A rainy day in Humania

Yesterday it rained hard in my Animal Crossing town, Humania. There was thunder, ephemeral flashes of lightening, and pouring rain. When I went inside a building or a house, I could still hear the rain beating on the rooftop; I like this attention to detail Nintendo bothered to consider. I was hoping to catch another coelacanth, since they're supposedly only catchable when it's raining or snowing, but all I got were stupid sea bass.

I'm still pretty peeved about Lucky's sudden move. I wrote him a letter, I begged him to stay. What more did the mummified dog want!? I also can't believe he had the Zelda sword in his house, and that I was unable to acquire it through the monthly flea market. I suspect he hid it, or the game made such a rare and valuable item "disappear."

I wanted to take a picture of me talking to Cube--you can see his cute figure, sad eyes, umbrella, and a closeup of my special crown (1 million bells, bitches!), and a side view of my umbrella, which is in the shape of a leaf. But then I noticed that the umbrella is out in the view; normally, when you talk to your neighbors, you put whatever you have in your hands back into your pockets. I didn't realize the anomaly until I was reviewing the pictures. Maybe Cube had called my attention, I approached him, and didn't have to put my umbrella away. Hmm.

Bonus footage: I've been playing Phoenix Wright 3: Trials and Tribulations. I'm sad to say that not much in my life, past and present, amounts to the drama, awesomeness, and purpose that are encapsulated in this series. And I can't believe Detective Dick Gumshoe has stuck around so long, and finally, he's coming through--he just saved my ass from getting schooled by the fake, scary Phoenix Wright! He likes weenies.

On Scottish Folds

In an effort to invite structure and responsibility into my life, I considered acquiring a dog or cat. But too many factors made me reconsider: Yuki would sense my divided loyalty; I'm allergic to most cats; my dad is allergic to cats; and given my current habits, the apartment would become uninhabitable. Maybe I'm just allergic to adulthood--I can barely take care of myself, even with help, so how can I take care of any other being?

Nevertheless, I check these Scottish Fold blogs on a daily basis: Fami (above) and Katamari. I prefer Fami, largely because she looks more like a cat than a doll, but also because she is often photographed with a Nintendo DS in her lap. (Her name also has origins in Nintendo.) They both remind me of my childhood hero, Doraemon (right), whose ears are not folded but outright missing (devoured by mice). Naturally, I wanted one, but Mordecai insisted that there were (cheaper) kittens to be had at animal shelters. True, I said. But that doesn't mean Scottish Fold X Destined to be Kei's doesn't deserve my love, I argued. And what about the Scottish Folds whose ears aren't folded? They're cheaper, because they're not as desired. They deserve human affection and care, too. Coming from a family that shelled out more than shelter fees to acquire Yuki (guaranteed show-quality and best Akita ever) and with family who have not one, but two dachshunds (in Japan, where pure-breds are insanely priced), it doesn't strike me as outlandish to pay for an animal companion, regardless of the purity of breed.

But then, through Wikipedia, I came across this piece of information:

The following breeds of cat are not recognised by the GCCF (Governing Council of the Cat Fancy, the "feline equivalent of the Kennel Club"):

Scottish Fold: There is no intention to recognise this breed because the gene which produces the folded ears also causes skeletal abnormalities, producing stiffness of the limbs and tail which increases with age. This is especially true when two fold-eared cats are bred together but it has been shown that cats with only one gene for folded ears also suffer from abnormal stiffness. Under these circumstances it has never been recognised and we strongly advise members of the public not to try to acquire cats of this breed.

I can't say that I'd want one just because it's got folded ears--a physical feature caused by the same genes that fuse its legs, knees, and hips as it gets older. I guess I could be a hypocrite, since there are probably issues inherent to Akitas (but also probably to big dogs/breeds in general, and not directly linked to some defining physical feature, like the fluffy, curly tail). I will continue to support Fami and Katamari and other peoples' Scottish Folds anyway, but, ignoring my fickle allergies, I can't say I see my future self actively looking for a Scottish Fold. I'll also justify this by saying that the whole point of Doraemon is that he's a work of fictional art. I can't have a miniature, skinny Doraemon, sans the 4-dimensional-pocket, walking around my apartment, meowing, peeing, and barfing on the new bed. That would be the antithesis of Doraemon.

Some things don't change

And I hope they never will. In the future, will I still rely on Animal Crossing (or will I still have something like it) to help me sleep? Will I always have days and weeks (months?) where all I want to do is eat, nap, and play my DS?

Yippie Yi Yo

I just found out that R. Kelly started the group Public Announcement. They, sans Mr. Show Biz, were responsible for the 1998 hit "Body Bumpin' (Yippie Yi Yo)." I remember having bought the CD single, partly for its cover, where every member had a funny metallic blue body suit, complete with something akin to matching ski goggles.

Haircut photo

There has been a request for haircut pictures.

[photo by Kirsten]

[original/inspiration]

Normally, I don't cut people out of pictures, but Kira and Alex were all "DELETE! UNTAG!" that entire night, so I cropped them (but not my love for them) out. That's Kira's little prince, the friendly and pocketable Ramses, a Chihuahua + Italian Greyhound mix. But in this picture, he looks, as Joe said, sinister. And there's me, tending to him, with my new haircut. Which Joe apparently doesn't like. Is it the bangs? Oh well, I look youthful! And my life, as well as this blog, is all about preserving my youth.

Lunch

Every morning, on my way to the train station, I stop at my house. My mom makes me lunch!

Sometimes she makes rice-based lunches, sometimes bread-based. Today was a turkey-herb sandwich with popcorn, and a banana that is not pictured. She makes lunches for Mordecai, too, but he gets a Spiderman container.

Haircut inspirations

On Sunday morning, I got my haircut. It matches my piano lessons, also inspired by Nodame.

I had been looking forward to a haircut for a long time; I debated between looking like Franziska von Karma (too much like Victoria Beckham) and my second favorite Seventeen model, Oishi Mitsuki (already did that last winter in Japan). But I wanted to extend my Nodame-mania to my appearance, and somewhat unexpectedly, Suri Cruise pushed me towards this direction.

The younger I look, the happier I am, because life back on the north side in the new apartment is forcing me to behave more adult-like than ever.

In the near future, I will become a graduate student. In that same future, I will be a TA. So I decided to try to minimize my presence on the Interwebs, and simultaneously renew things on my blog. Here are some new colors, and hopefully some new posts.