Hush, Love, Don't cry,
It'll be alright,
Hold me close,
As I administer the dose,
Listen to my lullaby of lies.

Let It Rain...

Mood: Squee!
Music: DJ Pretzel "Tetris Slavic Roots OC Remix"

Ok, first of all, I have exciting news!! I got on theO and saw that theO's official world had been updated, so I checked it. It was the Caption Battle update. I was reading through the announcement of last week's winners, and I got to the first-place spot, and lo and behold, my screenname was there in bold black letters!! I can't believe my caption won first place!! I've NEVER won a caption battle the entire time I've been on here!! Not even third place!! And the caption I used for last week was just off the top of my head!! I was so excited I took a screen-cap...

I have an update on my Ranma 1/2 costume. Daku and I finally went to the seamstress today to deliver the fabric and patterns, and explain to her how we wanted it done. I hope we got her enough fabric...She's going to see if she can find us some toggles for the front of the shirt.

I'm still sick, but I think it's getting better. I'm not as congested as I was yesterday. And when we went to the seamstress, we stopped by Daku's house, and he got me some Mucinex DM. I hope this clears up by Friday. I don't feel like driving 3 hours with a cough and a runny nose.

Oh, that's right! You don't know yet! Friday is the start of Spring Break. I'm going home. Luckily, I know about the wireless connection in my room, so I won't have to be on a short hiatus. Mantha's riding home with me. That'll be good, because we need some Mantha-Excel time. And while I'm home, I'm gonna get in some Kytten-Excel time. She says I'll have to come see her new apartment. And maybe we'll get to go to Memphopolis...No, that's not the town's real name, but I'm not letting you people know where I live! There are creepy stalker-rapists on the interwebz...I know, because I met a few on Yahoo Games...Thus, I no longer play online pool...Seriously, this guy kept asking me stuff like what I looked like and what I was wearing and where I lived and if I was hot...I promptly left the game...

Works To Publish
~St. Patrick's Day Pin-Up (just a nameless, sexy girl dressed for St. Patrick's Day; 50% complete)

Well, stay classy, Otakuites!

Excel~
~~It's in the water, baby, it's in the special way we fuck~~

There's a Reason These Tables Are Numbered...

Mood: Tired...
Music: Kiyommy+Seiya "Pink Rose"

So, I've been sick for over a week now...My throat doesn't hurt much anymore, and my cough has somewhat subsided, but my nose is extremely runny, resulting in it being raw from all the tissues...Seriously...I hate being sick...I checked my temperature an hour or two ago and it was 99 degrees Farenheit. I called Daku and asked what he thought. He said not to worry because it wasn't much over normal...I then took some DayQuil, and I feel like my fever's gone down. My forehead's certainly not as hot anymore.

I got a deviantArt account. If any of you want to find me or friend me, my username is M3rcuryDr4g0n. I had to use 1337-speak to spell my name because (again!) someone stole my username before I had a chance to use it...Seriously, I've had this username for nearly 3 years now! I registered on April 7, 2006, on MyOtaku as Mercury Dragon. Ooh, that means my 3-year anniversary is coming up soon! Huzzah! Talk about commitment...Anyways, back to the name-thievage...I've encountered two sites now where my username has been stolen! Fanfiction.net, and deviantArt...I wonder if the name thief is the same person...And yes, "Mercury Dragon" was my own, unique name...I guess this calls for a story time...Well, get comfortable...

You see, it all started when I was in 10th grade Geometry class. I sat beside my best friend, Kytten, every day. One morning, she came in and seemed distraught. We talked via note-passing, and I got her to tell me what was wrong. It seemed that she was having problems with her mom, who was being unreasonable. I told her that her mom would soon see the light (or something to that effect) by order of the Mercury Dragon. She asked who the Mercury Dragon was, and I told her it was me. Thus, my persona was born. From that little instance, the Mercury Force was formed. It consisted of myself as the Mercury Dragon, Kytten as the Mercury Cat, Mantha as the Mercury Tiger, and Featherz as Lord Mercury. I'd love to tell you more, but that story is one best saved for another time...

=___= I have midterms coming up this week. My first one is in Figure Drawing on Monday. It's not really going to be a test...It's just going to be a critique...I hope I can do good, though. I have to go to the art building later to decide which pieces I want to use for the critique...I'll have a vocabulary test in Sculpture, but I don't know what day...Not too worried about it. There will be a test of some sort for Yoga...I need to study for that one...It'll be Tuesday...I think the World Civ 2 teacher is going to use our Unit 1 tests as our midterm grades. In Families and Students, I think we just had to prove that we were doing our observations in the schools. In Theories of Human Learning, we'll have a test over some terms, I think...Don't know for sure about that one...

I had a weird dream last night. I'd rather not go into detail because it might be offensive...But I talked to Sako-nee, and she offered her insights. She said it sounds like I have insecurities, which I do (mainly about my future). The possibly offending elements slipped in from World Civ class. She also said that it sounds like I'm afraid of my happiness being taken away or being out of my control. We know it's not a premonition, as my premonitions are generally realistic, as well as insignificant...I know why my future seems uncertain. Our "oh-so wonderful" President, Obama, has proposed a new way to decide how much teachers earn. Merit pay. Basically, it means that teachers will be payed based on how well their students do on standardized tests. Yeah, it sounds good, in theory...But in theory only. Obama and the other law-makers don't take into account all the external factors that affect a student's ability to learn. For one, there's disabilities to take into account. Students with mental, emotional, behavioral, learning, and physical disabilities generally do not perform as well on standardized tests as their "normal" peers. Secondly, there are factors that can affect the "normal" students. For instance, what if Johnny's grandfather, whom he was really close to, passes away the day before the standardized test is to be given? Johnny will be to preoccupied with his grandfather's death to perform well on the test. Obama and all the other law-makers need to take some classes on education, especially on special education. If they think they can base a teacher's pay on how well his or her students perform on a standardized test, they're fucking retarded!! And I DON'T mean in that funny way...

Hm...Now that I've vented about that, I feel better.

My plushy photo project has kind of been put on the back burner for now...I've still got quite a load on my shoulders, what with Sophomore Review coming up...I have managed to put up some new fan art.

Works In Progress
~St. Patrick's Day Pin-Up (just a nameless, sexy girl dressed for St. Patrick's Day; 50% complete)

Well, stay classy, Otakuites!

Excel~
~~Tell me how I'm supposed to feel when all these nightmares become real~~

Video Killed the Radio Star...

Mood: Squee!
Music: None...

So, just a quick update...I was YouTubing and found this video...As soon as I heard the first line of the chorus, I erupted in a fit of laughter. Fair warning, NSFW!! If you don't know what that means, Google it...

So...I've issued a challenge...Go to the Fan Art portal, click Challenges, and scroll down. Mine is the second one from the bottom. I've already gotten 4 entries, and there are 10 participants. I've decided that I'm going to let an unbiased party judge, if theOtaku doesn't judge this...The Challenge feature is the new MONSTER feature Adam has been working on, so no one really knows just quite how it will work...I've also entered Teh Kimmeh's wallpaper challenge. Go check hers out!

Works In Progress
~Big Brother? (Contest entry for opalskys' Cosplay Contest; Kita as Ed Elric, 50% complete)

Well, that's it for now! Stay classy, Otakuites!

Excel~
~~Hitler came up with a very creative use for the piano string~~

Royal Canadian Mounted Police...

Mood: Super squee!
Music: Placebo "In the Cold Light of Morning"

So, yesterday was Daku's birthday. I gave him the book Gray's Anatomy, written in the late 1800s by Henry Gray. Daku will need it in 2 years for med school. He's 20 now...Yeah, he's 3 months younger than me...And that's the oldest any of my boyfriends have ever been!! Seriously, I've never dated a guy older than me...Anyways, I also took him out to Subway. We brought the sammiches back to the anime club meeting. At the beginning, I played an "Avatar: the Last Airbender" amv set to the Arrogant Worms' "Happy Birthday Song". I'm too lazy to add a link, so please YouTube it. It's really funny. Then we watched "Grave of the Fireflies". I recommend that movie to anyone who loves a good anime! The style is reminiscent of Hayao Miyazaki's work, but it's not a Studio Ghibli film. It was made back in the late 1980s. It's about these 2 Japanese children near the end of World War 2. Make sure you have tissues ready if you are prone to crying. It's very sad.

So, today, I mixed plaster for my first time ever. It feels like a mixture of snot and glue...No, I've never actually felt what snot and glue feel like mixed together, but I can imagine...Plaster really dries your hands out...

Later this afternoon, I'm going outside and playing with some Sidewalk Chalk. I've got a package that I've had for a year now...I've been waiting for it to get warm again, and today it's like 80 F! Back on Monday, it was like 45 F...So yeah, big temperature jump...Tonight I'm going to Joco Java, the local coffee shop, for Open Mic night. I'm hoping to read a poem of mine...Speaking of, I need to find which one I want to read!

So....HINATA'S NOT DEAD!!!! And there was much rejoicing...
*is shot for Monty Python reference*

Um...I entered Teh Kimmeh's wallpaper contest...So I'll be working on an uber-secret project...I think my idea's really kick-ass, and I don't want anyone to steal it...

Works In Progress
~Big Brother? (Contest entry for opalskys' Cosplay Contest; Kita as Ed Elric, 50% complete)

Well, stay classy, Otakuites!

Excel~
~~The worst is over now, and we can breathe again~~

Fuel...

Mood: Bored...
Music: Versus the World "Forgive Me"

I had an interesting weekend. Me and Daku followed his mom and Ceara up to Camp Formosa (a church camp 2 hours away from here) for a SCA event. It snowed off and on all day. In the morning, 4 people collapsed. They were all traveling together and had stayed in the same building (it was an overnight event). One went down, then another, then the 3rd guy collapsed, and then a fourth person...3 ambulances, 3 marked police cars, 2 unmarked police cars, and several emergency response people came out to take care of the situation. They think it was either carbon monoxide (sp?) or food poisoning. 3 of the people were released and back on site after a while, but the 3rd guy that went down had had a stroke on Monday, went into convulsions when he collapsed yesterday, and started having flashbacks of when he was in Iraq, so the hospital kept him overnight. I hope he's okay.

I finished my Teacher Education Application...Now I'm waiting to hear when my interview is set for...I've also got a test tomorrow in my World Civ 2 class...And I've gotta get some pieces together for Sophomore Review...And I've gotta do 2 charcoal portraits for one of my Education teachers...I'll be getting $30 off of that...And at some point when I have free time, I'm going to take pictures of my old Watercolor work and some of my Figure Drawing work and upload them on here...I'm not so sure about uploading the FD pictures...They're of naked girls...

Works In Progress
~Big Brother? (Contest entry for opalskys' Cosplay Contest; Kita as Ed Elric, 50% complete)

Well, stay classy, Otakuites!

Excel~
~~Some of them want to use you, some of them want to get used by you~~