special K

keefry @ 2009-02-22T13:44:00

2009-02-22T18:57:05Z

What's going on with me? Not a whole heck of a lot... Mainly just working.

Gearing up to buy a house this summer. Ryan and I will probably go to some open houses in the next few weeks or so. We're shooting to have a 20% down payment saved up by July. I wanted to move in the spring so I could set up a nice little garden and work it over the summer, but that'll have to hold off in favor of saving. And first time home buyers get a nice $8,000 credit, so that's a great incentive.

Having fun at work! Ryan and I just redid out company's website. I hunkered down and made my first non-table-based website. :p CSS is fun and useful. I'm having a bitch of a time with search engine optimization. Ooo, and I'm learning After Effects! It's way cool. I had some experience in using Premiere, so it's not totally new. They seem like they do the same functions, but from what I understand, Premiere is only for editing, and After Effects is only for generating visual effects. Am I about right here?

Also, I posted some of my new arts on my blog:
karifry.blogspot.com
Please follow my blog! I'll love you forever. <3 Also, it will encourage me to post more arts there.

handwriting meme

2008-12-15T04:41:24Z

1. Your name/username.
2. Left-handed or right-handed?
3. Favorite letters to write?
4. Least favorite letters to write?
5. Write "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog."
6. Tag 6 people

tagged by krhainos, who has got some wicked-cool hand-writing.

observations

2008-11-21T13:21:42Z

BOO

PEOPLE
People here are, for the most part, very selfish. There's a kind of rule that you should give up your seat in a crowded train for someone elderly or with small children. I NEVER saw anyone (except for myself) offer up their seat to someone who needed it more.
People will very often cut in front of you in line if you're not within 6 inches of the person in front of you. Actually, there kind of are no lines, just masses of people wiggling to get ahead of you.

TEENAGERS
Younger people are, to put it kindly, complete shitheads. They have no courtesy for others. Every goddamn young person texts while walking. You have to swerve around them. Some of them text on bikes.

WALKING
People almost run into you a lot. I'm convinced that walking is just a game of chicken to everyone. I've SO been tempted to elbow check some people who almost walk into me while texting, but I've been good.

DISTURBING MANGA
Some of the adult manga I've stumbled upon depicts girls who seem to be around age 10. This disturbs me greatly.

STORES
Employees beckoning you into stores/restaurants. Very annoying. Very loud. It is cute when they try to reach out to you in English ("Welcome, you come shop!"), but the barrage of "ITTERASSHAI"s is so irritating.

BUS
Busses are not great for foreigners, but manageable. Trains are far more convenient.

SMOKE
Everyone smokes. Especially in game centers. Non-smoking sections in restaurants are jokes. (I'm from Ohio... It's hard to smoke in public in Ohio.)

PERSONAL SPACE
There fucking is none.

CHEETOS
What the hell, Japan? These are not Cheetos. Cheetos are cheese-flavored. Not corn-flavored. Japan cannot handle Dangerously Cheesy. But they do love corn.

MOUNTAIN DEW
Agghhhh, what is this? It's sour! Noooo!

McDONALDS
You are expensive and your McFlurry portions are pathetic.

CHARACTER GOODS
Are expensive. It's cruel. Anime is not created for selling commercials to companies. Anime is for selling fucking overpriced plushes and figures and cel phone straps.

DVD PRICES
Three or four 22-minute episodes to a disc for about $40 a disc. Seasons of a series cost hundreds, instead of $40-60.

EATING
I lost my appetite more than once while hearing the sounds coming from the people around me wolfing down their food. At KFC, the man next to me was sucking and slurping on the chicken bones and chewing with his mouth wide open. I had to leave. At ramen shops, the sounds aren't as bad, since they're only sucking up noodles.

YAKITORI
Yakitori gave me the worst stomach pain and bout of shits I've ever had in my life. Never again, please.

YAY

PEOPLE
Middle-aged-ish people are very kind, and the elderly are wonderful and super-kind. I let an elderly woman take my seat on the train and she must've thanked me at least 10 times.

Generally, anyone you approach and engage in conversation will be super-nice to you and bend over backwards to help. We got lost a LOT and people were generally very giving in helping us find our way.

TRAINS
Trains are very easy.

YEN
I like 100-yen and 500-yen coins. Very convenient. Can't get over the fact that a 1-yen coin is nearly weightless and the 10-yen coin is larger than the 100-yen coin, but the currency is kinda neat.

PANYA
Bread stores are nice. Great selection of sweet breads makes for a good breakfast or a nice little dessert.

YOSHINOYA
Yoshinoya is NICE. It's got to be the best and cheapest (and fastest) fast food ever. I'm going to miss gyuudon.

SUICA
Suica, the prepaid card for the trains (and other stuff), is amazing. You don't have to swipe your card, just hold your wallet with the card in it near the detector. Like MasterCard pay pass. I imagine it really revolutionized the train ticketing system. It's just as much a marvel as the train system itself.

KOBAN
Police Boxes are wonderful little information booths. I think officers may resent the fact that they're mainly used by people to ask for directions (in my experience).

GAME CENTERS
Game Centers = Arcades. Despite the smoke, they're fantastic. We had a kick-ass arcade that I loved in our bowling alley in the 80's, and the game centers really took me back to the feel of that. America's arcade market is completely dead. It was a real treat to see thriving arcades here.

EVERYONE GAMES
Middle-aged people play DS and PSP on the train. Business men blow off steam at game centers each night. Even school girls are awesome at games like Taiko no Tatsujin (Taiko Drum Master). The Phoenix Wright games are very popular here.

MANGA KISSATEN
Manga and Internet cafes. They're pretty much awesome. We only went to one, but it was great. We got the cheapest plan, which was 200-yen per hour, and we got access to a library of manga AND got all we could drink of of a vending machine. Wish we would have gone there on the first night to sample all the drinks then. Real Gold is similar to Mountain Dew, BTW.

KFC
The Colonel was dressed up like Santa. Cause Santa and The Colonel are the same person here.

EATING
The food's good here. There's quite a variety. I got a little sick of Japanese food early on and was able to get good ol cereal from 7-11. Chocolate flakes, actually.

MILK
The milk here is awesome. Like a cross between 2% and half-and-half. Soo creamy. <3

We leave tomorrow. I've had a good time here, but I'm happy to be going home.

Nan ten

2008-11-19T11:43:08Z

I am in Japan and I have a cold. This makes me happy.

(From Japan Marketing News)
Nan Ten is a well-established Japanese throat lozenge brand that had a bit of a staid reputation. Everybody knew the jingle that came at the end of every commercial: ~Nan Ten nodo ame~ (Nan Ten throat lozenges), but nobody was particularly excited by it.

That is, until about a week ago, when this updated brand song—which took a somewhat hackneyed jingle, put it to a thumping dance beat, and combined it with screwball lyrics—started to take Japan by storm.

Here are the first couple of verses, loosely translated:

I am Nan Ten Man.

(Song starts)

Nan Ten Throat Lozenges

Lick it, slurp it. Lick it, slurp it.

How is your voice doing?
Try it and see.
It's the throat lozenge everybody loves.

Nan Ten Nan Ten Nan Ten Nan Ten
Lick it, slurp it. Lick it, slurp it. Lick it, lick it, lick it, lick it.

Nan Ten Nan Ten Nan Ten Nan Ten

Lick it, slurp it. Lick it, slurp it. Lick it, lick it, slurp, slurp, slurp, slurp

We've been together for over 10 years
We know each other through and through
I believed in you, so it was quite a shock
I had only gone and caught a cold

Hello?
Who is this?

Your boyfriend doesn't know it's you!

Nan Ten Nan Ten Nan Ten Nan Ten
Lick it, slurp it. Lick it, slurp it. Lick it, lick it, lick it, lick it.

I was a shoe-in to get that job
I kept telling myself I'm totally in
I rehearsed the interview again and again
But after all I did to prepare so well

So, tell us a little bit about yourself
I'm strong and confident . . .(coughing fit)

You never got through to them!

Nan Ten Nan Ten Nan Ten Nan Ten
Lick it, slurp it. Lick it, slurp it. Lick it, lick it, lick it, lick it.

*The Nan Ten Girl in the center is wearing a face mask. People in Japan who've caught a cold commonly wear face masks to keep from infecting others.

I'm wearing a mask right now, too. :) And actually, I'm taking Vicks medicated lozenges... Over-the-counter medicine in Japan is very expensive. I think the equivalent of $6 Day Quil is something like $30 here. The 20 Vicks drops were a "bargain" at 320 yen (about $3.40 USD). I have Excedrin and Claratin from home... I'm making do.

Coming home on Saturday!

o hai, in japan now

2008-11-09T21:22:50Z

If anyone would like me to pick them up something, just leave a comment. Don't be shy.

We're blogging about our trip here:
http://ryankarijapan.blogspot.com/

It's been fun so far... But I feel like quite the big goofy foreigner.

Going to the Ghibli Museum today!

AMERICA DONE GOOD

2008-11-05T06:17:39Z

Next week is one of my most anticipated weeks ever.

2008-11-01T08:02:50Z

Election is on Tuesday. (Ryan and I already voted early for That One)

I'm getting on a plane and going to Japan on Thursday. For 15 days.

*gulp*

keefry @ 2008-09-19T15:43:00

2008-09-19T19:44:09Z

Too bad I'm not awesome enough to have made this poster.

My brain has no gender.

2008-09-07T18:08:36Z

BBC's test: What Sex is Your Brain?

From [women]-100 to +100[male], I scored a 0.

I scored high on part one, where it tests you on your ability to determine angles and spot the difference between two objects.

I confirmed that I am right-brained.

I finally figured out why my ring finger is so much longer than my index finger (male trait, established in the womb, can also be influenced by how many older brothers you have).

I apparently prefer more feminine male faces.

I was great at 3D rotated shapes. Apparently male engineers excel at this. Isn't female artist about the farthest away from male engineer that you can get? :p

What did you score? It's a really fascinating test and took about 8-10 minutes. Do it! :)

70's? Christian Ska Band

2008-09-06T01:47:44Z

Despite my religious views, I think this is pure concentrated awesome.

Watch 20 seconds... You'll be delighted and hooked. XD

I love how uncomfortable the background singers are.

Jesus ZAP at 1:50.

(Found on BoingBoing)

no one else will care, but...

2008-09-04T03:52:28Z

Piccolo looks like a Buffy vampire. :\ Beh.

Oh. Hi, Bulma.
Not bad as far as a poster goes, just bad for a Dragonball poster.

More mediocre production stills

keefry @ 2008-08-21T22:07:00

2008-08-22T02:12:51Z

I haven't posted any art here in a looong time.

Um, here's Hurley. <3

This drawing is months and months old, but oh well.

My hand's all better, BTW. Been out of the cast for a month or so, I'm just keeping you guys in suspense. :O

I feel now like I should update this regularly. Maybe I'll show a work-in-progress painting soon.

it's not an orange that you can sit with

2008-08-05T20:24:46Z

it's mah birthday

2008-06-28T16:17:42Z

I broke my hand a little bit (the long hand bone under my pinky knuckle, a metacarpal, I think). They saw fit to put me in this get-up. :p It'll be on til a week from Wednesday.

For my birthday, I'm going to Colossal Con in Cleveland.. We went yesterday and it was fun. Ryan cosplayed as Joe from Viewtiful Joe, and I was Kitaro (an excuse to wear my tall geta). Here's Joe/Ryan with folks from Resident Evil 4. Capcom, represent!

We saw the One-Ups in concert last night.. They were pretty sweet! We're gonna go to their Q and A in a little bit here.

On Wednesday, my boss took everyone at work to Cedar Point. Ryan doesn't do rollercoasters too well, plus it was rainy, so we spent some time in their arcade. This was one of the old-timey cornhole-ish games they had. It was begging for some goatse, so I set up this shot.

And I am 27 today. Yep.

Mountain Dew and the other three food groups

2008-05-31T06:41:12Z

Mountain Dew is testing three new flavors!

SuperNova, Voltage and Revolution.

SuperNova: Strawberry/Melon
Voltage: Raspberry/Citrus
Revolution: Wild Berry/Fruit

They all have Ginseng.

I picked up a 12-pack of each at WalMart.

If you have the option of trying one, I'd go for the SuperNova.

Also... Did you know that Milk can do wondrous things?

If you boil some milk, throw in some lemon juice and stir, you can make CHEESE! Nyom.

Link, if you're interested:
How to make paneer (indian soft cheese)

And a video demo

I sprinkled kosher salt on my second batch and loved it even more than the first batch. NOM NOM.

The recipe made me look all over hell for some damn cheesecloth. I used paper towels and a colander with the first batch. You can also use a coffee filter. :p

Speaking of coffee, ever try coffee jelly? It's basically coffee gelatin.

1 pouch of Gelatine (they come four to a box)
2 cups hot coffee
Howevermuch sugar you like in two cups of coffee, and then some

Stir and chill. <3

I like coffee creamer on top of mine (it looks like this), or some Cool Whip.

BTW, please leave a comment if you hate mayonnaise.

I read this cooking blog that went on a horrible rant about Mayonnaise, and it had tons of comments saying "ZMOG, mayo is the wrost!!! Yuck!" I'm wondering if it's just a Midwestern/Ohioan thing. I break (and brake) for Miracle Whip, too.

I used to eat Miracle Whip and swiss cheese sandwiches growing up... Without the bread. Two pieces of cheese, mayo in the middle... Pure yum.

I want this shirt so bad I'm going to cry.

2008-05-27T03:41:17Z

$22 bucks, though. That doesn't quite fit in with my whole plan for being a frugal, stingy miser. I'm gonna mull it over the next few days.

But yes, they will be releasing a new shirt every week with each new episode that airs. Saturday kicks off season three.

Go, Team Venture.

keefry @ 2008-05-14T14:59:00

2008-05-14T18:59:49Z

Speed Racer

2008-05-11T05:05:30Z

Ohhh, the eye candy.

Such a visually stunning movie. I'm glad I saw it on the big screen.

Everyone knew kung fu, though that was pretty much a given. Silly Wachowskis.

It stayed pretty true to the original series, down to the "Mach 5 jumping" sound effect.

Jack, er Matthew Fox, as Racer X was very good!

Yeah, I pretty much loved it. <3

Chris, go see it and give it a proper review, bud. ;)

AN ENGINEER'S GUIDE TO CATS

2008-04-23T00:12:19Z

This is great! This was put together by an engineer in KS who rescues cats and finds good homes for them in his spare time. :)

this was on cartoon brew... cool stuff!

2008-04-14T03:06:54Z

Interesting, very different music video... It's a very cool technique with stick puppets.

Cartoon Brew description:
It's technically not animated, but I’m highly amused by this stick-puppet anime music video by Masakazu Amahisa for the Japanese techno-pop group Denki Groove.

The video tells the story of a couple who crash their car on a dark forest road and encounter a Konaki-jiji (a monster baby with the face of an old man) who leads them deep into the woods to a wild party for yokai (a klatsch of traditional Japanese monsters). The music comes from Denki Groove’s theme for the current anime horror series Hakaba Kitaro. This video, by manga artist and animator Amahisa (check out his previous animated video for the same group), has nothing to do with the TV series.

Strangely enough, I see this right after I watch Twice Upon a Time... I'm a sucker for interesting-looking video this evening.

I am eight years old

2008-04-10T20:16:32Z

Macaroni Grill gives you crayons and a paper tablecloth, so they had it coming.

The plastic sword came from Ryan's girly drink, the "blood" from my eggplant parmesan.

keefry @ 2008-02-09T19:16:00

2008-02-10T00:17:33Z

My favorite quote from Shawshank applied to a very, very frightening photo of Huckabee on the front page of CNN. Thx for the nightmares u guys, srsly.

OH MY SCIENCE

2008-01-28T02:22:14Z

Potassium Chlorate + Gummy Bear = Violent Reaction

Wacom Bamboo tablets rock

2007-12-05T08:04:38Z

Hey, this is the most worthwhile thing I've written in a while, so I'm posting it! <3

I'm an illustrator I've been using Wacom tablets for about 6 years. Wacom tablets are all wonderful.

I started with a Graphire and used it for about 2 years. I "upgraded" to the Graphire 2, thinking there would be a difference since it was a newer model. Not a damn lick of difference.

A while after that, I upgraded to the Intuos 3. What a disappointment. I couldn't tell the difference between that and the Graphire (the significantly less expensive model). Double the pressure sensitivity? Whatever.

While traveling last week, I was without a tablet, so I bought the cheapest one I could find at Circuit City. The Wacom Bamboo. It's nice and compact, and has a much, MUCH better surface. It feels more like you're putting a pencil across paper rather than a stylus across a sheet of waxy plastic.

It has a detachable cord, too (mini USB). One of my old tablets died because the cord was damaged, so I'm thrilled by this feature. It's got nice little buttons on it that I use for keystrokes, and a finger touchpad area that lets you zoom in and out easily.

I cannot tell the difference between 512 levels of sensitivity and 1024. I think it's all marketing bullshit. The Bamboo is advertised as a great tool for things like signing your name and writing notes, but I use it 8 hours a day for illustration and flash animation (lots of drawing). I'm putting both of my Intuos 3 tablets up on eBay.

The only bad thing about the Bamboo is that the eraser feels a little phoned-in. Wacom skimped there. The Intuos and Graphires have better erasers. I don't use the pen's eraser anyway, so it doesn't bug me.

Medicine Seller Kari and Drunken Samurai Ryan

2007-11-01T01:30:06Z

I forget how to do the LJ-Cut thing. Can't figure it out. Big sorry.

The neighbor girl told me my shoes were pimpin. :D I got pretty good at walking in them. They hurt my calves a little bit, though.

These girls asked to take our picture, then we asked to have our picture taken with them. After they took this picture, I said "thanks, that was fun!" in Japanese and they simultaneously broke out into the whole "Waaaa!~~ Hajimemashite! Yoroshiku..." schpeal. :p They were very sweet.
I'm about 6'2" in this picture, so I figure the girls are about 3'10". :)
They probably wanted our picture because we were doing such a piss-poor job at wearing our kimono. :p

Me and Ryan play-fighting at our work's Halloween party.

Yum and Coke.

Best fucking group costume ever. Mario Kart. Wish I could've gotten better pictures.