Random Ramblings CDXX · 8:15pm Jul 1st, 2022

IN WHICH HAPPY CANADA DAY
On Monday, 330,000,000 Americans will technically celebrate Independence Day, the Fourth of July. I'm not exactly feeling proud of my country right now so, as per custom, I'm honouring our neighbour to the north instead. Enjoy this video of an Australian girl singing.

More whatever after the jump.

SO… It's been nearly six months since my last blog post. What have I been doing since uploading my most recent Mayor Mare story? Not doing a lot of writing to be honest, especially not Pony writing. I've been doing some Sonic the Hedgehog writing but it isn't even close to complete. My hard-drive is filled with outlines and partly finished stories.

Like I've mentioned before, I lost my zeal for Pony awhile ago. But I also promised y'all I wouldn't leave any incomplete stories. I still have at least one -- the EQUESTRIA GIRLS [parody] "Novelization" -- unfinished. I must finish it before I disappear forever and I have made zero progress on the final two or three chapters.

I did begin work on a Sunset Shimmer themed short story last night -- political, as you might expect from a political scientist like myself. Other Pony documents currently sitting on my desktop mocking me:

Sukeban Sunset -- Sometime last year I got hooked on the 1980s Japanese TV series Sukeban Deka (based on the manga of the same name, which I've read some illegal translations of since it isn't licensed in the West). I really loved the idea of an alternate universe where I can really play up Sunset's bad-girl image to the hilt.
20 Years Ago -- A story I tried and failed to get out on 9/11 last year. I was still in high school when the Towers fell, but old enough to know George Dubya would throw us into a war, which he did, and some of my IRL friends served. I wanted to use the occasion to touch upon Sunset's backstory (my version, not canon) in Stalliongrad where she survived multiple raids against Gryphons.
The EQG Parody Series I already mentioned above. Next chapter is to be an adaptation of one or two of Blarghalt's episodes before I move back to ZX's stuff to finish it out.

I borrowed a couple of books from my mother that I haven't read yet to help teach myself how to structure a murder mystery story for my Sunsetverse finale that will probably never be written. The desire is still there a bit. The audience probably isn't. Hell, I don't know if any of my old readers and commenters are still around to see this. If so, feel free to say hi.

I've actually been overseeing a lot of improvements to my house and property. Last summer I had my yard guy dig out over three dozen non-native Chinese honeysuckle. When that revealed several dead scrub trees, I hired an tree company to take those out (later I had most of the stumps ground once they assured me they could get a grinder onto my property). Then I had the same company build me a 6ft privacy fence because I was tired of deer -- especially the 10pt buck -- using my backyard as their personal paradise. A few months ago, I had an automatic sprinkler system installed in preparation for the project I was most looking forward to:

In April/May with the assistance of a designer and my poor overworked yard guy, I had literally hundreds of native plants planted in my backyard (and a few in the front) to fulfill my dream of turning my property into a "Native Garden". Five were trees -- three dogwoods and two redbuds. One is a native honeysuckle to replace the original of the same species that I had to take out during a previous cleanup.

I also had one of my bathrooms converted to shower-only as my legally-a-senior-citizen mother lives with me and was having issues with the 70-year-old cast-iron bathtub.

I saw Weird Al live exactly a month ago and will see him again exactly two months from today as a birthday present to myself. In the interim, I am going with my mother to Texas to see two of her favourite 70's-era musicians. Y'all don't need to tell me the horrors of Texas in July -- my grandparents lived in Houston for 20 years and sometimes in addition to Christmas we would also go down to see them during summer break. I'm hoping the state's infamously crap power grid doesn't fail while we're there. I'm actually set to return to Texas again in October to see Band-Maid, the Japanese all-girl hard-rock band. I missed seeing them live in 2019 because the closest show to me was sold out. Not this time.

One of my doctors retired as of yesterday afternoon, which really sucks. I intentionally set one last appointment with him Monday just to say goodbye and wish him well.

Two weeks ago, I took advantage of a sale and bought another shit-ton of manga. Actually, I've bought a lot of manga this year, and got a new bookshelf to hold a lot of it (I even went to Home Depot on Monday to get a piece of plywood cut to make an additional shelf to handle the weight). For some reason I've really been on a yuri kick lately -- I've always like romance when it's played straight, not overly funny or salacious. Oh My Goddess is a nice example of a good romance that's also hilarious (but it stopped being a "romantic comedy" pretty early on). Anyway, new additions to my collection over the past year include:

Komi Can't Communicate -- 18 volumes, ongoing
Sweet Blue Flowers -- 4 double-volumes, complete
Bloom Into You -- 8 volumes, complete
Laid-Back Camp -- 11 volumes, ongoing
Rent-A-Girlfriend -- 13 volumes, ongoing
Master Keaton -- 12 double-volumes, complete
Urusei Yatsura -- 14 double-volumes with 2 more yet to print
Elfen Lied -- 4 triple-volumes, complete
Inu-Yasha -- 16 of 18 triple-volumes (the other 2 are out-of-stock)

Plus double-dips for improved editions of Maison Ikkoku and Mermaid Saga. And still continuing One Piece -- volume 99 arrived on Tuesday.

I've also been bingeing both new and old-school anime. Crunchyroll removed Cat's Eye from their site while I was in the middle of watching it and I was pissed.

You should watch Healer Girl. YOU SHOULD WATCH HEALER GIRL. Yes I'm going to scream it because it's a wonderful slice-of-life series and one of my favourite girls from Sakura Gakuin, Marina Horiuchi, voices a main character. Marina is awesome because she's a great singer and VA, but she's also IRL crazy (the good kind of crazy where you don't feel the need to call the cops).

I have Spy x Family in my watchlist but haven't watched it yet. I'm 15 episodes away from finally completing Miss Machiko (the anti-MeToo series from 1981 and it's glorious). This morning I finished the 7th Blu-ray of Galaxy Express 999 -- that's 89 episodes out of 113.

On a different note, as a result of feeling powerless in local affairs after my father's death during the pandemic (he didn't die from the 'Rona though), I'm strongly considering taking the LSAT and, assuming my score is good enough, attending the law school in my adopted hometown. My dad and aunt went to law school here too. If I do that, I'll be balls-to-the-wall busy for four years (three for school itself and bookended months for LSAT and the Bar Exam). I'm legitimately scared -- partly of failure but also of success. I like being a sloth and immersing myself in reading and absorbing information about random crap. BUT, if I do become an attorney, I know I have a job literally waiting for me, which not too many on this path can say. My family ran a law firm for 85 years -- it's still running with other lawyers but I'm just a glorified landlord, so I want to be able to have some authority and know the things at least five of my ancestors know/knew.

I also don't want to be forced to cut my hair, which I have spent the past 20 years growing out, originally out of spite and then out of respect for my dad's side of the family which has Indian blood ("Native American" but NO ONE in our local tribes uses the term; everyone says "Indian" or a sub-tribe like UKB). I'd hope a judge wouldn't care as long I look otherwise presentable.

Well, that's all the news that isn't. Maybe I'll get a story out in the next two weeks, maybe I won't. I hope so. Regardless, I have a lot of brain stuff to do now.

Peace out.