Dude, we're ninjas!

I feel entertained...

2008-07-24T17:44:18Z

Ganked from missdoom :

Sounds about right.... XD

I think I may have done it!!

2008-07-23T19:50:20Z

So tell me how I did. This is my first animated icon I've made. Is it ok?? Any suggestions for making it better? I used Windows Movie Maker, but am open to trying other stuff...

ETA: Picture credit goes to mermaids_tears

Ganked from missdoom a while ago...

2008-07-21T05:39:55Z

Did the meme the day it was posted at Doom's LJ, but didn't get around to remembering to do it until now. Also - sorry about the abnormally large LJ cut text - I'm not sure why it is being that way, but I am too tired to figure it out.

Here are the rules:

So you always wanted to be a rock star, huh?
(yoinked from otesmacke , among others)
1 - Go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
The first random Wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.

2 - Go to Random quotations: http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3
The last four words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album.

If you want to do this again, you'll hit refresh to generate new quotes, because clicking the quotes link again will just give you the same quotes over and over again.

3 - Go to flickr's "explore the last seven days" http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days/
Third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

Put it all together, that's your debut album.

Nu Sagittarii

The Bayer designation Nu Sagittarii (v Sgr / v Sagittarii) is shared by two star systems, v¹ Sagittarii and v² Sagittarii, in the constellation Sagittarius. The two stars are separated by 0.23° on the sky. Nu Sagittarii also has the traditional name Ain al Rami, from the Arabic ^cain ar-rāmī meaning eye of the archer. Ptolemy called the nebula Facies.

Nu Sagittarii is often cited as one of the earliest identified double stars. In the Almagest, Ptolemy describes the star as "nebulous and double", referring to the double nature of the star, as well as the nearby globular cluster NGC 6717.

v¹ Sagittarii
Nu-1 Sagittarii is a triple star system lying approximately 1850 light years from Earth. The primary component, Nu-1 Sagittarii A is a spectral type K1 bright giant which has an apparent magnitude of +4.86. It is orbited by two magnitude +10.8 companions: Nu-1 Sagittarii B at a distance of 2.5 arcseconds from the primary, and Nu-1 Sagittarii C at a distance of 28.2 arcseconds.

v² Sagittarii
Nu-2 Sagittarii A is a spectral type K1 supergiant which has an apparent magnitude of +5.00. It is approximately 270 light years from Earth.

And the quote comes from this one:
"History is the version of past events that people have decided to agree upon."
- Napoleon Bonaparte (1769 - 1821)

Meme ganked from telophase

2008-07-17T05:47:33Z

This is pretty true, I think. I was the kid who always wanted to answer in class. *sad sigh* I've had to work hard in my life to suppress my urge to talk all the time. I truly believe it's genetic. Oh - and if nothing else, this test made me laugh out loud. (Sorry if I woke you, Nailz!! *bows*)

Your result for The Personality Defect Test...

Hand-Raiser

You are 71% Rational, 57% Extroverted, 14% Brutal, and 43% Arrogant.

You are the Hand-Raiser, that annoying kid in class who always had an answer for everything. No doubt, as a child you probably sat in the front of the class, anxiously waving your hand back and forth in the air while your teacher desperately tried to avoid calling on you because you were the ONLY fucking kid that answered her questions. Clearly, the key traits of your personality are your rationality and your extroversion. You are like a little talkative calculator, in other words. You also tend to be rather gentle and less arrogant than most people. Your presence is a bane to everyone's existence, because you are too nice for your own good and you absolutely will not shut up. So what is your defect, then? Well, you're boring, and when you're not boring, you are just plain annoying with your ultra-logical responses and constant need to talk to others. So keep waving that hand in the air, son. I'm still not calling on you. You are too logical, you talk too much, and your humility and gentleness only makes me hate you more, because they make me feel like I almost SHOULDN'T hate you. But I do. Big time. And by the way, the more you wave your hand in class--your extended hand becoming nothing more than a blur as you insanely wave it, thinking we can't see it--the more smug satisfaction the teacher takes in watching the look of excrutiating pain cross your face as you agonize over not being called on, and the longer we'll wait to call on you, just because we absolutely love torturing you so.

To put it less negatively:

1. You are more RATIONAL than intuitive.

2. You are more EXTROVERTED than introverted.

3. You are more GENTLE than brutal.

4. You are more HUMBLE than arrogant.

Compatibility:

Your exact opposite is the Brute.

Other personalities you would probably get along with are the Braggart, the Haughty Intellectual, and the Robot.

If you scored near fifty percent for a certain trait (42%-58%), you could very well go either way. For example, someone with 42% Extroversion is slightly leaning towards being an introvert, but is close enough to being an extrovert to be classified that way as well. Below is a list of the other personality types so that you can determine which other possible categories you may fill if you scored near fifty percent for certain traits.

The other personality types:

The Emo Kid: Intuitive, Introverted, Gentle, Humble.

The Starving Artist: Intuitive, Introverted, Gentle, Arrogant.

The Bitch-Slap: Intuitive, Introverted, Brutal, Humble.

The Brute: Intuitive, Introverted, Brutal, Arrogant.

The Hippie: Intuitive, Extroverted, Gentle, Humble.

The Televangelist: Intuitive, Extroverted, Gentle, Arrogant.

The Schoolyard Bully: Intuitive, Extroverted, Brutal, Humble.

The Class Clown: Intuitive, Extroverted, Brutal, Arrogant.

The Robot: Rational, Introverted, Gentle, Humble.

The Haughty Intellectual: Rational, Introverted, Gentle, Arrogant.

The Spiteful Loner: Rational, Introverted, Brutal, Humble.

The Sociopath: Rational, Introverted, Brutal, Arrogant.

The Hand-Raiser: Rational, Extroverted, Gentle, Humble.

The Braggart: Rational, Extroverted, Gentle, Arrogant.

The Capitalist Pig: Rational, Extroverted, Brutal, Humble.

Be sure to take my Sublime Philosophical Crap Test if you are interested in taking a slightly more intellectual test that has just as many insane ramblings as this one does!

About Saint_Gasoline

I am a self-proclaimed pseudo-intellectual who loves dashes. I enjoy science, philosophy, and fart jokes and water balloons, not necessarily in that order. I spend 95% of my time online, and the other 5% of my time in the bathroom, longing to get back on the computer. If, God forbid, you somehow find me amusing instead of crass and annoying, be sure to check out my blog and my webcomic at SaintGasoline.com.

Take The Personality Defect Test at HelloQuizzy

Tadaimasu!!

2008-07-16T01:43:37Z

Ah~ Back at home. Got back in tonight about 5:30pm. Am happy to be finally done driving all over South Dakota. I feel like I know SD so much better now. I visited Springfield, Vermillion, Sioux Falls, Mobridge, Aberdeen, and Milltown. Good times overall. While I was driving from Aberdeen to Milltown on US Hwy 281, I got this crazy idea to ride my bicycle across South Dakota at the end of next August. Who's coming with me?? *looks pointedly at affreca*

South Dakota really is a beautiful state and it was hard not to stop every so many miles to take pictures. I think there is something about the land you were raised on that will touch your heart more than any other. I did take a lot pictures though, so will post a few of those later this week. I need to send one last roll in for development and scan the other 4 rolls that I already got developed.

Will start catching up on the FL posts tomorrow whilst drinking massive quantities of coffee - so if I leave comments that don't exactly make sense, please forgive me! *laughs*

bitter chuckle

2008-06-27T10:59:28Z

Never in my life have I ever been woken up by someone throwing cold water on my face. In my youth, my dad may have threatened it many a time and my mother threatened to have my dad do it - but today. *grits teeth* Today (at 5:01am to be exact), my CAT decides to wake me up for his morning feeding.

I have become pretty intuitive about when he's going to wake me up, because I usually open my eyes moments before his paw touches my face. This morning when I opened my eyes, the paw was not reaching for my face (no, no - it couldn't be that easy and nice). It was, in fact, reaching for the glass of water on my "bed stand" (I call it that because it is a long story to explain why my bed stand is taller than my bed). Next thing I know, the whole glassful is spilling onto my face and splashing all over my pillow and bed!

And you know what the worst part was? Silly me, I simply get up, go out to the kitchen and feed him and then try to sop some of the water off the bed. I did not (though I really regret not doing it) grab him and pour the remaining water on his face. I did not even tell him "no", or use any colorful expressions.

The one thing about cats (that I forget occasionally) is that they don't get trained, they train you. SO - today I will be buying a sippie cup. This sippie cup will now be my bedtime water glass. I get away with not wanting to strangle my cat by finding ways to make it so he can't piss me off.

On a completely unrelated side note - will be off for traveling for the next 2 1/2 weeks. Last night I only got 4.5 hours of sleep and I will be driving more hours today than I slept last night. *is super tired and sad* Thank goodness for roadside napping!

Hope all have a really good next couple of weeks and I will be commenting like a mad woman to catch up when I get back. :3

Kitty Spam!

2008-06-26T03:28:06Z

Here are a couple pictures I took of Master Murphy this afternoon. He loves napping near me while I'm on the computer. These were taken on the sly because every time a camera is turned on him, he always seems to wake up. :)

ninja_tech @ 2008-06-24T22:25:00

2008-06-25T03:27:14Z

Ganked from hellziggy:

Post 3 things you've done in your lifetime that you don't think anybody else on your friends list has done.

See if anybody else responds with "I've done that."

Ask your friends to do this in their journals to see what unique things they've done.

Also, comment here with your three so that I can see just how frakkiing cool y'all are!

Mine:

~I swam in the Persian Gulf

~I toured around Budapest

~I have read every one of Jane Austen's novels. *hearts Jane Austen*

Clare is afraid of 8 out of 72 common fears

2008-06-22T05:37:29Z

I am afraid of....

[ ] the dark
[ ] staying single forever
[ ] being a parent
[ ] giving birth
[ ] being myself in front of others
[ ] open spaces
[ ] closed spaces
[x] heights
[ ] dogs
[ ] birds
[ ] fish
[ ] spiders
[ ] flowers or other plants

Total so far: 1

[ ] being touched
[ ] fire
[x] deep water
[ ] snakes
[ ] silk
[x] the ocean
[ ] failure
[ ] success
[ ] thunder/lightning
[ ] frogs/toads
[ ] my boyfriends/girlfriends dad
[ ] boyfriends/girlfriends mom
[ ] rats
[x] jumping from high places
[ ] snow

Total so far: 4

[ ] rain
[ ] wind
[x] crossing hanging bridges
[x] death
[ ] heaven
[ ] being robbed
[ ] falling
[ ] clowns
[ ] dolls
[ ] large crowds of people
[ ] men
[ ] women
[ ] having great responsibilities
[ ] doctors, including dentists
[ ] tornadoes

Total so far: 6

[ ] hurricanes
[ ] incurable diseases
[ ] sharks
[ ] Friday the 13th
[ ] ghosts
[ ] poverty
[ ] Halloween
[ ] school
[ ] trains
[ ] odd numbers
[ ] even numbers
[ ] being alone
[ ] becoming blind
[ ] becoming deaf
[ ] growing up

Total so far: 6

[ ] creepy noises in the night
[ ] bee stings
[x] not accomplishing my dreams/goals
[x] needles
[ ] blood
[ ] dinosaurs
[ ] the welcome mat
[ ] high speed
[ ] throwing up
[ ] falling in love
[ ] super secrets

Final Total: 8

... if you wish to post this in your journal, it's been requested that you title it "I'm afraid of _ out of 72 common fears"

If you get more than 30, I strongly recommend some counseling
If you get more than 20, you’re paranoid.
If you get 10-20, you are normal. sheeya, right.
If you get 10 or less, you’re fearless.
People who don’t have any are liars.

pushes glasses up on nose

2008-06-21T22:44:32Z

Is it sad that when I spell a big word right without the aid of a dictionary, it makes me happy? *nerd*

OK FriendsList - I really mean it this time...

2008-06-17T17:55:19Z

I need your advice. I went through a box this morning of old magazines. (Someone please help me, I'm such a packrat!!) I remember going through this specific box a couple of years ago and I got it down to a much smaller (and lighter) amount of stuff that I kept. What remains of the box is a couple of newspapers about the 2000 election (Gore v. Bush) and the Sept. 11th attacks. I also have the special TIME magazine edition on the 9/11 attack. Then I have a couple of old issues of Rolling Stone (one with Al Gore on the cover), and a LOT of magazines with Harry Potter as the cover story.

What should I do with all of those? Recycle them?? Try to give them to Goodwill so another packrat can have them considering their historical value (blah blah blah)?

Also - found a bunch of letters from ex-boyfriends. Don't know what to do with those. Haven't re-read them (because I already know what they say) and am thinking about getting rid of those as well.

I'm pleading with you guys - tips, motivation, encouragement - anything??

Ganked from telophase

2008-06-17T15:19:40Z

I am so sad my Bleach boyfriend isn't Ishida! *huggles Ishida*

Renji will do too. XD

The Best Bleach Boyfriend for You Your Result: Abarai Renji You want a man from the wrong side of the tracks who has clawed his way to get where he is now -- on top of the world. Don't let his tattoos and his wild hair fool you -- he's a softie at heart even if he's a fierce warrior. If you give him a chance, he will be your best friend and your lover, all rolled into one hot package. Trying to give his wardrobe a makeover will never work, though, so simply accept his wacky sense of style -- including the yellow Chappy shirt paired with bellbottoms.
Hitsugaya Toshiro
Ukitake Jushiro
Kurosaki Ichigo
Kuchiki Byakuya
Ishida Uryu
Yasutora Chad
Kisuke Urahara
The Best Bleach Boyfriend for You See All Our Quizzes

Summoning advice from the good ol' FL...

2008-06-16T19:50:09Z

Fighting the nostalgic pack rat in me is tough today.

I am spring cleaning in my room. I keep finding all these things that I could never bring myself to get rid of, but I don't really want/need either. I am completely baffled as to what I should do. For instance, today I found a bunch of posters in my closet. They are in decent shape, but I've kind of gone past the whole movie posters stage. Some of them could actually be collectors items (like the Harry Potter movie posters), so I don't want to just trash them, but I'm not going to hang them up either. I've come to terms with the fact that I most likely won't ever use them. Anyone have any ideas as to what I should do with them?

As I go through my room, I may post here for more advice on the things I discover lurking. Help?

there is a spy (or two) among us!

2008-06-13T22:58:24Z

So I re-did the SuperHero blog quiz with slightly different answers because (shame on me) I forgot that Nailz and I are a Duo-cracy and our SuperHero Duo name is Team Rocket. Also, for some reason, it would not get past putting the same user in twice. I refreshed and refreshed, but alas it would not change its results. *sigh* New results behind the cut:

Again, I find it interesting that we are the sexist and crass members of the team - this much is perfectly accurate. As for laughs_muses being both the team member who will eventually go evil and/or insane being the same as the person who is our reoccuring supervillain - I find that kind of strange and ominous...

Superhero Team Quiz

LiveJournal Username

Your Primary Super Power

Cape?

Identitiy

Origin

Location of Head Quarters

Primary Costume/Uniform Colors

Why are you a Superhero?

Your Superheroic Codename

The veteran grim member of the team

kidinair

The sexist and crass but annoyingly effective one

ninja_tech

The bright-eyed novice or sidekick

iscaris

The teammate that will eventually go evil or insan

laughs_muses

The inept yet determined/reoccurring supervillain

laughs_muses

The sinister Arch-Villain and team's greatest foe

kidinair

The perky civilian that keeps getting kidnapped

libraryninja

How often does your team actually 'save the day'?

18%

This Fun Quiz created by Shannon at BlogQuiz.Net

Sagittarius Horoscope at DailyHoroscopes.Biz

Ganked from MoD

2008-06-13T21:49:42Z

I find it funny that we are our own "greatest foe". How fitting... *headdesk* MoD, I can't believe you didn't make it on to this list!

Superhero Team Quiz

LiveJournal Username

Your Primary Super Power

Cape?

Identitiy

Origin

Location of Head Quarters

Primary Costume/Uniform Colors

Why are you a Superhero?

Your Superheroic Codename

The veteran grim member of the team

hellziggy

The sexist and crass but annoyingly effective one

dragonfly_vine

The bright-eyed novice or sidekick

animimares

The teammate that will eventually go evil or insan

libraryninja

The inept yet determined/reoccurring supervillain

fatale

The sinister Arch-Villain and team's greatest foe

ninja_tech

The perky civilian that keeps getting kidnapped

blades_of_ice

How often does your team actually 'save the day'?

71%

This Fun Quiz created by Shannon at BlogQuiz.Net

Capricorn Horoscope at DailyHoroscopes.Biz

ninja_tech @ 2008-05-28T23:32:00

2008-05-28T20:37:01Z

Ganked from missdoom who yoinked it from gflower

1. Think of the first word that comes to mind when you think of me.

2. Go to Google Images and search for that word.

3. Reply to this post with one of the pictures on the first page of results (don't tell me the word).

4. Put this in your own journal so that I can do the same.

How to stop a wankfest.

2008-05-17T19:49:41Z

*shock-u*

Another post. Two in one day?? What could I possibly be thinking? Well, I could just be avoiding other stuff I should be doing. Been going back and back on my friends page and came across this:

http://community.livejournal.com/twin_cities/2124089.html?thread=19947065&style=mine#t19947065

Interesting part of a wankfest that I found very refreshing. There should be rational people like this in more communities! XD

Bird Help

2008-05-17T15:07:25Z

Lately, we have had a number of warblers fly into our office building and get stuck there. It seems like every other day there is at least one stuck inside. Most of my co-workers don't see any problem in just swatting them with a broom while they are flying (usually killing them or injuring them beyond recovery) and then chucking the bird's body outside.

As a bird lover, my voice is not heard while saying that it would be best just to stun the bird if they are set on hitting it, so that it can be released outside.

Does anyone know of a way to capture a bird stuck inside without injuring it? Or someway to help them find their way out by themselves? We don't have any windows and the ceilings are high and leaving the door open just seems to invite more to come in.

Any help at all would be much appreciated!

Cross-posted to bird_watching, backyard_birds, and twin_cities.

A question to HP slash fandom friends...

2008-05-12T13:49:44Z

SO....This is a pretty short query and I hope that you guys will respond, so I'm not putting this behind a cut.

Back in the day (say around 1999 or so) when I joined Harry Potter slash fandom, there was not very much MPREG (male pregnancy) to be found. At first, I laughed at the thought that someone would seriously write a fanfic about Draco being pregnant with Harry's baby, or vice versa. Now, as a member of a slash H/D community on LJ, I've noticed a rash of mpreg fanfics and people actually seeking out mpreg fics.

I am confounded. I don't even know where to begin examining why MPREG would be something that would seem to be popular.

What do you guys think? Why is there a surge of mpreg in the last couple of years and do you think there are a lot of fans, or do you think they just happen to have congregated in this LJ community? Also - shouldn't mpreg have its own community?  Or is mpreg just a natural fictional progression from slash fiction pairings?

As a last note - I know that some wank may come my way for posting this, but I really doubt many people actually read my entries. :/ And I am honestly curious as to the appeal of mpreg. If you're a fan - convince me. If you're not a fan - tell me what you can rationalize from it.

The Final Installment of the Japan Travelogue

2008-05-01T15:22:19Z

Well, here is the last of our Japan Travelogue. There really isn't much of a conclusion - it just sort of ends. Oops. We hope you have enjoyed the pictures and narrative. Let us know if you have any questions or comments!

There are only 10 pictures in this post. Enjoy!

We also went to Ueno Park in search of a statue of Saigo Takamori, but only found a statue of a prince guy - which was still pretty cool. There were a lot of street performers throughout the park and a ton of temples and shrines. There was one performer who was very talented and had a large crowd and was very cool and funny to watch. Just past Ueno Park is a really nice, big cemetery that was pretty neat to stroll through. Everything there was so beautiful - it was really a great experience. If you go to the edge of the cemetery, you get a view of tons of love hotels which was kind of odd. All in all, it was a good morning trip.

Now it’s time for some myth busting: For the MALE anime fan, Akihabara is a must see for pr0n and other such delights (hello, COSPLAY!). BUT - for the FEMALE fan, the place to go is Ikebukuro for Omote Road. Here you’ll find about 4 or 5 major shops for doujinshi and other anime/manga related items. When Nailz and I ventured out to Akihabara, BEFORE we had found out that was not going to be the source of our “D” (as we called it), we found that for some reason there were only boys in these stores. When we would go down an aisle, men and boys would scitter away like frightened animals because all of a sudden there were two women there who had *gasp* real breasts (but thankfully, not the size of our heads)! I guess the half-naked illustrations of women and girls with tits larger than their heads should have been a heads-up that there would be no great things for girls in these shops (unless you’re a lesbian and/or like yuri - and even then... ), but we persisted none-the-less and I got up the great courage to ask one of the guys who worked at the counter of the doujinshi section about where I could find some yaoi doujinshi. I think I blushed a bit, and he did a good job of staying professional and not getting shy. He was probably a little taken aback that two American girls even knew that yaoi doujinshi existed and that we were actually in search of it - though I would call it more of a quest. We found ourselves once again headed to Ikebukuro.

This has already been said, but it is worth repeating since it is probably one of the biggest tips we have to offer: When going to Ikebukuro via the Subway, make sure you go out the proper exit of the station. In most guidebooks, it will tell you which exit you want to go out of. If you don't go out that exit, you can wind up wandering for a long time trying to find a way to get around the station (which is HUGE and has tracks everywhere that you can't cross). Nekobukuro, Tokyu Hands, and Otome Road are all on the East side of the station and it is very important to leave the station through the EAST EXIT. It is still easy to get lost even when on the right side of the station. There is a tourist information office near the subway exit and the ladies there were super nice and it was like they knew we were looking for the good stuff (aka “D”) and gave us a map and told us exactly how to get to our girl haven. I think they were secretly fangirls, too. Nailz is convinced they were.

The three big places that we found the most helpful to our quest were Animate, K-Books, and The Mandrake. The Mandrake was the least expensive, but it also had a lot of fanfiction mixed in with doujinshi. I really went pretty crazy there. Animate was more expensive, but not nearly as expensive as K-Books. The only plus to K-Books is that the quality of the products they sell is pretty high and there were some pretty great volumes of doujinshi available.

A view of Omote Road:

Animate:

The hidden entrance to The Mandrake:

Clare's haul: *nosebleed*

After our quest for D, it was near rush-hour. To avoid this:

We decided to eat at Denny’s to see what it was like. We waited about 20 minutes and were seated in the smoking section (was requested). We were seated next to two HOTTIES. They were so….*tries to contain self* …HOT. Wow. I could barely concentrate on conversation. One had died his hair dark, smoky red and the other was so cute - I actually thought he was a girl for the first hour. We think they were in a band because they were really into discussion and talking about something. At some point, I saw them produce sheet music from their bag and discuss it. So yes - I filled my stomach at Denny’s as well as my heart. *dreamy sigh*

The food at Denny’s is totally different than in the US. There were only 2 sandwiches on the menu and they had Italian stuff (Clare had spaghetti) and then wacky mixes of Japanese food items in some sort of western themes. It was like weirdly translated food. It was good though and I was overjoyed by the fact that this was the first place that we found in Japan that has the Bottomless Cup of Coffee. *cries* It’s hard to order coffee at places and then only get 1 (small!!) cup for around 2-3 USD.

One evening, while staying in Tokyo, we went to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building (aka the Tokyo Towers). It was not all it is cracked up to be and is actually very hard to get decent pictures from, as it is super busy even near closing time and everyone is crowding the windows. I managed to only get one or two decent pictures. Here is one:

TIP: Bring a phrasebook. Though phrasebooks don't cover nearly every phrase that you might need to use (in fact, I found mine pretty useless), it may help a bit. Otherwise, try to learn a little bit of Japanese before going. If you know how to ask if they understand English in Japanese, most people will be willing to help you or to find someone who does know how to speak English to help you. Don't expect that anyone will know how to speak English. It largely isn't the case...

TIP: Pack light. I packed a total of 5 or 6 outfits for a two week excursion. This ended up being way too much and my suitcase was super heavy, large and hard to move around in public transportation. Try to stick with a smaller suitcase and only bring what you absolutely need. You can set aside an evening to do laundry and write postcards.

TIP: If you want to go to the Toto Super Space (which is a showroom, so expect to feel weird just wandering around like a tourist), the best way to get there is to take the Marunouchi line and leave the station through exit A16 which comes up to street level right at the L-Tower building. The Toto Super Space showroom wasn't as exciting as I thought it would be, but it did have a really nice view of the city. I took some of the best overlooking pictures yet from the completely desolate and quiet 27th floor of this building. The only living soul out in the hallway was a salaryman eating his lunch quietly and looking out at the city. It was pretty awesome.

Hello Toto! This toilet opens and greets you when you get within so many feet of it.

And the wonderful view from the Toto building:

TIP: If you go to do Karaoke, keep in mind that you are expected to at least order a drink, if not food and more drinks. They will ask you how many hours you want to stay when you arrive, so have an idea. It is strange to say, but 1 hour just isn't enough. If you are going to do karaoke, plan at least 2 or 3 hours, if not more. Going before 1900 is your best bet, as the rates are super cheap at that time, meaning you can order more drinks or food and still get out without paying too much. After 1900, the rates triple. Also - you should have at least 2 people when trying to rent a booth. I succeeded in the middle of the day to rent one by myself, but after 1900, I was told there had to be at least two to a room.
N: And for god sakes, it’s Kah-rah-oh-kay, not kareyokie you heathens.
C: (But I intentionally said it the wrong way all the time anyway - haha!! But not to locals - only to foreigners who wouldn’t know what Kah-rah-oh-kay would be - so maybe I’m not such a rebel.)
N: At least she doesn’t say Kah-roky. *dies*

TIP: As any guidebook will tell you, try to avoid public transportation around rush-hours. I was so close to Nailz on the subway the first time we rode around 6pm, that I felt kind of like I had been violated. N: I might have given her a squeeze. *devil* C: It couldn’t be helped, and I would rather have been squished unmercifully close to my best friend than some stranger. N: It’s true, we were practically entwined. I pushed my way into the car with the rest of the people and Clare hesitated. I was afraid the doors would close and we’d separate, so I grabbed and pulled her into the car. We were crammed against the door and there was NO wiggle room, in fact, we didn’t move too much when the car lurched around corners. I am sure Clare got some face time with “my girls”. *winks*

About Food: omg Japan has great food. We ate some killer Indian food in Shibuya. Chinese food, too. RAMEN is GOD. When the guidebooks tell you to slurp all you want, they really mean it. Some old granny totally out paced us in ramen eating. (about grannies: they are everywhere, they are tiny and they are FAST beware!) Bentos are a must on the train and convenience store food is actually really good. If you buy a bento in a convenience store, the clerk will usually ask you if you want it heated up, or they have microwaves for you to use. The microwaves are a pretty good strength so it doesn’t take long to make food hot. Convini (con-vee-nee) also have super snacky foods, mochi, mini-deserts, beer and mixed drinks in a can.

TIP: If you are a ramen fan, you may be a bit confused at some ramen shops. Some shops you go into and sit down and a server will take your order. Other places have ticket machines at the entrance. Here, you insert money and then choose the dish that you want. You then hand your ticket to whomever seats you and your order will be up shortly.

Observation note:

I think I've discovered why the Japanese love handheld technology so much. The Japanese are a people who are socialized to not make eye contact with strangers and not to stare. This is hard to do on the metro considering you're so crammed together, but with cell phones, mp3 players, personal organizers, handheld games, you have a distraction - something to do on the metro so you don't stare at the floor or past someone's head. How convenient.

Also - the trains, buses and trams are super quiet. Even people who are traveling together rarely talk and cell phone use is STRONGLY discouraged.

And I leave everyone's Friends Page with this:

Happy May Day!

ninja_tech @ 2008-04-19T17:32:00

2008-04-19T14:39:47Z

Ganked this from mizbean :

My Personality


Neuroticism	45
Extraversion	17
Openness to Experience	61
Agreeableness	11
Conscientiousness	76

You are poised, confident, and clear-thinking when stressed, however you are not generally self conscious about yourself. You get overwhelmed by too much noise and commotion and do not like thrill-seeking activities. You tend not to express your emotions openly and are sometimes not even aware of your own feelings. You do not enjoy confrontation, but you will stand up for yourself or push your point if you feel it is important, however you do not particularly like helping other people. Requests for help feel like an imposition on your time. You take your time when making decisions and will deliberate on all the possible consequences and alternatives.

Take a Personality Test now or view the full Personality Report.

The best Buying Pet Gifts.

I think this is pretty accurate, except for the whole "sometimes not even aware of your own feelings" thing. I'm not sure how I feel about that. *totally snickers at own far-reaching joke* Ok - so it is all true - including that I am apparently not very "agreeable". All of it. Now you all know exactly who I am. *rolls eyes* Still - pretty neat little quiz. Cross-posted to my blog as well.

NAILZ - DO YOURS, DO YOURS!! *demanding*

The Penultimate Travelogue Entry

2008-04-14T15:51:03Z

Here is the first part of our time in Tokyo. It has 11 pictures, so beware that it is pretty picture heavy! Hope you enjoy!

February 16th - 23rd

We were lucky to get a direct shinkansen from Kyoto to Tokyo. We had to go from the Tokyo station to Jimbocho - a short subway ride. The primary way of getting around Tokyo is walking and subway. It is actually really quite convenient and fast, but can get costly if you are going all over the metro.

On our first full day in Tokyo, we walked down to the Imperial Gardens (pictures below). We took a nice, leisurely (and chilly) stroll through the gardens, which are beautiful even in winter. It would be absolutely amazing during any season. I took a lot of pictures with my dad’s old Minolta SRT 101 camera and they turned out pretty well!

We went to Ikebukuro early in our stay as well. It is actually pretty full of neat things. The Lonely Planet guidebook to Japan didn’t really say much about it, other than it was the poorer, bawdier cousin of Ginza, but it was a good place to wander around if you don’t really have any agenda. Not only is Omote Road (the anime and manga fangirl mecca) there, but there is also Nekobukuro - a cat petting zoo that has 20 kitties of many different varieties that you can pet and feed. See! KITTY SPAM!

This is a sign telling people what they shouldn't do with the kitties at Nekobukuro! I love the little illustrations!

There is also (on the western side of Ikebukuro station) the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Space, which the LP guide says has a white-knuckle escalator ride. It really is just a really long escalator that goes up 2 stories, instead of the normal one. Not really a big deal, but the building itself is cool and there are registered street performers on the corner in front of it and I’ve heard tell that at any given time there are galleries and shows that you can go to there.

The escalator was pretty cool, nonetheless!

And it had paintings on the ceiling:

Nailz is surprised that there isn’t more about Ikebukuro in travel guides. There’s so much to do there and it’s really cool especially with the 20s-30’s crowd. A nice change from teeny-bopper Harajuku, which we did some shopping in. We did see the infamous cosplay bridge but it was a chilly Sunday so no one was hanging out. I wonder if they still hangout there as much in the winter? We stopped at Kiddy Land and Nailz bought a crap ton of Tare Panda items. Kiddy Land is 8 floors of cuteness - filled with toys from Peanuts, Disney, Nightmare B4 Xmas, Sanrio, etc. Even old stuff like Rainbow Bright and Gremlins. Good stuff! We also went to the Oriental Bazaar, which is about 1 block down from Kiddy Land. The OB has traditional Japanese things like pottery, fans, used/new trad clothes, etc etc. It’s your one stop gift shop. They take credit cards - a big plus.

On the way to Ikebukuro we stopped at the Shibuya station to get a picture of the infamous Hachiko statue. Shibuya Crossing was interesting, but not worth spending too much time at. We snapped a couple pictures of the statue of Hachiko at the station and the crossing filled with humanity. After that, we hopped back on the subway and went somewhere else. If you are heading out that way on the subway and Shibuya is not an area of interest to you otherwise and one of the stops on the way to wherever you are going is Shibuya station, go ahead and take a few minutes to get off the subway and exit the station to get a few pictures.

HACHIKO!! *thinks of NANA manga and laughs*

And then here is Shibuya crossing. Eeek...

TIP: When going to Ikebukuro via the Subway, make sure you go out the proper exit of the station. In most guidebooks, it will tell you which exit you want to go out of. If you don't go out that exit, you can wind up wandering for a long time trying to find a way to get around the station (which is HUGE and has tracks everywhere that you can't cross). Nekobukuro, Tokyu Hands, and Otome Road are all on the East side of the station and it is very important to leave the station through the EAST EXIT. It is still easy to get lost even when on the right side of the station. There is a tourist information office near the subway exit and the ladies there were super nice.

TIP: If you are staying at the Sakura Hotel in Jimbocho, this is what the rooms are like: If you are traveling with a friend (but not a significant other), you will want to get a TWIN room. Twin rooms are rooms with bunk beds, but there is a lot of floor space to work with and these rooms are generally bigger than any of the other rooms. They also have 2 chairs which would have been nice. The double rooms are for couples who don't mind sleeping on top of each other on a semi-double bed (meaning it is smaller than a double bed). The double rooms are VERY cramped and when you open the door, there is only about an inch of clearance between the bed and door. Not much room to have your suitcase (especially any kind of large suitcase) in there and open. Not sure what the single rooms are like, but I noticed that the double rooms on the floor plan are definitely the smallest in this hotel. Also, be ready for LOTS of foreigners (aka very loud foreigners). While some may find the atmosphere nice and hostel like, it was sometimes very loud and hectic in the hotel lobby because of large groups traveling together. The cafe/lobby/bar is 24 hours, so that is nice and there are 4 computers for internet use (100Y per 10 minutes) or if you bring your laptop, you can borrow a LAN cable from the front desk and hook up to their internet for free. Front desk staff here speaks really good English and they are very helpful. There is one washer and one dryer in the basement that are coin operated if you need to do laundry, but as with the dryer at the JR Kyushu Hotel Kumamoto, the dryer will take at least 1 1/2 hours to actually dry a normal sized load, so be prepared to spend at least 500Y to do one load of laundry. Also, if you don't have soap, the front desk sells laundry detergent for 100Y a packet. They have breakfast available for 315Y. This includes all you can eat toast and a cup of coffee (which can be pretty nasty depending on which staff person is manning the desk that morning). Still, if you’re looking for light fare, this is a good deal, as a slightly more filling meal at a café will cost you close to 800Y or more.

TIP: Using the Tokyo subway system can be confusing. At some stations, the trains and subway “connect”. It’s a bit confusing at first but the trains (especially shinkansen) are clearly marked. The subway lines are marked with a color and an “O” shape. Like colorful doughnuts. If you are going to ride the subway (and you will) get a good map of the lines at the Information desk (marked ? in a circle - this seems to be universal). Keep the free station guide in your pocket and double check your connections to make sure you're actually going to be able to transfer. Fare is based on distance and at every station you can either buy one fair ticket and then pay extra at the transfer/fare adjustment machines. You buy your tickets from machines on the wall. This is all super confusing at first, but they have an English setting and you just need a pocket full of change and the name of your destination station. The machine dispenses your ticket and you can go through the turnstile. DON”T forget to take your ticket out once you are through…you will need it to transfer or to leave the next station. If you are stumped, just lean against the pillar and watch the locals. Works every time. You will get the swing of it and won’t believe you didn’t get it before. The easier (but not cheaper and not more expensive) way is to get a Passmo card. It is a re-loadable card that you just scan at the entrance/exits (which conveniently tell you the amount left on the card), thus making it faster and easier to transfer and get around quicker. It was totally worth it. Probably spent about $75 total on Subway fare over the course of the week including all the times when we got on the wrong connection - but the Passmo really made things quicker and easier. It’s kick ass.

Vending Machines: are really every where and Nailz misses them so much. They are filled with goodness and they always work. Some take 1000y bills and some are coin only. The drinks with blue stripes under them are cold drinks and the ones with a red stripe are hot drinks. Nailz loved the Kirin Royal Milk Tea and Clare became dangerously addicted to café au lait, Georgia or Boss brands. We did see other machines that dispensed cups of coffee, hot dogs, French fries, ice cream bars, popsicles, cigarettes, beer, cups of soup, but no panties or other such bizarre items. Nailz just realized she never got to try any of the super lemony drinks and is kind of sad.

Your Career as a Deadly Assassin (LJ) by maxgallagher
Username
Gender
You first killed at age	18
Your victim was	A priest
Reason	Accidental
Your trademark weapon	Dual pistols
Your reputation	Reckless and head-strong
You work with	chicken_ren
You kill for	Money
In the end, you are defeated by	negi_ramen
Your death	Noble self-sacrifice
Your career body-count	461