the bathroom window

6. What do you wish people who read your journal knew about you?

Hm, this is an unusual question. I think for the most part my writing reflects my personality - at least I hope it does. I guess I want people who read my journal to know how grateful and happy I am to be part of their community.

( 21 Questions )

5. How about when you're not on the computer?
I spend a lot of time commuting, and while I probably could use those hours doing homework, I try to give myself a break from the computer. Also, despite using a small laptop, hauling a computer around does a number on my shoulder. On the train and subway I listen to music, read, or fiddle with my DS or PSP. I just finished Get Shorty by Elmore Leonard, which I loved, and am currently playing Dissidia, which I'm digging.

Like I said for #4, now that it's nice out, we spend much more time outside, either walking around or relaxing in our postage stamp of a yard. My favorite walk is up to the park and library; in Manhattan, I like wandering around Union Square and down to St. Mark's Place.

( 21 Questions )

1. Why did you sign up for Dreamwidth?
I'd been using LJ for years - since about 2000 or so - but didn't like the way the site was being run after Brad sold it. I tried out GJ, which promptly folded, then moved over to IJ. But it wasn't a perfect fit; the whole "insane" theme got old fast, spam was/is outrageous, and most importantly, I never had the sense that I was joining a community, the way I had with LJ. When DW opened, I wrote it off as another LJ-clone, but I watched its growth with increasing interest. LJ continued down the path of asshatness and so when I was able, I signed up with DW to give it a go.

2. Why did you choose your journal name?
I've been using forms of "Jae" as my online name since early high school.

( 21 Questions )

fannish5: Five resolutions a favorite character (or characters) would make for the new year.

Motomiya Daisuke
1) LESS SCHOOL MORE SOCCER!
2) Get Ken to grow out his hair long enough to put it in a ponytail so he can be a pirate for Halloween
3) Learn to play a wailing guitar solo and then interrupt one of Yamato's concerts with it and totally rock.
4) Go back to New York to see Willis and be all like, hey Willis check out this wailing guitar solo WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHWAHWAHWAH and get Ken to come along and show him all the cool shit in Manhattan like all that bar that Willis was talking about.
5) Spend all time in math class drawing because I am an artist.

Ichijouji Ken
1) Increase studying by at least 20 minutes a night, Monday through Saturday.
2) Maintain current physique for kendo.
3) Complete practice university applications and have them reviewed at cram school.
4) Find something that I want to do as a career. I want, not what my parents believe what Osamu wanted.
5) Increase time spent with Daisuke to all of Sunday. Every Sunday.

Yuffie Kisaragi
1) I don't need resolutions - I'm kick ass enough already
2) Seriously, any more kick ass and the world might not be able to handle it. Yeah, you know it.
3) And then there's be some crazy monster that pops out of the Life Stream because it needs to stop my awesome power and I have to destroy it and I do, but with a single tear of regret because it's not its fault that I'm so amazing.
4) Steal more stuff I guess. That's a given since I'm the ninja-est ninja ever to ninja in this universe.
5) Including all of Vincent's clothes. Hehe.

Ben Wade
1) Steal
2) Kill
3) Seduce
4) Quote the Bible
5) Repeat ad nauseum

Coraline Jones
1) Figure out how to pick the lock on that old photo album in Wybie's attic
2) Kiss Wybie Finish our movie Attack of the Killer Banana Slugs
3) Build a bike better than Wybie's
4) Learn how to cook so Dad'll stop destroying the kitchen
5) Learn how to cook a really good pizza and eat it with Wybie while watching Attack of the Killer Banana Slugs win all the Oscars

Another day late. Crazy busy yesterday and when I got home form school, we had The Beatles: The First U.S. Visit to watch.

Anyway, another John and Paul quote today, for the Ivor Novello awards ceremony in 1967. I like this one because they're both trying to give the other one credit - They did that a lot, even after the break-up. The respect they had for each others' abilities was immense. (From Beatles Interviews Database.)


Q: "This (first award) goes to the A-side of the record issued in 1966 which achieved the highest certified British sales in the period the 1st of January to the 31st of December 1966. You may have been wondering whether the Beatles have won anything. They did get one or two awards. This is the first of them, and it goes to 'Yellow Submarine.' Best-selling A-side number in Britain last year, for which John and Paul you get this."

PAUL: "We are truly grateful."

JOHN: (excitedly) "Great, great."

...

Q: "Good. Who was principally responsible, Paul or John?"

JOHN: "Paul."

PAUL: "John, really."

JOHN & PAUL: "No. No."


And here's from a little later in the same interview:
Q: "Apart from being the runner-up in the 'most performed' section, I think that must have been the most recorded number last year... must've been about 400 versions of it. You must have heard some of them. Is there any one that you think is a standout performance?"

JOHN: "Uhh, one by a young fellow called Paul McCartney had a sort of plaintive approach."

PAUL: (laughs)

Here's one of the Beatles' music videos - They called them promo videos back then, but the premise is the same (and yep, another first - the invented the music video). This one's one of my favorite - John and Paul are adorably goofy. He keeps mugging at the camera and making faces at Paul, who giggles back. The camera has to keep cutting over to George or Ringo whenever John and Paul back down into laughter, and they even had to do the video a couple of times - notice the different jackets? - but every time it ends up the same.

"Yer Blues" is a kick ass rock and roll jam that illustrates John Lennon's darker side. He suffered from depression his whole life, an illness that stemmed from his fear of abandonment. He had good reason for this insecurity: as a small child, his parents took him down to the beach and then made him decided between them. After he chose his mother Julia, his father walked out of their lives. Some years later he was removed from his mother's home, who was deemed an unsuitable parent, and placed with his aunt. He had a rocky relationship with both women, but stayed close with both. He was 17 when his mother was killed.

Anyway, "Yer Blues" covers both his worry ("so lonely...") and his despair ("...wanna die"). It's from the White Album, which also features the wistful song "Julia." This version is a from the Rolling Stone's Rock N Roll Circus, which was an awesome trainwreck of music and drugs. That's a young Eric Clapton on lead. And check out Yoko Ono rolling around in a bag.

John's birthday's coming up - He would have been 70 this year. There are all sorts of memorial concerts and shows going on this week in celebration; and not one to miss a chance to proclaim my love of him and the Beatles, I'm going to post quotes, videos, songs, whatevers to mark the 8 days leading up to his birthday.

Here's post one (a day late, unfortunately). From an interview from August 23, 1963 with Klas Burling (Beatles Interviews Database):

KLAS: "That's Paul, and he's supposed to be the sweet boy in this family, no?"

PAUL: (jokingly) "Aww, shuttup."

JOHN: "His dad was a Mars bar."

PAUL: (laughs)

fannish5: Name five characters who probably shouldn't try to be monogamous.

1) Cloud Strife (FFVII) - Who doesn't Cloud hook up with? I've read him convincingly paired with Zack, Aeris, Tifa, Sephiroth, Reno, Yuffie, Rufus, Vincent, Kadaj, and Jenova. And that's just a list from off the top of my head. Maybe it's because Cloud's personality can be interpreted so differently? Even in canon he goes through such extreme shifts in character. I can't settle on OTPs with him either, since he's so closely tied to so many characters. Pair him with Zak and Aeris and Sephiroth need to fit in there somewhere. Pair him with Tifa and again Aeris can't be excluded.

2) Harry Potter - Like Cloud, Harry can be interpreted in such vastly different ways. He can have great chemistry with practically anyone in the books: Ron, Ginny, Remus, Sirius, Snape, Luna, Draco, the twins, Neville... And even crack!pairings like Narcissa, Lucius, Bellatrix, and Voldemort work for me.

3) Auron (FFX) - Auron's a little different, at least in my mind. Unlike Cloud and Harry, who're the town bicycles, Auron doesn't really have sexual compatibility with a lot of characters. Hm, not sure if I can explain myself. I guess with Harry and Cloud, I'm willing to read and write stories where love is more loosely defined, or doesn't come into the picture at all. I always figured Auron as someone who falls in love slowly, but then with eternal devotion - In short, I can't picture him not being in love. Pairing him with Rikku doesn't make his love for Braska and Jecht fade.

4) Yagami Hikari (Digimon) - Hikari's another who I could never settle on a OTP with. I think she's equally in love with Takeru as she is with Miyako.

5) ...Um. Jecht? Uh. Is it painfully obvious that my fandoms are few and far between? So instead I will muse of sex vs. love. When I get emotional invested in a character, I want him/her to fall in love. In fact, in Love, with a capital L. It's the romantic in me and the romance novel fan in me: A happy ending needs a resolution that includes love. Anyway, so when I daydream about my favorite characters, I create little love stories for them. As much as I like Cloud and Harry, they've never been among my favorite characters, so I don't need to plan out a happy (monogamous) love life for them.