all made up with nowhere to go

Shout out the guy who came into my workplace wearing a Monkey Island t-shirt! He said I was the first (random) person to recognise what game it was from.

I guess I have Andy Farrant and Outside Xbox to thank for that!

There was also a guy about a week ago who came in wearing a t-shirt with Camus on it, and I was like, "That's not something you see every day." And he grinned, and said something along the lines of, "I'm trying to start a following."
And then we had a conversation about Camus, and he commiserated with me about how dry and boring La Peste is.

Also one of the regulars came in around the start of the month wearing a Star Wars t-shirt with Japanese text on it, and I am painfully aware that I spent most of the time I was speaking to him staring at his chest as if I was going to magically figure out what the words said (impossible, because I can't read Japanese).

Not a lot has happened in my life since I last posted - it's pretty much been the same old, same old. I did buy a new microwave, though, which is not very exciting, but it will be useful. It turns out I missed being able to nuke something once I got in from a late shift, and a lot of my upcoming shifts this next month are lates, so...I thought, why not buy one? Not like I can't afford it at the moment. So I did. And it cooks stuff in five minutes, which feels weird and wrong, but I am not complaining!

I also bought an external cd/dvd drive for my laptop, primarily so I can rip music, but also now I can watch dvds downstairs without having to lug the TV down here. Not that it is heavy, thank frog, just annoying. I do have a portable DVD player, but it is very old, and I'm thinking of getting rid of it anyway. And the screen is TINY, which isn't ideal. Also if I watch stuff on my computer, I can screencap to my heart's content :D

Maybe that means I'll actually get to watching all (most) of The X-Files/Buffy again, and maybe it won't, but at least the option is there if I want it.

...And I finally got to getting the Matrix films on blu-ray. You know, four years after I said I'd get them for my fortieth birthday?

But I was looking to see if Resurrections was available on blu-ray, and what do you know, all four films plus The Animatrix are available in a blu-ray boxset, and so: I clicked BUY and now they are arriving today!

So now I own the first film on four different types of media (VHS, DVD, UMD, and blu-ray), and the trilogy three times on DVDs alone (singles + two different boxsets).

Because I'm me, and this is entirely predictable, I feel.

Obviously I won't be able to watch these on my computer, but that's what the DVDs are for! ;)

And then finally, I've got my penultimate counselling session in a bit. Unfortunately, it has landed as I have the recurrent Seasonal Affective part of my depression, and the counsellor, while lovely, wants to improve my scores to the questionnaire I have to answer before every session. But depression doesn't work like that! And she knows that! I am not going to be cured and not feeling vaguely suicidal by next week! Although this isn't as bad as it has been (although the initial coming hit me like a truck), I am probably going to feel like this until at least September! Maybe if I'd had the counselling when I originally needed it, but not now.

So that's that for now. Time to go wait for things to arrive! (Exciting!)

It was my nephew's birthday the other day, and now he is NINE.

Time is absolutely fake, because when the heck did that happen?????

I watched some Teen Titans Go! with him, and I didn't really like it. I mean, obviously it is not aimed at me, but the main reason is because there's like, references to everything I grew up with (and some stuff I didn't, such as the Metropolis reference in one episode) and it was too hecking distracting! I think that's a Thing™ with it, though, from what I understand of the film that came out a few years ago? Though, I dunno, it could be less heavy handed? There was one bit I was sure was a Little Mermaid reference, and it definitely was, because the next shot showed characters from the film to make sure the audience had got it. I think I prefer my pop culture references a bit more subtle, thanks.

Also not fond of Starfire's characterisation, but I'm not familiar with her anyway, so I don't know if it's accurate or not (and if it is, still unfond of it).

~

I beat FFXII on Strong Mode the other day, and I am annoyed to report that the final boss is STILL a hackfest :| They didn't take as long to beat as normal, but urrrggghhhh.

ANYWAY.

Then I did Trial Mode, and got to Stage 63 before getting utterly destroyed by every rabbit enemy in the game.

Something I read about it says it's good for farming items (and it is, especially if you remember to loot the chests in some stages), but it's also AMAZING for farming licence points. I ended up with around 1000LP for my active characters at one point, because I didn't realise you only get LP and no EXP.

And then I went back into the main game, and started on the hunts, which are laughably easy right now (I can't imagine this will last long). Apart from the Cluckatrice one, which seemed to glitch (I had to kill it twice before I got the Misson Clear message). I've just done the Croakadile, and am now off to beat up the Ring Wyrm. Or I am, if I can remember how to trigger a sandstorm in the Westersand. I'm also going to run around the Zertinan Caverns and beat up Adrammelech, because why not.

~

Other than that, I've not been doing much, apart from work, and feeling sorry for myself because one of my teeth has been hurting a lot. Hopefully that's over with now, and I can get on with all the ideas that have been accumulating in my brain recently!

MY BROTHER AND SISTER IN LAW HAVE NETFLIX Y'ALL!!!

They upgraded their Sky box and I think it comes as part of the package? *shrugs* My nephew was looking for something to watch, and while he was scrolling I saw the new She-Ra was on there (which I knew), so I said I might have to visit in future so I can watch it.

I absolutely LOVED She-Ra as a kid. I remember next to nothing about it, but I'm willing to give the new version a go, as I've heard many good things about it.

My family visit went okay, although I felt nervous in part because I always do, but I think it was ramped up a few notches because pandemic.

I finally got my sewing machine back, so yay! It works, although the stitches aren't coming out, and I think it's a problem with the bobbin, so hopefully that's easily solveable! (I meant to look at the serial number so I could download/print a copy of the manual, but that will have to wait for another time now).

~

I discovered this morning there is going to be a NieR mobile game????

It's called NieR Re[in]carnation and all I've seen is the concept art and a short bit of gameplay, and I know nothing else!

Am I excite for more NieR content?? HECK YEAH!

~

I watched some random artists that were recced to me on youtube. One of them was a now 21 year old doing a sketchbook tour of her stuff from when she was 17, and she said it was bad art, so I was prepared for that going in, but it was NOT bad art! It was very much GOOD ART and holy macaroni, I wish I had had her drawing skills at age 17!

I would love to see how far she's progressed by the time she's my age, because HOLY BEANS, Y'ALL.

I looked through my old art to see what I drew like when I was 17, and there isn't a lot of evidence! I think I have maybe twenty or so pictures, because I think I was still throwing bad or unsuccessful pictures away back then. My mum eventually convinced me not to, at some point, and I never have since. I don't even tear pages out of sketchbooks (notebooks, on the other hand? WHOLE OTHER BALL GAME). My art wasn't terrible, but it also wasn't great, and it especially wasn't on the same level as this lass.

Also she inks all her stuff with ballpoint pens and I am here for that!

~

I don't think I have anything else to say, so here's the end of the post!

I am nearly at the final dungeon in FFIV DS!

I had forgotten entirely about the expository cutscenes near the end! (I also can't remember if there was anything even like that in the original game. I don't think so, but I wouldn't like to say for sure as a) I can't remember the last time I even played the original, and b) I've been awake since 5:30am, so I am tired, and memory is not a working thing right now).

~

There's been some hashtag lists flittering around twitter in the past week or so and, while I posted to the games one, I had enormous trouble with the TV series and films ones, so never added them.

None of these are in anything LIKE order of preference.

( Read more... )

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I have been trying to update my instagram a bit more often, and I've been more successful at that than updating my wordpress (it's been nearly two months! Yikes. It's not like I don't have stuff to post, I do! I guess I've just been otherwise engaged).

Anyway, yeah. Art stuff! On social media! (If you're not into that sort of thing, it should be up on my WP blog eventually anyway).

~

This is a bit disjointed, for which I apologise. As previously noted, I am dog tired, after been awake for sixteen hours on six hours' sleep. Thanks, brain.

Cat update:

Jinny has started sitting outside the front door. She doesn't really roam about anyway (that I know of, but she's a neutered cat, and I'm led to believe they have small territories), but we never know where she hangs out during the day. So it's nice to see her in the garden, you know? A couple of times I've looked out to see her absolutely sprawled out on the paving stones, and I've barely ever seen her like that. It's good to see her relaxing :)

~*~

JJBA update:

I finished Diamond is Unbreakable, and am now reading Vento Aureo. I also told Jackie about the entire thing, didn't explain it very well, didn't tell her everything, and felt like I was making up total bollocks. (I told her about Gatto as an example of how weird it was, and it felt odd).

( here be spoilers )

~*~

Mum's been recording episodes of Bergerac to watch while the football/tennis is on (but mostly the football) and man, that show is the eighties condensed.

(That said, she's been watching old episodes of Casualty that are from 1997, and good grief nineties fashions were horrible. I said to her not long ago that I'm starting to view nineties fashions in the same way as eighties ones, and that's mainly to look at them and cry).

I have very few Xmas presents bought for people this year. Partly down to the money situation, and partly because I just don't know what to buy people - I generally don't ask unless I'm really stuck because I like getting an idea of what people like, and then getting them something that fits this idea. And some people...yeah...I'm a bit stuck.

I bought my nephew a thing. It's really hard to describe - it looks like a spherical bull on wheels, and you pull it back, let go, and it zooms off. I just tried to find it on the website but it's not actually on there. HELPFUL! I will have to take a picture and try to upload it and remember to link to it.

I attempted to buy video games but there was nothing I wanted :(

I did, however, buy a couple of books. I got a book of socks to knit, because there were some lovely ones, and a pictorial history of David Bowie. Because, you know, BOWIE. I am weak to him. Always. I haven't really looked at it yet, and I actually thought it was one I already owned, but it turned out not to be! HURRAH! (It didn't help that the one I already owned was a pictorial biography).

~*~

In other news: I tried watching FLCL. I've wanted to watch it for years now and...I couldn't even make it through the entire first episode. It just did nothing for me, and I felt like it was trying too hard to be quirky and weird. And, yeah.

So then I sat down to an episode of Tengen Toppa Gurren Langan, which went better. All I know about it is Kamina's shades. Which, you know, if I could reach into the PC and smash them, I would. I hate those things. And obviously, I know Kamina, and Simon, but that is it. TVT says I should watch the show before I read the tropes *pouts* Anyway, going to try a few more eps and see where it goes, and if it grows on me any (I know it's by Gainax, and it's the series they did before Kill la Kill, so if it's as bananas as that? FINE BY ME. That's the only reason I watch KLK anyway).

(I need to stop watching anime I can't remember the titles of, though. Although at least now I've seen it I can remember Madoka Magica's full title, so yay?)

~*~

Oh, and I'm knitting a sky scarf. Actually enjoying it, and it uses up some of the random balls of wool (YES ACTUAL WOOL!) that were in my mum's/gran's stash. Also it's coming out more interesting than I thought it might! (Pictures will post on my tumblr in a couple of days. I'll upload to Flickr or something soonish).