Reading break: it's anything but!

Ah reading break... the Canadian equivalent to Spring break, though not set in spring and not nearly as exciting.

A week-long holiday from school with the expectation that students will read and catch up on various assignments.

Haha! Funny.

... As a diligent student, I will be doing at least some reading. I have 2 research papers to complete and a midterm upon coming back. I also have thousands of Magic cards, Final Fantasy 13-2, and Tales of the Abyss for the 3DS that I've been itching to play with. Oh, and of course the commissions on my crafts, hanging out with friends, catching up on sleep, cleaning the house...

Aiya...

This reading break, I plan to do everything above... somehow. I mean... last night, I made one of my commissions (another Nyan Cat perler) and I did 2 loads of laundry today, tidied up a bit, went to the gym, beat a random newb at MTG: Duel of the Plainswalkers for the PS3.. I even made my workout video for editing either later tonight or tomorrow. I'd say I'm well on my way!

Oh PS: I scored large on Valentine's day. Look at what I got!

A whole box of MTG: Dark Ascension boosters. Better than a box of chocolate any day!

Tales of the Abyss for the 3DS from John and the first Sailor Moon manga from my friend Andrea! <3

Tales of the Abyss seems pretty okay so far. Pretty much the same as the PS2 version, only they made the in-game content 3D. I was hoping they could somehow do some of the cut scenes in 3D too, but alas... that's me expecting too much, I suppose. I'll likely give a full-on review sometime in the future.

The Sailor Moon manga is so cute! It's very similar to the episode! I've been reading it on and off while I'm making dinner... thank you again Andrea! <3



I'm probably going to leave FF13-2 wrapped up too, for now. I have the collectors edition (because that's how I roll), and I'm hesitant to break the seal. =(

I like collector's edition everything... no good for a poor student.

Cosplay stuff is slowly being pieced together... I bought some fabric for Terra's costume yesterday. One thing I want to get my hands on is a sewing machine. I need to find someone with one, or think about getting my own. Bleh! Buuut check out what I have so far!

Some of the fabric for around her waist.

Beads for her jewelry!

A couple bracelets I bought at a thrift store. I might use the gold one for her hair... haven't decided yet.

 

Her cape! This fabric is perfect for it!

I think the biggest trick will be finding the fabric for her dress and gloves. I was hoping to find fabric with a flower design on it, but it's proving to be difficult. I even had a dream about how I might have to paint the design on myself with fabric paint... :o

Also, I got a text  earlier today from a friend saying he got all his Warhammer 40k stuff from his old place. Looks like I get to learn that this Tuesday! I'll tell you how it goes... I'm really excited!

Not much else to report. I'm pretty excited about the time off, but with all these engagements... I doubt it'll be very restful. =P

Any Canadian readers in the house? If you're on Reading break, how are you gunna spend it? What are your thoughts on 40k? M:tG? FF13-2? I need to prioritize my week! =P

Emotions... So many positive emotions

So this week has been incredible. So much awesome stuff. I'm about to share it all with you, of course.

First of all, the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo is going to be fricken AWESOME this year. Pretty much everyone going is amazing. I'm so serious. Check out the list of guests here. I'm probably most excited to see the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Stan Lee, Katee Sackhoff, Jake the Snake, and James Marsters. But to name a few.

{ via }

When I learned that Stan Lee was coming to the Expo, I decided to take on another costume: Dark Phoenix. I would love to get a picture with him in this costume. Jean Gray as always been one of my favourite Marvel characters (along with Spiderman and Gambit). I did some searching around for some costume supplies and it's going to be an expensive costume for sure. There's nothing I can make cheaply other than the phoenix crest on her chest and the shawl around her waist. Everything else I need to buy independently and kind of put it all together. What this means is "expensive." The boots will come to at least $70 (on the plus side, many of the descriptions included the words 'stripper' and 'pole dancer,' so I guess I could always use them if I wanted to do a pole dance routine... x.x).

I'm still gunna work on my Terra costume. In fact, I bought some beads for her belt chain around her waist earlier in the week. Still looking for the red fabric for her dress, though... =(

Second of all, I was offered an opportunity to sell my crafts at the CCEE through a company called Project X. Discussions are still in the works, though after seeing the guest line up, I have no idea if I'll be able to do work it in. I'm definitely going to see what I can do. Maybe the guests could all come visit me at the booth. =P

Also, I got a wicked letter in the mail replying to some of the questions posed in the GTKYFB swap I participated in last week from my friend, Andrea (@lightmoonstone). Pretty much the coolest person ever.
PS: When you said your favourite TV show was Seinfeld, we were TOTALLY watching Seinfeld. <3
PPS: I love mail and penpals! Shooooot! <3

Finally, and probably the most emotion-filling thing yet, is the fact that I've had so many people tell me how much of an inspiration I am. As some of you know, I do a weekly weight loss vlog. I utilized some of the concepts I learned from Social Psychology to stick to a workout regime: namely the idea of commitment to a community to stick with goals. And the craziest thing happened... I had people come up to me, telling me how much I've inspired them! I can't believe it. I'm so humbled. Still a bit shy about it all, but.. I dunno. That was the best feeling, being told I inspired someone to improve their way of life.

It's times like this where I know my mum is proud of me and what I've done for myself and others. All of this was a nice turnaround, as lately I've been having just a crumby time with some of my friendships.

So... needless to say, I've been experiencing a ton of varying emotions this week: excitement, happiness, awe, humbleness, determination, and most of all, love.

Thank you. <3

Super Mario in Twi

One of the main dialects spoken in Ghana is one called 'Twi.' From what I can tell, this is a Super Mario skit, probably done on Family Guy, with (most of) the dialogue translated into Twi. Apparently there's a whole whack of other ones, but for the purpose of my blog, I'll share this one.

I miss Skyrim... QQ

I set the backlighting to red when it's Dragon Killing Time.
You don't need to tell me how awesome I am. I know.

So it's week 2 into the semester and I started to miss my beloved Skyrim before I even went back to school. I knew it would turn out like this... and I know, in my heart, it's for the best that I'm not playing Skyrim while in school, but my heart aches for it.

It's really awkward.

It's not that I have an addiction to it or anything. Actually, I don't get really 'addicted' to video games. It shows in the fact that I don't think about playing while at home, alone, studying. But I just feel that during those 3 weeks of my break, we built something special between us, my character and I. We killed so many dragons together. The last battle we had before school was that I killed 2 giants and a mammoth, single-handedly...

I was level 31.

*Sigh*

At least at school I get some geeking in. I'm meeting with some friends later to play MTG (Magic: The Gathering) and I bring my 3DS to school and chip away at LoZ: Ocarina of Time. I'm more excited about StreetPass and collecting puzzle pieces and doing that little adventure game, Find Mii. Simple pleasures... simple pleasures. =P

And in my defense, it's a quick fix before getting back to business. Nya!

<3

My crafts are beginning to get attention!

Last week, I randomly met someone affiliated with a company that organizes LAN gaming events (LAN = Local Area Network). He explained to me that he wants his company to branch out, that he noticed my crafts, and thought he might want to help me out with promoting and selling it. So we met up a few days later to discuss ideas and show my crafts up close.

I think it went well. From what it sounds like, the company would be willing to give me some space to show off my wares. I would just give them a percentage of the item sales.

This is incredibly exciting for me. I've been doing these crafts first because I was bored, but eventually because I loved being creative and figuring out new and exciting ideas. I think it's awesome that someone is willing to give me the opportunity to see where this will go. To be honest, this is what I wanted to eventually be with these crafts. So... I'll keep you posted on how this goes! If it's not successful, it was a shot.

Wish me luck! <3

Dance Dance Revolution

I was thinking a lot about DDR over the weekend. It seems as though the only time I get to play this game anymore is whenever I go to Kelowna or Vancouver. Calgary no longer has a DDR "scene" and the machines are unplayable.

I still very much enjoy it, though. I mean... it's how John and I met and fell in love and all that gushy stuff... so I'm always more than happy to go play with him. :3

Specifically, I was thinking about my skill level as a beginner player and how I must have looked to the more advanced players of the time. These thought processes began as I was watching some beginners play with some curiosity. A long time ago, when the game was newer and popular, my friends and I would bring in a lot of attention, even though I wasn't that good. Over the weekend, we did get some attention, too. It made me wonder if I'm still an inspiration for new players.

I actually find it impressive that our skill level has been relatively steady, considering that we haven't played in so long and haven't kept up with playing. I'm happy to find the game still fun.

My score on a non-stop course. Made it on the leader board,
just under my last high score from maybe 4 years ago.
Glad to see I've still 'got it.' =P

John playing an extra stage.
When you get an 'extra stage,' the speed is preset
and the arrows scroll downward as opposed to
upward, as per usual. You can only get an
extra stage if you AA the last song of a set.

But it exhausts me... I can't believe how much it makes me sweat... bleh. =(

I think when John and I buy a bigger house, we'll have our own arcade... we'll have a nice ITG machine (a game similar to DDR) and whatever else he wants. I don't care. I just want DDR... =)

The Warrior

I'm normally a pretty easy going, calm person. It doesn't take a lot to please me... actually, you could probably compare me to a plant: feed me, water me, pay attention to me once in a while, and I'll be pretty happy.

Anyone who truly knows me knows that I'm very stubborn. I use the stubbornness and fight. Thinking about it, I pride in my ability to fight. People tell me I'm strong and I shrug it off. But I agree... I know I'm strong. I've been through a lot over the years.

Why do I fight? I'm not too sure... I just do it. Sometimes fighting gets me into trouble and hurts people. It pushes people away. It pushed my best friend away.

He went away because I got mad at him. I couldn't tolerate his attitude and disregard for me. I couldn't stand how he would tell me we could get together and then cancel on me. I couldn't stand how he didn't care about our friendship after so long, so I told him so. I told him if he couldn't be a friend to me then he shouldn't a a friend.

And then he went away. He said I changed too much.

He didn't know me that well, I guess...

I miss him a lot. I mourn our friendship even though I told him that it didn't hurt that much... I told him the truth, though: this didn't hurt compared to how much I hurt when I saw the love of my life suffer.

Is that why I'm strong? Because I compare the pain I feel in everyday life to what I felt when I watched my mum die? Everyday pain is insignificant compared to that morning.

Contrary to some belief, I still have emotions. I was telling John how scary it was, though, that I could just hide them on a whim, push back tears and collect myself. I can pretend. I think that's what people see when they tell me I'm strong. But that's not the reason. I don't know the reason.

I have since made new best friends and almost lost them, too. Over the same reasons... but this time, instead of confronting them and fighting, I ran away. I didn't want to lose people I've worked so hard to be close to.

I went through a lot of pain and confusion. I didn't understand why I couldn't just move on and forget about them. I tried hard but those pains always came back. I hate hurting. John suggested that I just ask them what's going on, so I did. I started to fight and I'm not sure why. I fought for what I believed in... our friendship. I didn't feel like throwing it away and moving on all over again. It didn't look good at first... but then in the end, something happened.

I didn't lose my friends. I got a second chance...

Maybe I can learn something from this battle.