Everyone has a story-

Another comic!

2007-11-07T02:05:27Z

Here's another comic by me. Not great art, but a little slice of my life.

MaiaArt!

2007-11-05T07:53:05Z

So, yeah, you don't hear from me for ages... Anyway, here's some comic strips about Japan!

One For All

It's Not Even a Fruit

So, I don't post in months then it's a meme...

2006-11-23T23:46:37Z

Sci Fi Book Meme
This is a list of the 50 most significant science fiction/fantasy novels, 1953-2002, according to the Science Fiction Book Club. Bold the ones you've read, strike-out the ones you hated, italicize those you started but never finished and put an asterisk beside the ones you loved.

1. The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien*
2. The Foundation Trilogy, Isaac Asimov --- Yes. I am a heretic. It bored me.
3. Dune, Frank Herbert*
4. Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert A. Heinlein*
5. A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. Le Guin*
6. Neuromancer, William Gibson
7. Childhood's End, Arthur C. Clarke
8. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Philip K. Dick
9. The Mists of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley*
10. Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury*
11. The Book of the New Sun, Gene Wolfe
12. A Canticle for Leibowitz, Walter M. Miller, Jr.
13. The Caves of Steel, Isaac Asimov
14. Children of the Atom, Wilmar Shiras
15. Cities in Flight, James Blish
16. The Colour of Magic, Terry Pratchett
17. Dangerous Visions, edited by Harlan Ellison
18. Deathbird Stories, Harlan Ellison
19. The Demolished Man, Alfred Bester
20. Dhalgren, Samuel R. Delany
21. Dragonflight, Anne McCaffrey* --- I attribute loving this one to being 13, though.
22. Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card*
23. The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, Stephen R. Donaldson
24. The Forever War, Joe Haldeman--- I keep meaning to read this one.
25. Gateway, Frederik Pohl
26. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, J.K. Rowling
27. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams*
28. I Am Legend, Richard Matheson
29. Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice* --- See Dragonflight.
30. The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin*
31. Little, Big, John Crowley
32. Lord of Light, Roger Zelazny
33. The Man in the High Castle, Philip K. Dick
34. Mission of Gravity, Hal Clement
35. More Than Human, Theodore Sturgeon
36. The Rediscovery of Man, Cordwainer Smith
37. On the Beach, Nevil Shute
38. Rendezvous with Rama, Arthur C. Clarke*
39. Ringworld, Larry Niven
40. Rogue Moon, Algis Budrys
41. The Silmarillion, J.R.R. Tolkien*
42. Slaughterhouse-5, Kurt Vonnegut
43. Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson*
44. Stand on Zanzibar, John Brunner
45. The Stars My Destination, Alfred Bester
46. Starship Troopers, Robert A. Heinlein*
47. Stormbringer, Michael Moorcock --- I think I have read this book... I've read some Elric book...
48. The Sword of Shannara, Terry Brooks --- How did this even make the list? It was the most boring cliche book ever.
49. Timescape, Gregory Benford
50. To Your Scattered Bodies Go, Philip Jose Farmer

I'm a little offended that The Song of Ice and Fire books didn't make this list. How was it compiled, I wonder? Significant in whose opinion? Where are Fahfrd and the Grey Mouser? Those books influenced the whole field of comic fantasy, one could say they created the field. What about the Neverending Story? So it was written in German, so what? What about the Princess Bride? That certainly deserves mention before the Sword of Shannara.

Yes, I am an opinionated snob.

quantamkitty @ 2006-07-10T13:51:00

2006-07-10T04:56:17Z

I got to be school photographer today, for a bike riding lesson (including a lot of traffic safety, and a particularly graphic demonstration of what happens when you jump out in front of a moving vehicle...). That was pretty nifty. Though it's particularly challenging to take pictures of some 140 moving children with a fairly low quality camera and bad light (nice and cloudy today) and expect anything good to come of it. I'd be surprised if one in ten turn out. Thank goodness for digital cameras!

That's about it for today.

quantamkitty @ 2006-06-08T08:55:00

2006-06-07T23:57:06Z

Today my cat woke me up at 5:15 with smelly litterbox failure. The day has not yet gotten better.

I need a better cat icon. This is from when she was still all little and cute. Instead of concentrated molecular evil with sharp, pointy teeth.

I made a promise, so here ya go- memage.

2006-05-26T01:12:31Z

Throw me your two cents and...

1. I'll respond with something random about you.
2. I'll challenge you to try something.
3. I'll pick a color that I associate with you.
4. I'll tell you something I like about you.
5. I'll tell you my first/clearest memory of you.
6. I'll tell you what animal you remind me of.
7. I'll ask you something I've always wanted to ask you.
8. If I do this for you, you must post this on yours.

Oh, Mr Sun!

2006-05-24T23:56:03Z

Random, random thought. I was looking at my little weather indicator on my cell phone today (and yes, my phone has a weather indicator... with cute little pictures... I love Japan...) and it's to be sunny for the first time in weeks. Lovely weather. But the little sun is red! I've pondered this in the past but I decided to write about it today, for the simple reason that I have nothing else to do.

Hand any little kid at home a piece of paper and ask them to draw the sun, and what color will they make it? Yellow, of course. Logical, since the sun is yellow, right? But hand the same paper to a Japanese child, and they will invariably make it red. How can you look at the sun and see something red? Where do you get red from?

Well, really, you can't look at the sun at all, can you? We know it's technically a yellow star, but when you manage that sidelong glance through the clouds or whatever, it comes across as white. And when it's setting, it's clearly red-orange. But we as westerners have as a group gotten together and decided that the sun is yellow, whereas Japanese have, as a group, made the decision that it is red. Hence the little smiling red sun on my cell phone this morning.

There are so many little things that our culture and upbringing decide for us- no matter how long I live in Japan, I can't look at a traffic light or a new leaf and claim that it is blue. I can't see a rabbit in the moon. I think the sun is yellow. I don't really know what my point is, here, but I think it's interesting, anyway. Maybe that when even the very colors we perceive are different, is it any wonder we have a hard time convincing out students that it's a good idea to look us in the eye and ask questions (not a problem I actually have, but my little guys haven't quite figured out proper behavior yet...)? Maybe just that immersing oneself in a foreign culture is more difficult than it might first appear?

Maybe that I spend too much time looking at my cell phone? Yeah, that's probably it.

Japan ahead of the world? Gender identity stuff.

2006-05-19T06:42:26Z

This article really surprised me. I doubt many schools would accept this girl as she is, and certainly not many in Japan. I do wish there was more information, though.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20060519a3.html

Things.

2006-05-09T06:58:34Z

I may have successfully fought off yet another attack of strep throat- knock on wood. This is really getting silly, but I seriously can't seem to go a week without another sore throat. I don't want to be on antibiotics again, I think that was starting to get to the point where the cure was worse than the disease. Hate antibiotics, really I do.

Also, BSG is evil and so is Ron Moore and I hate them like the evil, evil plague that they are... evil. Just evil. I could go on, but I think you get the picture. This is because I am waiting for Aabh's dad to send the second season, grr, grr, snarl.

What else? There is nothing in the world quite as awesome as Costco. Nothing. Except for a nice MLT...

I have nothing more to say, I don't think. I still live.

Star Wars fanart.

2006-04-30T08:01:20Z

On the lack of moneys.

2006-04-27T05:12:08Z

There was a time, way back when, when I was comfortable living on the edge of destitution. I remember buying tea one teabag at a time because the little co-op in Nederland sold them for 10 cents each, or baking bread not because I enjoyed it (though I do) but because flour was cheap. The days of Breakfast Ramen (a fabulous invention of djinni). I've been living the good life a little too long, never having to worry about things like that, and I can see a serious change in my attitudes about money. For the most part, of course, being able to eat and buy manga and feed my cat is certainly not a bad thing, but consider- my rent is due tomorrow. I get paid Monday. And I'm not going to pay rent 'til Monday, not because I can't- I'd be left with 50 or 60 bucks but I can pay it- but because I worry that something might happen between now and payday. I mean, what if my cat eats something wierd and I have to take her to the vet? I have to have a cushion!

I've got a completely different idea of what the word 'broke' constitutes of, now. I feel put upon if I have to cut back on my dinners out or trips to the karaoke bar, if I decide I need to buy new work clothes and have to wait a week or two. I can't imagine going back to the old way, though. After all, a little complacency is better than a straight week of egg sandwiches. Or pancakes.

Though the Breakfast Ramen was pretty yummy.

quantamkitty @ 2006-04-19T14:44:00

2006-04-19T05:57:52Z

"Eat healthily. A good rule is to eat 10-15 calories per pound of "desired body weight." If your ideal weight is 170 lbs, then consume 1700-2550 calories a day (1700 for sedentary individuals and 2550 for extremely active types.)"

Ran into this bit of healthful advice on a page of tips on cold prevention. So let's see... I'm about 110 pounds but I'd rather be 120, so I should eat between 1200 and 1800 calories a day. Even if we assume I'm active (ride my bike to work, classroom on the third floor, play with the kids at lunch...) and thus get to eat 1800 calories, I'd still be on the verge of starving myself. And 1200- I want to get almost that much out of one meal (slight exaggeration here, but really). 1200 calories is enough for a sedentary 8-year-old.

People should think before they put stuff like this on the internet. If we can't trust the internet, what has the world come to?

Of course, the whole reason I was at the page in the first place is because I feel like I'm coming down with something, again. Would make it like the 12th time this year. If anyone has any magic not-get-sick tricks (other than "don't work at elementary school"), please tell me.

Birthday thing. And some other stuff.

2006-04-14T05:26:10Z

Yesterday I taught the teachers at my school the word "spork". And that made my day, because they all got it and laughed. Sporks make everything better.

Now, for that birthday meme. Good day for declarations of war and plane crashes...

1. Type in your birthday (minus the year) in the search bar at Wikipedia.com
2. List three interesting events, two births, and one death that happened on your birthday.

Events-
Dec 8, 1609 - Biblioteca Ambrosiana opens its reading room, the second public library of Europe.
-----This is appropriate.

1941- World War II: Pacific War - After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour the U.S. Congress passes a declaration of war against Japan.
-----And so did a bunch of other countries. Japan didn't pay it much mind, and up and attacked Hong Kong.

1980 - John Lennon is murdered by Mark David Chapman in New York City.
-----My mommy and I sat around in the park holding hands with a bunch of other hippies and singing "Give Peace A Chance."

Births-
1542 - Mary Queen of Scots (d. 1587)
-----I love this woman.

1832 - Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, Norwegian author and Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1910)
-----And this guy just has a cool name.

Deaths on Dec 8 are pretty boring and it would just be silly to say John Lennon again...
899 - Arnulf of Carinthia (b. 850)

And that's that.

I don't really have much to write about here, I'm noting.

Song of Ice and Fire
Your world is 68% Sophisticated, 40% Unconventional, and 52% Intense!

You have the dubious honor of residing in Westeros. I say dubious because while your world is very intense at times, and has tons of cool-yet-mostly-generic noble houses and knights and evil Others, it is also sophisticated and very, very real. Main characters have no innate protection against untimely death. None at all. Protagonists drop like flies. In fact, the only characters who die more often than protagonists are... everyone else. That's right. You'll starve, be raped, dismembered, frozen to death, or thrown off a thousand foot precipice. If you're lucky you'll just have your face split in two by an axe and live to tell the tale. But it's sure going to be fun for us to read about.

My test tracked 3 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:

You scored higher than 76% on Sophisticated

You scored higher than 46% on Unconventional

You scored higher than 68% on Intense

Link: The Which Imaginary World Fits You Test written by Azurain on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

Art Quiz

2006-03-23T02:49:54Z

1)General stuff
Q1: What's your HN(handle name)?
quantamkitty

Q2: Why do you call yourself that?
Pretty much because I thought it sounded cool. And I was tired of calling myself after an old roleplaying character.

Q3: Do you use a Mac or a PC?
PC.

Q4: What program do you use to do your pictures?
Photoshop. One of these years I'll actually get good at it.

Q5: Do you use a tablet or a mouse?
Don't I wish I had a tablet... It's on the list. But the list is long.

Q6: What colours do you use a lot?
I use a lot of red, lately. Otherwise, hmm- dark blues and greens and greys.

Q7: What area of the pictures do you put most effort into?
If this means "spend the most time on" it would be photoshopping it. But that's mostly battling with the mouse. See tablet note above.

Q8: About how long does it take you do finish each picture?
For anything I consider worthwhile? At least two hours.

Q9: Do you keep your rough drafts?
Sometimes... Stuff I like, I keep. Stuff I don't like, gets biffed. Also, the cat likes to bite paper- anything with too many bite holes meets Mr. Round File.

Q10: What special effects do you often use?(photoshop)
I blur a lot. And use pattern fill. Um... Difference Clouds are very cool.

Q11: What size do you colour your pictures in?
Is it really bad that I don't actually know the answer to this question? Whatever the default is for what comes off my camera, I guess.

Q12: Do you do anything else when you're drawing pictures?
Listening to music, always. Usually I just keep the current picture open and add a bit when the mood strikes while I'm doing other stuff.

Q13: About how many pictures do you draw in a month?
Perhaps two. Though I intend to change that.

Q14: What paper do you use to draw on?
Either copy paper or a sketchbook. Usually I do a sketch on office recycle stuff, and if it's any good I redo it in the sketchbook.

Q15: What material do you use when working on paper?
Mechanical pencils, waterproof pens if I remember, red pens on the roughs to mark the lines I want to keep, white pens as white-out, watercolor pencils.

Q16: How long does it take to ink something?
I suck at inking. If I properly ink something, it can take me a good hour to do a page.

Q17: Do you do doujinshis?
No, though I have done a few pieces of fanart. Well, there were those ten pages of Tam-Lin.

Q18: What do you like most about doujinshi?
It seems to be a good way for starting artists to get noticed in Japan. A lot of my favorite artists got their start that way. I haven't actually read a lot of it, though.

Q19: Ever submitted anything to a magazine?
No.

Q20: Did any of those submissions go through?
I did the cover for a play program, once. It sucked- I was about 15 at the time. Other than that, nope.

2) Things you like

Q21:Favorite artists?
I like the Rennaissance artists. Fra Fillipo Lippi, Da Vinci, Botticelli, etc. In more modern stuff- Michael Whelan, Yoshitaka Amano, a whole messload of manga artists, most of my friends.

Q22: Favorite anime/manga? Western comic?
Currently I am obsessed with the manga Victorian Romance Emma. It is geekily Victorian, to the point that they've published a reference guide to help the average Japanese understand all the references. Um... Hellsing, Sailor Moon, anything Neil Gaiman wrote.

Q23: Any characters from those anime/manga/comic that you really like?
Emma, Kelly Stowner, Death, the 1602 version of Jean Grey (and pretty much anyone else- amazing what a doublet will do for a character.)

Q24:An artist that you'd like to draw like?
The guy (or gal, I don't know) that does the Solid & Etc fanart for Hellsing. That person rocks.

Q25: Any magazines that you buy a lot?
Not a one.

Q26: Books that have been used as a good reference?
I have the eenternet. An Evangelion book that I use setting up model sheets, other than that not really.

Q27: Any video games you enjoy?
Castlevania.

Q28: A character from those games that you really enjoy?
Whip the Zombies! Whip it! Pretty much any of them, really.

Q29: Favorite writer?
Steven Brust, Ursula K. LeGuin, Heinlein.

Q30: Any books you really enjoy?
Books are my closest companions and soulmates... Um. Anyway. Forever Coming Home, LeGuin. Brust's Parfii romances. Heinlein's later stuff, like Time Enough For Love. Lots more.

Q31: Do you write your own stories?
Yes.

Q32: Any music that you often listen to while drawing?
I usually do a random playlist. Sometimes I'll put a CD on if I want to be in a specific mood.

Q33: Any songs/music that you'd recommends to others?
I like Cirque du Soleil.

Q34: Any websites that you totally admire?
http://www5e.biglobe.ne.jp/~solid/top-new-2/mainpage.html <--This one.

Q35: Any sites that you go to every day?
Mail, some forums, Livejournal.

Q36: What kind of webpage do you wish you had?
Um... one with a comic that actually got posted?

Q37: Do you like your own art?
Occasionally I look at something I drew and say 'That's pretty awesome, Maia.' But most of the time, I say 'Bleh.'

Q38: What do you enjoy watching on TV?
If I want to watch something, I rent it. The only thing I watch broadcast is the weather.

Q39: Favorite celebrity?
Celebrities are evil incarnate. That said, I rather like Johnny Depp.

Q40: Favorite colour?
Err. Dark red, or blue, or maybe I like pale pink and yellow because it's spring... I can tell you what I don't like. Orange. Unless it's a tiger-lily... okay, I fail.

3) Your opinions

Q41: Favorite food?
Fried shrimp! Yummmmmmm...

Q42: Favorite drink?
Hot chocolate, particularly at this one restaurant near my house, coffee, tea, cream soda, grapefruit juice.

Q43: Any stores you visit often?
Joyful Honda, home of everything.

Q44: Do you like to cook?
More than I used to. I can bake bread.

Q45: What mailing service do you use?
Yahoo.

Q46: What kind of computer do you use?
A loptop of some Japanese brand that I cannot call to mind at the moment, since I'm using a work computer right now.

Q47: Would you like to be a professional artist?
I'm not sure. It would be very cool to get paid to draw, but the idea sorta makes me nervous.

Q48: Any other jobs you're interested in, besides an illustrator?
I think I'd be an extremely cool cranky used bookstore owner.

Q49: Any other hobbies besides drawing?
Writing, sometimes. Photography, but nothing artistic, just geeky touristy stuff. Sometimes I sew.

Q50: Do you like movies?
I do. But bad movies make me die a little on the inside.

Q51: What's your favorite movie?
The Princess Bride. Or Adolescense of Utena.

Q52: What do you use to colour your pictures when it's on paper?
Color pencils and watercolor pencils.

Q53: When did you start drawing seriously?
Sometime about 10th grade.

Q54: Have you ever entered art contests?
Yup. Won one, too. But it was a random drawing and didn't count...

Q55: Anything that you often use as a reference?
I actually use myself quite a bit. I've gottem pretty good at juggling the camera and mirror to get the exact pose I want.

Q56: Do you have many online friends?
Yes, though I tend to drop off the earth and lose them.

Q57: Do you have many online friends who like to draw?
I do. Does Tod count since I know him for real?

Q58: What time of the day are you usually online?
Not very much. Evening a bit, free time at school.

Q59: Do you go to chatrooms a lot?
Not really.

Q60: Do you have your own computer?
I do! It is shiny and covered in stickers.

4) Thoughts

Q61: What would you say to the person you admire?
Um... Hey, you're pretty cool.

Q62: At what kind of situations are you glad you were able to draw?
It is essential for teaching English. My three-second blackboard sketches are out of this world.

Q63: Situations where you aren't glad that you liked to draw?
Nothing comes to mind...

Q64: Do you have many offline friends who like to draw?
Yup.

Q65: Where do you like to hang out when you're with friends?
I like going out to the Karaoke places with my buddies. Also, Coco's for food.

Q66: Do you have any artists that you don't like too much?
I don't like modern art. A black square just doesn't interest me, even if you call it a cow. There's a lot of manga/anime art I think is crap, especially the stuff aimed at boys. I can't think of any names because I just don't bother with it.

Q67: Situations in which you really don't like being online?
When I spend all my free time doing nothing. That would be why I quit rping.

Q68: Situations in which you like being online?
When I can keep in touch with people I like, mostly.

Q69: Something that makes you really glad that the internet exists?
I don't know what I'd do without it, really. I need it for work- last minute clipart flashcards are a specialty of mine and I use ideas I find online all the time. If I need a picture of a Capybara, I can get one. And I keep up with my buddies, too.

Q70: What about things that make you NOT glad that the internet exists?
The death of letter-writing as an art.

Q71: What's the first picture you've ever shown to the public online?
There were a batch of graphite pencil sketches I uploaded to Elfwood about my sophomore year of college- those were the first ones.

Q72: Do you still have that picture?
My sister lost that sketchbook. I wish I still had it just so I could look at it and say "See? You do get better."

Q73: Has your drawing style changed a lot?
Hugely. That was before any anime/manga influence or subsequent attempts to vary from the above, before any anatomy study or life sketching (not that I have anywhere near enough of that...) before I read comics regularly.

Q74: How does it usually change?
I'll learn something or set myself a challenge (like, draw somebody actually moving). Style is a fluid thing. I try to break out of it consiously.

Q75: Have you experienced artists block before?
If someone says no to this question, they aren't human.

Q76: How did you escape from it?
Wait. Sad but true.

Q77: What happens when you have artists block?
I read a lot of books. And get mad at myself.

Q78: Any artists that have influenced you a lot?
Too many to name.

Q79: What made you like drawing?
I drew with my mom since forever, and just sort of... kept doing it.

Q80: What made you want to get a website?
I don't have one. Does DeviantArt count? I got that just to show a few people but I'm trying to keep it up.

5) Finally...

Q81: Why did you name your site what it's called?
Have no website.

Q82: What do you think about net manners?
Important! Manners make everything work better.

Q83: Have you ever been spammed?
There's this Monty Python song... Actually, it's not that bad.

Q84: Ever thought about quitting your webpage?
HAVE NO WEBPAGE.

Q85: If so, why?
See above.

Q86: About how much KB is each picture?
No clue, don't care.

Q87: When creating your site, do you use a program or pure html?
GRR!

Q88: Do you have good eyesight?
Reasonably.

Q89: If you can get any person's autograph, who's would you get?
Somebody dead.

Q90: Have you ever been asked for your autograph?
Yes, the kids at school have these little signature books.

Q91: Do you have any fans of yourself?
No one who isn't imaginary.

Q92: Do you like to oekaki?(paint-bbs)
I'd like to try, but want a tablet first.

Q93: Are you good at art(as in the school subject)?
Pretty good.

Q94: Have you ever taken any art lessons, aside from school?
I took it as electives in college.

Q95: Have you ever drawn comics/manga?
Yes.

Q96: Any quotes that you like?
Yes. I keep a little book of them.

Q97: Do you think your personality is different when you're online, from when you're offline?
Not really. I bow less.

Q98: Your goal?
Working on that.

Q99: A message to yourself.
Draw more, stupid girl.

Q100: A message to the people who have read this.
I applaud you for your stamina!

Internet and the impending lack thereof.

2006-03-22T13:27:45Z

I should make the best out of this internet thing while it lasts. But I probably won't.

I think my life will be better without internet, honestly. I lose hours doing absolutely nothing and I have nothing creative to show for my life over the last year. Pretty sad. So for that, and money reasons, I'm thinking I'm not going to put internet in at the new place. I just don't need those kind of distractions. I can do email and forums and stuff from work, and really, what more do I need?

So, yeah, internet free Maia. Maybe y'all will see some actual art or something out of me. Maybe a novel. That would be pretty spiffy. Although, I predict something more like 'reading a bunch more novels.'

Meh. I need to go to bed and kill my cat.

Ten Top Trivia Tips about Quantamkitty!

Women shoplift four times more frequently than quantamkitty.
In the 1600s, tobacco was frequently prescribed to treat headaches, bad breath and quantamkitty.
Quantamkitty can smell some things up to six miles away!
Quantamkitty is the only metal that is liquid at room temperature.
The moon is 400 times closer to the Earth than quantamkitty, and 400 times smaller.
You can tell if quantamkitty has been hard-boiled by spinning her. If she stands up, she is hard-boiled!
Oranges, lemons, watermelons, pineapples and quantamkitty are all berries.
The number one cause of blindness in the United States is quantamkitty.
California is the biggest exporter of quantamkitty in the world.
Quantamkitty is the sacred animal of Thailand.

I have a cool new River icon.

2006-03-21T02:59:34Z

I note that Livejournal will not allow 'killing you with my brain' as an interest.

This is what I do when I'm supposed to be packing.

quantamkitty @ 2006-03-20T15:46:00

2006-03-20T06:49:10Z

I have fun taking these tests, but I wish the people who wrote them would check their grammar. Apostrophes are our friends. So are capital letters.

Not the result I expected; in fact, it seems very off. But okay, whatever.

The Star
You scored 61 change, 65 wellbeing, 73 wisdom, and 46 truth

The woman in this card represents the subconscious mind gathering knowledge from the universal subconscious and pouring it over humanity. The right leg that supports her weight is bent in a 90degree angle suggesting that all will be learned if you search in the right places, with her foot resting in the pool of knowledge. The left hand pours the waters over the land and it disburses into 5 separate streams representing the 5 natural senses of man.

some extra words:

regaining hope
having faith in the future
thinking positively
believing
counting your blessings
seeing the light at the end of the tunnel
feeling great expectation
looking forward to success
being inspired
regaining motivation
realizing an inner strength
seeing the way clear
being stimulated to a higher level
creating
receiving the answer

being generous
wanting to give or share
spreading the wealth
opening your heart
giving back what you have received
letting love flow freely
offering with no reservations
holding nothing back

feeling serene
experiencing peace of mind
relaxing
finding your still center
remaining untroubled
savoring perfect calm
being tranquil amid trouble
enjoying harmony

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:

You scored higher than 58% on change

You scored higher than 51% on wellbeing

You scored higher than 69% on wisdom

You scored higher than 9% on truth

Link: The What tarot card resembles you Test written by KamikazeParrot on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

quantamkitty @ 2006-03-20T13:02:00

2006-03-20T04:25:41Z

So today I have to start moving. Again. One of these days, I'm actually going to live in a place for more than a year, and it will be the upper end of awesome because moving is HELL. I don't expect my cat will make it any easier. In fact, I expect she will do quite the opposite, as she is a demon disguised as a small fuzzy kitteny critter.

A friend of mine, also moving, dropped off a box of stuff that she was giving to Guy, who hasn't got an apartment yet, so I'm holding on to it. That was a lot of commas. Anyway, said box is seriously big and heavy and stuff, and packed full of all sorts of random possibly useful stuff. So this morning at 6:47 precicely, I hear a beeping noise. Given that it's 6:47, my mind is not entirely there, and the first thought I have is that it's maybe a fire alarm. Of course, the fire alarm didn't go off when I burnt an entire pan of soup to rock hard cinders a couple weeks ago, and I'm not certain I actually have one, but the morning mind does not recall such things.

I sleep naked. One of my perennial fears is that someday in the middle of the night there's going to be a fire or an earthquake or something equally catastrophic and I will be forced to go running outside stark naked and clutching a cat. Fortunately, there didn't seem to be any cause for that, nothing was burning or shaking, just beeping. Emanating from the Box of Doom. And just as I had started to search for it, it stopped.

Okay, great. No more beeping, getting on with the morning, make coffee, start thinking about shower... beep beep beep beep... This is now getting annoying. Still have not had coffee, still have no brain. Cat is demanding food in her most convincing underfoot fashion. And I start tossing things out of the Box of Doom. Hangers, pots, pans, mirrors, cups, sheets, Aha! A clock. With a snooze button! I win! Only, no, because nothing happens. Push every button, pull out the battery, no dice. What the hell? So I stand there stupidly holding this clock until the beeping stops again.

Well, I have the Box of Doom half empty, might as well finish it. Turns out the culprit is one of those extremely cheap prepaid cell phones that are so popular in Japan. I can tell, because it says "snooze mode" in the screen... and because it's started beeping again. So I push some buttons. Nothing. This is very annoying. I can't turn the damn thing off. I've lost three quarters of my morning to this thing. AARGH! It takes me yet another round of beeping to come up with the idea of pulling the battery out of this one. I am not at my best in the morning.

So her I am, on what is going to be my busiest day in weeks, lots of classes, moving after work, and I get no breakfast and no shower due to this stupid thing. The moral of this story? Perhaps it should be "Don't accept boxes when you don't know what's in them." Or maybe "Check whether you're giving a bomb to your friend." Or "Never eat soggy waffles." I don't know.

Who sets an alarm for 6:47, anyway?

Fire, Fire, FIRE!

2006-03-16T23:46:56Z

Blaze
~ 59% Water ~ 62% Wind ~ 51% Earth ~ 81% Fire ~

I've got a ruby red desire

I've got to hear the red bird sing...

Let's see... your personality reminds me of the...

...fiery Ruby, the red variety of corundum, or its little sister, the Garnet that inspires love, passion and sensuality. Your colour is the luscious red or glaring pink.

Interpretation:

Out of the seven chakras, the Ground Chakra, which is associated with the element of fire and represents our basic desires and driving force, seems to be predominant in you. Though you will certainly be fun to be around, this may result in a tendency to make decisions impulsively or feel restless and agitated.

You can balance it by wearing an Aquamarine or a Turquoise; they both inspire balance, peace and serenity.

A Tarot references concerning your predominant element:

If you are a young lass or lad and still unmarried your card is the Page of Wands. Young women, especially married ones, identify with the Queen of Wands, also known as the Queen of Clubs. If you are a young, unmarried man, you are the Knight of Wands, and married or mature males are identified with the King of Wands, commonly known as the King of Clubs. Ladies and gentlemen, here is your strong-willed man you've been looking for.

These are the results you will get if you score highly on...

None of the four elements: Balance Wind: Gust Fire: Blaze Water: River Earth: Valley Wind & Fire: Thunder Wind & Water: Clouds Wind & Earth: Canyon Fire & Earth: Lava Fire & Water: Tornado Water & Earth: Trees Wind, Fire & Earth: Storm Wind, Fire & Water: Stars Wind, Water & Earth: Forest Fire, Water & Earth: Avalanche All four elements: Harmony

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:

You scored higher than 59% on water

You scored higher than 13% on wind

You scored higher than 27% on earth

You scored higher than 88% on fire

Link: The Elemental Balance Test written by Nitsuki on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

Better than I thought.

2006-03-07T23:33:21Z

Very Smart
You scored 85% knowledge, and 0% confusion

You are very smart. You know a lot of details about the world. You have probably traveled a bit and were paying attention along the way. Also, you didn't choose any (or many) seriously incorrect answers. Great job on that part. Don't forget to vote on this test!

My test tracked 2 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:

You scored higher than 42% on knowledge

You scored higher than 0% on confusion

Link: The World Geography Knowledge Test written by dowland2005 on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

Hah! As usual I am very good at guessing on tests. Sadly, that has actually become a useful life skill in modern soceity. Yay I know stuff!

This year...

2006-02-27T06:01:59Z

... I've been sick a good four or five times. And I'm all the time worn down. This sucks.

Today I'm not even sick- I just hurt. And standing up makes me tired. Come to think of it, so does sitting down. I'm not even swordfighting or anything that might explain tired and sore muscles. As I said, this sucks.

And I'm out of sick time.

Okay, time to finish ranting and go back to work. Hate the world today, I do.

March of the lemmings.

2006-02-19T07:40:14Z

You Are a Traveler Soul

You're a thrill seeker who loves to be active and on the move
You love to wander: between places, ideas, and people.
A good communicator, you're a nonconformist and interested in the world.
You are an explorer, a good storyteller, and a true dreamer.

Because you're always on the move, you can be a bit fickle.
It's difficult for you to make personal commitments.
Don't be so quick to ignore emotional issues and problems.
You're much more intuitive and psychic than you think.

Souls you are most compatible with: Retrospective Soul and Dreaming Soul

What Kind of Soul Are You?

This is spot-on.

quantamkitty @ 2005-11-01T07:39:00

2005-10-31T22:41:58Z

I'm going to write a novel this month. I'm really going to do it this time, durnit. This account is so I can post it from work. Really, nobody needs to read it.

Actually, on the very, very off chance that I might ever publish this thing, I'm friends-only-ing it. If you're my friend and actually have an interest in reading this monstrosity, post here.

Acnowledgements so far-
Lonely Planet Japan provided the brief overview of Nikko that I needed to refresh my own memory.
Wikipedia for some basic information on Japanese folklore to get me started, though I'll be needing a lot more.

Disclaimers-
-I like living in Japan. The MC doesn't, so she'll probably say a lot of things about Japan and Japanese people that I don't agree with at all. It's fiction.
-I have done most of my research through Wikipedia, and made a phenomenal amount of stuff up. This is not even remotely accurate with regards to the mythology.