Trip to Little Tokyo

I took vacation this week (for reasons I am not permitted to broadcast), and I want to make the most of it! After resting all day yesterday, I decided to have some fun today and make a day trip up to Los Angeles, specifically to a district of downtown L.A. called Little Tokyo. I'd first heard of the area from a one-page article in Sunset magazine (a magazine devoted to the western US), which I later adapted for a Web Design 3 assignment. But today was my first time going there.

The last time I went to L.A. on the train was January 2011 for Anime Los Angeles. That time I took the Amtrak because I did not know any other way to get there. This time though I took the Metrolink, a commuter train line, because it was considerably cheaper ($15 each way as opposed to $27 each way on Amtrak). It turned out also that your Metrolink ticket also gets you free rides on the L.A. Metro and downtown bus lines all day (this is what I was told anyway; I never got a chance to find out for sure as they never checked my ticket on the Metro), which is great because it saved me the $5 I would've spent on a L.A. Metro day pass otherwise.

I admit I was somewhat disappointed by the place; a vibrant cultural enclave Little Tokyo is not. People at the train station where I had to switch trains on the way up (the downside to taking the Metrolink) warned me that there wasn't much culture there, and they were right in a sense. The same can be said of L.A.'s Chinatown (which I found myself in as well because I was given bad directions regarding what Metro line to take and ended up walking through Chinatown for a while before deciding walking to Little Tokyo from there didn't make much sense - they look close on the Metro map but they really aren't). Both are rather spread out areas, covering a couple streets apiece that don't look much different than your average downtown streets, except for the Chinese or Japanese signs. Chinatown was particularly uninteresting; along the main drag (Hill St.) there isn't much except for some restaurants (including one whose facade proudly proclaims it as a shooting location for the movie Rush Hour), tiny shops, a Chinese Methodist church, and a Best Western hotel. Most of the shops are in little alleys off the main street, like Chung King Road. I also found a nice bookstore there (Numing Book Co. - it's located on the edge of the main area a little way past Chung King Road), which has shelves and shelves of books in Chinese, as well as a small selection of books in English and a couple books in French. The prices are great too; I got a book of Chou En-lai's poems (in English) for $3.25.

If you do walk toward Chinatown from where I started (the Civic Center Metro Station, which has the tallest escalator I've ever seen), you do at least get to see Grant Park and the Pioneer Memorial (honoring Mormon pioneers who helped fight for the independence of the area). Also, the Cathedral of the City of the Angels is near the Civic Center station; I heard its bells as I crossed the street from the station. Supposedly the Walt Disney Concert Hall is nearby as well.

As for Little Tokyo, this is situated more in downtown (whereas Chinatown is kinda in the middle of nowhere), mostly around 1st Street (the historic center of Little Tokyo) and 2nd Street. The Metro Gold Line is the quickest way there; it's only one stop south of Union Station, the city's main public transport hub, and two stops south of the Chinatown station (located on N. Spring St). The Dash A bus also serves it. Just make sure you don't miss your stop going southbound, because otherwise you'll find yourself in East L.A., a neighborhood you don't really want to find yourself in (so I've heard). If you go too far north on the Gold Line, you'll end up in Pasadena, so watch that too. The Little Tokyo station also serves the Art District of L.A., by the way, if you want to go to an art museum like MOCA while you're there.

Right across from the Metro is one of Little Tokyo's main landmarks, the gargantuan Japanese-American National Museum. Unfortunately, it was closed today (museums like to be closed on Mondays, I guess; most of the Balboa Park museums are closed on Mondays too) so I didn't get to look around there. Across the street is a Buddhist temple, though it's so integrated into the Western-style architecture you could easily miss it.

Across the street is where the true district begins. If you get lost, pretty purple signs (topped with a fan and the words "Little Tokyo") will direct you to the main landmarks. I relied on these a lot. On the main street there are pretty much just small shops and LOTS of restaurants featuring Japanese food such as udon and sushi. Along this street you can find the anime DVD/manga/CD part of the famous Jungle Collectors' Shop (which at the moment is in three parts; they're going to be combining at the end of August, an occasion that will be marked by a Hatsune Miku-themed event) - whose selection of items is not bad, particularly of Studio Ghibli stuff (they also play anime openings on the TV there; I was delighted to hear/see the "xxxHolic" opening "19sai" play while I was there) - Fugetsu-do Sweet Shop (a long-standing establishment that sells Japanese sweets, including several flavors of mochi), the Visitor Center for the area, and the Koyasan Buddhist Temple (which turns 100 this year; I had trouble finding it without directions as it's not listed on the purple signs...it is accessible via an alley just past the Miyako Hotel - look for the obelisk that says "Koyasan Buddhist Temple" on its base). There are also little shops selling various things; I found some nice things at a store here called Bunka-do ("Bunka" means "culture" in Japanese, and true to its name, the shop has a lot of cultural stuff, including books on Japanese culture and on learning the Japanese language. I even saw the new Sailor Moon manga there, and a picture of Haruka and Michiru from one of the original Sailor Moon S DVD covers hung by the stairs leading upstairs).

Little Tokyo has three major shopping areas: Weller Court (near 2nd Street), Japanese Village Plaza (near the entrance to the district), and Little Tokyo Mall (just behind Japanese Village Plaza). Weller Court is home primarily to restaurants (including a coffee place called Demitasse that boasts a sign saying "Friends don't let friends drink Starbucks," which is somewhat ironic as there is a Starbucks on the other side of Weller Court) but does boast a large market, Marukai Market (small grocery store-type "markets" seem to be popular here), a store called Marukai Kawaii (which mostly has Hello Kitty stuff) and a branch of the popular bookstore chain Kinokuniya, which has tons of books, mostly in Japanese, though their selection of English books is quite good too. Their manga selection is quite massive, featuring manga both in English and Japanese (the Japanese manga being arranged into sections by publisher - Kodansha, Shogakukan, etc - which is helpful for non-Japanese-speakers) as well as manga magazines and artbooks. Their kids' section is pretty decent too. Weller Court is also home to a monument honoring Ellison Onizuka, the first NASA astronaut of Japanese descent, who died in the Challenger disaster.

Japanese Village Plaza is like your typical outdoor mall, except mostly with restaurants serving everything from mochi ice cream to shabu-shabu (Japanese hot pot), as well as a small market (like I said, they're popular). It also has a Sanrio store (with a UFO Catcher machine outside) and a couple stores that felt like they were targeted to tourists IMO but which had a lot of interesting things like various Japanese cooking utensils, Hello Kitty stuff (also popular here), and some anime stuff. One of the stores, Maneki Neko, has some nice cultural stuff (including a number of figurines of the famous Japanese "lucky cat" the store is named for).

Little Tokyo Mall is right behind Japanese Village Plaza. It only has a few shops, as well as a fusion restaurant upstairs. Here is where you will find the other two thirds of Jungle Collectors Shop. One of them is right as you come in and boasts nothing but several purikura machines (fancy Japanese photobooths). For $5/person, you can rent cosplay outfits, wigs, and accessories such as headbands to wear while you pose in the photobooths (which cost $10 just by themselves); however, be warned - they only have size medium in the outfits. You might also need some help from the attendant with working the machines as they're in Japanese (translations are provided next to the screen for when you print out your stickers at the end, but I didn't find them very helpful). That being said, the machines are fun and feature many cute backgrounds (at least mine did). You can also add little hearts and stuff to the pics at the end. And even if you're like me and the provided costumes don't fit you, you can still cosplay! I rented a wig and a bow headband and did just fine.

The other third of the Jungle Collectors Shop is mostly figurines and knick-knacks like keychains, cell phone charms, pins, notebooks, etc., with both new and used items on sale. They also seem to be rather paranoid there; I wasn't allowed to hold on to anything I picked up to buy more than a few seconds before some guy came up and offered to hold it for me up front. I'm curious what Jungle will be like when the three separate stores get combined.

Another highlight of Little Tokyo is the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center, located on San Pedro Street (near where Little Tokyo meets the Civic Center district). Nothing was going on there when I went there, but this place is also home to the James Irvine Japanese Garden, accessible from the center's basement level. It's a seiryu-en, or Japanese walking garden, and though small is very quiet and peaceful (amazing for being in the middle of downtown L.A.!). I also saw dragonflies there - and I don't think I've ever seen dragonflies in person before! (I tried to get a picture of one, but they were too fast).

In short, I spent a good ~5 hours in this place, which was plenty of time to look around (though if the museum had been open I might not have had as much time to do so). What the place lacks in culture it makes up for in shopping and restaurants; just be careful and don't spend TOO much money (which I ended up doing). Also keep some cash handy; stuff is pretty cheap here (except at Kinokuniya) but pretty much every shop has a $10 or $15 minimum for you to use your credit or debit card. Also get it out on the way; there aren't many ATMs in Little Tokyo, and the ones that are there have steep fees ($3!). Also, if you know some Japanese, use it; many of the shops, especially the smaller ones, are run by Japanese people. They will usually know English, but in one store I thanked the people in Japanese and they seemed delighted). And look into other places to go (Littletokyola.org has a good list); the Little Tokyo branch of the L.A. city library is supposed to be great, for instance). Most of all, have fun. And try not to go on a really hot day (like I did; though you may not be able to control this). Oh and also, while you may want to snap a pic of everything you see in a store here, BE CAREFUL - most of the stores here (Kinokuniya included, unfortunately - I really wanted to take pictures in there) have "no photography" policies. You MAY be able to sneak a pic or two though, particularly if you use your iPod or phone, but if you do don't use a flash (which will give you away) and do it in a place where the employees are not as likely to see you. (I did this for one picture I took at Kinokuniya; I took it in the kids' section, which was pretty far from the register). Though it's probably best to just follow the rules and not take any pictures at all.

That's all I can think of to say. Despite my gripes, I did enjoy myself. I also apologize for the less subjective nature of this post - I didn't intend for it to sound like a school report or travel magazine article, but I wasn't sure how else to approach this. Will have pics up soon - both regular camera photos and Instagram ones. At least writing this post gave me something to do on the way home (my Blogger app is usable offline).

Good night!

Posted via Blogger for iPhone

Interest List Analysis

Recently on my Tumblr, I posted about finding out that someone had beaten me to the punch of making a Pokémon Ranger series fanlisting. At the end of this post, I proposed the idea of making a list of my interests and determining which ones I might want to make a site or a fanlisting about.

And so I have done. But the analysis, determining which ones I like enough to make a site and/or fanlisting about, is another matter. So here goes.

I ranked my main interest categories from 1 to 12, 1 being the most liked, 12 the least.

1. Literature
2. History
3. Anime/manga
4. Technology
5. Music
6. Languages
7. Mythology
8. Video Games
9. Film
10. Trivia
11. Art
12. Astronomy

Let the analysis begin!

1. Literature

Since I love reading and writing stories, I'm not surprised I ranked this one first. My "sub-interests" under this category are British literature, non-modern poetry, kids' books and some YA, fairy tales/folk tales, my favorite fiction genres (fantasy, mystery, historical fiction, Christian fiction), and my favorite non-fiction genres (history, technology, travel, culture, and some literary commentary, i.e. books like The Hunger Games Companion, Finding God in the Land of Narnia, and The Keys to the Chronicles, and essays that are NOT those dry theory essays I had to read in school).

As much as I love literature, I don't think I could make a whole site about it. It's too broad an interest. I think I tried with my previous personal websites (even doing book reviews on one of them) but failed. The closest I have in this category is my author website. I can certainly join fanlistings and communities on literary subjects. (Which reminds me: POTTERMORE! STILL WAITING FOR MY INVITE!) The only such groups I have joined are The Anomaly for writing, that one Yahoo! Group run by the guy from the Anomaly, and The Leaky Cauldron's MyLeaky, a pseudo-social network which I quickly grew tired of.

(I signed up LAST JULY for Pottermore btw. And STILL NO INVITE. What the heck is going on?!).

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2. History

History is, like literature, something else I've been interested in for as long as I can remember. I am essentially interested in any and all history, but my "specialty" areas seem to be Chinese history, Japanese history, and the Holocaust/World War II period. The Holocaust interest sprung out of reading books like Anne Frank's diary and Johanna Reiss's The Upstairs Room as a kid. The Chinese and Japanese history came later, mostly in college through a World History class (and a great textbook that was the only World History textbook I've ever had that wasn't totally West-centric) and an Asian Philosophy and Religion class I took as an elective, though I've been interested in Japanese history really since I got into anime and manga in 1998.

Springing out of this is a minor interest in archaeology. Though I don't think I'd ever be an Indiana Jones type, I do enjoy hearing about archaeological discoveries and so on.

Again, my interest in history is one I've tried to integrate into my personal sites in the past and failed at doing. And I think it might be too broad to make a site about, plus lots of sites about history exist. I guess I could create some fanlistings related to it. It might be a subject worth making a Tumblr about actually, as there is a pretty healthy tag group on Tumblr associated with history. (I follow three history Tumblelogs myself: Today's Document, run by the U.S. National Archives; The Ancient World; and Forgotten Antiquities). I suppose there might be a market for it when I do web design too, especially locally with all the museums at Balboa Park and elsewhere downtown.

3. Anime/manga

I first got into anime in 1998, and manga around the same time, though I didn't become serious about manga until 2003. And, to be honest, I've been trying to make a website about my anime/manga obsession since I've been making websites. My best friend Amy got ahead of me on this, with her site Everything Anime (for which I wrote the Sailor Moon character profiles). These have ranged from really basic sites to ambitious projects like a database of every water-type Pokémon.

The anime/manga website idea is finally coming together, however, with my still-in-the-works wiki project, the Anime Guide Database. This site would be a database of spoiler-free episode guides for animes, along with guides for related movies and for manga series. I was inspired to do it after spoiling myself one too many times on the plots of Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle and xxxHolic when reading Wikipedia articles on them. (Knowing big plot reveals ahead of time spoils the suspense. Trust me. And especially for series like those two, with so many plot twists). I initially thought it would be a site supported by a forum where people could contribute stuff (because not even us really crazy otaku can watch/read every anime/manga series known to man), but some helpful fellow Miss Dream staff members steered me away from that idea, saying that what I really wanted was a wiki. So that's what I've decided to do. But it still needs a lot of content just based on the series I myself have seen/read. So I'm not ready to debut it yet. And I think I may try joining the staffs of other anime fan wikis, such as Bulbapedia (Pokémon), Wikimoon (Sailor Moon), and Cure Wiki (Pretty Cure), first to get a feel for how this whole fan wiki thing works. I also did a search on some library databases and found quite a lot of books on wiki making.

Besides this, there are a few minor anime sites I have up or are working on: Myu Corner, my revived Sailor Mercury and Ayeka shrines, Sparkle Moon, and my revived fanlisting Memory of Time (Fancy Lala). (Still debating whether to bring back my Kusaka Hina and Hina x Mamoru fanlistings - I could host them on Sparkle Moon's server...am thinking of even adding a SeraMyu fanlisting to Myu Corner; there was one on The Fanlistings Network, but the link was dead so I reported it. If it becomes open for application after my report, I'm going to snag it ASAP).

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4. Technology

I've been interested in technology for a while, though very minorly until recently, when I began following the tech blogs Mashable and Smashing Magazine as an attempt to become more informed on the topic after deciding to go for the web design certificate I'm currently finishing. (I also started following Wired and TechCrunch - two big tech sites - on Twitter, as well as the White House's Office of Science and Technology Policy, a group called Social Media Trend Reports, and a feed for talk updates for the Technology, Entertainment, and Design [TED] conference).

My sub-interests in this category are web design, tech devices, social media trends, tech & science (or, as I wrote, "how things work"), and "possible tech in the future (sci-fi stuff)." Web design I'm obviously pursuing, and reading about through Smashing Magazine and Mashable's "Development and Design" feed. My interest in tech devices and social media trends is shown in the fact that I follow Mashable's "Mobile Tech," "Gadgets," and "Social Media" feeds. The other two come from my interest in sci-fi films and animes, combined with a lifelong passion to know how things worked. The interest in future tech stuff, combined with minor interests in space and world-building, are what inspired me to write science fiction. Whether they're enough, though, remains to be seen. I have enjoyed science programs about futuristic tech, like the recent Discovery Channel/Curiosity special Can You Live Forever? (hosted by Mythbusters co-host Adam Savage). I also like the Discovery Channel/Science Channel show How It's Made, which, as its title implies, is about how different items are made. (I need to catch up on that show!)

I listed my hobbies of web design and making videos under this topic, though making videos would also work under film.

As for websites...again, such a broad topic. And many sites on them, and Tumblelogs too (I follow some - Little Big Details, Journo-Geekery, Nerdology, and Science Tumbled). I suppose once I make my web design portfolio I'll be showing my tech knowledge in a way.

I'd have to think about this one.


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5. Music

My interests in music and in art are similar - I'm a great appreciator, but not so good at the practice. I was in some school programs as a kid and did recorder and choir in elementary school. I've been on at least one church choir (for Easter) and was involved in some choir with my friend Amy I think. I also took a piano class in college, but have probably forgotten that now. I've been told I have a good singing voice, but it "needs training." Which I know is true. I have difficulty staying on key at times and tend to sing from my throat rather than my diaphragm (probably because I breathe through my mouth, due to having a frequently clogged nose as a child), which tires out my voice quickly. Lately, though, I've begun to wonder if I actually have talent or if I'm just good at imitation, since the times I sing best are when I'm trying to really sing like the original singer. (But then this is probably just one of those irrational worries, born out of me thinking too deeply about stuff).

I've liked music for a long, long time, and enjoy going to concerts. I am a CD-buying fiend, even buying those inexpensive Lifescapes CD's from Target. I have less CD's now as I've given away some lately due to lack of storage space. I also had a lot of music on my computer, but I need to recover that now that I rebooted my computer.

Since I got an iPod particularly I've been listening to music like crazy. Not having my iPod for the first couple weeks of school (due to it getting repaired by iResQ in Kansas) nearly drove me insane. I had to resort to a not-quite-so-portable portable CD player, which had the main issue of being too big to fit in my pocket.

My main favorite genres are classical music, Celtic music, and Christian music. I also like jazz, swing, and "standards" (think Sinatra) a lot. Really, I'll listen to anything, except rap, hip-hop, heavy metal, hard rock, and most country. I do have a couple rap artists' songs (TobyMAC, MC Solaar) though, and I like country artists Carrie Underwood and Taylor Swift. Beethoven is my favorite classical composer. For Celtic music, I'll listen to any of it really, no matter who it's by. Christian music I'm pretty impartial with as well, though I do have fave artists/bands: Third Day, Jars of Clay, Relient K, BarlowGirl, Steven Curtis Chapman, and Michael W. Smith. Rebecca St. James used to be my fave Christian artist, but now I'm not so sure anymore. I gave away all my CD's of hers because I had the music on my computer anyway, but that's not the case now with the reboot. I might just buy her compilations, which have pretty much every song she's done on them, to save money. (I used to have The Ultimate Collection, her 2-disc compilation album; I have the mass-produced autographed portrait that came with the pre-ordered CD to prove it).

I also LOVE soundtracks. I own several soundtracks, both for movies and for TV shows that I like, such as Pokémon, Code Lyoko, and iCarly (they recently released a new iCarly soundtrack actually, iSoundtrack 2, which has some good songs including a GREAT song called "Generation Love" by Sam's actress Jeannette McCurdy and a cool acoustic version of Miranda Cosgrove's song "Shakespeare"). I'm hoping with the new Nick version of Winx Club they'll release a Winx Club soundtrack. Maybe not though.

The secular artists I like are a mixed bag. Charlotte Church, a classical vocalist from Wales who my grandparents actually introduced me to (my grandmother's family was from Wales so that's why they were interested in her), I really liked - until she turned pop. From one of her songs, "The Prayer," I found out about another classical vocalist, Josh Groban. Now I am a true Grobanite (what they call Josh Groban fans) and own all of his CD's, except for the live ones (Josh Groban in Concert, Live at the Greek, and Awake Live); I figured since the live ones had all the songs I had on the non-live albums minus one song apiece there wasn't any point in buying them. (I bought the single songs exclusive to the live CD's individually through iTunes). For his latest album, Illuminations, I ordered the rare Fan Folio Edition, which I got a heads-up on through following Josh on Facebook I think. It was only available through his official website's store at the time, I believe. (Though, as the link in the last sentence shows, it's also on Amazon now). It comes with the CD, a "making of" DVD, a cool book with photos and all the lyrics, exclusive access to some streaming concert (though I think I might've missed that part) and an exclusive black-and-white photo of Josh, all packaged in a very nice linen folio case. (The only drag is that it doesn't fit in my CD tower). I also own the Polar Express soundtrack, which has one song by Josh ("Believe"), and bought his song "Remember" (from the Troy soundtrack) on iTunes.

Other secular artists I like: Taylor Swift, Jonas Brothers, Aly & AJ, The Beatles, The Beach Boys, and Michael Bublé. As you can see, very across the board. Taylor and the Jonas boys I got into because I initially liked one or two songs by them ("S.O.S." for the Jonases; "Teardrops on My Guitar" and "Today was a Fairytale" for Taylor) and then decided to check them out further. (This is also how I got into Hilary Duff and Kelly Clarkson). Same with Aly & AJ (or 78Violet, as they're currently known) I think. Taylor is awesome for being so young, and she writes her own songs, which I admire so much in an artist. (By the way, if you haven't seen the video for "Safe and Sound," her new single with The Civil Wars for the Hunger Games soundtrack, WATCH IT). The Jonas Brothers also have some good songs, and I don't mind them even though they're a boyband. (I went to high school during the big boom of boybands in the late '90's, when Hanson, Backstreet Boys, Blink 182, 98 Degrees, and N*SYNC were all trying to nab that generation's equivalent of Bieber fans. So believe me, I know what boybands are like).

The Beatles and The Beach Boys are my old-school staples. I have loved "Kokomo" by The Beach Boys for ages; only recently did I discover they had other songs. And I don't know how I found out about The Beatles, but seriously, they are something, and they deserve all the praise they get. Sure, they had their issues with drugs and whatnot. But their songs are great; "Let it Be" is my personal favorite. (Thankfully, iTunes FINALLY struck a deal with whoever it is who owns the rights to The Beatles' songs, meaning you can get a lot of their songs on iTunes now, which is nice).

Michael Bublé I just got into recently. They play a few songs of his at my work. He's considered pop, but he's got that old "Rat Pack Crooner" vibe going for him, which is what makes me like him.

I don't know how you do a website about music exactly. You can do a download site, like Sailor Music or Gendou, but there's always the issue of copyright folks cracking down on you (look what happened to Napster and more recently to Megaupload). Other than that, I don't know what else you can do. I guess I could always join music communities like Last.fm or Spotify to share my music love.


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6. Languages

I think I've been into languages since I was little and knew my name was French. Since I first took French in high school (and a quarter of Conversational Spanish before that), I've noticed that I have a knack for picking up languages. My paternal great-grandmother Anastasia knew 7 languages when she came here from Latvia, so I suppose I get it from my dad's side of the family. In the last 3 years or so I've noticed I like to talk about language families/linguistics as well.

Nowadays I know French on an intermediate level and have some minor competency with Spanish (picked up from working with Spanish-speakers) and Japanese (picked up from watching subtitled anime). I also can speak smatterings of German, Italian, Hebrew, Russian, and Chinese - pretty much just phrasebook sort of stuff (I only know "hello" and "goodbye" in Russian and "hello" and "thank you" in Chinese). Russian and Hebrew I was trying to learn through podcasts, via One Minute Russian and Learn Hebrew Pod respectively. I may continue with One Minute Russian, but with Learn Hebrew Pod, you need a subscription to their website to get a lot of their content, and it's NOT cheap.

Being interest #6 of 12, languages might not be important enough to do a site about. The primary community/social network for languages is Livemocha, but I got very overwhelmed at that site due to all the people sending me work of theirs to check. And I'm not qualified to be doing a podcast or anything on how to learn a language. Maybe in the future I will do a site relating to this stuff. I'd like to practice more first. (Having this extremely expensive but supposedly extremely helpful software would be nice!)

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7. Mythology

I don't know how or when I got into mythology. Definitely by high school, because I have Norse mythology-related poems I wrote then to prove it. I think this is almost more a sub-interest of my interest in reading, combined with a desire to know how things worked. It's a minor but ardent interest. My main loves are Greco-Roman mythology (sometimes also called classical mythology) and Norse mythology. A while back, I bought a book of Egyptian myths and liked them a lot, and I am also interested in Celtic myths such as the Arthurian legend and the myths in books like this one.

I have considered making a website about mythology, though there are several including the popular Encyclopedia Mythica and the extensive Theoi.com. Norse mythology and Arthurian legend both bring up a lot less hits on Google than Greco-Roman mythology, so there's some possibility there. I would imagine there'd be an interest in Norse mythology right now thanks to the recent movie Thor (and its in-development sequel) and Thor's upcoming appearance in The Avengers. Something else to possibly do a Tumblr about (though I follow a great one already, By the Gods!).

Will have to think about this one too.

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8. Video Games

I've been interested in video games for a long time, back when my brother played them in the early '90's on his brick of a Game Boy and later on his Nintendo 64. I initially just watched, but once we got the N64 I started getting & playing games of my own, like Pokémon Puzzle League, Jeopardy!, Pokémon Snap, and both Pokémon Stadium games. We both became fans of the Super Smash Bros. series as well through the N64.

The first video game I remember playing by myself was Pokémon Blue, which I had to play on my computer through an emulator because I didn't have a Game Boy Color. And then there were the N64 games I just mentioned. And at some point I must've played Pokémon Silver, since I remember liking that game.

I didn't really play games for a while after that, not until I bought myself a GBA in 2004. That was my re-entry into gaming, and I have gotten a GameCube, a DS Lite (I originally had a regular DS but it broke), and a Wii since then (I know, I'm a Nintendo nerd).

I am kinda picky with genres. Like the typical female gamer I read about when doing research for my final paper for Cultural Studies, I'm drawn to strategy and puzzle games, as well as RPGs. But I also like fighting games like Street Fighter, Soul Calibur II, and Super Smash Bros., typically a male genre. And I enjoy racing games like Mario Kart, Star Wars Episode I: Racer (one of my fave N64 games) and Cruisin' World, even though I'm horrible at them. Then there are the other genre games I like, such as Cooking Mama, iCarly, and Wii Sports Resort. (Ironically, even though I like Cooking Mama, a simulation game, I don't care much for The Sims).

Most of the games I have are for the DS. About half are Pokémon games - all three Pokémon Ranger games (I just bought Guardian Signs the other day, so I have all 3 now!), plus Pearl, Platinum, SoulSilver, and White from the main series. The rest of my collection consists of two Phoenix Wright games (game 1 and Trials and Tribulations), two Professor Layton games (the first game, Professor Layton and the Curious Village and the latest one, Professor Layton and the Last Specter), a "rhythm otome" game (kind of a mix between a rhythm game like Elite Beat Agents and a dating sim) called Princess Debut, an RPG called Magical Starsign that reminds me of the early Final Fantasy games, a quirky RPG about a spoiled princess called My World, My Way, and Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days, my first foray into the odd Final Fantasy/Disney mashup that is Kingdom Hearts (a joint project between Square Enix and Disney). (To be honest, I'm not that into it). So those are a mixed bag.

My other games are a mixed bag too. For GameCube, I have Tales of Symphonia, The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age, and Super Smash Bros. Melee. For Wii I have Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World, Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love, Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors, Puzzle Kingdoms, Summer Sports: Paradise Island, iCarly, and Wii Sports Resort. I think we also own a Jillian Michaels game that came with Wii Fit Plus when my mom bought that game for us, but I don't consider either to be mine really.

Video games I could make fanlistings about certainly. It would be hard to make a whole site about, for pretty much the same reason as I said under music. There aren't many fansites for games. It's really all about official game sites and big news sites like IGN and GameSpot. Will need to see which ones are available.

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9. Film

I've loved movies since I was a kid; we didn't have cable so we watched a lot of movies. It wasn't until I took FILM 101 in college that I got really interested in how movies were made. So I am really into watching the special features on DVDs now.

I watch a wide variety of movies, pretty much anything that isn't horror or porn. I also dislike movies with a lot of violence, language, gore, or sex - which essentially rules out most, if not all, movies rated R. I have only seen a handful of R-rated movies in my life; I don't like to go see them because I figure they're rated R for a reason. There are some movies, of course, that are good but due to their content need to be rated R, such as Kingdom of Heaven or Schindler's List. Oh and I also dislike those comedies that rely on stupid humor/sexual innuendo. They bother me.

I like sci-fi movies (especially Star Wars), fantasy movies, some Disney films, Studio Ghibli's films, some anime movies, and some foreign films. I also like indie films to a point (depends on the story).

With film, as with video games, there are very few fansites that I know of - it's mostly the official sites and sites like IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, and Cinematical (now part of Moviefone apparently). So not sure how I'd make websites about it. And it's a pretty minor interest anyway.

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The Bottom 3: Trivia, Art, and Astronomy

Might as well lump these together, like American Idol does during result shows. Not much to say for these, I don't think.

My interest in trivia comes through reading trivia books and watching Jeopardy!. I think it was just born of a natural hunger for knowledge. Not to mention it gives me something to talk about in those awkward social moments. :)

Art, as I mentioned with music, is something I do better appreciating than doing. I do not possess artistic talent. Every time I've taken classes having to do with making art, I've ended up frustrated and jealous of my more artistically-gifted peers. So of course, it doesn't help that I have a best friend who's an awesome artist. (But then, she has trouble with English and writing, which I'm good at, so I guess we balance each other out). Even my recent attempt to learn to draw manga-style seems to have fallen by the wayside. Maybe I'll have to stick with programs like ComiPo and Manga Studio to start after all (even though I could not for the life of me figure out how to use Manga Studio's animation counterpart, Anime Studio), or maybe Adobe Illustrator, depending on how easy it is to learn Illustrator. Either that or I'll have to give up and assume I don't have an artistic bone in my body (but I must, since my dad can draw pretty well - though he pretty much just doodles).

Astronomy I only have a small interest in; science was neither my best or my worst subject, and not my favorite. Mostly I just like constellations and the supposed stories behind them (which differ in different cultures) as well as the research going on to find new Earth-like planets and found space colonies on other planets. I guess that last bit could go under technology, since technology would be part of that, and the constellation part under mythology.

Being that these are minor interests, I don't think I would make a website about them, though my planned site Senshi & Supermarkets is intended to feature a webcomic, Enchanted Supermarket, the creation of which my learning to draw manga-style was supposed to help accomplish. But, as Gina Biggs mentioned at her panel at Animé Los Angeles last year in response to my question, I could always get someone else to do the art. I think I wanted to learn to draw myself though because I'm a little possessive of my characters. I suppose it's still worth a shot. Maybe I shouldn't try to force myself to do it every day though, as my plan was. When I feel forced into something, I tend to not do so well.

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Well, that's the analysis I guess.

I also wrote down the books, tv shows, movies, websites, and actors I like. But I don't know whether that info will help me in this after all. Here are the lists, though, if you're curious:

TV Shows I Like

The Amazing Race

iCarly

Income Property

Pan Am

Once Upon a Time

HGTV Design Star

Secrets from a Stylist

The Antonio Treatment

Code Lyoko

Totally Spies

W.I.T.C.H.

Winx Club

Kim Possible

How It’s Made

Mythbusters

Books I Like – Faves

Jane Eyre

Ella Enchanted

Sarah’s Key

A Tale of Two Cities

Inheritance Cycle

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

The Hunger Games trilogy

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

Ophelia by Lisa Klein

The Secret Garden

Anne of Green Gables series

The Pilgrim’s Progress

Quest for Celestia

The Horse and His Boy

Fave Movies

Star Wars Episode I

The Illusionist

Elizabethtown

Just Like Heaven

Super 8

Anastasia

Meet the Robinsons

LOTR Trilogy

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Tenchi Muyo in Love

(La Vie en Rose?)

(Raise the Red Lantern?)

Favorite websites

YouTube

Wikipedia

Google

TVtropes.org

Wikimoon

Facebook

Twitter

Forums/message boards

Tumblr

Actors I Like

-Alicia Silverstone

-Drew Barrymore

-Zhang Ziyi

-Kenneth Branagh

-Nathan Lane

The actors I wouldn't consider doing websites for, since I'm not sure I like them that much, though I think I did make one for Alicia once, back when I was really into her. The books...like I said, hard thing to make a website about. Movies ditto. TV shows maybe, though certainly not on every show on that list. (I can only handle so many sites). The websites, no, though a fanlisting for forums/message boards might be fun.

I also made a brief list of stuff I like that doesn't fit in the other categories - namely collecting trading cards, research, and watching interior design shows.

Ok, I have spent all day and last night typing up this analysis (part of it using my Blogger app for iPod touch/iPhone), and so I'll close here. I will probably give all this further thought.

Thoughts after sharing my collection

So for the last two posts, you've gotten to see all the anime stuff I have, which I'm realizing is actually not too bad of a size, considering that though I've been into anime for 12 years, I haven't been a gung-ho anime collector. For instance, I don't own a lot of anime on DVD because I watch a lot of it online or have watched it on TV, on Kids WB (Pokémon, back in the day), Cartoon Network (Pokémon more recently, including some of the movies; Tenchi Muyo back in the day; my first episode of Sailor Moon; The Prince of Tennis until it stopped airing), and the International Channel (the "Tenchi in Tokyo" season of Tenchi Muyo in uncut English, except for one episode I missed).

The rest of the stuff is pretty much just things I've picked up here and there, mostly at Comic-Con. I've never been one of those überfans who haunts eBay auctions (actually, I've never gotten something off eBay, unless getting textbooks off Half.com counts, since that site's run by eBay) and the like to find some rare item. I don't know why. I guess money was part of it; it wasn't until college that I got a steady job. I also lost some interest in it once my best friend Amy - who has gotten me into a number of series, though I still can't understand her interest in Serial Experiments Lain - moved away and we stopped seeing each other on a frequent basis. I know that I lost interest in Pokémon at some point because I never bought any of the games between Gold and Silver and Diamond and Pearl (except the first Pokémon Ranger game, which came out before Diamond and Pearl), and I didn't start collecting the TCG again until fairly recently. It was actually through listening to the podcast at The Pallet Tribune (a Pokémon news/fansite) and hearing the podcast's hosts Jowy and KC talk about Diamond and Pearl that I decided to give the games another chance. Now I'm into them again, though I'm by no means a hardcore Pokégamer (one clue: I don't EV train, and pretty much every hardcore Pokégamer does that).

To be honest, I've been collecting more manga than anime. I was into manga when I first got into anime, but I only really read the Pokémon manga, except for a copy of Smile (Tokyopop's old manga anthology mag before Shoujo Beat) I got for free from Comic-Con (with chapters of Sailor Moon Stars, Juline, Peach Girl, and Clover in it) and a single Sailor Moon comic book (#26) with Mugen 6 (chapter 6 of the "Infinity" or S arc) in it. That was all I had for manga for a while. Amy sold me her Pokémon manga too along with other anime stuff, so for a while I actually owned censored and uncensored versions of the first two Pokémon manga comics (the uncensored version mostly had some big bosom shots, since Toshihiro Ono, the author/artist of this particular Pokémon manga series, seems to like to draw his women well-endowed; I think those were an early print run though, because in later print runs of the same books - like the ones Amy sold me - these things were altered to tone them down).

I "rediscovered" manga (if that's the right word) when I was at the bookstore one day in 2003 and came across a series called CLAMP School Detectives. I looked at them and was interested. I can't remember if I bought those one-by-one or together. At any rate, they were some sort of limited-edition ones because they came with fold-out posters (as did my copies of Dukylon CLAMP School Defenders; I have one of those on my wall next to my door; on the opposite side of my door is a similar poster that came with my copy of the novel xxxHolic: AnotherHolic). After that, I started reading manga quite constantly, mostly CLAMP because it was one of their series that got me back into manga. I pretty much just got my manga from bookstores; I "haunted" the Barnes and Noble by my work for weeks trying to collect all the volumes of Chobits. Now I have almost all my CLAMP series completed; I have not been able to track down volumes 5 and 6 of the first Card Captor Sakura series (Card Captor Sakura: Master of the Clow being Tokyopop's name for what is volumes 7-12 in the original release) at any bookstore yet. As for Tsubasa and xxxHolic, since those series were still going in in Japan when Del Rey Manga got the US license for them, I've been having to wait on Del Rey to catch up with where the series are in Japan. (Tsubasa is completed now in Japan, and xxxHolic is  ahead of us but not completed yet as far as I know, though I think CLAMP will end it soon since xxxHolic is a sister series with Tsubasa and Tsubasa is ended now). I might go the omnibus route for Card Captor Sakura since Dark Horse Manga is going to release omnibus volumes of the series it has gotten the rights to, which I think is all the series that were/are released here except for Tsubasa and xxxHolic, the rights of which Del Rey owns as aforesaid. It would clear up storage space for sure. I wish they'd do that for Tsubasa since it's 28 volumes long. I only own up through volume 21, and even that takes up a whole dang box on my closet shelf. Plus xxxHolic is approaching 20 volumes (it's at 17 now) and may even get there as CLAMP has reported that finishing xxxHolic is taking longer than anticipated, delaying the silmultaneous release of their new series, Mangettes, in the US with Dark Horse and in Japan with Shueisha.

Ok my bad, I guess xxxHolic's at 18 volumes in Japan, as of two days ago. (Thanks to the LJ community Clamp-Now for this). The 19th volume is due out next year to coincide with the release of the new OAD (Original Animated DVD) for the xxxHolic anime. Dang! It could hit 20.

For my non-CLAMP mangas, those are mostly complete too because most of them are short series (the longest completed one being Tokyo Mew Mew, which is 7 volumes). For Pichi Pichi Pitch Mermaid Melody and Full Moon wo Sagashite (dubbed Full Moon in the US), I haven't been able to find the volumes I need to complete them at the bookstore; I need three volumes each to complete both those series (which are both 7 volumes long as well). The Pokémon manga is an issue since the older stuff's all probably out of print now. I did find a site the other day with a lot of the Pokémon manga on it as well as a lot of the old books like the "Let's Find Pokémon" books, but I haven't checked it out too much. I also used to have volumes for Angelic Layer (a CLAMP manga) and The Good Witch of the West (a non-CLAMP manga) but as I was having a lot of trouble finding volumes for those I gave them away. I've seen the anime versions of both so I'm not missing out on the story by giving them away.

I also have what I called "Western-produced manga," which means manga-style stories produced in the West rather than Japan or another Asian country. The W.I.T.C.H. graphic novels are my main collection here at the moment; unfortunately they've only released 8 graphic novels of it here in the U.S., which goes only to the beginning of the Nerissa Arc, which the original Italian version passed by long ago. Fortunately, the manga is still available in English since it was published either in the chapter books or in Disney Adventures magazine (I can't remember) and I found a couple sites where I can read it online, so I should be ok there. I'll probably keep the original volumes for scanning (I used a picture from one of them for my plexiglass etching for Printmaking class a couple years ago) and occasional re-reading.

I also own a couple Christian manga series. Christian publishing hasn't ventured too much into manga yet, but they're waking up. Serenity was promoted as "the first Christian manga" since it was the first Christian series specifically drawn in manga-format, though Christian comics certainly existed before then. Now there's The Manga Bible for goodness' sake. It's still not at the level of the secular market, but it could get there if sales are good. Anyway, the two series I own are PowerMark and Tomo. PowerMark is actually drawn in a slightly more traditional-comic format, but since they've released 2 graphic novels collecting the individual comic books into single volumes, and since the story is manga-esque, I guess it counts. I bought the first of these two volumes some time ago and then bought the remaining single comics when Loaves and Fishes - the only place I knew who sold them - was going out of business. It was when I did this that I realized they were releasing another graphic novel volume with those single comics in it. So I'll probably get that and give away the single ones. Tomo, on the other hand, is more specifically manga. They started selling it at Loaves and Fishes when I was there, and I bought the first two volumes before the place went out of business, but I haven't gotten the others yet. I also used to own comics of Archangels: The Saga (a spiritual warfare story where angels and demons were the main characters) but I didn't get into the series much. I also read Serenity at Loaves and Fishes (on my downtime) but never got around to buying it.

Other than this, I own two volumes of the Manga Shakespeare series - basically manga renditions of various Shakespeare plays; I own Romeo & Juliet and Hamlet - and two omnibuses (omnibi?) of a series called Amazing Agent Luna. Amazing Agent Luna is released by Seven Seas Entertainment, a fairly small publisher in the wide array of manga publishers out there. I discovered their booth at Comic-Con last year and at the same time came across a series they were selling that was on sale - Amazing Agent Luna, a story about a girl created in a lab and trained to be the world's ultimate secret agent. She's never seen the real world until she is assigned to keep tabs on developments at Nobel High, where she poses as the daughter of Control, the agent who trains her and keeps an eye on her (her "handler" I guess), and Dr. Andy, the psychologist tasked with maintaining Luna's emotional and mental well-being. According to what I heard from the actual authors this year at Comic-Con (since I got to meet them and have them sign both my volumes!!) is that they'll publish one more volume (volume 6) of the Luna series and then do a spin-off called Amazing Agent Jennifer that explores Control's past as an agent. I'm looking forward to that! (I guess they initially intended for volume 6 of Luna to be in the second omnibus, but it wasn't ready in time, so the second omnibus only has volumes 4 and 5).

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Wantlist

Having cataloged my collection, I have been thinking about what else I would like to get, if anything.

First off, I want to complete the manga series I've started collecting that need completing. This will be hard for Pokémon and basically impossible for the W.I.T.C.H. series unless I can find English books published elsewhere, such as Canada or the UK, since the original comics are in Italian and I can't read Italian. I guess I should consider that one complete since it doesn't look like the graphic novels will be published in the U.S. anymore. (Ok, just changed my "manga I own" list to reflect this).

Full Moon, Card Captor Sakura, and Mermaid Melody I can probably find online somewhere, or wait till January when I go to Animé Los Angeles (I made my hotel reservation the other day, so that's set finally, and yesterday I put in for the days off because I had waited to do that till I had my hotel room reserved, so now all I have to worry about is getting there and my cosplay costume. Yay!). ZGraphicNovels.com has info on where to buy Tomo. With PowerMark I'm not sure; I'm having trouble finding the second graphic novel online. For Pokémon, I will check that site I mentioned earlier. Tsubasa and xxxHolic I will check the bookstore for.

Aside from that, I need to decide, as Mousie from Miss Dream said in her tips for collecting, what I want to collect. Based on what I already have, I'd say I like books and DVD's, though I'm open to little knickknacks and toys as well. I know there are a couple PGSM books I want that I read about on Sailor Dream. I'd like to complete the five-book set of the senshi guides (the series Meet Sailor Moon: Crystal is from). I want to buy the book Warriors of Legend that the people from Genvid did (I borrowed it from the library and read it and now I want it). I want to collect more of CLAMP no Kiseki as well as the actual CLAMP artbooks (North Side, South Side, and the series-specific ones that I saw mentioned on Wikipedia, unless the art from those are in North Side and South Side too). Other than all that, I want to say soundtracks, but I really don't have much storage space for more CD's (I own way too many CD's already). There is at least three Sailor Moon CD's I want to get - SuperS in Paris, Best Song Collection PrettyCast, and Uranus - Neptune - Chibimoon PLUS, since I like the songs on those CD's - but I don't have to get them as I can get all the tracks off those from Sailor-Music.

So, books and DVD's I guess, with the occasional doll or knickknack.

*sigh* I am both tired and bored; rainy weather makes me that way. I do need to do some school reading, so I should probably do that. I'm going to get some sort of snack and settle down to that. Bye!