I got my earlobes repierced today. I've been thinking about having it done for a really long time now, but it was just one of those things that it seems like you never get around to actually doing. I hadn't planned on getting them done or anything because in fact, I only went out today to look for a compartmentalized plastic box to keep all of my many fox curios in for international travel. And to get some food. I decided to have a look around a mall that was nearby and it was all over from there...

My new earrings are really cute. They're studs. Really. On both the back and front they are short conical shapes. I think I picked the "guy's" piercing earrings. No little gemstones or tiny metal balls for me. I didn't realize the backs were going to be identical to the fronts, but that's really quite cool as well. The best part is that my ears don't hurt at all. A much different experience then my cartilage piercing.

I'd say it's been a definite success. Even if I didn't end up getting a box for my foxes. Just couldn't find one I liked and that wasn't pink.

Last night I got really upset over one of those things that you feel kind of silly for getting so worked up about, but that nonetheless means a lot to you. So amongst other artificially created diversions, one of the things I did last night before I finally went to bed at 6am was I did up a version of the ShinRa logo with the lettering. Playing with graphics makes me feel better and it's an effective distraction, so it was time well spent.

Now, from a purely design point of view, I don't think the lettering aspect of the original logo was done well, but nonetheless it is canon, so...

The letters on the original logo are a bit thinner in the curves then the characters I ended up using and I probably actually do have that font somewhere in a library that hasn't been installed, but I couldn't be bothered quite that much. And I don't think it matters because it certainly is close enough. I keep obsessing over the tiniest differences in colours, too, like the orange isn't reddish enough or the yellow isn't bright enough. But of course I have to bear in mind that the "original" I keep refering to is a crappy .gif graphic, so that might not be anything to really go by. Still, feel free to use.

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Cafe Press is a bad thing! It just shouldn't be allowed.

As admitted in my previous post, I'm minorly obsessed with ShinRa. Apparently I'm not quite alone in the world because recently SquareSoft has been producing limited edition items with the ShinRa logo on it. The line is being called "Project Shin-Ra." It's quite strange considering that Final Fantasy VII is really get on in age now, unless a Shinra-centered sequel is in the plans. So far there has been a money clip (no longer available), a sterling silver pin, and a card case. I could have sworn I once saw some cufflinks, but it may have been the pin I saw. Tenatively, I'm getting in all of them. Why? I don't know. I've got no clue why I'm into them so much, but all I can do is accept that I am a Shinra junkie.

Yesterday I went looking to see if there were any nice Shinra logo graphics on the internet. I found one or two, but I don't know if I'd say they were "nice." They were grainy and had a limited palette. So I spent today making a larger version of it! It turned out really well and I've gotten some neat variations from playing around with it. I'm going to post a smaller version of the basic graphic here, but if anyone wants the larger version or an alternative version, just get in touch with me and I'll see what I can do.

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Lately I've kind of been noticing something about myself...

I'm strange!

Now I know that just about anyone who knows me could have told me that, but it's different when you start to discover it for yourself. The strangeness I've been contemplating today in particular is the fact that when I find something I like, I get really focused on it, bordering on obsession. I know I've always been like this, but why? Is it just part of my nature?

My latest little obsession has, of all random things, been the Shin-Ra Electric Power Company from Final Fantasy VII. Why? Just... why? I mean, President Rufus and the Turks are cool, and I have always loved Sephiroth, but it just seems like this interest is peculiarly out of the blue.

An hour's worth of ring tone later... I finally get through to someone at the British Consulate! Before my ears started to bleed! YAY!

They basically told me to ignore the fact that my visa said I was a guy because if everything else was right, it shouldn't matter. However, another concern of mine was the fact that the printing job on the visa itself was so misaligned that half a line of information got cut off on the bottom of the sticker. So I was told to fax in a copy of it and that they'd get back to me later today on whether or not anything needs to be done.

At the very least once I finally got through to someone they were friendly and helpful. And it's also at times like this that I'm grateful my apartment provides free copy and fax machines. What would have otherwise have been a complete pain in the ass turned into a quick trip downstairs in my split-toe tabi socks.

I applied for my UK marriage visa recently and within a week I had it back. Nice turn around time, but there's a slight problem. According to the off-printed visa sticker slapped on the 19th page of my passport, I am an 'M'...

Welcome me to Maleness!

Now I know that when Philip and I first met online, he thought I was a guy and continued to think so for a couple more years. And that sometimes I act like a guy when I'm with my girlfriends... and that there is indeed a very special place in my heart for male homosexuality... BUT....

How the hell could they get my gender wrong? Just in case I was really missing something I double checked the application form, my passport, and my birth certificate. I'm definitely female because they all clearly say 'F'.

At any rate, it's just kind of amusing in its own way. All I can do is wait until Monday when I can call up the British Consulate and go "Uhhh..." at them.

.... what have I done?! I think I just mocked John. Noooo! Someone save me! I don't know what came over me. It happened so quickly! It's just... it's so early in the morning. It's around 9:45 and I had just woken up... before I knew what had happened, it was there! What am I going to do?! Hide me!

(You can see the carnage here.) Tehehe.

Sometimes it's really strange how things work out. And sometimes you've just got to be awed at all the things your mind does in the background. Take today for instance...

(Warning: The following long story is not made short.)

Today I went for the last day of a tiny little anime convention that is trying to get up on its feet in Richmond, Virginia. To be honest, I was only going for the dealer's room because there are a couple of rare items I'm looking for and you just never know when they're going to show up. Item number one was a Sephiroth UFO catcher plushie doll. Item number two was one of the nice pre-made statues of previously mentioned hot FF7 bishounen.

So Shannon and I went around the dealers room once to just see what everyone had, then we did the second sweep. No Sephiroth stuff, although I picked up a copy of The Black Mages. It's a group that takes Final Fantasy battle music and gives it a rock and roll edge. I also asked for music recommendations based on some other things I had heard and was directed towards a Castlevania soundtrack. Haven't listened to the Castlevania one yet, but the Black Mages really grows on you. I wasn't so sure about it at first but now I love it. Besides these soundtracks I also picked up some stupid little stuff, like a Utena rose crest pin and a pair of Fruits Basket pins. (Yuki and Kyo in animal form. Very cute.) There was also a laminated trading card of Shigure. I affectionately call it my "perv-pass." It's presence in my pocket will help me become a novelist. But moving on...

On the third sweep, I noticed one of the vendors had a photo-album. A quick peek inside revealed.... CELS! But crappy cels that I just couldn't shake the feeling I had seen before. I ended up pawing through some pencil boards and stuff (looking for more Fruits Basket things to be honest) at the same booth when I noticed some Final Fantasy jewelry sets behind the counter. For some reason it brought to mind another item I had been wanting for a while... a Shinra Electric Company money clip. I had originally learned about the Shinra money clip (and Shinra cufflinks) from looking through the merchandise showcase at the SquareSoft website. I had only actually ever seen one available for sale on some American-based anime website. Apparently it's a really rare and limited edition item. Comes in a wooden box and everything. I knew it was going to be a stretch, but I asked the woman if she had one. She said she actually did have one, but she hadn't brought it with her. She did, however, tell me how nice of an item it was.

It was too bad she didn't have it with her. Because you know, Shinra company rocks. President Rufus and the Turks are way too cool. They're also completely about greed, so what better way to express it then with a fancy money clip.

Shannon later pointed out to me that I really should have gotten the dealer's information if I was that interested in getting one. Of course she was right, but it was definitely too late by then. When I got home I wanted to see if I could find that website that had had one. I knew it was one of the many anime dealer websites listed at Cels.org, because they also carried a really limited selection of crappy cels. And you know what? They were the exact same selection of crappy cels I saw at the convention today. That's where I started feeling really impressed with the human brain. It recognized crappy cels from series I don't care about and accessed the website history in the browser of my mind.

I bought the clip.

I know it's been awhile since I posted. I just haven't really been doing much, so there hasn't been anything to talk about. Really the only thing I've been doing at all is roleplaying with Philip via ICQ. Just the other day we reached our 100th log. Each log represents at least 3 hours worth of storytelling. So to say we've got a little saga going is an understatement I think. But it's good, you know. Because I want to write a book. After I get over this after-school slump and desire to do absolutely nothing constructive whatsoever, I should start thinking about a plot.

The plot is going to be the most difficult part for me, I think. I just don't have any experience building a storyline from scratch and putting in all those little twists and turns. Philip, on the other hand, is really good at that. Really really good. It's one of the reasons I have so much fun roleplaying with him. As far as why I think I'd be any good at writing a book, well... I'm really into characters and psychology. There are lots of different techniques when it comes to writing, but I sort of channel my characters through me. They end up very much leading their own lives. I'm just the person they use to express themselves. I'm pretty confident that if I can just come up with a good enough plot to guide them with, the characters will do their thing and build the rest. I guess I'm so heavy on character because I've been text roleplaying for a really long time. I came from the MUSHing sort of environment where there's almost never an actual plot going on, so you have to rely on the characters leadings themselves. I know there are character actors, but is there such a thing as a character writer?

But to tell the truth, really I just want to be like Shigure from Fruits Basket.

High school girls!

Ever since I started gathering kimono parts for my wedding, I've been trying to keep an eye out for something with a fox on it to have with me. But a fox motif is quite rare for women's clothing because wearing one would be like saying you were a kitsune and that has various meanings associated with it. Specifically that you are a fox in the form of a woman who is here to seduce a man and to take him away from the real world.

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So I'm looking for fox items and someone suggested I wear a fox netsuke.

A netsuke is a small carving that is used as counter-balance for a pouch or some other hanging object. A kimono doesn't have pockets, so in order to carry something around, you balance the item with a netsuke that sort of 'hooks' over the top of the obi sash. This set-up is called a sagemono. There are various items you can have suspended in this way, but one of the most common is called an inro. An inro is like a box with sections that stack on top of each other. You can keep very small items in it and I think they're traditionally used as pill boxes. Besides the netsuke and inro, there's also the cord that it all fits on and a small sliding bead that keeps the inro (or pouch or whatever you're suspending) closed. This bead is called an ojime and it's like a mini netsuke except the hole should go straight down through it unlike the holes of a netsuke which are usually on the back somewhere.

I've just finished getting all the pieces I need for my sagemono! Although I find that netsuke in particular are very addictive and I'm probably going to end up collecting them. I've got a fox netsuke that should be coming any day now and I've got a mini fox netsuke that I'm going to try to use as the bead because I have yet to actually find a fox ojime. Both are made from ancient mammoth ivory - which is an internationally accepted type of ivory that doesn't involve killing anything. I'm also getting in an inro that is shaped like bamboo and has bamboo etchings on it. The inro is carved from some sort of bone. It's actually really difficult to find an inro that doesn't have people on it or some sort of animal. I have yet to see a fox motif inro at all or one that is purely floral or abstract and in my price range. I was happy to find this bamboo one!

Once I get all these different parts in and put it together, I'll post a photograph.