Roast pork turned out relatively well last night, though I think next time I'll make extra of the glaze, warm it, and use it as a sauce for serving. Ran through the first round of edits for UM19, and then made up an apple pie from "The Pie and Pastry Bible" by Rose Levy Beranbaum. It didn't turn out perfect--the edges of the crust burned, so I'll need to cover them with foil next time--but it also didn't bubble over or sink the way apple pies tend to. Haven't actually had a slice yet, so will report on its actual taste and texture later.

Got shown the first two episodes of GaoGaiGar while the pie was baking. Was... amused. A good percentage of the dialogue would slot neatly into UM with no problems, and there were definite shades of Transformers influence as well as Giant Robo influence. ^^;; Will watch more and see how it progresses.

Also seem to've gotten myself (voluntarily) shanghai'd into cosplaying from Avatar, a show I haven't even seen. racerxmachina is putting together a Kyoshi warriors group for Fanime, and hoshikage was already working on an Avatar Kyoshi costume of her own... and, really, how can I resist the urge to cosplay with two of my best friends? Particularly when I can reuse familiar patterns for most of the outfit....

All the skirt seams are now finished. Somehow, miraculously, I haven't actually bled on the dress yet. My index and middle fingertip on my right hand, though, are looking rather ragged and worse for wear. I know, I know... I should use a thimble. But for this I need to be able to feel the needle coming through the fabric. One more night of sewing and then she's coming over on Thursday for a fitting... good job I was never intending to have the grommets in the dress by then. Going to pin lacing strips on instead in case things need to be moved.

Watched some anime tonight, partially while sewing, partially during dinner, for the first time in a long time. Watched episodes 0-2 of Emma second season. They've added an extra character and some extra elements to the storyline, but thus far it's working okay for me in comparison to the manga. They've animated her ball dress in the opening, though they've gone for a paler color than I'd hoped. Ah well, it's still very pretty....

I also got my Costume College limited classes registration back today! I got all four I'd wanted... one on lady's dancing slippers, one on masquerade masks, one on silk ribbon embroidery, and one on crocheted wristlet gloves! Huzzah~!

But for now, it once again being Past My Bedtime, I'm calling it a night. Oyasumi nasai, all~!

Tonight I'm marathoning the six episodes of La Corda d'Oro Primo Passo that I've let pile up. It's a high school classical musical instruments anime based on a reverse-harem dating sim. It probably should have occured to me before now, as there are five male competitors and one female one in the music contest that's driving the plot, but... just hit episode eleven and had to stop the video and smack myself on the forehead. There's a hidden yuri ending to the game isn't there?

Well, I've watched some new anime this evening, and worked on some fics. Death Note scares me, but then I've never understood how it could not scare someone. I think it's possibly the best manga adaptation I've seen in a long time. Watched the first episode of a dating sim anime called "Otome wa Boku (Oneesama) ni Koishiteru" and promptly tossed it in the trashcan. Also watched the first episode of the musical instrument reverse-harem anime "La Corda d'Oro Primo Passo" and didn't toss it in the trash. Am currently downloading Perfect Girl Evolution to see if it's as personally amusing to me in anime form as it is in manga form ("The Wallflower").

For those who have watched Princess Tutu... early to mid second season, who would you call as uke: Fakir or Mytho? Yes, I've started in again on writing "Princess Tatu." It's distinctly odd to have yuri easier to write than yaoi.

And I've also poked again at the Ultraman Moebius fic I've been working on as a response to hoshikage's unfinished Shattered Secrets. This is spoilery as hell both for her fic and for canon, while at the same time slightly speculatory toward unexplained matters in the latter, so don't read if you don't want that. It's also still kinda rough and equally kinda unfinished.

( A Human Heart )

Wonderful Husband and I went up to help racerxmachina pack up her apartment this weekend. It's kind of sad... she and roseembolism are our last "close" (if you count a two-hour drive) set of close friends, and now they're going up to the Bay Area. Well, it's good for them.

In honor of the weekend, though, an anime meme gacked from racerxmachina, sandpanther, and velvetpaws.

( anime meme! )

Saw PotC2 today. Thought it wasn't quite as good as the first one, but still liked it.

Also watched Ouran 15... I think I liked the manga version slightly better, but I'll hold off on full judgement until I see how well the anime pulls off 16. Also, purchased the rest of the Ouran manga. ^_^ As well as MegaTokyo 4 and the first Clamp Campus Paranormal Investigators novel. The CCPI book is amusing, and I'll probably buy others because I happen to know that my beloved trio show up in 'em. Highlights, though, were (1) an obscure mention of a certain onmyouji, (2) the fact that a minor character is apparently a dead ringer for Hokuto, given the illustration of her, and (3) what is it with the Takamura boys falling in love with kindergarteners whilst in elementary school? Is it like a genetic trait or something?

The weather here is hot, but Wonderful Husband and I are fortunate in living relatively near the sea (onshore breezes) and having the northmost residence in our block of four semi-detached houses (no southern wall or windows). Plus when the front door and patio door are both open we have a lovely cross-breeze. I think our cat (she who has a full coat of fur) appreciates this too. Watered the garden this morning and tidied it up this afternoon, tying up wandering tomato branches, dead-heading the hydrangeas, coiling up the hose and in general putting things away. It looks much better now. And now that the kitchen is under control too, I'll probably have another glass of sun tea and work on the dining room. Maybe sew a mock-up for Rhapsody in Gold this weekend, now that I've got my machine back....

I come to my desk in the middle of the morning with a stomach full of breakfast cereal and a pot of licorice mint tea. I've been blasting through Princess Tutu this week at the rate of a disc a day. I blame this both on the excellent AMV I saw at Fanime, and on the fact I have a Edel costume in the works. Unfortunately, this is going to come to an end after (if) I manage to purchase disc five today. Well, theoretically there are the fansubs around here somewhere so I can use those to get to the end of the story. The ends of stories being important things, you see, as Fakir is discovering.

Somehow I've also started fanficcing the series (despite not having reached its end, generally a bad idea). I already know some of what I've written will need changing and I have a vague idea of how, but I think it will work. As the song says, after all, "every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end." I actually ended up discussing fanfiction with the clerk at DVD Planet last night, when I was purchasing disc four of Tutu (they were sold out of five so he put in a reorder) and the director's cut of Kingdom of Heaven. It came up because Goonies was playing on the TV behind him and I have this vague urge to cross over Goonies and Pirates of the Caribbean. It's do-able... either One-Eyed Willie meets up with Jack&Co. in PotC time, or... well, we know there are curses and such that would make having PotC charas swaggering around in modern time a viable option as well. The main problem for me would be writing Capt. Sparrow. Straight-forward characters are easy, but his motivations, mindset, and mannerisms are... well, chaotic, shall we say. But that idea's pretty low on Muse's list anyway.

*finishes disc three of Princess Tutu*

Okay, yeah, SO add me to the Fakir fan club.

Hakama repaired and packed. Costumes picked out and packed. Clothing... not quite packed 'coz I'm waiting for the bra I want to take to finish drying. Desk at work cleared to the point where I'm going to have nothing to do tomorrow. Cookies baking. In short, I am ready. Mwah?

Just watched Princess Princess episode seven. The only episode of the series I consider "good" to this point (as in living up to the potential of the premise) has been five. Seven utterly destroyed that. It rocked. It /finally/ pulled out the stops and started with the stomach punches. This, of course, means that next episode it's probably going back to mediocre suckiness, but ah, the moment.

Point of order #1: I *heart* the Jagermonsters!

Point of order #2: Saiunkoku Monogatari episode 4... I totally didn't see that coming! Wai! And I should have, given character designs and the fact that it was mentioned in episode 1. I /love/ it when a series can surprise me.

Point of order #3: Princess Princess episode 4... Shihoudani /so/ should have been voiced by Megumi Ogata. I've thought that since episode 1, so the parallels to Kurama are amusing. What is Ogata doing these days anyway?

Point of order #4: got up early this morning and made guacamole and salsa to take in to the office. Happy Cinco de Mayo, happy Boys' Day, and I'm miffed that I don't have any new HikaGo fic to present on this day. Ah well. At least I get a racerxmachina this weekend.