(Found an unposted web log entry from 2018 and kinda enjoyed reading it, so here it is.)
This is quite bizarre. I took off a handful of days – no, not
even – I took off Friday, first of all.... OK wait, let’s go back even further.
Let's go back to last Friday. And then, let’s also talk about how there is no
place to share all of this information due to the fact that... well... there
just isn't.
But we'll get to that.
Anyway, ok. Back to last Friday and trying to take some time
off. Sort of. I'm bad at that. I'm also bad at leisuring. But I think probably
a lot of people are, or at least they are bad at leaisuring in the way that
most people expect or anticipate or believe or assume they should be leasuring.
You look at pictures in magazines, ones that really pull you in and put you in
a place. Say, a beach.
Imagine… a Corona ad.
There's a beautiful beach, a blue ocean, a chair with a few
beers in a bucket. Someone in a hat sitting in the chair, pops the cap off the
beer and leans back... now what. You sit and stare at the ocean while drinking
the beer.
Ah.
And what? What else? I drink beer very quickly so now what? Listen
to music? Think? Rest? Start worrying that you didn't hydrate enough and so
probably shouldn't drink that other beer in the bucket but really, it’s so
light, it’s almost like drinking water, right?
I mean, most people would be bored sitting in that chair. Or
they would sit there and maybe drink half the beer before they start looking at
their phone and at the in-flight magazine that they stashed in their backpack,
or around for someone to visit with....
Ah, now there is a thought.
Visiting. Is visiting considered
leisure? It's not always relaxing. I think of leisure time as being spent
relaxing, but maybe not necessarily? Some people use leisure time to exercise, which
is like the opposite of relaxing. So ok; maybe I don't relax very well.
I don't relax very well.
I need to talk about control. And about having no oars.
At some point - but not now.
I also need a massage.
I also digress...
So. Back to taking off today.
[insert photo from a magazine article showing a rainbow-hued collection of botanicals on a dinner plate in which one of the captions states "Bright green herb oil
replaces spinach leave you find in traditional artichoke dips"]
No place on line, save possibly my blog,
makes as little sense as my life does. I have curated my life in such a way for
it not to make sense. If other people can say herb oil replaces spinach leaves
in some flower-filled bowl of, supposedly (‽), spinach and artichoke dip, or
that having a climbing wall across from a big glass window in a hotel room was
not a weird idea, I can fly in a day early and
stay at a rooming house in Portland Oregon to have a “me” day.
I can say here that I am possibly one daybook and a pair of
pajamas overpacked. And that yes, my bag is an homage to Babou from Archer.
Because, no one cares, except me. I understand that. I live with me, though,
and I feel I should get some place to document this stuff.
Hullo - I have been back from Japan for about 3 months now, and
just getting around to sharing this post so sorry for the wait.
So, what did it cost to go to
Japan? Is it as expensive as everyone says it is? Of course it depends on what you are interested in and where you want to splurge. I found this other person's blog about her experience which was good to hear before I left, so I thought it would be helpful to give my full breakdown.
NOTE: I went with one other
person, so we split costs on everything.
Our itinerary was:
Day 0 - stay overnight in
Chicago
Day 1 - leave car in Chicago,
fly to Tokyo, Japan (Narita Airport)
(Because of the deal we got for
the package of hotel+flight in Tokyo, it was cheaper to keep the hotel in
Shinjuku as opposed to checking out for two days and checking back in - go
figure! Plus, we could leave most of our stuff there.)
Day 5 - Drive to Ski Hill
Rent snowboard and get lift
tickets
Back to Sapporo hotel at night
Day 6 - Check out of hotel
Drive to airport - return car
Fly to Haneda airport
Train to Shinjuku
Day 7 - Tokyo
Day 8 - Tokyo
Day 9 - Check out of hotel
Train to Narita
Fly back to Chicago
Pick up car
Drive home!
We took our trip in March of
2019.
High level =
Chicago portion
(overnight+parking*) = $203.36
Expedia Tokyo portion
(flight+hotel, 2ppl.) = $3675.01
Expedia Sapporo portion
(flight+hotel)- $659.30+ $130.62(car) = $789.92
TOT. = $4,668.29 ($2,334.15 per
person)
*Parking alone would have cost $90-153 and the timing would have sucked so doing the park and stay and fly thing was perfect.
Since we had been planning for this trip for a number of years (5-10 depending on how you look at it), we were able to bank miles on two different credit cards. We used Visa miles on the Sapporo portion, so we ended up just
paying for the car. We used Discover card miles on the Tokyo portion so it ended up reducing
down to $2747.
(I just checked Expedia and the hotel right now (July) is booking for $79 / night for 2 ppl. ANA flight is $1477 per person.)
N'EX (high speed rail from Narita to Shinjuku) $40 per person round trip –
totally worth it. Portal wi-fi for the whole trip = $116. Again - completely worth it.
I estimate total, for souvenirs, food, and other train rides, we
probably spent less than $2000 total. Granted, we mostly ate out of 7-11s and we walked
most places (very easy and safe), and we shopped at the 100 yen store, but it didn’t detract from
our overall experience, at least not on this first trip (I could have spent the whole time visiting shrines which costs next to nothing). The ski hill we went to in Sapporo was only like $70 for the both of us.
Grand total per person works out to $2700. Without our credit card
discounts, it would have been closer to $3500.
To steal from one of my favorite podcasts: "WARNING: the following web log may contain material that is inappropriate for viewers that are under the age of 18, are easily offended, or get annoyed by holier-than-thou know-it-alls that are... anything but."
Side note - Anime World Order podcast, that has been going since 2005 and so has been around almost as long as I've had this blogspot account (heh. back when it was blogspot), and therefore nearly predates the phrase "podcast", is a great way to listen to people who are absolutely obsessed and enamored with anime rattle off Japanese names (people and shows) with wild abandoned and talk (from an older, US fandom based perspective) on the history, culture, and intricacies of the genere. The episodes are almost always 2 hours + and I cannot fully express the depth of knowledge and passion that they exude -- and I like it even IF it is from know-it-alls who are... anything but.
Back to me...(/◕ヮ◕)/
I am going to make a post about learning kana - that is, katakana and hiragana, two of the written Japanese languages.
I do not actually know kana.
I want to make that very clear. I have never taken a class, I have not signed up for any online tutoring, I haven't even read the Manga Guide to Learning Japanese.
I'm still going to write about it. In part, yes, I acknowledge I am a lousy gaijin (
外人 ) and there is a lot of historical baggage that comes from me being a privileged, white, US citizen that affects my belief in myself.
But... in the same breath... I am having SO MUCH GODDAMN FUN learning kana I HAVE to share it! I have ALWAYS been bad at memorization, but I held out that maybe some day, I could attempt to "learn Japanese" and it would be like a game or like learning the list of Pokemons, and it WOULDN'T be hard, or at least if it was it would be fun AND IT IS AND I AM VERY JAZZED WHEN I LOOK AT A WORD LIKE ファンシー and realize that I can sound it out (hu-ah-n-shi --- fhuan-shi --faancy-- OMG IT SAYS FANCY!)!!!
I just think that if there are other people out there who are hesitant but passionate about at least trying to learn something as overwhelming as a foreign language that has a totally different sentence structure than English and three main alphabets, I want to say GO FOR IT because I did and I want to explain what worked for me.
Social media has not filled the void of being able to get my work and thoughts out of my head and into the world very well, so I'm back to this blog. Because I'm too passive to continually engage, all alerts are turned off on my phone, and because I'm paranoid about the fairies using my real name, I also mainly keep my identity to myself. Plus, no matter what platform I end up using - Instagram for pictures, Twitter for politics - I mainly get the echo chamber of individuals I already know. Facebook came the closest, with a mix of words and images: with the ability to post links and connect thoughts, but it had become less of that in recent times and more of a relay through bad memes, unchecked articles, and a mire of sad copyright and privacy confusion. I predict it will end up an event app and business card site.
Tum-te-tum. Here we are again. Back to the unedited ramblings of serial misspeller, wanting to capture fleeting thoughts like a kid collecting candy at a parade, and instead of gorging on the empty calories myself, trying to find a way to share the momentary bit-o-honeys with the masses.
"Not back on it, Joe, still on it." - TMBG
This brief interlude is to present a window into the grey October morning the cover photo was taken, and the newspaper my laptop is resting on. The image replaces the former name of this web blog: "Adventures of a Rural Explorer," as I am reverting back to simply "Belle the Cat". It better reflects what I am trying to do and gives me more mental freedom to explore the varied topics I always have.
Don't ask me why I get the newspaper. Everyone should. We also get the "big city" paper, but the paper in question is lovingly referred to as "the local rag" in this household, a fairly new conglomeration of tiny local papers bought up by a slightly larger tiny local paper. Within you will get a mighty lick of local meeting notes, musings, and high school sports updates.
It was the musings that pulled me in today. One, which last week featured the writer's dog, this week sported a photo of a goat that lives on his property. The other one is the Geiger Counter column by local writer and pontificator Matt Geiger. I don't always read his column, but I will never forget the "I tried to buy a monkey when I was 8 years old" one from a few years ago, so I skimmed the current one, called "One form among many..."
Perhaps it was the initial paragraph relating the trials and tribulations of coming up with a new password, only to realize the password I just tried to change to is my current password. Also, with recent Facebook breeches, I've had "reset passwords" on my to do list for a few weeks. But as I read on, imagine my surprise to find that the column was actually about existentialism and the fleetingness of existence?
"There is such peace in that idea - that our individual lives are fleeting, and insignificant," the author relates.
And I connect to that. Who cares if we redo our kitchen, buy a new house, loose everything in the stock market, write a blog post? Our life, the memories and goods we leave behind, the candy-wrappers of our existence are really nothing... really... This is not an excuse to do nothing, to hurt people, or to undermine your beliefs. It is a reset of the mind that honestly probably saves a lot of people from loosing it.
I woke with a headache.
Not a great start. Coffee will make it go away, but I also had one of the worst nights of sleep I've had in a long while. Too bad. Time waits for no one.
From now through April 30, 2017 I'm tracking my first 100 days of political advocacy, but also, the first 100 days of the next 4 years. I hypothesis that this is going to be tough. I wager I do talk to all 5 of my representatives, weigh in on policy regarding my two big issues - environmental protection/green energy and birth control access, and make connections with allies to help retake the political football from our opponents past this first short burst of activism.
This may seem counter intuitive to those who want to win - showing my plans like this. But while I do believe politics needs to be conducted as if it were a game, I also believe that rules need to be agreed on and followed, goals need to be set, and if possible, plans laid out in such a way that they can be tracked and recreated and tested again if they do indeed reach the intended outcomes.
My research for this came from reading a lot of articles, some planning equipment like Alex Vermeer's 8760 hours (you can find it on line), and talking to thoughtful friends and relatives about the hazy path to the future. I thank them all.
Now - this initial post on this, my old reliable personal blog, isn't indicative of how or where my political exploits will be documented. Check out my twitter handle: goatmaiden or my newly minted political blog: pirategoat.com or the Pirate Goat Facebook page for more.
I do have other goals not related to advocacy which include understanding a little more written and spoken Japanese and to create and share more fantastic creations, so you can watch for more tracking of those type of things here.
I started this year in the same way I've started pretty much every other page in my adult life - reflecting on the past, forecasting the future, shoring myself up with good words and inspiration in the form of quotes from great people, ("Help others. - D. Lama)... and getting it all wrong.
By the end of 2014, I told myself, I wanted to have a professional head shot. I wanted to have an IMBD credit.
I actually had three head shots taken. None turned out looking anything like me.
I embarked on a path to help a friend with a personal creative endeavor. In January we met for coffee and a first discussion. In April we started fundraising. In June we started shooting. We continued filming in July, August, then on into September, October and November, and despite having this in my head as a "summer project" we are still not done. (So no credit, yet.)
I thought I wanted to run charity races: the Zoo run, the Depot to Depot, the Fruit Loop. I wanted to learn to bow hunt - to harvest my own meat.
Maybe I should have tried the walk.
I wanted to make songs with my husband in a silly band we called Kittens On Roombas. I wanted to have more backyard parties. I wanted to go to the State Fair. I wanted to go to conventions.
I did none of this.
I did garden, very lackadaisically, which is how I think I am going to garden from now on. Whatever grows, grows. I spent a lot on the water, which was nice, although I will think twice before floating an 11 ft. rowboat 25 miles downstream again (even in summer, it gets dark eventually). I donated to places I believed in, and set out a plan for 2015 donations.
As much as I plan as much as I think as much as I pontificate, I realized I will never have "extra" time.
I get high off of being the master of my own destiny, so I will be content with the enjoyment of deciding not to go to the state fair other than rearranging my schedule or sacrificing another event (in this case, a film shoot in the fabled Pabst brewery tunnels) to have the experience of going.
I tried some new restaurants: Sardine, Ishnala, Samba.
I ate a lot of fish fry.
I watched a lot of football.
I attended Fireball with the remnants of the Dane101 crew, a house burn, Scaryland, a 75th bday party, Fruitsfest, Irishfest, Focus on Goats, The Wisconsin Film Fest, a Roller Derby bout, a hockey game, the Zoo (2x in Madison, 1 in Chicago), Vegan Fest, a 5th bday party for twins at a pizza place, a Hawaiian BBQ work picnic, and The Amazing Acrocats.
I volunteered for the local library's 115th anniversary.
So what am I doing now? Reflecting on the past, forecasting the future, shoring myself up with good words and inspirationin the form of quotes from great people ("Make good art." - N.Gaiman)... in preparation for getting it all wrong again. Apparently it's what I do.
Back on March 7, we had a little get together for former Dane101 contributors. That was one day after the Wisconsin Film Fest schedule came out. Since 2010, I have blanket-covered the festival, seeking out trailer-a-days, tweeting my p.o.v.s, interviewing, podcasting and pre- and re-viewing everything from Feeding Fish to Bellboys. With the loss of the D101 outlet, I struggle to figure out exactly what to do with my time this coming weekend.
First off, I thought I would share the movies I'm interested in attending:
Friday 4/4 --
To Be Takei - 4:30pm - Union South
R100 - 9:15pm - Sundance 6
Saturday 4/5 --
Tricked - 5:30 - Union South
Wisconsin Own shorts (rush) - 6:15- :LVM
Bucket of Blood - 9:30 - Union South
Sunday 4/6--
Kumiko the Treasure Hunter - 5:30 - Sundance 6
The Congress - 6pm - Oventure
Monday 4/7 --
The Congress - 6pm - Sundance 6
Secondly, here are some other movies I could be talked into:
Food Patriots
Rent a Family
Stray Dogs
Domestic
Cannibal
Burt's Buzz
Wisconsin Rising
The Lumberjack at 100
Domestic
Dostoevsky behind bars
Approaching the Elephant
Le Weekend
Coherence
The Sacrament
The Overnighters
Cheetin'
And finally, things seem to have come full circle, as it were. I am currently spending most of my free time promoting and helping produce The New World Horror, and upcoming Wisconsin-based, progressive-minded zombie flick staring some of my friends and yours from Madison and the surrounding area. Watch for our fliers at the fest!
I had the opportunity to submit a review of the newest entry into one of my favorite video game franchises of all time to the blog Rage Quitter earlier this month. The Ace Attorney series, a collection of lawyer simulator games set in a wacky world of whip-wielding prosecutors and mystical artifacts, has been in stasis here in the States since 2010. Then, last October, Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies, the 5th game in the main series and the 7th game overall, came to the Nintendo 3DS as a digital download.
Before I get to my list, let me just say that my 4 years and 25 weeksas a
contributor, editor, and board member of Dane101 has been an exceptional
experience. For me, fighting the good fight meant supporting the idea of a
collaboratively run media organization. Whether that was writing articles about local
video game producers, taking tickets at aBroom
Street Session concert, or waking up at 5:00 a.m. to dig through the
day’s news for Breakfast
Links, I did it to be a productive part of the whole. It was part fun and
part frustration; it was part work and part play and a whole lot of learning
experience.
I learned the ins and outs of crowdsourcing and sharedcontent. I learned about image
attribution and what it meant to be on the receiving end of
unsolicited material. I learned about muffin
tops. I also learned about paying attention – to details, to politics, and
to the voices of our neighbors.
Dane101 was an outlet for an ever changing array of voices
on a variety of topics, more than I have ever seen anywhere else. You could
read about the local reaction to the death of Michael
Jackson while downloading a free
Christmas album. You could debate whether or not Brett
Favre was going to stay retired while planning your Fire Ball
cosplay. The non-sequitur of articles and posts was mind-boggling at times: classical
music reviews shared screen space with a series on
local sexual health and the adult entertainment businesses. It grew to its most
visible point in 2011, with the mashup of protests and Wisconsin Film Fest
coverage vying for eyeballs:http://dane101.com/?page=213.
That approach, as opposed to a more focused one, led to the
insightful, interesting, and plain zany posts that I’ve included on my list. It
may also have contributed to the end of Dane101, because when your focus is
every- and anything, it can be a hard sell. Still, if it’s true that the
journey is its own destination, this has been one heck of a trip. Thanks to all
the people who welcomed me aboard: Jesse, Emily, Shane, Michael, especially,
and Christie, Mark, Scott, Adam, Christian, Jason, Kat, Laura, Stacy and all
the rest (don’t be strangers, y’all!).
So here they are, my own personal 10 memorable Dane101
posts, in no particular order (except for #1-which, sorry everyone, is my
favorite of all time).
Why it is memorable: This was "the little post
that could". Once upon a time, Jesse ordered a shirt and tracked its
incredible journey. This isn't so much memorable in and of itself, but the post
somehow comes up in Google searches a lot and has been one of the top ten
hit-getters on Dane101 since it debuted.
Date: We aimed for every week day. I started only about
a year ago. My day was Tuesday.
Author: Editors and some hearty volunteers
Why it is memorable: When I finally started doing
Blinks, there were years of experience behind the daily ritual of combing the
local media for interesting items. I was forwarded a list and would
painstakingly work through the links, also being careful not to repeat
something that had already been listed the day before. But I have to admit, 1.
I found this very beneficial both on the days I was doing the combing as well
as the days I referred to the Blinks to see a snapshot of what was happening,
and 2. my biggest joy was looking up the items to mention in the "on this
day" section. (I learned that most of the time it's sports scores and
battles.)
Why it is memorable: On Valentine's Day 2011, hundreds
of Valentines were delivered to the Governor of Wisconsin from the University
of Wisconsin teachers, students,
faculty and staff. It's a moment early on in the protest movement that I won't
forget. Also on this day, Dane101 published a great round up of coverage of the
bill.
Why it is memorable: Before I got to know him as the
proprietor of the S*tty
Barn, I read this entry by Chris regarding his ownership of Furthermore Beer. As a craft brew
fan, and as a person who loves to see the promotion and success of all things
cool from Wisconsin, I was
interested to hear the background and arguments surrounding this bill. On 4/28/2010, the tax failed to pass
pursuant to Senate Joint Resolution 1.
Why it is memorable: OK, I cheated; I could not choose
just one link for the WI Film Fest coverage. Every year, Dane101 worked to
cover the festival with as much wo/manpower as it could muster, and every year
we added something new or changed something up. From live Tweeting, to videos
of the Q&As, to interviews before and during the Fest, this was not only
one of the most exhilarating times to be a part of Dane101, it was also one of
the most fun times to be in Madison, WI.
Why it is memorable: Not only did this post crash the
site after Mr. Gaiman linked to it, but I had a personal hand running the
actual event. It
was magical.
Why it is memorable: There are too many to list, so
again I had to cheat. What's Your Damage (WYD) brought back everyone's favorite
high school horror open mic after an absence of a number of years. From DJ Nick Nice at the Tron Party
came one of my favorite Daft Punk mixes ever. The Fire Ball Masquerade was / is
/ continues to
be the most outstanding dance-y, costume-y, late night dress up party
around, and Halloweekend brought the world this amazing photo:
Why it is memorable: I don't know why this 13 minute
video sticks out so keenly in my memory. I had only been back in the Madison
area for a short time, had just bought a house, just got married, and was
settling in to do some real writing, and then this was posted, in all its
unsettling glory. Actually, I think it was one of the comments, calling out the
motley crew and questioning their motives that got me, and the subsequent
posting of even more ridiculousness to the thread. Long live Onion Dog.
Be sure to read the "Myth: Mandatory GE labeling would increase consumer choice."
"All certified-organic products don't contain any GE ingredients. The United States' current voluntary labeling system probably provides more choice for consumers. ...Consumers can assume that virtually all unlabeled food products may contain engineered ingredients if any ingredient is made from corn or soybeans. While this system is not perfect and may lead to consumer confusion and some misleading or inaccurate label claims, Americans probably have more choice at the grocery store than consumers in any country with mandatory labeling."
Good stuff--Sometimes you face impossible tasks. "Trying to defeat reality is an exercise in futility... reality always wins."
Get a handle on how long tasks take.
Get more sleep (I would add, and more exercise)
There is an intrinsic benefit of routines. Reduce the sheer number of conscious decisions you must make every day.
Farmer's Fight With Monsanto Reaches The Supreme Court http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/02/18/171896311/farmers-fight-with-monsanto-reaches-the-supreme-court
"Bowman uses Roundup Ready soybeans for his main crop, which he plants in the
spring, and he signs a standard agreement not to save any of his harvest
and replant it the next year. Monsanto demands exclusive rights to
supply that seed." But for his second, more risky planting, "... he bought some ordinary soybeans from a small grain
elevator where local farmers drop off their harvest." He planted these. Monsanto says this is illegal.
Pixar’s 22 Rules of Storytelling http://boingboing.net/2013/03/07/pixars-22-rules-of-stor.html
Another one just chock full of good stuff.
#7. Come up with your ending before you figure out your middle. Seriously. Endings are hard, get yours working up front.
Also 2 and 8.
The above article was posted to Facebook by a roller derby enthusiast, who made mention of the fact that many of the items on the list could equally apply to Life or Derby.
Some gems (and I think the title could have been 19 things to stop doing ... whenever) - somewhat paraphrased:
Stop trying to get away with work that is "good enough"
Don't procrastinate risky, innovative decisions. Make drastic change
Stop being stingy - explore what is important and start spending your money on it
The list came from a group made up of a bunch of male college friends, "The Buried Life," an MTV show and a book. And so while I like #1 (if you don't do something well, you shouldn't be doing it at all), I also think doing something is better than doing nothing a lot of the time. So what if I am not the greatest ever blogger? Is it a waste of my time to share my thoughts? We can't all be the best at everything we do (see article on mediocrity.)
#2 (above now, not in the actual article) strikes me as very MTV--but, isn't there something to be said to having a steady paycheck and getting into a 401k early? Yeah, not really "fun" per se, but aren't we always being bombarded about how stupid we are if we only look at the present condition, and how horrible humans are at planning for risk in the future? Then, if we actually set up our lives to prepare for ones future self at the sacrifice of present day acquisitions (#3, although I did buy some books I'd been procrastinating on after reading this), we are berated for not living life to the fullest!
I guess I should just join Derby so I can figure this all out.
Last month I made my nearly-annual trek to the Columbus, Ohio anime convention Ohayocon 13 (I think I missed one or two since 2006).
I adore anime conventions. Though I've attended sci fi, fantasy, comic, writing, steam punk and a myriad of everything-sub-and-pop-culture cons, all of which have their own geeky pleasures and attractions, anime cons always seem to convey an overwhelming sense of cuteness and affection (although, humorously, I recently re-read the 2007 manga series Dramacon and chortled a bit at the multiple references to "glomping" the practice of which now a days, I'm sure due to numerous lawsuits, seems to be almost completely dead.) This may be a product of their relatively young demographic,which can also bring an undertone of adolescent immaturity, angst, drama, and "@!#$%OMG! too-many-feelingz!?>!## :-P !!"
Which, in a way, I welcome. Since I am not a pre-teen (or do you prefer tween?) or teenager any longer, I really have difficulty remembering the heart-wrenching, soul rending, all-encompassing love, hate, disdain, and rapturous glory of friendship that I know I felt at that time in my life (and have the amazingly bad poetry to prove). Chalk it up to hormones leveling out or whatever, but still, I don't think it is good to distance oneself too far from what is a huge portion of the population, as well as a great and powerful force in the world.
Honestly. Young people, especially those who go to conventions, have money and they have time--two things a lot of the rest of the population doesn't have. And they spend both very emotionally--influencing what the rest of us see, hear, and read as well as what we are sold. Along with a need to belong (to a group of people outside of their family that represents their individuality), this age group (say, 12-29), is rife with creativity, as is evidenced by the costumes, artwork, and, well, simply hilarious crazy ass shit on parade at Ohayocon.
And even if you don't watch anime, or even know what it is, there is still some great times to be had at Ohayocon.
Penguin Drum
Rainbow Dash
Persona 3
Trucy Wright
Jean Armstrong
Dark Souls
(Where else can you see a mermaid wheeled through the food court on an office chair?)
I admit, most of the images above relate to costuming, since that is one of the brightest, boldest, most colorful (and therefore most visual) examples of what I love about Ohayocon. But there was more than that.
The vendor room, or dealer's room, was ripe with licensed material, video games, manga, DVDs, imported goodies and more. I ended up getting a Chi shirt whereas my sister bought the most Ah-Dor-Ah-Bul notebook from TastyPeachStudios.com. If anyone wants to get me their Fat Pegasus Tee, I will wear it. This place had cats made of mochi. Meowchi.
But wait, there's more! Ohayocon also had an Artist Alley, which was fairly thriving. I will admit to being a person who does not purchase a lot of art for arts sake. But if you have any peripherals, i.e. jewelry, bookmarks, comics etc. I may be tempted. I am also a self-declared button whore. I was lucky enough to find two pretty amazing... God I don't know what to call them, franchises?
One is Prince of Cats, a webcomic that uploads multiple watercolor pages per week. WATERCOLORS! Some webcomics struggle to upload a single penciled page every 7 days! (Not that I'm dissing them; I haven't posted a blog about this convention and I went to it over a month ago.) Prince of Cats is mostly a relationship tale between two queer boys in their final days of high school. The twist is that Lee (above) saved the Princess of Cats and therefore was granted one wish. He has yet to make said wish and so, until he does, he has gained the ability to understand the language of cats. The artist's kickass postcard marketing collateral lead me to her site, where I've been following the story (which only started posting in 2012, but has an active fan base and a number of collections for sale.)
Another was Tokyo Demons, a multifaceted creation which includes a written story, serialized audio show and YouTube channel, book and ebook, as well as posters, pins, a card game, a video game and, um, more. Pretty incredible. My husband bought the fully voiced audio book (!) which we listened to driving back to Wisconsin. The story follows Ayase, a girl with a very strange secret, and Jo Oda, a self-centered pickpocket who is drawn into a convoluted and complex plot he didn't ask for and doesn't really want to deal with.So far my favorite character is Miki Morikawa, a young, incredibly bright nerd who swears like a sailor, leads an inept street gang, and is voiced by a woman. Daniel Ozimek is pretty cool tool.
Lianne Sentar and Rebecca Scoble, both involved with Tokyo Demons and former employees of TokyoPop have recently launched Chromatic Press which has some pretty cool stuff going on so you should check it out.
Panels play a big part of Ohayocon. I find the quality to be hit or miss, and this year was no exception. I attended a Persona panel, which was mostly trivia (I missed the first part. There might have been more discussion, research etc. that I missed). And I did get to meet MegaTokyo artist and co-creator Fred Gallagher, but his panel was so low key I could hardly hear him. I give him a pass, and I won't post the awesome pic of me standing next to him while he was wearing a full body kitty cat costume because he tweeted he was embarrassed by it (then why wear it, Fred?).
The best panel I attended was one about the Ren'Py game engine, a program that helps developers create a video game, namely, a visual novel. A visual novel is a style of game that can be as simple as a story book you click through. The panel was put on by the writer and artist of OTChi Kocchi, a recently released visual novel game set in a pharmacy school. The presenters really laid out the process and it looks pretty simple. The fact that they had never made a video game before also gave me hope of maybe someday making my own. They also handed out free cds of the game (Act I), which is also available for free download on their site.
Finally of course, was the comradery. Because it doesn't matter if you're 17 or 70, hanging out with people-- friends, family, and strangers, who laugh at the same things you do, introduce you to new and innovative experiences, and create an environment where you can feel free to be whoever you want to be, is something pretty magical. Overall I had a blast, and returned home inspired, with my muse raging to create.
So yes, I have been reading a lot of these lately. Less to
find out what the future holds, or to remind myself what happened this year,
and more to plot a course for the future. If you are like me, you’ve skipped this
whole top section and jumped right to the meat below: the Twitter-like bullet
points which sum up the list in a neat and tidy fashion (is there anything
worse than a “Top" post that doesn’t bold or bullet pointit’s entries?) We’ve got things to do before this year is over, right? We’ve
got to plan how we are going to be more successful, a better person, how we are
going to make the year ahead count, and all before midnight,
right? So without further ado…
I
really wasn’t that impressed with this list-not only was it rather meandering and
a little first-world for my tastes (“at least once a day try to eat something
really delicious, like a small chunk of fine cheese or an imported chocolate,”
and “(t)urn off background TV,”) but it centered around one glaring insinuation-that
we know what makes us happy. Happiness has been a conundrum for me ever since
reading blog posts by Penelope Trunk (an avowed happiness obsesser for a while). Is happiness the point? Is that the meaning of life? That sure would be nice
to know, eh? So often have I have heard others, as well as my own family, hope
for happiness… offhandedly it seemed, and without introspection… that I was
wary of the concept. I had to examine it, “become one” with it, and see if the
whole goal of happiness held water (Cecilia Farran,owner of a spiritual and emotional wellness store here in Wisconsin, made this point even clearer when she had the audacity to tell people: “(d)on’t necessarily believe anything that you think.”) This list seemed to assume that everyone who read it agreed on what happiness
was and that happiness is great (“Happiness is the only true measure of
personal success” is the first line.) Comfort? Contentment? Satisfaction? I
won’t argue that there is some advice I believe in listed here (such as taking
time to plan and prioritize) but I am not sure if it makes one happier.
4. “Making money is the by-product of a clearly defined
purpose.”
This was a well-written list in my opinion. It had some
great, eye-catching entries that had my inner cheering squad chanting “Yeah!
Grab 2013 by the horns! Trash that small stuff!" (Because, as Bukowski said, “we are terrorized… by trivialities…. eaten up by nothing.")
So this one is worth reading through, but the main thing I took away from it,
the main inspiration which I wanted to hold on to, was what he said in #5 about profit. Let’s say happiness is my goal, and let’s say I’m really happy
hanging out at home. Cuddled up in a warm chair, drinking a cup of organic
coffee, maybe taking time to read a book, petting a cat or playing a video
game. Well, sorry, I cannot live on happiness alone. I don’t live in the
warmest place in the world so I need to pay for that house and that heat.
Supporting the organic food movement is important to me, and that coffee costs
money. And that pet? As the owner of a domestic animal, I feel I am responsible
to ensure his health and so yeah, there’s that vet bill. I can’t believe this
is true, but after I turned 30, I realized good things don’t just come to those
who are good people (more on this later.) Freedom is great-it gives you the chance and
the flexibility to try so many different things. But there comes a time when
having the freedom to do any and everything needs to be reigned in. You need
money. And for a while, I wondered if my personal beliefs and principals were
holding me back from monetary success? This phrase put money more in
perspective for me.
3. "The sweet spot of anything you do is at the intersection
of a.) your INTERESTS, b.) your SKILLS, and c.) SOCIETY’S NEED."
Ha ha! A list of one. Gotta love it. And it’s a good one, at
least for contemplation. My dad sent me this on LinkedIn. He and I (and a number
of other people we know or are related to) are Jacks or Jills of all Trades. We
are just so damn curious, finding so many different ways to have fun in this
crazy old world that sometimes… we forget to have a career. Or we purposefully
don’t want one (we hate being pigeon-holed you know). But lo and behold, we get
one anyways. People will put you into a category, whether you like it or not. It's how humans understand the world. It’s like the advice I got on writing a novel; you could be
writing a genre-bending sci fi fantasy mystery, but the bookstore is only going
to put that book on one shelf. The author of this article states that you can
only be one thing first (a sci fic
fantasy mystery, or a mystery sci fi fantasy, for instance.) To find out what that first thing should be, you should look at
what you like to do (your passion or interest-what is fun for you), what you are good at (skills or talents you have developed to make your life meaningful) and what is relevant to society (what the market demands.)
2. Embrace the most positive aspect of a negative
situation-even if it means putting a positive spin on vomiting
Life as a human can suck. I do not have a chronic illness.
But I may one day. Or a loved one of mine may. And there are plenty of good
souls out there, fellow earthlings who right now are faced with this or other
adversity. Though this list hinges on the “happiness” phrase which caused me so
much angst earlier, it’s more of a list of “how to get through the day”- for
anyone, regardless of their situation. Life is hard, but I have never seen anyone
with a more creative take on dealing with this topic than this author, who came
up with a list of “Vacation Places Where I Have Vomited!”
1. "Purely focus on doing something to make you more valuable
to other people"
I hated this list the
first time I tried to read it. I got lost in his very first example (“soo you
want me to become a doctor?” was my take away at the time.) But strangely, the
idea kept gnawing at me. Call me a glutton for punishment, but I get a kick out
of “hard truths.” It’s sick, but I thrive on challenges, and feel most
accomplished when I bend other’s perceptions (I took up the French horn because
I heard it was the hardest instrument to learn).
So I went back to this article. And after I slogged my way a
little farther through it, I hit a few more mental road blocks. First off, #5
in the list was “The Hippies Were Wrong” (which was what I found out when I
turned 30,) but the author’s use of a ruthless businessman to prove his point was
a major turn off to me. Then the story, “(r)emember when Chick-fil-A came out
against gay marriage? And how despite the protests, the company continues to
sell millions of sandwiches every day? It's not because the country agrees with
them; it's because they do their job of making delicious sandwiches well. And
that's all that matters.” But... but… we vote with our dollars! And I don’t
want to be seen as choosing delicious chicken over what I believe are human
rights!
But the very next line righted my ship. “You don't have to
like it.”
There it is.
I didn’t like it. And my decision, right, wrong, or who
cares, was not to buy a chicken sandwich.
This article went on to inspire me to believe that I could
do more than just not buy a chicken sandwich. People do more every day. Much
like my #3 above, this kernel of knowledge helped me to find focus. It helped
me reconcile my desire to be compassionate and caring towards others, while
reaping more than a cursory “because-it-makes-me-feel-good” reward.
I don’t know exactly what I will be doing in 2013, but I
will do something–because I know in the past I was the person in this article
who said, "(w)hy should I create anything when the things other people
create suck? I would totally have written a novel by now, but I'm going to wait
for something good, I don't want to write the next Twilight!" Even
if people choose to critique or criticize whatever I end up doing (and there is a good part near the
end of the article on that), at least I will have something to show.
