maaaaaaaaannnnnnn

In the absence of any real or important news, today I'm mostly going to complain. Come on, it'll be fun. 8D

So a few days ago my DS Lite breaks down. It started with a worrying cramp, then finally it collapsed during our evening outing and fell to the curb clutching a twisted joint and howling in pain. Metaphor aside, the L button stopped working. For the THIRD TIME. It's been replaced and repaired twice already. I'm entirely convinced that the L buttons on DS Lites are just made of papier mache.

That's fine. It only takes a couple of weeks to get it fixed up and sent back to me, and I have a perfectly good Wii to cover all my gaming in the meantime. And by perfectly good, I mean stained and worn, because, as you'll see, all of my electronics are kept in wonderful condition. It IS rather unfortunate that it happened just when the new Mario & Luigi game came out, as I rather dislike waiting an extra two weeks to experience the inner workings of King Bowser's incredible legendary badassery, but I'm cool, these things happen. And hey, it's covered under warranty, so bonus for me.

Last night I put my laptop on top of my computer chair for a moment as I was moving it around, as I have this habit of moving things and often putting them down when I'm done moving them, at least for the moment. My poor computer nerd back can't take the strain of holding everything I ever pick up forever, you see.

After a few moments of looking off the edge, perhaps driven to leap to its demise by my constant verbal abuse, FailComp slips right off and crashes screen-first to the floor. I'm horrified, but generally my horror is unfounded in situations like these, so I'm cautiously optimistic. I pick it up.

The screen is cracked in half. Not hanging by a thread or anything, but there's an array of deep cracks spreading from the top corner to the bottom edge. It's so brutalized it's not even funny - I'm looking through this mangled screen and its painful-looking faultlines now and it's just kind of pathetic, like a dog with a bad leg, or the gym class's mandatory fat kid. You feel it's only still running because it doesn't want to disappoint everyone around it.

Funny thing! Dropping your computer on its face and destroying the screen is seldom covered by warranty, much like filling the fan vent with molten lead. So get to look forward to a nice repair bill, which may be all the more unpleasant considering all the other little problems FailComp and I try to work out together in our unhealthy relationship. Apart from the touch screen, everything works just as well as before its tragic plummet, so I'm holding off on that until I come into a little more cash. This may be a good time to invest in that new drawing tablet I've been pining for, though. Mmmmm, pressure sensitivity.

Now I'm by no means desperate for money or anything, despite being unemployed (although if I happen to get that job at my local game shop, I may do an ecstatic victory dance of sorts), but all this talk of shelling out the bucks does somehow motivate me to once again remind all of thee that I do art commissions at nice, low, negotiable prices. In Canadian dollars, no less. So, you know, if you or anyone around you wants something drawn by a professional amateur... I'm still here at the kiosk counting the tiles, so gimme a li'l ring-ring, ja?

Well, that's enough serious business for now. What am I up to besides complaining and breaking everything I own? Well, I'm busily ignoring all the projects I have lined up in favor of other nebulous ideas. I still owe a few of you some prize art, so if you want you can kick me in the butt and get me scribbling again. Also, the 20-theme project is still going, just, y'know, slowly. Amongst those nebulous ideas are a self-absorbed "slightly amusing things about me" one-shot I ocassionally feel like doing, a half-finished draft for a new character theme song, a mostly coloured mini comic, and the possibilty of throwing a now-non-canon gaiden story I wrote up in my gallery. Maybe the first chapter, and I'll see how all y'all like it. That, and some old sketches and drawings I dug up that I felt like scanning and/or finishing.

Ideopolis is trudging along as slowly as ever. I'm really eager to get things moving forward, despite the fact that I haven't even figured out exactly what's going to happen. Then again, I seldom do know what will happen until it does. Guess we'll see!

As for my other hobbies...games, games, games. And a piano. I finally beat Mega Man 1! It took me until the ripe old age of 21 but I finally beat that sumbitch. Now I have to work on beating Mega Man X. DAMN. Also, practiced playing all the songs from Mega Man 2 on the piano. And watched a documentary on the creation and evolution of Mega Man. OH, and have you heard of this band called The Protomen? Two albums, two acts of a rock opera based on Mega Man. Awesome.

I LIKE MEGA MAN YOU GUYS. I LIKE IT PRETTY WELL I GUESS.

In other news, my nerdery seems to be branching out, as I've caught myself watching several different anime lately, and with considerable enthusiasm. None more enthsiastically watched and thoroughly enjoyed, though, than Elfen Lied. A story writhing with sin, tragedy, and violence that, in the end, was as fascinating as it was saddening. And the theme song is, of all things, a hymn-like and rather beautiful song that is also featured in the story, and which I'd been enjying long before I ever saw the series. It's disturbing, and somewhat enriching. Watch it if you like that sort of thing, and stick with it, as the tone and subject matter change considerably over the course of the short series.

So! Everyone figured out what they're going to be for Halloween? I'm going to roll around in a big pile made out of my entire wardrobe and then put my hair up in some fantastical fashion, and go about striking ridiculous poses and speaking in dramatic Wapanese.

I'm masquerading as an anime/manga/JRPG character.

... Okay, it's not all that clever or interesting. But it's short notice, and it doesn't cost me any money. Unless I find a store that sells plastic katanas.

Hmmm. I guess I had more to say than I thought. WHEN WILL I EVER LEARN?!

Eh.

Peace out.