Wandering Star

ekmisao — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 14:34:11 GMT

From the prompting of Sir Kyu and Pao from Zarah, here are my top ten books I read as a teenager, remembering that my childhood is not exactly typical:

1. In His Steps, Charles Sheldon
2. Les Miserables, (unabridged!), Victor Hugo
3. The Three Musketeers, Alexandre Dumas
4. The Social Cancer, the Charles Derbyshire rendering of Noli Me Tangere, Jose Rizal
5. The Reign of Greed, Charles Derbyshire El Filibusterismo, Jose Rizal
6. LIttle Women, Louisa May Alcott
7. Anne of Green Gables series, L.M. Montgomery
8. Little Lord Fauntleroy, Frances Hodgson Burnett
9. The HIding Place, Corrie Ten Boom
10. Star of Light, Patricia St. John

- In His Steps, The Hiding Place, and Star of Light are required readings in our school that I did like a lot.
- My time in high school was part of the height of Miss Saigon/Les Miserables fever, so after hearing the musical I got interested in reading the book. I don't regret it.
- My copies of the English Rizal books I got from my grandfather. Shortly after, he died, so I was passing time in the funeral parlor reading Rizal and reminiscing my lolo.
- Little Lord Fauntleroy is the book basis for the Cedie anime, which I did like a lot. I liked Princess Sarah a lot too, but its book version, I still like Cedie's story more.

To explain, since I'm a Christian-school kid, pretty much the only books then I could read without my mother being too suspicious were the classics. Not that it was a bother, I was indeed interested in the classics, why they were classics. This means I read things like A Wrinkle in Time only recently. I personally didn't like the Sweet Valley series too much, back then I wasn't into mysteries so wasn't into Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys, and I found the Choose-your-own-adventure books interesting but quickly boring.

What I loved about most of the timeless classics of Western literature is that the ones I read had a little of everything, and the romance levels were at levels I could tolerate.

EK 8 )

This entry was originally posted at http://ekmisao.dreamwidth.org/32753.html. Please comment there using OpenID.

my position stays the same

ekmisao — Sat, 11 Sep 2010 01:42:07 GMT

LJ has finally responded to the 10K + 3K comment outrage and has clarified the settings regarding the FB/LJ integration.

Still, that thing last week is, to me, the equivalent of Heroes taking the last straw with me, after I liked it so much.

I shall crosspost, but will never be as active again as previously. I shall continue to keep track of the communities. But you get the point. LJ is now under the same posting caution as Twitter, Facebook, and Tumblr.

Unlike other people, this LJ will stay, no posts will be deleted. (For one, there are 7 years worth of content already, too many posts.)

EK 8 )

ekmisao — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 05:47:38 GMT

While that LJ/FB/Twitter thing is still settling out, several things:

- I'll be hanging out on Dreamwidth for the moment. Link in the sticky post above the LJ. (Please add me/see how you can OpenID, because I may not be crossposting everything.)

- Nanowrimo this year will be on Dreamwidth, whether or not I change my mind about this issue. (In Dreams being on DW then crossposted to LJ was helpful to me.)

I'm also around on plurk and tumblr if you need me.

Now I really must get out of the house.

EK 8 )

ekmisao — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 17:05:13 GMT

Me on most days. Dreaming of coffee or tea. Armed with a book or two. Waiting for things to happen.

EK 8 )

ekmisao — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 04:22:32 GMT

Out of frustration for eLouai's Candybars not working, I found one of the avatar generators for TinierMe, Dreamself.me. It works very much like eLouai's avatar generator for Gaia Online, has a good set of clothes, and has a base doll that I like.

So here are (L to R) Rowan (fire), Johann (Jo, music), Sereno (Ren, electric), Eloise (metal), and Chie (scholar).

You'll see this lineup again by November. Over the next few months these kids will hopefully get better backgrounds and an overall story. Scary that these five were easier to form than the original four.

(BTW the components for building a TinierMe Hatsune Miku really exists and is on Dreamself too.)

For now, I have 15 days to think up a ~~stalled fanfic for Ryohei~~ story for Pao-san. And a month or so to think up a story for PSF6.

Now I really have to be doing other things.

EK 8 )

random things

ekmisao — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 16:05:49 GMT

- One good thing about watching the KHR anime: Basil. He gets nice airtime and moments of awesome that he never got when the equivalent manga chapters came out.

- The coffee has been having odd effects on me. They only work for an hour or even half an hour. After which I just get the message "You are getting sleepy, your eyes are getting heavy, you have to sleeeeeeep...." I often do, and get knocked out half an hour to an hour.

- The draft will be off to a final reader by Monday. While it's there I'll probably still add some more descriptions.

- IF I get married I know I want Depapepe music for the reception background music, and I want books for gifts. My brother got all of this Depapepe music partly on my recommendation, and he shared it after he got it. Happy.

That's it for now, I guess.

EK 8 )

ekmisao — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 17:42:09 GMT

from various people.

So, ekmisao, your LiveJournal reveals...

You are... 0% unique, 14% peculiar, 59% interesting, 18% normal and 8% herdlike (partly because you, like everyone else, enjoy musicals). When it comes to friends you are popular. In terms of the way you relate to people, you are keen to please. Your writing style (based on a recent public entry) is conventional.

Your overall weirdness is: 18

(The average level of weirdness is: 28.
You are weirder than 39% of other LJers.)

Find out what your weirdness level is!

Yeah, that's all I have to say for now.

EK 8 )

ekmisao — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 06:10:01 GMT

A lot of people on the Plurk and LJ lists seem to be having awful days.

For some reason I seem to be fine at the moment.

But I do know the feeling somewhat.

So please have my words of support, whatever is bothering you all right now.

Yeah, that's it.

EK 8 )

ekmisao — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 03:27:25 GMT

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2010-08-16/black-butler-author-decries-illegal-videos-downloads

I'm from a country where FUNi, TAN, and Crunchy are blocked, where streams and OM and 2rats are perfectly normal ways of living.

But, seriously. She's in the right.

(Aside, I do think those were troll messages.)

In my country, those who can't buy records support the artists through the radio, through their purchases of products by sponsors. When the free-for-all or minimal-ticket-price concerts are announced, the people come in droves. The most die-hard of them flock to the Sunday variety shows or the mall tours. Sure, the music is pirated, but if the artists are great, they are supported by fans in some other way.

Do that, you leechers, why don't you.

I know it's not much, but I help spread the word about the series I like through the info sites I make. I hope that my small contribution back helps somehow. I bought Kenshin Kaden. I begged and got FUNi's release of Samurai 7 from relatives. Someday I'll get something KHR besides two Viz volumes.

EK 8 )

ekmisao — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 00:28:38 GMT

Wherein the season's supernatural anime are discussed: http://www.thepoc.net/thepoc-features/pinoy-pop/pinoy-pop-features/9305-supernatural-anime.html

Quickly covered are Shiki, High School of the Dead, Occult Academy, Nurarihyon no Mago, and Kuroshitsuji II. I mean quickly covered; you'll like this if you like vampires, this one if you like zombies, etc.

EK 8 )

So, Inception.

ekmisao — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 12:41:37 GMT

- Ellen Page (the Juno girl) be awesome.

- Marion Cotillard be incredible.

- I understand now why the people squeal over Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

- Tom Hardy's snark throughout be executed so well.

- Leo di Caprio never disappears into a character, but he got close with this one.

- Ken Watanabe be great.

- I want more backstory on Michael Caine’s character, thank you.

- Are they selling that steel top? Because I want one?

- The suits, the suits!

- I’m glad they spared no expense. The budget was worth it.

- The medical stuff in me kept screaming "AAAAAGH! You don't just pull out IVs like a Matrix plug!! AAAAAAGH!"

The movie actually isn’t the most brain-breaking thing I’ve seen. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was a whole lot worse. Furthermore, liking too many illusionists (Midou Ban, Mukuro, Fran, Viper, Kawahira, I also kinda like Raven…) and having seen Angel Beats (projection = non-player character) contributes to my overall level-headedness at the moment. As long as you’ve seen the Matrix trilogy and/or Ghost in the Shell, and maybe Paprika, you’re quite fine.

That said, Nolan’s familiarity with both blockbuster movies and somewhat-artsy movies meet in a fine balance here, one that is really appreciated. Thus, the heady concepts are explained and presented in an easily-understandable way. There’s enough bang-bang and boom to satisfy anyone who needs it. And the action was tight: everyone in the theater was holding their breath.

I was the one who begged my brother that we watch Inception. Yet we left the theater with my brother being really happy with it and wanting to watch again. Me? I plug it on EVERYBODY, but I’m not sure I’m one of the mad squealers.

EK 8 )

go buy Tall Story please!

ekmisao — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 01:49:48 GMT

This is the plug for Tall Story, that YA book by Candy Quimpo-Gourlay that I've been rambling about and am halfway into. It's a release by Random House worldwide (in UK now, in US Feb 2011, in Fully Booked Feb 2011, in National Bookstore out now by Cacho), so when you find it in your part of the world go get it!

Pinoys are really happy about this because this is quite an achievement by a Filipino, getting published internationally, and you're not Jessica Hagedorn. (It's like Manny Pacquiao's success in boxing, that's how it looks like in my part of the world.) Candy Quimpo knows her culture both ways, it's a great read that way. Culture clash done well, done respectfully.

I'm so happy they found a real truly-Pinoy-accented Pinoy to voice in that clip. (English of most Filipinos does sound like that; I and a lot of other well-educated citizens have just acquired an American accent from the TV.) I think they got Candy's daughter to do Andi's voice. I suddenly want a full animation of Tall Story.

More info here.

In other things, Gawad Panitikan already released its winners. Obviously it's not me. ^^;;

EK 8 )

ekmisao — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 13:00:49 GMT

http://thepoc.net/thepoc-features/pinoy-pop/reviews/9109-worlds-interwoven-black-rock-shooter-review.html

Wherein I review Black Rock Shooter. With much thanks to boss touyatouya for clarifying what I was trying to say.

It was weak in places, but I did like Black Rock Shooter. ^^v

In other things, I finished reading Octavian Nothing book 1. Man, so hauntingly incredible a YA book, man. I'd like to hunt down the second book now. I don't know how to plug the book, but if you survived the pain of The Book Thief intact and enlightened, Octavian Nothing is in that same vein of YA book.

BTW, bookstore employees who don't know the books, don't even feel much for books, it is a sad thing.

EK 8 )

ekmisao — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 23:58:20 GMT

- Amano-san, PLEASE stop rubbing it in, and instead show us how he is.

- If anything, Amano-san has seriously good fashion sense for jewelry, that much is true.

Now I really gotta have coffee in me and get going to do stuff. See ya.

EK 8 )

Amagami SS (initial)

ekmisao — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 07:26:42 GMT

I'm a girl but I am weirdly drawn to this anime which is unabashedly a dating-sim-walkthrough for several girl paths (you know, like the Pokemon anime's are, I understand, the walkthrough for the games). And why? Because the guy is kinda cute and quite nice.

I'm pathetic that way, yes.

In any case, while the story goes into familiar dating-sim tropes, the characters are interesting while being realistic, and I like that.

In other things, KHR continues to be the crack it is, and no matter how much I threaten to leave, I can't seem to. (sigh.)

EK 8 )

ekmisao — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 10:11:05 GMT

To those who haven't heard or seen yet: OM is shutting down. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2010-07-22/manga-scan-site-says-it-will-remove-manga

I still think it got pressured to do this. Still, until feasible legal options are made available, WITHOUT country restrictions, others will sprout to replace it.

EK 8 )

ekmisao — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 01:05:56 GMT

from rcloenen_ruiz:

I realize that finding the stories I want to write about is a challenge for a lifetime. The question of what kind of science fiction a Filipino writer would write is not one that can be answered in the space of a few paragraphs. The present challenge is to write in a way that is true to the culture we came from. If I look at it this way, I see how behind the fantasist’s work, the realist’s burden still exists. If so, then perhaps the divide we have been taught to see as existing between fantastic and realist works is so much smaller than we imagine it to be.

http://www.jeffvandermeer.com/2010/07/21/finding-our-stories/

ekmisao — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 14:36:46 GMT

This unworthy one reviews Angel Beats! here: http://thepoc.net/thepoc-features/pinoy-pop/reviews/8837-resurrected-stereotypes-angel-beats-review.html

It's just a general sweep, and it's not as fangirly as you'd expect.

I still can't believe someone's paying me to do this. I hope to keep pleasing. Thanks, boss.

EK 8 )

writing meme

ekmisao — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 10:21:11 GMT

from coconabanana. I've been getting this result as well in previous tries.

free enneagram test

http://www.enneagraminstitute.com/TypeFour.asp

Still under the weather. It's a bad cold.

That writing meme from snapdraw_gone:

1. What’s Your Writing Style? Are you a “pantser” or a “plotter?
- A little of both. I write out a general outline, but expand on it on the fly. For instance, what happens to Marcie and Soji is planned out, but Claude as direct contention came as an on-the-fly thing.

2. Detailed character sketches or “their character will be revealed to me as a I write”?
- I'm not sure if making eLouai dolls count as 'detailed character sketches', but I do that, and think about the character I want while picking out hairdos and clothes. So by then the basic personality is already intact, but finer details of the character get revealed as the story is written.

3. Do you know your characters’ goals, motivations, and conflicts before you start writing or is that something else you discover only after you start writing?
- Majority of their goals and motivations, I know before starting. Which is why it's hard for me to make short stories with different characters for each story (despite me always being told to not stick to just one or two universes). Coming from the fanfiction world, I prefer knowing characters inside-out.

4. Books on plotting – useful or harmful?
- In the end, most of them say the same thing with some variations. So reading a few to know the basics is useful, but after a while they're just redundant.

5. Are you a procrastinator or does the itch to write keep at you until you sit down and work?
- It depends. If the story is not forming I procrastinate on it. If the story is clear in my head I want to get home and type it already.

6. Do you write in short bursts of creative energy, or can you sit down and write for hours at a time?
- A little of both.

7. Are you a morning or afternoon writer?
- Mostly I write at night when everyone is asleep. ^^; But other times of the day are okay too.

8. Do you write with music/the noise of children/in a cafe or other public setting, or do you need complete silence to concentrate?
- I usually have either the sound of the television or jazz music.

9. Computer or longhand?
- Computer, hands down. I'm a fast typer, and my longhand can't keep up.

10. Do you know the ending before you type Chapter One?
- Some of the ending, but it's still subject to change. ^^

11. Does what’s selling in the market influence how and what you write?
- I don't even know how to follow it. ^^;;

12. Editing – love it or hate it?
- A little of both. I do know I need it, but it's painful when I do my own hacking and slashing. When other people do it I'm glad they see what I didn't see.

EK 8 )

ekmisao — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 14:18:33 GMT

Somewhat under the weather, so will be uncharacteristically offline early.

EK 8 )

ekmisao — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 16:37:04 GMT

I'll be out on medical mission all day. See you tonight.

Read some of the older fics. I still wish I could write like that for originals.

Also, something's probably wrong with me. I read KHR 298 and went "Okay.", Naruto 502, "Okay.", One Piece 592, "Okay.", Bakuman 94, "This is bad, I caught on that Mashiro's sunk again.".

Goodnight.

EK 8 )

ekmisao — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 03:11:41 GMT

I'm probably asking too much at the moment, but I still think this.

Regarding 298: People. Believe in the little guy in the fedora. And that little chap in the hood. I believe in the power of good real-deal espresso. Keep calm and wait for the pineapple.

I don't know why I'm so calm, or so callous, right now. But my thoughts indeed go out to all those who are shocked now who were not shocked when I was.

Oh, and dreamlessness-sempai, the famous OtaKing of the fansub docu makes Doctor Who anime shorts:
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interest/2010-07-15/fan-made-anime-inspired-doctor-who-project

EK 8 )

ekmisao — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 15:20:46 GMT

http://thepoc.net/thepoc-features/pinoy-pop/reviews/8674-classics-reborn-blue-literature-aoi-bungaku-review.html

Wherein this unworthy one reviews Aoi Bungaku (Blue Literature).

Wikipedia-ing as research for this was enlightening. Now I know that too many changes have been made on the whole. To a bookworm, that's awful to know, that people changed too many things to a book. It's awful, though, the way it was awful for Gankutsuou and Samurai 7, not awful like the most recent Les Miserables movie. The core sentiments of the story is retained in Gankutsuou, you can't stay mad at it. Like that.

Nonetheless, I still want to get my hands on No Longer Human (because I'm a sucker for punishment that way). I know Akutagawa now, going to need more of his stories to read now! This, ultimately, is what the series wanted to happen, and I'm glad to have it happen to me. So it's all good.

EK 8 )

ekmisao — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 04:35:09 GMT

Getting Scrivener as a 30-day trial. I have a stupid idea to clean up and expand the Jumper Cable core story into something 50K words long, for sending to Chicken House, because I'm quite insane.

Even getting in the shortlist would be awesome. Unfortunately this is open even to those in masters and creative-writing courses. What chance do I have?

But I definitely need someone to beta-read when I'm done. Help?

Anyway, gotta go be somewhat of a grown-up. See ya.

EK 8 )

ekmisao — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 02:51:26 GMT

Confound the trippy internet! Confound it greatly!

from redmoonmurder

I write like
Dan Brown

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

I placed the minibang draft and chapter 1 of "an unsurprising disaster" for analysis. ^^;; So it seems I really write pulpy, no way around it. I guess it means I may get rich out of the writing, but I won't be timeless and will be forgotten. ^^;;;

EDIT: In two other attempts (one with a chapter of Sakura Spring and one with At the Bridge), I got William Shakespeare and Stephen King respectively.

EK 8 )