To celebrate the occasion, version 2 of my Loveless(?)-themed Livejournal, Life in Progress (thanks ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif)
jaidesu) is now officially online. Today also marks the 7th anniversary of the World Trade Center attacks, but to keep this on a more positive note, here's a little tribute to the 1940s' Americana and to the unconquerable American spirit.
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif)
jaidesu linked me to this photograph in one of our AIM conversations, and I thought it would make a wonderful addition to this entry. The photo was taken by Alfred Eisenstaedt on V-J Day, which marked the end of World War II.
Although I can't say I'm particularly attached to modern American culture (pop culture or whatever you choose to call it), I can say that I love American history and everything that can be identified with the Americana of the early- to mid- 1900s (think Norman Rockwell, the still-flourishing Broadway, the transition from Vaudeville to cinema with the likes of Fred Astaire and Judy Garland, the emergence of television sitcoms like I Love Lucy, etc.).
There's one more thing I'd like to celebrate (maybe something trivial, perhaps, but it's still special to me). Although it's already the 12th of September in Japan, it's still September 11th here. That means today's the 6th anniversary of Tackey & Tsubasa's debut! Although I've never participated in any fan projects, and it's not very likely that I'll be doing so in the near future, I'd still like to give a little personal shoutout to my favorite Jpop duo (an annual follow-up to this post). Even if nobody reads this entry, I'd still like to say congratulations for a great 6 years (and even more as juniors) together. タッキー&翼おめでとうございます。
I started Shiroi Kaisou (now White Reflections) on December 24, 2004. It was Ryoma's birthday (Ryoma from Prince of Tennis fame). That's why I wanted to finish this new layout on Takki and Tsubasa's anniversary. I had been meaning to finish this layout before college started, since I've had this (or a) blog since high school started, and college would be like a second chapter in the life of this blog. Why not commemorate this transition to college life with a new layout?
jaidesu) is now officially online. Today also marks the 7th anniversary of the World Trade Center attacks, but to keep this on a more positive note, here's a little tribute to the 1940s' Americana and to the unconquerable American spirit.jaidesu linked me to this photograph in one of our AIM conversations, and I thought it would make a wonderful addition to this entry. The photo was taken by Alfred Eisenstaedt on V-J Day, which marked the end of World War II. Although I can't say I'm particularly attached to modern American culture (pop culture or whatever you choose to call it), I can say that I love American history and everything that can be identified with the Americana of the early- to mid- 1900s (think Norman Rockwell, the still-flourishing Broadway, the transition from Vaudeville to cinema with the likes of Fred Astaire and Judy Garland, the emergence of television sitcoms like I Love Lucy, etc.).
There's one more thing I'd like to celebrate (maybe something trivial, perhaps, but it's still special to me). Although it's already the 12th of September in Japan, it's still September 11th here. That means today's the 6th anniversary of Tackey & Tsubasa's debut! Although I've never participated in any fan projects, and it's not very likely that I'll be doing so in the near future, I'd still like to give a little personal shoutout to my favorite Jpop duo (an annual follow-up to this post). Even if nobody reads this entry, I'd still like to say congratulations for a great 6 years (and even more as juniors) together. タッキー&翼おめでとうございます。
Allowing Takki and Tsubasa to debut as a duo instead of as solo artists was probably the only crazy decision by Johnny Kitagawa that I wholeheartedly support. (No, I do not like the fact that 4TOPS was disbanded so Yamapi could join NEWS, even though Toma is becoming quite popular as a J-dorama actor. What about Kazepon and Hasejun? I also absolutely hate the fact that Ya-Ya-yah was disbanded so Yabu and Hikaru could join Hey! Say! JUMP. No, I haven't listened to any of HSJ singles. I hope Taiyou is doing well, and I hope Shoon can debut with his brother Reon in the near future.)
Takki and Tsubasa, their "One Day, One Dream" single, and Inuyasha introduced me to the world of Jyanni's Entertainment and, eventually, mainstream Jpop, Kpop, and Asian dramas. 卒業~さよならは明日のために~ is one of the most repeated songs on my playlist.
While I was going through boxes of old paper, I actually found the picture of Tsubasa that I printed out and brought to school one day. All of my junior high school friends thought he was a girl! I guess I'll mention Furuba Forums here too, because, thanks to the incredible people there, the fandom grew on me. During my trip to San Francisco late August before my junior year, I bought the limited edition 2wenty 2wo album. Even if I did pay a high premium for it, I was happy. The songs in the album were the first T&T songs I had ever listened to, so, I had made it my mission to find the album. I used to spend hours watching Youtube videos of their junior days, performances, and appearances on Shounen Club. They were such perfect and adorable leading juniors too! Incidently, a video from their debut introduced me to Yamapi. The rest of NEWS, KAT-TUN, Ya-Ya-yah, and Toma soon followed.
Even though they've been focusing more on their solo careers recently, even though they aren't as popular as they have been in the past (in comparison to other newer groups), and even though Tsu-chan cut his hair and took on a more umm... manly? appearance (it's grown out again, last I saw), I still love Takki and Tsubasa. Takki's been growing a lot on me, and he's so cute! Tsubasa is still JE's dancing king in my book. Keep on shining you guys! ♥ Thanks for introducing me to such a wonderful fandom, and I hope you'll continue to be successful and win over more fans.
Takki and Tsubasa, their "One Day, One Dream" single, and Inuyasha introduced me to the world of Jyanni's Entertainment and, eventually, mainstream Jpop, Kpop, and Asian dramas. 卒業~さよならは明日のために~ is one of the most repeated songs on my playlist.
While I was going through boxes of old paper, I actually found the picture of Tsubasa that I printed out and brought to school one day. All of my junior high school friends thought he was a girl! I guess I'll mention Furuba Forums here too, because, thanks to the incredible people there, the fandom grew on me. During my trip to San Francisco late August before my junior year, I bought the limited edition 2wenty 2wo album. Even if I did pay a high premium for it, I was happy. The songs in the album were the first T&T songs I had ever listened to, so, I had made it my mission to find the album. I used to spend hours watching Youtube videos of their junior days, performances, and appearances on Shounen Club. They were such perfect and adorable leading juniors too! Incidently, a video from their debut introduced me to Yamapi. The rest of NEWS, KAT-TUN, Ya-Ya-yah, and Toma soon followed.
Even though they've been focusing more on their solo careers recently, even though they aren't as popular as they have been in the past (in comparison to other newer groups), and even though Tsu-chan cut his hair and took on a more umm... manly? appearance (it's grown out again, last I saw), I still love Takki and Tsubasa. Takki's been growing a lot on me, and he's so cute! Tsubasa is still JE's dancing king in my book. Keep on shining you guys! ♥ Thanks for introducing me to such a wonderful fandom, and I hope you'll continue to be successful and win over more fans.
Love,
Just another fangirl.
Just another fangirl.
I started Shiroi Kaisou (now White Reflections) on December 24, 2004. It was Ryoma's birthday (Ryoma from Prince of Tennis fame). That's why I wanted to finish this new layout on Takki and Tsubasa's anniversary. I had been meaning to finish this layout before college started, since I've had this (or a) blog since high school started, and college would be like a second chapter in the life of this blog. Why not commemorate this transition to college life with a new layout?
A Little about the Layout
The theme of this layout is fandom. (It's pink because pink is my favorite color, and I haven't used it in a while.) I finally caught up with the most recent chapters of Loveless, and I have to say that, even though it is a shounen-ai manga, I am in love with Ritsuka and Soubi. I think I was in the same mood when I made my first layout *laugh*.
I've been in somewhat of a layout drought for a long time, so I was happy that my Daisuke and Ritsuka icons transformed into a complete LJ layout. An LJ layout has been on my agenda all summer, but I've gotten nowhere until now.
I decided to break my fandoms into four and a half categories: manga, dramas, anime, Asian pop, and real life (which isn't really a fandom, but I guess that represents everything that I blog about pertaining to school, friends, and other, more real, fandoms like the Federer and Nadal tennis rivalry, Final Fantasy, Legend of Zelda, and other video games, my random collections, pre-contemporary music, black & white sitcoms, and classic movies). Included in the banner, are five "icons" that represent each. I started reading DNAngel again, Code Geass is the only anime I'm currently watching, TVXQ is my main Asian pop interest at the moment, Nodame Cantabile is one of my favorite dramas (and one of my favorite manga), and I'm about to start freshman year at Caltech (hence, the calculus, even though that photograph was taken at MIT). I came up with a few really horrible catch phrases, but some people think they're cute, so, unless you guys can think of anything better, I guess I'll keep them. "I like what I like, so there!" is just the english translation of Suki na mono wa suki dakara shouganai, which is the title for another shounen-ai series I liked. I have no idea why I like referencing shounen-ai in my titles and layouts. Shounen-ai is only one of the many genres of animanga that I like (and not what I usually read/watch).
I wonder if the web 2.0 craze is subsiding, becuase I have a problem with adapting my style to fit in. It just never works, so I decided I wouldn't try this time. Let's just say I'm satisfied with the way the layout turned out.
I reworked the CSS code written by the maintainer ofthefulcrum so I wouldn't have to go through the trouble of looking up all of the theme layer classes and writing my own code. Switching to S2 after coding for S1 is a pain in the ***, and even modifying the CSS got really annoying at times. I blame it in part on compatibility issues. I shall now declare that I only finally downloaded Firefox to use on my laptop so I could do some browser compatibility checks. I'll also be using it more now.
In terms of organization, I thought it'd be a little easier for myself if I included all of the sites I visit most often at the top of the journal (I love sticky posts!). Since I'm normally terrible at keeping track of things, and nothing I touch ever stays organized, I'm trying a new tag system. It'll make posts easier to find, and I've created 10 main categories (found below).
From now on, I want to try to post an image in every entry (idea stolen from
Today's Entry
- I'm having my first piano lesson since last year April on Sunday. It's just too hard for me to learn a piece without some guidance.They're expecting Mac notebook updates on October 14th. *crosses fingers* I hope this rumor is true, and I hope it's not just some mediocre update, but instead a complete redesign.
- This is a very interesting story, and if you have time and would like to read about "an Ivy League fraud," you'll see that this would definitely make for a good book.
- The previous article prompted me to read this Wiki entry and this Wiki entry. I wish Caltech had "secret societies." George W. Bush, unable to decide, was temporarily called Temporary, and the name was never changed. I thought that was funny.
- The Large Hadron Collider went online on the 10th. I'm really excited for what's planned later on this year. A black hole is not going to destroy the world, contrary to semi-popular belief. This rap may be of some interest.
- Target is featuring Domo in its Halloween collection. Traditional animation techniques like stop-motion and even Miyazaki's continued use of cels is quite remarkable. The making-of clip and the Target episode are interesting and cute respectively.
- In the world of technology, this is a sweet phone, and I really want this mouse.
- And finally, I want this Wang Lee Hom voice clip to be my cell phone wake-up alarm and Zetsubou's "meru meru" to be my ring tone.
- Location:Sunny California
- Mood:accomplished
- Music:Tackey & Tsubasa - 卒業~さよならは明日のために~
About Me
Some people know me as Mi-kitty or Sa-chan. I'm a 17 18-year-old college freshman, aspiring to obtain a degree in electrical engineering (I haven't actually declared my major yet) at a certain Institute of Technology. Unlike your typical American teenager, I don’t have a driver’s license. Therefore, I am a n00b, but I like to consider myself at least somewhat 1337. You might say I’m a perfectionist, and while I might display a few symptoms of OCD, I have never been able to maintain a clean room for longer than a week. Most often, the floor is covered so thoroughly in books, papers, and other junk that I have difficulty walking around.
Sometimes, I think of myself as a computer hermit. If I’m not at school or out of town, I’m usually sitting in front of my computer chatting, coding, reading manga, or watching Youtube videos. To someone who doesn’t know me (or doesn’t know my Internet persona), I appear to be quiet and shy. However, I also love to rant and ramble about the most random of things, so try not to catch me in one of my rants if you don’t like to be bothered. I use this journal to post my feelings about fandom, classes, and the more than occasional personal issues with which I find myself. My entries are mostly public, but if you would like to friend me, please comment.
Yes, well, I’m just your average obsessive fangirl. I love collecting a wide variety of things, from trading cards, coins, stamps, and minerals to autographs, ticket stubs, and other memorabilia. I’m a Livejournal addict, but I absolutely detest MySpace (and I’ve grown out of Facebook somewhat as well). I think science and technology are two very fascinating fields. Physics and chemistry have always been my favorite high school classes, and I hope to take some astronomy classes in college. In high school, I participated in FIRST Robotics. I think the experience is life changing. I like to code (mostly for my websites, but I’ve dabbled in a few other programming languages), and I like to make graphics.
Although I’m quite sports-challenged, that has not prevented me from obsessing about tennis and the greatness that is Roger Federer. I also like music. Besides your typical Asian pop (Wang Lee Hom, Guang Liang, TVXQ, and JE groups like Takki & Tsubasa and Ya-Ya-yah come to mind), I also enjoy listening to pre-contemporary music. My favorite composers are Rachmaninoff, Liszt, Debussy, Bach, and Chopin. This is probably because I’ve been playing the piano since I was 5. I sing, and I love Broadway musicals and classic American films (think Roman Holiday and Fred Astaire). I grew up watching old sitcoms.
In terms of fandom, I’ve been obsessed with Asian dramas lately. I start watching a series at night and finish at dawn. My favorites include Last Christmas, Nodame Cantabile, My Lovely Sam Soon, and Huan Zhu Ge Ge. I think Lee Junki is gorgeous. The first anime I watched was Sailor Moon (or Speed Racer), and ever since, I’ve been interested in Asian culture (Yes, I’m Asian). I visited Japan for the first time this year, and I hope to be back soon! I like milk tea boba (bubble tea) more than the average American likes coffee. I also like soup, but I’m open to soups from different cuisines.
Although I can’t say I’m an avid reader, I do like to read books that portray strong female characters. I loved Nancy Drew as a child. Pride and Prejudice, To Kill a Mockingbird, and a particular biography of Audrey Hepburn are among my current favorites. I like reading autobiographies and even the occasional history book, when they’re written well, of course. In middle school, I spent hours at a time reading books from the Dear America series. I typically enjoy mystery novels, fantasy stories (once upon a time, I fell in love with Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time), and romance comedies the most, although my taste is more varied when it comes to manga (I like reading josei, shounen, and shoujo manga with a hint of shounen-ai).
I used to love watching Madeline, and I still enjoy watching the occasional Sabrina reruns. However, lately, I’ve become addicted to reality TV shows.
All in all, I'm pretty old school, I think hanging out with guys and playing Smash Brothers and Legend of Zelda (if only I had a Playstation, so I could play Final Fantasy!) is fun, and if all else fails, I think I’ll find a job as a tea taster or a sushi chef.
White Reflections
Rhapsody
Cherish
DeviantArt
MyAnimeList
MyMangaList (Incomplete)
Last.fm
Sometimes, I think of myself as a computer hermit. If I’m not at school or out of town, I’m usually sitting in front of my computer chatting, coding, reading manga, or watching Youtube videos. To someone who doesn’t know me (or doesn’t know my Internet persona), I appear to be quiet and shy. However, I also love to rant and ramble about the most random of things, so try not to catch me in one of my rants if you don’t like to be bothered. I use this journal to post my feelings about fandom, classes, and the more than occasional personal issues with which I find myself. My entries are mostly public, but if you would like to friend me, please comment.
Yes, well, I’m just your average obsessive fangirl. I love collecting a wide variety of things, from trading cards, coins, stamps, and minerals to autographs, ticket stubs, and other memorabilia. I’m a Livejournal addict, but I absolutely detest MySpace (and I’ve grown out of Facebook somewhat as well). I think science and technology are two very fascinating fields. Physics and chemistry have always been my favorite high school classes, and I hope to take some astronomy classes in college. In high school, I participated in FIRST Robotics. I think the experience is life changing. I like to code (mostly for my websites, but I’ve dabbled in a few other programming languages), and I like to make graphics.
Although I’m quite sports-challenged, that has not prevented me from obsessing about tennis and the greatness that is Roger Federer. I also like music. Besides your typical Asian pop (Wang Lee Hom, Guang Liang, TVXQ, and JE groups like Takki & Tsubasa and Ya-Ya-yah come to mind), I also enjoy listening to pre-contemporary music. My favorite composers are Rachmaninoff, Liszt, Debussy, Bach, and Chopin. This is probably because I’ve been playing the piano since I was 5. I sing, and I love Broadway musicals and classic American films (think Roman Holiday and Fred Astaire). I grew up watching old sitcoms.
In terms of fandom, I’ve been obsessed with Asian dramas lately. I start watching a series at night and finish at dawn. My favorites include Last Christmas, Nodame Cantabile, My Lovely Sam Soon, and Huan Zhu Ge Ge. I think Lee Junki is gorgeous. The first anime I watched was Sailor Moon (or Speed Racer), and ever since, I’ve been interested in Asian culture (Yes, I’m Asian). I visited Japan for the first time this year, and I hope to be back soon! I like milk tea boba (bubble tea) more than the average American likes coffee. I also like soup, but I’m open to soups from different cuisines.
Although I can’t say I’m an avid reader, I do like to read books that portray strong female characters. I loved Nancy Drew as a child. Pride and Prejudice, To Kill a Mockingbird, and a particular biography of Audrey Hepburn are among my current favorites. I like reading autobiographies and even the occasional history book, when they’re written well, of course. In middle school, I spent hours at a time reading books from the Dear America series. I typically enjoy mystery novels, fantasy stories (once upon a time, I fell in love with Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time), and romance comedies the most, although my taste is more varied when it comes to manga (I like reading josei, shounen, and shoujo manga with a hint of shounen-ai).
I used to love watching Madeline, and I still enjoy watching the occasional Sabrina reruns. However, lately, I’ve become addicted to reality TV shows.
All in all, I'm pretty old school, I think hanging out with guys and playing Smash Brothers and Legend of Zelda (if only I had a Playstation, so I could play Final Fantasy!) is fun, and if all else fails, I think I’ll find a job as a tea taster or a sushi chef.
White Reflections
Rhapsody
Cherish
DeviantArt
MyAnimeList
MyMangaList (Incomplete)
Last.fm
Syndicate
