As promised, I have been spending my free time on my all time unhealthy hobby of anime. I now keep track of my latest entires on my Anime List page, by the way. There are a few new series I’ve just started. Of the latest anime this season, I’ve chosen these three to sample:

Awakara Under the Bridge
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=11188

I found this little oddity while I was searching for some new romantic comedies. I’m trying to replace the hole left in my heart after Ouran High School Host Club, and it is still empty. I’m only a few episodes in, but I’m being distracted by the style. It’s a 2010 production, but it seems to have a few throwbacks to the early 90s in terms of coloring and saturation levels. Aside from the two main protagonist, everyone just looks plain weird and mismatched. I don’t mind weird, but give it a purpose and some consistency, please. I’m not grasping what the artist had in mind at all. Other than that, I’ve gotten a few good chuckles so far, and the girl is adorably stoic.

Katanagatari
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=10765

This one is unusual in that each episode is 50 minutes long, rather than the customary 20-30, and episodes are aired each month. The style is fresh and interesting, and the characters are absolutely lovable. (I shudder when I think of the cosplay that could arise from this.) It doesn’t get hung up on cliches, and the story moves forward at a good pace. The only exceptions to this are the “fight scenes.” There is WAY too much talking. They literally sit there and talk for 5 minutes in between each slash and dash, and half of it seems unnecessary. Despite it’s title, it was probably not meant to be an action anime, but so much talking during and before a fight is really annoying. Despite this, the 50 minutes go by quickly. Very promising!

House of Five Leaves
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/ anime.php?id=11176

I love the style. The picture doesn’t do it justice. The scenery is gorgeous and the people are a sort of ugly-pretty. The colors are both vibrant and relaxing to look at. Admittedly the pacing is slow, and probably more for the older crowd. But the story and characters are very intriguing, so far. I want to know what motivates them, and how they came to be where they are. Besides, who doesn’t like a good feudal Japan story?
You can stream it on hulu (subtitled).

I have also finished a few older series, and will probably review them sometime soon.

So after having pimped myself out on our entering class’ Facebook group, I have secured a roommate. She likes to cook and I like to clean. Her name is Amy. I think we will get along swimmingly. The past several weeks have been occupied with finding a suitable rental house for two young ladies and a furry, four-legged friend. Or rather, her past weeks have been occupied since she is already in the Memphis area, and I’m still here in little old Mesquite. My contributions so far have been mostly yaying or naying her finds. So imagine how glad I was to be able to help when she asked me to search listings online.

Up until now we had hoped to find a good place through word-of-mouth from people she knew, or to be able to drive around nicer neighborhoods looking for “for-rent” signs. We have nearly exhausted those options either by being too late, too early, or having rejected them as too sketchy, too expensive, or too far. Being two lone females unschooled in martial arts, safety is our primary concern. Our second is to avoid a long commute to school each morning. In a city like Memphis, these two criteria alone have narrowed our options tremendously, let alone keeping it within student budgets. While we’ve been able to find a few places that fit the bill, they are far too run-down with old appliances (or lack of) to justify the asking price. I am starting to wonder if we are asking for too much. However, we still have time, and as time passes, one of our greatest enemies should disappear: the landlord unwilling to hold until August 1st for move in. We’re still hopeful, and more options may become available as students graduate and move out of the area.

If all else fails we can always rent an apartment and continue our search again later. I can’t fret too much. I know God is watching out for us. We were just on the verge of signing a lease for what appeared to be a very promising place. Just hours before finalizing things, Amy met a patient who happened to once live on that very street. On his information, we discovered that this area had frequent brake-ins from people who walk along the railroad tracks and hop the fences. She forwarded this concern with the landlord later that day and he didn’t even deny it! Talk about a narrow escape. Now we are doing triple research on the areas to be as certain as possible. Time is flying by quickly and the summer will be gone before I know it. I hope to have good news to post next time.

So I was rooting around old school records, and I came across this little assignment. If memory serves me correctly, I filled this questionnaire out during the first few days of 6th grade. It gave me a few chuckles, so maybe you’ll get a kick out of it, too. Here it is, complete with original spelling/gramatical errors and snarky comments.

1. When I grow up, I want most to be an artist
   Haha!
2. The hardest thing to do in the world is count the stars
   Hmm that’s strangely… philosophical.
3. If I could have three wishes, I would wish for 1. World Peace 2. have a whole lot of money 3. to have good friend(s) (like Meagan)
   No wonder I couldn’t become an artist. I have no imagination. I like how I was willing to concede to having just ONE good friend. Now, I remember dear Meagan, and she was indeed a good friend. I wonder what she’s been up to?
4. If I could change my first name, my new name would be Angelica
   I think I had this “angel” obsession phase going on.
5. If I could live anywhere in the world, I would live in Cannada [sic]
   I went to Canada the summer a few weeks before I wrote this. Apparently it made a good impression on me. o.O What on earth was I thinking?!
6. The funniest dream I ever had was about jumping of Hover Dam [sic]
   I don’t see anything funny about this. I wonder if my teacher worried about me after she read this.
7. If I had a million dollars, I would shop ’til I drop
   Lame.
8. The best thing about middle school will be having a choice of lunch
   This really was the best part about middle school.
9. Most people do not know that I like to rollerblade and play the piano
10. My dream house will be a large 100 bedroom mansion with maids
    And to think I keep telling Long I want a smaller, cozy house
11. The most important thing in life is to achive your goal [sic]
    Ambitious! I think all those motivational posters worked on me.
12. If I were President of the United States, I would lower the taxes
    Haha!
13. If I could write a book, it would be about school life from a kids point of view
    See, if I had just done what I wanted to do, I would be the one banking off the Wimpy Kid series.
14. The best thing about elementary school is I learned to read here
    Too true. That and playing CandyLand in ESL.
15. If I could change anything in the world, I would change the vilonce level everywhere [sic]
    I guess I really did want peace.
16. If I could invent some new technology, it would be shoes that can fly
    No, thanks. We have enough obese people as it is.
17. If you looked in my backpack, you might find the most unusual book
    Such a wild child!
18. If I could travel back in time, I would go to 4 BC (year) because I would like to see when Jesus was born
    Cute. Although the linguist in me really really really would love to see what happened at the Tower of Babel.
19. If I could travel in time to the future, I would go to the year 2050 and see the new technology
    Nerd.
20. My favorite here is my mom because she made me what I am today
    <3 mama Hong
21. If I could build anything, I would build my own house because I don’t like sharing rooms
22. If I could change the desks in classrooms, I would put a labtop computer for every desk [sic]
    I saw it when I went to 2050 and thought it was SO cool.
23. The person that I most admire (other than my family members) is my teacher because she is so patient
24. If I could be a volunteer, I would help animals
25. One of my greatest accomplishments has been to make it through 5th grade
    Okay, before you laugh, let me tell you I had a really tough 5th grade teacher whose namesake was an evil teacher in a popular children’s fiction series. At the tender age of 11, I really thought I wasn’t going to make it out alive.
26. The best thing about college will be no parents!
27. I can hardly wait until I turn sixteen because I will be taller
    Ironically, I don’t think I have grown an inch since I was 16.
28. One of the most unusual things about me is I’m so short
    I know this isn’t unusual, but I was the only Asian kid in my grade, okay?