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A belated Happy New Year to everyone! 2011... YAY! Here's to a better year for everyone (2010 was kind of crap, wasn't it?) - get to it!!
So, Jei's gone back to Bournemouth now after spending Xmas and the New Year with my mum and me. I'm staying behind to spend an extra week just with my mum, although she's going to be at work 90% of the time so nyeh... oh well. I miss Jei-ji already, of course, but it's only a week. I'll be back with her in our silly smelly little apartment soon enough~ ♥
New Year's Resolutions!
Jei and I are going to seriously get fit. I'm deeply unhappy with the weight I've put on in the last six months (since the summer, really), and it's compounded by the lack of exercise I get. If I get it in check now, I'll be fine... I'm not yet at a point where my health is (obviously, at least) suffering or where I can't do things. But I do NOT want to let myself reach that stage. I know I can look and feel so much better than this. I hate the extra flab on my tummy, butt and thighs. It all goes there, because I have a typically Latin-American body type/shape. When I'm slim, I look incredibly androgynous (extremely flat-chested with a boyish figure and short hair), but when I have extra weight, I get HIPS and a BUTT and there's no way I can pass for a boy :P So, that's extra incentive. I'm very gender-queer, and while the degree of feeling varies day-to-day, I'm at my happiest when I'm most androgynous and could pass for male at a glance.
So, the plan is pretty rigid. Gym three times a week, meet Jei there after her classes (it's en route from her school to home). Use the cross-trainer at home (and maybe some weights) on non-gym days. Get out of the house on as near to a daily basis as possible - thinking of picking up some volunteer work in town until I can get a job. Drink more water. EAT BETTER. Smaller portions, less snacking, more fruit and veg, no late-night feasts. I'm going to pick up a GI Diet book, because it's less of a 'diet' diet and more just a better way of eating, and it's worked really well for me before. I like a lot of healthy foods - I just have to avoid the temptation of being sidetracked by 'quick and easy'.
( Where Scourge and Miles fit into this... )
New Year's Eve itself was a pretty low-key but enjoyable little event. My mum, Jei and I played Trivial Pursuit in the afternoon, and Jei won by a landslide :P My mum made beef and yorkies for dinner and THE most delicious brandy trifle in the known universe for dessert. It was amazing. My mum is such a fantastic cook, and I really will miss her home-cooked meals when I go back home to Jei.
We'd (Jei and I) fully intended to see the New Year in with my mum, but she came upstairs at about 11:15pm saying she was too sleepy to stay awake any longer and she was going to bed XD We couldn't convince her to stay up 'til midnight, so we let her go, which is just as well because Scourge and Miles kinda hijacked the rest of the night anyway.
( Scourge and Miles again (they stole NYE ;_;) )
The nice thing about everything is that Scourge and Miles actually spent time together for once and didn't kill each other. I think they actually worked some shit out. They're never gonna be buddy-buddys like Jei/Sonic and me, but I guess it would be a lonely existence here if they couldn't get along at all.
But enough about them! They're a huge part of our lives now, but there's still me, too. Jei and I have lots of plans for this year!
2011 Plans!
Around Easter time, on Jei's Spring Break, we plan on getting a cheap flight (lol Ryanair £8) to Ireland to visit the Forty Foot, the 'gentleman's bathing spot' immortalised in Jamie O'Neale's "At Swim, Two Boys" novel that Jei and I love and feel so connected to. Funnily enough, it's right by Dun Laoghaire, which is where my childhood friend Malachy moved to when his family moved back to Ireland when I was eight or nine. I only visited once... His house was amazing, built on the ruins of a castle with some of the turrets and brickwork still standing. The forests and rivers around there are beautiful, too... It'll be nice to go back there.
Then in the Summer, Jei is graduating. Her family are coming over from the States and will meet my mum for the first time (: They want to see London, but also Scotland because Jei's mom is of Scottish descent (the Brodie clan). So we'll have a big celebration for Jei's graduation (my mum promised to make her special trifle!) and then go sight-seeing!
And then, of course, is Summer of Sonic 2011. The big one. The 20* Year Anniversary one. It's going to be huge and I am going to be there looking and feeling better than EVER before ♥ Oh yes.
Hopefully after that I'll get to go back to America with Jei for a little bit; if not in the summer, then later in the year for Hallowe'en. I've never done Hallowe'en in the USA before. It'll be fun. We also hoped that maybe I could see in the New Year there, too, and go to Times Square to see the ball drop... but I don't know if I can stay there that long (or do more than one trip). I might have to choose an event ): But whichever we do, it'll be grand!
Major events aside, our other massive goal is to really get our steampunk comic off the ground (literally - it's very airship-oriented ♥). We have character sketches done for the title character, but the other main (his friend/partner) is proving much harder to pin down. We'll get it, though! We have a lot of the story planned out already. Jei is the artist and she's working like crazy on getting the art down pat, but I have to really knuckle down on getting the character profiles, background and story written up so that we have a solid script to work on when we start transferring writing and concept art to storyboards. Given that Jei is basing her Final Major Project on the comic (fully cast and working ball-jointed dolls of the main two characters), we really do need to get cracking...
And of course there's still the money issue. I have JSA now and Jei got PART of her loan in, but it's still nowhere near enough to cover rent and expenses (utility bills, food, etc). She's making a good little parcel of cash on commissions at the moment, which is awesome - she has a return commissioner who's commissioned EIGHT pieces from her so far, and then two more people lined up after (one who wants a model/sculpture, woo!). We're thinking of setting up shop on Etsy and selling little bits and pieces there too. But it's still all dribbles and drabbles. We need a steady income, and that means I NEED a job. No more slacking. I'm going to find work. I'll apply for everything I can, and in the meantime I'm going to try my hand at that volunteering in town to get me out there on the daily. Finding £600 a month for our rent is not easy, and I really don't want us to have to keep relying on our (already money-strapped) parents to help us out.
EDIT: When I DO have money, Golden Sun: Dark Dawn for DS is THE first thing I am picking up. Maybe I can find my GBA and play through The Lost Age again just to catch up ;_; SUCH a good game...
EDIT 2: OH FFF I ALMOST FORGOT. My mum bought Jei and I haircuts as a late Xmas gift since she hadn't been able to afford any gifts on the day and she really wanted to give us something ;_; £10 each from this lady who comes around to your house to do it. She's the wife of the guy who did the kitchen here XD Anyway, it was a really REALLY good cut, and afterwards I coloured my hair again with that really nice midnight-purple/black colour that I had before. THANK YOU, MUM~ <3!
Oh boy. Long entry is long. Time to throw in some cuts. If you read everything, good on you! If you didn't, I don't blame you! XD I do tend to ramble, and first post of the New Year and all...
Well, onward into 2011, and I hope you all have a happy, healthy and prosperous year! xxx
*D'oh. Where did I originally pull 25 from? x.o
So, Jei's gone back to Bournemouth now after spending Xmas and the New Year with my mum and me. I'm staying behind to spend an extra week just with my mum, although she's going to be at work 90% of the time so nyeh... oh well. I miss Jei-ji already, of course, but it's only a week. I'll be back with her in our silly smelly little apartment soon enough~ ♥
New Year's Resolutions!
Jei and I are going to seriously get fit. I'm deeply unhappy with the weight I've put on in the last six months (since the summer, really), and it's compounded by the lack of exercise I get. If I get it in check now, I'll be fine... I'm not yet at a point where my health is (obviously, at least) suffering or where I can't do things. But I do NOT want to let myself reach that stage. I know I can look and feel so much better than this. I hate the extra flab on my tummy, butt and thighs. It all goes there, because I have a typically Latin-American body type/shape. When I'm slim, I look incredibly androgynous (extremely flat-chested with a boyish figure and short hair), but when I have extra weight, I get HIPS and a BUTT and there's no way I can pass for a boy :P So, that's extra incentive. I'm very gender-queer, and while the degree of feeling varies day-to-day, I'm at my happiest when I'm most androgynous and could pass for male at a glance.
So, the plan is pretty rigid. Gym three times a week, meet Jei there after her classes (it's en route from her school to home). Use the cross-trainer at home (and maybe some weights) on non-gym days. Get out of the house on as near to a daily basis as possible - thinking of picking up some volunteer work in town until I can get a job. Drink more water. EAT BETTER. Smaller portions, less snacking, more fruit and veg, no late-night feasts. I'm going to pick up a GI Diet book, because it's less of a 'diet' diet and more just a better way of eating, and it's worked really well for me before. I like a lot of healthy foods - I just have to avoid the temptation of being sidetracked by 'quick and easy'.
( Where Scourge and Miles fit into this... )
New Year's Eve itself was a pretty low-key but enjoyable little event. My mum, Jei and I played Trivial Pursuit in the afternoon, and Jei won by a landslide :P My mum made beef and yorkies for dinner and THE most delicious brandy trifle in the known universe for dessert. It was amazing. My mum is such a fantastic cook, and I really will miss her home-cooked meals when I go back home to Jei.
We'd (Jei and I) fully intended to see the New Year in with my mum, but she came upstairs at about 11:15pm saying she was too sleepy to stay awake any longer and she was going to bed XD We couldn't convince her to stay up 'til midnight, so we let her go, which is just as well because Scourge and Miles kinda hijacked the rest of the night anyway.
( Scourge and Miles again (they stole NYE ;_;) )
The nice thing about everything is that Scourge and Miles actually spent time together for once and didn't kill each other. I think they actually worked some shit out. They're never gonna be buddy-buddys like Jei/Sonic and me, but I guess it would be a lonely existence here if they couldn't get along at all.
But enough about them! They're a huge part of our lives now, but there's still me, too. Jei and I have lots of plans for this year!
2011 Plans!
Around Easter time, on Jei's Spring Break, we plan on getting a cheap flight (lol Ryanair £8) to Ireland to visit the Forty Foot, the 'gentleman's bathing spot' immortalised in Jamie O'Neale's "At Swim, Two Boys" novel that Jei and I love and feel so connected to. Funnily enough, it's right by Dun Laoghaire, which is where my childhood friend Malachy moved to when his family moved back to Ireland when I was eight or nine. I only visited once... His house was amazing, built on the ruins of a castle with some of the turrets and brickwork still standing. The forests and rivers around there are beautiful, too... It'll be nice to go back there.
Then in the Summer, Jei is graduating. Her family are coming over from the States and will meet my mum for the first time (: They want to see London, but also Scotland because Jei's mom is of Scottish descent (the Brodie clan). So we'll have a big celebration for Jei's graduation (my mum promised to make her special trifle!) and then go sight-seeing!
And then, of course, is Summer of Sonic 2011. The big one. The 20* Year Anniversary one. It's going to be huge and I am going to be there looking and feeling better than EVER before ♥ Oh yes.
Hopefully after that I'll get to go back to America with Jei for a little bit; if not in the summer, then later in the year for Hallowe'en. I've never done Hallowe'en in the USA before. It'll be fun. We also hoped that maybe I could see in the New Year there, too, and go to Times Square to see the ball drop... but I don't know if I can stay there that long (or do more than one trip). I might have to choose an event ): But whichever we do, it'll be grand!
Major events aside, our other massive goal is to really get our steampunk comic off the ground (literally - it's very airship-oriented ♥). We have character sketches done for the title character, but the other main (his friend/partner) is proving much harder to pin down. We'll get it, though! We have a lot of the story planned out already. Jei is the artist and she's working like crazy on getting the art down pat, but I have to really knuckle down on getting the character profiles, background and story written up so that we have a solid script to work on when we start transferring writing and concept art to storyboards. Given that Jei is basing her Final Major Project on the comic (fully cast and working ball-jointed dolls of the main two characters), we really do need to get cracking...
And of course there's still the money issue. I have JSA now and Jei got PART of her loan in, but it's still nowhere near enough to cover rent and expenses (utility bills, food, etc). She's making a good little parcel of cash on commissions at the moment, which is awesome - she has a return commissioner who's commissioned EIGHT pieces from her so far, and then two more people lined up after (one who wants a model/sculpture, woo!). We're thinking of setting up shop on Etsy and selling little bits and pieces there too. But it's still all dribbles and drabbles. We need a steady income, and that means I NEED a job. No more slacking. I'm going to find work. I'll apply for everything I can, and in the meantime I'm going to try my hand at that volunteering in town to get me out there on the daily. Finding £600 a month for our rent is not easy, and I really don't want us to have to keep relying on our (already money-strapped) parents to help us out.
EDIT: When I DO have money, Golden Sun: Dark Dawn for DS is THE first thing I am picking up. Maybe I can find my GBA and play through The Lost Age again just to catch up ;_; SUCH a good game...
EDIT 2: OH FFF I ALMOST FORGOT. My mum bought Jei and I haircuts as a late Xmas gift since she hadn't been able to afford any gifts on the day and she really wanted to give us something ;_; £10 each from this lady who comes around to your house to do it. She's the wife of the guy who did the kitchen here XD Anyway, it was a really REALLY good cut, and afterwards I coloured my hair again with that really nice midnight-purple/black colour that I had before. THANK YOU, MUM~ <3!
Oh boy. Long entry is long. Time to throw in some cuts. If you read everything, good on you! If you didn't, I don't blame you! XD I do tend to ramble, and first post of the New Year and all...
Well, onward into 2011, and I hope you all have a happy, healthy and prosperous year! xxx
*D'oh. Where did I originally pull 25 from? x.o
