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I'm not dead yet, Fred!
3 min read
So, clearly it has been many years since I last wrote a journal entry. I am so lazy! But then again, as an adult that means I must do adult things which include working. So, I haven't have much time for art. And I sadly have not been inspired to draw anything lately. The last thing I drew I have just posted. And I'm not very happy with how it came out. Some day I hope to be able to take a class on how to use Photoshop to create digital versions of my artwork. Make it look cleaner!
Anyway, I've been working on my Masters degree in Secondary Education for English Language Arts. I will hopefully be certified to teach 5-12 here in New Hampshire. I am in the middle of my student teaching with 7th graders! I never thought I'd enjoy working with middle school kids but I have greatly been enjoying myself. They are so cute and energetic and sometimes the things that come out of their mouths make you wonder where this stuff came from (both good and bad). So, hopefully by the end of January I will be a fully certified teacher! Then I can get out of retail and start getting paid some real money! Cross you fingers!
I don't know if I'll participate in Nanowrimo this year. Between doing my student teaching and working part time over the weekends, I just don't have the free time or the inspiration I usually have in November. Which will be really sad and disappointing for me personally since I've been doing it for the past 7 years (since 2009). This would be year 8. And I'm usually one of the mad dash for the finish line writers. I start off okay and then I get really busy in the middle or I lose the inspiration and then the last 3-4 days I find myself writing 15000 words a day or so. I have not lost yet! So, I have a couple of days yet to think about it but I'm pretty sure this will be the year I skip.
Anyway, I think that's it. I just wanted to assure any followers that I am still alive and active (to a degree) here. But who knows when I'll next have some art to post or a new journal entry. This is why I could never keep a journal or diary as a kid. I just didn't care enough to write down everything that happened to me.
Celticreeder
Anyway, I've been working on my Masters degree in Secondary Education for English Language Arts. I will hopefully be certified to teach 5-12 here in New Hampshire. I am in the middle of my student teaching with 7th graders! I never thought I'd enjoy working with middle school kids but I have greatly been enjoying myself. They are so cute and energetic and sometimes the things that come out of their mouths make you wonder where this stuff came from (both good and bad). So, hopefully by the end of January I will be a fully certified teacher! Then I can get out of retail and start getting paid some real money! Cross you fingers!
I don't know if I'll participate in Nanowrimo this year. Between doing my student teaching and working part time over the weekends, I just don't have the free time or the inspiration I usually have in November. Which will be really sad and disappointing for me personally since I've been doing it for the past 7 years (since 2009). This would be year 8. And I'm usually one of the mad dash for the finish line writers. I start off okay and then I get really busy in the middle or I lose the inspiration and then the last 3-4 days I find myself writing 15000 words a day or so. I have not lost yet! So, I have a couple of days yet to think about it but I'm pretty sure this will be the year I skip.
Anyway, I think that's it. I just wanted to assure any followers that I am still alive and active (to a degree) here. But who knows when I'll next have some art to post or a new journal entry. This is why I could never keep a journal or diary as a kid. I just didn't care enough to write down everything that happened to me.
Celticreeder
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So, last night while looking up on Internet Movie Database to see if the rumors of Lady Gaga playing the role of Sailor Moon in a live action movie version was really true or just an April Fool's Joke, I came across a link stating that TokyoPop, one of the two biggest Anime/Manga distributors here in the U.S. is closing it's North American branch! I was soo shocked to see that since I knew it was such a large corporation! Upon further research (though the Tokyo Pop site says nothing about their closing), I found another article online that gave an exact date. Tokyo Pop will close it's North American branch May, 31 of this year!
That's next month!
Apparently, with the mass closing of Borders Books and Music stores all across the U.S (last count was 228 in total closing (believe me, I worked in one that just closed)) sales for Tokyo Pop produced books have greatly dropped. Who knew a store that has been struggling financially was the life line of a major corporation like Tokyo Pop. I guess Amazon, Barnes and Noble and several smaller comic book/manga stores just didn't equate the same number of sales that Borders did. I saw enough teenagers just sitting in the ailes or at tables with stacks of manga reading them as though they were in a library or their own home and not even bothering to buy any of the those volumes (if you've ever done that, SHAME ON YOU!! Buy the damn book!), so I find it very doubtful that Borders kept Tokyo Pop afloat saleswise. Especially when sites like Amazon have been taking sales from actual stores like there's no tomorrow.
I am so pissed to read that Tokyo Pop is closing after Go!Comi and CMX comics closed up shop due to lack in sales. I have several manga series that are really really good but are now incomplete because the translation publishers shut down before finishing the series. Several of them are finished in Japan (and have been for years) and only had a couple of volumes left to be translated here in the U.S.! Well, with Tokyo Pop closing it's doors, I can only assume that means the series I thought were safe will now be unfinished as well.
Tokyo Pop is keeping it's European branches open for now but I don't know what that will do for us readers and buyers in the U.S. With so many Free Manga Scanalations sites out now, many of them only do the obscure series due to legal rights the large corporations like Viz and Tokyo Pop have. Granted that doesn't mean a lot of the well known series like InuYasha and Naruto haven't snuck by, but a lot of the ones I read aren't on the sites or aren't very far in the scans/translations that it's hardly worth reading them because I've passed them by purchasing the series. My biggest problem with the free translation sites is that a lot of time the translation quality is down right terrible! I've tried to read some where the person who was translating didn't even know what half of the stuff said and even admitted in the speech bubble that they didn't know what the character was saying! Several times they would also just leave the original Japanese in the bubble and not even bother trying to translate at all. Why those were allowed up as a completed chapter posting I'll never know. But, I will admit there were still several really good translations and I tip my hat to those hard workers who know how to read Japanese and can translate it. I've tried and I'm terrible. Flunked Japanese 101 in college!
I'm perfectly willing to pay more for a volume that I need as long as it's in English or has an English translation attached (if that makes sense). I don't know Japanese and while I'd also be willing to purchse the volumes in Japanese, there seem to be a decidedly few number of sites that provide manga for sale in the original Japanese here in the U.S or at lease sites that are translated into English to make purchasing easier.
Well, for anyone who has not heard this news, beware. Some of those series you've been buying and are now waiting anxiously for the next volume, if that volume doesn't come out in May, then chances are, you are not getting it! However, if you go on to Amazon, you'll notice that just about all of the Tokyo Pop titles are on sale anywhere from 20%-30% off. That would do me good only if the series was finished. I love V. B. Rose and there are only two volumes left in the series and I know they won't be released here in the U.S. I thought for sure that one would be safe because it was Tokyo Pop, one of the two top Manga producers!
I guess when I'm still very much into the manga/anime fad that my generation is growing out of, it makes it difficult to keep up sales. Too many of my friends who loved manga and anime as much as me are not buying them anymore because they need the money for family and cars and more important things in life. Not that I blame them, I have had to sacrifice a new manga sale in favor of a week's worth of gas. But when so much artwork is based on the anime/manga style and so many american cartoons are trying to copy and stylize that look (Avatar the Last Airbender and Teen Titans just to name a couple) it surprises me that sales have decreased.
Well, graphic novels still seem to be going strong and steady especially when nearly every big name book series seems like its being made into a graphic novel. But then again, Graphic Novels have been very much an American thing, haven't they? Batman, Superman, Spiderman, Xmen have never lost sales. Hell, if you have a first edition Spiderman comic book volume 1 in pristine condition you could be sitting on a gold mine! Whereas, if you have a first edition of a Sailor Moon manga volume 1, you might be able to get $20 for it on eBay. Though, I bet over in Japan it would be worth a fortune as long as it's the original Japanese volume.
Well, I'm pissed off at Tokyo Pop, though I have always felt that Viz has had the better selection of series to choose from whereas Tokyo Pop tended to do a lot of the American written series (no offense to anyone who has had their work published by them) but there are still a select few series that Tokyo Pop did luck out on and I'm disappointed that they feel they have to close down. They should have at least cut back on the number of new series they were taking on. Too many projects going on at once and not enough of them getting completed.
I guess all I can do now is just watch and see what happens. I'll keep my fingers crossed that Tokyo Pop will make a good decision on what to do with unfinished series that are only a couple of volumes away from completion but I won't hold my breath. Now, the field is left to Viz, Yen Press and a couple of smaller companys like Del Rey but I'm sure it won't be long before they too shut their doors for good and we're all left standing with unfinished manga series.
So, so long Tokyo Pop, you were my first introduction to manga with Sailor Moon but I give you the finger for not even trying to save your business and please your patrons.
That's next month!
Apparently, with the mass closing of Borders Books and Music stores all across the U.S (last count was 228 in total closing (believe me, I worked in one that just closed)) sales for Tokyo Pop produced books have greatly dropped. Who knew a store that has been struggling financially was the life line of a major corporation like Tokyo Pop. I guess Amazon, Barnes and Noble and several smaller comic book/manga stores just didn't equate the same number of sales that Borders did. I saw enough teenagers just sitting in the ailes or at tables with stacks of manga reading them as though they were in a library or their own home and not even bothering to buy any of the those volumes (if you've ever done that, SHAME ON YOU!! Buy the damn book!), so I find it very doubtful that Borders kept Tokyo Pop afloat saleswise. Especially when sites like Amazon have been taking sales from actual stores like there's no tomorrow.
I am so pissed to read that Tokyo Pop is closing after Go!Comi and CMX comics closed up shop due to lack in sales. I have several manga series that are really really good but are now incomplete because the translation publishers shut down before finishing the series. Several of them are finished in Japan (and have been for years) and only had a couple of volumes left to be translated here in the U.S.! Well, with Tokyo Pop closing it's doors, I can only assume that means the series I thought were safe will now be unfinished as well.
Tokyo Pop is keeping it's European branches open for now but I don't know what that will do for us readers and buyers in the U.S. With so many Free Manga Scanalations sites out now, many of them only do the obscure series due to legal rights the large corporations like Viz and Tokyo Pop have. Granted that doesn't mean a lot of the well known series like InuYasha and Naruto haven't snuck by, but a lot of the ones I read aren't on the sites or aren't very far in the scans/translations that it's hardly worth reading them because I've passed them by purchasing the series. My biggest problem with the free translation sites is that a lot of time the translation quality is down right terrible! I've tried to read some where the person who was translating didn't even know what half of the stuff said and even admitted in the speech bubble that they didn't know what the character was saying! Several times they would also just leave the original Japanese in the bubble and not even bother trying to translate at all. Why those were allowed up as a completed chapter posting I'll never know. But, I will admit there were still several really good translations and I tip my hat to those hard workers who know how to read Japanese and can translate it. I've tried and I'm terrible. Flunked Japanese 101 in college!
I'm perfectly willing to pay more for a volume that I need as long as it's in English or has an English translation attached (if that makes sense). I don't know Japanese and while I'd also be willing to purchse the volumes in Japanese, there seem to be a decidedly few number of sites that provide manga for sale in the original Japanese here in the U.S or at lease sites that are translated into English to make purchasing easier.
Well, for anyone who has not heard this news, beware. Some of those series you've been buying and are now waiting anxiously for the next volume, if that volume doesn't come out in May, then chances are, you are not getting it! However, if you go on to Amazon, you'll notice that just about all of the Tokyo Pop titles are on sale anywhere from 20%-30% off. That would do me good only if the series was finished. I love V. B. Rose and there are only two volumes left in the series and I know they won't be released here in the U.S. I thought for sure that one would be safe because it was Tokyo Pop, one of the two top Manga producers!
I guess when I'm still very much into the manga/anime fad that my generation is growing out of, it makes it difficult to keep up sales. Too many of my friends who loved manga and anime as much as me are not buying them anymore because they need the money for family and cars and more important things in life. Not that I blame them, I have had to sacrifice a new manga sale in favor of a week's worth of gas. But when so much artwork is based on the anime/manga style and so many american cartoons are trying to copy and stylize that look (Avatar the Last Airbender and Teen Titans just to name a couple) it surprises me that sales have decreased.
Well, graphic novels still seem to be going strong and steady especially when nearly every big name book series seems like its being made into a graphic novel. But then again, Graphic Novels have been very much an American thing, haven't they? Batman, Superman, Spiderman, Xmen have never lost sales. Hell, if you have a first edition Spiderman comic book volume 1 in pristine condition you could be sitting on a gold mine! Whereas, if you have a first edition of a Sailor Moon manga volume 1, you might be able to get $20 for it on eBay. Though, I bet over in Japan it would be worth a fortune as long as it's the original Japanese volume.
Well, I'm pissed off at Tokyo Pop, though I have always felt that Viz has had the better selection of series to choose from whereas Tokyo Pop tended to do a lot of the American written series (no offense to anyone who has had their work published by them) but there are still a select few series that Tokyo Pop did luck out on and I'm disappointed that they feel they have to close down. They should have at least cut back on the number of new series they were taking on. Too many projects going on at once and not enough of them getting completed.
I guess all I can do now is just watch and see what happens. I'll keep my fingers crossed that Tokyo Pop will make a good decision on what to do with unfinished series that are only a couple of volumes away from completion but I won't hold my breath. Now, the field is left to Viz, Yen Press and a couple of smaller companys like Del Rey but I'm sure it won't be long before they too shut their doors for good and we're all left standing with unfinished manga series.
So, so long Tokyo Pop, you were my first introduction to manga with Sailor Moon but I give you the finger for not even trying to save your business and please your patrons.
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Hunger Games!!
2 min read
So, I just finished reading Mockingjay last night, the third and final book in the Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins. I read the book in two days, would have been one day if I hadn't had to work! Anyway, I am in love with this series and I support the Peeta/Katniss pairing all the way! So, I decided to browse some fanart. It's kind of amazing and scary at the same time how many pieces of fanart have the same look for the two characters. It's almost as if the artists have come to an agreement over how the characters are supposed to look. I know they're given descriptions in the books but nothing really specific aside from coloring and the fact that Peeta is stocky and Katniss is short.
But, having now read all three books and cried for the deaths of favorite characters (I think Ms Collins took a page out of J.K. Rowling's book and killed off wonderful characters that should have made it to the end!). Of course, that's what fanfiction is for, right? To revive the dead and make impossible pairings possible?
But, while I'm still on my Labyrinth kick, I still have the desire to try my hand at a Peeta/Katniss piece of art.
I hope they'll do a movie of the book. It just screams Hollywood. But they had better do a damn good job and stick to the book like glue and get actors who look like the characters are described! That is all!
Peeta X Katniss all the way!!
But, having now read all three books and cried for the deaths of favorite characters (I think Ms Collins took a page out of J.K. Rowling's book and killed off wonderful characters that should have made it to the end!). Of course, that's what fanfiction is for, right? To revive the dead and make impossible pairings possible?
But, while I'm still on my Labyrinth kick, I still have the desire to try my hand at a Peeta/Katniss piece of art.
I hope they'll do a movie of the book. It just screams Hollywood. But they had better do a damn good job and stick to the book like glue and get actors who look like the characters are described! That is all!
Peeta X Katniss all the way!!
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Labyrinth Kick
4 min read
So, after the 4th volume of 'Return to Labyrinth' the manga was FINALLY released after nearly 5 years, I sat down and read it. I was waiting for all the volumes to be released before reading it so I wouldn't have to wait. I have to say that the story itself is pretty good but as I've seen many people commment on, the artwork is rather poor. The background and detail work is pretty good but the actual characters are not great. Sarah looks like a frump half the time with her huge plastic frame glasses, Toby just looks kind of odd and Jareth looks the worst to me. I don't understand why they gave him these long clawlike fingernails when he wears gloves the entire movie! And sometimes the fingernails are black and other times they're white. Sometimes they're actually normal looking and on rare occasions, he is wearing gloves. Sometimes he lookes like a really ugly woman and other times he looks pretty good. Overall, I'd give it a 3 out of 5 rating because the story was good and the bad use of puns made it funny and the sidekick characters are pretty good; much like Hoggle, Ludo and Sir Didymus. However, I did feel the ending was rushed and things weren't explained well enough to me. I supposed I should reread it but right now, I just don't really understand why Jareth wanted Toby to take over as heir and for the Jareth and Sarah fans, there's no real happily ever after. I wasn't entirely sure if the story was all about Sarah in the end or not. But as a strong Jareth/Sarah supporter, when I read from the writer of the manga that Jareth/Sarah fans had some J/S action to look forward to, I got all happy only to be let down with the actual action. There was even a perfect moment for them to kiss and it only ended up being a kiss on the forehead! How lame was that?
But anyway, since reading the series, I've been on a Labyrinth kick. I've written a one-piece and it's posted on Fanfiction.net called 'The Goblin King and the Empty Chair' and I've started a second story and have an idea for a third. I've also been working on some fan art. Two pieces are ready to be colored, one needs to be inked and I've got a fourth image in my head ready to be put on paper. I'd like to watch the movie again but I'm really weird in that I can not watch certain movies when other people are in the house. I have to have the house to myself and know that I'll have the house empty for a while. Labyrinth is one of those movies and since I don't have a tv in my room, I don't like watching movies on my computer and since it's my parents' house and my youngest brother is still here from college, the house is rarely empty long. So, until I can have the house all to myself, which probably won't be for another week when my mom takes my brother back to college, I'll have to make due with fanfiction and fan art for my Labyrinth doses.
I can really tell that I haven't been doing much drawing since my drawings look so stiff and lately I have only been able to do side views but that doesn't leave much for character expressions. I feel so bad about that since I just haven't had much inspiration. Work has sapped so much of it out of me and unless I'm inspired, I can't even doodle! Doodles always helped me keep my hand loose and the ideas flowing. I'd never thought I'd say I miss school so that I could doodle in the margins.
I look back over my notebooks filled with doodles and sketch pads filled with unfinished and finished sketches of characters in different poses and I sigh sadly wishing my work was like that now. I've even noticed a decline in my style. I think my style was actually better looking when I was in highschool and college. Yes, it's cleaner now since I've been working with markers and outlining with marker instead of colored pencils but my characters' faces look so cold and kind of childish from what they used to look like. Oh well, it's nobody's but my fault for not keeping a sketch pad and pencil in my hand o just sketch.
Hopefully, I'll have my Labyrinth pictures ready to post soon!
Celticreeder
But anyway, since reading the series, I've been on a Labyrinth kick. I've written a one-piece and it's posted on Fanfiction.net called 'The Goblin King and the Empty Chair' and I've started a second story and have an idea for a third. I've also been working on some fan art. Two pieces are ready to be colored, one needs to be inked and I've got a fourth image in my head ready to be put on paper. I'd like to watch the movie again but I'm really weird in that I can not watch certain movies when other people are in the house. I have to have the house to myself and know that I'll have the house empty for a while. Labyrinth is one of those movies and since I don't have a tv in my room, I don't like watching movies on my computer and since it's my parents' house and my youngest brother is still here from college, the house is rarely empty long. So, until I can have the house all to myself, which probably won't be for another week when my mom takes my brother back to college, I'll have to make due with fanfiction and fan art for my Labyrinth doses.
I can really tell that I haven't been doing much drawing since my drawings look so stiff and lately I have only been able to do side views but that doesn't leave much for character expressions. I feel so bad about that since I just haven't had much inspiration. Work has sapped so much of it out of me and unless I'm inspired, I can't even doodle! Doodles always helped me keep my hand loose and the ideas flowing. I'd never thought I'd say I miss school so that I could doodle in the margins.
I look back over my notebooks filled with doodles and sketch pads filled with unfinished and finished sketches of characters in different poses and I sigh sadly wishing my work was like that now. I've even noticed a decline in my style. I think my style was actually better looking when I was in highschool and college. Yes, it's cleaner now since I've been working with markers and outlining with marker instead of colored pencils but my characters' faces look so cold and kind of childish from what they used to look like. Oh well, it's nobody's but my fault for not keeping a sketch pad and pencil in my hand o just sketch.
Hopefully, I'll have my Labyrinth pictures ready to post soon!
Celticreeder
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Kinda funny
2 min read
I have to laugh now that I know the change in icons is due to DA's April Fools joke. I was wondering if I'd missed something where everyone changed their icons to something Twilight related since that was all I was seeing. Now I've seen some Seekers and Lady Gaga but at first everyone was either Edward or Jacob.
While I'm not a fan of the Twilight series (a little too stupid for my taste, I'm surprised I didn't damage my eyes with all the rolling they did or lose my lunch with all the nausiating (sp?) aspect of the story. I only read them to see what the fuss was about but I can honestly say I can see the fuss reason but I do not care for it. Which is kind of weird since I love sappy romance but this was too much. I think it's because it's only told from Bella and later some from Jacob's POV. They annoyed me to no end until I wanted to smack them both with a board, HARD repeatedly! However, to the point of my original sentence, while I'm not a fan, I would have to say I support Team Edward only because I couldn't stand Jacob at all.
But, now that I know the reason for these changes, I look forward to next year's!! Hopefully it will NOT be Twilight induced. I'd have to complain quite loudly if it is.
While I'm not a fan of the Twilight series (a little too stupid for my taste, I'm surprised I didn't damage my eyes with all the rolling they did or lose my lunch with all the nausiating (sp?) aspect of the story. I only read them to see what the fuss was about but I can honestly say I can see the fuss reason but I do not care for it. Which is kind of weird since I love sappy romance but this was too much. I think it's because it's only told from Bella and later some from Jacob's POV. They annoyed me to no end until I wanted to smack them both with a board, HARD repeatedly! However, to the point of my original sentence, while I'm not a fan, I would have to say I support Team Edward only because I couldn't stand Jacob at all.
But, now that I know the reason for these changes, I look forward to next year's!! Hopefully it will NOT be Twilight induced. I'd have to complain quite loudly if it is.
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