No Japan, no anime/game/character stuff, no buying, but lots of working. Quite possibly the worst post EVAR. Not the best way to kick off 2009. T_T

With changes at work (and due to illness), I found myself with some free time, so I used that sparingly to catch up on some recent anime series I’ve neglected to watch this past spring season. To LOVE Ru -Toraburu-, ROSARIO To VAMPIRE, and Kanokon. Ahh, nothing like fanservice-y, romukomu, harem anime!

Ai Yori Aoshi – Sakuraba Aoi in Yukata

明けましておめでとうございます。今年もよろしくお願いします。 It was yet another quiet Oshogatsu (New Year’s Day) this year, while busy at the restaurant on Oomisoka (New Year’s Eve). I didn’t get a chance to post earlier, what with Esmond around and all the Justice League and KERORO Gunsou that we watched. He just got back in Winnipeg earlier tonight, so we’re glad he’s safe and sound now.

Nakane Kasumi

With the weather the way it is now (and feeling more like the beginning of spring or fall), I got into the mood of seeing yukata. Mind you, celebrations aren’t held in Japan during Oshogatsu (New Year’s Day), as it is more of a solemn holiday, unlike the Americas and Europe, where they party it up “Vladnik-style”. Well, okay, maybe only in Russia. Anyway, due to global warming, the temperatures are getting warmer and warmer each winter, and the season is getting shorter in turn. As a result, the world is experiencing hotter weather during the summer. I may have to buy myself a yukata sometime soon, since they are quite cooling in the summer.

Ishii Meguru

I watched An Inconvenient Truth twice during the Oshogatsu long weekend. First, to let Esmond and Mom watch it, and again, to let Dad, AM, Eugene, and Jennilee watch it. After watching it thrice now, I’ve been trying to change my life in such a way that I will be able to lower my carbon dioxide emissions. It’s really not that hard. There are several easy things one can do to lower their CO2 emissions to zero. Go to climatecrisis.net and stopglobalwarming.org so you can learn what you need to do. If you haven’t seen it yet, watch An Inconvenient Truth. Rent it, buy it, borrow it, or even copy it if you have to. If you were devastated or affected by the events of Hurricane Katrina, the sudden wildfires in random forests, or the typhoons in East Asia, then you owe it to yourself to learn more about global warming and why we as a race have become a force of nature that is slowly killing the planet.

Fate/stay night – SABER and Tousaka Rin in kimono!

I recently mentioned that I was getting sick of my job. After much contemplation, I’ve been thinking about using my experience in IT to pursue some kind of related career in the climate crisis we are facing now. It would mean moving to a larger city, which was what I had in mind for a while now. I’d love to be able to contribute whatever I can to the ongoing fight against global warming, and other related threats. If anything, I’m even willing to go to University and pursue a degree that might help. As much as I’m doing to lower my CO2 emissions, I personally feel that it isn’t enough. I want to help bring this problem to everybody’s attention, or at least pick up the slack for those people who don’t seem to care (James H would definitely be one of them).

Yamamoto Azusa

That said, I have a goal to work for now. I want to pay off my loan as fast as possible, so I can get out of town and start making a difference. I know that there may be others like me who think this way. If we all join forces, we’ll have a better chance of completing our mission.

NSFW link ahead. Yeah, yeah, this entry may have a message, but there’s always time for naked girls!

After the recent release of TALES OF THE ABYSS for PS2, I’ve been going back and reminiscing about TALES OF DESTINY, the PS-X game that I played many years ago. I really wanted to play ABYSS this weekend, but I only have a Japanese PS2 – but it’s just as well, since I hate dubs. So, I went online and did the next best thing – I ordered four TALES games – TALES OF ETERNIA (PSP), TALES OF SYMPHONIA (PS2), TALES OF DESTINY (PS2), and TALES OF LEGENDIA (PS2). All the bargain Japanese versions too. Thank goodness my PC repairs on the side are increasing now that winter is settling in.

I went to Tony’s yesterday and spent my whole afternoon there, buying stuff, reading Hagaren 9, and eating a combo pizza with no meat. Funny story about that. I ordered a small combo pizza – it comes with pepperoni, salami, green peppers, onions, and mushrooms – but with no cheese. It was busy that day for them, and when I got my pizza, they remembered not to put in cheese, but for some strange reason, they forgot to put in the meat. Well, I was too hungry by then, so I ate it. All of it. Their small pizza is 12″, by the way. I still can’t believe that I ate all that.

I still might pick up an HDXtreme, which will allow one to play their PS2 games off the internal HDD or an external one. If it doesn’t work on my JP PS2, I can always give it to Esmond. It would save him from carrying tons of PS2 games with him.

TALES OF PHANTASIA – Character Cast

I’ve been thinking about watching this series for some time, but it never clicked in my head that it was part of the TALES series, for some strange reason. Well, now that I know, I want to watch this even more. I’d get the game too, but it’s still kind of expensive right now. Definitely when it drops in price. NTSC J games are just way too expensive to buy at full retail price, so I have to either eBay them or buy them at the bargain prices after a year or so. I just have to hope they don’t go OOP by that time.

Well, not much to say – it’s been a lackluster weekend. Other than working at the restaurant, fixing PCs, and watching The Break-Up yesterday (not at James H’s place – he hates chick flicks), it’s been somewhat relaxed. I’ll probably stop over at James G’s later, since his wife is in Toronto right now. For now, I’m starving, and Dad apparently made pizza at the restaurant.

NSFW images ahead.

So, this is the thing. I’m good at computers. It is, after all, a hobby that I got into without really knowing what I was getting into. It was just a means to an end… I wanted to have a medium on which to create and store my written works. This began on my Commodore 64. I remember when I was just getting started. The C-64 was actually my parents’ machine, and my aunt knew how to work it more than I did. At the same time, I was writing stories on leftover looseleaf and unused notebooks. Those were the days. My aunt picked up a copy of GEOS, the first GUI-driven operating system for C-64. I, of course, was intrigued. There was a word processor, a paint program, and other fun stuff. I was a very terrible kid when I was young. I tore stuff up, I took stuff apart, I broke stuff, I liked pushing buttons. Of course, I grew out of that stage. However, my parents banned me from touching anything, even the TV remote. But, I had a tendency to find a way around it by using the stuff when they weren’t around. The same thing happened with the C-64. At first, I was limited to just using the C-64 for gaming for a limited amount of time per day. I eventually replaced that gaming with BASIC programming. So, when GEOS came out, I just HAD to use it. Now, I swear, GEOS was the first and only manual for an operating system that I have ever read in my entire life. After that, everything else just made sense. I guess it’s because I’m an organized person, so I logically think of all the places you would sort things. I mastered GEOS. Eventually, my parents realized that sound effects were no longer coming out of the computer when I was using it. My aunt had subscribed to this monthly software magazine disk called LOADstar. Anybody remember that?? I collected fonts and other neat GEOS tools off each issue. I made archive disks so that I wouldn’t have to go looking for certain utils and stuff. So, I eventually sat on the C-64 all the time. Hahaha, the beginnings of a hacker. It’s too bad my dad wouldn’t let me hook up the modem or buy me a new mouse or 3½” floppy drive. Throughout all this, though, my computer was an @home only hobby. When I went to school, I was just a kid who didn’t talk much to anybody. So, in a way, I was like Lain when I grew up. Yes, the same Lain from Serial Experiments Lain. Hahaha, I never realized that until now! I was a closet g33k without even knowing it. There wasn’t really a name for it back then, I guess. Of course, I didn’t have internet access until 1995, so if there was a community, I didn’t know about it.

Where was I? Right, computers was a hobby that I got into without any encouragement from anybody. Just a passing fascination I saw sitting in my parents’ room one day. ^_^

So, what is Operation: Lain no Ruumu all about? It’s about buying computers or acquiring computers – new or old, working or broken – and turning my room into… well… Lain’s room. Heck, I’m even considering the huge water tanks. Hahaha. Anyway, right now, I’m only at two computers, because the other two are my two brothers’ computers, so they don’t count. I just created a theme for Windows that simulates the Copland OS, so it’s running on both Mai-chan and Ami-chan. I’m planning on buying an Apple G4, an HP Pavilion laptop, a Compaq iPaq, and a low-end Duron PC, which I will be using as a PC-Mod tester. That’s right, etched windows, neon lights, and water cooling systems. Of course, to reduce heat, I’ll have to reduce light as well, so I’ll be reducing the amount of light I have in my room. Maybe a lava lamp or some extra neon lights, something to that effect. I also have plenty of stuff – those may also be going elsewhere. A garage sale or eBay, perhaps. Either way, my English CD collection has to go bye-bye soon. I also have plans to pick up some other nifty systems, like the mini-PC (which uses the Flex-ATX form factor) and maybe an SGI, if I can get my hands on it. I’ll also be revitalizing my old C-64 and 486SX, since parts will be easy to come by on eBay. Since I’m making more money these days, a little more debt isn’t gonna kill me, since I’m already in it. Besides, if I don’t spend my money, then why am I earning it in the first place? ^_^

Lain no Ruumu: Layer 01 (2002-07-22, Monday)

So, I’ll be adding another segment to my website which will chronicle each new change in my room. Hopefully, it’ll be interesting enough. I hope to become more proficient in PC-Modding, as well as filling the floors with water. Hahaha, just kidding.