Hello and welcome to Keba's Anime and Manga Place (KAAMP for short)! Here at KAAMP, I write about anime and manga that I have seen/read as well as my views on them. I'll also post about my original stories from time to time.

Just beware that some of my posts contain spoilers. I'll put them in spoiler tags just in case.

KAAMP's history: KAAMP was created in July 2002 by yours truly. It was a sloppy-looking website on Yahoo's now defunct Geocities. I posted my anime fan art on that site. Also, for a time, I posted my thoughts on the few anime series that I had seen. Now that I look back on it, my thoughts were rather ill-informed (is that even a word?) because I had only seen bits and pieces of anime dubs. Now that I've seen more series, I think that my commentary on various anime will be a little better than before.

So, come on in and stay awhile! KAAMP is now in session.

Livestream Not From NY: It's Saturday Night! [OFF]

...And I don't even watch SNL anymore.

Let's just see if people show up. If no one comes within an hour, I'll shut it off. In the mean time, join me!

No one came.

Very Off-Topic

I started a blog on Blogger. Check it out and let me know what you think.

I'd really appreciate some feedback. What should I change in the design (if anything)? Are there any add-ons to make my blog more interesting? Should I be using Blogger in the first place, or are there better sites out there?

I'm well aware that this has nothing to do with art or anime.

Who Wants to Forget This Happened?

I have a lot of time on my hands today, so I want to do a livestream. Who's up for one? I'm pretty flexible, but I'd prefer it be sometime around 4 pm Central. Maybe that way my subscribers across The Pond could catch a little bit of it (unless they're way far east, or just go to bed early, then I apologize).

Guys, I'm so sorry. I can't livestream tonight. Would tomorrow (Saturday) be OK? I'll have a lot of time then, since I offered to dog-sit for my mom. It will be in the afternoon-- sometime around 1 pm Central.

I really hate to do this to you guys. I keep crying "wolf" all the time. A lot of not-so-good stuff has been happening lately in my life, and I haven't felt like drawing. I thought a livestream might help with inspiration, but I haven't felt like doing a livestream either.

I know I have those prizes hanging over my head. I haven't forgotten about them, but I haven't gotten them done in a timely manner. I'm quite mad at myself about that. It's been nearly a year.

If you guys really want to know what this is about, you can PM me. You're not obligated. I just don't want to talk about this publicly.

What a Weekend!

There's a very good reason I wasn't on theO for two days. That reason was ACen. I'll do some highlights (and lowlights) of the con later. Now I have to get to bed. I'm tired.

Edit: Incoming recap!

First, before I get into the good stuff, I must introduce the key players. I went with a group, after all. In order of appearance they are "Edward" (cosplaying Edward Elric), "Goggles" (cosplaying one of the Digimon goggle boys from a season that I had not seen), and "Samurai" (cosplaying as, well, a samurai).

Friday (with Edward):

  • Woke up at 5 am after an hour of sleep in 20-minute shifts.
  • Drove about two hours to pick up Edward.
  • Got to the con with time to spare before the opening.
  • Witnessed the Exhibition Hall open. The crowd went wild.
  • Shopping!!!!
  • Went to a panel room only to find that it was for the 14 and under crowd. (We didn't actually see panels that day.)
  • Participated in an unofficial photoshoot for FMA. Seven people showed up, including Edward and me. Laaaaaaaaame.
  • After 10 minutes, our lame photoshoot broke up, and Edward ran off to crash the MLP photoshoot across the street. She forgot her swag and I was left to guard it. After 20 minutes, she came back, apologized profusely, and I forgave her.
  • Got very tired.
  • Edward's parents picked her up, and I hobbled back to my car.
  • Forgot where I parked.
  • Finally found my car, drove home, ate a tub of cottage cheese and crashed.

Saturday (with Edward, Goggles, and Samurai):

  • Drove Edward and Goggles to the con.
  • Immediately went to a panel which could have been SO much better than it was.
  • Moar shopping!!!!
  • Went to a panel which featured the game "Taboo" done anime-style. I was mentally practicing to be an anime describer. Edward got picked to be a guesser. I never got picked at all because (a) Edward Elric is waaaaaay more recognizable/popular than Greed and (b) they could tell we were in the same party because we were in the front row. Edward proceeded to either guess wrong (once) or not guess at all (every other time).
  • Edward won a poster which she generously gave to Goggles. Goggles promptly lost it.
  • Met up with Samurai.
  • Went to the lost-and-found area to alert them about Goggles's missing poster.
  • Explored artist's alley.
  • Edward alerted me to an artist who had a print of Greed. I didn't really want to buy it, but felt obligated to, so I did (and added on a print of Yoko from Gurren Lagann for good measure).
  • Sat at one of the tables near the vendors to plan the rest of the day. Placed my newly-bought prints on the table and forgot to take them with me. Realized that I had forgotten them about two hours later. Unlike Goggles, I was also out $5. At least I helped a fellow artist.
  • Went to karaoke. Chaos ensued. Unsure of the rules for signing up (everyone was breaking them, thus confusing me), I waited until the line shortened a bit. Got in line with Edward and Samurai. Signed up. Waited. Edward left, due to the noise. Waited some more. Never called. Saw some good performances, though.
  • Took a group selfie.
  • Parted ways with Samurai, and I took the others home.
  • Took Edward and Goggles out to dinner (it was 9 pm by then, and we were HUNGRY).
  • Explained, over dinner, one of the reasons why the Harry Potter franchise is a mediocrity. My words fell on deaf ears, but at least I kept a level head this time.
  • Drove Edward and Goggles back to my place where their respective fathers picked them up.

Sunday (with Edward and Goggles):

  • The morning was kind of a disaster before actually leaving for the con. I won't get into it.
  • Saw a panel on how to sew plushies. I learned some things, but Edward and Goggles were bored as heck.
  • Saw a panel on the basics of speaking Japanese. We all enjoyed that.
  • Went to the ACen feedback panel. I voiced some concerns and we left.
  • Went to a panel for artists. One of the panelists couldn't make it, and the other's computer broke, so there was no presentation. Instead, it turned into a doodle fest. Edward and I both doodled. After the panel was over, I wanted to talk to the panelist a bit, but Goggles ran off to get lunch, so we followed her.
  • Went to lunch at Starbucks. They were out of the sandwich I wanted, so I shrugged it off and just ordered an iced tea. They were apparently out of the sandwich that Goggles wanted, too. Goggles threw a fit that scared Edward and me practically to death. Fortunately, she found another sandwich to order and calmed down.
  • Even moar shopping!!!!
  • The con ended, and I drove us all back to my place so that Edward and Goggles could be picked up by their respective fathers.

Sorry if this sounds negative. It was probably a better experience than I portrayed. It's just that something happened in my family that I learned about just a few hours after the con ended. It's kind of colored my mood ever since.

Edit part deux: How could I have forgotten the most important thing? On Saturday, WE FINALLY FOUND ALPHONSE AFTER THREE YEARS OF SEARCHING!!!! Edward took a picture with him. Then I told him, "Al, I want your body."

Loss for Words

I've been meaning to make a post for the longest time now. I just haven't thought of anything good to say. So, let's have some questions.

1. We haven't had a new Challenge in some time. Want me to make one even if there may not be artwork prizes?

2. ACen is coming up and I'm going! I'd like to do an upgrade on my cosplay again. I don't know how appropriate this is to say, but anyone know where I can buy a binder?

3. I posted something in the FFC World about posting the next three chapters of Survival Instincts without previews, like I did with the fifth chapter, and I got no responses. Any thoughts about whether I should just post them in my Library World while bypassing FFC?

4. Anyone up for a livestream? They give me motivation to draw stuff that's been hanging over my head forever. I know I've been talking about this for a long time. It's just that no one seems to be online when I want to do one.

Speaking of those things that never get done, I think I have a reason why I'm not doing them. It's because I'm running out of ideas to draw stuff. After those pictures in the works are done, I've pretty much run out of ideas. They're not so much character ideas as composition ideas. It's easy to draw a character just standing there. It's hard giving those characters something to do.

I've also been hesitant to post art lately. Mostly because I want to hit #1 on the Leaderboards. I just need a lot of momentum, which means a lot of art. Since it takes me forever to finish a piece, I'm saving all of them up to post at once. I know that's kinda dumb, but I don't care.

Just now, I decided to merge my Rock Star Diary with KAAMP. I'll move the posts with comments over, and delete the rest. I haven't been updating that thing, so I might as well free up space. Still not sure about my CD Collection World. Oh, wait.

5. Does anyone care about album reviews or should I delete that World, too? If you do care, I'll update the post with my actual collection.