Yep, today almost anything makes me giggle, and random anime pictures are one of them. I left my phone at home, so I'm left with the sad option of catching a bus home from class. But I'm getting a little homework in first, I have three assignments due this week.

Dungeon and Dragons night tonight, so that'll be fun. At least it's 3 hours of fun before the cooking and the cleaning and the homework starts again.

Opp, gotta go snag a teacher, love you

Walking down the Road that leads to who knows where

2008-09-07T17:04:00.006+09:30

Itazura Na Kiss

So It's finally Sunday. And It's another Sunday of homework o.O I've managed 2 assignments finished and, after this and my coffee of doom, another homework piece. but I still have so much to do that I'm more then a little nervous. One of the class I hate. It's all about customer service, and it makes me ill listening to the nick picking way they talk about it. Unfortunately, having worked all my life in customer service, some of the things they're laughing about is stuff that's sent me to councilors. They're nice guys, but they'd be complete assholes to serve. and they wonder why I cant wait to get out of customer service.

So any way, it's been a pretty medicor week on this end. My crazy brother and his lovely girl have finally set a date for their wedding, April 5th next year. So we'll be heading down to Perth for the weekend for that, then dad's 50th in November, and off to Sydney for that. A bit of traveling next year. Ooooo and I've been driving a fair bit, not just my lessons but also in our car. So proud of myself.

I'm watching Itazura Na Kiss at the moment. It's pretty sweet, I like my girly, sugary animes more then anything else. this one follows an actually relationship from day dot, to 'we're married and gonna have kids'. It's a bit different on that, following what happens after the marriage. Also, I really don't like the lead male star. He's a real shit head, and while most redeem themselves, he's certainly taking his sweet time at doing it. *huff* I know I cant have everything, but he could start becoming a nicer character, it's not too much to ask.

Well, back to homework, love you all

Song: I will Carry You By Clay Aiken

Start Back at this life

2008-09-02T17:56:00.003+09:30

Kara's Wedding June 2008

So once again I've decided to start another journal. This time around it's a way of catching everyone with what I'm doing week to week(ish). This is just my first post, so I'll do a better one on Sunday when I've got a little more time. For now, just book mark it and love the funness of it all :D

Lyrics: Avril Lavine - Mobile