The Tainted Red Realm

8:15pm: How to Fix Up a Super Sailor Chibi Moon Nakayoshi Baby Doll
Warning: This doll is the rarest of the three Nakayoshi baby dolls and one of the rarest Sailor Moon dolls ever made period, so if you aren't well-versed in doll care and repair, make sure you ARE before you do ANYTHING with THIS doll! Try practicing on a common and damaged doll first.

This is just the before pic of my sad little friend before I fix her up... thankfully she isn't too badly messed up to begin with, but she'll look even better when I finish with her.



I removed all her clothes before starting because I didn't want them to get wet or damaged. This and the following pictures are also possibly the only existing pictures on the Internet of what the body of this doll looks like.



SSCM had some spots on her that are rather difficult to capture on camera so I used a Mr. Clean magic eraser to remove them. This is great to use because it's really effective and non-abrasive, but do be careful about pressing too hard if you're near her face paint, especially her eyes!



SSCM has a cloth body and I didn't want it to get wet during the process, so I covered her with a clean plastic bag. I recommend that you do this. However, if you don't and she gets wet, make sure she is completely dried out before you put her clothes back on and send her back to wherever you are displaying her! You do NOT want this doll to grow mold, because if she does, you may never find another one!



Unlike another time I fixed a doll's hair, you will notice that I made sure to get a dye-free fabric softener this time because I don't want to take any chances with this doll! I am also using hair conditioner specifically made for dry hair. Make sure not to use shampoo because most doll hair (and at least this doll's hair) is NOT human hair and will not react the same way to shampoo as your hair would. In fact, from what I've read, shampoo can actually damage doll hair, so best to keep it away. This doll's hair is synthetic, that's why it reacts better to fabric softener. The conditioner is to make the hair slick and easier to work the tangles out and help alleviate some of that dryness.



When you are ready to wash her hair, prop the doll up if you have to and immerse one of her pigtails in a solution of hot water, fabric softener, and hair conditioner. The hot water will relax her hair.



After the doll's hair has soaked for about an hour, very delicately start combing her hair with a wide-toothed comb and make sure you work on the knots at the bottom of her hair before you work on the top. When you can glide the wide-tooth comb through her hair from top to bottom with no snags, repeat the process with the fine-tooth comb. You will notice that my fine tooth comb has two different sides, one finer than the other, and I use both of them but it should still work if you have a fine tooth comb with only one setting. I tend to only use the brush on doll hair if it's dry. Also, while you're combing/brushing, make sure you hold the hair tightly at the top so most of the pressure from the tugging gets blocked from reaching her scalp. This step is critical with this particular doll because she has a bad reputation for hair loss. BE GENTLE! Some hair loss is normal, but if at any time she starts losing large quantities of hair, then by all means, ABANDON the attempt! It would be much far better for the doll to have messy hair than be bald, after all! Rinse the doll's hair once it has been combed through by the fine tooth comb.



One pigtail done! By the way, you will notice that I left the doll's hair in her original ties. I don't untie hair unless I absolutely must, and in this case I didn't have to. Not only is it better to keep all of a doll's parts as original as you can (which includes the hairties), but it can be quite difficult to part the hair the same way it originally was.



This is what she will look like once the second pigtail is done:



Although I usually leave the bangs of Sailor Moon dolls alone, this doll's bangs were pretty wild so I decided to relax the hair with some hot water. Since I didn't want to pour the hot water over her tiara (and I don't know if the tiaras for these dolls can be safely put back on even though I've seen them removed), so I tied a plastic bag over her tiara. Bonus points: this also protects her face paint!



As you can see, the hot water completely relaxed her hair and allowed her bangs to fall back the way they ought to have been when the doll was new.



And here is the after picture of what SSCM looks like now after being cleaned up, having her hair washed and combed, and dressed again. Much better, no?



And just as an after-word, please note that if you do try my advice to restore a doll, you do so at your own risk! I will NOT be held responsible for any ruined dolls, and I highly recommend against doing anything to this doll because of her rarity. If you do decide to try to restore her, then be extremely careful and especially watch out for too much hair falling out. Mine thankfully didn't give me any trouble but yours might very well be a completely different story considering how many of these dolls I've seen going bald.

12:07am: Super Nakayoshi baby dolls!
Dear Journal, today I am extremely happy--today is the day I finally got not only the Super Sailor Moon Nakayoshi baby doll that I've been hunting for months, but also the Super Sailor Chibi Moon! I was determined to get a Super Sailor Moon, but I always assumed I'd never get a Super Sailor Chibi Moon because she's the rarest of the Nakayoshi baby dolls from what I hear and almost never shows up for sale anywhere. The same seller on eBay actually had the both of them so I found them both when I was searching for the Super Sailor Moon, and since I had saved enough money to buy the Super Sailor Moon MIB if I had to, I managed to get the both of them! They're not perfect but I absolutely love them anyway and they are already my favorite collection pieces. Usually these dolls are missing gloves and/or tiaras when I see them out of box so I think I was really, REALLY lucky to get them in the condition they're in. They arrived in the mail today and I haven't stopped smiling since. I feel like the luckiest and happiest woman in the world. :)



Anyway, these dolls are extremely rare and even any information on them is hard to find, so I figured I'd do a little FAQ on them...

Q: Are you selling these dolls?/Are you willing to trade for them?
A: No, I'm not, sorry. My dolls are NOT for sale or trade at ANY price so please do not ask. If you have some items from my wish list that you think I would be interested in, I might be willing to buy them from you for money, but these dolls would never be part of the bargain and there is nothing that anyone owns (Sailor Moon related or otherwise) that I think would be worth trading them for. Also, please don't beg for the dolls claiming that you'll take good care of them and blah, blah, blah. You wouldn't believe how often I've seen people get on with that kind of nonsense, but they do, and my response to it is this: these two dolls are already in a home where they are loved and appreciated, and no one will take better care of them than I do. I am not giving them up to anyone, end of story. Now that I've made it crystal clear that my dolls are absolutely not for sale or trade (because I know people WILL ask to do so otherwise), any and all inquiries regarding the sale or trading of my dolls will respectfully be ignored because you already have your answer (and it's no).

Q: Will you let me know if you should decide to change your mind to sell them?/Can I be the first in line to buy them?
A: Sorry, but that will never happen, so please look elsewhere. Not only am I a lifelong fan of Sailor Moon, but these dolls are investments as far as I'm concerned, so even if I got rid of other parts of my collection, these dolls still aren't going anywhere. Unlike some people who say they'll never part with these dolls and then actually do sell them, I actually mean it when I say that I am keeping them both.

Q: Where else can I get these dolls?
A: Sometimes they come up for sale on the SMCollector community here on LiveJournal, but I bought mine on eBay and I've seen the Super Sailor Moon sell at least three times on there. You need to be checking every day, though, and have the money already saved, because you have to buy the doll as soon you see it. That's the only way to do it. You definitely don't see these dolls selling every day so you have to be prepared to buy them when they finally do pop up.

Q: How much do these dolls cost?
A: That really depends on the condition of them and how much you're willing to pay. The last I heard, a Super Sailor Moon MIB sold for $1400, but I've also seen MIB ones sell for roughly $800 and $1000 last year. I also saw a Super Sailor Moon who was missing her gloves and had a stain on her stomach sell for about $550. Right now I see a regular Chibi Moon doll selling for about $650 even though she's stained and missing her Luna-P ball, but I've also seen one almost-MIB sell for $750. I've seen a Super Sailor Chibi Moon missing her gloves and with pretty bad hair damage sell for $450, but I have absolutely no idea how much the Super Sailor Chibi Moon is actually worth MIB because I've never seen one for sale in that condition. As for how much my husband and I paid for my dolls, that's between us and the person who sold them to us, and I won't discuss how much I pay for anything as a matter of principle. However, what I can tell you is that the prices for all three of the Nakayoshi baby dolls unfortunately seem to be rising all the time.

Q: Just how rare are these dolls anyway?
A: I hear that they're "extremely rare" but I honestly don't entirely believe it. They're rare enough that you can't just buy one whenever you want one and they're certainly rare enough that not everyone who wants one will be able to get one, but I think there are a lot more collectibles (even within the Sailor Moon realm of collecting) that are rarer than these dolls, but the difference is that these dolls are highly desired items. For example, I own a little Super Sailor Moon stamp and it's really nothing that anyone would ever care much about, but I have never seen one on sale anywhere and mine was gifted to me. On the other hand, I have seen Super Sailor Moon sell at least six times and I have seen the other two baby dolls sell at least twice each. I agree that they are rare (and yes, they are extremely rare if you're looking for them in MIB condition), but I think a lot of other things are actually much more difficult to find. In case you were wondering, Super Sailor Chibi Moon is supposed to be the rarest out of the baby moon dolls while the regular Chibi Moon is supposed to be the most common. Super Sailor Moon might just happen to be the one I personally saw the most often.

Q: Which company produced these dolls?
A: They were produced by a toy company called Bandai. This information oddly enough doesn't seem to appear anywhere on the dolls themselves (not even on the backs of their heads or the soles of their feet) but the Bandai logo is clearly printed on the dolls' boxes for those who are lucky enough to still have the boxes. Nakayoshi is a monthly Japanese magazine and I'm not sure what exactly they had to do with the production of these dolls (I am currently trying to find this out for myself and will post the answer if I find it), but if you are looking for them, you should search for "Nakayoshi Sailor Moon baby dolls" rather than "Bandai Sailor Moon baby dolls" because everyone refers to these as the Nakayoshi dolls and it will also help refine your search. Refining your search will help immensely because Bandai made so many different Sailor Moon dolls and you will be sifting through pages and pages of dolls you're not interested in if you input Bandai instead of Nakayoshi on a search engine. Bandai dolls could be practically any Sailor Moon doll ever made but everyone will know exactly what you're looking for if you ask for the Nakayoshi dolls.

Q: Did they make baby dolls of the other sailor senshi?
A: Unfortunately not. I really think they should have at least made a baby Hotaru or baby Saturn considering she actually was a baby in the series, but alas. Only three of these dolls were ever created--regular Chibi Moon, Super Sailor Chibi Moon, and Super Sailor Moon. Why they made two of Chibi Moon and no regular Sailor Moon, I have no idea.

Q: What do these dolls come with?
A: All three of the Nakayoshi baby dolls come with a box, a tiara, a fuku, a pair of gloves, a pair of hair jewels (or odangos in the Chibi Moons' case), a pair of earrings (regular Chibi Moon has regular pink studs while the two super dolls have golden crescent moons), and a pair of bloomers; the two super dolls have hair feathers and shoulder pads; regular Chibi Moon comes with a Luna-P ball; and Super Sailor Chibi Moon comes with a pink plastic Pegasus coin. However, given the rarity of these dolls, it's NOT very likely that you'll get one complete (or in mint condition even if it is complete). My advice is just to be happy to get one at all whatever condition you happen to find it in. These dolls are still adorable and still worthy additions to any collection even when they're damaged and/or missing parts.

Q: Are the boots removable?
A: No, they aren't. I've tested this on my Super Sailor Moon and Super Sailor Chibi Moon so I can definitely say that the boots for these dolls are NOT removable because they're actually a part of the dolls' leg molds. I can't say this with 100% certainty about the regular Chibi Moon doll because I don't have one, but I've seen enough of them to be able to safely assume that they would be the same. If you have any doubts, the best thing I can tell you is to get one and see for yourself.

Q: What are the similarities between all three of these dolls?
A: Their faces, arms, legs, and heads are all made out of the same type of plastic; they all have the same soft bodies; they all have the same type of golden tiaras (the only difference here is that Sailor Chibi Moon has a red jewel instead of the little crescent moons which Super Sailor Chibi Moon and Super Sailor Moon have on theirs); they all have the same type of choker (the only difference here is that Sailor Chibi Moon's is completely pink with a pink heart while Super Sailor Moon and Super Sailor Chibi Moon have golden collars with a pink heart); silky white gloves, silky white in their fukus; white bloomers (made out of cotton or polyester, I think); and similar leg molds (different only because of the color and the fact that Sailor Chibi Moon is lacking the little crescent moons which Super Sailor Chibi Moon and Super Sailor Moon have on theirs).

Q: What are the differences between all three of these dolls (besides the aforementioned differences)?
A: The most obvious differences is that the color schemes are unique to each doll. I'm not going to say too much about that because any Sailor Moon fan already knows what Super Sailor Moon, Sailor Chibi Moon, and Super Sailor Chibi Moon look like, so these dolls only deviated from that in the fact that Super Sailor Chibi Moon and Super Sailor Moon both should have had red bows but don't--Super Sailor Moon's bows are a purplish color while Super Sailor Chibi Moon's are more like a mauve kind of color. They each also have a different expression on their face and there is a height difference between all of them (with Super Sailor Moon being the tallest, Super Sailor Chibi Moon being in the middle, and Sailor Chibi Moon being the shortest). Lastly (and least importantly), Super Sailor Moon didn't come with any extras, but Sailor Chibi Moon is supposed to come with a Luna-P and Super Sailor Chibi Moon is supposed to come with a Pegasus coin.

What are the similarities and differences between Sailor Chibi Moon and Super Sailor Chibi Moon?
There is a YouTube video (which is not mine) which already explains this here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyisZZZywGY

Q: What are the similarities and differences between Super Sailor Moon and Super Sailor Chibi Moon?
A: They both have the same sparkly skirts; the exact same two golden heart brooches; the same golden stripes going through their front ribbons; the exact same shoulder pads and long back bows; the exact same chokers; and the same leg moulds (different only in that Super Sailor Moon's are red while Super Sailor Chibi Moon's are pink). The only differences (besides the expected obvious differences between these two characters for anyone who is at all familiar with them) is the different expressions on their faces, their height, and the fact that Super Sailor Chibi Moon has a Pegasus coin which Super Sailor Moon doesn't have. These two dolls actually seem to have more in common than the two Chibi Moon dolls do.

Q: What is your rating of these dolls?
A: Some people are tempted to give these dolls a perfect score just because of their cuteness, but I wouldn't (as much as I love them). Yes, they are adorable, but in my opinion, they do have their flaws, so I rate each of them as follows:

Super Sailor Moon - 4.4/5 - This one happens to be my favorite so I really hate to say anything negative about her, but a review is pointless unless you're honest about it, right? The face and dress (especially the skirt, shoulder pads, and long back bow) of this doll are extremely beautiful and she is highly sought because of that fact. Personally, I especially LOVE her eyes and they alone are the reason why I had to have her! The little open-mouth smile is also very true to Usagi/Sailor Moon as we often saw her with that exact same smile in the manga and the anime. However, while her hair is of very good quality and the bangs are really cute, there was no attempt to give this doll the odangos that Sailor Moon is supposed to have (as is often the case with most Sailor Moon dolls). There are shots from the anime of what a young Usagi looked like and the hair for this doll just isn't it--she would have been much more accurate with odangos and shorter, curlier hair. The fact that her front bow and the elbow pads are purple instead of red (especially when her boots actually are the proper red) also really bothers me and the golden heart brooch is a major disappointment. Even though it's actually pretty common to see Sailor Moon dolls with only beads for brooches, it's justifiable in those cases because those dolls are usually the smaller ones, but with a doll this size, they really should have attempted to make the real brooch and the doll would have looked absolutely amazing if they had. Unlike the other two dolls, she doesn't come with any additional accessories which puts her at a slight disadvantage compared to the other two dolls, but I doubt most collectors care much (if at all) about that. Despite this flaw or any other flaws this doll has, I still think she's the most beautiful Sailor Moon doll ever made, and clearly I'm not alone in that opinion as a lot of people are dying to own this doll.

Sailor Chibi Moon - 4.7/5 - I'll just get this out of the way right now--the texture and color of this doll's hair are a little gross in my opinion. Her hair is of rather poor quality compared to the other two dolls (especially the Super Sailor Chibi Moon) so there really is no excuse for it. Also, her choker is wrong. However, other than her hair and choker, I think she's the perfect representation of what a baby-fied Sailor Chibi Moon should look like. Unlike the other two dolls, her brooch and her front ribbon are correct, and that earns her major points with me. The Luna-P is also a very nice touch and the doll looks absolutely adorable sitting down holding Luna-P. Unfortunately, most people lose the Luna-P, but since she did come with one, you can't hold that against her.

Super Sailor Chibi Moon - 4.6/5 - She has the same problems as the Super Sailor Moon doll with regards to her golden heart brooch and wrong color ribbon, but her dress is also every bit as gorgeous as the Super Sailor Moon's dress due to the identical skirt, shoulder pads, and long back bow. She and Super Sailor Moon look great together for this reason, and she also looks good with the other Chibi Moon doll as well, but this doll is beautiful enough to stand on her own even if you don't have the other two. Her hair is a much higher quality than the Sailor Chibi Moon doll's and the color of it is better too, but because the hair color is different while the plastic odangos are identical to the other Chibi Moon doll's odangos, the odangos for this doll unfortunately don't match the rest of her hair. As for accessories, I think the Pegasus coin was kind of a lame idea. I mean, I really do understand why they wanted to include Pegasus somehow given Chibi Moon's relationship with him, but really, a coin? For a baby doll? That's one of the most stupid accessory ideas I've ever seen for a doll, just saying! It would have been super cute if Pegasus was a little stuffed toy or even a rubber/plastic one, but alas. My doll was actually missing her Pegasus coin when I got her and now you see why I really don't care too much about it. If you manage to get this doll and all she's missing is the Pegasus coin, then she really isn't missing anything important in my opinion. Oh, and I love the shade of pink that was used in her fuku!

1:46am: Sailor Moon Wish List
Dolls:
Irwin 6'' King Endymion doll
Irwin 11.5'' King Endymion doll
Irwin Super Sailor Moon 6'' doll
Irwin Super Sailor Moon 11.5'' doll (rare yellow box "pretty face" version only)
Irwin 6'' Professor Tomoe doll (must be mint in box)
Irwin 6'' Rubeus doll
Irwin 11.5'' Prince Diamond doll
Irwin 11.5'' Queen Beryl doll
Bandai Super Sailor Saturn Beauty Change Doll (must be mint in box)
Bandai Super Sailor Chibi Moon doll (must be mint in box)
Sailor Moon Mini Collection set containing Sailor Saturn, Sailor Pluto, Sailor Uranus, and Sailor Neptune (I really only want Sailor Saturn and her accessories so I would actually prefer that the other dolls from this set not be included in the deal. I will consider buying the entire set if you have a set that you really don't want to split up, but if I have to buy the entire set, then I would need for all of the dolls to be mint in box and come with all of their original accessories)
Nakayoshi Super Sailor Moon baby doll
Nakayoshi Super Sailor Chibi Moon baby doll

Swing keychains:
Sailor Pluto
Tuxedo Mask
Neo Queen Serenity
Pegasus & Princess Chibi-Usa
Helios
Certain Super Sailor Moon keychains (ask me which ones if you happen to have one available)
Eternal Sailor Moon
Sailor V
Chibi-Usa & Luna-P
Princess Serenity

Finger Puppets (hard plastic):
Neo Queen Serenity
Prince Diamond
Lord Sapphire
Emerald
The Moonlight Knight
Artemis
Luna

Mangas:
Short Stories Volume 1
Short Stories Volume 2
Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon manga volumes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12
Codename: Sailor V manga volumes 1 & 2

Figures
S.H. Figuarts Sailor Moon
S.H. Figuarts Sailor Mercury
S.H. Figuarts Sailor Mars
S.H. Figuarts Sailor Jupiter
S.H. Figuarts Sailor Venus
S.H. Figuarts Sailor Saturn
S.H. Figuarts Sailor Neptune
S.H. Figuarts Sailor Uranus
S.H. Figuarts Tuxedo Mask
S.H. Figuarts Sailor Chibi Moon
Gashapon Sailor Chibi Moon figure sets with Luna or Artemis (I'm only interested in these figure sets for the cats so it doesn't matter about the condition of the Chibi Moon figures or even whether or not they're included in the deal. As long as I get the cats in good condition, I will be happy)
Gashapon Princess Serenity
Gashapon Super Sailor Moon (the one from Set 2 with her arms in the classic pose, folded and pointing her fingers)
Gashapon Super Sailor Chibi Moon candy figure set with Diana sitting or lying down (I am also interested in Diana alone if you happen to have her)
Petit Chara Sailor Saturn A
Petit Chara Sailor Saturn B
Sailor Saturn Atsumete

Other Stuff:
Super S Crisis Brooch (light and sound must still work)
Heart Spiral Rod (light and sound must still work)
Sailor Moon Cosmic Crescent Jewel Box (must come with ring and necklace)
Lunapen (must still be able to write and light up)
The Space Sword from Irwin's first edition 6'' Sailor Uranus dolls (I already have the doll so I only need the Space Sword but I would be willing to buy a second doll if you have a set that you don't want to split up)
The sash for the first edition 6'' Irwin Wicked Lady doll
Proplica Crescent Moon Wand
Proplica Cutie Moon Rod
Proplica star locket
Luna and Artemis tissue box cover

If you own any of these items and you're willing to part with them, please feel free to contact me with an offer; however, I do reserve the right to refuse said offer. I don't guarantee that I'll buy anything just because it happens to be one of my wish list items (and in the condition I require it to be in), but I will at least take a look at what you are selling and make my decision based on the price and condition of your item. Other than the few dolls which I specifically requested to be mint in box, I usually buy collectibles out of box if they are complete with all of their original parts/accessories and have minimal (or no) damage. Some minor damages (ie. light scratches or slightly messy doll hair) can be forgiven but please do not offer me items that are broken, are missing parts/accessories, or have noticeable damage (especially cut hair and/or stained/torn clothes on the dolls) because I only wish to buy items in good condition. Please also make sure that the item does not have any missing or modified/custom parts. For example, all dolls MUST come with their original sailor fukus, gloves, shoes/boots, hair ties, chokers, tiaras, stands, wands, weapons, and anything else that they are supposed to come with. I am also not interested in dolls that are obviously wearing clothes belonging to another doll (ie. a Sailor Moon doll wearing Sailor Mercury's fuku or even a Sailor Moon wearing the outfit of a different version Sailor Moon doll). The only exception to this rule is that if you took parts/accessories from a doll to "complete" another doll, the two dolls would have to be the same character and the same version of the doll in order for me to still be interested in buying the complete one.

Thank you.

11:42pm: Sailor Moon Collection
PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL OF THESE ITEMS BELONG TO MY PERSONAL COLLECTION, THEREFORE NOTHING YOU SEE HERE IS FOR SALE, TRADE, OR GIVE-AWAY UNLESS I SAY SO!

Now with that said, on to the collection! :)

These are the most recent pictures of my collection. I do have a few more things poked away, but just about everything (with the sole exception of my magnets) that I keep on display is here. For the most part, I tried to get 2'', 6'', and 11.5'' versions of all of the sailor senshi produced by Irwin, but I also bought the Super Sailor Saturn Dream Pocket doll and Excellent Team Sailor Saturn doll because Sailor Saturn is my favorite sailor senshi and favorite anime character of all time. I'd really love to have all of the Sailor Saturn dolls someday. Anyway, the 6'' versions of my dolls are all first production runs so most of them have ugly faces and/or errors (ie. Sailor Mars, Jupiter, and Venus wearing knee-length boots instead of their correct footware, Sailor Pluto's silver fuku, and Sailor Neptune's and Uranus' elbow-length colored gloves) while my 11.5'' dolls are the newer pretty-faced dolls with correct outfits. As I am far from finished collecting, the collection will continue to change and grow.



First up is my collection of Hotaru/Sailor Saturn figures and dolls. She's not only my favorite Sailor Moon character but my favorite anime character period so these pieces mean a lot to me. Saturn merchandise unfortunately tends to be rare which makes it all the more special and I'm happy to be able to share it with people.



You can't really see my Chibi-Chibi keychain because she sits in Tuxedo Mask's hat on top of all the doll wands, so here is a closer look at her in all her cuteness:



My collection began with this simple set of six dolls: Sailor Moon, Sailor Mercury, Sailor Mars, Sailor Jupiter, Sailor Venus, and Queen Beryl, with Sailor Venus being the very first one that I got. How my collection has grown since then!



Most of the doll accessories:



And here are the aforementioned magnets. These are SM World magnets. I also have a spare one of Saturn that I might consider selling or trading, but if I did that, she would come used and out of package.



This Tuxedo Mask and Sailor Chibi Moon are a little different from the rest of my 6'' Irwin dolls because these two came with holes in their shoes and spinning red bases.



Sailor Saturn is my favorite character, but unfortunately Irwin never officially produced a 6'' version doll of her (although they did produce 6'' dolls of all the other planet senshi and oddly enough even her father). Well, Irwin may have left her out, but I certainly didn't want to, so I ordered a custom 6'' Irwin style Sailor Saturn doll from the wonderful Setsuna Kou, and here she is!



This is a custom 2'' SD Wicked Lady which my husband bought me for Christmas and she was also made by Setsuna Kou:



This Princess Serenity doll hopefully does not look like it, but she is part custom as well because she was a doll that I had to do my best to restore with some new parts. I bought her secondhand from eBay and she came with messy hair, no bracelet, and a ruined bead crown (because the crown was wrapped around her neck like a necklace which over-stretched the elastic to the point where it was too loose to put back in her hair and on the verge of snapping). I wound up throwing out the old elastic since it was no good anymore and I restrung the beads for her crown with fishing line. lol Fishing line seems to be an improvement to the elastic because it's so easy to thread through the beads, and unlike elastic, it will never wither and never rot, so I also made her bead bracelet using the fishing line, but the beads in her bracelet are actually new beads. I looked at other 11.5'' Irwin Princess Serenity dolls so I could buy a close match to the beads that the doll was supposed to come with and I actually managed to find an exact match at Wal*Mart. Funny story, I went into our local Wal*Mart expecting not to find the beads (because Wal*Mart doesn't exactly specialize in bead art), and I especially didn't expect to find the beads when I saw that the crafts section was under renovations, but there they were, and not only were they the only beads available at that time, but they were called Blue Moon Beads. lol Meant to be? I don't know, but I do know that my husband and I had a good laugh when I came out! So I put her back to rights and I think she looks almost as good as new! I don't know if a restored doll is worth as much as one with all original parts but I guess that doesn't matter so much given the fact that my Princess Serenity doll is not for sale and hopefully never will be.



My wands, compacts, and music box:



The insides of my lockets/music boxes:



Inner senshi extender pens:



This is a Korean star locket and the box has some damage, but it's still the pride and joy of my collection. This is something I've always wanted because I've always loved the star locket, especially the locket song, but they were never sold in any Newfoundland stores and they were selling for horrible prices on eBay (which only continue to rise, by the way, because now my locket is worth twice as much what I paid for it), so I had to wait a long time before I could finally buy one. I finally did so as a treat to myself when Amber passed away, so the locket and its song always remind me of her now.



This is another one of my favorite pieces in my collection, the very rare Dancing Crystal Mirage music box! This extra rare version of the music box also includes a Super Sailor Chibi Moon figure and a dream mirror whereas the other version only has a Super Sailor Moon figure. When you open the drawer, the music starts and the two figures will dance in circles around each other in front of the dream mirror. This music box is one of the most gorgeous things I've ever seen, Sailor Moon-related or otherwise, and I wanted one for years before I was finally able to buy one. I especially love the fact that this music box plays "Moonlight Densetsu" even better than the star locket does! Please don't ask me where you can get one of these because if you've already tried eBay or the SMCollector community and still haven't found one, I don't know where else you can get one and mine is absolutely NOT for sale. Like I said, they're very rare. They don't come cheap either! Anyway, here it is:



This silver crystal replica is very special because it was only given out to fans who went to see the premier showing of the Sailor Moon R movie. I got mine and another one for a friend for ten dollars each! Best deal I ever got on Sailor Moon collectibles!



I also have these finger puppets. Most of them are not on display because I think they're as ugly as sin to be honest, but they came as a set and the reason why I bought them is because Sapphire happens to be my favorite villain and this is the only piece of official merchandise I've ever seen of him. I really wish that they had done a better job of making this figure for that reason, but what can you do?



Last but certainly not least, I have these adorable Luna and Artemis plushes. These are Bandai's version of the plushes, not the Irwin releases that used to be sold here in Newfoundland, and I do believe they're smaller than the Irwin ones. I don't collect plushes (mainly because I don't have the space for them and I prefer much collectibles that can be stood up on display) but I made an exception for these little guys because I love the cats (especially Artemis) and I've been wanting to get a Luna and Artemis plush set for a long time. I'm very happy that they're small enough to fit in my cabinet and that they can sit up on their own. :)



...And that's the collection. I hope you enjoyed it. :) 'Bye now!

-- R.D.

2:58am: Writer's Block: ONTD Games Giveaway


Probably Rydia from Final Fantasy IV or Link from The Legend of Zelda series.

2:32pm: Writer's Block: Love Me Tender


I love just about everything Elvis ever recorded, but "Are You Lonesome Tonnight?" is my favorite of all.

-- R.D.

8:49pm: Some food, or rather kitties, for thought.
Dear Journal, I have to be honest in admitting I never really thought too much of the whole stupid "unlucky" black cat superstition or black cats as being witches' familiars, but after reading this article, it really opened my eyes. If these ridiculous stereotypes are actually harmful to black cats, maybe it's time we tried to stop them. I, for one, will never be buying another Halloween decoration with a black cat on it and hope that others will do the same. For those of you who haven't read the article (written by pets.ca), you can find it under the cut. ( BLACK CATSCollapse )

10:15pm: 1 John 2:15-17
Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.

The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.

11:06pm: It's just what I've always wanted... a crystal porcupine!
I am now the proud owner of a Swarovski crystal porcupine. :/ lol No, it wasn't a Christmas gift. It was something I've actually wanted for a very long time (at least a decade), so I finally went out and bought one. Strange taste? Yes, but I like things that are a little different. It also used to be my favorite animal when I was younger. It even comes with a neat little certificate of authenticity and cleaning instructions. Yay. Anyway, I'll post more about the holidays later.

-- R.D.

9:56pm: Happy birthday.
Happy birthday, Don (and Hello Kitty)! The big 3-0's coming up next year!

-- R.D.

10:15pm: All's well that ends well...
Well, journal, I know that I've been neglecting you lately, but I do Special Education full-time and I've been very, very busy with that. One of the things I've been busy with is preparing myself for the exam in my assessment course. Since the other section had written the exam before us and had said that it was brutal, I studied harder, harder than I think I've ever studied before. Then came the exam. I did okay with the multiple-choice questions, but they were only worth 38 of the total 50 marks, there were also two short-answer questions which were each worth 6. One of the short-answer questions threw me completely for a loop (because I didn't even know what it was referring to and the professor just repeated the question when I asked him about it) and I wasn't feeling too confident about the other one either. Anyway, to make a long story short, I was pretty bummed about it all week, to have studied so hard only to get screwed over by one question that happened to be worth a lot, so I talked to my professor about it and he assured me that I had done "very, very well" and "better than most people." So I was thinking that it couldn't have been so bad after all if I did better than most of the others, but then as soon as our professor came into class, one of the first things out of his mouth was that "the test was done badly" so doing better than the others didn't necessarily mean that I did so well myself. Unfortunately, he didn't give the exams back that night so we were left to worry about it.

Tonight, however, I was in another class but was told that our professor had posted the marks on his office door. So upstairs I went and who got the top two marks in the class but me and Nadine. What a relief! How exactly that happened, I still don't know, but I thank God because I NEEDED for it to happen and if you knew what this week was like for me you'd understand that. I mean, having your very best effort result in disappointment just because of one stupid little thing would be enough to make anyone feel like it's useless to even try. Now, to be perfectly honest, I had actually intended to do slightly better than the mark I got (because it's an A but a low A), so maybe even though you don't always get exactly what you want in life despite how hard you try for it, you'll at least get what you really need.

And I'm not gonna lie--it feels pretty damn good. It's also really funny because Nadine and I are in there with a bunch of experienced teachers who have a heck of a lot more years of teaching experience than we do, but here we are at the top of the class. And I hope to stay there. *Knocks on wood.*

-- R.D.

10:04pm: Rest in peace, Mrs. Penney.
Dear Journal, I really don't have time to write a lengthy entry right now with two exams this week (one on Wednesday and another on Thursday), but I just found out that one of my high school teachers has suddenly passed away after a bout of cancer. To be perfectly honest, Mrs. Penney was not one of my favorite teachers. She wasn't always nice to me, and she really made me feel like an idiot at times simply for not understanding how to do something, but then again, one of the courses she taught me was sewing class and I was hopeless at that, so I can understand how she lost patience sometimes. Some people had much better experiences in the class than I did. Anyway, she also taught me a nutrition course and that's when I learned how it's better to breastfeed and why. I also learned about what kinds of things to feed your baby as he/she gets older. I also remember having to taste the damn stuff. :P Whether or not I'll ever get to use that information, I don't know, but at least I took something away from it all. I also tend to think more about nutritional value and vitamins because of her. Heh, come to think of it, I guess I actually learned more from her than I originally thought. But regardless of how I felt about her as a teacher, the fact still remains that she WAS my teacher and of course I would never wish this kind of tragedy on anyone. She was a young woman and this is a very sad thing to have happened. It feels strange and a little surreal to think that she's actually dead. I can't help but feel at least a little bit sad. Rest in peace, Mrs. Penney.

-- R.D.

11:08pm: Liberals are all but completely finished in Newfoundland and Labrador!
Dear Journal, 43/47 seats for the Progressive Conservative Party and I couldn't be happier! What a victory! And what a loss for the Liberals! To think that Liberals were once the governing party here in Newfoundland and Labrador for so many years... winning only three of the seats is nothing short of pathetic. Gerry Reid (their leader) didn't even win his own seat! That'll tell ya just how sick Newfoundlanders are of rotten Liberals. We're sick of all the lying, all the stealing, and all the selling us out to the feds. We've had enough of it! For some reason, Reid said that the Liberals were "down but not out," which is the exact same thing Roger Grimes (the Liberal leader at the time) said the last time the Liberals lost to Danny William's team of Progressive Conservatives. Ummm... yes, Liberals, you ARE down AND out, and it's about damn time! DOWN WITH LIBERALS!

Thank God Danny Williams will be our premier for another four years, because he's the best thing that's happened to this province in a long time. I don't know why people talk so much crap about him.

"He only wants power." Ummm... the man is a millionaire... what power do you think he didn't already have? Money is power, sorry to say.

"He was born with a silver spoon in his mouth so he can't relate to the rest of us poor Newfoundlanders." Not true at all. Danny Williams is a self-made millionaire. Why do people begrudge him what he earned through his own hard work and genius? He grew up in the same kind of conditions the rest of us did, but he managed to rise above it. Good for him. He hasn't forgotten where he comes from and he wants to help this province be successful like he is when he could be off somewhere enjoying his millions. Instead, he wants to use his talents to try to turn things around for Newfoundland, and yet people hate him so much for this. Smarten up!

"He runs the province like a business." And this is a bad thing because...?! Honestly, why is it a bad thing to run the province like a business if that's what works? And it does! It's working! If you're not open to trying new ways of doing things, you'll never succeed. Remember, Danny was extremely successful in business!

"The only reason why he donates his paycheque to charity is because he doesn't need it anyway and it makes him look good." Uh... let me get this straight... you're going to criticize the man for working for free?! Whether or not he needs the money is irrelevant. Like anyone else, he's entitled to get paid for his work. Wouldn't you want to get paid for working a full-time job? It also isn't really anyone's business what he does with his paycheque, and if he was really so greedy, he could just as easily be taking that money for himself, adding it to his millions, but he doesn't, he gives it to CHARITY. However, speaking of greed and people who are out for only themselves, let's not forget what one of the first acts of one Mr. Brian Tobin (Liberal, of course) was when he became premier--to increase the premier's salary! Naturally! Why didn't people complain about THAT even half as much as they criticize Danny Williams for donating his paycheque to charity?!

I think it's very sad that people feel the need to try to attack Danny Williams simply because he's a successful businessman. They're jealous of him and when election time comes around, oppositional parties try to play on that jealousy to turn people against him. If anything, I think we should be very proud of someone like Danny who shows us that Newfoundlanders can be successful. He'd be a good role model for people to follow if they'd get over their petty jealousy. In the meantime, I for one, am glad to have someone with his intelligence and track record running the province. Most importantly, I'm glad Mr. Williams is still our premier because he actually sticks up for Newfoundland and isn't afraid to go against the federal government even when he belongs to the same political party as the feds. Danny Williams wants what's best for Newfoundland, not what's best for the federal political party. How many Liberals can say the same? John Efford? Brian Tobin? Those two traitors were lucky they weren't tarred and feathered when they came back here from Ottawa.

The people of Newfoundland and Labrador chose wisely. Or at least, most of us did, anyway.

-- R.D.

10:33pm: What's wrong with parents today?
Dear Journal, did you ever notice that the names that parents give kids are getting weirder and weirder? Gwyneth Paltrow receives incessant criticism for naming her little girl Apple, but when I was on the bus, there was this woman and her little niece, and the little girl's name was Ocean. Now, I know that the ocean is very dear to Newfoundlanders with it being an island and all, but come on now... when did we start naming our kids after objects? And why? Normally, I'm all for being unique and everything, but I think it's a sin to name kids stuff like this because they're the ones who have to live with it and they're going to be hearing about it for the rest of their lives (or at least until adulthood when they can finally change it if they want to). I guess some parents just don't want their kids to be like everyone else, but you know what? Sometimes it's good to be like everyone else. I never thought I'd say that, but it's true. There's some safety and some security that comes along with it. I mean, if Gwyneth had decided to name her little girl anything but Apple, would people be talking about that poor little girl half as much? If you really insist on giving your kid a unique name, the least you could do is make up a name yourself instead of picking out frigging dictionary words. A dictionary was never intended to be a book of baby names because your children are not objects, they're HUMAN BEINGS and they deserve human NAMES. Would it really be all THAT bad to just give your kid a normal name? Geez. If the person really wants a bizarre name, let them give it to themselves later in life. Don't subject them to it when they're young and likely to become targets of bullying.

Another thing Cathy and I saw tonight was teenage girls with legs like toothpicks and another girl with a skirt that just barely covered her ass. WHAT is wrong with parents today? Weird names is one thing, but what are we letting happen to little girls? Dressed like little prostitutes and starved half to death. I would be very surprised if that one girl I saw wasn't anorexic because I could actually see the bones in her collar, very clearly. That's very sad and I feel sorry for these girls. They have such pressure on them to be thin and show skin that they don't care what it does to them. That girl with the short skirt ought to be especially careful because there's been so much rape and attacks on women on the go lately. Shame, shame on the parents for allowing this and endangering their daughters' lives. They all need help!

One good thing about the evening is this coin Cathy got me, though. It was made by the Canadian Mint for the 1984 Papal visit to Newfoundland. Therefore, the Basilica is on one side of the coin and the Pope is on the other, and it's in its original packaging. ^_^ Very cool. Anyways, time to get some schoolwork done and then it's off to bed.

-- R.D.

12:25pm: She is the one named Sailor...
Dear Journal, even though there's been a lot going on lately, I just haven't had the time to write. Lately, my life has been eat, sleep, and read. This weekend alone, there was over 150 pages of material to read. Needless to say, I've got more to do so I'll make this short.

Lately, I've been watching episodes of "Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon" whenever I get a free minute and I've finally finished watching it, right up to the very end of "Sailor Stars". I watched more "B.S.S.M." in these past few months than I've ever watched before in my life and loved every moment of it. Hey, don't look at me like that. :P If you're younger than forty, then don't sit there and pretend like YOU didn't watch it, too. I know very few people who didn't. And why not? The show was awesome. Kudos to Naoko Takeuchi for managing to keep things interesting for 200+ episodes. Anyway, I was a pretty big fan of it when I was younger, but I kind of stopped watching it just after Rubeus died. So all these years, I kind of wished I had watched the entire series, so I finally did. I got a hold of all the episodes past 60 and watched them, the subtitled versions, naturally. Eventually, I'd like to go back and watch subtitled versions of the first sixty episodes as well, but that'll have to wait. In the meantime, though, it feels pretty good to have seen the whole series in one format or another. I actually understand the whole Pegasus saga now. :P It really is a wonderful show, though. I mean, it's one of very shows that's about the empowerment of young girls and women while men take the backseat for once. You still have Tuxedo Mask rescuing Sailor Moon, but they rescue each other, so there's nothing wrong with that. It just gets tiring seeing women constantly victimized and helpless and always having to rely on the men in their lives to rescue them. I also like the fact that the most powerful sailor senshi is not the main character, Sailor Moon, but Sailor Saturn.

I am disappointed about one thing, though. They really underplayed Sailor Saturn, who happens to be my favorite character. She's a character with SO much potential! With great power comes great responsibility, and nobody shows that better than Saturn. Hotaru has a very deep personality which is never fully explored, and if she's capable of destroying the world just as Sailor Saturn (which she is), then as Super Sailor Saturn, she must have the powers of a goddess! Even so, though, she only appears as a sailor senshi in a few of the episodes, and even then, she doesn't see much action. We see her use her Silent Wall (which is more of a defence than an attack--Saturn just holds up her Silence Glaive, yells "Silent Wall!", and a force field that's the length of the glaive is created) and she does something else called "Silence Glaive Surprise" to Queen Nehelenia, but I'm not entirely sure what exactly it did. I think it just cancelled out the spell that Nehelenia was currently putting on Usagi. I guess Saturn is meant to be the last line of defence and that's why she has the power she has--it's powerful enough to destroy a world, but also a double-edged sword that can only be used as a last resort. When Sailor Moon is unable to undergo the second transformation into Super Sailor Moon and Sailor Saturn thus feels that it's up to her now because she's the only one powerful enough to save the world, she also does Death Ribbon Revolution (which is Saturn's ultimate attack--she releases the power of death in order to take out the enemy, even though she'll also lose her own life in the process), but of course, the only time this attack is used, it happens OFF-SCREEN. ~_~ I mean, come on now, if Saturn's gonna use her ultimate attack, at least let us see it! Not showing it by covering it up with clouds is just altogether cheap. Talk about robbing Saturn of her moment in the spotlight! I guess they thought that this was okay, because Hotaru already had a lot of power even in her human form, but I still don't feel that they did her justice. Saturn wasn't even give a henshin (transformation) sequence, but even the Sailor Starlights have those! Heck, the Starlights each have TWO for that matter, but they can't give Saturn one? And then Sailor Mercury got a special bonus episode that was all about her and gave her a new special attack and even a special transformation sequence. I mean, hello... what's so special about HER that she supposedly deserves her own episode outside the main plot of the show while absolutely no one else gets one? As if she doesn't get to show off enough as it already is! Mercury is on the show ALL the time and often gets to be the one to save the day, so we really didn't need an extra episode highlighting her. The special should have been about Sailor Saturn because she wasn't even in the Sailor Moon Super S movie while EVERY other sailor (planet) senshi was! At this rate, the only way the producers could have been any more unfair to Sailor Saturn would have been not to have had her in the series at all. She's used as nothing more than a plot device (on more than one occasion) and that's really sad.

Anyways, in spite of all that, I do still love the series. Somehow, it feels like I watched so much more of it back in the day, but I actually watched about three quarters of it just now. I'm not sure why that is exactly. Watching it again was almost like a trip back to the past, though, maybe because the show was a pretty important part of my teenage years. In a way, it was nice, but in another way, it just reminds me of how much things have changed since then, not all of it bad, mind you. Things change for a reason, but sometimes it's nice to visit pieces of the past once in a while. Hurray for Sailor Moon.

-- R.D.

11:59pm: Written by a parent who is trying to describe what it is like to have a child with a disability...
( Welcome to Holland...Collapse )

1:16pm: Random quote from a newspaper
"Show me a gambler and I'll show you a loser; show me a hero and I'll show you a corpse." -- Mario Puzo

I think there's a lot of truth to that statement, even now. Maybe especially now. :/ Anyway, it's just a little food for thought.

-- R.D.

2:53pm: *Declares my journal a non-smoking zone.*
Dear Journal, you know what's annoying? When you're waiting for a bus, and you can't wait for it anywhere in peace without someone else coming along and starting to blow cigarette smoke in your face. The place I'm referring to in particular is the Village Mall. There are "No smoking past this point" signs around EVERYWHERE, but do you think people care about that? Of course not. As SOON as people get outside, they can't wait to light up their precious smokes. NO consideration whatsoever for the fact that not everyone around them wants to have to breathe in their dirty, toxic fumes. I must have tried standing in at least five different spots trying to get away from it, but no matter where I went, sure enough another smoker would come along and start puffing away. There was just no getting away from it! Everywhere you looked, there they were. I was actually beginning to wonder if suddenly the whole world except me weren't smokers! I had half a mind not to light up myself and start blowing it in some of their faces to see how they like it, because it's all fine and good as long as the smoke is your own, but heaven forbid you should have to put up with anyone else's.

I can understand why they would want to stay as close to the doorway as possible when it's raining and otherwise lousy weather, but on a beautiful day like today, there was just no excuse for it. I don't know why they can't just stay out of the smoke-free zones so other people around them can actually breathe. I mean, if a smoker wants to poison his or her own lungs with that stuff, that's their prerogative, but nobody has any right to do it to someone else who is trying to keep their lungs healthy. My lungs are bad enough with asthma, not to mention that I'm allergic to cigarette smoke to boot and I'm currently battling a flu. Honestly, why should I have to suffer just because someone else got addicted to a dirty, disgtusting habit? Whatever you choose to do is fine as long as it doesn't harm anyone else, but this is something that does.

I know a lot of smokers have the attitude that "As long as I'm outside, I can smoke anywhere I please", but that's not true when you're on privately owned property and there are areas specifically designated as no-smoking areas. I also know that a lot of smokers also have the "If you don't like it, then go somewhere else" attitude, but that doesn't work either when I did try going place after place after place, these places mostly being those supposedly no-smoking-allowed areas I mentioned and smokers still followed me everywhere I went. ~_~ I don't think having a small area to go where you don't have to put up with someone else's damn cigarette smoke is too much to ask. I also know that not ALL smokers are necessarily this bad and this disrespectful, but those who are seriously need to back off. As it was, I was a little too tempted to start telling people to get the fuck away from me with their damn cigarettes. Nasty? Yes, but I was just sick of trying over and over, again and again to get away from cigarette smoke only to no avail, and when you're sick and your bus is a full half hour late, you can see why it was getting it on my nerves. Enough was just enough. Certain people need to realize that they're not the only ones on this Earth.

-- R.D.

8:58pm: Half a century old and a quarter of a century old...
Happy birthday to my Aunt Kathleen who is turning fifty today. It's kind of a big moment for the family as a whole, because Kathleen is the baby of the family, so now they're all in their fifties.

However, today is also Nadine's twenty-fifth birthday, so happy birthday to her as well. :)

-- R.D.

10:28pm: Up the bell tower of the Basilica!
Dear Journal, today was one of the scariest yet one of the best days of my life. I got to do something that very, VERY few people get to do--I was up in the ceiling and the east bell tower of the Basilica of St. John the Baptist, a national site and the head Roman Catholic church of our province! It's WAY too dangerous to be taking members of the general public up there, but I'm an employee, so there are certain perks that go along with that. :P

The man who took me and a few other tour guides up there will remain nameless, but he was kind enough to take us up there on his lunch break. Originally, he had only gone up on the balcony to hang a banner from it, but he left the door to the balcony unlocked on his way up, so we (the tour guides) kind of followed him up there because we'd never been up there before, and then it turned into this thing where he was showing us the ceiling, and before you knew it, we were climbing up the bell tower. We kind of took advantage of the poor man, to be honest. :/ lol Because one thing just lead to another and another until we were standing on top of a 150 foot high bell tower. But it's not like we didn't have our boss' permission to go up there--he'd been promising us all summer that he'd let us go up the tower someday, so what's the harm in someone else finally taking up there? Especially when it's someone who knows that particular area better than our boss does and therefore told us exactly where to walk in order to stay safe. Even the ceiling is a pretty dangerous place. There's a wooden catwalk up there and you have to stay on it, because if you step anywhere else, you'll fall down through the plaster ceiling. At one point, the guy pulled up one of the potlights to show us where exactly where we were, and we were right above the altar, above the main pendant drop for those of you who know what the Basilica looks like. You wouldn't believe how much graffiti is up there, though. Names of the workers, no doubt, but easily over a hundred names, I would say. In order to get to the ceiling, however, you actually have to go through the door on either side of the church organ, which is the largest instrument in Newfoundland, so I can also say that I've been inside the largest instrument in the province!

Next, we started going up the east bell tower, so we got to see the tower clock from the inside and it's also this tower that has the massive two-tonne St. John bell that rings almost every day around twelve o'clock. In fact, when we were up there, we had lost track of the time, and when we realized how close to twelve it was, we had to hurry back down a floor or two because if we had been up on the same floor as the bell when it started to ring, we could have been deafened, literally. In fact, we were in the tower when the St. John bell started ringing, but we were well enough below it to be safe. That was a close call. It was kinda scary to hear the bell from so close, though, because you can also hear the hammer hitting the bell to make it ring, and that's a big thumping sound that almost makes it sound like the bell is going to come crashing down at any moment. Later, we made it ring just a little bit with our bare hands when we all hit it at once. That was kinda neat. It's a very pretty bell, too, with an Irish harp design on it as well as the name of its creator, James Murphy of Ireland, so it's rather a shame that nobody ever gets to see it, but as I said, it's simply too dangerous.

Just one floor above the bell is a ladder that leads to the hatch leading to outdoors. Now I'll admit that at this particular point in the journey, I nearly chickened out, because it's a small wooden VERTICAL ladder that doesn't even reach all the way outdoors because of the hatchdoor. On top of this, I am VERY phobic about heights and was already plenty scared enough as it was when we were just up in the ceiling. So to come this far up in the tower was already terrifying, and I was about to tell the rest of the group that I would refrain from going the entire way up. But then it hit me--getting to go up there is a very rare privilege and a wonderful opportunity. This was one of those once-in-a-lifetime kind of opportunities and it was either now or never. I could either do this or I could spend the rest of my life regretting having given up the chance. My fear wasn't unjustified, though--it is extremely dangerous up there, and the guy was like, "For GOD'S sake, guys, be CAREFUL up here"--but you can't allow yourself to miss out on some of the best things in life. Sometimes you just have to take the chance. You can either die living or you can live dying, so I went up. I mean, if you're up this far, you might as well go the WHOLE way, right? You don't want to go home and have to tell people that you chickened out at the very end--it would have been better not to go up there at all than to come home with a story like that. It's one thing to be afraid, and it's only natural to be afraid in a situation like this whether you're phobic about heights or not, but you can't let your fears run your life and make you miss out on things, and I always try to live by that principle. I've gone on roller-coasters, various other theme park rides, planes, and now I've even gone to the very top of the Basilica's bell tower.

So there I was, 150 feet up in the air, outside, looking down at the city of St. John's surrounding us, and more scared than I've ever been in my entire life. The platform on the tower is only a very small (eight square foot) area and is NOT safe to be walking around, so we all stayed right in the middle, clinging to the wooden cross up there (and to each other) for dear life. Back when I was up in the ceiling of the Basilica, I called my grandmother on my cellphone saying, "Nan, you'll never guess where I'm calling from--the ceiling of the Basilica!" but I decided it might be a good idea to refrain from calling again to tell her where I was when I was 150 feet up in the air and standing outside on top of the tower. :P

Coming down was the worst part, though. Since the ladder doesn't come outside at all, you have to sit on the edge of the hole, put your feet down there, and hope that you get a firm foothold on the top rung. I was the most nervous person up there, so I had two of my co-workers holding onto my arms while they lowered me safely down onto the ladder (to keep me from FALLING down through the opening) and another co-worker went down before me to guide me down the rest of the way. Oh, and managing to get away from the bell before it rang wasn't the only close call we had today because as SOON as all the tour guides were safely back inside the tower and the guy was closing the hatch behind us, this heavy, heavy rain and HAILSTONES started! The hatch wasn't even completely shut before it started so that'll tell you just how close it was, and we didn't know it was going to happen, we were just going back inside anyway. At one point, I was up on top of the tower, I was becoming overwhelmed with fear and had said, "God in Heaven, protect me!" and obviously, He did just that, because it would have been extremely difficult for us to get back down safely if we had to do in that kind of weather, what with everything being slippery and all and the water getting in our eyes. So thank you, Lord, for seeing fit to spare all our lives. Thank you for holding off that terrible weather until we were all back safely inside the building.

Anyway, that's my story, and afraid as I was, I am very proud of it. :) I'm proud to be able to say that I overcame my fear and forced myself to do this because it was SO worth it! And if I had to do it all over again, I would! This was a wonderful opportunity and a real treat to us tourguides. I still can't say that I've been ALL over the building now, because I think the place has more nooks and crannies than any one person even knows about, but it is quite the honor and privilege to have seen more of the building than most other people ever have or ever will. Tomorrow is another day, though, and I do need my sleep so goodnight, everybody.

-- R.D.

11:43pm: Mark helped break the Regatta Record.
Well, dear Journal, I didn't go to this year's annual Royal Regatta, but a record was broken this year for having the fastest time getting across the pond ever, and I'm very proud to know one of the guys on the team, Mark Hayward. Our parents know each other and I've known him all my life. Way to go, Mark! We're all proud of ya.

-- R.D.

11:39pm: Who let the dogs out?
Okay, so that subject header was admittedly cheese, but I gotta ask, WHY do people insist on having the most VICIOUS kinds of dogs possible?! Does it make them feel cool or something? And if, for some reason, you just HAVE to own such a beast, WHAT would possess you to allow it anywhere NEAR a CHILD?! "Oh, this dog would never hurt anyone, blah, blah, blah". We've all heard all the old excuses before. But go tell them to the couple whose granddaughter was just mauled to death by their ever-so-harmless Rottweiler-German shepherd mix.

Apparently, this dog had no prior history of volatile behavior. I'm sure that's a REAL big comfort right now to the grieving parents--their daughter is DEAD, but the dog who tore her apart never did that before! Oops! Seriously, no matter the dog's history, WHAT the hell were the grandparents thinking?! Dogs ARE animals, they rely on BASIC INSTINCTS, and CAN turn on you in an instant. These people had a mix breed of two of the most vicious types of dogs in the world! Did they honestly not know what these dogs were originally breed for or what?! Hello... German shepherds and rottweilers are ATTACK dogs, THAT's what they're BREED for. All this nonsense about it being all about how you raise the dog is exactly that--nonsense! I'm sorry, but it is in these dogs' GENETICS to be prone to violent tendencies, and if they are not properly controlled, they are DEADLY animals, especially to CHILDREN.

Mind you, I don't blame the dog. The dog obviously couldn't help being born into the world. It is also possible that the child did something to provoke the dog into attacking, especially if it never behaved this way before. Personally, I blame the grandparents. They were the irresponsible ones here. They had to know what kind of a dog they decided to bring into their home, and it was beyond ignorance to EVER even CONSIDER allowing that animal near their grandchild! Why does it take a death before anything is ever done about a potential problem? It's not as if they didn't know that a major threat existed--having this dog around was every bit as dangerous as leaving a loaded gun around--and a few simple precautions with regards to handling this animal could have saved a life, in this case, their granddaughter's. It's also a shame that this dog is going to have to die now as well (as it's going to be put down) because of the OWNERS' failure to keep it under control. This dog couldn't have known that what it was doing was wrong, but it is going to have to pay the ultimate price nonetheless because its owners didn't have the sense to keep it away from their granddaughter.

I felt a similar amount of disgust one afternoon when I was volunteering at the school I did my internship at. It was three o'clock, the children were getting out of school, and when I looked out the window, there was a woman there with a DOBERMAN. ~_~ Now, the dog was on a leash, but that's not the point. She had absolutely NO business bringing a DOBERMAN on the school grounds and as far as I'm concerned, she should have been asked to get that highly dangerous dog OFF the premises! One of the children is severely allergic to dogs, but besides that, all that has to happen is for one of those trusting little children to go over to try to pet that dog and they could lose their hand! You might think I'm exaggerating, but all it takes is a minute or less for some serious damage to be done, and how exactly was this woman going to do to get an animal like this back under control if it chose to disobey and attack in spite of her commands? I assume the woman was there to pick up a child and I guess in her "brilliant" mind, she thought it would be a good opportunity to walk her dog as well, but there IS a proper time and place for everything, and this was neither! The school grounds was no place for a dog of any kind, much less a rottweiler, and certainly not at three o'clock when all the children are getting out.

Honestly, is there REALLY any need for this? I don't think so, and if there is, I'd sure like to hear it! After being threatened by a rottweiler myself (who was out wandering around town all by himself, I might add), maybe my opinion is at least a little bit biased, but I can certainly understand why people are pushing to get these vicious breeds of dogs banned! Like I said, I certainly don't blame the animals because they don't have the intelligence to know what they're doing and it's not their fault that they were breed the way they were, but if they can't be controlled and KEPT AWAY FROM CHILDREN, then maybe we really do need to banish them. Cruel as that sounds, human children have to come first before dogs. What does it say about us when we're putting ANIMALS before our CHILDREN? Society as a whole really needs to get its priorities straight.

-- R.D.

5:29pm: Happy Memorial/Canada Day.
Dear Journal, as much as I think that more attention ought to be paid to the fact that today commemorates the loss of ninety-two percent of our Newfoundland Regiment, the fact of the matter is that most people are more concerned with celebrating the creation of a country which currently treats Newfoundland like garbage and is bleeding us dry of all of our resources. It isn't Memorial Day anywhere else but Newfoundland so I guess you can't blame the rest of the country for celebrating, but I would highly recommend that other Newfoundlanders, in the midst of all the celebration going on around them, take a moment to remember our fallen who gave up so much for this island, which is obviously more than can be said for our federal government.

-- R.D.