I'm going home for the first time since August next week. My school is stingy with breaks--we almost never get national holidays off, and school always resumes the day immediately after the dormitories reopen after the longer winter and summer vacations--so my bus back here leaves on the 29th, but...

...I'm just so happy I can go home!

( And now for a matter of dire consequence. )

I finally finished the last of the essays earlier this afternoon, and they're all handed in! Oh, the feeling of not having a deadline looming over me. (On that note, I'm amazed at some of those here who are participating in National Novel Writing Month and pulling off over 2,000 words a day.)

( Having written over 7,000 words in all, I feel that I can't make myself write anymore. )

Note: this isn't actually an excerpt from my memoir, but something I had to write as a result of the Halloween meme. You can thank technophile for this.

Given the progress I've made on my paper concerning the role of trans-social cooperation in the construction of democratic governing modes, I've decided to share with you all my recent efforts in compiling the memories and shifting identities of my life into a brief memoir. The tentative title is "On the Nature of Sensorineural Hearing Loss and its Transformative Effects on Postnationalist Personal Spheres;" I appreciate any and all constructive criticism.

( An excerpt from 'On the Nature of Sensorineural Hearing Loss and its Transformative Effects on Postnationalist Personal Spheres.' )

I only have about 500 more words to write on the longest essay, so I'm taking a break. Happy Halloween!

1. Create a graphic (200 x 200 max size) to represent your personal "candy". It should have your username on it, but otherwise can feature whatever you want. Make it something special since it's self-representative.
2. Make a post with the subject "trick or treat?". Put your "candy" somewhere in it, and be sure to repost these instructions.
3. Then, go around other people's LJs and reply to them with either "trick" or "treat". If you reply with "trick", they will give you an LJ dare that you have to perform before taking their candy. If you're too wimpy for that, simply say "treat" and take their candy.
4. List all your collected candies in your original "trick or treat?" post to show off your collection, being sure not to direct-link!

To be honest, it seems like it's too late for anyone to comment, but here's my candy:



( The Halloween of the Future! )

I and the other students in our World Politics class received notice from our professor today about the contents of our take-home exam due on November 6th. It consists of two essays, the first being roughly 1,300 words long and the second being roughly 1,800 words long.

I already have a 1,600-word historiographical essay due on November 5th. Assuming that I finish the outlines, bibliographies, and most of the unrelated weekend homework by Friday...

4,700 words ÷ Desire to get a decent grade ÷ 7 days = HIATUS.
I'm sorry, everyone.

『the STRONG and weak point icon-meme』

All told, I managed to walk away with 45 initial comments and 58 watchers with this first icon post--that's good enough, considering that I'm probably the least-known iconmaker in the fandom! I'd appreciate it if you could give me some criticism with suggestions on the above thread.

There's an original sketch I'm working on, as well as three music recommendations, behind the cut.

( The traveler stands before the sea. )

I've had much less time to read about current events at school than I did over the summer, and it shows.

Anyway, President Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize. Though the Nobel Committee cited his establishment of a "new international climate" as the main reason for their choice, it seems that the award was given more out of the Committee's expectations for the President rather than what he's actually accomplished--and that just smacks in the face of all of the journalists, politicians, relief organization staff, and activists who have provided more concrete support for the peace effort. (I know, I know this is similar to the Republican complaints against the President's accomplishment, and that the Committee must surely have had good reason for their choice, and that I don't know enough about international politics to make any worthwhile comment.) Thorbjorn Jagland's comments on the decision certainly reflect the idea that they're waiting for President Obama to accomplish great things, and that the prestige of this award will contribute to that.

As a more worthwhile contribution from me, here are two articles about remarkable people who have striven for peace: an essay about U.N.H.C.R. officials in Chad, published early this year, and a shorter piece about Ko Ko Gyi and Min Ko Naing, the leaders of 88 Generation Students in Burma.

( And now, for that TRC review I've been planning on writing... )

( ...with a note about Kobato. )

momoizumu
is up and running!

If you added this journal to your friends list only for the graphics, then feel free to remove it and watch momoizumu instead. Likewise, if I'm affiliated with your icon community or journal, then please change your links so as to avoid confusion (as I'll only be posting links to the community here, not the actual icons). I'm working on a small icon post to commemorate the opening of the comm and to the spread the word by cross-posting.

Also, the header features some fanart I made for the ending of that series, so please tell me what you think about it! Thank you all for your help, and I hope this works out better for everyone involved.

Above all else, take a look at this link: Relief for victims of Typhoon Ketsana/Ondoy. Thank you to baliwnababae for posting the original entry, and to asherfoxx for linking to it.

ETA: Read this article. It's not often that one reads about individual acts of heroism like that, and it's all the more honorable to me in part because of my current studies (i.e., atrocities committed by Allied and Japanese soldiers in Asia and the Pacific Theater).

( The girl was singing in a church choir,/ About the weary abroad, far away... )

On a decidedly more minor note, I think I'll postpone writing about TRC until the epilogue is released next week.

In a shocking twist, I'm actually going to be seeing Paprika. One of the clubs on campus is sponsoring a showing tonight!

On another note, this journal was hit by the "web security exploit," and it may have affected yours. If so, I apologize--I didn't realize there was a problem the night it hit.

( More on the Xu Zhiyong case, or more appropriately the Zhuang Lu case. )

( Some photographs taken by our dear friend in space. )

( A film adaptation of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's 'Vol de Nuit' ('Night Flight'). )

( And another excursion into that vague yet hopefully-well-intentioned land of Fandomia! )

I went on a walk yesterday along a long trail both in and out of my university. (You see, it branches off from the road leading to the Art and Architecture buildings, which are cut off from the rest of the school by a residential area. The acquisition of new grounds was brilliantly planned.) It was around 5:00 P.M., and it's a beautiful time of year; the whole area was resplendent to look at.

I'm glad I went--and I followed the trail to its end behind one of the Art buildings, instead of someone else's backyard like last time.

( Sometimes people leave you,/ Halfway through the wood. )

My stomach has been churning almost all day today.

( My left ear has been deafened... )

( ...my right hand has been shamed... )

( ...and I seem to be inexplicably drawn to movie soundtracks. )

I'm so glad I was able to get the requests finished. For your enjoyment, here are two more songs and another meme!

ETA: Also, I've changed my header image and layout somewhat. The original header image is here, if you'd like to see it.

( High up in the sky, dyed in vermillion, clouds arise like a fire burning-- )

( It shows you the way you lost on that day. )

As some people have requested them, here are all of the large scans that I've colored since January (i.e., when I first started making icons). You can use them for whatever purpose you like--banners, profile images, and possibly even courageous headbands. There aren't too many, since I prefer working with smaller bases, and some of them are jagged and unpleasant to the eye, but I hope you can put them to good use!

[03] Kobato.
[11] Tsubasa RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE
[05] xxxHOLiC
[04] Miscellaneous CLAMP works (Chobits, Tokyo Babylon, and X)
[09] Miscellaneous works (After School Nightmare, Bleach, Cheong Hang Gi, otona・pink, Yasashii Ryuu no Koroshikata, and Vampire Knight)

( Shield your eyes! 32 colored scans behind the cut. )

After over two months, the requests are finally finished! If there are any changes you would like me to make, or if you see any mistakes with your request, please tell me.

The icons are arranged alphabetically by the names of those who requested them, with the exception of icons no. 6 through 14 (hebba18 and laury_kos requested the same image) and icons no. 118 and 119. Note that icons no. 19, 45, 46, 54, 55, 62, 83, 84, and 99 are nonshareable; they've been marked in green. If you want your icons to be nonshareable as well, then don't hesitate to tell me! Please keep in mind that if you received a large amount of icons, some of them by necessity will have to be kept shareable (as no one should hoard icons).

On to the requests!

[06] After School Nightmare
[07] Bleach
[09] Cheon Hang Gi
[07] Chobits
[20] Kobato.
[13] My Girl
[07] Tokyo Babylon
[08] TSUBASA RESREVoir CHRoNiCLE
[05] Vampire Knight
[10] X
[05] xxxHOLiC
[06] Yasashii Ryuu no Koroshikata
[16] Miscellaneous (Angelic Layer, Code: Breaker, Dogs: Bullets & Carnage, Gakuen Alice, La Corda d'Oro, otona・pink, Pandora Hearts, Scuro, and Skip Beat)

Preview:



( 119 icons beyond the cut. )

Only eight more to go! Trying to complete these while staying on top of school turned out to be more difficult than I thought.

( We look up the hill of dreams,/ The crest is in sight! )

I'll be away on vacation with my family for the next few days--to those bastions of American history, Gettysburg and Philadelphia--so I won't be available until late Thursday night. Please don't post anything awesome while I'm gone.

On another note, I've been meaning to post this for a while: The Case of Xu Zhiyong, why it's so shocking, and how it's indicative of a wider trend. I'm hoping to write about this at length when I get back--especially about how United States involvement, or rather the involvement of American companies, could have contributed to this...apparent unwillingness to probe into certain subjects.

( And here's an update on the icon requests. )

You've likely seen this already, but this is a contest to determine the best 2008/2009 iconmakers of LiveJournal! Go nominate and vote for your favorites (especially if they're any of the wonderful people on my affiliates list).

Setting that aside, I've noticed so many problems in my second Fanbook submission that I'll weep with shame if I can't alter it or replace it. Hm. Anyway, here are the photographs of the cranes from before--six of them were sold, along with one luna moth, so their display looks a little bit more bare than it was two days ago. The photos aren't anywhere near my best work, but I hope they give you all an idea of what the display looked like.