Anime Top Five

This is going to be a boring post for everyone who's not interested in anime, but it's fairly basic obvious post, since I have given up watching T.V. altogether, and after I saw the trailers in front of Harry Potter for next years' films, I don't think I'll be going to the movies (another Superman? Freak, how tired are we?). Anyway, the point is, I don't watch hardly anything that isn't anime anymore, so buckle up. I'll only bore you with this once.

A Vision of Escaflowne

I discussed this one a little in my post called 'Dragon's Moon', as I'm currently writing a fanfic for this series. Anyway, this is one of those series' where a teenager gets whipped into another world. Hitomi Kanzaki has always been good at telling fortunes, but when she lands on Gaia with Prince Van of Fanelia, her predictions always come true. This series almost looks like something that guys would enjoy, but no matter how many mech (robot) battles there are, it's still a chick series. I read that Fox tried to edit it, give it a new sound track, and pawn it off onto boys ages 11 - 13. This is a ridiculous concept and apparently failed miserably. But, it's one of the most popular anime series, despite the fact that Sir Isaac Newton is the bad guy.

Full Metal Alchemist

This one is about two brothers (ages 10 and 11) who tried to use alchemy to bring their mother back from the dead. They failed and as a concequence for their actions, the older brother lost his arm and his leg and the younger brother lost his entire body. His soul is transfixed to an empty suit of armor. Together they go on a quest to get their retrieve their bodies, and bring their mother back from the dead. It's 51 episodes long, so it's over 20 hours long, but well worth it. It's in the top five on AnimeNfo's top 200 anime.

Full Moon wo Sagashite

The translation for this one is "Searching for a Full Moon". This one is about Mitsuki, a 12 year-old girl who has two dreams. One is to be a popstar and the other is to meet with a boy she had a crush on who moved to America. However, both things seem impossible since she has throat cancer an she hasn't heard from the boy she liked in three years. She's willing to be pretty easy going about both these goals until one day when two shinigami (death gods or grim reapers) come into her bedroom and tell her that she's got only one more year to live. So, she gets to work on the two most important things to her. Now, you'd think this was pretty lame, but it's actually very good and claims the spot right under Full Metal Alchemist on the top 200 list on AnimeNfo, so I'm not the only one who think so.

Slayers

I really like this series, but I'd rather not go into detail about it. It's a parody on the classical rpg, and I write a lot of fanfiction for it. There's not really much more to say about it.

Twelve Kingdoms

This is another one where a teenager gets whipped off to another world, but this one is propably the most adult focused on the list. It's not drawn cutsie, and is a really serious series. I like it because it's really old-style Japanese storytelling, with a zillion important characters, and enough plot and history to make a person weep. But, I won't discuss it at length because a lot of the story is a mystery for the first five hours or so. You've gotta be hardcore to watch this.

By the way, these were listed in alphabetical order. They're all good.

Girlie Giggles

". . . but I don't take money, just girlie giggles."

"Huh?"

"You have to giggle like a girl."

"And if we should refuse?"

"Looks like you don't have much of a choice."

Bizarre Little Quote from Thumb Wars

So, this is my blog about parenthood. Yes, I call her the little freeloader, and then my husband comments that she does pay us . . . just in girlie giggles. I should have expected this. And I can't write about art and cinema all the time, so here we go.

As I said, I really should have expected parenthood to be exactly what it seemed like for my friends and family who took the plunge before I did. What can I say? I'm so different from them that I didn't imagine that my experience with being a mother could mirror theirs at all. Well, I'm an idiot. Not that I regret having my darling child, that's not what it is. There are just a lot of sacrifices that I wasn't really aware of. I should have been aware of them, but in my stubborness, I always just said that I'd deal with it. I'm sort of a tough broad, so one would think that I could tackle a sobbing child with the same energy that I extend to all my other endevours. Unfortunately, energy isn't really what's required, and that's where I run into my snags.

I need to be kind, thoughtful, generous, patient, and longsuffering. Wow! I need to be in love. At least that's what it looks like to me. Hmmm . . . ? In love? I need to be a 'loving' person when I have concentrated all my efforts over the past few years to being a 'creative' person, to being an 'intelligent' person, to being a 'hardworking' person.

I'm sure some people who know me personally will have heard me say this next part before, but it truly describes exactly how I feel. I was a little catapillar when I was pregnant, and then I went into the cacoon (labour) to come out a butterfly (a wonderful mother), but in reality I came out of the cacoon and was still a catapillar. I feel totally jipped. But why would labour or pregnancy really prepare you to take care of another person? I was being naive.

Now, I feel like I'm a little snail and I've been pulled from my little shell that I spent so long building (the shell being the person I've tried hard to be; creative, intelligent, hardworking), just to learn that not only do I need to build a new shell from scratch, but build one that will fit everyone in my little family (why do I liken everything to shells? I don't really know, lately I've been liking the sea). Anyway, the adaption to my new role is definitely challenging.

Can I take it?

It'll be hard.

I have to.

I must.

She's depending on me.

And even though she's little. I know she loves me. And little children are better at loving than anyone. So, I'll come through for her, and show her how to be resourceful, quick-witted, and basically a complete head-turner. Who knows, I might actually turn out to be a pretty good mom.

The Greatest Thing

Hiya! I'm not really a fan of American cartoons, but I absolutely adore Bill Waterson's Calvin and Hobbes. It's my second most quoted medium (the first being Simpsons) (Note: my computer crashed in the middle of this one, so sorry it's a little muddled and now I'm working hard to remember my comments). So, I like this cartoon on so many different levels.

For starters, if you look at the art in Calvin and Hobbes I'm sure you can tell that it's totally above the cut compared to other comic strips. Seriously, a lot of talent was poured into each and every cell. And the myriad of interesting ideas the author was able to come up with is astonishing. He makes fun of the economy, politics, popular culture (my personal favourite), and puts a cute spin on lots of things I experienced as a kid and didn't think were funny at all at the time.

But the best thing about Bill Waterson was that he refused to allow Calvin and Hobbes to be licensed. This makes him such a hero in my eyes for not being a capitalist jerkwad and allowing Calvin and Hobbes to be printed on every mousepad, coffee mug, T-shirt, and all that other crap.

One last thought; my favourite Calvin and Hobbes book is the tenth anniversary collection, where there are author's notes about every strip printed. He explains his different thoughts about the characters, the settings, the gimmicks - everything like that. I don't have any idea how many times I have read that book cover to cover. What a man!

HP doesn't just stand for Hewlett Packard

So, when I say HP, of course I'm referring to Harry Potter. Last night I went and saw the new Harry Potter movie The Goblet of Fire. I'm not going to write any spoilers, so keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle. I'm not going to ruin it for anyone, so there's no reason to bail.

Okay, so I was boycotting Harry Potter - the books, the movies - everything. I can't help it, I'm naturally obtuse, so if anything is majorly popular, I have no interest in fuelling the fire. I totally dig culture that no one else likes. It's just my way. So, one evening I was put in a rather awkward situation and here was the dilemma; either I was to watch the first Harry Potter movie, or I was to perish in an argument I simply couldn't participate in. Really ugly dilemma. I hate losing. So, even though it was against my will, I succumbed and took crappy choice no. 1 and watched the Harry Potter movie.

I remember thinking that it wasn't as ultimately crappy as I anticipated it was going to be, and I could sympathize with the fans. The books were what really hooked me in, not that I'm a massive Harry Potter fan or anything. I just like the books and sorta like the movies. I'm not going to run out and write a load of generic fanfiction or anything. My interest does not extend that far. I was just de-lighted to read something that was guaranteed not to be loaded with smut. I really don't like smut. And I have no clue why there aren't ratings on books when they have a rating system for video games for pity sake.

Anyway, in conclusion, Harry Potter good, smut bad.

I'm on a Rampage

Well, lately I've been catching myself angsting because of how much time I spend explaining why I'm wasting my time writing fanfiction instead of original fiction. It's even worse when I have to explain what fanfiction is . . . tut tut. It makes me sad - sad. So, I wanna argue about it, but most people - frankly - wouldn't be ready for the onslaught an opinionated girl such as I would give them. They're not ready to do battle, because they haven't thought about the situation for a whole fifteen minutes before. So, I shouldn't eat unopinionated people for lunch. It's just not good table etiquette.

When I was teenager and first got my appetite for writing, I had a really difficult time getting people to read my work and give me opinions on it. The number of creative writing assignments I got in jr. high and high school were few. It was so discouraging. I could hardly ever get anyone to read my stories. They just weren't interested. Plus, if they did read anything I wrote, I always worried that they weren't giving an honest opinion. I mean, I knew they thought their relationship with me was more important than anything I might write, so they were always complimentary, but their feedback was always weak. After awhile, I gave up trying to get anyone to read my work, and I hardly wrote anything in my early twenties. I mean, it was so unsatisfying to write things that would lie unread on my harddrive.

You see, I knew I had problems with my writing - I still do. I had major problems with my character designs, my story boards, my climaxes, my descriptions/atmosphere, and the general workability of a plot. It's so easy to be cliche, but I couldn't even get a traditional plot line (like a gothic romance) to play out properly. Yet, I had always had it screamed into my ears that I ABSOLUTELY HAD TO BE ORIGINAL in everything I wrote. But, how could I be original? Everything's been done. I felt like I was banging my head against a cement wall whenever I tried to write anything. Like there was a barrier in my own mind that stopped me from doing anything fun with my writing. But I HAVE TO WRITE. I might never make a cent off it, but I HAVE TO WRITE. For some reason it's so much a part of who I am, that I can't not do it, and for ages all it was doing was bringing me a sever headache.

That's when I discovered fanfiction. It wasn't that I particularly wanted to do it, but I happened to try reading some Slayers fanfic to see if it was any good. Everything I read sucked a lot, and I thought I could do better, so I gave it a try. And I'll describe what happened the best way I know how, regarding:

Character Designs
Before I started writing fanfiction I had a problem with characters. They couldn't do something I wouldn't do - even the bad guy couldn't do something I wouldn't do. Fanfiction completely cured me of this because I suddenly had to be true to a character that someone else invented.

Story Boards
I actually started writing them, and I started keeping a journal of all my ideas for stories.

General Workability of a Plot
Because I started writing story boards this immediately improved.

The next thought I had was, "Can you really trust people to read your work online and not scam your awesome ideas?" If you post something on the net, or even get something published, there is always the chance that someone will steal your idea. I question if that really matters at all. Just like how we stand on the shoulders of our forebearers in technology and in all our knowledge, why not stand on the shoulders of author's of the past? That way we can only get better - entertain our readers, make more poignant statments about the human condition, and communicate our ideas through a marvelous medium.

Anyway, to put a cap on this rampage, I'd just like to say that the people who read my fanfiction, read it because they want to. There is absolutely nothing in it for them other than the enjoyment of my story. They don't get my friendship, because I usually don't write my readers back, unless they say something extremely interesting to me. I don't want them to be motivated to review my work because of friendship. I want them to read it because they're interested, because most of them are wannabe writers themselves and have given the challenges associated with writing some thought. Lots of them have really useful insights. I'll write original fiction when I'm dang good and ready.

Light Moon Night

A few years ago I was reading a Glamour magazine and I made a shocking realization; I wasn't interested in 90% of the articles published. I decided it was because I didn't like fashion magazines. This was really kinda surprising to me since I read magazines like Teen and YM when I was a teenager and had always found them fun. So, I started to give some serious thought to what kind of magazine I would actually be interested in reading. Well, nothing came to mind, even though I looked at gaming magazines, homemaking magazines, and quite a few different things.

Finally, I came to the conclusion that what I wanted was a magazine that housed creative writing, in depth book reviews about books that are truly interesting (instead of whatever has been recently published), showcased beautiful art (emphasis on the word 'beautiful'), discussed gaming, and anime, and generally just all the things that I love. But, who would write a magazine like that? Well, there's only one person . . . ME! Duh!

So I started writing it, Light Moon Night, and wrote an entire year's worth of magazines. It was really fun, but not very rewarding when the only person to read them was . . . me. *sigh* It's just that as I've lately been reading this blog, it seems exactly like the kinds of things I used to write for my short lived magazine. Maybe some of the articles will make an appearance. Better look forward to it. *cheesy charming smile*

P.S. Oh, and I got it fixed so that anyone can leave comments. Cheers!

It's a Brassiere

Anyone who knows me knows I like to quote things. It's a horrible habit that I can't shake. Someone says something and I can't not think of a quote to accompany it. Usually, I just quote 'The Simpsons', but I thought it would be fun to list my top three movie quotes here. These make me laugh every dang time.

Quote No. 1

"My phone rang one time last week. Just one time. And this man with this deep beautiful voice says . . . can I interest you in the Encyclopedia Britannica."

The Long Hot Summer

Quote No. 2

"What's that?"

"It's a brassiere. You know about those things, don't you?"

"Well sure, but I've never seen one like that."

"It has no shoulder straps and no back straps, but it does everything a bra
should do. It's based on the principle of the cantilever bridge."

Vertigo

Quote No. 3

"Now tell me why?"

"I couldn't get you out of my mind."

"I'm the most beautiful woman you ever saw I suppose."

". . . Maybe."

"And you must have me?"

"Well, yes . . . or something like that."

Logan's Run

There all done. I hope you found this entertaining. I'm still giggling . . . just a little bit.

Dragon's Moon

I thought I'd record a little of the history behind my most popular story to date on fanfiction.net. I started writing this story the spring after I turned 17, so quite awhile ago. Back then it was called "The Darkened Wave". Not the best title, and I had been scrambling to come up with a better title for it, and I hadn't been able to come up with one. "Dragon's Moon" is an excellent title, and far more appropiate than anything I'd been able to come up with beforehand. Anyway, it started out as original fiction, with the main characters named Trina and Brock (Brock being a famous name that I use to name at least one character in every original story I write . . . what can I say? It's my favourite name for a guy). I tried to release it on Fictionpress.com, but I only have one review submitted for the first two chapters, so I stopped uploading because I was just too depressed about it. Finally, I got the idea to revamp the idea and post it as an Escaflowne AU (alternate universe) fanfic and turn Trina into Hitomi and Brock into Van (Van's shown in the pic I've posted).

When I started working on the adaptation, I thought it was going to be really hard to make the changeover, but it turned out to be dispicably easy. I was really disgusted with myself for not being more original, because everything fell into place for the crossover. Also, I have to point out that I did have to make some changes to Brock/Van's character for it, but all the changes just improved things and made them way better. I like this story way better as Escaflowne fanfic than in it's original state. It just keeps getting better as I work on it.

I'm also a little paranoid that one of my relatives will read it and not realize that I've turned it into fanfic. Without knowing that, my naming a character 'Van' sounds extraordinarily conceited. Ah well, my relatives don't usually read my work, so I suppose I should be comfortable.

I woudl also like to point out that I don't think that this story is one of my best (could anything really compare to 'Shadow Magic: Pictures of You'? I think not), but it was the last full length novel I wrote to completion though, and it took me over a year to write. It seemed a huge shame to leave it on my hard-drive and not have anyone ever read it ever. Plus, I really wanted some feedback for it. However, if I released it as a 17 year-old without my current brain - it would really suck. When I go through my old stacks regarding it, often I'm like WTH? What the heck was wrong with me? It's a much more powerful story now, and we're only a little past the half way point on ff.net. I'm gonna blow my readers' minds apart. Just wait and see.

Now Strut

"Ah, I see you have a sword. I have one too. They're very manly, and tough."

Happy Little Quote from Mulan

Sometimes I get compliments on how I write the male voice in my stories. I think this is extremely sweet, and so I thought I'd write a post dedicated to my philosophy for writing men. I figure that everything a male character does in a story can be broken down into three categories.

No. 1 - What a guy would actually do or say.

No. 2 - What a guy would actually think.

No. 3 - What a girl wishes a guy would think.

Because when you write from the male perspective you are given free access to the character's mind, it's very important to filter categories No. 1 and No. 2. It's not that I think all guys are hentai geeks or boring professionals, but there are only certain thoughts that my female readers are interested in. So, anything that's described must be something that would be of interest to a female reader.

"Do you think I don't know what the true witchery is, just because I do what I do?"

Strange Little Quote from The Last Unicorn

I remember when I was a teenager, I'd read romance novels, and I'd always be sitting there going, "A real guy would never say that". Please don't think that I write guys the way I do because I don't really know what guys are like, because, I do know what they're like. The thing is that I write for girls, and the stuff I'm working on right now doesn't really appeal to guys. And to write what a guy is actually thinking is boring as . . . (you get the idea) to girls who are only interested in the romantic angle of the story. I know what they're like, because I used to be one of them. But I try desperately not to stray too far, because if I do it comes off LAME. Ever so LAME.

I think the key is to not write what a guy would NEVER do. It's okay to go along with concept No. 3, right up until the point where it infringes on what would really happen. Then you turn your hero into a she-man, or something like that. So, that needs to be avoided at all costs.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed my little idea. I'll probably look back on this in ten years and think I was on crack. Enjoy.

Pussy Willows, Cat tails

I like to pick songs for people I'm really close to. Why? I do not know. Where? I cannot say. How? hmmm . . . I haven't decided yet.

Anyway, I'd like to record the songs I've picked for my parents and say why I've chosen them. We'll do my mom first.

Pussy Willows, Cat Tails by Gordon Lightfoot

Pussywillows, cat-tails, soft winds and roses
Rainbows in the woodland, water to my knees
Shivering, quivering, the warm breath of spring
Pussywillows, cat-tails, soft winds and roses

Catbirds and cornfields, daydreams together
Riding on the roadside the dust gets in your eyes
Reveling, disheveling, the summer nights can bring
Pussywillows, cat-tails, soft winds and roses

Slanted rays and colored days, stark blue horizons
Naked limbs and wheatbins, hazy afternoons
Voicing, rejoicing, the wine cups do bring
Pussywillows, cat-tails, soft winds and roses

Harsh nights and candlelights, woodfires a-blazin'
Soft lips and fingertips resting in my soul
Treasuring, remembering, the promise of spring
Pussywillows, cat-tails, soft winds and roses

This was an easy pick for my mom. I mean really easy. Okay, so lets hit all the points of why this song reminds me of my mother. Well, this song was written by Gordon Lightfoot, a famous Canadian. Though you wouldn't know it to look at her, my mom is a pretty hardcore Canadian. Her roots are very Canadian, and when you speak to her you can tell that that's just how she feels. When I read the lyrics, I feel like they describe the prairies of my youth and the small town my mother chose to raise me in - lovely. She was also a teenager during the sixties, and is a teensie bit of a hippy (not majorly, but just a little around the edges). Obviously, I never got to know my mother when she was young, but I like to think of her with long straight hair and wearing hiphuggers. She also plays the piano and she used to have me sing this song while she played. It was the most beautiful of all the songs we used to sing together, and very precious to me.

Okay now for my father.

Flame by Alphaville

I've been searching
I've been searching for so long
Now I'm chasing the shadows away
I've been trying, yes I tried to find my way
No more crying in the make or break decade

There were times when I was down
There were times I felt so low
My whole life just seemed to be
A senseless quest for energy

But I carry your flame
All through my life, I'm a believer
Peace deep in our hearts, all things must pass
But we'll be together again

I've been walking
I've been walking in the rain
When the angel of my intuition whispered hello
Well I was quite surprised to face that kind of incarnation
Love comes always unexpected, love strikes blind and undircted

Love is the answer
Love is all we need my friend
Now you came and changed the weather
Now I wanna live forever

I carry your flame
All through my life, I'm a believer
Peace deep in our hearts, all things must pass
But we'll be together...

Well, I didn't get along with my father very well when I was growing up, so I didn't think that I would ever find a song I thought was appropriate for him. I guess my angst levels were always running that high. But then when he died last year, I would listen to this song and it would remind me of his life. Like my mother, my father was also a child of the sixties, and though it wasn't as evident in his personality, he had a Beatles haircut until way after it was fashionable. This song is written by Marion Gold, who was a misplaced hippy left to make his name in the eighties. So, I like the first verse because I like to think that it symbolizes the professional trouble my father endured through the eighties. He had a great deal of trouble those years, and was very hurt by the different things that happened. He was so hurt (from what my mother tells me) that he seldom returned to work afterwards. The second verse symbolizes his impatience. My father was an extremely impatient man who always had to be on the go. Always going going going . . . The last part that I'd like to talk about in reference to him is the last line in the last verse "Now I wanna live forever". I don't think my father had any concept of his mortality. He didn't think he was ever going to die, regardless of how he treated his body. I heard him say more than once that he was going to live into his hundreds, yet he did die, and he died rather young.

The rest of the song I'll dedicate to my own feelings. Like I said, I really had a difficult time loving my father. He was a very difficult man, who seemed to have an impossible time expressing his feelings, unless he was impatient, or excited, or angry, or something along those lines. And I never really felt that he wanted to be close to me or have a good relationship with me. But the idea that's portrayed in this song implies that it doesn't matter how he feels/felt about me - I'm free to love him no matter what. I can remember that he wanted to be a good father to me regardless of what actually happened. He wouldn't have wanted me to be afraid of anything. It's very strange that I didn't feel like he supported me in anything that I did when he was alive, but now I feel like he supports me in everything. That he wants me to succeed. That he wants me to enjoy being alive. And now he's able to do and say all the things he was never able to do or say when he was alive. And for the first time in my life . . . I know he loves me too.

Vampire Moon

When I first started writing I found vampires an excellent source for inspiration. You might think that's a little morbid if you're a good little girl, or you might think that's pretty ordinary if you're a normal little girl. And it's got to be one of the two since I don't know any bad little girls.

Anyway, I went on a gothic rampage several years ago where I used to write mountains of vampyric poetry. I even wrote a novel called 'Fallen Angel', right before everything (and their dog) was called something along that vein. But I was really too young to strike gold with the rest of those capitalist jerkwads, making their money off all those not-so-innocent teens, so my story remains unpublished, and rightly so. It was really just an Anne Rice 'Vampire Chronicles' knock-off anyway. You know something like; "The dark figure moved silently, like liquid mercury behind his prey; a beautiful woman wearing a sleek dark gown walking alone on the cobblestone of the dark alley. The tapping of her footfalls resounding like the ticking of a clock, and it was about to strike midnight. He paused for just one second, to admire her, and to wait as she proceeded just that little bit further into the darkness". Actually, I was just trying to cram the word 'dark' into as many places as possible. Sorry to say that it didn't turn out to be very elegant and instead just made me think blaringly of Snoopopathic Literature, so now I'm laughing at myself.

Anyway, I wanted to talk about vampire poetry. I hadn't written any for years, but several months ago I accidentally wrote another one. Must have been something left in my system from my formerlly mentioned 'goth-girl days'. I would never share anything truly precious to me in a medium such as this, but for fun little things that I want to sport, this works perfectly.

For your enjoyment:

Vampire Moon by the Phirest of the Sapphireflies

That fills my blood

And caresses my body

That kills my spirit

And makes me move

So I move

And it makes me prove

What I am

And where I lie

Each time I die

Under the vampire moon

Loads of love,

Your Royal Highness

The Blue Castle

Hiya! Today I thought I'd write about my three favourite books and why they're my favourite.

No. 1 The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery

This is the story of 29 year-old Valancy Stirling who has never been pursued by any man, and lives alone with her dreadful mother and aunt. So, on her birthday she decides to go see a doctor about a problem with her heart (unbeknownst to her family), and the doctor tells her that she has a serious form of heart decease and will die in one year. So, she decides to blow all the hatches and live the rest of her life the way she wants to.

I have to say that I don't think there is any deep profound reason why I like this story so much. I like Valancy breaking from her moth-eaten life and making herself happy and her family's reaction to it. There's also no denying that I love Barney in this story. He's actually a tremendously interesting male character for L.M. When she writes, she really likes the good boy, and Barney could be a murderer! She was really thinking outside the box for this one. Anyway, when I was thirteen I really wanted to marry Barney, or a guy just like him - cause he was PERFECT! Barney's got to be at least half the reason why this is my favourite book - the rest goes to Valancy.

No. 2 Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

Everyone has seen the movie for 'Gone with the Wind', so I'm not gonna rehash the plot. You know.

The reason this is my favourite is simply for the female empowerment. That's what this book is all about. I hate it when people ask me after hearing that this is my favourite book if I think Scarlet will ever get Rhett back. I involuntarily twitch and then give them a funny look, cause THAT'S NOT WHAT THIS BOOK IS ABOUT! Who cares if Scarlet gets Rhett back? I don't. This whole book is one giant learning experience for her and for us, the reader. This is also my best friend's favourite book, and I would shame her to write my lame thoughts on a masterpiece that she could describe a million times better than I. So, I'll leave it there.

No. 3 Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

Okay, now you're probably thinking that I'm all literary because of my choices. Well, I am and I'm not. Sure I've read some of Jane Austen's novels, but I hated 'Emma' with an unreasonable passion and 'Pride and Predjudice' wasn't nearly as good as I thought it was going to be. So, I don't just like anything because it's a reputed classic.

The reason I like 'Sense and Sensibility' so much is because if I had to pick a character out of a book to describe myself, I'd pick Marianne Dashwood. I'm always suffering with her struggle. Should I be a good little girl like Elenor or should I be the way I wanna be - like Marianne? It's a difficult decision for me when my attitudes are running high and often I feel like I didn't really have the choice because I'm already acting like Marianne (after my own fashion of course). I also like that she and Elenor are in exactly the same position and the whole book is just comparing what happens with their respective behaviour. Lots of people say that Jane Austen was way to hard on Marianne, but I don't think so. Sometimes, people need to drug through the fire in order to smarten up. Granted, it doesn't seem to matter how many times I get myself into big trouble - I'm still stupid. Anyway, as a final point, I really like that Jane Austen doesn't say one word as to how Colonel Brandon was able to win Marianne. That's the kind of thing that belongs behind the closed doors of a person's heart anyway.

Gokusen

Welp, I thought I'd discuss my latest obsession. It's been awhile since I went on a rampage (the quill, the page, lyric rampage . . . or something like that). Anyway, everyone knows I'm an animaniac, and I tend to go over board when I find things I like. Well, I really liked this.

So, I watched the Gokusen 13 episode anime and thought that it looked exactly like 'Bevis and Butthead' and 'Daria', but I take it back. It's probably a little better than that, but really ugly compared to most anime. Anime can be really beautiful. Anyway, I thought the series was above the cut, but then I read the manga. Ah, the manga. It was so good it nearly blew my mind apart; freaking hilarious, prettily drawn, extremely entertaining (note: the clip above is from the manga).

It's the story of 23-year-old Kumiko who's got herself a job as high school math teacher in an all-boys school where most of the students are delinquants. Now, you'd think that she'd be totally screwed, seeing that she's totally outnumbered by her bad-boy students, but she's totally prepared for it. You see, she's a mafia princess.

Anyway, I don't just like it cause it's funny. It has a teensie bit of a love story crammed in there too, and it's soooooooooooooo sweet I could just die!

There's also a J-Drama, which I haven't seen, and I'm not sure if I want to. When I looked up info on it, it sounded like a Japanese version of 'Everwood' or some such crap. Well, if I ever see it, I'll do another post and tell y'all how it was.

Flying to the Moon

Hiya! I wanted to give this blog thing a chance so I could have somewhere to spread all my not-so-private thoughts. If I really like it, you'll all know, cause I'll post here all the time and drive everyone I know bananas.

So, to start off with - I was really ticked off that my user name 'Sapphirefly' had already been taken. When I took that name on - there was abolutely no one on the net who had it. Or at least my google searches didn't come up with anyone by that name. That's why I chose it - because no one else had it. It's so wretched that a person has to have six or seven aliases on the net. I knew this was happening because in the past whenever I did a search for my name on google, it would display about 14 pages of ME! All ME! And now that's all over and people have started scamming my name. I'm not pleased. And it's way too late for me to find a new name and go with that. My website is named 'Sapphirefly's Slayers Fanfic Site' (www3.telus.net/sapphirefly/sapphirefly.htm). Do you see where the problem is? How unfair! *pouts* Not to mention that for over a year I've worked to build my name up as a good fanfic author. But I'm not near famous enough to hope that they're naming themselves after me because they like my work so much, and it's not like they're naming themselves williamshakespear43@yahoo.com. So, it's too much even for my overblown ego to hope that it's all because I'm wonderful.

Anyway, I'm not really as angst-ridden as I sound. I just like being original.