Creepy neighbor guy who is always up here taking coffee and blathering endlessly about Neon Genesis Evangelion got here just after the editor-in-chief took the last of the coffee.

I like it when his visits are shortened, though really, acting like my boss dude did this to spite him is just ridiculous. Grow up, you aren't going to die without it, and go steal some other department's coffee and time and patience.

I was going to do the sentence OTP one, but realized I've only got two OTPs, one serious and one silly, and that won't work very well. So... I'll list the fandoms, you guess the favorite character. A couple may have more than one. I'll bold the fandom name when all of the characters are guessed in it. I have a feeling these aren't going to be hard, to tell the truth.

Bonus: If you guess a character right and give me a prompt word, I'll write a drabble for you for all except Big O and Ranma 1/2. It's been too long since I've watched those shows to have any confidence in doing something IC. Also, not Loveless either since I haven't finished watching that anime or reading that manga yet. Whoops.

( So without further ado... )

Yeah, yeah, bad pun. Oh well. MarioKart for the Wii is awesome. Awesome.

It's the right blend of old tracks remastered and new tracks with new ideas. Bouncing on mushrooms? Check. Going through underwater tubes where it's so cool that you get distracted and stop looking at the track? Check. Tracks that change, like areas filling up with sand? Check. New music that's fun and fitting? Check.

Even better? My favorite tracks have always been Bowser's Castle. This one has FOUR. Four Bowser's Castles. A new one, the Game Cube one, the N64 one, and the GBA one.

I just spent 3 hours beating all of the 50cc tracks, hee. I haven't even gotten to the bikes yet, in 100cc, probably will later today.

I &hearts Nintendo.

You know, compared to sitting at a desk, being at a conference is a nice change of pace. There were points that were extraordinarily boring, but parts that were fun and interesting too. I think I'm happy I was sent.

A few points were made that I'm not so sure I agree with, like everything needing to be experiential if we want to reach 20-somethings and 30-somethings, but more experiential stuff does work. Of course, it works more if you don't wind up alienating the disabled. But I know that people with disabilities are rarely at the forefront of people trying to sell their brand or product, so we kinda get lost in the shuffle. It's a little disappointing.

They served us a pizza lunch today, hee. And while eating, I'm looking around at our group. Someone was missing. I glanced at R. "Hey, R, where's D?"
She glances around. "She was just here..."
M walks in. "Hey, weren't you guys riding with D? Any idea why she just left?"
Yep. We were ditched. She didn't bother to say a thing to us. I'm less than impressed. I got a ride home, though, with another coworker, an hour after the planned departure time, but an hour before poor R.

I'm home, though! Yay! And I can rest and play and be gleeful about MarioKart coming out tomorrow, hee! :D

We leave in an hour and a half.

We still don't know what bits we're meant to attend, hee...

Anyways. Broke my budget yesterday getting an eye exam and ordering new glasses. Yeah, ordering. Apparently my eyes are to the point that the lenses need to be sent out to a special lab to be made. Wound up spending $300... I'm just glad I prepurchased MarioKart, because at this point I wouldn't be able to justify spending $50 on a game, unfortunately.

I got a new haircut too, though, and I'm liking it. It's apparently called an inverted bob or something like that.

The conference work is sending me and a few others to starts tomorrow.

We have our namebadges (woo!) and tickets.

What do we not have? Our schedules. We don't know when we're leaving from here, we don't know when we're leaving from there.

We know that it starts at 1 and goes until ten on Thursday, starts at nine in the morning and goes until ten at night on Friday, and from 9 am until 3:30 pm on Saturday. We don't know which sessions we're being sent to, or really much of anything else regarding time.

Did I mention it starts tomorrow?

It would be nice to know some stuff, really. Please.

Edit: Nothing to put my minor grips into perspective like hearing about a worldwide shortage of grains - rice, barley, wheat... I wonder if this will inspire the government to stop paying some farmers to not produce...

Gosh, I'm tired. Last night I had I don't know how many weird dreams that kept waking me up, and I managed to remember bits of three.

( Dreams )

Anyways, three memes for you, tagged in different spots.

Meme The First: Ask any of my RP muses a question, get an answer!

The List
roving_warrior - AU real-world setting Zaraki Kenpachi (Bleach)
armed_with_pics - AU real-world setting Maes Hughes (FullMetal Alchemist)
mischievouswind - AU real-world setting Jin (Yu Yu Hakusho
life_oar_death - AU real-world setting Botan (Yu Yu Hakusho)

killinforfun - canon-based Zaraki Kenpachi (Bleach)

There's also flawed_justice - AU real-world setting Tousen Kaname. I can't guarantee an answer from him since sometimes he just doesn't work with me anymore.

( Seven Things )

( Listy Thing of Longness )

Our moron affiliate has a new moronic idea. I'm not surprised. But I'm beginning to think I should bring Tylenol to the office. When what he wants up starts with "[his country] is strategically located in [region]," you know you're in for a headache of a time. Dude. Forts are strategically placed. Tricorders when on a nudist planet are strategically placed. Countries? Not so much. And it just goes downhill from there. He has an ego the size of fifty countries, really.

Oh well. I'll be meeting with the two pipers again tonight who are planning their competition next year around mine, and we've found one lovely tune already. They're still looking for more, but the tune they found (hills of gilliecraic, something like that?) has suggestive swoops that would be perfectly complimented by twirls and flourishes. It's also an older tune, so theoretically no one else would be playing it, and judges like variety.

And, of course, since Monday night practice is at the normal place, I'll be venturing to the anime store to see if they have gotten in a Quincy cross or a Zaraki plushie. And now I'll be checking for anything YYH, too, since I'm in love with it. I don't recall seeing anything before, but since I didn't know the characters before, I doubt I would have noticed.

This week is going to be insane. We have a working-lunch meeting tomorrow, and a conference/seminar this weekend. I might be scarce from Thursday through Sunday, I don't know what my schedule will be like, or when we'll be getting back. Add to this that MarioKart for the Wii comes out on Sunday... heehee.

I need to finish my magazine article. It's not cooperating, though. I know what it's going to be about, but the first line is just being evil and stupid. I'll get it worked out.

The BleachMob seems to be up for movie cosplaying. :D I've talked to most of them except Lisa. This will rock. :D

The first Bleach movie, Memories of Nobody, will be in theaters June 11th and 12th. Article here. Yes, it will be the awful dub. But Bleach on the big screen. :D

Who wants to cosplay mob it, if there's a location near here? There's got to be, we're in the Orlando area, but...

Let's play? Jos? Jason? Laura? Lisa? :D

Real Life

I got distracted from my spring cleaning due to stuff going on, but I've still got some areas to take care of.

Cleaning list

Kitchen Cabinets - Was attacked by pots and pans yesterday, as the intricate tower structure that had been supporting them collapsed. The cake pans seem particularly aggressive.

Desk - I can't see it. But I know it's there somewhere.

Table - I get bored with mail sometimes, and it just stacks up. I get really bored with mail when I'm sick, so it stacks up very quickly then, and where does it stack up? The table.

Garden - I just weeded, but it's time to weed again. I need to figure out what's wrong with my peppermint plant. The soil is wet enough that adding water just makes it gush out the bottom of the pot, but it looks all depressed and wilty.

~*~

( Computer/Internet stuffs )

Comment, and I'll reply with a few sentences on why I value you as a friend. Then, post this on your journal so you can do the same to your friends. (Or not.) TURN UP THE POSITIVITY!

Also. Why are so many Irish slang sites blocked as porn? Dagnabitall. Not like I'm considering apping Jin if the one girl ever finishes her Botan app. No. Not at all. On the topic of YYH, I might like this icon just a little too much. Poor Hiei. (The short one in it. He stands at 4'7"... counting the hair.)

I need to finish my metro Kenpachi app. Can probably wrap it up this afternoon, or tomorrow, depending on how much tweaking I feel it needs, and how blasted long it takes to find songs with my memory of them.

Band practice tonight. I'll get to see score sheets. Could be interesting.

I'm feeling better yay! While my normal isn't 'healthy,' it's what I'm used to, and I can function and cook and clean and stuff. It's nice to see my couch again. Things just pile up there when I'm not feeling well. Purse, groceries, hats...

Now if someone would just app Chuu and/or Kuwabara in Mishima, my RP life would be so near complete.

Dang, I'm tired. Hee. Got home around ten, showered, collapsed around 10:30, 10:45.

I woke up at 2.

I don't think I've ever slept that long before, except when I've been really sick.

Anyways. While it was fun, yesterday didn't go all that well.

I figured I would do poorly in solos, as the piper and drummer who had agreed to work on a program with me were never both at a practice. I placed fourth again. The three who had the dedicated snare and piper took the top three spots, again. Another great fact - I had three pipers lined up for yesterday, just in case. One didn't show to the games at all. Another didn't show until an hour after I competed. The third showed up about five minutes after. I'm quite glad the pipe major was willing to play for me.

Next year, though, I've got a lead on a piper who wants to play for drum competitions, and is supposed to be good. I'm gonna start now on getting things together.

Band competition... well... see, there are four judges with band competition. One judges drummers, one judges ensemble (how the whole program works together) and two judge pipes. We got first from the drumming judge. However, upon marching in, someone's drones were making a discordant noise (technical term: double-toning). That would have minorly subtracted from our score, it wouldn't have been too bad. But then the piper behind her reached up and did something to her drones to get them to sound fine... as we marched in for competition. You can't do that. It's not allowed. But he did it anyways, and yay, automatic last. This would be the git that sneers at drummers and is rude 99% of the time. The one that has chased off a couple of pipers and drummers.

Bah.

Next year we'll be fielding two competing units. I do not want to be in the same unit as him. Anyone else in the band I'm fine with. I actually like everyone else.

Oh well. Drumming took first. I think I'll gloat a little about that...

To hear why Jackie hates her body of late, ( please press one now )

To instead skip to what showed up in the mail today and made her happy, ( press two now )

To hear these options in Spanish, please go back in time about seven years to when her teacher considered her close to fluent, before she started losing her grasp of the language due to not practicing it.

1) Reply to this post, and I will pick six of your icons.
2) Make a post and talk about the icons I chose.
3) Other people can then comment to you and make their own posts.
4) This will create a never-ending cycle of icon squee. Whoo!

These six were picked by Jill la_belle_roo:

( Icons and stories this way! )

So Tri's been feeling ill lately, and wasn't having a good morning. She requested that I write a ficlet Janet and I sort-of discussed on Janet's LJ, and gave me permission to post it.

Title: Four Captains, Zero Inhibitions
Author: Me/Nadat/Jackie
Word Count: 615
Rating: PG
Characters: Kisuke, Isshin, Shunsui, Jyuushiro
Summary: Streaking.

( 'I don’t think any of us even want to forget.' Isshin grinned. 'Though I bet the Old Man does…' )

Spring cleaning update: Dresser complete now too.

Yes, this post is likely as dull as the title makes it sound. Edit: Okay, maybe it's not.

I've never had a place of my own before, and I'm starting to get cluttered. It may not be spring yet, technically, but by golly, it's close enough.

And I has a plan of action.

Bathroom - get rid of the old stuff. Too many Christmas gifts of bath sets from distant relatives who don't know me means a whole bunch of stuff I've never used because I really don't like the scent. Also, I still have leftover stuff from when I was a theatre major. Why? Because I kept forgetting to throw it out. I'm using slight makeup again now, but I really don't need to worry that my professors are thinking about casting every moment.

Kitchen - organize the blasted pots and pans. They're going everywhere, and taking over. Take care of them before they get a flag and start claiming more cabinets for themselves.

Closet - I haven't worn pink in years. Why do I have a pink shirt? That and sundry others need to go. Along with all of the pants that fit me freshman year (holy guacamole, did I really think a size three was big??) and will never, ever again. No matter how much I hope.

Living Room - thankfully, not much to do here. Other than throw out the two DVDs that don't work. Really, hoping that 'this time' Sealed Sword Frenzy and Death Note will miraculously get over their problems and show me pictures is not going to work. Oh, and get the Sephiroth poster to stop curling up so I can see more than the hair and his belt. Granted, with all the hair, there's not much more than that to see, but...


Sidenote one: I hurt my heel somehow. It's red, and painful, and I couldn't stand having a sock on that foot. I have no idea what I did...

Sidenote two: Maes is still gleeful and exuberant about besting Dei in a verbal match. He really needs to stop gloating. Link is here, Maes is planning a picnic, and is armed_with_pics. Deidara is a bit of a reprobate in the community, speeding, mocking cops, etcetera.

Sidenote three: Faramir action figure is not very flexible. Most definitely, he is not as flexible as Yoruichi, and since he's standing in for Yoruichi as a model for a sparring thread, he needs to be. I first thought it was all the clothes, and that I needed to find another figure to work with. Nope. Cave Troll isn't flexible enough either. And he refuses to hold a sword. Okay, how many on my flist expected me to try to undress Faramir...

Also, Cave Troll towers over Aragorn, and that just doesn't fit. This then escalated to Treebeard taking over as Aragorn, since Aragorn is standing in for Kenpachi and thus needed to be taller. But Treebeard doesn't hold weapons either, and I kept bumping the thing on his back that makes him speak. Which lead to pulling out Gollem and making him speak. ...I'm getting the feeling that while in the beginning modeling a sparring scene with the figures was easier, it's instead getting distracting now.

And I need to find where Legolas' one arrow went...

The parade in The Villages went well. Our snare didn't show up until last minute, which had a lot of us worried, but she made it just in time. The band was split and playing at two different locations on a weekday afternoon, so it wasn't easy to get a lot of people out there, but we have a sufficient number. Our group has six pipers, a bass, a swing tenor (guess who) and a snare. The other one wound up with seven pipers, I believe, as well as the three drummers.

Fiddler's Green was awesome. I love playing at that pub. There's always so much energy, even if it does feel like a sauna inside. A very cute cop told us swing tenors we did an excellent job, but we had to get back to help the pipers warm up again instead of being able to talk further. We had all four swing tenors there. When Kelly, Jeff, and I are together, things get even more fun. Jeff and I can improvise at the drop of a hat, and Kelly goes with it. Alex... would be okay if he actually tried. But he's a pre-adolescent boy. Nothing holds his interest, and he doesn't practice.

The last of three performances at Fiddler's was awesome. Jeff and I had the stage and were going all out. In the crush of the crowd poor Kelly got stuck with Alex. The lights were hot, I kept hitting the microphone stand (Jeff hit the microphone) but it was a blast. The band performed our competition medly, and the whole crowd got into it. The strathespey, which is a dance tune, had the perfect bounce to it, and our jig was fast and crisp. The ending wasn't precise, but it didn't have to be, not in a crowded pub where people are bumping pipers. Yay St. Patrick's Day!

Of course, on the other hand, I got back to work this morning to find out policy/doctrine guy inadvertently pulled the rug out from under us. He told our moron affiliate essentially "In the end, it's your site, and you can do what you want, but we all should be aware of how things affect us as a whole, and strive to be aware of the implications regarding what we publish. We need a unified image." Moron affiliate read that how he wanted to as a "Go for it!" and so now I have to put up the rubbish he wants on his site.

Oh well. Monday was awesome. :D

I like gigs.

Played this morning for the FBI national leadership conference. That was interesting, a cop every five feet, had to be photographed, our ID was run through machines, walked around with interesting name badge/tags. Got to keep them, hee.

The trip home wasn't so much fun. On getting to the location it's at, the road splits and becomes one way. We're heading out, and I point this out to mom. She asks if I'm sure, says she didn't think it did, and decides to follow a piper instead of what I said. He tries to turn the wrong way onto the... surprise... one way street. Clearly he's lost. So we turn back around, headed for the way I said to go, and she's saying "Are you sure?" "I didn't see this..." "I need to remember to get reverse directions from places too.."

Wonder of wonders, I led us right. Granted, I do have a great sense of direction when I'm caring or paying attention. Just like Dad. And Dad even listens to me when I contradict him on directions, because 99% of the time, I'm right. Mom... does not listen. Ever. Hai, Mom, this is Jackie speaking. Not Meghan. This is the daughter who got off the freeway that was closed due to an accident and found her way home with ease, instead of the one who called in panic six or seven times. Please to be giving me the benefit of the doubt every once in a while. Kthxbai.

In another note, my Mishima Maes-muse (try saying that ten times fast) was very intrigued by the tables set up at the conference, and wanted to test some of the gadgets. I looked, but I did not touch. I'm not the brightest bulb in the box, but I do have some impulse control. Most of the time.

Two more gigs tonight: a parade, which is always a challenge, and then playing at a great Irish pub. I love playing at that pub. Especially because apparently last year, just after we left, a party behind it invited the band to their yard to play and eat and drink. Here's not-so-secretly hoping I get to have fun this time too. :D

First gig of this year's St. Patrick's Day rush went well last night, though it was a bit exhausting. Tomorrow is another, though they didn't need me for that one. Monday will be a bit insane, though. Playing for a conference, then a parade, then a pub.

Sidenote: How do I forget how much sex there is in James Bond movies? I think Bond, I think explosions and that theme tune that gets stuck in my head, and gadgets. But watching one again... DANG. It's like every ten minutes he's either getting laid or he's talking about it...

Our affiliate has been very, very quiet ever since editor-in-chief yelled policy guy into doing his job. This is good, because it means they're not making bizarre demands every other day. However, this also could be bad, because it suggests there's tension and frustration. The affiliate likes having stuff promoting them and how great they are on their website, and they want new stuff regularly. That they're not asking for it yet... not sure exactly what it means, but I really don't think it's a good sign.

ETA: Spoke too soon. Now I've got a flood of stuff affiliate wants. Botheration...

Anyways, stolen from Janet and Jill and someone else who I'm forgetting: Everyone has things they blog about. Everyone has things they don't blog about. Challenge me out of my comfort zone by telling me something I don't blog about, but you'd like to hear about, and I'll write a post about it. Ask for anything: latest movie watched, last book read, political leanings, thoughts on yaoi, favorite type of underwear, graphic techniques, etc. Repost in your own journal so that we can all learn more about each other.