chibiforte

I'm not even going to talk about the college nonsense that's going on.  It was such a ridiculous problem that it burns me up just thinking about it.

I just wanted to say that I finished Kamen Rider 555.  I thought it was good.  More in-depth thoughts may come later.

 The counselor from Simpson called this morning, giving me all the information that I need in order to choose some classes.  I also got an e-mail last night from another counselor giving me recommendations for classes, so I'll have to look at that, as well.  I'll wait for my Mom to come home though, since she wanted to help me out with that.

Played as much of the After Story in Clannad last night and this morning.  It's taking forever... and the directions aren't exactly the clearest.  I just want to get this done and move on.

Got past the second dungeon in Link's Awakening.  Got the Conch Shell, which played that little section of the Ballad of the Wind Fish fantastically.  Can't wait to hear the entire song again, with all the instruments and whatnot.

I finally am getting caught up on my WOTMR podcasts.  Finally.  Took me a couple of weeks, but I'm about there.  I have to listen to yesterday's broadcast, and then today's broadcast will be released after 2:00, so it's perfect timing.

Well, time to get back to what I was doing...

She's not in the office until the 5th of August?  Okay... but I really need to send off that deposit... I just hope this doesn't mess with my chances of getting into the classes...

Yeah, I'm going to college.  Barring any unfortunate mishaps in the meantime, it's guaranteed.  Hopefully nothing happens.

Only 5 weeks left until I actually have to move into the dorm.  In the meantime, my Dad wants me to try to sell a bunch of stuff and my Mom wants me to condense all my stuff in our shed and in my room into as little boxes as possible.  So, I probably won't get to play as many video games until I move in, but that's fine.  Hopefully I will have time to actually PLAY these new games I got once I'm there, and that college classes don't give me 40 hours of homework a week.

I bought a 2,000 Wii Points card and Final Fantasy IV for the Nintendo DS.  With the Wii Points, I bought Super Mario World on the Virtual Console (because I see no reason NOT to have that game available whenever I want to play it :3).  I have some points leftover now, though, since Nintendo decided not to release the new Strong Bad game this week, either.  When are they going to release that game?  I didn't get a chance to play a lot of FF4 last night, but that's okay, this isn't something I can play until I have a lot of time to invest into it.  Nice opening CG scene, though.

I received my super-awesome Kamen Rider Den-O Complete CD Box in the mail today!  So awesome... there's about... 119 tracks in all?  Sweet.  And it comes with that DVD disc containing the PV for "Climax Jump DEN-LINER Form".  Seems kind of a waste to only put a single movie file on a disc that has a personalized jacket, jewel case, and CD artwork, but if that's what they wanna do, I guess it's fine with me.  It's a cool PV, reguardless.  Need to get the TV-Nihon subs for it, now...

Kabuto is getting pretty good.  The director's cut of the movie was certainly epic, that's for sure.  Hopefully the end of the series will be equally as awesome.

It seems like I probably will end up going to Simpson University instead of the community college in Bakersfield.  That's provided that they actually give me my loan and it covers the rest of what I owe.  I had to take out a pretty hefty one ($9,500), but my Dad said that they monthly rate at which I have to pay it back is quite low, so I should be able to handle it after I finish college and get a job.  I'm surprised at how low the monthly payments are so low, like at $25 to $30 or so.  All I'd have to do is not buy as many video games every month and it'd be simple to pay it back (and considering that I'll have an actual full-time job, buying less video games won't be a problem).

Hopefully this covers the cost of the books and room + board, or else I'll have to shell out several more hundreds of dollars...

I'm quite addicted to Geometry Wars Galaxies lately.  I only bought it for $15 at K-Mart for the Wii, and it's a solid game.  I'm finally getting the hang of it, and stuff like clocking up my multiplier isn't as difficult as it was when I started.  Neat stuff.

I'm having difficulty actually wanting to start playing Zelda: Phantom Hourglass.  I just know it's gonna be an epic game that will require so much time to play, and I'm actually not looking forward to playing it for hours on end (which is going to be a required part of playing).  Hopefully that mindset will change.

I put so many N64 games on eBay the other day.  Like, seriously, about 31 or 32 in a row.  Hopefully they'll all sell, so I can have some cash in my pocket again.  Need to buy the "Individual-System" CD single, as well as the "Go-onger 2nd Lap" single.  And the "SuperNova" single whenever that comes out.  And the "Super Survivor" CD, unless I win that in the contest.  That'd be really nice.

Just a single day left until my 19th birthday.  Very exciting...!  Like I said before, I don't really care what I get, as long as there's cake.  Chocolate cake.  With peppermint frosting.  And a bit of chocolate syrup mixed in.  Mmmmm...

I woke up at 4:00AM this morning since that's when my siblings and Mother had to leave to go finish up the last dance at Disneyland.  I can't believe they actually decided to wake up that early just to go to her last dance, but hey, that gave me a lot of spare time all by myself.  I've been up since then mostly watching Kamen Rider Kabuto and Kamen Rider Kiva.  I finally got around to watching the Kabuto movie, "God Speed Love", and it was quite interesting.  This is the prequel to the actual show, I believe?  With some stuff added in and taken out, obviously, but it's always fun exploring alternate dimensions with the characters you love.

I didn't mention this before, but I decided to buy (with help from my Mother) the Complete Collection of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya on DVD.  Quite snazzy, even if I didn't get the CD single pack-ins that the previous special editions got (but I ordered those online anyway, so it doesn't really matter).

It feels really nice actually purchasing music and DVDs, as opposed to illegally pirating them (with things domestically or readily available, at least; fansubs of shows you can't get I think is allowable).  So much more gratifying, and for good reason (considering it's the, y'know, right thing to do).  Sure, this means that I don't get to listen to as much music as I used to, but... so what?  Doing the right thing actually costs something, which it seems that I'm more than willing to do these days.

...and that also means I have free reign to take potshots at you dirty bootleggers out there. :P

I need to make that college decision quickly.  Time's running out...

I'm gonna purchase the Complete CD Box for Kamen Rider Den-O pretty soon.  I'd save more than $115 buying the box instead of buying individual CD singles, so it's cool.

I'm at Disneyland right now (kind of).  Actually at the hotel, and we're not actually going into Disneyland at all, but since my sister has to dance near there, that's where we are.  I decided not to go to today's dance simply because I don't really care to go.  I'll go tomorrow, though.

My birthday is coming up...!  I'll be 9 years old mentally 19 years of age physically.  Don't really care about presents this year, but hey, they're always nice to get.

I now have to decide whether I'm going to Simpson or staying home and going to community college in Bakersfield.  Hm...

 I made a list of video games that I want to pick up in the near future.  Most were older games that were released awhile ago, so I guess that means that I can buy some of them for the discounted price of used games.  Hopefully that's the case.  I wanna try some visual novel simulations with Ar Tonelico really badly.  And some objectioning with Apollo Justice.  And some vampire hunting with Castlevania.

This is really getting me testy.  These colleges need all this paperwork and information, and for what?  Ugh, I just don't know... I just want to get all of this nonsense done and over with, is that too much to ask?  That these colleges just process the information properly?  Some of it is our fault, I know, but we've done what we can.

I really put a lot into cleaning this deathtrap of a room we sleep in.  I've pretty much gutted about 70% of it, and I'm probably going to finish up a good bit more by tomorrow.  But we had to spray for ants today, though, so I can't sleep in there.

I was THIS close to finally starting a file on Odin Sphere earlier today, but I had to start my cleaning, apparently.  I doubt I'll be able to do it tomorrow, either.  When am I going to be able to start playing this game?  I bought it last week, and I just today took it out of its packaging.  NeoGeo Battle Coliseum isn't doing any better, but at least it actually found its way into the actual PS2! (my test run of it wasn't that fun though, unfortunately)

I just decided to set aside the ethics of doing such and proceeded to AR the three Johto starters into my game.  Because, you see, if I want to collect all of them, I have to purchase a $35 copy of Emerald and completely beat the game THREE times.  I am not going to do that just to obtain three Pokemon.  But I'm not going to use any of these Pokemon to battle with, so no worries.  I just want to collect them so I can complete my Pokedex and train them to what I believe is their maximum, that's all.  Hey, I might even just put some legit Kanto starters up on the GTS and trade them for the Johto starters instead, just so I can say I have legit ones (seeing as how you can't actually trade for a specific Pokemon until you have an entry for them in the Pokedex; now that I do, I can get legit ones from some other people and just stash these ones in the box or the ranch).  C'mon, that's not cheating, is it?  And it's not like I'm going to battle somebody anytime soon.  I have no interest in that, really.

Speaking of the GTS, I put a Squirtle online last night, and I woke up with a brand new Piplup!  Thank you to whoever traded me that starter.  It's nice because I don't have to restart my copy of Diamond just to get the starters, now.  Next up, I'll put a Charmander on and hopefully get a Chimchar (or whatever the monkey's name is) in the near future, thus securing me all three starter Pokemon. :3

I listened to a bunch of Al Mohler's radio broadcasts while cleaning the room today.  That man is certainly a smart man, and is someone I'd like to be like.  His no-nonsense attitude on the radio is certainly a far-cry from what I'm used to, but because of that, he is more serious about what he's talking about, and that helps me learn more than I normally would.  Not that I'm bagging on comedy-driven shows, but it's nice to hear someone just laying it all out there and not backing down from critics every once in a while.

I've also been listening to Dennis Prager lately, and I have to admit, he's also a smart guy.  Very conservative, very much in-line with my views, and very Jewish.  I like it when Jews actually believe in faith what they claim to be in ethnicity and heritage.  So many Jews today are Jewish in heritage only, and don't believe a word of the Torah.  So much so that it's just gotta be devastatingly sad for those Rabbis in the Temples.  This man knows his stuff, though, and isn't afraid of being insulted by those on the far-left.

I heard a story on his program earlier today, actually.  I'll link to it next time and give my thoughts on it, but only as long as I remember to do so.

I think we're finally starting to get all this college information settled down, and I might be able to figure out which one I want to choose.  I'm leaning more towards Simpson in Redding, but those denominations that are predominantly in the North seem more charismatic than what I prefer.  I'd prefer a denomination that does not focus on the gifts of prophecy/tongues/healing/social justice/etc., and focuses more on the fundamentals and in-depth theological issues.

 I purchased a new MP3 player earlier today.  It was only $19.99 because it was on sale, and it's not a bad little toy to have.  It has SD card support, so in addition to the 1GB of internal memory on the player itself, I can insert SD cards full of other music files and switch between the internal memory and the card's memory, giving me almost a limitless amount of storage to utilize for music purposes (depending on how many SD cards I purchase, of course).

It doesn't have a menu/list function that my mobiBLU has, though, so it's a good bit different than what I've been using for the past 2 years or so.

My cousin was actually going to just give me his copy of Pokemon FireRed, but I insisted on giving him at least $6 for it (since those were the only small bills in my wallet).  So, I got a $25 game for $6, so that's not bad.  He had 4 badges and he had just beat Silph Co. in order to get the Silph Scope, but he hadn't completed Pokemon Tower yet, so I'll just continue his game and get all the rare Pokemon that I can get in that game.  That way, I'll have two different sets of legendaries on my copy of Pearl.  Good times.

I really want to buy My Pokemon Ranch, but I just haven't had the chance yet.  I've been spending so much money, though, so I don't want to run out too soon by buying Wii Points.  Maybe my parents will help me out on that...

I've been diggin' AMP, lately.  It's a good drink.  I'm obviously drinking the sugar-free, low-calorie version.  It actually does help wake me up, so it has my stamp of approval.

I feel like there should be more than this to a graduation though, you know?

I've been busy the last few days because of graduation-related events.  Had to go to my own on Thursday, went to my cousin's and friend's yesterday, and went to my Aunt's last night and today for a kinda get-together thing with my great-grandparents and other various family members.

Pictures may be put up soon, provided that I feel like getting them off the camera and onto the computer.

But, really, I still wasn't excited or anything by the whole process.  I was mostly bored just listening to the speakers and juvenile teens near me.

In other news, I've been playing a lot of Pokemon, lately.  I beat the Elite Four on Pokemon Pearl, and purchased LeafGreen again so that I can transfer the R/B/Y-era Pokemon to Pearl.  Soon, I will be attempting to capture Darkrai via my Japanese Diamond's exploitable door glitch, provided I can Master Ball-catch it even without the National Dex.

And I bought NeoGeo Battle Coliseum for the PS2 for a mere $10 earlier tonight.  Go me.

I also finished watching Den-O recently, but can't remember if I mentioned it already.  Reguardless, it was a great series.

Climax Form is an awesome form change.  And he even used the Rider Kick!  First time this season, interestingly.  It's like the writers completely forgot about it, then realized that they haven't yet used one of the staple attacks in the series.  It's almost funny, if you think about it.

Well, here's my progress in each of the tokusatsu series I'm watching so far:

Episode #31 of Kamen Rider Den-O.
Episode #19 of Kamen Rider Kiva.
Episode #2 of Tokusou Sentai DekaRanger.
Episode #1 of Mahou Sentai MagiRanger.
Episode #24 of GouGou Sentai Boukenger.
Episode #10 of Engine Sentai Go-Onger.

Doing fairly well, but for some reason, it's been a bit difficult to watch Boukenger, lately.  I gotta get this idea that the entire series is just filled with mini-arcs out of my mind and just enjoy the season.  It's supposed to be one of the best that Toei's ever produced, from what I hear.

I'm also thinking of watching Kamen Rider Kabuto once I free up some space to watch it.  It sounds like a serious season, so I'm hoping it'll be good and interesting to watch.

And no, the college financial aid letters still haven't arrived.  And it makes me angry because I want to make a decision as soon as possible.  Sigh...

I've been doing pretty well on my Pokemon Pearl game, lately.  I finished the 7th Gym Leader just the other day, and I figured out that I actually CAN trade Pokemon between my Japanese copy of Diamond and my American Pearl, so I'm totally going to be getting all the Pokemon that can only be found in Diamond and trading them to Pearl.  I'll also probably restart Diamond and just trade over the starters that I do not yet have to Pearl just so I can have one of each.  I'm not regretting that Diamond purchase anymore, at least. :3

I'm also going to be purchasing a copy of Pokemon LeafGreen once I go down to Lancaster again.  I thought about picking it up last time, but I decided against it, much to my dismay because I've been having dreams about it since then. x_x

I rented Super Mario Galaxy the other day.  I've gotten twenty stars on it.  Seems like a fun game.  That's all I have to say about it.

Wii Fit is an excellent workout.  I've done 2 1/2 hours in total in workout time, and it is indeed difficult.  I haven't felt so much strain on my muscles in awhile.  I especially like the running sections that you have to do, since it actually requires you to run the entire portion of the workout.

I finished GekiRanger last night, finally.  It is SUCH a good series, and is actually the first Sentai season I've completed (if you don't count my sporadic viewing of Abaranger, that is).  Maybe I should count that one though, so GekiRanger is actually the second season I've completed.  Next, I'm probably going to tackle DekaRanger, which means that I will have that and Boukenger going on at the same time, along with Den-O, Kiva, and Go-Onger.  I've also got some Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh episodes to watch, and I think I might start MagiRanger sooner than I thought I would.

I'm actually going to take the plunge and watch the new Evangelion movie that came out not too long ago.  It's apparently a retelling of the first six or so episodes, so hopefully that will give me a good idea as to whether or not I should partake in the series or should just leave it alone.

Still haven't received the financial forms from the colleges, obviously.  What's taking them so long?

This whole "graduation" thing seems so lackluster and unnecessary for someone like me.  I can understand the majority of the students getting excited about it, but really, I can't seem to care very much.  It's not like I poured my heart and soul into school at any point in my 14-year career, since everything has just come so... easy to me.  I have no clear-cut ambitions for my future, nor am I terribly excited by the idea of attending college.  It seems that all I'm focusing on is just these issues that need to be dealt with, and which are vastly more important than wondering as to whether I should attend a Colorado or Redding college.

And that brings up another question: why have I NOT been challenged by these schools?  I'm learning far more from listening to podcasts and reading trustworthy sites and books created by seminary graduates and theology experts than I ever have in school.  I'm actually being CHALLENGED by these great men, and these schools are nothing more than mere stepping stones that need to be crossed.  I've always been bored of school since nothing I learned ever actually helped me as a person, nor did it ever raise deeply profound questions in my mind... am I just one of those types of people?

Simpson is offering about $4,000...
Cal Baptist is offering about $3,200 from the Dean's Scholarship...
Colorado is offering $8,000, if that message was correct...

And due to FAFSA, my Mother believes that the expected family contribution is about $6,000 to $8,000, but we are not certain of that, yet.  And the above offers are just the beginning, seeing as how each college will try to put more scholarship money and grants to pay for as much as they can.

Simpson's about 6-7 hours away in Redding, which is in Northern California.  That is close to where both my Brother and best friend is, or will be, stationed.
Cal Baptist is about 2.5 hours away in Riverside, which is to the South.  I know someone's who has been there, and I will eventually get to see someone I know attend.
Colorado is way far away, obviously, but it is near my other Brother and his two children, both of which I know would be fun to be near.  Plus, it is close to Colorado Springs, where I may be able to intern at AiO when it airs again.

And yet, my decision cannot be based on my family's location.

Simpson is in a nice area, with trees and grass and good weather.
Cal Baptist is in a place my Mother did not care for, but the man who went there said it was safe and interesting.
Colorado is in a cold place, which I enjoy far more than intense heat.

Simpson may or may not allow me to learn the languages I want.
Cal Baptist has clubs and activities that I highly enjoy.
Colorado has locations around it that offer sophisticated activities.

And yet, I have no idea how the spiritual component plays out in each place.  Expository sermons, or simply topical?  Exegetical teaching?  Bad theology, or just plain heresy?  Do they offer conferences for students to attend?  Will they allow me to play video games or watch shows I enjoy?  I'm pretty much finished with most movies and their blasphemy and cursing, not to mention other elements that just drive me to the brink of insanity.  Will I be able to use the internet freely (to a point, of course, while blocking out all the bad stuff)?  I cannot imagine them really blocking out Kiva or Go-Onger when viewing them on video sites... but then again, who knows?  Will I be able to get "fed" properly, with the ministry, fellowship, and everything related to that?  Can this properly convert and grow me as necessary to live?

Auuuhhhh... how many questions must be raised and answered before I can make a decision?

I've been accepted at all three of the above places, and yet I can't decide.

I just have to wait for the acceptance letters and financial aid award information before I can delve deeply into this...

MyAnimeList
MyMangaList

Nice, no?

I'm lovin' Den-O so far.  Momotaros is probably one of the funniest tokusatsu characters I've seen so far, and it's nice to see these main heroes in Kamen Rider, at least the recent ones.  They are just so quiet, shy, and just plain refreshing to see as opposed to the SuperMan-esque heroes that are ultra-confident and all that.  They remind me of actual people as opposed to cardboard cutouts.  They remind me of myself, and I totally relate to how Ryotaro and Wataru act.

I finally received LostWinds on the WiiWare channel, today.  It seems interesting.  It has a very Eastern look about it, flowing from the music to the character designs.  Kind of reminds me of computer generated updates on the art style used in Journey to the West.  I'll have to give it more time.

Wii Fit on Wednesday.  So hyped, yet am unsure as to how I'll be able to exercise in this heat.

Getting Senior pictures taken tomorrow morning.  Don't really feel like I need them, but whatever, my Mom wanted them done.  At least it gets me out of a few hours of work.  We've been doing a lot of work on the yard this past week.

GekiRanger is getting awesome.  I just watched the appearance of GekiViolet, and he has such a great backstory and henshin sequence.  I didn't know that he used Shigeki as opposed to the normal Geki that the Triangle uses.  Hopefully Ken's introduction will be equally as awesome.

Boukenger is also getting good.  I'm now getting into the BoukenSilver introduction, which will be nice.  Hopefully Eiji is an interesting character, instead of simply being a live-action doppleganger of Inuyasha.

Oh yes, another thing here...

...

Simpson University called today.  Apparently, I've been accepted.  Neat-o!

Now, we just have to send in my deposit and immunization records, and then I get to start picking out my classes and discussing financial aid and whatnot.  Should be interesting to see where this takes me.

 Can't wait!  Hopefully it all goes smoothly... I just have a nervous feeling for some reason...

I picked up my copy of Mario Kart Wii, yesterday.  It's actually a lot more fun than I thought it'd be.  The online mode is pretty awesome and flawless, and you actually get to see the Miis and names of the people you go against.  While I don't particularly care for a few of the Miis I saw, overall, the experience was great.  I'll probably start all the different rank-mode things sometime either later today or tomorrow.  Maybe I should just bypass 50cc and just go for 100cc for the time being?  That'd help me get better, since it's tough for me to adjust to the Wii Wheel.

I also laid down a preorder for Wii Fit.  That stupid game's going to be $90, but it's going to be so much fun!  And to think, all it does is help you exercise...

I need to get those recommendation letters sent out...

 Still pondering that particular transition in the novels that I have to figure out.  Hopefully I'll be making some headway on that soon, since I want to finish up these summaries.

This upcoming Spring Anime Season doesn't look all that special.  Allison & Lillia looks really interesting, as well as Kyouran Kazoku Nikki, Nijuu Mensou no Musume, Itazura no Kiss, and especially kure-nai, but that's pretty much it.  I really doubt I'll even watch much else besides Allison & Lillia, but we'll see how it goes.

We forked Ben and Jay's yard, last week.  And just earlier tonight, my older brother and sister-in-law placed hundreds of post-it notes on both Gabe's and Jeremy's trucks.  It looked awesome.  This'll show everybody at the Youth Group that our family is not meant to be messed with. :3

I read today that the Ben Stein movie is going to definitely be airing at our local theater, which is a huge plus for me, seeing as how I didn't think the subject matter would be accepted by the theater's owner (seeing as how he aired the Al Gore movie thing), but it turns out that he's just in these things for the money, and if he can make money from a movie, it doesn't really matter what the subject matter is about.  And considering this is a small town, it'd probably be more accepted than all of these big cities.  I'm predicting that there will be at least one boycott of the movie in at least one state, probably here in California in certain cities.  It wouldn't surprise me in the least, considering the terribly hypocritical patrons of this state who think they're open-minded, but are far more bigoted than the things they fight against. xD

I haven't been playing as much Brawl, lately, but that's because there's not much more for me to do on it.  We've unlocked pretty much everything we can, except for the Boss Battle challenges, which are horrendously difficult and something that I don't want to partake in.  I want to try to get into some RPGs again, like Earthbound, but I just can't seem to find the time to sit down and play it.  If nothing else, then I'm certainly going to have a giant backlog of video games that will finally be completed once I'm in college with free time on my hands.  I predict weekend marathons will be taking place with my roommates.

Speaking of roommates, I'm really hoping that I get some cool ones.  I think the current allocationg per room is about four people, so I'll have three roommates.  I want at least one of them to be a chef of some sort, so they'll constantly make food and ask me to taste-test it.  I'm also hoping that another one of them is a computer genius who can help me with tech stuff.  And I hope the last one is an artist or musician of some sort, who can draw or help me with music stuff.  It'd be awesome if that happened.

I downloaded at least two gigabytes of OCRemixes, today.  I decided that it was time I go through what that website has and just enjoy what they put out.  So far, I'm impressed by these remixers.  They really know how to take chiptunes and rework them into a completely new creation.

I'm definitely taking a break from Clannad, tonight.  I've spent quite a few hours digging into that game, but it's kinda taking over all of my spare time to watch anime and play video games (which is, anytime after 8:00PM).  I need to catch up on my Digimon viewing, not to mention the various other shows I need to watch.  I can't help that I love the game so much, but moderation (at least, my definition of the word) is definitely something I need to practice.

I can't believe all this Super Smash Bros. Brawl news that's been coming out.  I mean, I expected it, considering that this is a blockbuster game that just came out in Japan and will be out in a month and a week here, but the amount of spoilers is overwhelming.  I'm kind of disappointed by the secret characters, but eh, it's not that big of a deal.  I'll get over it.

There's not much to say about the Vegas trip we took, last weekend.  We just stayed down for a single night, saw little Sarai and Kasandra, and left.  Nothing too big, but still enjoyable.  We're waiting for Kasandra to send the pictures she took of Sarai to our e-mail address, so maybe I'll post a few pictures up of her when I get them.  Can't wait until she has the little boy, because then I'll finally have a baby nephew to teach all sorts of cool stuff. :3

I'm just tired of all this school stuff.  I don't feel like all this applying and whatnot.  And financial aid and everything... it's just a pain...

I'm doing fairly well in Harvest Moon: Boy and Girl.  I decided to go after the Doctor's assistant, Elli.  She's one of the girls that I never married in the games based on Mineral Town, so I thought it'd be a change of pace.  I'm at the end of Spring in the first year, and I already have her at a light blue heart, so, go me.

You know what?  I think I'm just going to go legit.  I want to legally buy my music from now on.  I should have morals, I should have integrity.  Even though most of what I listen to is expensive Japanese music, I should still purchase it.  That's what I'm trying to do.  But now that I'm trying to do that, I can see quite clearly what all this excessive downloading has done to the import music market.

You see, I've been trying to find the Clannad anime CD single.  I really enjoy the music that's on it, so I thought it'd be good to import it.  But, you see, I've looked around about eight different websites, and only ONE store has it.  I mean, I can't even find the CD single from Play-Asia, and that's concerning, to me.  I can't even find it on eBay or Amazon Japan, and the CD was just released back in October!  I mean, Play-Asia and eBay still have the CD singles from Digimon Adventure!  Why is Clannad the only series that I can't find hardly anything for?  Or, for that matter, most of the Key Sounds albums in the first place?  The only place I could find the CD single at was HimeyaShop, and it costs $14, plus $19 to ship it to America, which equals $33 to buy the CD.  Now, I want to buy it legally, and I will probably end up buying it soon, but c'mon, $33 for seven songs?  I know that's the norm in Japan, but at least cut down the shipping a bit and don't get my hopes up with the base price, you know?  Play-Asia has cheap shipping, so why don't they have the CD at all?  It's just mind-blowing, to me.

I'm assuming this is all because the constant downloads that these songs have, that they're not even trying to sell them to America, which makes me sad because I would like to spend money, now.  I see quite clearly what I've been doing, and I'd like to atone for what I've done, but I guess I'm reaping what I sowed.  I just wish it didn't have to come at the cost of not being able to listen to songs that I really, really enjoy...

I just really want to listen to the "Dango Daikazoku" song in some way, shape, or form...

I ended up ordering the Digimon Adventure CD Single for "brave heart", in the meantime.  It was cheap, only $9.90, plus $3.60 for shipping.  That's pretty cheap, especially for Japanese CDs.  Hopefully they'll put up the Clannad CD Single soon, or else I'll be a Sad Wesley.

My monthly meeting for schoolwork was today.  Always nice to go to, even though I usually wait till the last minute to do my work.  We (my brother and I) were surprised that we had to take some extra tests, but we were able to get them done.  Although, I'm not sure I'm happy with the test results.  I mean, I did really well on them, and I honestly don't understand why.  This isn't false humility, because I seriously thought I didn't do well on them, and I'm kinda angry that I somehow stumbled upon the correct answers without putting much thought into them.

I mean, really, I'm a seriously lazy student.  I wait until the last few days before our work is due before I actually finish it, and I don't put that much thought into what I'm doing, and yet... I still get correct answers?  You might think I'm weird, but I'd rather FAIL HARD and actually get the motivation to work on the schoolwork the proper way, than to just take the easy way out and do things haphazardly and somehow get the answers correct.  Isn't that the difficult, yet morally and ethically correct, way to do things?

And I can't change myself, since I'm already settled into my routine and can't diverge from my set habits... v_v

And c'mon, the test results said that I was well above my grade in MATH!  I mean, COME ON!  MATH?!  If there's one thing that I believe I'm so terribly BAD at, it's definitely math!

...

Wow... Baroque actually looks pretty swell.  Not that I'm much for the obviously questionable symbolism, but the art style is pretty nifty.  Looks like a winner on the Wii.

Oh yeah, speaking of the Wii, I did end up buying a Wii Points Card.  2000 points, to be exact.  And yes, I did indeed purchase Pokemon Snap on the Virtual Console, and I just unlocked the Volcano level.  It's about as fun and entertaining as I remember it, although I'll probably finish it fairly quickly.

I apparently can't go to the book store, anymore.  As soon as I walk into the appropriate section, I waste so much time just looking at the various titles, picking up books in my hands, examining them, memorizing the names of the authors and titles, etc... and then I find out that I don't have any money to buy them.  I'm certain that as soon as I get any cash whatsoever for Christmas, I'll be buying books.  I need to add more to my theology shelf...

Oh yeah, and a new book arrived on my doorstep, today.  It's thick as a phone book (768 pages, to be precise), and it has a ton of information on pretty much every major religion in the world.  Neat.

I've been watching more of -ef- a tale of memories, lately.  And it's actually a pretty decent show.  I can't wait to see where it takes us, as I'm only on episode 9 and it's going to finish off at 12 or 13 episodes in three or so weeks.  I gotta say, though... if there is a single anime on earth that reminds me of Kingdom Hearts in both artistic style and musical choice, it's definitely this show.  I mean, just watch the opening theme.

I'm still getting close to finishing Rune Factory.  I'm still on the second-to-last dungeon, but I'm getting stronger and stronger, and my crops are almost finished up with their growing, since the door to the second half of the dungeon requires you to grow five crops near the door to proceed.  I just wish it was a bit easier to finish these dungeons up, but eh, what can you do?

And... there's not much else to talk about.  I'm sending away for college information tomorrow (and let me tell you, I'm going to sign up to get information from well over fifteen colleges, at the least), so I'll be happy with that.  Definitely trying to go for Cal Baptist, since employers are actually predominantly looking for workers from Christian colleges these days, due to the fact that they believe they'll be getting workers with more honesty and integrity than graduates from secular universities.  Plus, that's where Gabe went, and he's one of the smartest guys I've ever known, so why not?  In addition to that, they have an arcade right there on campus, with a bunch of arcade cabinets with games that I'll probably be familiar with, so that's a definite benefit.

I love this message. <3

I'm trying to finish off as much as I can of Rune Factory before Christmas vacation starts, so I can move on to other games and not have to spend hours on a single week in the game.  I started Luminous Arc even though I wasn't finished with the previously mentioned game, and it's okay, but kinda difficult.  I also have to play Hoshigami Remix and Phantom Hourglass... x_x;

I gotta start applying for colleges and financial aid and scholarships and all that, soon.  Pastor Miles bought me a college magazine, which kinda surprised me because I completely forgot that I talked to him about colleges and theology and the like.  He's such a nice guy. :3

I also have to retake the SAT sometime this year or next.  I received a fairly decent score the first time around last year (1640), but my parents believe it'd be in my best interests to try for a higher score now that I understand a few more things (like Geometry stuff).  I'm okay with it, but I have to find out when I need to sign up for it...

I'm going to try to purchase Pokemon Snap for the Virtual Console sometime this week.  I could probably trade in a game or two at GameStop when we go out of town for our monthly meeting, and I could buy a 1000 Wii Points Card then.  I'm really looking forward to replaying that game. n_n

I might be getting a PSP for Christmas.  Ever since the Xbox 360 debacle and the fact that we're certainly not going to be getting one anytime soon, my parents have been kinda skirting the issue and not giving me a direct answer about the PSP.  That'll be cool.  I just don't know how I'm going to purchase Suzumiya Haruhi no Yakusoku for it, or whether I should at all (text adventure + only Japanese text = not understandable at all).  But it'll be fun to play games like Jeanne d'Arc, Parappa the Rappa, MegaMan: Powered Up, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, etc.

I'm going to clean off my shelf in the room and put all of my theology-based books on a single shelf.  I'll call it the "Shelf of Theology".  Yes, that's totally clever, and completely awesome.  Maybe I'll take pictures of it.

My face still hurts from my accident, yesterday... x_x