Lessons of the day;
- Silk brocade is a BITCH to work with, but the results please me in the end
- Yukio's silver wig seriously makes him look too much like Laken's long-lost brother, so he'll have to make do with short hair until I secure him a long white one. This also means the long silver one with go on sale at some point; I love it, but no one here would use it

Meanwhile, the weather is SHIT. Has been for a couple of days now (and it indirectly resulted ina few blemishes in Yu's first face-up). Gonna microwave myself a nice dinner in a few and then we're off to see the wizard work. Out into the wet cold o-o

Okay, so, the inkcartidges... Turns out the blame isn't with TNT this round; they never received the damn package in the first place. Called bol and they'll set up Ye Olde Investigation to find out what's up, but it'll probably be until the 3rd or so before results are in.

Meanwhile, I still have no damn inkcartidges.

So, today's to-do;
- Find old MP3 player for it's USBstick function so I can start printing at uni or somesuch
- Find my pile of doll-patterns so I can start working on making some proper clothes for Yu

Good thing; "You're Awful, I Love You" was shipped yesterday, so further hijinks notwithstanding I should receive that one today or tomorrow.

This paycheck's moolah-load has been explained; CAO changes resulted in extra cash for everyone, but last month's wages still worked on the old system so they added the extras of this month to that one.
No returning monies, yay.

It shouldn't be this hard to write 500 words, it really shouldn't be. And yet, here I am. Somewhere between 7 and 9 the mood went from "at least poke the homework" to "I hates everything D:"
Already decided to skip Dutch Lit tomorrow, partially because I didn't do the preparation work, partially because I'm just not up for a 9 o'clock seminar. Which leaves me with the English 500-word homework.
What annoys me mostly is that I probably could've gotten it done, weren't it for the fact that I got mopey and distracted by everything within a 3 meter radius.

And tonight's meal involved cheese which is now mocking me from beyond the garbage-gin lid.

*sigh* Guess it's the obligatory crash down to earth after the joy of finally getting Yukio's box home.

"I'm sorry, but I can't come to class today. A tiny white man demands that I sew him clothes and brush his hair."

[2:00 edit] Ohkay, got that over with though it's in the typical "I'm not quite sure what I'm writing anymore" fashion of things. Now to mentally prepare for the fun tomorrow, since I just send it over digitally and won't be able to hand it over on paper unless I can sort out how the hell printing at the university works >.>

Beddybye time now though

Just cleaned out my flist for the firt time in years under the motivation of "Maybe I'll keep up with communities again if I clear out the ones I don't read either way". While deleting un-read comms and disappeared journals I noticed that Sharon buggered off livejournal.
Can't say I'm all that surprised, but it was still a bit of a "well, fancy that" moment. Maybe I expected her to make an announcement of it or something.
Ah well, that's two journals off my list and a clear conscience on setting the old old OLD kallj community up for deletion.

Dear self, less windowshopping, more homework

But I dun wanna

[edit] Stuff that doesn't help; Yukio seems to be determined to freak Laken out and has been colonizing his lap for the past 2 hours or so. The resident Akimatsu clan-members seem completely undisturbed by this, which makes me wonder about what the hell sort of a life Yukio led before (in the details, that is. I know he's always been a spoiled brat)

So, basically spend my morning and part of my afternoon working on Yukio. Found out I have a violet pastel, making some earlier purchases redundant, but okay. First face-up is very much an example of "it's been a while and oh yeah, shit, I was going to replace these brushes", but it's better than The Blank.
Yukio now also officially owns THE coolest pair of boots in the household, but as luck would have it he's also the one who most hates footwear. Go figure.

That said, after all that I finally remembered a) that it was wednesday and b) that homework was due in the form of reading a whole play and answering Some Things. Got one fifth of the play down, then caved in for napage... while this has resulted in me waking up a bit, it also killed my motivation... doens't help that I still don't have those inkcartridges and I can't remember whether or not the English Teacher wanted her stuff in analogue form.
*exhale*
Well, dinner first, then on with homework.

The white thing in the middle is Yukio holding his old body XD

Man man man. I'd completely forgotten I'd ordered new eyes for Evie since her purple eye had in fact been Yukio's XD
Also; couldn't quite decide between silver and white for Yukio's hair; his small body has this odd cream/silver/violet colour and I couldn't imagine anything that matched. Was originally going to order a long and a short wig in both silver and white, but the only white one at Luts had it's parting on the wrong side, so I only have a short white one instead.
White looks very good on him BUT... that short white wig makes him look so much like his father it's almost creepy.

My brain is just NOT in coherent mode right now; PILES of stuff I want to write, but most of it I want to post with pictures. Yukio's my second 1/3 doll and I'm just.. noticing things. Like the fact that he has such dainty little feet compared to Laken. Seriously, I got worries about his toes when I first saw them! And the angsty El Hands! <3
It's also almost painful to watch Thyme right now... he really is the last of the little ones now, and in desperate need of that new body.

*content rumble* With a bit of luck some new face up supplies will pop in tomorrow, then I can take Yu apart and fix up the last details... Still gotta see what I'll do with his eyes. He came with a REALLY nice set of brown 18mm eyes, and I hadn't really thought much about the eye-size thing until now, but the eyes I had for him are 16 mm x_X You don't really notice it unless you look for it, but I had contemplated getting him a pair of eyes from a maker on DoA; good to know they should be 18mm if I do.

Meanwhile, Mana finally figured out that something has changed in the livingroom (see huge boxes and crap)

Also, Luts box = very pretty indeed *nod*

Was this || close to pouring the pity-cola and preparing for murder tomorrow when the doorbell rang AND BOX YAY!

MUST EMPTY CAMERA AND OPEN BOX

AND CLEAR FLOORSPACE

ZOMJ

[edit]
And then the camera ran out of battery! XD I had a phole photostory planned and stuff! XD

Yukio: WILL YOU JUST OPEN THE DAMN BOX?!

*ring rng bananphone*
I: Hello?
TNT: TNT parcelservice
I: !

But hten it turns out I have to pay bail for Yukio, and I NEVER have cash and I can't pin and NYARG BUT he agreed to come back in an hour, which means I'm gonna get back into my dayclothes, walk tot he local BP, buy a bottle of coke with Extra Moolah, and all will be good <- Subtle threat at universe and everything in it

[7:11 edit] This one's going down in my future memoires/autobiographies.
The plan: Walk to BP gasstation, get cola, get cash, good time.
What happened;
I: hm, might as well buy some bifi, celebration is in order!
BP-staff: you can't PIN here, the PIN's broken.
I: *curse so spontanious I forgot what it was* *puts coke and bifi back, leaves BP*

YOU FAILED TO ACQUIRE 40 GOLD EURO COINS. WHAT WILL YOU DO NEXT?
a) Return to flat, change clothes again, get bike, cycle to bank.
b) Cross street, wait for tram, let that take you halfway to the bank
c) Fuck that, let's hike!

And for some reason I went with c. Maybe in the back of my mind I realized that I'd have a hard time cycling back against the wind, or maybe I'm just an idiot, who knows.

What I do know now is that it's totally possible to walk to the bank and back in half an hour, but the process results in a sweaty out of breath Isabel.

And for some extra failure; in 10 minutes a neighbourhood meeting will start that I intended to attent because for once it's about something I care about, but right now I'm waiting for a mailman and I haven't eaten anything solid since noon and my quiche is still heating up

But I have my damn 40 bucks and I WILL take that box. The mailman's tiny, if all goes wrong I can lock him up in the cupboard and no one will ever know T_T;

[8:02] I'm dreaming of a white mailvan

So I get home, look in my mailbox and find... a note telling me TNT tried to deliver a parcel with a large trackingcode which rather matches the one for Yukio's box.

NYAAAAARG

Up side;No lecture tomorrow. *pumps shotgun*

And that's when I fell asleep on the couch. Not exactly what I planned to do with this time, but I do feel better now.

Still no sign of the package, and Track and Trace isn't telling me anything new... Guess that means the hunt for the mailman will continue tomorrow.

At least I got a much-needed nap though *yawny* *prepares to go back to Uni*

Made it home in one piece and before noon? Check
Wrote note telling mailman to knock on window in case of bell-failure? Check
Taped it to front door? Check
Cola? Check

Good bit of this morning; Hey, I wrote something!
Bad thing; It isn't my NaNo, but rather some Geist/SRness' NaNo inspired dribble concerning people and ghosts.

and I just found out there;s a hole in my sock. Sadness :(

Well, the other LT&B teacher just lost whatever respect I had for her in the past 15 minutes or so. So far it's mostly been Stuff From The Book and questions towards the class.
Questions towards the class in a lecture always kind of ticks me off; we have seminars for that.

Also had a couple of people coming in late. When she started on that they explained that a couple of trains have been delayed for ± half an hour. Instead of going "oh, all right" she started on that she'd been here since 8 and something about taking delays into account.

Yeah. Awesome. Some of us don't get paid to be here, and so far the lecture hasn't been new or amazingly informative. For extra added bonus; one of those girls already has to take the 6:30 train to get here at 9.

*sigh* Mobile phones, so much more interesting =_=;

Well, for once my Hungry Hungry Stomach came in handy as I'm not sure if I would've gotten out of bed in time otherwise.

Uphand of the going-home-in-between-lectures-plan; don't have to drag a day's worth of food and crap around
Downish hand; I know I'm going to have trouble motivating myself to go to ICT. Current Motivators; not going means I have to do an extra assignment and one of my classmates got stricken down by The Flu and I said I'd take notes of anything interesting being said for her.

Clothes packing morning-rush...

One problem between me and T. is that we sometimes end up with ideas so epic they can't possibly go right.

Case in point; There's a couple of cars in the parking-lot that have gotten nick-names based on appearance. Mostly though it's RapeVan, a huge blue-white Mercedes contraption that looks like it might have been a carnie-van way back when, but now it just looks suitable for kidnapping and rape. A couple of weeks back we got ToasterVan, and adorable little Suzuki Carry with a heightened roof which looks, well, like a toaster on wheels. I've been silently eyeballing ToasterVan since because, well, it's just so damn cute.
Today we found out that a) RapeVan is for sale, and b) Someone left a note under ToasterVan's wiper offering to buy it.
Gut instinct was to tear the note off and leave my own, but my salary was not so epic that it would excuse buying a whole car, even an old one.
So, there we are, me and T., eyeing ToasterVan... and about half an hour later we had an estimate of what it would be worth and a huge list of shit that needed fixing (mostly cleaning and paintjob).

I can't buy ToasterVan. It's cute and tiny and Japanese, but it's a newcomer on the Shit I Want list and, well, a car's a big purchase. It's like buying a pet.
That said; I probably will chat to Bert about the brand and all, and then I'm giving it until valentine's day next year. If a) it's still there and b) the owner's willing to part with it by then, I'll seriously consider it.

And then it'll go ten kinds of wrong since T. and mine's Pimp My Ride involves plans for a removable ducttape cover, custom painting and two giant pieces of toast.

ENTIRELY unrelated to that; Yukio Status Update;
19:36 23-Nov-2009 Arrival at delivery office

This might require an ICT-lecture sacrifice at some point... Think I'll go ahead and go home in between lectures tomorrow. No way in hell I'm going to spend 4+ hours hanging around the University when there's a slight chance of parcel delivery.

That said, time to go beddy-bye. Up and at it again in 6.5 hours >______>
Thankfully I did sleep in today

And then I gave in to desire and went through the local Game Mania's used games rack and ended up with Devil may Cry and Soulcalibur III for a mere 15 bucks... C
...
Siegfried, I've come back to you! XD
Let us wreak two-handed havoc once more! after I've done the dishes

[edit]
12:48 23-Nov-2009 Departure from inward office of exchange

YESH! THE DAMN BOX IS FINALLY OUT OF CUSTOMS/BOX-CHECK-IN!

And as if to prove the point from the previous post; the circus story is now one pied piper and a kelpie richer. Kelpie-girl seems a bit... off though. Think she might've been hit in the head by a boat.

Entirely unrelated; this is my favourite song of the evening

Went and ordered a couple more things for Yukio, boldly assuming he'll arrive in time for a dollmeet next week. Meanwhile, he's still in his tiny body, clutching his eyeballs while Evie's messing about with his hair. Will probably have to go ahead and call up TNT again tomorrow either way, this time about the inkcartrigdes σ__σ

Meanwhile December is slowly but surely moving in, which means that the Holiday Clusterfuck is looming on the horizon. Dodging Sinterklaas/Christmas shoppers, coping with the creepy songs, and for the first time ever seriously decorating my own flat. I've had some second-hand thing sin the past years, but since I still spend the entire Christmas at home I never bothered all that much. This year, though, I'm staying home, and I'd like to have my own tree. The tree in question can't be too big and it'll need a good solid stand... and all decorations to be made of plastic because I just know Mana will take a swipe at them at least once.
Related to all of that is what I fear will be an annual sewing-mania for the dolls. I re-took Evie's measurements for a kimono today, and f that works out I'll know how to measure Yukio for his. I bought some pretty pretty brocade for both of them when shopping for the Halloween things; originally I was going to save it until Thyme also had his body so they'd all have their Good Clothes for a family pictures but, eh... why not now, ey? It's turning into one of those sooner-rather-than-later things partially because I know I'm a slacker, and partially because I intend to handsew these things; I don't trust that brocade to act well under the sewingmachine.
So, brocade for Operation Asia, and I have no idea yet for Laken. He has no intention of being hoisted into a suit again anytime soon, so no go there... Maybe I'll be able to make a new shirt for him that he'll like.
Seriously, of my little population here he's probably the most relaxed when it comes to clothes; Yukio demands things to be a) white, b) pretty and c) mostly traditional. Evie is a bit looser but still prefers things to have a lolita/punk influence, and preferable pink or blue. Thyme is current;y dressed like a n00b because he's, well, not really in his body, but he tends to cling to blue and traditional (but he still has blue plait pants in his future).
Meanwhile Laken mostly goes by Calm and Comfortable. He's wearing one of the first pairs of jeans I made for him and an oversized gray/black shirt I bought for him of the DDD marketplace... and the oversized green scarf I knitted with a kangaroo phonecharm SRness gave me XD It's just... very him somehow; comfy oversized things with one or two accessories and a continued lack of shoes.

And while I'm waxing philosophically; I do ponder about my NaNo. Already gave up on making the word-count last week, but now I also notice that I only write on university-days, either during/in between lectures or just afterwards. Apparently I need that out-of-the-house-and-being-intellectual moment to write. I do kind of wonder, though; the 2007 NaNo went off without a hitch, 2008 was a mess, and this year again it isn't going well. I wonder why; is it uni? Or is this story just not working for me? I already spend several years thinking and trying to write Double Cross before it became my 2007 NaNo, while the werewolf story is more True NaNo; next to no plot, and generally only a month or so of real preparation before I start writing.
Several people have asked me why I participate in NaNoWriMo and I always answer the same "Otherwise I don't write at all"
I suck at writing. I don't suck at making things up, there's several stories in my head at any given time, I just suck at writing those things down. Whatever muse is responsible for my writing either suffers from ADD or enjoys messing with my head, but the focus rarely stays on one target for more than a month or two. I probably wrote about this before, but my 'mental projects' loop. Things come, they go, are replaced by other Shiny Ideas, which also pass and eventually one of the older ideas comes back again for some work, gains a things or two, and it goes away again. On and On. I still work on Double Cross from time to time, and my oldest Idea is probably in its 7th or 8th year by now; I still work on that too. Characters are added, one of them left, the world gains little bits and pieces here and there... hell, in the wiki there's a legend that has no real importance in the Main Story whatsoever.

That said; I still suck at writing them down. And as luck would have it I also suck at making comics; lack of patience on my side there. I draw some events, occasionally remember to make some notes, and that's it. In 2007 I joined NaNoWriMo for the first time and back then the goals and time-pressure really helped me just writing stuff; story flowed well, characters joined in, few of the older ones claimed bigger pieces and I ended the month with a good word-count and a lot of story left to tell.
Never got around to telling it.
The Werewolf story though... I'm not sure; some parts of it, this year and the last, have gone extremely well; that good old feeling where the story basically just goes ahead and writes itself. The rest though... man. Damn story's just fighting me and as I said above, I'm not sure whether this is because of the story itself or if doing Literature Majors is just fucking with my head, something along the lines of "discussing too much literature will break down your will to produce your own".

I want to write stories now. Perhaps it's the "living is only possible when you're young!" attitude of the age, but I want to have initial drafts on paper/file before I hit 30. I can always re-write, but I don't want to start after retirement. The problem is that it requires a) self-discipline and b) inspiration. Yes, I'm of the romantic kind that believes that, as a writer, they need to be inspired to write, fuck whatever Jan Cremer did.
Right now I'm having some issues coughing up both in the writing-department, and the self-discipline thing has been dwindling a bit these days... months. Still flubbering around Uni, keeping up somehow, dishes need doing... Keeping up my job but that's because a) MOOLAH and b) Dude, I actually like this job Oo

Right now the feline population needs food. There's probably some left in the Main Dish, but the bottom is visible and so Food Must Be Added. Meanwhile there's still stories in my head :/ Two worlds try to balance themselves out, six werewolves are on a road-trip, an organisation tries to keep it's vampires under control, a girl is told of her birthright, an officer leaves to find a princess, a coroner finds a perfect man on his table, a couple of Angels meet, a boy wonders about his life in the circus, Dragons begin to make a come-back in a land they previously left to invaders from overseas, and in between all that Xelery continues to drag Tohru and Rose from one world to the next, saying that a certain game-designer liked to leave his fans to explore the possibilities...

So, Amazon sells ingdom hearts RE: Chain of Memories

Part 1: Come on, do it!
Part 2: No! You already have it for the GBA!
P1: GBA sucks! You hate the 2-D graphics. And you've been stuck there for over a year!
P2: You can still find that 9 card!
P1: No you can't. And you'll probably get stuck at the same point when you continue your second game.
P2: By that logic she'll just get stuck in RE as well.
P1: Yes, but, at least it'll have pretty graphics and Reaction Commands.
P2: Look, it's from America! You probably have to hack your PS2 to play it!
P1: Your PS2 is old anyway, no one would care. Think of the 3-D graphics! The voice acting!
P2: The horror of Vexen's untimely demise.
P1: <.< 3-D Larxy.
P2: >.> That's not a good thing.
P1: Yes it is.
P2: She's evil!
P1: And we LIKE it!
P2: No we don't.
P1: Yes we do.
Colonel: All right, stop it, this is getting far too silly.

Payday's incoming, but so is christmas *chinrub*

Which reminds me; need to sort out the IKEA timetables for the holidays.