Kyoko
-Wig - 80% (needs a bit of styling)
-Contacts - Ordered
-Jumpsuit - 98% (needs buttons)
-Love Me logos - 1% (have material)
-Belt + pouch - 1% (have material)
-Heart-shaped note pad - 0%

Shino
-Wig - 50% (it's mostly cut, needs to be straightened and re-curled maybe and the bangs need cutting)
-Contacts - Ordered
-Hat - 1% (have material except for tassel bit)
-Collar - 1% (have material)
-Wings - 1% (have material)
-Top - 1% (have material)
-Sleeves - 1% (have material)
-Gloves - Ordered
-Shorts - 100%
-Bootsocks - 55% (need heel pieces done, vinyl on toes, the tops finished, garters attached, and to be glued to the shoes.)

Polka
-Wig - Ordered
-Contacts - Ordered
-Kerchief - 1% (have material)
-Shawl - 1% (have material)
-Vest/Sleeves - 1% (have material)
-Shirt - 1% (have material)
-Apron - 1% (have material)
-Skirt - 60% (needs zipper, trim, embellishments)
-Bloomers - 90% (need to deal with ribbon)
-Stockings - 80% (need to dots painted on them)
-Shoes - .5% (have shoes, need to mod them, cover them, paint bottoms, attach lace, & embellishments)
-Buttbow - 0%
-Petticoat - Acquired (actually have two)

Not dealing with Polka's parasol for the sake of sanity. Hypnotic swirls! Noooo!

Despite being tired as shit and having an earache (which has more or less gone away, actually) AND not getting started until after 9:00 I got some sewing done today!

But all I really did was hem + elasticize the bloomers and sew the lace on. e_e But anyway, my first progress post for Polka!

( Two photos )

I'm really torn between thinking I'm doing pretty good progress-wise and thinking that I'm HORRIBLY BEHIND OH GOD OH GOD. e_e

Tentative schedule that I will fail to adhere to!

( Now cut because I noticed how freaking long it is! )

Books:
The Secret of the Old Clock by Carolyn Keene
The Mauritius Command by Patrick O'Brian
Delusion's Master by Tanith Lee

Manga/Comics:
Rurouni Kenshin 1-3 by Nobuhiro Watsuki
Bone: Out from Boneville by Jeff Smith
Cancer Vixen by Marisa Acocella Marchetto

I think July will be Mystery Month. I don't generally read mysteries, as I've probably said before, but I've got a few checked out that look good and I'm currently reading one that I'm really enjoying. This will also include rereading a bunch of the old Nancy Drews... Secret of the Old Clock is #1! I've got the second and third out right now as well. :D Oh boy.

But don't tell Rosalie. e_e

Also will be starting Let the Right One In probably tomorrow since I finally finished Delusion's Master. :D

Books:
Post Captain by Patrick O'Brian (I actually finished this last week but forgot to write it down)
H.M.S. Surprise by Patrick O'Brian
Death's Master by Tanith Lee

Manga:
The Demon Ororon 1-4 by Hakase Mizuki (now I remember why I didn't really like this series when I first read it)
MPD Psycho 9 by Shou Tajima/Eiji Otsuka

Damn, I read, like, nothing this week... Both the Patrick O'Brian books are audiobooks. I hardly sat down with a book at all. But I did get a lot of sewing done? And played Eternal Sonata? XD

That gets me to 87 books and 149 manga/comics.

I got Let the Right One In on bakemonokun's recommendation on Friday, but I need to finish Delusion's Master first (so far it is about crazy people!).

In other news, I think I might be getting sick... But I only have to work three days this week, so I will persevere. Yes, that's right! Paid vacation starts this week! Technically I'm not supposed to be able to use it for at least another pay period but somehow I'm using it anyway!

Books:
Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson

Manga/Comics:
Watchmen by Alan Moore/Dave Gibbons
Calling You by Otsuichi/Setsuri Tsuzuki
Dark Water by Koji Suzuki/Meimu
Go With Grace by George Alexopoulos (this was really, really good)
DearS 1-2 by Peach-Pit
Metamo Kiss 1-3 by Sora Omote

I feel a little weirdly about the end of Watchmen. Mainly that it ended on a really optimistic note. Or did it? Who knows...

That puts me at 84 books and 143 manga/comics. I'm actually trying to read all the manga I've bought over the past few months, hence all the stuff I read this week. My backlog is at 59 books I still need to read (reading them all will put me at my year's goal of 200 comics/manga, though?). I'm not counting the new omnibus edition of Clover that Dark Horse put out, though (I got it Friday, but I just re-read that series not too long ago I think so I'll just save that to read some other time and not put it on the list).

Tomorrow:
-Read requisite chapters of Miller textbook, read a good part of Watchmen
-Watch Persepolis
-Read articles (may end up saving this for Friday)
-Read through Lesson 1
-Wish I were only taking one class this summer

Thursday:
-Game night
-Do discussion board postings
-Write up "documentary report" thing.

Friday:
-Finish reading Watchmen (and finish the discussion board posting)
-Finish Lesson 1
-Finish whatever the hell else
-Finish Warbreaker e_e
-Also order contacts, pay doctor's bill, go to the bank, get oil changed, and go to the gym (not necessarily in that order)


I'm going to be stressed out and overworked for the next three weeks until the comics and graphic novels class is over. Xb At least after that I'm only in one class... Graphic Novels and Comics was supposed to be five weeks, not three! I'm glad I did most of the reading ahead of time even if she didn't tell us to... The only things I have left to read are Watchmen, Cancer Vixen, and the textbook.

The one good thing is that our assignments and shit for Graphic Novels and Comics are actually due Monday and not Friday, so if I get behind I have the weekend to catch up. I'm going to aim to keep my weekends as free as possible for the sake of cosplay stuff, though. e_e; Priorities, right? Ha ha ha ha ha.......

The worst thing honestly is that I'm going to have to read Watchmen instead of Warbreaker. And I really wanted to finish the first omnibus of Tales from the Flat Earth by Thursday so I could lend it to Gavin but that's not looking all that likely.

That said, I'm going to read it for the next couple of hours. I am 1/11 through Death's Master, and Delusion's Master is pretty short compared to the first two.

Books:
Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian
Night's Master by Tanith Lee
Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud (technically this is a comic book but to hell with counting it as one)

Manga/Comics:
Sugar Sugar Rune 1-8 by Moyoco Anno
Pedro and Me by Judd Winick
Maus I by Art Spiegelman
MPD Psycho 8 by Eiji Otsuka/Sho-u Tajima
Chikyuu Misaki 3 by Yuji Iwahara
Road Song 2-3 by Allan Gross/Joanna Estep

I could go on for days about how totally awesome Night's Master was. I cannot wait to read the other four books in the series.

It's odd that I didn't touch a YA book all week. Getting caught up on my adult reading, I guess.

Currently reading Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson. There's too much Siri and not enough Vasher so far. Also I have kind of a crush on Bluefingers, even if I can't remember his real name.

Ah, current book count is 83 and comic count is 134. Let's see if I can make 100/150 by the end of the month. e_e

Since I never post here anymore, my rather shifty cosplay plans have now been shifted to doing Polka from Eternal Sonata. e_e In addition to Kyoko and Shino, of course.

However, for Polka's skirt/shawl thing/bandanna I have been having a heck of a time deciding what to do. The color looks to me like it was once red and has faded enormously, but finding cloth that is actually that color? Pff. Moreover, I want to make it out of linen so I can look all wrinkly because I like the texture linen has, so that further limits my color choices.

My first idea was "Well, I'll just get red and bleach it!" Didn't work out so well. Next thought was "They make dye remover!" Didn't really work either.


Exhibit A: I'm sure there's a very scientific reason as to why the dye remover turns red to a barfy shade of yellowish orange... Also bleaching turns it hot pink!

Ali suggested just lightly dyeing pink with red to see how that looked, but the only pink linen they had at Joann's was a rayon/polyester blend (aka not dyeable). So instead I got some white and some off-white and today while I was sitting around feeling sorry for myself (I didn't go to work due to feeling like utter shit) I did some experimentation.


Exhibit B: The top row is the off-white and the bottom is the white, since it's hard to really tell in the photo. I think I like the last one on the off-white best. The only question is whether or not I'll be able to achieve a similar color when using the washing machine to dye the whole batch... The other difficulty is how hard it is to accurately tell what color you've got when the stuff is still wet, because the far right were really dark red until I dried them.

I did not even realize I failed to make a book log post last weekend. Last weekend was kind of nuts.

5/24

Books:
Sold by Patricia McCormick
Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis
Little Cricket by Jackie Brown

Manga:
Apollo's Song by Osamu Tezuka (this was really good but... also severely disturbing and totally does not belong in Freeman's teen section e_e)
Monkey High 1 by Shouko Akira

5/31

Books:
Breaking Through by Francisco Jiménez
Outlaws of Sherwood by Robin McKinley
Moribito II: Guardian of the Darkness by Nahoko Uehara
The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya by Nagaru Tanigawa

Manga:
Shoulder-A-Coffin Kuro 2 by Satoko Kiyuduki
Mushishi 7 by Yuki Urushibara
Junjou Romantica 8-9 by Shungiku Nakamura

Some quick reviews:
Moribito II was lovely. I read it in two days, and I actually wish it had been a bit longer. I think that the first one was a lot more interesting plot-wise, and actually II was a bit hard to understand at some points (there was a lot that was implied but not directly said, and I think that a lot of the world-building aspects could have used some improvement), but overall pretty awesome and a nice follow-up to the first. I am looking forward to more, that's for sure.

The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya I was actually a little disappointed by. For one thing, Koizumi, who I normally love, was actually really pissing me off in this book. His constantly repeating the same things and trying to force his philosophy on Kyon while saying he wasn't trying to force his philosophy on anyone was just kind of getting on my nerves. A whole lot. Also, Haruhi herself was pushing it in this book. In the first book, she's crazy, but entertainingly so. In this book it was... I don't know. Something about what she was doing was past the point of "Haha, oh Haruhi" and more to the point of "WTF even Haruhi cannot possibly have thought that was a good idea." There's actually a point in the book where even Kyon gets so fed up with her he almost punches her. They never took her to such extremes in the anime, and seeing as that was my introduction to Haruhi as a whole, I wasn't really expecting it in the book. That said, I'm a little disappointed they never actually really went into all the weird shit that went on while filming the movie in the anime (particularly Shamisen). And I do still recommend the book... even though it's a little irritating at times, Kyon's delightfully bizarre metaphors are wonderful as always. XD Of course none of you guys get to read it until October anyway, hohohoho.

As something of an aside, I also wish that Little, Brown would add some damn translation notes to these books. A lot of little things got left in as-is and some of them are references that really don't make sense, and it would be nice to know what the heck.

Now back to feeling sorry for myself (and making fruit salad!)

EDIT: Oh yeah, current book count is 80 and manga/comics count is 119!

-Read chapter 3 (never quite got around to it yesterday)
-Lesson 3 discussion (OP and response)
-Author study
-Read books for Multicultural Literature activity (really I've still got one to read but it's pretty short)
-Chapter 4 module (if I feel like it)
-Actually really finish the damn jumpsuit today (having to rip out 438238450932 seams means I didn't finish it yesterday... how many things can you sew on backwards before you start paying more attention, really?)

Again, though, first is a shower.

Things I gotta do today:

-Multiethnic books project (want to have this done by midafternoon so I'd better get a move on)
-Read ch 3 of the textbook (it's only like five pages; awesome)
-Pick out books for multicultural lit activity (I think I've already done this, actually, so it's more starting to read them)
-Respond to post on message board (evening)
-Go to Joann's and buy foam and zippers (and stop by Hallmark to buy a cocker spaniel) (except they had no cocker spaniels left)
-Sew sew sewsewsewsew. Wanna get everything but finishing stuff done today (should be no problem considering how much I did last night... just gotta do the back waistband and pants, put the cuffs on the sleeves, attach the sleeves, and sew it up the sides!)

First and foremost: a shower.

I am going to be completely exhausted until June 3rd... Three week semester, ugh! Why did I think this was a good idea?

Actually, I'm doing a good job of pacing myself so far. I'm trying to keep a day ahead during the week. I've got three projects I need to do this weekend, though (one isn't due until Tuesday but I want to get it out of the way by Sunday because we're having an extended gaming session Monday). Of the three, I've already started on two (really I've just gathered the books I need). The one due Tuesday I still haven't quite decided what books to do. Ideally it'd be something I already read but I just don't read that much multicultural literature on my own (unless fantasy cultures count?)

Beyond that, I'm also trying to do a bit on the Love Me suits every night. I'm doing a pretty good job of that as well! Unless the projects take more time than I'm anticipating I might even finish one jumpsuit this weekend (minus the Love Me insignia... I'll be doing those last). I also have ordered wigs for both Kyoko and Moko. :D My Kyoko wig is for some reason in Ontario. Probably will have progress pictures Friday, depending on how long it takes me to finish the picture book project for class (and I'm helping Dad in the garden also).

Last minute school reading!

Books:
From the Notebooks of Melanin Sun by Jacqueline Woodson
Monster by Walter Dean Myers
Finding My Voice by Marie G. Lee
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
Chanda's Secrets by Allen Stratton

Manga:
Full Metal Panic! 6-9 by Shouji Gatou/Retsu Tateo
Emma 8 by Kaoru Mori
Haridama Magic Cram School by Atsushi Suzumi

I actually still have three more books to read for the class that starts tomorrow but... whatev. I'll read them next week.

Still re-reading Outlaws of Sherwood, too, and once I'm done that and the school reading I feel obliged to read Tanith Lee's Tales from the Flat Earth since I'm playing Exalted now.

Having realized I don't need to finish all those other books until Monday I started re-reading Outlaws of Sherwood anyway.

ROBIN I LOVE YOU. Sooo cranky. Don't you know, Robin, that being cranky won't keep the rain out?

I haven't made a post with any decent substance in ages (all whining about work and... whining about work. And some book log posts). So here we go, for everyone who cares (if anyone cares).

-On the working out front, I've been doing pretty good I think! I'm going Fridays and Sundays and I'm going to try out going Wednesday after work this week, but may end up going after dinner instead. I kind of wish I could motivate myself enough to get up early and go before work but to hell with that. I didn't ride the bike today, either, mainly because I really wish I'd taken a break yesterday and didn't, and I have kind of felt like crap all day (unrelated to not having taken a break yesterday, though... I hope it's just allergies and I'm not getting sick, but I've had a sore throat and been sneezing constantly all day). I haven't been doing so well with not eating just for the sake of eating, though. When I'm bored at work, I tend to get the munchies. The obvious solution to this would be to not bring food to work, of course.

-On the cosplay front, uh, I should've worked on it a bunch this weekend and DID NOT. Because I suck. I'm just about done doing all the pattern modifications I think I need to do, though, so as soon as I do one more test and to make sure the sleeves are going to be okay I'll be able to start cutting out the real fabric, and after that I should have an easier time with my initial plan of working on it a bit every day (because sewing is the easy part) (I hope). I'm not working on Shino at all for another month at least, to see if I get anywhere at all in becoming not fat.

-Concerning school, I pulled off an A in both 5000 and 5600, phew (you know, I just remembered I never told Mom that so be right back). I have, like, no grades recorded in Children's Lit, though, so I dunno WTF happened there. Gonna email my professor about it soon, I think? Beyond that, I have like one million books to read for Multicultural lit (which starts the 18th, not the 15th as I previously thought!) (one million is actually six because I've already read ten). I wish I hadn't signed up for a Maymester class but TOO LATE NOW. Over the summer I am taking something and Graphic Novels and Comics, for which I have to read a bunch of stuff I have already read and Watchmen, which I still have no desire to read but now have to. She wants us to read one non-fiction graphic novel so I'm totally rereading Fun Home!

-As for work, I thought Bruce's extended vacation would be FUN PARTY TIME but it has turned out to be not so much. I can't wait until he's back next week even if that means oppression and tyranny. I also had FINALLY CAUGHT UP on my cataloguing so of course several boxes of children's and adult stuff came in today. And I have not even touched it yet between finishing up Bonnie's relabeling projects of doom, going through fifty thousand donations (who the hell even reads Reader's Digest Condensed Books, and why do people keep donating enormous collections of them to the library?), trying to figure out why the CD burner ate disc 4 of Pride and Prejudice (edit: actually the disc is okay!) and then trying to figure out why it wasn't working in general, and... what else did I do today? Oh yes, I talked about Star Trek a whole lot (was that work?). And as previously mentioned I felt like shit through the entire process.

-Speaking of Star Trek, awesome, and I'm seeing it again with Dad on Friday because IMAX STAR TREK. Should make me deliciously motion sick. I cannot wait!

-And apropos of nothing, on Thursday I am going with Ali to game with her buddies. It's actually kind of intimidating because I am a super noob and her gaming buddies have been doing it for ages. We're playing Exalted, a game I have never heard of and am attempting to educate myself on as quickly as possible. XDD Should be fun. Especially as they start at 6:00 and, um, that's when I normally get off work. So I'm going to attempt a half hour lunch so I can get off at 5:30 instead. Whee. Will also starve.

THAT'S ALL.

Kind of slacked off on the reading this week.

Books:
The Dust of 100 Dogs by A.S. King (this was really good)
A Step from Heaven by An Na

Manga/Comics:
Deogratis by Jean-Philippe Stassen
Full Metal Panic 4-6 by Shouji Gatou/Retsu Tateo

I haven't made a post about a weird dream in a while, have I? This one made little sense... And according to the understood dream-logic, it was actually an Arina Tanemura story. e_e I had some kind of animal transformative powers (I could transform into any animal I'd... eaten? Or something? Wasn't real clear) and was working with some other girl to try to bust a ring of, uh, people who sold fantastic animals. I think. Anyway, at some point I had transformed into a half-octopus mermaid thing and the dudes running the ring had a sale lined up with some old rich guy. Instead, I climbed up a wall, stole something, threw it in a fireplace, and ate a jewel. And somehow that saved the day.

Earlier in the dream I was sleeping in a bed that for some reason was stuck right in our entryway and someone threw up over the half-wall on me (right after I'd washed all the sheets!). Also part of that dream I had to call someone I know to tell them to come and get their bookends they'd left at my house. There was some guy hanging around during that part of the dream but I have no idea who he was supposed to be or why he was there (I think he was related to me).

Here's the song if anyone wants it. I really like it, so I thought I'd share (since I went through all the trouble of ripping it).

Eden of the East keeps getting better and better, btw. :D

Things to do tomorrow:
-Article critique
-Final Project reactions
-Put Mediagraphy together and turn in
-Leadership project report

I may do the Leadership project report tonight and I may not am not going to do the Final Project reactions until Wednesday. I should probably do all of it tonight but I have a costume to work on, hoho. e_e;;