Cut & Paste!

Today my mum was enforcing me to clean the computer room by coming up and pulling everything out in the floor and asking me what it was, so I've been sneezing up dust all day trying to get rid of stuff. I guess it was a good thing to do, though, since I found some old letters and stuff from Jiroko and Yen that I need to put somewhere special. <3

I preserve everything, jaja.

Among the stuff I found, were these old agendas from freshman and sophomore years of college, where I decorated the front with cut-paste collage art. Since it's one of my favorite things to do, I wanted to post them.

L: freshman year / R: sophomore year

At Waseda University for my junior year, I just used a Japanese planner from Loft, and this past year I just didn't plan anything, ja. XD

Girl was definitely a KERA cut out and the Japanese lady is probably from a Smithsonian brochure. And that was back where Shou (alice nine.) was still pretty, so NO REGRETS.

Another KERA cutout, definitely, but this from the Street Snaps I think. I lol to think some part-time karaoke uketsuke/biology student living in Nagoya was on the front of my planner for a year, but whatev. The little box photos are from an ad for a design college.


In addition to these, before them, when I lived in Japan in 2006-2007, I decorate this box from the Daiso to store my purikura in:

Some customary Ruki (the GazettE), An Cafe (Bou era), and pretty Shou, and another random street snap girl from KERA, though I'm pretty sure at least she's a shop staff.

I like the checkered sides. <3

It's now a collective memorandum of polaroids, Korean dvds, Gazette pass cases and...

An epic amount of unused Kitty-chan phone straps.

MEIN KULI HAT GESTORBEN (und andere Tragödien)

How's it hangin'?

So really I got back on Monday the 30th, but I'm a lazy sod, and it seems since I've returned it's somehow gotten even worse. I guess it's a good thing I got out of school when I did, haha.

My trip was really nice and an excellent outlet for... shopping! I picked up a lot of cute things from Primark in London, finally got to see Versailles, and watched a woman nearly get mauled by a tram in Amsterdam. It was really a great trip, even though we were so tired most of the time (jet lag + my very non-sole-supporting footwear).

Oh yeah, and our coach actually did maul a rollerblader in London. I really hope that guy's ok, because it really didn't sound like it. D:

I will make a three part post about the trip, starting with London next time, to give it a nice break up over the three cities. Lots of photos (I took 705 in total) and pigeons on chairs.

I really haven't been up to much since I've been back though, aside from looking for a job and bumming around. I did see the new Pirates of the Caribbean (rather good, I thought) and a practically monologue performance of The Screwtape Letters in Atlanta (very witty and amusing). As well as make a few plans with some old high school friends.

I painted a belated birthday card for my sister, who is crazy about Harry Potter-- and luckily Snape, which I didn't know when I made the card. ヾ(゜∀゜*)人(*゜∀゜)ノ 

I like to take pictures of the process, so...

Just inked it and prepared. The crease is at the wand.

It's kind of grey if I don't adjust the brightness/contrast, but it looks super sloppy when I do.

Granted, I did get a bit sloppy on the classroom, but I was pushed for time. D:

I really wanted it to have a kind of amateur 3D effect when stood.

Oh Snape. ヽ(￣▽￣)/

Also, actually seeing Versailles for real and coming home to watch one of my favorite films ever (Marie Antoinette) prompted purchasing some light reading material.

I'm really quite fond of history, so it should prove interesting. Perhaps I can review it when I finish.

Yaaaah. So now I set upon the journey to clean my room. Starting with this corner:

Which, too look at it, it looks rather innocent. Just a corner of harmless papers and binders that have been gathering dust (some of them) since high school, but it's not innocent. It is anything BUT.

Especially when it comes plagued with...

Books filled with narrative satires on my uninteresting high school life with the aid of movie screen shots.

Notebooks from the Dark Ages of elementary school passed between me and my friends. This entry is

particularly hilarifying. "What is this, the Silence of the Lambs?"

My 11th grade German journal detailing the various trials of life, one being this sympathetic Tragödie

about a girl whose pen died, entitled Mein Kuli Hat Gestorben oder auf Englisch, My Pen Died.

And photos of me as a little girl.

Methinks I married too young.

It's horrible, I tell you. I look and I read and I lawl, and I get nothing done.

Wishing you a much more productive life than mine. 

Graduation, Living Situation, and Gone on Vacation (Image Heavy)

hey hey hey

First things first...

Somebody graduated! And I'll give you a hint: she looks just like me!

I really thought the experience would be more gratifying, but afterwards I just spent the evening alone buzzing on watermelon vodka, watching Cheers and packing up my room. I guess I'm kind of sad to leave Athens after all. It's been like my real American home more so than the actual town I'm from. I feel very comfortable there, and that's where I met all of my friends--and it's still the meeting point, it seems, even though everyone's moved out. :(

And my room. I took some last shots of it's glory (and cleaned it for the purpose) before disassembling it all Friday night. I thought I would post them here, since I really love when people post pictures of their living spaces.

Last out of a total 3 times I ever made that bed, probably.

I wear a lot of black.

See that bottle of Tequila there. And those damn almonds.

My workspace. That postcard of William and Harry was a lulzy gift from Kelly's trip to London.

I just felt that should be clarified.

I'm sad to see it go, since it was all to my liking. And now the house is... a wreck.

....

I did take time out of my frantic packing mess to draw and paint my mum a late card for Mother's Day.

If you note the shoulder kitty, you'll see that I clearly play too much Poupee Girl.

After moving, however, my attentions turned to packing for my trip to London, Paris and Amsterdam. I leave tomorrow morning at 11, and wait it out at the airport until our 5:30 flight to London. The flight's supposed to last 8 hours, even though I swear I remember it being less before, so I'm bringing a sudoku book (once I get started I can't unhinge myself), and my DS to start playing this much neglected beauty:

In the process of packing, I dug up some old money, too. Don't you just get excited about spending leftover currency? 8D

It's nothing in pounds, but it's like $5 here, haha.

My packing checklist.

I also took a bit of time to gussy up an old Estee Lauder make up bag with some dollar bin bling from the craft store.

Not big enough for my make-up, but perfect for my toiletries.

It's a bit simple, but it's enough for now. Unfortunately the Amazing Goop glue I was going use to requires extra time to dry, so all of my stones will undoubtedly fall off throughout the trip and need to be fixed.

My suitcase is not even near full, either, so I have plenty of room for any cheap things I may pick up along the way (strict budget abiding).

One thing I absolutely can't forget, too, is Suzuki-san. He's a staple in my traveling arsenal and a very important person in my life. Perhaps you've seen him before?

Yep. He's a real dream boat.

But I'll be going now. I need to carefully select a sketchbook and arrange my carry-on. But as I won't be bringing my lap-top, good bye 'til June!

Oh yeah. And look at these sexy balloons:

Tote Bag ♥

One of the small creative projects I've been wanting to do for a while is making tote bags with designs on them. And this weekend I actually got to do it. I went to visit a friend I haven't seen since leaving for Japan, and we spent the evening sewing and watching old episodes of The IT Crowd.

My simple bag:

It's actually a pale lime green color, but that's hard to see here.

Sketching something to put on the bag.



The final product.



I backtracked and took a close up. It's a little easier to see this way. I also used a gold paint marker for details. :/

When I showed it to my mum for some sort of feedback, she just said, "She's angry." HAHA

Oh well, I like her. She's a little angrier than I intended, but I like attitude. ♥