2008: today's random old drawing

Good morning ~おはよう~ minna-san!

A few posts back I was telling you Geo was in a different story a long time ago......? I just found him^___^

So turns out I tried to start drawing manga style about 2005-- and by the time of this drawing, I had completely decided upon losing "Western" style-- 'specially since at at the beginning of this sketchbook all hands are drawn with five fingers instead of four.

Geo, a rather normal average quiet person, wakes up one night upon hearing gunshots right outside the door of the country motel he'd taken board at some weeks before -- only to find himself awake once again but this time at a city building rooftop park near the scene of an already inspected crime-- a body outline marking the spot-- with some sort of strange other-worldly creature with a leaf growing out of its head-- and to find that his white hair had suddenly become black as night and the patch that once covered a blind eye was gone and he could see perfectly and the fact that he was an investigator himself!

Basically-- the "one moment you're just plain you, the next moment you're a different you in an alternate reality-- or is it just a nightmare or hallucination" sort of story. The new you is slightly better and employed in a good career but the new world is missing the things you love-- and the people you love who no longer know you as you. Thus, comes the all important decision whether to stay in this world and try to become the new you, or, undoubtedly, figure out what happened and return to droll regular life back in your home reality. I think the newer story he's in is much better. But it was an interesting change of pace four years ago^___^

By the way, I found the Valentine's Day story and it's only from last year^^! But there's a lot of incorrect stuff in it so hopefully it can be fixed to show you all by this February 14th. A sweet little love story♥

So, minna! Do you think you know who's gonna be buying you a big heart-shaped box of chocolate this year(⌒v⌒?)?? ......... or who you're gonna sip some hot cocoa with? Or who YOU are buying choco for? hehehe^^ I drank a mini box drink of choco soy milk yesterday with lunch-- to me that's very delicious chocolate^___^ I don't really eat chocolates and very few bites of choco bar..... but I hope PK will buy me something at least hehe or maybe treat me to frozen yogurt!

baibai ! Running late as usual-____-.....

Another drawing

Here's some drawings from January 4-6th. You know the painting in the last post?

...

Well I really don't draw pink hair all that often to air on the side of natural colors--- so after thinking about the girl in the painting, something dawned and went *ping!* as to her story^____^

To try 'n make stories short, please let's go farther into the past-- to when Eddie was a little kid in gradeschool. There was a girl in class who often got picked on and he felt bad for her 'cause he knew just what that was like. Having three sisters himself, he was good at making friends with girls and they became after-school-friends to try and avoid more bullying. Turns out, the girl's dad went away some years ago and left her and her mom alone. The girl said that her dad promised to come back on Valentine's Day so she looks forward to that day every year, but he never shows up. It's one February 14th that they had started to be really good friends-- she even took Eddie to see her secret garden patch behind the old buildings where she and her mom lived in a tiny apartment. Then she told him the story..........

hehehe I began writing this probably a few Februarys ago^___^ I forget how the story was supposed to end but.....

Now this is the painting story: you can't see her, but the little girl is there in the rain with her mom. She's clinging to the bottom of her dress and tugging on it to walk faster so they don't get wet, but mummy is daydreaming. Suddenly they see a figure in the distance. The little girl gazes wide-eyed as her mom is still lost in raindrop thought. She runs toward the strong tall man in sea uniform and jumps up into his arms as he gladly bends down for her. She rides on his shoulder as they walk toward mummy and then she realizes-- and the three embrace in tearful reunion. Mummy and papa crying their eyes out in joy and the little girl with her hands outstretched on both of their heads trying to hug them both at the same time and not fall off^^

aww.... ヽ(；▽；)ノ soooooo sweet........ to think I was actually drawing a portrait of her, totally oblivious of that beforehand???! ... Nothing is new under the sun (so it is said)...... The L-rd knows the history and future of every single individual who ever lived, famous and unknown and everyone in-between ... I wonder if when He let me have this idea for a story-- was He thinking of a real story that happened before? Or will happen? Besides for super far-out scifi fantasy etc writers (and sometimes them too!), isn't every story and situation based a little off of real life? G-d must know some pretty cool and sentimental true stories .... right right???

I hope someday in Heaven I'll get to sit on Jesus' knee and He tell me stories^___^ like, allllll day long! And then I'll get sleepy and a cuddly lion will show up and I'll take a nap with my head leaning on its belly. hehehe♥♥ and then Sampson will show up eating fresh honeycomb and he'd drip some on my head *on accident* and I'd wake up with honey in my hair... yumm♥ etto....... how come there's always honey and lions in my little snippets of what Heaven might be like? .. and Sampson??? (guess I've always thought of him as a cool big bro type person^^)

Can't wait to see what it'll really be like, right right??? yaaaaaay

See ya in Heaven, minna-san^^///!

baibai

p.s. well.... prob'ly you'll hear from me again before then^^ hehe but who knows!

Drawing, painting, etc suteki-mono

Good evening, minna-san. Let's go back in time to a splendid moment-- 'twas but two afternoons ago.

Ready?

Ok let's go!!!

Last Tuesday was day off again and I set off to to a watercolor^^ here's the photo story!

So I was gonna start painting early in the afternoon but felt a little hungry..... so I fixed some snacks^__^ there was some vanilla creme brulee flavor coffee still in the French press from the morning, so I put some milk in and ice, and then dried fruits and challie and pistachio and cashew in a little rice bowl. Challie is pet name for challah-- Jewish style braided sweet-ish egg-ish bread. This one's got poppy seed^___^ nihaha if you didn't know, just a little heritage cuisine. Have you heard of Moomin? Actually, I keep hearing about Moomin a lot... I bought a Moomin stationery set with pen case and pencils and ruler and sharpener and eraser at Goodwill one time 'cause it was cute and from China or someplace......... well that's the pencil case and my trusty kiddy watercolor set♥ Also I'm kinda short on actual chairs so PK was hanging out too--- sitting on my lap the whole time painting^^ wonder if I dripped any paint on his head.......

Well..... now all the snacks are gone.. not sure if it was finished then or almost......... that's a mirror attached to the lamp. Best way to draw anatomy-- especially if you're a girl drawing a girl-- mirrors!!! Hands are the most expressive part of the body, but also probably the most difficult to master. And much easier to pull off when you're *not* drawing a giganto hand.

-___-" .... after much trial and error and accidentally moving my hand a little and confusing myself-- etc etc quite a few times...

...

All done. It's springtime-- and a pretty warm day. Almost too warm for a sweater cardigan and especially to button it up. On the way walking to a cafe for breakfast, about a block away it started to drizzle big raindrops. But that's okay. It was really nice^___^ She got lost in thought as she remembered a spring day two years ago when it started to rain exactly the same way.... Then as she lifted up her hand to catch the raindrops, two more hands captured hers in their grasp. She gasped in surprise--- and looked up into the eyes of the other....... then they hugged ギュ♥ and walked off hand in hand to have their coffee and biscotti. uwaaaa suteki desuwa!!! Should it be her boyfriend and that's how they first met in the rain? Or her husband who, two years ago, had to go on a trip or something or military and they made a promise to meet again someday for lattes? Or....... hmm... ne, ne, out of all the mysteries we watch on tv and read... love is the greatest mystery of them all, huh? I don't really think about it much, but I was hanging out with my friend and she loves to talk about marriage and the boy she likes etc etc^^ she's so funny and cute hehe. And I can't wait to see how her wishes come true♥

This is my window-- and the kleenex used with watercolors. They're always kawaii and tie-dye looking! And that's my kawaii tako-fuurin from Matsushima gift shop!!! Love tako^^ one of my favorite animals!



That's all for now! baibai again!


oyasuminasai~~

Ranzuki 2012/1!

Hi hi^___^

nihaha...... it's funny looking through Japanese teen fashion magazine with pop...

So so! Doug the employee brought me back a Ranzuki from his trip north! yaaaaaaay thank you----!

Here's some pics^^

Even for a magazine that's supposed to come out in December, the clothes are really bare.... brrrr....... last winter I wore shorts a lot but this time around I'm trying to be a little better protected from cold. So perhaps lots of the outfit ideas will be good for warmer springer weather, ne minna-san? But there were a lot of outfits with long jeans too so that's nice^___^

I wasn't as excited for the makeup tutorials 'cause lately I've been sticking to simple quick make. But they're still fun to look at^^ and the hair guides looked really tricky!!! I love the tea party setting in the one arrange guide^^

For a girl who's getting more and more into natural and mori style, at first it's a little difficult to see any application to everyday fashion-- but I wuv wuv cutoff loose style jeans shorts so that's my favorite part of Ranzuki! hehehe jeans girl♥♥ and everything and the models are sooooooo kawaii(⌒▽⌒) I always have fun finding any models that are as tall as me-- or as old as me hehe that's what I get for asking for a teen magazine^^;;



So! Next month pop, mum, big sis, big bro, and me are all going to San Francisco for a few days quick vacation. Need to write up shopping lists for Japantown! Maybe make a list of all the mori girl magazines to look for at Kinokuniya..... and some more kawaii baby silverware (love eating breakfast with mini spoon♥) from Ichiban Kan or Daiso. hmmm......... wonder what else? Maybe something bizarre from the grocery that you can't get here.. green tea latte mix? yum!

Hopefully my list won't be too big since onii-san doesn't like shopping >~<" but onee-chan does like shopping! Wonder how it's all gonna work out...... but I have a feeling there's gonna be lots of coffeeshop and pastries and ...... hehe whenever we travel it's seems like foodie vacation!

Anyways, that's all for now...

baibai!




p.s. vote!!! Should I take photo or video in SF? Or leave photography to another family member?

Drawing, manga, and inspiration

Good Tuesday afternoon, minna-san!

I started drawing this on a big piece of white cardboard last night while halfway watching Time Bandits. There's one company we buy from at the shop that uses these cardboards for packing material. They're so nice to draw on^____^ this is the small size-- the big size is very big-- almost too big to carry around (learned that one hot summer Sunday walking to and from the park to draw). I was thinking about using acrylic to color it but....... I think watercolor will win♥ watercolor is better for illustration, ne^^? Oh yeah, and that's my pink guitar underneath it. Don't worry-- I wasn't using as a table >~<". We'll see how it turns out!

And....... Princess Knight! it's sooo exciting(￣◇￣;)... can't wait to find out what happens next... it's gonna be a total cliffhanger at the end huh? I'll haft go back to the comics shop very soon to see if he has the next book^___^

And--- inspiring! I'm discovering I have a love for craft paper (クラフトペーパー). This is a paper holder from the festival near Tokyo where I bought soft serve ice cream served in a cone-shaped hot bread roll. Sooo yummy^^...... I always forget what that kind of bread is called. Something like trumpet? Coronet?あ、そうだよ！！！コロネパン！That's it^^ "korone pan". Ice cream served in a hot roll-- I bet a cafe that specializes in that would do very very good here in America. *hint hint* please someone read this and do that! Somewhere in Southern Oregon so I can come and snack there^___^ おねがーい。



p.s. if you remember far back enough to when I was talking about finding out my personality type...... please disregard^^ I just found my real real personality and it's a bunch different hehe.




Well, the ticking of time tick tick ticks and I'd better get going if I wanna accomplish anything on day off day. You know I could potchker allllll day long if I allowed myself to^^



baibai!



p.s. 17:05: I finished painting it^^ but now it's dark out so hafta wait until morning to take a picture of it. The color is very pastel and light ~~ it's pwetty ... I'm happy for her.

Kokuriko zaka kara / From up on Poppy Hill

Ne ne, minna-san^___^

I just remembered about the new new Studio Ghibli movie-- and I just found a trailer for it!





What do you think???

I wonder how it will be...... n___n?

Sounds cool that it's set in Japan 1960s-- I don't think I've ever watched any anime in that era! Totoro is in 1940s I think... Tetsujin 28 is in 1950s... no wait! There's a part of Millennium Actress that's in the '60s^^ right right?



So so-- today PK and I walked down to Ichigo Cakes for the first time since Christmastime to buy some cake. This time I bought from him a slice of souffle cheesecake and an apricot jam roll cake. Then he opens up the fridge and gives me a box of end pieces from the original ichigo roll cake 0__0!!! Yummm....... I wanted to save the cakes for after dinner for us tonight-- so when I got back to work, me and mum took a few bites out of the mass of end-cuttings. Sooooo yummy ^0^/// ... and Mochi had a little nibble too hehe.

Then we walked by Prize (favorite favorite shop downtown^^) but they're closed Mondays. I still have a bunch of money on my gift certificate from birthday ~~ but everything in there is so lovely and girly and wonderful that it's difficult to pick what to get!



That's all for now! An artist guy came in the shop today that goes to pop's Bible study and he was showing off pictures of his paintings that he paints. It was kinda inspiring! He paints "weird" (in his own words). It really made me wanna paint something beauty. suteki desu-----wa.

The re-arrange of my room is almost over so I can stop pretending to be an interior designer and get back to artist soon^^

Also praise report! Last night the area where my friend lives was filled with tornadoes and lightning and rain storms-- we chatted on facebook for a really long time into the early morning-- and I'm so glad too 'cause about one 'o clock (west coast time) she told me the storms had passed and they were okay! Thank you L-rd! And she was blessed even more today with a beautiful warm sunny day. That's the awesome thing about knowing Jesus-- even in the midst of super scary storms, we can have peace in knowing He will never leave us and always protect us in His perfect will. Even if our friends are a thousand miles away or more we always have very best friend forever with us all all the time^___^



baibai and good evening!

Laundry / せんたく

Morning, minna-san!

I was trying to find a kawaii picture of Misuzu for today,


... and then I found a laundry picture instead! Please enjoy^____^ sentaku (laundry) from Air TV.

http://www.anime-screenshots.de/gallery/index.php?cat=53

nihaha^^...... isn't it wonderful to hang up laundry outside in the summer? This year I'm hoping for us to have a real laundry line out back-- maybe the kind with a pulley like our next-door neighbors have. Like in Arrietty^___^ a metal kind like this would be nice though.. probably strong enough to air out my futon, ne? You're supposed to do that with Japanese futon every once in a while but I never have anywhere to hang mine...... I've had to sew up so many splits in the seams on it too. Wonder how long people usually keep them for? Well, if I ever move away and it's too bulky to take with me, I'll just have to get another one, ne!



The sun has finally come out here-- after days of rain and wind. It's pretty^___^ it would be a wonderful day to prune the grape vines and plant starts in the ground (the soil here is clay, so you have to work with it right after it rains, or else it's hard as rock). But today is a day for regular working^^ maybe tomorrow it will be nice  enough to do yard work, ne?

I'd better go now~~~ have a nice day minna!




p.s. have you watched my favorite anime yet?^___^

Paper and drawing

Good evening, minna-san. How was your Sunday?

Today at the thrift shop, I found a ream of old school paper-- like we used to practice handwriting on^^ I couldn't resist getting it. Soooo natsukashii~~ ne! It's such a lovely natural colored paper, and the ink is so nice color it reminds me of airmail style stationery sets^____^

... don't ask me what I plan on using it all for....... although, if you write on each individual line it's kinda like college rule so that's nice^^

Here's today's drawing too. We came upon a "wasuremono" today so I got into a detective mood. It really reminded me of "The Blue Carbuncle" story. Sherlock onii-san sends out an ad to the newspapers about a lost hat and goose that fell into their possession--- of course, somehow it all having to do with a precious jewel synonymous with death. Yikes!!! 0___0||| ... so here's me invading the Endless Noir crew at Geo's house (he's my detective guy^___^). He doesn't trust me though T___T..... detectives sure are smart, huh?! But Darien likes me^__^ ....... probably.. Geo doesn't trust me because I secretly wanna borrow him into a mystery-style Pirate Cat Six story hehehe(⌒▽⌒) Back when George was a new character, he had the main part in his story-- then I put him in a secondary role to Darien in a different storyline. I think he still would like to be the star...... but he's kinda old. I like to give stories to the young people. I forget but he's something like 42 years old........ oh no! Any old people reading this, I don't mean to say you're pretty old too. Yipe(￣◇￣;)!!! It's just-- I mean----- ... that's just a lot older than seventeen (Darien's age). That's all -___-||| g-gao *embarrassed face*



ummm anyways...... I hope somebody claims the thing we found. It's kinda odd... it'd be cool if it turned into a real mystery, but it's okay if it doesn't^___^



That's all for now, ne! Mum is cooking up some yummy garlic-smelling pasta tonight. Pop is on the radio right now.... and I'm trying not to get the munchies^^;;




This morning at church, I found out how to be free. Remember before, talking about freedom and entrapment, and wings and the far ocean horizon..... well, the only way to be free, is to be set free by Jesus Christ.

I dunno if I could explain it-- but I love it. I love Jesus♥ and I love being set free into His love and grace and blessings and wonderfulness♪( ´▽｀) Free to not worry about the past or bad things I've done or if I'm good enough or smart enough or.... *gulp* skinny enough ~___~" (that's a tough one for me T___T) or whatever! No worries--- honto ne! Because G-d is gonna take care of me (and you too if you trust in His Son^^) for forever more! yaaaaay! Doesn't mean I get to slack off... -__- but He has my life in His hands so whatever happens, it's all okay. Good or bad, everything is for a reason and either way there's always awesome chances to bless Him back or bless others♥




baibai^^

Love and blessings your way!
( ^_^)/~~~

Drawing and onigiri

Hi minna-san! ohayou, ne^^;;

Yesterday I drew a little drawing on my to-do and grocery list. She's supposed to be mori girl hehe♥

And here's the onigiri I made this morning for Ghibli movie night tonight^__^ One row is vegetable mix, and one row is seaweed + shiso + ... umeboshi? It sure tasted like umeboshi..... yumm. They're made from the packets of dried stuff for making musubi and such! The one I'm not sure about was a present from my friend Sushi-san when we visited Japan^^ then with some nori around the bottom and... finì!




Upon looking through and deciphering my new mori girl books, I'm noticing that a lot of the girls in them that have a little bio are illustrators. waa sugoi! I love how this fashion sense is so accepted by creative people♥♥ that's one reason why I like it so! ...... but... why are the clothes so expensive??!!!! It all looks like thrift shop finds but they're $100+ for like, every single item! Wow....... how do they afford that.......... and go to cute cafes and shops all the time too... hmmm.........




So I wanna practice not just ballpoint pen sketches-- but do some more watercolor and stuff that's suitable to put on my gallery/portfolio page. It really burns in my heart to want to draw manga, but I'm so lazy and get caught up in other stuff like work and tv and clothes and food and photo... maybe if perhaps someone would find my art and want me to draw something for them (no advertising.) it might break me out of the wandering minute-to-minute never really knowing what I'm doing. And I'm no steps closer to becoming a bartender either T___T... the world is too cluttered, isn't it, minna-san? Can't ever think except for when I'm writing on here. I wanna be more of a clearer thinker like Sherlock-onii-san♥ And actually do something after thinking about it!




Also by the way--- Princess Knight is getting really exciting! It's like a fairytale♥♥ a really really good fairytale too! It makes me wish all my fairy tale books were manga instead of words^___^ hehe the prince from Goldland ... I wonder if he will ever figure it out! Ah-- no spoilers! Go out and buy the first volume for yourself at your locally owned comics or books shop^___^, 'kay?



baibai for now~~

Random suteki lately photos

Hallo, minna-san^^

Tonight I did something really unusual. I went to meet a bunch of anime people at a restaurant to eat dinner with them. At Hana Sushi on the plaza, you know? It was really different hanging out with a bunch of other young people. Usually it's just parent-age people ........ 'cause they're friends of mum and dad^^. I ....... I was never very good at being around kids my age except when I was really little. But they all seem nice and I'm gonna be able to share Arrietty with them soon for a movie night^___^

hehe.. etto? Short story, 'kay? So, they wanted to know what kind of anime I liked. etto...... anou....... what's left when I say I don't really like violent or scifi or romance or comedy...? So I told them I liked Air and King of Bandits Jing and Aria and Tetsujin 28..... that's why I'm not Otaku because I don't really watch anime. Or want to dress up like characters. Or buy lots of anime goods. I'm a lover of beauty♥

I remembered a day or so ago....... when I was just little na-chan, I was drawn to my Japanese animated vhs movies-- maybe I didn't realize it back then-- because they were so beautiful unlike any other cartoon I'd ever watched before. Anime and manga can be a wonderfully beautiful art form. When an artist's heart is fully represented in it. And I think it's cool that Japan itself is a place where beauty is very much appreciated and created. Think, the architecture, bonsai, zakka, boutique shops and cafe, the pocket-sized gardens, the fields upon fields of mass flower plantings, the ancient forests, the vast farmlands....... even the beauty represented in fashion and makeup and foods made especially to look cute. uwaaaa utsukushii~~~!!! I love Japanese style beautiful♥♥ it's such a different beauty than here in America. To see beauty here..... is to go to an art museum in a city and look at the lovely old-time paintings. Is the style of romantic and realistic-- is that renaissance? There's two really wonderful beautiful paintings I love like that... if only I could remember who the artist was or what the title was.........




ummmm anyways^___^


I wanted to show-and-tell to you some photos of lately.


Would you like to see?




... here goes^^

This was yesterday. It was raining. I pulled up a kitchen chair to the outside doors and me & PK sat and gazed at my new mori girl magazine. uwaaaaa suteki desuwa--! I like the part with "girlish" style and "boyish" style. I love both, but I love to wear pants (thankful to live in an era when girls can wear pants^___^) so I think I liked "boyish" more hehe. Shall I take some pictures of my magazine to show you sometime? Ah, so many things I wish to show you and not nearly enough time or good enough memory to remember. Oh well! ..... hmm I rewrote the ending to the story on the sidebar today (it's much better now). I think I dreamed I was Renè last night??? ........ I really do try my best to be girly.. why I gotta dream I'm a boy T___T...

Big Ben! (￣▽￣) kawaii..... I saw this at Goodwill thrift store in Ashland. I love it in movies and shows when it's set in London and they show Big Ben in the scenery. Then I'm all like, "kyaaa it's London♥♥!!!" Someday I wanna go there^___^ and walk down some old streets in the smog and pretend it's 1890s and I'm picking up clues for a fantastic jewel robbery or something. At least pretend the old days until we turn the corner and there's a Starbucks. hehe... one time I used google map street view to look down Baker Street and there was soooo many chain fast food places it was ridiculous >~<")) But I'd still wanna go there to the museum for fun^^

Look look! 見て見てよ！It's my new broom! I bought it at the Filipino market in Phoenix^___^ It's cute! And short! Gonna be fun sweeping with it! When I sweep at the shop's sidewalk, I pretend to be Cinderella. Now I can pretend Cinderella at home too hehe.

Rain on the car window. Did I say yet how much I love the rain? It's been really windy off and on too... but that's ok 'cause the rain makes everything so lovely and melancholic. Like........ it's like our little towns are imitating Paris when it rains. That's the most wonderful place in the world in the rain, right? Oh how big is the world... yet how small it's become. Still it is but for the person wealthy in gold to see it all for themselves. But where is the dream, what is the use in a wish, for one whose palms engulfs the world. ... Then again, how can I complain? Money and the ability to travel and see beauty in the far reaches of the globe may not be mine, but I have things precious that cannot be bought by earthly riches♥ grace, peace, and above all, love. All these and greater has my sweet savior Jesus blessed me with, and much more than I can imagine. He knows my dreams and wishes and sees which are true and which are passing fancy. Ah how I wish I could realize this all throughout the day and not just in my thoughtful times blogging on here^__^...... how awesome is our G-d.

bangohan desu^^ soba noodle soup! It was yummy... I wonder if I made a scene though.. I asked for wooden chopsticks 'cause the metal ones they give you are kinda strange to me... then I picked up the bowl and put it to my mouth to drink the broth. Nobody usually does that here...... but it's more fun to eat like that, ne? And they served the plum sake with wine glasses... hehe^^ you know you're not in Japan when, ne?



I guess that's all for now... oh oh! And Princess Knight is really cool so far^___^ It takes an amazing sort of person to be royalty, huh? Do you know that one Astro Boy show? From the 1980 series? With Astro and Uran and they go back into the past with .... the detective boy (forget his name-__- not Kenichi, is it?), and they go get Black Jack and Pinoko to go back to when the Princess Knight story is from and Black Jack operates on her and Astro gets rid of some scary monsters and they all save the day. It has a wonderful ending, but I won't tell you any more! ...... a few days ago I finished reading the very very last volume of Black Jack. I've been trying really hard not to give in and get sad because it ended.... someday... someday, perhaps I shall get an extremely rare medical condition and... Black Jack will be the only one able to operate on me. hehe^^ that seems to me to be the only way I'll ever get to meet him? Pop's myriad of strange diseases he kept getting diagnosed with over the last few years haven't even been strange enough. But I always kept my eye out when going to hospitals with him. And especially when I was in the hospital last time^^


But no luck^^




I wonder if there's any really cool people in the real world? Well... someday I will meet the coolest person ever to live on this earth♥♥ can't wait! Like Pastor John likes to tell everybody every Sunday...




I'm going to Heaven♥




baibai minna-san. Have a good night, okay? Shall I be seeing you too in Heaven one of these days? I do really hope so♥


Until then, see you next time!

Rain/雨

ohayou, minna-san... yaaaaawn......

This morning I woke up to rain. At first it was too dark to tell so I played on my phone for a while and then I heard it against my window. Look out and everything is wet^____^

Isn't it nice, the streetlights in the morning?

Then the garbage truck came and made the rain sparkle even more.



Rain is really rare here-- so it's a very nice treat. For us and the gardens. Thank you for taking care of us just when we need something, L-rd Jesus♥♥



I'm thinking about getting rid of all the plants in my room... possibly save for my little ficus tree in the yogurt carton. Something weird nested in one of them.. -_-|||))and they really attract fruit flies. Maybe I'll just keep cut flowers up here instead^^ My carnation bouquet is starting to fade now though.... I took about half of it out to hang up to dry. sigh... plants should be outside, right? They're a little gross with the dirt and whatnot for inside, unless you can handle gross, right?

Can't wait til next summer to have cosmos bouquets in the house^^

Well, gonna go have some breakfast now. Coffee sounds nice^^ coffee in the French press rather than instant sounds really nice, but don't wanna bother mum this early♥

Have a nice morning, minna-san.




oh p.s. I think I forgot to add before, find me on Instagram by currythecat or natsukashii cafe^^ seems like more pictures are on there than show up here....

Mori girl book catch and farmer's market

Hi again ~~

Pictures of my new book and magazine^^ hehe it was wrapped up so neat with Christmas deco tape. kawaii...... and Mori Girl Lesson 4 came with a bonus kawaii tote bag^___^

And here's a collage of going to Farmer's Market in Phoenix tonight. They close early, so it's kinda rare to go there when it's dark. It was pretty. And they sell my favorite brand of milk♥ I picked out a red delicious apple and some more brussel sprouts and a box of unsulphered dried pineapple. I forgot what mum bought... eggs.... etto.. anou.......... ?



Pop also brought home a loaf of Safeway French bread. It was yummy...... I tore off a couple pieces and munched on them while we watched Sherlock but now I feel kinda sick... I didn't feel well last time after eating a bagel from there either. ...... tomorrow we're gonna buy some fresh local bread from the real bakery across the street from our shop, 'cause I miss bread T___T real bread.

Now it's sleepy time tea time. yaawwn.... the chamomile in it is good for digestion. -sigh- why can't all foods be lovely and organic^___^ ... or at least all natural? hehe you should see me try to pick out non-natural foods at markets-- I stand there looking at ingredients and nutrition info for ages trying to reason with it. I used to not like going food shopping with my parents.. now mum especially gets bored when I go shopping doing that (￣▽￣)...

hehehehehe..... that's all silliness for tonight.

'Night, minna-san!!! Hey so about Renè? (more silliness ahead.. sumimasen desuwa) He doesn't make a good photographer, ne. He's too ...... etto.. timid? I wanna make him a detective ahahahaha^____^ and that was before tv time! But... I dunno where Lau-chan is gonna go with her side of the story. hmmm well something's gotta give 'cause his story's going nowhere -____- it's the point of the storyline where the main character is dumped into a new and incredible situation, right? Well if you got any ideas, the story is right over there >>> to the right on the sidebar^^ you can add comments directly to it. ayaya... maybe this is why I haven't made any artist characters before? Artists are too much trouble (￣へ￣;)

バイバイ

Fashion spotlight on ~~ mori, retro, etc

Hello^^

Window shopping post for you all, minna-san^____^

Yesterday and the day before, mum and I went to the shopping mall. We were mostly looking for something new for her to wear, 'cause it's harder for her to find nice clothes than it is for me. But it's really difficult finding cute clothes here in America, much less here in the middle of nowhere T____T... Mum ended up with two tops and some black fuzzy earmuffs, and I ended up with an oatmeal/navy/and a little orange printed knit retro sweater (sooo comfy..... about $23.), furry furry poofy brown and natural earmuffs ($2.), and a kinda leopard print brown fox tail (really popular fashion a couple years ago in Japan...... is it still? hehe but I finally got one! and for $2.). Mostly at the mall it's easy to find kawaii accessories, too bad clothes are so difficult, ne^^. But it was still fun looking around at all the fashions the stores are carrying now. If you're depressed 'cause it's so cold and wintry, go to the mall now-- the spring fashions are displayed already! 0___0!! Wow, right???



Anyways, on to the first shop on our window shopping trip^^ Mori-girl theme-- shop Dearli/dear栗 http://dearli.taobao.com/


Taobao.com again ~~ Japan, China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan...... that's the center of top kawaii fashion. And I like Taobao, if only to dream, because the clothes are really inexpensive^___^

Enjoy!

I really like looking at these outfits.. but...... I can't really see myself wearing them T___T would you wear any of them, minna-san?

anyways, I picked these shops to show you today because of how their clothes and setting looks so nice together^___^




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Next! We're going to visit a shop we've window shopped at before...... i-NEKO! http://i-neko.taobao.com/

Their style seems a little mainstream, a little mori girl, and a little retro. Is that correct? Whatever it is, I really like the looks of the coordi. Please enjoy here too^^

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Having fun window shopping with me^^? Lately I've been drawn to warm colors like mustard, burnt orange, camel, beige, etc etc even a little red. There was plenty of mustard-colored items at the mall, but color isn't all that makes fashion. It has to look nice and fit good too! Something that I'm really bad at is picking out shoes T____T and I'm really digging the brown boots in the last few shoots, but ....... -____-.. I think I'm going to get some new converse sneakers^-^ .. there's a new color called frappe. What's frappe? o___o is it a kind of coffee.. right? It looks like a nice natural color. Couldn't they have just called it something simple like "royal milk tea"? hehe^^


Our next shop to look at is lovefish http://lovefish100.taobao.com/

This one is princess and retro girly^^ sooooooo cuuuuute, ne! Maybe to cute and girly for me 'cause I don't like it when people stare at me for being too cute and out-of-place in these little towns...... but there is a princess inside of me that loves these outfits.

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Now then, how come whenever I wanna dress all fashion-y, after thinking about it and trying to envision outfits, I go back to jeans. Actually, I have a pair of jeans that I wuv wuv the length and the fit-- they're from thrift store, too! But.... they're super high waist so can't wear something form fitting on top over it, and the zipper falls down absolutely immediately after getting them on. @__@!! But if I wear something super long on top, like my new sweater and that long white ribbed tank I got from Puffy (http://www.yesstyle.com/en/puffy/list.html/bpt.299_bid.308704) a bunch of years ago, it really makes a nice outfit. hehe^^;; I wonder if someday I'll have a nice fashion budget, or will I keep on the "starving artist" fashion budget. etto.. if it weren't for being born into a job at my parents shop, maybe I'd take the starving artist thing more seriously and not spend hours looking at kawaii clothes and create art instead....... hmm.... life is full of decisions.........


Next up is a shop that has Korean style things^^ it's really cute. Kinda mainstream fashion x a little retro and mori. I am so loving retro in fashion right now^___^ it's really my style! Let the future have the future, I will live in a past-filled present!

NANA/Goroke/I can't figure out what the real name of the shop is 'cause everything's Chinese http://shop58388043.taobao.com/

Ready? Let's go!

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I've run out of time now-- need to help mum with some roasted veg for dinner tonight yaaaaay! Potato, taro, brussel sprout, carrot...... I kinda wanted to put the taro in some curry rice, but since I have no curry sauce base... this will do just fine^___^ pop hasn't come home from the shop yet, but when he does, he's bringing with him a couple mori girl book/magazine I ordered earlier this month from ebay from Japan! They just came today-- can't wait^___^ maybe they'll help me to do clothes coordi better. etto..... the magazine one will.. I also ordered the mori girl interior book! yaaaaay! I've always liked finding pictures of that book online, now I will be able to look at all of it anytime!

baibai, minna-san!




Also, if you're into dieting like I am (.. hobby? ~___~)), I found out some foods 'n things that are super filling, so if you're really hungry but don't wanna eat, like, a whole box of crackers between meals then these might help^^. Water, apple, banana, soup, green leafy veg (like salad or greens), potato, almonds, oatmeal, green tea, coffee. What do you think? I also read celery is good too, but when I eat celery it makes me more hungry.. and wanna put peanut butter on it....... -___-'' drinking a glass of water before meals is good to get full faster-- and I heard the same thing about eating any kind of tree nuts before meals. And I also read that (in paraphrase) you gotta get used to feeling hungry sometimes. Sometimes when I drink diet tea I never feel hungry. And during traveling. My stomach is a little weird sometimes... lately I have been feeling hungry before it's time to eat and that seems cool to me^^ like the diet is actually working! Now if only it were warm enough to go bicycling......... etto.. but I'm not a dietitian or anything so consult somebody smarter than me about diet. Always remember, everything in moderation^___^.

Saturday night's drawings

Hi hi minna-san^^

I'm shweepy........ forgot to make some tea tonight T___T .. but I had a few nice sips of chianti^^

So Lau-chan came to visit with me today^___^ we walked around downtown Ashland and I showed her some of my favorite alleys and we stopped at Bloomsbury Coffee House for a chai and a decaf americano, respectively. yummmm so good drinks from there!!! She really liked her chai^^

Then we watched anime and discussed our story endlessly and she told me what her character thought of my character. hehe it's such a new experience co-writing something^^ I have much respect for people who do that professionally. It seems really difficult but it is cool to be working with two completely different imaginations. It's like when I was little again^___^ when my friend came over to play stuffed animals or Barbie or just plain pretend we're cats or some other creature altogether. It's more interesting and unexpected to play with a friend than ひとりぼっち^^ ね。


These are some drawings from the end of tonight. Pwease enjoy a little, ne!

... etto... anou........ etto..... ♥♥♥ エディくーーーーーーーん！！！ ahahahaha I think Eddie-kun is getting a wee bit jealous of Leo ^//////^)) ... it must be a little annoying for a supporting cast member of a practically brand-new story to get center stage above my star. At least only for a little while anyways.... actually, I've never even met Leo in person before. I probably should, you know? I remember first meeting with Eddie^^ that was in my "cool" phase and I tried acting all mysterious 'n whatnot. I like acting like a silly girl any day now. It's too much pressure to be cool--- to just be true and try to be like Jesus wants me to be and shine my suteki light on the world------ that's how people should be. No more masks. Just be the little kid you once knew who was filled with wonder and unstoppable faith♥♥ わーっ すごくすてきですねー！

hehe^^ and here's next drawing! We watched some more Ouran Host Club with my mum but the unending comedy was numbing my heart a little, so I hijacked the tv after the end of an episode and played Arrietty for Lau-chan♥ uwaaaa-- mo sugoku suteki desuwa! This was fourth time I've watched it and it's really really grown on me. I love love it. SUGOKU natsukashii ne~~ watching it makes me miss summer soooooooo much. And makes me wanna collect a bunch of miniature furniture and build a little house-- in case some borrowers ever move in our house^____^ I have two cushioned cafe chairs that would be perfect........ umm anou... and I've really enjoyed wearing my hair in bun lately up out of my face.. and here's me wearing a clippy hair clip, like Arrietty^^ It's kinda funny..... will you listen to something funny, minna-san? When I wore my hair in dango, (mum could see this too) the vision of little Nastassia came back. She saw little Nastassia from the rear-view mirror in the car yesterday when I was riding in back. And when I took some photos ... some days before I think, I could see little me in those too. When I was little, my hair was a curly knotted bush kinda like how it's becoming again 'cause I'm growing it out. So all the time mum tied it up with a shushu (scrunchie). Somehow having my hair up for a change made that happen......... ふしぎね。She didn't get to see the whole movie, so another time we must watch it again^^



Have you seen the newest Studio Ghibli film? I saw a trailer for it, but that's all^^ it's sure to be very wonderful too, ne. But forever my favorite is Totoro. tottemo natsukashii......♥♥ And then my next best natsukashii movie is a borrowed natsukashii from my big bro's childhood-- Time Bandits. nihaha can I borrow it from your memories, onii-san? I just have silly memories for that movie^^




Thank you for visiting Natsukashii Cafe and hope you come back again. We're closing up shop for the night, but we'll be open again in the morning^^ Tomorrow's menu will be ginger latte, royal milk tea, cafe americano, hot mugi-cha, and kinako latte. Each served with a freshly baked catnip biscotti. Bitter chocolate dipped or plain^____^ soon we will be able to make matcha latte too...... if we can buy a matcha whisk somewhere^^;; Please look forward to green tea latte on the menu soon!

oyasuminasai^^

Today's natsukashii

Hi minna-san! Since changing from Curry-World to Natsukashii Cafe-- I don't think I've done a natsukashii post???

Well, here we go! .......

Picture 1: these are Barnum's Animal Crackers. They're very natsukashii for me. And really comforting when I have a bad day. Like Misuzu-chan and peach nectar drink ^___^ I wasn't allowed sugar when I was little but somehow some of these must have snuck in because I remember eating these since long long long ago♥

2: Who Framed Roger Rabbit. This movie came out about the time I was born and one of my first toys was a pull-string talking Roger Rabbit plushie♥♥ I found this vhs tape at thrift store last night for 99 cents and was so excited 'cause I haven't seen it in forever!!! (well... maybe a year or two) I loved watching it when I was little 'cause of all the cartoon characters hehe^^ I watched cartoons alllllll the time growing up-- no wonder I've always wanted to be cartoonist?



That's all for now^^



What's your natsukashii for today?

Good morning food post

おはようございまーす。

How is your morning, minna-san? Everything was very white and frozen earlier, but now the sun is helping to melt it away. Can't believe how much it's been freezing this year! But I probably notice it more because of my poor camphor tree I planted last summer -____- ganbatte tree♥

Last night mum and I went shopping at Grocery Outlet for main reason: I wanted to get some healthy organic-style shampoo and conditioner and not hafta take a loan out to pay for them^____^ and I ended up with a bunch of goodies, edible and not^^.

So when we came home it was everyone for themselves for dinner. Mum put Sherlock Holmes on the tv and I set off to cook some soup. Oden!!!! Remember that oden mix I bought??? Finally I cooked some hehehe^^ I went all out and used three fish cakes (one had a strip of tako in the middle O__O!!), a block of mochi, a poached egg (yaaay first time I made one correctly), half a cake of konnyaku, and mix mini kawaii veg (carrots, corn, peas-- funny thing was, the mini fish cake ball had corn in the middle hehe so matching). Oh yeah and some bonito furikake on top. I eyed a recipe on cookpad ( http://cookpad.com/recipe/1666023 ) to get the base soup right. At first I was gonna put instant dashi in and call it good, but ended up adding shoyu, mirin, sake, salt, and sugar to it. It came out sooooooo yummy......... and totally enough for two people but it's not like anybody else would want to eat any > v <"))

Choco bar on left!: I got this at Grocery Outlet last night. On the right is my Kinder Country bar. Notice anything similar.......? Yup! Whole grains! Wuv wuv whole grains... in chocolate. It's like breakfast for dessert hehe^^ and the big bar is organic! How cool is that? Since New Year's I've been only eating one sweet thing a day (not counting dried and fresh fruits or hot drinks), so who knows when I'll get to eat these. I've only broken this resolution once because of some unexpected delicious choco cake--- so, so far it's going okay^^ And now pop is going on a major switch of diet to no animal protein or cheese (aka vegetarian +fish, -dairy + yogurt hehe) or sugar. That's really gonna help me too^^ Now if only mum won't go on one of her delicious baking sprees..........



Anyways, speaking of stories.... I haven't drawn or hung out with Eddie-kun in a while... mostly giving all my attention to Leo's new story. ....... do you think he's getting jealous...? Maybe this'll be a heads up to tell him he's maybe not the most interesting boy to write about... after all, this new story, Leo's character doesn't have any special powers or fairytale enchantment or anything. It's almost a little refreshing to plan out a normal everyday story......... These past few days I've been spending time with a regular average boy 0__0! ..... maybe Eddie-kun will do something super crazy to try n get my attention. Here's to hoping^___^;; Then we could get back to brainstorming a beginning story for him. Don't know if he knows this, but Eddie is gonna go places. I just get the feeling^^ I think so many people will like him and hopefully be able to relate to him. He seems to have so many good points of being an awesome lead character.......... it's one of my greatest wishes that I be able to show him off to the world before I leave and go to my real home. Jesus knows this wish too...♥♥ He knows a ton of my miscellaneous wishes and mostly they're super silly spur of the moment wishes, but I've been asking for this one for a long time^___^




umm! Anyways..... I'd better get ready for work! yaaaay new lemon grass shampoo and lavender conditioner hehe^^ and prepare yourself for another taobao fashion post 'cause I may have found a couple more cute shops^___^

baibai



p.s. do you know Instagram app? I re-downloaded it to my phone this morning and found I already had an account 0__0; (if you use it too, find me^^ username is currythecat) .... I might use that for uploading photos to Natsukashii Cafe too^___^ so now our photo apps are: by Art&Mobile: ToyCamera, TiltShift Generator; and now Instagram. Photos are cool, but I like design most of all^___^ and what's more cool design than old camera look? ok really gotta go now.......

Odango day two!

Last night Tanya-chan showed me a BUNCH of pictures of odango and items to make them with and I tried doing one last night using a fluffy shushu as base.

hehe got a lot of comments on fb on my photo^///^))

Then I found a page in an old Popteen from last year with hair guides and there were two odango!

So so??? How'd I do this morning?

p.s. are furry leg warmers still in fashion....? I'm kinda wearing my white with black tip ones today.........

It was really tricky making it look neat in front and getting right on top of my head (had to re-do it once 'cause it was too far back).

So, minna-san? Have you tried this hairstyle before? It's fun^____^ like having a giant anpan on top of your head-- or giant dango for that matter. hehehe...... hmmm........ one of these times I'll get it super big and fluffy like in photos^__^

baibai time to go to work!