良い夢を。

So I’ve somewhat fallen off the map, I’ve been waking crazy hours all through the week and crashing hard on the weekends. I don’t really think that’s healthy but there’s only two months or so left of school and there’s still a lot to do and I’m trying really hard to bring up my marks.

My beta currently has no access to the computer, which unfortunately means that chapter two of Withering to Death will take a while longer to come out than previously scheduled. I offer my apologies for the delay.

Hmm I’m working on a fic that I’m hoping to get up by the 14^th for Valentine’s Day,  don’t know how that’s going to work out yet but that’s my goal.

 

Now, onto the primary reason for this post!

I wonder if anyone can tell me the significance of today, February 8^th, probably not since I just noticed it a couple of days ago. It was one year ago today that I uploaded my first Yullen fan fiction. Shocking ain’t it *laughs*

It’s funny how much can happen over the course of a single year, 32 stories to be exact.

2009

 February

8 Not All Things Change

10 Life Support

12 Don't Touch

15 White Walls

19 2 Out Of 3 Ain't Bad

24 Live For Tomorrow

 March

5 Cacophonous Solitude

12 In Retrospect  

17 Devil's Chalice

 April

7-July 2 Augen Auf

25-28 Ambivalence

 May

8 At The End Of Your Sight

31 Sweet Assumptions Make The World Go 'Round

 June

1-18 Sometimes Things Work Out

2 Sky's The Limit  

3 Silver Psychosis

4 Shadows of Submission

5 Searching 'Til Dawn

26 Human Trafficking

 July

3 Of Things Lost

8 Diamond Crevasse

14 Amaranth

21-26 Courting Hostility

29 Lovebirds

 August

22 Carpe Diem

26 999 Paper Cranes

29-Sept 2 I'll See You At The Crossroads

 September

13-Nov 25 Quid Pro Quo

 October

29-30 Trick or Treat

 November

 December

9 Romanian Rhapsody

24-25 To Love Thine Enemy

2010

 January

1 Silence, the Sound of Insanity

22 Withering To Death

Well I’m off now, but before I go I want to thank everyone who has supported me over the past year. I hope you’ll continue to read and enjoy my work :)

If anyone remembers me talking about writing a fic based on Withering to Death, an album by Dir en Grey, I finally uploaded the first chapter, Merciless Cult.

My beta reader, Seihi L, can be thanked for the lack of mistakes.

 

On another note, I’m going to be going to Hong Kong in May, the 16th to the 25th. If anyone is there and would like to hang out one day I’d like the company.

 

 

A lot of the time I feel like the world has gone to hell, humanity is a hopeless case, and that we’re all doomed to play bystander as doomsday rolls around to drag us all into the doldrums – where everything is a riddle and no one knows the answer.

Perhaps life is merely a game, better yet a theatrical performance where everyone is an actor. There are a billion people all trying out for the same part and they’re all watching and waiting for you to fail – waiting because they know there’s no way you’ll succeed.

Some days you’re up on the stage and you go through the motions with ease, and other days you’re the only one who forgets your line. Then there are those rare occasions, the one’s that happen when you least expect them and it makes you step back from your jaded life to revaluate humanity for just that moment. You’re up on stage and you’re about to say your line and then the words escape you. Why? Not because you can’t remember, but because the other actor does something that genuinely surprises you.

The other day I was waiting in line in the subway to pay my fare and some guy I’ve never met before approaches me and asks if I was paying with cash. It was an odd question I think, seeing as I’d have just gone through if I had a token or metropass, even so I nodded. He smiled and said that he had a day pass and not to waste my money. (Now if you don’t know, a day pass allows two adults and up to four children to use the subway and buses for the day.)

I found myself in one of those moments where I forgot my line, I had no idea what to say because I was so shocked and before I knew it, he’d showed the man in the booth the pass and we were both waiting for the train. I thanked him – probably around seven times – he just laughed and said it was okay.

“When you have a day pass you might as well share right.”

That’s what he said, and he seemed so happy. I found myself nodding in agreement, though I was really stuck in my thoughts wondering if things like that really happened, if people could actually be kind. Up to now I still don’t understand why he was so happy doing something for someone else – these days you rarely see that.

I guess I really don’t have all that much faith in humanity, but then again people rarely give me a reason to. I guess I found it almost too unreal that a stranger would have me spending so much time speculating about people.

I’ve come to notice that things that make me truly happy are often a result of people I don’t know. Comments from people in random parts of the globe about my stories, a stranger doing something for me without expecting anything in return, and the expressions people make when I do something for them without expecting anything of them for it.

Funny how these things work out, isn’t it?

I finished my assignment! It only took me three days and one breakdown to do it *cheers*

Anyway I just thought I’d mention that Teppanyaki is really nifty – I know that was probably the most random thing I could have possibly said, but it’s me and everyone’s used to my quirks by now anyway. My parents took me out yesterday because they said I was too irritable from the studying. I couldn’t stop fidgeting because I kept thinking about the time I was wasting and how I had so much work left to do but everything was better after having a cup of barley tea.

I’d never been to Teppenyaki before but I’d known about it for several years now. First time I saw it was in a movie, Beverly Hills Ninja, really funny movie by the way. I think the place is too expensive, but then again I also thought the food was kind of average – my favourite part of it was the salad with the peanut and sesame dressing and the tea.

They served cinnamon tea for dessert. I’ve never had tea for desert but it was delicious, sweeter than I’m used to when drinking tea but still it was quite the treat :)

I probably won’t be going back there but it was a nice experience and the chef was funny.

 

On another note, I’m currently working on some original fiction to try and get published so my writing attention will be split. I’m in no way abandoning Allen and Kanda since they are my inspiration – they just make life worth living and stories worth writing. I don’t think I’ve ever taken more pleasure in writing than when I’m writing about these two. Hopefully I’ll get something up in the next couple of weeks.

I just uploaded Silence, the Sound of Insanity to ff.net

It is kind of a new year’s fic, and it’s a bit strange, but then again what isn’t when it comes from me? I hope everyone likes it :)

 

On another note, I went out with some friends yesterday. Yeah I have friends, amazing notion isn’t it? We went skating at Nathan Phillips Square, it was fun and I didn’t fall once so that was a definite plus. The only thing was that it was a bit rainy so by the time we were done and changing out of our skates we were rather damp and cold.

After that we went for Korean BBQ. It was my first time though they’d been trying to get me to go since sometime last year (things kept coming up and I had to run) it was an interesting experience if nothing else. I don’t eat meat so I stayed away from the beef, pork and chicken, but I did enjoy the fish and squid. I wasn’t all that hungry in the first place but Marco was being an idiot and kept putting stuff on my plate *sigh* Nightingale kept snapping her tongs at him but he just kind of laughed and waved a her from across the table. It truly was amusing.

While we were there we all shared our resolutions for 2010. I swear though it was like some sort of sitcom. We’re all either IB, ex-IB or aspiring IB students so you know it was crazy *laughs*

My resolution was to dedicate myself more to my work and avoid the evil plague of procrastination. Though now that I think about it, screw that to hell I want to get published this year!

There are a whole set of writing contests and challenges that I’ve been reading up on and I’m determined to work at it – nothing’s going to happen if I just sit by and think there’s no way in hell I’ll ever get published.

But anyway, back to the recount of yesterday’s events. After lunch we went over to the Eaton Center. We spent over an hour there and we only went into two stores Chapters and HMV. Unfortunately Chapters didn’t have the books I was looking for so I’m going to have to order them *sigh* what a shame. I’m not too fond of ordering things off the internet.

After the mall we headed down Dundas St. to One Million Comix. I love it when they have sales on all their anime and manga – makes me kind of euphoric. I only bought one thing though, being in university and not having a permanent job means that you can’t be squandering money on everything you want – even if you are living off your parents. I bought Baccano! and ended up watching the first six episodes between 1-4am this morning. It’s a great anime and if you haven’t seen it yet I think you should.

 

I had a lot of fun yesterday but I kind of wished I’d been in Niagara for the New Year’s countdown. They had Styx and Glass Tiger performing. Yeah, I’m somewhat of an 80’s music junkie. The countdown at Nathan Philips Square had some band named Faber Drive, which I haven’t heard of until last night. It was disappointing (all these pop punk bands these days sound the same to me) I even went into a ten minute rant about bands and not coming to Toronto, which included Japanese bands that can’t seem to make it past the damn border *pouts*

Anyway, feel free to ignore me.

Hope everyone is having a great holiday.
 
I just uploaded an omake for To Love Thine Enemy. I hope everyone enjoys it, just a fluffy little moment that is bound to paint a smile on your face if only for a moment - at least that's my intention.

Well I'm off, I have a dinner party to head to in a couple hours and have to help out in the kitchen *waves*

I just want to wish everyone happy holidays.

I kind of fell of the map for the past week or so and I guess I should apologize for that. I was in a bit of a rut after exams. I haven’t gotten to do much writing, which has seriously been depressing. I didn’t even get to work on a Christmas fic *sob*

In any case I did manage to finish and upload To Love Thine Enemy. It’s the fic I’ve been working on for ryuujidiceboy . The prompt was revenge. I might go back and fix this one up later, I have a nagging feeling that it doesn’t flow as it should *frowns* but regardless I hope it’s a decent read.

One last thing, I’m looking for a beta reader, if anyone is interested please let me know. As I mentioned in my author’s note at the end of To Love Thine Enemy, I seem to be getting busier by the day and I don’t feel that I’m able to put my all into the final edit – my focus tends to stray and I miss things. I don’t like reading things with mistakes – it detracts from the story. I’m sure most people feel this way.

It’s quite irritating isn’t it, when there’s a great story that has you hanging off every word and then there are silly mistakes all throughout it? Every time I go back over and read some of my older fics and I notice any mistakes I get really irked and am tempted to pull it down to fix it. I don’t do this of course, because I don’t want to lose all the lovely reviews that I’ve gotten *sigh* I know I’m pathetic, but I do believe we’ve already established that.

Yep, so hopefully with a beta reader to catch whatever I miss, the stories will be mistake free! That’s my goal :)

Once again, hope everyone has a great holiday season!      

I finally figured out limits! I have *checks time* sixty-four hours to figure out derivatives and I may stand a fighting chance on my math exam!

If it isn’t obvious by my previous statement, I’ve lost any semblance of a mind I had to billions of variables and algebraic manipulations.

And I still have to study for another exam I have on Wednesday which I’ve barely thought about. There’s too much to remember about China from the 18^th century to now. The essay portion of the exam is worth 50% Ghaaa!

Before I continue studying though, I think I should get some sleep before my brain implodes.

Oh and I might have to do some grocery shopping too, before I starve to death. I’ve literally been living off bananas and tea for the past five days, with the exception of Thursday when my dad brought a sub for me on the way home.

This newest chapter is an epic win! Hoshino is brilliant; I think I’ve fallen in love with DGM all over again. This chapter was just so funny, I must've read it three times already.

( (Tons of spoilers for chapter 189...you have been warned.) )

So I’ve been somewhat neglecting my studies in favour of writing, which tends to happen a lot with me. I just uploaded my newest fic, Romanian Rhapsody. I’m not all that thrilled with how it came out and had half a mind not to post it, but I decided what the heck and put it up anyway.

I was initially working on the fic I’ve been writing for ryuujidiceboy when I got sidetracked. It’s nearing completion and by the time my exams are over I’m hoping to be able to post it. Right now that fic is my top priority. I would have been working on that one instead of the one I just uploaded to ff.net, but it was either get that one written or suffer mental trauma by way of psychotic plot bunnies.

Ok so this past Saturday we had grading in Kendo and I passed. Who’d have thought? So I have a 6^th Kyu in Kendo. I’m actually surprised I passed since I didn’t know grading was happening until the morning of and hadn’t practiced during the week because I’d been studying like crazy for my psych exam.

Saturday was also my first time in bogu. See what happened was after grading there was practice, and being the last practice of the term, the seniors decided to play a game with us recently ranked beginners...

We got split up into two teams and no one really told us what was going on, we were under the impression that we were going to be cheering for our team. No one could have guessed that a guy and a girl from each team of beginners were going to get suited up in a seniors’ bogu and used as puppets against each other for the seniors’ entertainment.

I was one of the lucky people who had no idea what was going on when I was dragged off to the side by two of the girls and in a few minutes I was staring out from the men feeling at least ten pounds heavier than normal and slightly disoriented due to the extreme narrowing of my peripheral vision – that and I couldn’t hear very well, sounds get kind of muffled, especially when everyone is talking at once, or cheering as the case may be.

How it worked was that the senior was holding our arms from behind and lifting and pushing us forward and tugging us back like if we were life sized dolls or something trying to win against the other and calling out either men, kote or do as they moved us as an indication to where they wanted us to strike. It was a rather awkward feeling and after the match I felt a bit out of sorts when released and allowed to move freely.

I had tons of fun and got a point off the other girl but I can’t really say how, it was a bit of a blur. Anyway it just made me all the more hyped to get up to my 4^th Kyu so I can get bogu and spar again (it was exhilarating) next time though, I’d like to try my hand at it without someone using me as a puppet.

Sensei had a good laugh though, so did just about everyone else. I guess it would have been funny to be a bystander and see this happening.

There’s a tournament coming up sometime in January and we’re all supposed to be practicing for it. The sequence of events is easy but it’s a bit troublesome practicing without an actual target since everything has to do with proper execution of hits on an opponent.

The club is having a Christmas party on the 18^th and then that’s it until we come back after the new years.

I just uploaded the final chapter of Quid Pro Quo!

I know it took my forever but I hope everyone likes it. I have exams soon so that other story that I was trying to get out this month will have to wait a bit longer. I'll work on it when I can but most likely it won't come out intil after my exams are over. I really have to study hard - failure and anything lower than an 80% is not acceptable!

On another note I was just wondering if anyone knew if there was going to be a Yullen week for Allen's birthday, like the one for Kanda's back in June.

Oyasuminasai

I spent all of the past four days studying for the Japanese test I had earlier today. I didn’t even manage to get any sleep last night because I was so strung out on studying. We had 50 questions and 50 minutes to do all the questions. I finished in 20 minutes…The first four pages were easy, the next three not so much and then the last two were a failure of epic proportions. When I left sensei asked how it was and I swear I would have started to cry if I wasn’t so exhausted. Four days of incessant studying plus several weeks prior of a couple hours per day and I still didn’t know everything I should have known.

I wish I could just go to sleep for the next ten hours or something but I have to go back to school in a couple hours for my bio lecture.

I feel like midterms just finished and fall exams are in two weeks! I don’t even know where to start studying, there’s so much I have to know.

In other news, I have just under 7000 words written for the final installment of Quid Pro Quo and I’m heading off to go raise that word count by at least a couple thousand before I have to leave for class.

I feel like I should apologize to my readers for taking so long, but I don’t want to rush and produce a half-assed piece of work. That would be a disgrace to Allen and Kanda and the situation I left them in at the end of the last chapter.

My tentative ending right now is kind of weak so even if I manage to finish the story, I anticipate several tens of ending drafts to be written up before I set out on the first edit. I’m really hoping to have the story done by Sunday but only time will tell, if not Sunday then sometime during the week.

Also, I received a message from a member on ff.net this morning and it really painted a smile on my face.

I think the first fanfic I ever wrote was back in sixth grade, I don’t remember all the details but it was a rather liberating experience, all the thoughts I had about the characters and all the scenarios that were haunting my waking and sleeping thoughts finally got an outlet. Back then I had only been writing for myself. Even when I first posted something on fanfiction, it was more for myself than anything else; a means for documenting my work where it wouldn’t be susceptible to being lost when my pc crashed. Yeah, I’m paranoid about technology eating my work, what of it?

Ever since my first Yullen fic, however, I’ve found joy in not only writing for myself but in writing for others. I get this feeling of elation every time I read a comment or get messaged. Even so it wasn’t until recently, when a couple people had sent me messages saying that they’re a fan of my work that I really stepped back to look at the progress I’ve made.

I mean, seriously I don’t think I’m all that good. Writing is my passion but I get frustrated with not being able to articulate myself properly when I want to portray emotions and other such abstract things.

So today when I got that message encouraging me with my writing and telling me that though I must be frustrated with being busy and stuff, I don’t have to rush it, I was just really happy.

If said person is reading this, I just want to say thanks again :)

So yeah, I’m just a stressed out university student with a passion for writing and an obsession with fanficiton (particularly of the Yullen fandom) that has a wide range of readers that lift my spirits all the time.

To everyone who has read my work, thank you so very much!

Been busy studying for the test I have in Japanese class next Thursday, and haven’t gotten to work much on my writing. I think I got around five thousand words written today between three pieces. I had a bit of a headache – the kind where there’s this dull throbbing in your temples and your eyes start to sting. I tried to take a nap and then get up to get some more done but my insufferable parents, whom I love so much, took away any notion of a nap happening. And to make things worse the internet was down *sob*

Anyway, let’s see. I’m looking forward to this weekend. On Saturday I have Kendo practice but I’m hoping that after I can convince my dad to take me to a bakery that I absolutely adore. It’s in Mississauga so it’s not that far away but I don’t drive yet (I’ve been meaning to go for the test for the past two years but…) It’s called Akko Cake House and their coconut buns are to die for, tastes awesome with hot Ovaltine.

But besides that, Sunday has been dubbed, Kendo Fun Day by one of the club execs. We’re supposed to meet up, go for lunch and then do something. I’m not sure what they’re planning, but it’s supposed to be interactive so that everyone gets to know each other better. I think it’s more for the benefit of the new members than anything, though the senior members seem to be really hyped about it too.

The only thing is that I’ll be missing the Kabuki play that JISA is going to that day. So much is going on and there just isn’t enough time to do everything – that and I can’t really be in two palaces at once.

On another note, I have a…well I guess you could call him a pen-pal. And in the last exchange I asked him what he sees when he looks up at the sky. If anyone knows me personally then they would know that I often ask odd questions like these when trying to get to know someone. Sure the standard, what food do you like? and what are your hobbies? are good too but to me that’s a bit superficial. It does say something of the person as they are now, but little as to the person themselves if that makes any sense.

When I get to know someone I want to know who they are. And to get at such information quirky questions are needed. Naturally he was interested by my question and asked the same of me. I don’t know if he understands why I asked that or what I’m reading out of his response but this is how I responded:

 

When I look at the sky I see everything and I see nothing. I see gorgeous grey pallets of a brewing storm. I see pale hues of blue painted with wispy tendrils of cirrus clouds and puffy marshmallow cumulus – shapes shifting from long mountain ranges to long eared rabbits, a hundred mile Chinese dragon and a fortress of the world’s greatest secrets.

When I look at the sky I see an expanse of infinity, sparkling diamonds glittering on an indigo backdrop that stretches on ‘til it bleeds into the nothingness of the unknown.

I see a shimmering disc of silver, the moon and her many faces, sometimes cloaked in an ethereal glow and other times bathed in a haunting vermillion. I squint unable to see anything but a burst of light caressing the waking world, the sun, sometimes warm rays of light embraces the lonely and chases away the chill. Sometimes the violent streaks sear anger through the skies that appears as watery warped as a desert. I see hope and change. When I look up at the sky I see immeasurable possibilities.

You ask what I see when I look up at the sky.

The answer is simple.

I see dreams.

 

It’s probably easier to make sense of what I was saying before now that, I’ve expressed my answer.

If nothing else it makes for interesting conversation. Ask a couple questions like this one to someone close to you, a friend or a family member perhaps. Their answer my surprise you.

 

Anyway I’m going to go have some tea and then get back to studying. Maybe I’ll even get in a couple hundred more words in before I turn in tonight :)

Oyasuminasai

 

Okay, so everyone knows that I write stories. But I don't believe I've ever posted any of my poetry anywhere. I wrote this after watching the Kevin Reynolds rendition of The Count of Monte Cristo. Just thought I might share it even though it's not really anything special.

Freedom

The rough sand beneath bare feet

The waves lapping the shores in a continued spiral of maddening eternity

The large ominous building, erect and proud upon the distant island

Freedom

The chance to begin again

Where all else was perished and nights of endless tears reigned supreme

Freedom

The way life unfolds, flourishing along the path you walk

A fork in the road – the choice still yours to  make

Freedom

To know and to learn

                To see and to feel

                                A myriad of thoughts and open doors

Freedom

                Is opportunity

                                And the chance to act

I just finished my bio lab report! It’s complete bull, but it’s done and looks decent.

Later I can expect to get some writing done. I’m looking forward to getting to work on my stories. I’m pretty anxious to finish developing the final chapter of Quid Pro Quo. I’ve also got a good skeleton that’s been partly fleshed out for that thank you fic I’m writing. I’m hoping to finish it along with Quid Pro Quo this month and then work on getting the first chapter of Withering to Death out in December, though I might save it to post on the first of January – a new fic for a new year.

 

Oh and I can’t wait to see what happens next in D.Gray-Man! Chapter 188 is finally up. Gotta love that some things are starting to make sense with Kanda, and Allen’s entrance at the end of the chapter was pure joy. Really he’s always plowing headfirst into things with everyone else in mind – so adorable.

By the way, did anyone else feel the sinews of their heart tug when they saw Kanda in the bottom panel on page 31?

 

Well that’s all really. I’m going to take a nap now since I want to wake up early to go over the stuff for Jap class later today :)

Now here’s the part where I get to talk about all the stuff that happened on Halloween.

So first of all I posted part two of my yullen Halloween special, Trick or Treat. I hope everyone enjoyed it.

 

My Saturday started off like any other, with kendo practice. Hao-sensei is a 7^th Dan and though he appears to be in his late forties he’s damn agile. He had a special Halloween practice for us beginners which consisted of us sparring with him. He was in full gear and we weren’t.

When I’m nervous I tend to smile and what do you know, I was smiling like a nervous idiot through the whole thing, and even laughing and apologizing for who knows what reason. You know how in anime when a match is about to begin or something and you see a glowing aura surrounding the person, well I finally understand the concept. Hao-sensei just emanates power, if that makes any sense and without even thinking all I found myself doing was defending.

After a few moments of him telling me not to defend and to attack and him telling me where to attack, men, do and kote, I kind of got accustomed to attempting to attack. He even let me hit him a couple times as part of practice. He’s a really great guy, easy going, not like some of the seniors who are rather strict about things and will tell you you’re doing something wrong and occasionally what you have to do to make it better, but won’t take the time to show you how to do it properly.

I am looking forward to the next time I can spar, it really got my blood pumping and though I lost miserably, I feel really honored to have been able to spar with sensei – or at all even, since I’ve been in kendo for just under two months.

 

After Kendo I went home to kill a couple hours, which I should have been doing homework in, watched a few episodes of Ghost Hunt with my dad and then got ready for a night of scaring.

My dad dropped me off at the JCCC, it only took us fifteen minutes to get there via the highway. How it took so long to get there the other day I don’t really know. I went to the room we set up the day before and the members who were already there were putting on the finishing touches and stuff. My “costume” was just me in my kendo uniform with my hair down and all over my face – creepy. We also had one of the other girls in a white kimono and cheese cloth over her face and long straight black hair. My favorite was the shadow behind the “blood” stained shoji screen, though it wasn’t scary.

For the first hundred people or so I was slouched against a wall like a doll, my hair covering my face and my arms behind my back in my sleeves and when people walked by, some noticed me and asked their companion if I was real and i would scream in response and they would either stare blankly at me or jump and scurry into the next room while laughing at being frightened over something as simple as a startle scare. I got kind of tired sitting around on the floor so for the last half of the night I was sitting behind a wall on a table and I would jump out and scream whenever someone was about to enter the room. It took a few tries to get the timing down but it was more effective.

Near the end of the night some strange people came in, and when I went to scare them I got hugged…yeah…weird. Needless to say I was a bit perturbed by this unwanted contact and became wary of people. Apparently the other girl in the kimono was also hugged – several times to her dismay. Besides the hugging incident one guy was muttering about how he didn’t wan tot be touched and then I screamed at him, he jumped then he stared at me and asked if he could poke me…I swear my mind went blank for a second from trying to comprehend what the hell was going through his mind. And naturally my response was, “do it and you loose a finger.” His eyes kind of widened in shock at my response and he hurried off into the hall.

 

Besides the haunted house, the doujin market was rather disappointing only five tables and then One Million Comix had a few tables with some of the new anime releases. In any case I bought a KHR doujinshi, it was a collaboration of several artists’ work. I really only fancied the first story, because the style was amazing but the others are quite amusing as well. I also bought a print TenGaiOu by Maji/Mary Huang. It was just to pretty for me to pass up. I love watercolor as a medium for art. You can see the piece on her website humanGray, it’s in the art section (obviously).

 

That was my Halloween. When I got home it was past eleven and I was just dead, sore muscles from kendo and sore throat from screaming too much *laughs* so I crashed after a shower and got up the next morning with the sniffles because I fell asleep with wet hair.

 

Sunday consisted of homework and chores. There was a very lazy almost lethargic atmosphere around me all day and I didn’t want to do anything but sleep. Somehow I managed to last the day with minimal consequence, save for not finishing my lab report which is due today (Tuesday).

 

Now that I’ve recounted my Halloween I’ll move onto the last post I’m going to write before getting some sleep.

Ok I had planned to post this entry on Friday but I forgot. I typed it up on my phone and sent it as an email to myself to post when I got home but it just didn’t happen. So here it is, four days late :)

 

So before anything else, I posted part one of my yullen Halloween special, it's called Trick or Treat, yeah unique huh?

In a couple hours I’ll have part two up, it’s just about finished though I’m not quite sure I like how it turned out.

Anyway onto today’s news: if you don’t know what the post title means…

It’s haunted house in Japanese. For the past week the Japanese International Student Association (JISA) of which I am a member, has been building props for our haunted house.

I already mentioned the Doujinka Festival that Anime North is hosting at the JCCC. Well along with them, as a club, JISA has built a haunted house out of an empty room and a whole bunch of duct tape! Ok well obviously there's more to it that duct tape, but that's not the point.

After class this morning, myself and three other members went up to check out the room and start planning out how to use our space. After around an hour in a car cramped with tombstones and a half complete well we arrived at our destination and began planning, putting up partitions and taping black garbage bags over the walls and stuff. It was just us four for awhile and then two other guys came who are with the JCCC and then finally - several hours later - everyone else showed up. One of the club execs gave me a lift to the subway when he was running out to get more garbage bags. I actually just got home a little while ago. (~10pm)

I'm so excited for tomorrow!

 

I guess it’s kind of weird that I’ve posted it like this right? Well whatever, it’s not like I can go back four days and post it at the right time. Even if I could I doubt I’d bother going through all that trouble screwing with the space-time continuum for something like this.

Yep, so onward to the next post!

Like I mentioned a couple weeks ago, I absolutely adore Halloween and am dedicating a whole post to the wonderful day!

So first of all I’ll just give a bit of history, I’m not going into much detail because you can find information all over the internet. Though there are many different versions of the origins and customs of Halloween, some are consistent all across the board. The reasons and methods for celebrating Halloween may be different in different cultures; however, some of the practices are quite similar.

The culture can be traced back to the Druids and Celts in Ireland, Britain and Northern Europe. The roots originating in the feast of Samhain, the day of the dead, held annually on the thirty-first of October.

Samhain was a harvest festival that signified “summers end.” Huge bonfires were held as sacred ritual marking the end of the Celtic year and the beginning of the new one. The Celts believed that the souls of the dead roamed the streets and villages at night. Since not all spirits were thought to be friendly, gifts and treats were left out to pacify the evil and ensure a bountiful crop the next year. There’s no surprise that this custom evolved into the time honored custom of trick-or-treating that wed have today.

For more history and stuff go here, it’s just an article but I thought it was an interesting read. Oh and if you haven’t seen/read The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury, then I urge you to go do so. It’s been one of my favorite Halloween movies since I was a child and I never miss it. I’m looking for a copy on DVD so I don’t have to worry about scanning the TV guide every year. Another one I never miss is It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. Hmm, maybe if I have time I’ll do a best Halloween films post sometime later this week. Though in all seriousness, I should be studying harder for my last two midterms; I’m confident about pulling at least an eighty out of psych, but I’m not all that confident about the bio one.

 

Now onto something a bit more fun. 

 

Superstitions are just awesome aren’t they? Well let’s take a look at some of the more common bad luck omens and superstitions.

Black cats, I don’t see the big deal, I think they are simply adorable. But some people are less pleased about these monochrome creatures. Since the Salem Witch Trials they’ve been considered to have supernatural associations, evil ones to be more specific, and having one cross your path is a definite omen of bad luck.

 

Mirrors, the broken kind. Ever look into a mirror and wonder about the reflection looking back out at you? The you that is your complete opposite. At one point in time t was believed that the image in the mirror is the actual soul of the person and a broken mirror represented the soul straying from the body. Seven years bad luck? Well that’s still left to be seen, but if you’re worried about the bad luck that’ll ensue you might want to wait seven hours (one for each year of impending bad luck) before picking up the pieces and burying it outside in the moonlight. No one would hold it against you for taking precautions.

I actually am really interested in mirrors; I have been for quite some time. I always find it fascinating. I suppose that would explain my mild obsession with Alice and Wonderland. Dreams also intrigue me, so the first book, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, appeals to that interest. Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There, however, is my favorite if I had to choose between the two. The world that Alice finds just beyond the mirror is truly magnificent, life in everything, even inanimate things like the chess pieces. This idea can lend to the idea of a mirror reflecting the soul, and can also allude to the idea that everything has a soul or even just residual memories associated with the person who had come into contact with it.

Yeah I’m a bit weird, but never mind that, I’ll get back on topic.

 

Ever wonder about why walking beneath ladders are bad luck? Well it’s because way back in the day, before there were gallows, criminals would be hung from the top rung of a ladder. Their spirits were said to linger beneath the ladder, and common folklore says that it’s bad luck to walk through the evil triangle of spirits and ghosts. Maybe it’s a portal into the after life or something to that nature.

 It’s kind of sad that the persecutors and executioners didn’t even have the decency to hang the criminals from a tree branch or ceiling rafters or something less tacky than a rung of a ladder, it’s no wonder they couldn’t move on.

 

Now here’s a nifty one. Owls are said to be omens of death, if they look in your window or if you see them during the day time. I was born in Trinidad and though not as prominent in society today, the culture was once rich in folklore. Even if you went down today or something and asked around about Douens and Soucayant, chances are you’ll get a response of recognition from just about everyone raised on the island.  In Trinidad, though, the bird that represented imminent death is a crow. It’s said that crows are harbingers of death and when they caw it means that death is near. I don’t remember exactly because I haven’t heard these stories for years but the gist of it went like this:

It was early morning and the man was meant to go into the woods. A crow was perched upon the branch outside of the house and a loud caw was its response to the man as he stepped through the threshold of the door. His wife begged him to stay home, but he did not heed her pleas and sure enough he never returned and was found dead soon after.

How much truth is in that, I have no idea. You know how it is with stories that are passed around by way of mouth.

 

Anyone know why it’s said to be good luck to throw a pinch of salt over your shoulder? Well it’s because at one point in time salt was a rare commodity and people assumed it to have magical properties. Spilling salt was said to foretell family disarray and death. Drawing rings of salt is also a part of superstition that is used quite a lot in television. Apparently spirits can’t cross a line of salt, and in some accounts, it’s said that in order to get past the salt barrier the spirit would have to count every last granule.

 

Sparrows are thought to carry the souls of the dead and it’s supposed to be really bad luck if you kill one. Whether the soul that was being carried will end up haunting you or if your soul will also be lost to wander one day because of having condemned one I don’t know. But regardless of the consequences, I find it hard to picture someone just deciding one day to knock a sparrow from the sky with a sling shot or BB gun just for the heck of it.

 

Unlucky number thirteen! Well this one is funny to me because it’s one of my favorite numbers. Normally I prefer even numbers, something to do with my mild case of OCD, I kind of need the order and usually end up coming back from the grocery with even numbers in all the fruits I have and after washing them I always line them up on the table. It’s kind of weird but I usually don’t even notice until after I’ve already done it. Anyway, back to the number thirteen, I think it became one of my favorite numbers when I’d read about the Winchester Mystery House.

So you all know that thirteen is considered unlucky right, and you probably even know that many people avoid the number. But I bet you didn’t know that some buildings don’t have a thirteenth floor (at least an official one). Or maybe you did know, but it is weird huh? On another note, some people are a bit uncomfortable with the idea of driving or going anywhere on Friday the thirteenth.

 

Superstitious or not, it’s always better to be aware of things. So if you get yourself screwed over because you walked under a ladder and ended up in a nightmare world, or if you see an owl and still went ahead with that camping trip, you can’t say that you weren’t warned.

Well that’s all for now, I’m a bit sore from Kendo practice this morning so, I’m just going to relax for the next couple of hours while I wait for sleep to claim me, maybe do some stretches and meditate.

Yep, you guessed it. I’m burning the midnight oil again. I do believe this may be a problem that may come back to bite me in the ass sometime later in life, but for now I’ll just go with it since there’s not much else I can do.

Before anything else I just wanted to make a note about Monday’s archery practice. Beware, arrows can and will defy the archer. It is some sort of universal law. Probably not so much in the psychotic case that I was presented with, but I believe my theory is true enough to be a law. What happened was, one of the arrows I shot hit the pole supporting one of the targets and ricocheted off or something, I’m not sure exactly. All I know is that it flew back all the way to the shooting line like some sort of boomerang. Luckily no one was hurt and the arrow managed to survive the impact without damage. It was crazy though…

 

I have a few midterms, assignments and other academic stuff due between this week and next week. I had my first test today; well actually it’s past one so that would make it yesterday. It was math and it was, as they say, a failure of epic proportions. 15% of my mark down the drain. I would cry, but I expected that – I may have mentioned that I suck at any and all math other than statistics and other means of data management.

That failure was just the start of my day though. My mom picked me up and we went to a bakery/café called Panera Breads. It’s a rather pricy place, a bit too fancy for my taste but the oatmeal raisin cookies are to die for. They aren’t sweet at all! Which is probably a turn off for most people, but I don’t really do well with sugar – kind of makes me queasy. The salad I had was rather good, too many pecans but the apple and blue cheese worked well with the arugula, romaine lettuce and tomatoes.

After that we visited one of my mom’s friends, but the highlight of the outing is what came after when we left. I don’t know what my mom was thinking or where she was trying to go but she just kept driving down Woodbine Ave. despite my questions and concerns about where she was taking me to next. Unfortunately for me she still didn’t’ listen even after the buildings became less and then we started seeing cows, horses, old barns and really big plots of land…

It took an hour driving in that same direction before Woodbine Ave. just ended at the edge of a lake. There were no rails between the road and the water so if it had been foggy, we may have ended up driving directly into the lake and that would have been something else altogether. She still insisted she knew where she was and around ten minutes later while noting that we had managed to end up in cottage country and were driving through a small town did she stop to ask for directions.

That in itself was an experience I’ll never forget, she asked a guy driving a Purolator truck how to get to the highway. He asked which highway, and you could tell he was already thinking we were something crazy since there are no highways in cottage country. So she told him hwy7 or the 401 and his eyes nearly bugged out, it was hilarious. He couldn’t even speak for a moment, probably wondering how the heck we managed to get so lost. So he told us to take the 48 south, which was about a half hour away and that would eventually get us back to the highway. It took us a bit over an hour to get back to Toronto and then around ten minutes to get to the Wal-Mart she was initially trying to get to.  

I don’t think I’m going driving with her for awhile :)

 

I did buy a book while we were at Wal-Mart so it wasn’t a total waste. It’s called Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick. It was quite good, I started reading around four o’clock and I finished at just after ten. In case anyone was wondering, it’s not abnormal for me to read a book non-stop ‘till the end. Over the summer when I wasn’t writing I was reading and I went through a book almost every day.

From the recent spike in popularity of supernatural romance, and the illustration on the cover it’s easy to guess what the book is about. I did appreciate that the teaser was how a teaser was meant to be, leading the prospective reader to open the cover. It wasn’t flashy with a whole set of reviews from a bunch of magazines that people really don’t give as shit about, nor did it give away much about the story, which is as it should be, not like some of the teasers that explicitly say that so and so is this kind of creature and blah blah blah.

It had a nice air of mystery and apprehension that kept me interested until the end, (or almost, there were a couple pages that I just breezed over because I was more curious about the dialogue and interaction that their thoughts) I’m not really good at evaluating writing style or anything like that but I think it was simple yet elegant, it said what it had to without overcomplicating or oversimplifying things. The characters aren’t carbon copies, their different personalities are well portrayed not only through the description of their actions, but through their diction. I personally found the witty banter to be my favorite aspect of the novel.

I guess what really kept me hooked though was the fact that it wasn’t overly predictable like some of the more cliché books for young adults coming out lately. There was more going on than just a girl’s sudden obsession with some guy, there’s a psychological aspect to it that really brings the story to life.

I’m not going to talk about the story since I don’t want to spoil anything for anyone. It is well worth a read if anyone has a chance to.

 

Well that’s all from me for now, I’m not tired yet but I have a long day tomorrow. Not to mention I have to write out some notes for the novel I’m reading in my HUMA1400 class, Dream of the Red Chamber.