Thursday, February 25, 2010

i've been on an artwork rampage as of late. it's because it's test time and i have nothing better to do at my desk i guess... my section of the exam is always scheduled on the last day of testing so i always have a whole week of waiting. that's not including the whole week of deadness leading up to the exam, too - it's the last week of buffer time that teachers use to finish up their lessons for classes who might be behind or to have the caught-up classes study some more. they never give me any of that time to be with the kids for fun, games or relaxation so i sit at my desk trying to convince myself i have some sort of great purpose lol.

oh, also i have completed my Hershey's kisses roses for my seniors in english club and the international understanding class! i think i posted a picture of what they look like around 2 years ago - roses for some special seniors i was training, but last year i didnt make any cause they didnt schedule me to come to my base school's graduation >_> anyway behold the 2010 bunch!


it'll be the last japanese high school graduation for me, so i hope the kiddies will like em!

i'm convinced spring is here. though all the teachers seem to believe it's still dead winter or something. here was the situation: it was warm enough before and after school on my bike wearing a short sleeve polo shirt. the staff room is always kept a toasty 25 degrees (which was a few notches warmer than it was outside) year-round, right... teachers come up to be making the --brr im so freaking cold gesture-- pointing to my bare forearms. i then point at the thermometer and then point out the window towards the sunny blue-sky day and say, "it's WARM today." then theyre like, "but, it's still winter!" then im like, "but it's 18 degrees outside lol" then they walk away mumbling something about the characteristics of 'young people.'

makes me want to break something lol. if it's warm you wear warm-weather clothes... because you don't want to get hot. i think the concept is pretty simple.

this goes back to the on-going uniform argument i have against schools. on a hot winter day, theyre not allowed to wear their cooler uniform, and on a cold summer day theyre not allowed to wear their warmer uniform. isnt that kind of... not good at all? then whyyyyyyyyy?!~

"because in summer, they must wear their summer uniform, and in winter they must wear their winter uniform. it is the rules and part of japanese culture." <---- REAL answer i have been given btw

ok i need to stop hating on the jp system lol

anyway brave story is most excellent. i got to the part where the demon world is unlocked and you get to fly around on a dragon so ive been collecting treasures! i think i'll get back to that now... while drinking my grape drink made from 20% fruit juice (i got it because it was a new brand on sale - fortified with Ca and vitamin C too lol).

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

DUDE.

there's this short story that a teacher buddy lent me, and boy oh boy is it epic, as in it totally blew away all my expectations by its rich content. it's broken into 7 parts, fully illustrated and is titled, "Big Fat Cat," by Takahiko Mukoyama and Tetsuo Takashima with studio ET CETERA.

http://www.studioetcetera.com/bigfatcat/

whoever wrote the dialogue is a genius - so natural and believable! they also slip in occasional four letter swear words which was a nice, quirky treat to find in a 4th grade (i guess?) reading level story.

sensational.

Monday, February 15, 2010

so i have another 'vacation' of sorts to be excited about again: pip and jakes coming to japan!
they've planned most of their time in the osaka + kyoto areas, which is good especially with the sakura firing away haha. i think what i'll end up doing is catch them on their first day of osaka or last day of kyoto or something. still have yet to iron details out.

on a related topic, i think i'm officially ready for spring to come! after being in such heavy snow i've come to realize that it simply is just NOT my element lol. though i must say as a CA kid, i thought i adapted fairly well to the frosty weather. i mean, our michigan buddy was having a harder time than me in hokkaido lol. cant wait to be back in CA...

oh, i gave up on an oekaki yesterday i was working on... i was using shi-painter... but i never use shi-painter for oekaki - im pretty comfortable with paintiBBS, and love oekakiBBS even more, but i had never really liked shi-painter that much... but yesterday i decided to give it a try and man, was that a lot of frustration. i was so frustrated i didnt even bother taking a screenShot of the work i did before closing the whole firefox window in disgust. it really was that bad haha.

i will now try to redeem myself with in paintBBS with whatever drawing that may appear lol.

Friday, February 12, 2010

Hokkaido 2010 pictures

i selected 87 of the 495 images i took ^^

i took some videos too, so if i ever get to hashing them all together, i'll put it on youtube and link it hehe.

...aaaaand here it is!

First Video


Second Video

and this just in!

photos from Prince

Friday, February 5, 2010

so i finished The Mists of Avalon today. it was deeply enjoyable, though i thought Lady of the Forest was more to my liking. the mists of avalon felt like it would have made a tight manga series though, because the passage of time was so laid out in detail. there was rarely any fast-forwarding, and when it did happen, it only leaped 1-3 years into the future, and considering that you read nearly 100 years of time, i think it was super cool. so much content!

now i can go back to zelda and brave story!

oh, our winter journey to hokkaido begins tomorrow!
... but before i come back and flood my blog with true wintry pictures of a snow-covered world, check out more local snapshots of one of the three friends of winter:


and i could have sworn it felt warmer outside today as well!

Thursday, February 4, 2010

"I am King Arthur!"
"... and we are the Knights of Justice! We pledge fairness to all, to protect the weak and vanquish the evil!"