| Lost Memories |
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| 12:32am 10/11/2009 |
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Last week I made a doll-sized syringe by chopping up and then re-assembling a larger one from work! So of course, I had to photograph it, and the perfect opportunity came along in the form of the DoA "Memory" photography prompt.
Of course, being the narrative-based thinker that I am, I can't do anything without story. So there's text involved.
Call this a hypothetical, in their world. As you may or may not know, Darryl's memory structures are a bit fried, thanks to some rather invasive and repetitive memory wiping and artificial reprogramming in his past. Talon, as the CEO of a massive multinational pharmaceuticals company, has access to many experimental drugs, and the people who develop them. Maybe some day, Talon will be able to bring all that influence and money to bear on one of the largest, but often most invisible, problems in their lives.
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Read 7 - Post |
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| Tekla & Jackson |
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| 08:07am 07/11/2009 |
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Finally got my camera working again (mostly). And Tekla's head came back from the faceup artist today, so I hauled the pair of them to work and took a few quick shots. These are the only two that came even close to turning out decent.
( And one slightly closer one. ) |
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Read 16 - Post |
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| Stll Panicking :: Shooting Is Great Stress Relief :: AR15 Virginity Lost |
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| 03:46pm 01/11/2009 |
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Still panicking about the test. Have been talking to my dad and (via him) some CBP and ICE agents, and it may be possible to decline the physical test and remain on the list to be scheduled for one at a later date, which would allay all my "oh God, I'm going to die" response, since it would put me back on the fitness program schedule I was expecting. Will know more on that come Monday.
In the mean time, I've been hitting the treadmill, crosstrainer, and bicycle machine (my ass is bruised from that one) like mad, and trying (thus far unsuccessfully) to do perfect form push ups. Today I got together with some of the guys from work and we went out to Smitty's farm to do some shooting, using pumpkins as targets. It was a blast, and despite the bruised shoulder (12 gauge shotgun slugs kick like a son of a bitch, and 00 buck is a bit rough, too), it was totally what I needed to blow off some steam. Push ups this week will suck, but they already sucked so no change there, really.
And I'm no longer an assault-rifle virgin. Here's a video of me shooting an AR15 for the first time ever (right click on the link and "Save As," it's about 5.7 MB, and I apologize for the shitty resolution and all that - cellphone cameras are not made for video). It was a lot of fun, and I slaughtered a pumpkin with it. (It's Aaron's gun, by the way, and Ted is the one yelling that I'm poaching on his pumpkin.) |
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Read 9 - Post |
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| Cue Panic |
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| 03:33pm 30/10/2009 |
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I got a call from ICE today, to schedule me for my medical exam and physical fitness test. I have to take the test on November 13.
I was not expecting, based on the timeline ICE presented in their hiring packet, to take the exam until late November or early December, at the soonest. I am not ready for the step endurance test. I've been practicing, jogging and running stairs and such, but a 16-inch step is really high, especially since I'm only just under 5' 4" tall. A 16-inch step is up to my knees. DX (As a side note, the guys I work with who tested for CBP had to do a 12-inch step, and they're all at least 6 inches taller than me, several of them more than a foot taller. Not. Fair.)
I am going to have to work like CRAZY to try to get caught up by the 13th. I'll probably fail anyway, and they don't allow re-testing. If I fail, I have to start over again at the beginning of the process, waiting until the next vacancy announcement.
I guess this is a good sign, in a way - it must mean they really want to hire me. But if I fail the physical fitness test, that becomes a moot point.
I'm going to go panic some more, now.
EDIT: Looks like NaNo is probably out the window for this year. I need to focus on one thing right now. |
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Read 20 - Post |
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| Candid |
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| 07:00pm 26/10/2009 |
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Here's a "candid" shot of Tekla (Jessica Pierrot) and Jackson (twigling's Ylisande). Jackson needs proper eyes, but at least she has a faceup in this. Tekla's head is off for a faceup now, so I've got a body with no head standing in my doll cabinet.
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Read 10 - Post |
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| To NaNo, or Not To NaNo? |
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| 02:16am 22/10/2009 |
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Sorry I haven't been on LJ lately - finally got my ICE paperwork finished and submitted, so hopefully my life will be returning to semi-normal. I'll be able to go back to reading (and posting, commenting, etc) now.
I'm trying to decide if I want to do NaNoWriMo this year. I also need to get in better shape, in preparation for my impending-but-not-yet-scheduled physical fitness test for ICE. But I don't have the killer work + final quarter of school mix I had last year, and it really should be possible for me to manage it. I'm trying to get myself motivated.
I don't really feel up to tackling anything new, though, so I'd probably just continue with the Satyr!Crack, setting my current wordcount, whatever it is, as "zero" and going from there. It would be good to get myself back into writing. I've been pretty unmotivated the past...ten months or so. ^_^;; |
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Read 3 - Post |
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| IEA Notice |
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| 03:28pm 08/10/2009 |
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mood:  stunned & ecstatic
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Oh good lordy.
I got my Tentative Offer (TO) notice for the Immigration Enforcement Agent (IEA) position today in the mail. I now have a half-inch thick packet that I need to photocopy (blank) for my records, fill out, photocopy (completed) twice more for my records, and then I have to send (the completed original) back in by October 25th. Then I get to sit around some more, waiting for DHS to contact me again to schedule my urinalysis (tox screen), physical fitness test, medical exam, and interview(s). Then the background investigation happens. Then more waiting, then FLETC. Assuming I pass everything and they like me for the spot, of course.
I'd be based out of the Seattle field office, which means I'd probably be working in southern Washington or Oregon.
Meanwhile, I get to spend that "sitting around" time working out like mad so that I can pass the 5-minute, 16-inch, 96-steps-per-minute step test and the push-up test (it's not the number of push-ups that's a killer...it's the fact that they have to be FUCKING PERFECT push-ups). At least I know I can pass the kneel-stand test without any difficulty, so I don't really need to train for that.
....
I think I'm going to go do some crunches. Like...50 of them. |
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Read 10 - Post |
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| Sleep Deprived |
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| 12:39am 19/09/2009 |
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Awake now for 26 hours and counting, no rest periods. Have been working for 18.5 of those 26 hours. Don't get off work for another 7 hours yet, and then home and to bed for 6-7 hours, then back to work for another 16.5 hour shift.
Why do I do this to myself? D=
Oh, yeah. I have dolls and shit to finance. =D |
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Read 5 - Post |
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| Abigail |
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| 03:52pm 16/09/2009 |
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The Elfdoll "Kio Carolei" Ruru sculpt was supposedly sold out in fall of 2008. I am so, so thankful that I was able to find a dealer that still had her in stock, and I am so, SO glad that they offered layaway. I can't believe I didn't notice her when she was initially released.
Abigail is here. This is the first time, in all of my years of doll collecting (and I may be young-ish, but I've certainly been around the hobby for a while), that I've had a doll come out of the box and be a perfect fit for their intended character. I mean, really a perfect fit. No body switching needed, no huge modifications, no new faceups. Hell, I even like the EYES she came with. I just pulled her out, pierced her ears, put her clothes on, slapped her wig and necklace and earrings on, stuck her purse on her shoulder, buckled her shoes, and BAM. Abigail. I might darken her lips up just a tad, since she's supposed to favor very red lipstick...but really, I don't think she needs it. At least not yet. We'll see if this weird made-for-this-role feeling wears off.
Darryl's being strangely silent. I think he's a bit thunderstruck, poor fellow. Or possibly a bit PTSD-ish. And Talon's being...well, he's being Blake, which should say it all (at least to some of you).
Abigail's already re-arranging the seating in the doll cabinets. She sure is a force of nature, sometimes. It's a shame she and Tekla never met - I think they would have had a lot to talk about.
Pictures to come. Right now I need to go to bed, as I have to be up for work in less than 6 hours and I haven't slept yet. |
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Read 4 - Post |
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| EID Jessica |
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| 12:53am 12/09/2009 |
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If I ever had any hesitation about whether or not Jessica would work for Tekla, this shoot has erased my worries. Especially this photo.
I'm so fucking excited about this doll. XD |
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Read 8 - Post |
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| Dead Laptop |
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| 09:10am 05/09/2009 |
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mood:  melancholy
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My trusty (much abused) Toshiba A135 Satellite died today. It's been threatening to do it for about nine months or so now, but the symptoms have gotten particularly bad over the past week or so, and today it finally called it quits. So I'm limited to my Asus EeePC for the time being, which doesn't suck TOO bad, but does suck quite a bit, as I can't do any photo editing or video editing or gaming or anything on here. Basically, I can browse the web and write, and that's about it.
I suspect I may be able to fix the problem with my Toshiba, actually - I kinda thought it was probably the video cable going out, based on the laptop's behavior, and when it went totally dead-screened today I pulled it apart and that seems to be correct - but I'm not sure if it's worth the time, money, and effort. It's a fairly old model (2006), and it might just be time to get a new one. That's like $500-900 that I don't really have laying around to spend right now, but I could probably manage it in a month or so.
On the plus side, if I'm right and it really is just a video cable issue, I can snag a VGA cable at work (assuming I don't have one in my "random computer shit" drawer) and hook it up to my TV and treat it like a desktop. ^___^ This would be a good temporary fix until I address the bigger issue.
Sigh. It has been a good few years, but I'm thinking that "new laptop" will probably win out (after all, Diablo III will be coming out relatively soon, and I want to make sure my system doesn't have any trouble handling it).
EDIT: Swiped a VGA cable and tested my theory. I'm correct - it is the video cable that's the source of the problem. The good news is that this means I've got a ghetto TV+Laptop=Desktop setup in the middle of my living room. The bad news is that I'm not sure if it is a seating issue (on the LCD end of things - the motherboard end is seated very well) or if the cable itself is bad. Based on its behavior, I think it's just a seating issue. I'm going to bed now, but I think I'll take the screen apart tomorrow and see if I can re-seat the cable on the LCD end. If that doesn't fix it, I'll buy a new cable on eBay (only like $15 or so) and try a full replacement. |
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Read 7 - Post |
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| Miss Marcheline |
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| 03:05am 04/09/2009 |
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Here are a couple quick shots of Miss Marcheline, Aiko's new Elf Elly "Banji" girl. Sorry about the terribly grainy photos - I'm at work, and only have Microsoft Paint to resize them. Paint is L-A-M-E.
( A couple more. ) |
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Read 5 - Post |
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| Tinies!! |
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| 07:45am 03/09/2009 |
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Dear lord, someone help me. @_@ I've been bitten by this weird tinies bug. I've been planning to get a tiny to be a doll for Aiko for some time, and recently settled on a Banji. In the process of looking, though, I came across several other tiny dolls that I really like. So now I've got a Banji here (her name, Aiko informs me, is Miss Marcheline - I didn't have the guts to argue with her). I've got a Limhwa ToYou on the way, or will shortly, anyhow (Rowen Aurelia Winterthorne). I've got a Fairyland Multihead with no body (am speculatively looking at the Roxydoll one) sitting on the shelf, and I'm kicking around the notion of a Pukipuki (which has gotten stronger since DaisyDayes started making her FUCKING AWESOME faun legs, but is still being staved off for now by the fact that I don't care for any of the Pukipuki heads currently available, and I don't like the look of the Multihead on the Pukipuki body). I've also been just barely holding off on buying a Planetdoll Mini Riz in tan skin for the past three weeks or so.
HOLY SHIT. The damned things are addictive.
I love that I can carry them around in my pocket. I've been bringing Miss Marcheline to work with me in a hard-shell hinged spectacles case. It looks like I've got her in a coffin, unfortunately, but it keeps her safe while I'm restraining people. |
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Read 11 - Post |
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| Conversations in Security |
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| 11:40pm 28/08/2009 |
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Oh, the wonderful things overheard in the Security Office at the hospital. ^_^;;
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ME: "You do like the shiny silver ones, don't you?"
TED: "They're fucking pretty! You pull your awesome gun out, and BLAM! The last thing they see is something beautiful blowing their fucking head off!"
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TED: "If I only had that staff!"
ME: "Then you could rip people's faces off?"
TED: "No, I don't have a rip people's faces off spec - well, I kind of do, but it only works with certain classes."
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TED: "Lesbians! First they steal our women, then they steal our soda!"
(Note that Ted has no problem at all with homosexuality - but one of our lesbian coworkers had just stolen his soda. Ted has a...special relationship with his soda. Which is ironic, because "his" soda comes from my locker.) |
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Read 1 - Post |
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| CI Exam |
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| 04:20pm 11/08/2009 |
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Passed my CI exam. Don't yet know what my score was on this one, since they don't send that information until later (via snail-mail), but yesterday I got the eMail notice that said, "Congratulations! You Passed! Now send us more paperwork by X date."
Only ten days between taking the test and getting the notification, when it's supposed to take four-to-six weeks. That's a good sign, right? It's faster than my last exam results, for the IEA test, which was also supposed to take four-to-six weeks. I got the IEA results in about sixteen days or so, and I ended up with a 98/100 on that one, which is way better than the 70/100 they require for a passing score. Hopefully my CI score is also in the mid-to-upper 90's. |
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Read 9 - Post |
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| Website Revamp |
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| 11:22pm 08/08/2009 |
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I'm in the process of overhauling my entire website. It's going to be divided into three different sections. Here's the front page of one of those sections - it's inert right now, nothing is active, but this will eventually be functional.
I'll readily admit that I'm very old fashioned in my coding. All handwritten HTML and I even use frames (not iframes, but actual frames). CSS is beyond me. But I usually manage what I'm trying for, even if my methods are outdated. ^_^ |
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Read 10 - Post |
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| Creature of the Wood |
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| 07:41pm 03/08/2009 |
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The Soom MD Amber I ordered ages ago arrived today, so Davlin finally has his tail and his proper hooves. I might need to do a little bit of work on the hooves, but they fit well. He's now basically complete. He still needs his clawed hands, but otherwise he's good - antlers, Saint head, Heliot body, Sard hocks, and Amber hooves and tail. Hybrid, we have one. XD
In celebration, I took him down to the park that's a five-minute walk from my apartment and shot some photos. Lyrics (slightly edited) taken from "Creature of the Wood" and "Creature in the Wood," both sung by Heather Alexander (the latter is a parody of the former, with a female narrative voice rather than a male one).
( I am a creature of the wood... ) |
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Read 25 - Post |
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| WUNPO |
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| 07:33pm 02/08/2009 |
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Anyone who reads my LJ is doubtless familiar with Wren and Jian Yuan, but I'm also (slowly) putting together the core group of their coworkers in the World United Nation Police Organization (WUNPO). Here's a drawing I did of the other characters that will eventually have bodies as part of WUNPO.
I'd like to reiterate that I am not an artist. Please forgive.
( I am not an artist, but I really wanted to get these down. ) |
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Read 11 - Post |
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kiyakotari's journal
