F-f-f-finals!

As the school year closes (and some are already closed) it marks the season of relentless tests and quizzes, projects and frantic extra-credit assignments. And the dreaded finals.

This semester, my only concern is really Pre-Calculus, as usual. Then comes English, Biology, then World Geography. The elective classes will prove to be easy, since we’re allowed to use our notes. In P.E., as long as I ran a mile in under 12 minutes, I’d get an easy 100.

So today I ran, and all throughout today I was so tired. So tired, in fact, that I did quite terribly during my violin lessons. My teacher quickly figured that out, since I played a piece more terribly than I did last time I sight-read it. Of course, my weariness could be also due to the fact that I went to sleep at around 1 A.M. last night.

I’ve been doing much thinking, and I’ve decided to create a visual novel. It’s actually going to be the story of Eira, since I’m sort of too lazy to write the rest. It’s very difficult to write in that poetic form and carry on a story, so I’m pretty much condensing it to storyline. Perhaps I’ll write it properly later on, after I finish this project.

Did you know that Eira is based on a short story (found in an anthology) which in turn is based on Yuki-onna?

But before I begin, I have to write the script, and I also have to figure the code for Ren’py, a great (and free!) visual novel making software. I get only the basic coding, but the rest is pretty much out of my mind. It does contain some Python, but I’m completely unfamiliar with it as well. But slowly, over the summer, I may be able to learn the language.

Also, I’m most likely going to need a tablet if I want to make clean, smooth graphics. I especially hope that whatever tablet I will buy (or receive) will come this year. I’m very eager to get my hands on one! Hahah! However, I can still draw character sketches for you to see. I have a vague idea on what I want them to look like. Vague. Hey, maybe doing this project will also help me in drawing backgrounds.

Didn’t draw for a week due to another project, so I drew this right after reading Pandora Hearts Retrace LXI

a past without me

Graahh… I used to hate this evil fellow but that chapter changed it. Pretty much love him now.

The receding throb of school

I was pretty excited today, since I actually completed my first commission.

I’m honored to be commissioned by Samiraku, a wonderful artist. Please go check out her deviantART gallery. This is her original character Mori.

... Mori is one of the hell captains, a very serious hard working guy. The only times he can really forget his worries is when he can hear birdsong. But there are no song birds where he is...

I enjoyed doing this commission very much, because he is such a beautiful character, in personality and design!

Commission slots are still open if you’re interested.

3 other pieces done since the last post:

  Point Chibi commission

Happy birthday to xxxRushi, who was featured on this blog here.

Online club assignment

Drawing on my hand in class. Got scolded by mother. Never completed.

Ah, school is almost over and I’ll soon be reclining at home, drawing like a maniac. Unfortunately, I cannot rest yet, for this Saturday I have a violin festival. And I’m not big on practicing, but I have to for the sake of my pride and my sister’s.

Also this weekend there will be a local arts festival. I most likely will go, since I’ve gone every year I’ve lived here. And maybe I should invite a few friends so we can stare at the pretty pottery, paintings, and all sorts of goodies.

50

This is the 50th post on this blog. Seems I've come a long way. Sort of. Not really.

Been busy lately. But then I've also been procrastinating. Shoot me now. 0_0

I've got a tegaki, but I don't have a tablet so it won't be great. And I won't be posting a lot on there. And whatever I post on there, I'll probably post on here as well as my deviantArt.

I haven't posted picture of the day in a long while, have I? I don't really have anything yet~

Some recent pictures - check out my deviantArt for more info - I'm kind of tired of linking each one individually.

From my tegaki: http://tewi.us/tegaki/dblog.php?u=119842

Aiyaaa! So busy - I have to go~ See ya all.

Forever full

Everyone had a great Thanksgiving?

I know I did. Ugh, now the smell of turkey is enough to keep me full. My stomach’s schedule is so messed up right now. Breakfast at 11, lunch at 3, and dinner at 8. No snacks, really.

Maybe I should actually try in P.E. when I get back to school, work off that extra weight that’s not supposed to be there.

In other news, I didn’t get my NaNoWriMo done by the deadline, but, I mean good Lord, I started on the 10th! But I’ll try to finish it, no matter what.

Black Friday, where do I start?

I love getting good deals on things, especially if the price is outrageously low. I mean, who wouldn’t want to miss a chance to get FREE coffee? Apparently, my parents did, because instead of going to the bookstore (where the coffee was offered), we had to go to the mall and all those giant department stores.

At least I got some stuff – a pair of boots, some skinny jeans (gasp) so I could wear those boots, two shirts. There was this really nice jacket I saw, but I don’t think we could’ve afforded it, even after all those discounts. Then I went home and crashed.

So I got to go to the bookstore (yay, finally, but the coffee offer was over) and I got some Christmas presents for my two siblings. My sister knows what I got her, because she’s been begging for it and I bought it for her but told her she couldn’t read it until Christmas. (Insert evil laugh here.) As for my brother’s I cannot say yet, because there’s a chance that he’ll be stalking my blog. But I think he already knows. He’s said he wanted it.

For Christmas, I really want this book: Zombies vs. Unicorns, by Justine Lara-something and Holly Black. Look it up on Amazon, and preview the first few pages. It’s hilarious.

I also want copics, and an ipod Touch, and a tablet, and my own computer, and Sai, and….

What a greedy little girl I am.

Well, anyways, at the bookstore, I got Crimson Shell. I really enjoyed rereading it, so thank you Jun Mochizuki, and of course, the scanlators that introduced it to me, The Black Abyss scanlations. They’ve really become nice friends, because I talk to them a lot on their forum.

Doodles anyone? Some of these are requests. See my deviantArt for to view them full size.

The last thing over there is an animation I spent a lot of time on, an hour, maybe, and it will forever lick.

Update after a long time, plus Jigoku Shoujo Mitsuganae (Hell Girl)

Sorry guys, haven't posted much. A lot of my time has been spent roleplaying on TBA Forums since the people on there write like freaking chapters, and I can hardly keep up. But it's fun . . .

So I've been watching Jigoku Shoujo Mitsuganae (Hell Girl) and it's so awesome. Except for the effects (they were so lazy) and that one scene they play over and over again, it's great. The music is good and haunting, the concept fabulous. Rated R. But I seriously did not know the rating till I was told so. (O_o)

Art!

Altair, for my roleplaying

Imys (pronounce like imy, except add an s at the end, like IHM eze)

Ramine, as requested by Lady Lillian on TBA Forums for the roleplay

Alphario, for the contest (Did this at last minute)

Split, a collaboration with my friend (click here for details)

Japanese Girl, collab with same friend

Jamie, the 2 of ♥ for as requested by Vincent on the roleplay, (my character Altair supposedly drew it)

Anime Cyborg, collab with same friend

dA Style, for a contest

MS, a little thing I did a long time ago on BannedStory. Representing my thoughts back then.

And that's it, lol.

And as for those still waiting on my requests, I will get them done by the new year, promise! ♥ So loaded with homework...

You guys are great.

C♠rdturning

I wrote a review about a book for my local library on the book As Easy as Falling off the Face of the Earth by Lynne Rae Perkins. In return, they sent me this nice new book, The C♠rdturner (ok, the book cover really has the spades symbol in it, but you can see that it's called the "cardturner") by Louis Sachar.

Everyone knows that Sachar is a great author. Just look at his past works.

Well anyways, I'm not done reading it, but so far, I've got to say, it's an amazing book with that trademark Sachar style. Alton Richards has a great-uncle who is uber-rich but is dying. Ever since he was little, his parents initiated Alton to tell his great-uncle "I love you" or "You're my favorite uncle" and etc., so they would be included in the will. ($_$) Well, the great-uncle is turning blind, so he enlists Alton to be his 'cardturner', where he reads the card to his uncle and helps him play bridge. That's right, bridge.

Apparently, bridge is a complicated game that I don't understand yet, and as Sachar says, it is not played a lot nowadays, and young people are especially clueless about it. Count me in the clueless group.

Also very apparent, since my copy of the book was received from the library, it's a "advance reader's copy - not for sale" that reviewers/libraries receive and get to read before it's sold to the public. Mwahahah!


That's all for now. I hope.

Requests

1. Hemlock2009 - status: complete [link]
2. Demon-in-the-snow - status: complete [link]
3. ShavaniDray - status: complete [link]
4. My own sister - status: complete [link]
5. lilith-lips - (reference: Miranda Nell) - status complete [link]
6. My crazy friend who wants a pirate - status: complete [link]
7. My expressive friend who likes anything I draw - status: 95% (Note, I'm done with the initial picture, but I have no idea what to do for the background. Also, I'm considering entering this piece into Anime-Lovers-United's contest.)
8. Hemlock2009 - (reference: link) - status: 0%
9. wytewolf - status 0%
10. Kai45 - (reference: Shayna & Auron) - status: 5%

Contests

• Alphario Club - Prologue - Due Sept. 30 (Hurry, get it in!)
• Anime-Lovers-United - Magical Moments - Due Nov. 1
• Pandora Hearts Club - Halloween Contest - Due Halloween Night
• The Black Abyss - Back to School Contest - Due Oct. 24
• Edit.... dA's "Show your deviantStyle" Contest - Due Oct. 15
• JCDR's - New Outfits for my Characters Contest - Due Nov. 20

There may be more but I'm forgetful . . .

Some PH omakes I found. Some are funny, but some are testing my limits. PH Omakes

I've gotta do the dreaded HOMEWORK now. Loves, and survive. Hope you'll still be alive. ♥

Cut off

Hey fellow potatoes. Currently I'm not doing so good in PreCal. That means I've got to study more (like a good little Asian should) and so I won't be online as much as I was last week (that means 1 or 2 hours per day rather than 4). That also means the requests will take longer than usual to finish, so I hope you understand. If you need anything, please email me at therawpotato@gmail.com. I'll check that every day.

As a side not, I have fire ants crawling all around my computer and I was bitten on my toe and ankle. (I also happened to twist my ankle too.) The toe isn't so bad, since the toe has thicker skin, but the ankle is terribly swollen. (T_T) I'm afraid to put my feet on the floor. Why not squish the little buggers? Well, If you read my last post, To squish or not to squish, you can see my predicament.

Also have finished reading Duararara! and have started reading Are You Alice? AYA is drawn by the same mangaka as the one who's writing Zanbara. I'm so jealous of his style. (*_*)

Check out my friend, rTeazer. She draws so well and has a tablet. jealous.... But I love her work. See her work on one of her pieces on YouTube: (Hmmm, I guess this can count as 'Picture of the Day'...)

Without a spoon

Today I was about to eat my lunch when I realized I forgot to bring a spoon. (O-o) So I had to dump out the food from my thermos into a small cup/bowl (comes with thermos) and "drank" it. My friend was staring at me weirdly the whole time.

That reminds me, have you heard about the spoon killer? A bit of very lame gore, but it's hilarious if you like lameness. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VDvgL58h_Y

Requests

1. Hemlock2009 - status: complete [link]
2. Demon-in-the-snow - status: complete [link]
3. ShavaniDray - status: complete [link]
4. My own sister - status: complete [link]
5. lilith-lips - (reference: Miranda Nell) - status complete [link]
6. My crazy friend who wants a pirate - status: complete [link]
7. My expressive friend who likes anything I draw - status: 85%
8. Hemlock2009 - (reference: link) - status: 0%
9. wytewolf - status 0%
10. Kai45 - (reference: Shayna & Auron) - status: 5%

All requests are closed as of now. It will probably open by the start of the new year, at the very least.

I've got to finish my contest entries.

If you like Pandora Hearts, check out this new forum by the people who make the scanlations: TBAForum.

Wish you all energy and health for this hectic year.
Many blessings.
♫♪♫

And the rains come tumbling down

It rained hard here. Floods. The school (not mine) behind our neighborhood flooded so high, the cars were covered halfway. Oh yea, this was last Wednesday. I'm a bit late.

Pictures!

Geeks

...meant to be geeks, or meant to be together. Your choice.

Girl and Zombie Bunny

Nameless OC by my sister. She prefers her to be nameless. Bunny was supposed to be cute, but I messed up on the eyes so now they're zombie-like.

Random Icon

It's just my avatar on here, so I'm not going to post the picture. You can click on the link if you want.

Pirate

For my friend. Request. She loves pirates. Apparently.

I am too lazy to post the current list of requests. That'll come up in another post hopefully.

dA activity has spiked to 200+ messages a day. Mostly spam though. That's ok. Though it takes me an hour to check everything.

I like The Black Abyss's new forum! --> [link]

Where is the $$ for my markers?!? Arghh...

Halo Reach comes out in 15-ish minutes. Not that I'm rich enough to buy it, but the new features and graphics are awesome. Plus, it's the last of the Halo game series.

Days are busy. Nights are filled with homework. Feel like a homework factory. Input: blank homework - output: error filled homework. Bleah...

Read some Duarara today. So funny and good. Some of the stuff I half-expected. But great read anyways! :D

Don't you DISLIKE it when....

1. People tell you that you are conceited. You know who you are.
2. You never have time to go online and when you do, there's no one on and nothing to do, so you're just sitting there, bored.
3. People give you the look, and you're like, what was that for?
4. People snicker as you are giving a speech.
5. People can be plain rude.
6. You're trying to make a comment and an error message pops up that says, "you're not logged in" and you're like, "Darn it, I'm effing logged in!" and it won't let you comment no matter if you're already logged in.
7. People write long, annoying posts that you don't want to read. (Like now, maybe.)

Recent art I did last night:

PH - Oz

A chibi of Oz, from Pandora Hearts

Check out www.fiverr.com. I would post a "I'll draw you 5 pictures for $5", but I have yet to ask my parents for a PayPal. I don't even think they would approve of me selling art online. Oh wells.

Wattenberg was hired by Google. Yay for him! ☺

Reading The Barefoot Child: Stories of a Migrant Child by Elva Trevino Hart. A memoir. It's an OK book so far. It mentions a part where her mother becomes a bit suicidal, but doesn't remember it afterwards.

It's a lovely day today (though it is overcast outside)! I wish you the best! (Gawd, I have tests tomorrow.) ♥

Apartment and Chess

School is great! Ok, not really, but school is fine. I just don't have any friends in any of my classes. Except in P.E., orchestra, and science. It's sad. Homework is not too bad either; I just forget to put the homework in the pocket rather than file it in my binder. (So I ended up hurriedly finishing it in class, but the teacher forgot to take up the assignment.)

Remember in my last post, I talked about Martin Wattenberg? [link] He created Shape of Song. And I was looking at some of his other works and I discovered.....

Apartment

This is an example of the program in 2-D

You type random words in and it creates an "apartment" that categorizes your words into different rooms based on their meaning. Like in the picture above, your ID is very much in your closet (hmmm, I wonder why) and your ego is all around the dining room (why? That beats me). And apparently, freud belongs in the bedroom. As you build your apartment, the words may connect with each other or float between rooms. When you save it, you can view other's apartments and see what theirs is focused on. Vision, secrecy, food, glamor....

Thinking Machine

An example of a game

Basically, Thinking Machine is a program that you play chess with, but it shows you what the computer is thinking as it is making a decision. I'm not a big chess fan, so I thought it looked cool, but I'm not spending my time playing it. Sorry, Mr. Wattenberg. They'd actually make you a real chessboard that does the same thing, only if you'll pay the a five-figure sum. More info found here: http://www.bewitched.com/chess.html

Hopelessness, and FREE REQUESTS

So pretty much I've been so lazy this summer. School is about to start and I've not finished packing my backpack. My schedule is ok, though all my friends are taking tennis and I'm practically the only Asian doing P.E. I'm such a sucker....

In addition to my LaTaling, I've also been trying my hand at Perfect World. It's a lot more complicated. If you don't like complicated things, don't download it. It's not worth your space and time. As for me on the other hand, Perfect World is fine for me (except for the hopelessly skimpy clothing).

A good series to read: Truancy. About this city which is almost entirely focused on education. And there's the Truancy, a rebel organization made of Truants. There's a lot of fighting. Written by Isamu Fukui. He was only 15 when he started writing these books! He first wrote Truancy (2nd book chronologically through the storyline), then he wrote Truancy Origins (1st book), and the last in the series is Truancy City (3rd), which he is still writing right now. You really have to read it. I read it in the order he wrote it, but if you want to read it chronologically, that's fine. I suggest you don't read the summaries on the inside of the book jackets, because they give a lot away. Just read it.

A good movie to watch: Departures. It's a Japanese movie about a guy who works as an NK agent (you'll figure it out later). The whole story is touching (and has its funny parts too) and it won an Academy Award for best foreign film (I think). And, there's a CELLO! After you watch the movie, you won't be as afraid of dead people as you used to be, I promise. (why is this black?)

Summer is almost gone

Hey fellas.

It's been a while since I did picture of the day. Here's one. It's in .swf format so it won't show up in the post. http://speckledluminance.deviantart.com/favourites/#/d2vd165

As August is dawning, I'm realizing that this momentary state of peace will soon be interrupted by schoolwork, extracurricular activities, and more. So I'm going to treasure the last few days before the hectic routine takes over once more.

Today is my friend's birthday. She's a very loyal and respectful person. We live a few hours apart now, so I'm hoping I can mail her something. She probably won't get it in time though.

I hurt my back on a roller coaster Sunday. Still aches. I think it's either a muscle or bone injury.

I've been LaTale-ing a bit more. Lvl. 30. Made some friends. That's me down there. Yes, I play as a guy.

As mentioned in the previous post, I'm catching up on Bleach. Haven't made much progress yet.

Spoiled Milk

As I was doing some math homework, I got POed at how dumb it could be. I certainly don't want to do some two-page long problem on how long it would take for milk to spoil if it was 20º C. I'd just go put the milk back in the fridge or drink it up before it spoils. Only some radical nerd would dare to solve some pointless equation like that. But I had to solve it.

Over the weekend, I had some art homework, but not the fun type of art. It was more of the "forced enjoyment" kind of art. I mean, how can you really do art if your heart is not into it? My heart is definitely not into waxy crayon dots over some lousy construction paper. Seriously, who likes drawing dots with crayons for fun? I just wish art would be a lot more fun than the elementary stuff we're doing now.

You guys do know I have a deviantArt right? (Well of course--otherwise, why would I rave about Cindre in my last post?) It's at speckledluminance.deviantart.com. I'm not the best artist. Anyway, I finally learned more about Photoshop and how I could use it to my advantage. Using Photoshop CS2, I'm currently coloring an OC that I drew last weekend. I'm going to post it as soon as possible. Hopefully my skills will improve over time.