Today is my mom's birthday. She is one of my favorite people and I love her for so many reasons. Here is a small portion of why I think my mom is really cool:

My mom has a lot of trouble with technology but still figured out how to use twitter and text messaging.

When she was young, my mom and aunt traveled the country and somewhat beyond dancing in a Japanese dance troupe. They appeared on the Ed Sullivan show. Later on they both settled at the Montreal Playboy club and were bunnies. (Note that this is different from appearing in the magazine, they were never naked.)

My mom doesn't look her age at all. She is constantly being hit on by guys that are as young as 19 years old (which is also how old my dad was when they started dating!)

She has a natural ability with children. I have always been mystified at how she can talk to them and get them to go along with things without them ever complaining. Including me!

My mom is also kind of a badass. She grew up in a rough neighborhood in downtown LA and constantly had to deal with prejudice and engage in fist fights. She has a sharp tongue and has said some pretty amazing things to dress down people in public.

She is completely supportive of all the crazy things I do. I even showed her the footage of the Ouran Host Club panel where I seduced a fan while dressed as Kyoya. She said it was very cute! o_o Lately she has been really amazing at listening to my novel ideas or crazy company plans.

Late at night, we watch terrible youtube videos. She also likes hardcore rap and hip hop music.

I am so grateful to have a mother I can trust with so much. I strive to appreciate her more as often as possible :)

Evan has been holding out on us! This show is so sneaky. They like to have each contestant labeled with a single dance style. Evan's is broadway.

Well aside from being fairly adorable and having cute old time fashion, this little film shows his bboy moves in the credits. How charming! They mentioned that he is vertically challenged on the show. I wonder how short he is? As many of you know, I love short guys <3

Link: http://www.youtube.com/user/EvanKasprzak#play/uploads/6/5IlSo_MuITU

Finally, Mosaica is out!
http://bit.ly/8abXP

Mosaica is an iPhone app developed by my friends at www.dappervision.com and it is really, really good. Basically you can easily make panoramas using your iPhone. There are other products that do this such as Photosynth, but in my opinion theirs is faster and easier to use. And I hate using Mac interfaces!

So here is a Mosaic of my Orpheus costume, which you can see on your computer as long as you have Flash:
http://msca.me/4c

When the first version of their app came out, I was one of the sample images on it. Their app was reviewed by a Japanese website, and the guy made my day by being surprised that there was a mosaic of a cosplayer!
http://tinyurl.com/cebobl

"リストに戻って「Costume」を見てみましょう。な、何ですか？このコスプレ系アート作品は...無謀やなぁ（苦笑）。"

I can't read it that well but its definitely about me :P

I'm also featured in the youtube review, where he quietly says "Nihonjin desu ne?"
Click on it around 2:30


So I'm really happy to finally get to post about this since it really amused me. I have been watching the guys work on this for months and I'm really proud of how much work they have done. Good job Andrew and Brandyn!

Yeah, so Andy and Elena and I did a photoshoot while he was in town because he wants to get better at taking photos. OH MY GOD, it was SO much fun. I can't wait until he has time to come up again. Elena looked absolutely gorgeous and I had a great time putting makeup on her and tilting her head and arms and such :p But I won't post her photos here in case she doesn't want me to.

Here are some from the first outfit I did, which was like a breakdancing girl from the 80s. I'm still a breakdancing newb but I really wanted to try out some action shots.

Here is a preview image of my FAVORITE one, full and some other shots after cut.


( Read more... )

Today only you can buy Planet Earth + Blue Planet + Life of Mammals + Life of Birds for 69.99, Free shipping:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001957A44/ref=asc_df_B001957A44776194?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&tag=priceg-dvd-20&linkCode=asn

Happy Earth Day! I actually calculated, its 34 hours of amazing nature footage! O_O

Documentaries are so awesome, its like a bazillion hours of footage for reasonable prices. So far I own Shark Week, I Shouldn't Be Alive, 1000 Places to See Before you Die, and now this. Great to have for inspiration and to entertain while sewing!

Try out my friends' beta release of Mosaica Lite! It's about to go live and they need feedback on it. If you talked to Andrew at Megacon about the program, you know the basic idea, but here is your opportunity to help them make it as good as possible:

www.dappervision.com/?page=beta

This program will allow you to take multiple pictures in a room and it will stitch them together into a panoramic 3D view. It is similar to Photosynth, but in my opinion it runs better and best of all, you can create them directly on your phone.

That's pretty much all I know but there will be another update from me pimping this when it goes live involving my contribution to the system XD I'm so totally amused and wish I could share it now, but it shouldn't be too much longer.

You know, I don't have that many happy lj icons because for so long I didn't have any use for them. But this is at least the third entry where I needed one and came up lacking. That's a step in the right direction in life, not just livejournal!

Unexpectedly, I had an AMAZING time at FXShow. All I did was talk to people, and then at the very end I bought a lot of artwork related stuff. I definitely feel more energized about working this week now that I experienced so many fun times.

And I realize this is in reverse chronological order, but on Friday Andy came to town suddenly and I did a photoshoot with Elena and him. We had SO much fun. She is not used to doing things like that and I'm a novice at putting makeup on others and mixing up outfits, so we spent so long planning. Everyone kept apologizing to everyone else even though all three of us were having a blast. It was truly relaxing and I'm excited for the next time Andy can come to town.

I finished Evaliation.net!

Basically I just really wanted a site that linked to everywhere I have put things online. I think of it as an internet resume where I fess up to all the things I do or try to do and all the relevant links can be found in one place.

It's still not complete, but its up! And with my schedule, that's an accomplishment for now :D

Ah, I also wanted to say, thank you for all the comments to my last post about school! I really appreciate them :#)

Is anyone else going? I want to meet the chick from cabin fever and hang out with Yaya and crew so I will definitely be going. :)

Otaku Baton

◆好きな女性キャラクターを五人答えてください
(Your five favorite female characters.)
❶ Utena - Utena
❷ Tsukushi Makino - Hana Yori Dango
❸ Nausicaa - Nausicaa and the Valley of the Wind
❹ Jubei-chan - Jubeichan the Ninja Girl
❺ Ahiru - Princess Tutu

◆アナタが一番好きなのは誰ですか？
(↑ Who do you like the most?)
Nausicaa, she was my hero growing up.

◆好きな男性キャラクター五人答えてください
(Your five favorite male characters.)
❶ Ryoga - Ranma 1/2
❷ Seiji - Whispers of the Heart
❸ Kyoya - Ouran High School Host Club
❹ Fakir - Princess Tutu
❺ Gourry - Slayers

◆アナタが一番好きなのは誰ですか？
(↑ Who do you like the most?)
Fakir.

◆好きなゲームを三つ答えてください
(Your three favorite games.)
Only THREE?!

❶ Resident Evil 4
❷ Persona 3
❸ Xenogears

◆好きな声優さんは？
(Your favorite anime seiyuu?)
Whoever did Ahiru's voice, probably

◆好きなアニソンは？
(Your favorite anison [anime song]?)
❶ Give a Reason from Slayers
❷ Opening to Lain
❸ Rinbu Revolution from Utena
❹ The second ending theme to Utena
❺ This probably doesn't count, but Country Road in Whispers of the Heart



◆コスプレをする？またはどんなコスプレをしてみたい？
(Do you cosplay? Or, what kind of cosplay would you like to do?)
I do a lot of cosplay, as anyone reading this probably knows. This year I am trying to do costumes that take advantage of my latest athletic skills and costumes that require sewing techniques I don't usually use.

◆アナタが最も萌えを感じるものは何ですか？
(What makes you feel "MOE" the most?)
Wu Chun from Fahrenheit, Princess Tutu romance, Tamaki/Kyoya/Haruhi OT3

◆このバトンを回す人五人
(Five people who you pass this baton to.)
1. faeriedust38
2. jinyo
3. angelsamui
4.kichara
5.lainabug

Something Val thinks should have been added
(Your five Favorite Anime)

1. Princess Tutu
2. Utena
3. Slayers
4. Ranma 1/2
5. Jubei-chan