| Kansas City area peoples: |
[17 Aug 2006|07:18pm] |
Saw some of you at Akon and mentioned it back then, but just to update, I'm moving out that way. I have some job leads that I'm going to pursue, and I've already made some accomodation arrangements at a hotel out there, starting September 7, so I can secure a job before jumping feet first into an apartment contract.
Looking forward to seeing you all at some point. Hopefully even you, ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) fallofrain. :)
-ciao
|
|
| Well, for what it's worth... |
[21 Mar 2006|07:32pm] |
I know some people on my friend list here had done some FF:U-related RP a while back, mostly at BGM. If by chance someone's interested in FF:U-type RP again in the somewhat near future, drop a line here or in my email: summonersoul at yahoo dot com
I might have something in the works for this, but it would help to know what might be out there for interest first.
|
|
|
[13 Mar 2006|10:19am] |
|
You folks out west take care. I know some of those storms hit very close to some of you yesterday.
|
|
| Yes, I'm still alive. |
[10 Feb 2006|01:40pm] |
Try not to look so disappointed.
Found an article about this site recently, and thought I'd share it because I know some of you will find it interesting, or artsy, or might strike close to home.
http://www.postsecret.blogspot.com/
Hope you're all well. Take care.
|
|
| Stolen meme. |
[12 Oct 2005|01:56pm] |
Yeah, I don't use this one much, but figured I'd post this here just for giggles.
Ask any of my fictionwork/role playing characters, including the characters I still have in development/have plans for in the near future, a question and I will answer in an in-character manner.
|
|
| The best bad day I've ever had. |
[02 May 2005|07:52am] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
 calm |
] |
After a year and a half of bullshit, I'm no longer employed at the dealership. After the bogus written repremand they handed me a couple of weeks ago, and the meeting I missed last week that my manager apparently neglected to inform me about, they decided to terminate my employment there this morning.
I had the foresight to pack up all of my stuff that I'd been keeping there on thursday, and bring it home before heading to Boston over the weekend. All that I had left on my desk were two bottles of hand lotion. So I grabbed those this morning, and with the final word from my manager, I tipped my hat with a smile and a nod, said "That's fine," and walked out.
The bitch was choked up about it. I mean seriously, was she really expecting me to get upset about it after all the crap they had put me through? So, I'm home this morning, tweaking my resume, and will begin a fresh hunt this afternoon. I'll be paying the hotel a visit, naturally. It would be good to get back there.
In other news, this is my last entry in this journal. Those of you who will be on my revised friends list will see the new name appear in your list sometime before or around this evening. People will be cut from the list, of course, either due to inactivity, fading ties, or on principal. I like my privacy where it is, thank you.
Anyway, have a pleasant day, folks. Daisies and sparkles to you all.
|
|
| Aww, it's such a cute widdle snitch! Hewwo, snitch! |
[26 Apr 2005|07:55am] |
Well, as it now seems there's someone on my Friends List who isn't above telling other people what's under
a locked post. same person whould shit a swarm of bees if it was done to them. But, rather than start a
war, which I could do easily if I was so inclined, I think it's time to start a fresh journal and choose
my friends a little more carefully.
Have a nice day.
|
|
| Hmm. |
[23 Apr 2005|05:43pm] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
 contemplative |
] |
You know, despite everything that has happened, in the past and more recently, at FFMux.... I have to stop and think for a few minutes. Why do I still log in there just about every day? Why do I still love the place so much?
The place has staff problems.
The place has Mary Sues, and it has seen its share of questionable players in general.
I'm almost perpetually scene-locked in one way or another.
BUT - Most Mu*s that have ever existed, and those that do now, all have had these problems to some degree.
I've watched opinions on different sides fly back and forth, including the opinions of people who don't even play there and can only base what they know on second and third-hand accounts.
I've been caught in the -middle- of some of these exchanges.
So why do I bother?
Well, for starters, the place is already about halfway through it's seventh year of existence. As Mu*s in general go, that's an extraordinary lifespan. Looking back, I never thought the place would last as long as it has, especially when I was still at the helm.
The staffers are human. They make mistakes. Sometimes they lack communication amongst themselves, let alone between staff and players, however they have also made some pretty good strides, especially since I stepped down from the role of headwiz. They DO give a damn about player opinion, hence the surveys they send out now and then. They WANT people to participate in the shaping and running of the game.
I regularly see 25-30 people logged in at one time, on most nights, which is more than I saw most of the time that I was at the helm. The players are very loyal, and this says a lot. Frankly, for everything that has gone wrong, they must still be doing something right to keep the attention of so many people.
Sure, we've seen two top notch staffers lay down their staffbits recently, but with good reason. A lot had to do with a lack of communication and some misunderstandings. However, once everything was ironed out, I honestly feel that Yojimbo made the honorable decision. Shiva acknowledged the incident, and to the best of my understanding expressed regret over what occured. Yojimbo apologized for his own actions and stepped down based partially on this. I respect that. I hope most anyone can.
Ramuh's departure is also understandable, having a great deal to do with RL matters. He's right in that one shouldn't have to plan one's offline life around the workings of a game. He will be missed, as well.
As for the matter of Mary Sues, this is something which probably could have been handled better, but again, people make mistakes. I certainly made my share of mistakes as Phoenix. In my experience, sometimes it's easy to let blatantly "borrowed" concepts slip through the cracks. Not everyone on staff has seen a particular series, or played a certain game from which players will sometimes borrow ideas. It happens. It will happen again. It's impossible to rationally expect every staffer to have seen every anime or game out there, and be able to pinpoint a borrowed concept with 100% efficiency.
On the matter of bad roleplayers, this too is going to happen from time to time. Someone can turn in a fantastic app, but be a horrible RPer. It happens. Likewise, there are probably some excellent RPers out there who might never get onto a game like this because they can't put a coherent app together. I've seen it happen. It's a hard thing to manage, on that end, but it is possible to resolve. Auditions are one way. Especially where FCs are concerned, if there are any doubts at all about how a person can handle the role of an FC, auditions of some kind should be an option staff can accomodate. This goes above and beyond a players ability to type and punctuate coherently.
Some people, no matter how Sue/Stu they are, or how rough their ken of RP might be, sometimes there is no way to justify removing them because they haven't done anything to warrant it. I can think of one who has been on the game for several years.
Me, I'm no better than anyone else... I don't need anyone to point it out to me.
I've made plenty of mistakes as a player, as well. I am no less a Mary Sue that some people that have come and gone. Some people can attest to this. I mean, really, if people want to get down to dirt on the matter, just look at my character's name. Ten. Not the number, but the Japanese term for 'Heaven'. Previously, the name was Tenshihi or 'Angelfire' (not to be confused with the webhosting site). The character has pointed ears, silver hair, a complicated and somewhat tragic history, borrows from FF5 and FF7, and has had close ties with several FCs.
Then there was Caduceus, created to be the big, major antagonist of the game in the months prior to my stepping down from headwiz, when I was entering a phase of burnout. I will not discount the idea that this character ever existed just because I was the headwiz and I thought I could get away with it. That I will not deny, but I also did it because the game needed a major antagonist who was responsible for everything including the birth of the Converged world. His powers were sick. This is one reason his powers were hidden - that and I wanted people to learn more about him through RP. But due to my burnout, that was something I never managed, and now his fate is in staff's hands. If my guess is correct, his existence has essentially been retconned. So be it. I honestly don't miss the character, and never did get to do much with him.
So, I hope this clears up any illusions people might have had about me, or at the very least confirms what some have suspected right along. I hope this post can serve as a statement of where I stand on the subject of FFMux and all things related to it.
|
|
|
[22 Apr 2005|12:18am] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
amused |
] |
...And there was much amusement to be had at the expense of Mary Suedom. Log later, perhaps. Off to bed I go.
|
|
| Side note. |
[21 Apr 2005|10:02pm] |
|
Air-dry porcelain is a very nice medium to craft with. I'm making a fang necklace for practice. I'll have to roll this stuff out like pie dough to cover the wire frames of the armor, but it should work well.
|
|
| I go away for one evening... |
[21 Apr 2005|07:49pm] |
And stuff blows up.
I have no idea what's going on, who did what, or why. I'm remaining neutral, and witholding an opinion until I've learned something more. Needless to say, my curiosity is piqued, but it will probably be a while before I know anything beyond the obvious, glaring, and stomach-knotting details.
In the meantime, costume stuff. Costume footwear is the bane of my existence. Wire-forming of armor has begun.
|
|
| @#$%^ |
[18 Apr 2005|07:20pm] |
That fucking does it. I'm ready to risk a pay cut and go back to working for the local hotel to get out of the dealership. When your manager is too much of an ass to stick around and do her own work, wanders off six and seven times daily to shoot the breeze with people, for upwards of 20 minutes at a time and leaving you to handle everything including your own fucking work, then hands you a written repremand at the end of the day because a major job wasn't handled to its fullest (when it should have been in her hands to begin with), it's time to consider one's options. It's not the first time, either that she has piled shit on me like this. I'm forced to stick to a criteria for my own work, but she makes it god damned hard to do so.
Yeah, the hotel's looking really good right now.
|
|
| Pantsu. |
[16 Apr 2005|04:41pm] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
happy |
] |
Today's a good day. Bought the AF2 pants for my costume. Two different pairs actually, since I can't decide which one I like more or which one works better. They both look good. Only problem is, damn it, I need to lose a little weight.
Bought a bunch of other stuff. Wire mesh, small foam balls (aka Linkpearls :P), suede lacing for the bodice, stuffing for the "pet", and air-drying porcelain stuff. Anyone ever work with that stuff? Any idea if it's any good? If it works out well, I'll have saved a small fortune on materials.
There's enough wire mesh for the shoulder and leg armor pieces, possibly for the gauntlets. If not, I can get more, and it's not expensive. Haven't bought any sealer or primer yet, since I want to see how this works out, first, as far as sculpting and shaping.
Also bought a really good sewing book. I will be making good use of this, and mom has also expressed some interest in it, since she hasn't done much with the sewing machine that she's had forever.
The "linkpearls" are an idea I came up with on the fly, and it amused me enough that I figured I'd go with it. They will be painted orange, and I'll have one suspended over my head most of the time at the convention. I just want to see how many people get the point of it. ^^ I've got nine altogether, since I know a bunch of people from Dawn will also be there.
Also came home with half a dozen bags of edamame and a fresh bottle of ponzu.
|
|
| Costume update |
[14 Apr 2005|08:22pm] |
Patterns arrived the other day for my special "pet" project. Tailoring dummy should arrive on monday. Picked up patterns today for a bodice - and actually, the packet has about half a dozen different bodice patterns in it so it can be used many times for different things. At least one will work very well with what I have planned. I'll just need to add tapering sleeves instead of the billowy looking style that usually goes with a bodice.
The body of the costume (torso and legs) will be patterned after AF2 parts. Not necessarily for the sake of making it easy, but they just look better, and I'm not keen on showing off my thighs, even if I'm going Mithra for this.
So far so good.
Still can't find the right pattern/color of cloth I need for the "pet". I saw the pattern I wanted the other day, but they either don't stock or don't make the color I need. As a last resort, I can either A) buy the right color and kill myself adding details by hand, or B) buy the right pattern, bleach the hell out of it, then re-dye it and hope it comes out evenly. Fun fun.
Once the dummy arrives, the hunt for actual costume materials will begin. I have several ways in mind that I can do this whole thing, most options are going to be pretty economical. Since I can't find the type of plastic I need around here without dumpster diving at local plastic factories, or without ordering it online and having more surplus than I'll ever use, I'm working on options. Foam, plastic mesh, and fabric seem like they might be the way to go. I found some really nice metallic-looking fabric which should give it just about the right look. If I go this route, I could probably cover over the prominent parts with clear, thin plastic sheeting to give it a harder look, though I risk dulling the metallic look I want.
Putting it all together, I found some inexpensive belting material and buckles which are just right for what I need. The belts don't look leathery, however, which is really the only thing bugging me about them. But it's either this or drop a small fortune on actual leather belts just to cut and alter them. Been there, done that. No reason the supports for the costume need to be more expensive than the rest of the materials. Where some moveable parts of the costume come together, denim rivets should work just perfectly, and they'll look authentic.
Metallic details - well, there will be plenty, but again I have options for this. I can buy small, thin metal sheets and work with tinsnips, risk screwing things up badly this way, and end up having to spend more. Or I can sacrifice the five cent return on a smeg load of soda cans, cut and hammer them out, and alter accordingly. Economical, and probably much easier to deal with.
As for other details, I'll worry about those later, but needless to say, making Mithrabits will be easier than most of this project. Ears can be made of vinyl, stuck to a hairband, and the band can be covered over with hair to hide it when the time comes. I already know which model I'm going to try and duplicate. The tail shouldn't be too difficult to make.
Blah, rambling. It's nice to be inspired to a project like this for once.
|
|
| Screenshots |
[07 Apr 2005|08:20pm] |
For those who play FFXI and take screenshots regularly, there's finally a site that makes it easy to upload and organize them all. Give http://www.ffxigallery.com/ a shot. It's pretty smooth, though they need more variety in the layout templates, and they need to fix the glitches on the links pages.
Here's mine: http://www.ffxigallery.com/tenshihi/
|
|
| Tailoring dummy vs Camcorder: Priority Battle Round 2. Faito! |
[07 Apr 2005|12:46pm] |
So I've been watching the ads for a decent digital camcorder, and I've seen a couple that I'd mused over trying to get my hands on. One's a JVC, used and in great condition, no battery pack though, for $103. The other is some generic No-name brand for $99 after a $30 rebate. I was really considering getting the JVC, but then I remembered there's something else I really need to get going on my costume project.
Called a local fabric store, and they have several tailoring dummies in stock. They don't normally carry them in the store, and I would have had to order one otherwise. All of them run about the same price, at $119. So I'll be going there later to take a look at what they have, but I'm pretty sure the tailoring dummy has won this round of battle.
Victoly!
|
|
| Genki. |
[06 Apr 2005|08:08pm] |
|
So recently, probably the best way to sum up my general mood is "genki". I've been good. I haven't exactly hit doldrums, of late, aside from the occasional and unavoidable fits of restlessness. I don't post much anymore, mostly because I've decided I don't need to editorialize every little annoyance and negative in my life, and no one needs, or wants, to see it anyway.
Dad had his surgery last week for his cancer, and things went well. He was really pleased with the facility and the people who were tending to him. It's actually been a week as of today, and he's already getting around better without too many side effects from the irradiated pellets they implanted. Hopefully he won't have many side effects or "off" days as a result. He's been in really good spirits, too, which will only help improve his situation all the more. People have been sending him all kinds of cards and gift baskets, including edible flower arrangements made of fruit and baskets of cooking items.
In other news, looking forward to seeing solar_exalted at the end of the month when he comes up for A-bos. Also starting to prepare for my secret costume project for Otakon this summer, which I'm apparently going to if I end up kicking and screaming all the way. At this point, it looks like I might end up having to do some wire framework as a foundation for some of it. The plastic will have to be ordered online, since the exact kind I need just can't be found easily around here without dumpster diving at the local plastic plants... and frankly, I'd like to keep some of my dignity entact until I have to sacrifice it for the sake of the actual cosplay. Today's related success: the pattern for my special "pet" has been ordered, and should be here in a week or so. loneguardian should probably be able to appreciate what I'm up to. :)
Ah, but before the threat of Otakon, and the impending deadline of finishing-costume-before-the-night-before-the-con, there comes the Dear Friends concert in Hartford on May 20. Really, really looking forward to this, and as evildennis said, even moreso than any convention I could go to this year.
Otherwise, plans to move.... eventually. Yeah, it will happen. Someday.
|
|
| navigation |
| [ |
viewing |
| |
most recent entries |
] |
| [ |
go |
| |
earlier |
] |
|
|
|
|
