Balance checking

Right, let's be systematic about things and calculate everything properly, so I'll at least have a pretty good estimate of how much my indulgences (hah) are going to cost. [By the way, it's quite remarkable how all my mistyped words (my sausage fingers are not compatible with touch screens) keep getting the old AutoCorrect treatment. Brilliant, that.]

So let's see...

Prices roughly converted from USD, as quoted on YesAsia.com

NO MORE PAIИ World Tour 2010 DVD : RM220

NO MORE PAIИ : RM128

Change Ur World : RM80

Going! :RM28

Ultimate Wheels (preorder) : RM65

March 2011/April 2012 Calendar (preorder) : RM124

Total : RM645.

OMG, just for a fangirl phase?

Eurgh. I'm gonna be broke before the new year even begins. Okay, fine, I understand that the tour DVDs come with plenty of extra stuff, but still. A 6-disc box of K-drama costs less than half that price. Eurghhhh. But Ultimate Wheels, I have no problems with - it's a CD+DVD set, so the price is fair enough. The calendar... well, I don't know if I want it enough. A calendar half the size of an A4 paper for that price? Does printing cost that much nowadays?

...but it's not about the manufacturing cost, is it? At the end of the day, what matters is what I think it's worth. Whether the satisfaction can outweigh the cost. If the happiness that item can bring me is worth more than what I'm willing to pay, bravo me, consumer surplus. If I'm not willing, I'm not even part of the demand curve. So...am I willing? I can probably find scans online if I tried hard enough, but to be honest, I'm not sure if I can actually call myself a fan while I listen to bootlegged music. Which is also why I decided to buy original anime and drama DVDs if I liked them enough.

I tend to get a little carried away when browsing online stores, simply because the availability of everything is awe-inspiring. Already I'm thinking of getting heaps of random little things like bauble beanies and shades and stylised headphones; what's worse is that while I'm at it I keep noticing other things and wondering if I should buy it for someone's birthday. I think this happens mostly because the people in question are normally really hard to shop for, so it's pretty amazing to find stuff for them so easily online. Meh.

The black hole that's totally skinning me out.

Soooo. I guess it's time to start finding a job? Better yet, I'll just sit tight until CNY comes around and I get my mini-windfall! Muahahahahahahahahahahahaha

money money money, must be funny...

Hello everyone, this is me struggling to get used to typing on a touch screen like a total technology noob. I would just like to comment upon the worrying state of my finances now that I've discovered the wonders of online shopping... not to mention the green light I've been given to utilise my parents' credit cards for my purchases. I suspect they're this nice about it because they'd rather let me use their cards and let them see what I buy than have me sneakily purchasing goodness-knows-what behind their backs. Which is a good thing both ways because at least they'll be able to exert some form of control over my spending. If I really were left to do as I pleased on those online stores, I'd clean out my bank balance within a fortnight.

Anyway, the point is. WHY THE HECK DOES BEING A PROPER HYPHEN COST SO MUCH? Johnny-san you clever old rat. November 17th, Change Ur World comes out. December 29th, the world tour DVDs. February 2nd, Ultimate Wheels. And then there'll be the March 2011-April 2012 calendar, right? And it's about how many hundred bucks in total?? ARGH I COULD KILL YOU. Arghhhhhh.

ps: If my parents found out that the stuff I'm buying isn't even in a language I can understand, my transactions would be stopped and my accounts frozen. Lol. But it's a chance I want to take! I'm that obsessed, yup.

this is why the year-end rocks my socks

Hell, yeah! Music Station Super Live 2010 was the bombiest of bomby bombs!

I would've embedded the Arashi, NEWS, Koda Kumi, SNSD, KARA and YUI performances as well, but I wanted this post to focus on my favourites. They were superb, every one of them. Kame's splendid showmanship as always, Taguchi's light-up-the-world smile, Koki's ever-awesome voice and hair, Ueda's funny Jin-hat, Nakamaru's attempt at winking...

*dies*

digital paintings

There's an artist on dA, going by the name alicexz, who has been a wonderful source of gorgeous wallpapers for me through this past month. (Oh, yeah, I change my wallpapers often. Recycling can and does happen, though.) She is, I think, a graphic designer currently based in New York - and she paints the most amazing digital paintings in Photoshop, a number of which I downloaded to use as my desktop background - my favourite being her fan art of Ghibli films and Disney classics. I like them so much, in fact, that I'm posting this here pretty aimlessly, unless you can count "wanna show y'all something cool" as an actual aim.

Visual treat!

Hahaha. You can't not love Scar's face in the third picture! The lighting in the picture of Esmerelda is lovely - that's the only reason it's a favourite, I'm not a fan of The Hunchback of Notre Dame. I am a fan of Mulan, though!

"Punch him. It's how men say hello."

"My little baby, all grown up and off to destroy people... *sniff*"
"Dishonour! Dishonour on you, dishonour on your cow..."

"Ahh, come on. You went to save your father's life. Who knew you'd end up shaming him and disgracing your ancestors and losing all your friends."

"Whaddya mean you're not lucky? You lied to me?! (turns to the horse) And what are you, a sheep?!"

Mushu's lines were the best!

Oh, and... as for the last picture: if you don't know why I love it so much and made it slightly larger than the rest, you probably don't know me very well.

...And now I'm just plain lost.

I made up my mind last week that I would, no matter what, buy myself a decent mp3 player for Christmas - I've tried to hint to my dad that I quite needed a new one, lots of times, but after three months of "Okay, yeah, sure, go and get one then" I came to terms with the fact that he would only keep giving me permission, not the funds, to get one. So I'd have to get myself one if I wanted it badly enough - which had me continuing to use the nearly-dead player function on my phone for a while, until I got sick and tired of spending several whole minutes trying to successfully start the connection, only to be rewarded with extremely choppy functionality every time I wanted to plug my headphones in.

So miserly old me finally decided to get a proper mp3 player, because I really can't work, stone or kintoro without music. And none of that crap about playing it out loud; I live in a relatively quiet neighbourhood (except for those gossiping maids from opposite who're noisier than mating banshees in the evenings, and those spoilt kids screaming at each other on their tricycles) and I don't think my mum will appreciate me playing music aloud at two in the morning. I'm not even supposed to be awake at two, actually, so considering the fact that loud music might be a just few decibels short of Nuclear Explosion levels of discretion, that's not such a brilliant plan.

Yeah, I kind of like my music loud enough to drown out the sounds of anything else.

Anyway, enough waffling about. Getting right down to it, I'm getting severely confused as to what kind of player to buy. At first I thought my needs and specifications were pretty clear - I just need something that gives me good, portable audio, so that I can carry my entire music library around. To start off, I gave in to conformity and decided to check out the iPod range. Initially, I wasn't considering the Touch at all because I don't need video functions. I was thinking a Nano would suffice, but the new generation is pretty ugly... Then the elder brother comes and says, "Eh, get the iPod touch. You can watch all your videos on it and download all those apps and stuff."

So I get swayed by his cunning sales pitch and now I keep thinking how fun it would be to be able to watch videos on the go (and by videos you know I almost definitely mean KAT-TUN PVs). And then, as though the derailment isn't enough, I suddenly find myself considering the Sony W-series, the kind that's basically a Shuffle with better audio quality, less mess and (coolest bit coming right up) waterproofing. And then I start going to gadget review sites and forums, and finding more and more options... Will I even reach a decision by Christmas??

Blegh, me and my over-susceptibility to random influence. How laaaa.

FOUND IT!

Don't know how I did it, but I somehow managed to crack the password protection on the Change Ur World PV Making file on Mediafire. Yes, yes, yes! Brilliant! Hee hee downloading it now. *spam here with I-Love-KAT-TUN rantings*

In the meantime, I'm listening to this:

Lols. Fangirl attack, much.

Hahaha. Now I can't wait for Tuesday! :)

ps: For some reason, I feel compelled to remark on the bow-tie in the above image. It's kinda...

feeling christmas-y!

I like this season.

I don't know if it's because the Christmas spirit is such an infectious one, but I find myself looking forward to Christmas whenever I see Christmas-themed ads in the paper or games on the internet. I can't understand it - it's not like my family has ever made a big deal about celebrating Christmas. We don't exchange gifts so I don't have presents to look forward to. I even have big fat exams looming up like ugly warts on my calendar right after the 25th. So why is it that I'm so hyped about Christmas this year?

There can only be one reason : tokyohive's Christmas Giveaway!

Feels as though I've never wanted anything as much. I WANT TO WIN SO BAD! Especially because Change Ur World is on the prize list - but really, I wouldn't mind almost anything on that list. Unfortunately, it's pretty much a lucky draw system - it's quite, quite random. Which means I have something like a one in two million chance of getting picked. I've always sucked at lucky draws. :(

Oh, and if anyone's interested, there's a similar event being held over at allkpop, tokyohive's sister site! It doesn't take much effort, and there's no harm in trying out for a prize - and if you're my opposite in terms of luck, you'll almost definitely get one! :) I'd be extremely envious, sure, but it is the season to have open, generous hearts, isn't it?

Merry Christmas, dear readers!

meet...

...the Kame Quintet.

Alright, I'll admit it: I already knew I was going to buy turtle-themed souvenirs back from Pangkor before I even reached the island. But these exceeded expectations, really they did. :D Even my uncle went and bought some after I showed my purchases off during lunch. Ehehe. Anyway, the point of this post is to introduce these kyoot things to you - properly, before anyone decides on a favourite based on looks alone. :/

1. Padgett. A quiet, modest fellow who struggles with angrophobia on the inside. Has a notably strange habit of polishing his shell with wood polish when stressed. Make no mistake; when backed into a corner, Padgett's inner demon comes out with a vengence. He is allergic to green apples and hates sticky things.

2. Viridian, as green as his name and, quite naturally, an environmentalist-hater. He therefore makes it a point to pretend he's chewing on plastic bags whenever he sees activists nearby - you know, just to get them agitated and sad. A Libra, though his eccentricity makes him wish he were a Scorpio. Likes sour foods.

3. Lenore, the only real girl in the gang, is a cream-yellow oddball who likes chocolate and an expert on the medicinal properties of turpentine. Tends to count backwards; for example, Lenore insists that her shell has -3 spots. It might also interest you to know that her favourite types of wood are rowan and elm.

4. Weaver is misleadingly feminine in appearance, being in truth a male who simply likes the colour pink. He has, in fact, a long-time girlfriend named Lyla, a sweet-natured girl with whom he has been madly in love for the last four years. He hates spicy food; the only exception is Lyla's special Keema Curry.

5. Willow, on the other hand, is technically a female, but if you ever mentioned it in front of her you'd get a black eye and a broken nose within seconds. Other than that, her unruly streak rarely shows itself - she enjoys classical music and ballads, and is afraid of fake hair. She also has zero sense of direction.

Pick one, or my heart will break!

| /\-|\/| SO CD\|---|---P\//

I had reason to be happy this morning. Mmmmmm. :) It freaks me out a little, but I'm still smilinggg. Hah.

seethe

Facebook is nice and all, but I like blogging when I've any more than two sentences to say.
In this case, I have considerably more.

I am extremely upset right now, and so whatever I'm typing is not being filtered apart from the usual grammar screening - and even that is not at its best now because of this all-consuming anger. And yes, the one person I could count on to listen to my rant and to help me calm down is out gallivanting merrily somewhere far away, hence my desperate resort of turning to my blog. I'll probably talk his ears off later, but who the hell cares about his ears.

So. I'm not happy.

Why. Because I just spent the better part of two hours working on something I was told to do, and at the end of it I was told none too politely how it wasn't needed after all. I did not enjoy working on it, I have much better things to fill my time with, I tried hard to do it well. I finished it, turned it in with relief and was hanging around to watch for a reaction. Oh, I got one all right. I got one of utter puzzlement, together with a question of "What is this?" and then a titter of humiliating amusement, followed by a declaration of my work's redundance.

Also. I obviously got angry, I said fine, and I promptly disposed of my work. And how insulting, then, to be told that I was throwing a tantrum simply because my work was unusable. But was that not my point precisely? Why keep it when it is useless? To remind me of this incident, to needlessly anger myself in the future? And now the antagonist in question is pointedly pretending nothing happened, daring even to give me more work to do. The nerve. The sheer bloody nerve of it.

Who. There's only one person who would do something like that to me whom I would not have punched immediately.

See, there's no way I could've said this in any satisfactory manner on Facebook.

my week has been a mess.

What with one thing and all the others, this past week has been full of unsavoury events. The one thing that saved me from complete and utter depression was you, though I'm sure you don't know it - and you never will, but that's okay. Thank you, Sleeves, for existing. Thank you so much.