I know there are a bunch of One Piece fans on my flist. Lately, I've been on a One Piece re-reading jag (reading the whole manga again from the beginning in Japanese, since I originally watched the anime and/or read the manga in English). It's slow going, but coming along (up to volume 15 now!). And as I read, I find myself with more and more One Piece questions bouncing around in my head, and I started writing down notes, and now the document is at 28 pages and growing, er.

Anyway, I kind of want to do something this month or next to commemorate starting One Piece this time last year, and I was thinking of doing some sort of read-along meme. So, I'm curious:

( Questions for anyone who's interested (100% spoiler free) )

I have a confession to make: I am addicted to TV shows about hoarding.

Looking back, I'm surprised this has never come up in any of my posts about decluttering and organizing. The topic (hoarding) came up in a comment thread on another post on an unrelated topic, and I promised I would take it to an independent post of its own.

( A little background )

Recently hoarding has been a popular topic for TV reality shows (Hoarders on A&E; Hoarding: Buried Alive on TLC). Hoarding: Buried Alive is the one that lives on my Tivo, though I think the shows are pretty similar. Normally I loathe reality TV with a passion, but when the topic is hoarding, I can't look away.

More than one person has commented to me that they can't understand how a person can derive entertainment from watching others who are suffering from a debilitating illness, which I can completely understand. I guess I don't think of it as being entertained by suffering, but rather as an opportunity to learn from a fellow sufferer. I almost never get to the end of one of those shows that I don't go off and tackle some small pile I've been meaning to declutter. If someone else has the courage and determination to sort through piles of stuff that reach the ceiling, surely I can do something about the mess in the spare room.

Do you watch shows or read books about hoarding? Do you think you have hoarding tendencies?

(For the record, I think of myself as someone with hoarding tendencies which are, for the moment, well controlled -- which is not the same thing as being a hoarder.)

I started karate lessons today!

Well, to be more precise, I started last week, but the first few meetings were just one-on-one sessions to get accustomed to the basic moves. Tonight was my first proper adult beginners class, so I got my white belt (awarded symbolically after one's first class).

I've wanted to try martial arts for a while, but never had the nerve to do anything about it. firesign10 and family have been going to this studio for a while (8-year-old son for a year now, parents for a few months) and just love it, so I decided to give it a try. The principal instructor, Mr. S, is really nice, and the class is full of friendly & encouraging people.

Still on my trial period for now, but thinking that I will definitely join, assuming I can keep up with the twice-a-week evening class schedule. I like the idea of having a set of goals to work toward to build my general fitness level.

Technically, it's not pure karate, but a mixed style (Shaolin Kenpo Karate) developed by Fred Villari. There are studios all over CT (maybe nationwide, I'm not sure?).

I have so many other things to post about... One Piece, more Nekota Yonezou, my wilderness adventures without power during the storm... but that'll do for now.

It seems I crowed over my good fortune too soon. Power went out late last night and has not returned. (At least I can still read manga in the daylight?)

On the upside, my neighborhood isn't too badly off. Streets are clear, most streetlights are working and (most importantly) my local Starbucks is open. I am caffeinated! Weather is lovely this morning.

Classes were supposed to start today, but they were canceled in anticipation of the storm.

Camping adventures will now commence. Where did I put that propane stove?

ETA: never have I been so grateful for power outlets and free wifi at Starbucks.

Posted via Vita for iPhone.

The storm has almost completely passed through the Hartford area, barring a few wind gusts and light rain.

The good: I still have power, unlike the approximately 50% of all CT households that are currently powerless and might not be restored for a week or more. I count that pretty lucky. (Half my town is out, apparently.)

The bad: Comcast (which means, my tv and Internet) is apparently down. If Comcast's recovery takes as long as the power outage, I might be internetless for days. (Can't say I really care about tv.)

I'm back to relying on my phone's 3g service for contact with the outside world. (That, and an emergency am radio.) It's amazing how helpless I feel without my Internet lifeline. Maybe this will be a healthy fast? Kind of like a hurricane-imposed Lent season.

Posted via Vita for iPhone.

I don't know if I'm just really tired or what, but the attempts at "translation" on the search page of my preferred Japanese auction handler (was Crescent, now Noppin) are making me die laughing. I think it's funnier if you can see where they're getting some of the phrases from.

http://www.noppin.com/portal_ya_lists/search_list?searchDummy=1&searchWord=%E3%81%97%E3%81%AA%E3%81%84%E3%81%A7%E3%80%80%E7%B1%B3%E8%94%B5&searchCategoryGuid=&searchType=1&BtnSearch.x=0&BtnSearch.y=0&BtnSearch=BtnSearch

(I don't know if this search page link will show up correctly? I saved a copy, just in case.)

For instance, "Tin Cat rice granary * Original US House" is their attempt to render Nekota Yonezou (ねこ田米蔵) along with one of her many doujinshika pen-names Komeya (米屋). Although I really have no idea where they're getting the tin from.

And oh god, the endless combinations. Like, for instance, "not friendly rice granary" (because one of the titles I was searching on was Yasashiku Shinaide, "Don't be kind"). Or "not bad cats Tibetan rice fields" (where is the Tibetan coming from?), for the manga from which it derives, "Don't be cruel."

I also have special fondness for "Mr Fumi Even More Paranoid" (ふみくんも妄想), which I think is a spin-off for Mousou Elektel.

I could do this all day.

Just in time for absolutely everyone to get home from Japan, my internet is out for who-knows-how-long due to an unfortunate encounter between a truck and a telephone pole. I have a lot of random wires on the lawn outside my house.

Electricity is back up; internet, not so much. Must call cable company. In the meantime, I'm typing this at Starbucks, so cannot stay and post all the welcome-home comments I really want to, but... welcome home, everyone! I will be responding to about a billion posts an indefinite number of days late. ^_^;;

In the meantime, will try to keep tabs via iphone. Maybe I can get good at typing comments on that tiny screen? Ugh.

Thank you to everyone who commented earlier with hugs and sympathy! I ran out of steam to respond to every comment individually, but I appreciate every word.

The bad news: the ultrasound results came back, and it's definitely lymphoma (cancer). There are also signs that it might have spread to the lymph nodes, though that's not certain.

The good news: the vet gave me some appetite stimulant pills, and they seem to be working. Ptolemy is eating more, and while yesterday he was so weak he could barely walk without stumbling, today he seems a little stronger, and even spent some time exploring the yard. (Exploring = making a slow prowl of the perimeter and stopping every twenty feet to survey his territory. Or take a nap. Sometimes it's hard to tell the difference.)

While the vet didn't rule out surgery, she wasn't encouraging it either. I don't see how he could even survive major surgery, as weak as he is right now. For now, the plan is to start him on a course of steroids (two pills a day, then down to one after a while). If he's lucky, the steroids will perk him up, help slow the progress of the disease, and maybe give him a few extra months of relatively normal life. At seventeen, even successful surgery might not offer him much more than that (still less so if the cancer returned within six months).

I stopped at McDonald's on the way home from picking up the pills at the vet, partly for me, but partly so I could cut up some fries for him. He ate a bunch of them, too. Not sure if that makes me a good cat mom or a terrible one, honestly. ^_^;; (Maybe at least the salt will make him thirsty so he'll drink more water?)

ETA: the results I'm getting from clicking on the Location link are making me laugh really hard.

I haven't been posting about this until now because it's upsetting and I was kind of in denial, but... Ptolemy is not doing well. At all.

( Long story short: it's most likely cancer, and the prognosis is not good. )

Right now, I can't say what impact this might have on my upcoming trip to Japan. I'm really hoping not to have to cancel, but I have to consider the possibility. Considering how much weight he's lost, and how little he eats, though, I think there's a better-than-even chance that he won't make it to the end of the month. Alternately, treatment might temporarily improve his condition to the point where I would feel comfortable leaving him with a medically trained catsitter for two weeks. At this point, I guess those are the best-case scenarios. Mostly, I just don't want to have to watch him suffer any longer than necessary.

You guys can help cheer me up by talking about Japan, shopping lists, anime, fandom, and/or other normal subjects as much as possible. ^_^ Going through this is painful, but it's easier when I can hang out on the couch with Ptolemy and distract myself with happier things.

ETA: My god, you guys, he is licking at the cheese bits from the cheese and crackers I brought out for dinner. Like mom, like cat?? (Have I ever mentioned that he likes McDonald's french fries, too? Maybe I should go to McD's soon.)

First off, a very happy birthday to collarnojutsu!! I suck at presents and cards and things, but at least I can do the birthday wishes thing.

A word of explanation. CNJ always complains that we never listen to her recommendations the first time. A while ago, wednesday_10_00 discovered Glee by way of a YouTube video from the the justly famous Single Ladies episode. This was after months of CNJ squeeing about Glee on her journal. So, by way of a mea culpa, wednesday_10_00 said that in future, if she proved resistant to a recommendation, the magic word was "Psst, D*****! SINGLE LADIES!"

CNJ has been trying to get me to watch Princess Tutu for over a year. (I meant to, really! But, the backlog!) I was a little uncertain about magical girl show + ballet, but the strong recommendation definitely carried weight. We watched a few episodes at the beach this year, and I was definitely intrigued (enough to order the DVD post haste), but then One Piece happened. (Still on episode 152 and volume 25, BTW.) She finally gave me incentive to finish the series in the form of an AMV and an ultimatum. ^_~

Now, it had taken approximately ten minutes of watching the anime (+ knowing that w_10_00 and cnj both love him) to know that I was going to love Fakir. But it is only now that I grasp that every detail of his character was insidiously crafted by the makers of the anime to inspire in me the perfect storm of redeemed seme moe, with the clear intention of ruining me for any other anime hero in the future.

So, people. In future, if I fail to heed your wise recommendations with appropriate speed, the phrase is "Psst, Sara. FAKIR!" I promise to drop everything and take your recommendation up on the spot. (Though I cannot promise to love anyone as much as Fakir. Even if he does have funny hair.)

( Cut for squee and possible spoilers (though maybe that was already kind of spoilery? )

So I will just conclude: the closing vignette-scene of the anime may very possibly be my new favorite thing ever. <3 <3

mangaroo WHY ARE YOU NOT WATCHING THIS THERE ARE DUCKS

AND UZURA (zura)

I was going to put this question into a private email conversation, but then it occurred to me it'd be more fun to ask everyone.

The topic of the BACKLOG OF DOOM (I don't think those capitals are dramatic enough) came up in a comment thread recently. I will probably have more to say on this as I rebuild my shopping list (ah, did I mention I got my tickets for Japan in August??), but in the meantime, I'm wondering how many manga a typical mangivore consumes in a week or a month.

( This gets long, but to cut to the chase: how many books do you read in a day/week/month, and how long does it take you to read each one? )

I don't have great answers to any of these questions, and Day 27 and Day 30 are related, so I decided to do them all at once.

( Day 27 - Favorite anime opening theme song )
( Day 28 - Favorite pokemon )
( Day 29 - Favorite school uniform )
( Day 30 - Favorite anime ending theme )

Now to tackle all that re-reading, now that I've finally been reunited with my manga. ^__^

I really think I chose the wrong version of this meme. Maybe when I'm done, I'll look up the questions in some of the less fanboy-obsessed versions and answer a few of those.

( Favorite harem anime )

On the road back to CT today!

While I'm procrastinating on packing up the car, I thought I'd get a start on the "favorite villain" post. Even though I've been back in DC for a couple of days, and would have had the time to update, I've been thoroughly stuck on what to choose. This post is therefore full of waffle.

( Day 25: Best anime villain )

Hopefully once I'm back in CT I can wrap this meme up properly. (If I'm not too busy reading all that manga I've been separated from this entire time.)

Now see, this question is just impossible. Seriously, I'm supposed to be able to pick just one? So, rather than agonize over which hero/heroine of which favorite series we've already discussed to death deserves this honor, I will seize this opportunity to squee about my NEW favorite hero. As of, like, five days ago.

( Day 24 - Favorite anime hero or heroine )

I think I'll have a better shot at catching up if I don't try to do all the missed days at once, so here's two at least. (Neither of these things is at all like the other one.)

( Day 22 - Favorite BL/yuri couple )

( Day 23 - Anime you think had the best, or most intriguing art )

*flailing and waving*

Just wanted to hop on long enough to let people know I haven't given up on the 30 days meme; I've just been on the road since Saturday, and it's proved harder than I thought to keep up with the meme during that time. I'm now at Latin camp, so it remains to be seen whether I can summon up the energy to do the meme in the evening when I've been grading for eight hours straight. Anyway, I hope to get in a meme post from time to time, but if not, it'll definitely be back soon!

So many awesome conversations I want to comment on too, sob. Except right now I just desperately want to sleep.

I had to google this to find out what it meant. Apparently, while tsundere means someone who is all huffy and hostile (tsun) on the outside and mushy-sweet-sentimental (dere) on the inside, yandere means somebody who appears to be sweet-as-sugar (dere) on the outside, but is really batsh@t crazy/murderous stalker (yan?) on the inside.

Since I'm not entirely sure why I would have favorite ANYTHING in this category, I'll give a tongue in cheek answer...

( Best yandere character )

Since this is my dominant anime genre (on account of there isn't enough BL anime out there), this is a pretty hard choice. And several obvious candidates (Fushigi Yuugi, Card Captor Sakura...) have already made an appearance or soon will. But, because this is one EVERYONE should watch:

( Favorite shoujo anime )

Man, it is hard to keep up with this when we're having what is without doubt the most gorgeous run of weather EVER at the beach...

( Day 18 - Something moe )

( Day 19 - Mandatory swimsuit post )

Thank god, the questions are getting easier again. Temporarily.

( Favorite tsundere )

Posting this as a side thought since my post for the day is already long enough....

So, it's really obvious that the meme I'm doing is heavily slanted toward male otaku with slightly creepy fandom tastes. (Which probably explains why it doesn't include the equally otaku but less ecchi question "Which is your favorite model Gundam?") I did search around for variant versions of the meme in the beginning, but the alternate I linked to on the first day isn't actually that different.

I would love to see what we could come up with if we replaced all the creepy male otaku fandom question with shoujo and/or fujoshi versions.

I nominate:

What's your favorite kichiku megane? (or, megane seme -- but not necessarily limited to BL)

Wow, I got way behind. The fact that collarnojutsu came to visit for a few days is only part of my excuse. The main reason was that I don't get any of these questions.

My feeble attempts:

( Day 13 - Cosplay of your ‘waifu’ or Husbando’ )

( Day 14 - current (or most recent) anime wallpaper )

( Day 15 - Post a cute Neko-girl )

( Day 16 - post a kigurumi cosplay of your favorite anime character )

Today's post will be sad and lame, because I have NO IDEA how to answer this question.

( An ecchi picture from your favorite series )

Whoops, yesterday got away from me. Luckily these two are pretty easy (if unoriginal).

( Favorite slice of life anime )

( Favorite mecha anime )