That same adorable person I mentioned last time left me a note wondering what I was up to and reminded me my last update was in February. Actually, she really wanted me to start writing again.

Writing is on my mind almost every day. I've even started on a thing or two but then dropped them. I want it to come back, I think it will come back, but it's not back yet.

I have a new friend here who read a bunch of my stuff and chatted with me about it. This person is making a picture for me which relates to the story I was working on when I stopped writing, so I'm thinking of that as an opportunity to resume that story. I've already done a little work on it.

In the mean time, it would be hard for me to write, because I'm spending all of my free time translating. I formed a scanlation group to translate and release yaoi (Boys Love) manga that aren't available in English. My first effort was Act 6 of Shiuko Kano's Play Boy Blues. Even though this work is licensed in English, the publisher went bankrupt, and no one knows if or when another publisher will pick it up. It's a really fun story.

Here's the link: [link]

Feel free to join if you're 18 or over! You have to request membership, but if your birth date is in your LJ profile, we'll let you in. If you're new to LJ, let me know what your ID is, because we avoid accepting people with no history, because as new as we are to LJ, we already have experience with fake accounts.

Wait a second. Back up, back up! You all knew I was taking Japanese, right? Are you sitting there wondering "How does she get from writing fan-fiction in English to translating from Japanese to English?" LOL I've taken a year's worth of beginning Japanese classes at my local community college. I just finished my second semester.

I wasn't expecting to reach my goal of being able to translate so soon, but I got inspired to try, and here I am. It's pretty hard at this stage, but I get lots of help, and I'm improving fast.

Okay that's enough from here.

A certain adorable someone reminded me that I haven't updated in a while, so I thought it would be good to give a plain, vanilla update rather than the sporadic memes I've been foisting on my watchers.

I haven't done much writing at all. I did work on a Naruto piece about two weeks ago, sent it off to a friend for review, then promptly forgot about it.

I've also been procrastinting the little beta work that's come my way.

I guess I still have writer's block.

I've been having a bit of a crisis at work; my attitude has been a bit negative, and that was made worse by the promotion of someone who always has been an underperformer. As a result, I have more work to do, while he still does as little as he can and gets paid more for it. It pisses me off, but I'm trying to get back on track with my own work.

My husband and I had a little rocky patch right after he lost his job, having to do with reallocating daily housework and such, but we got through it by trying very hard to understand each other's needs, and all is lovey-dovey again.

Sam is doing great at school and complaining as always about the work and the boredom. He was invited to apply for an exciting summer internship at the local world-class medical school, and he did apply. We're excited for him.

Francine has been having friend problems again. I try to prop her up and advise her, but none of it seems to sink in. She's reading the Twilight series, and it's totally engrossing her. Lately we've been spending time on my bed either reading or doing sudoku side by side. It's very comforting.

I had a bad patch of depression in December/January, but I think it was menopause-related. I'm okay for now.

So, you see, I'm okay but not great. I'm sad I'm not writing! It just doesn't seem to be happening. But I haven't given up hope yet!

I'm so very sorry, anyone who watches me. My journal has turned into an occasional meme repository. I know that that is not good or writerly of me. But I'm kind of having writer's block, even though I did start a new story with the help of the lovely eltiteretista.

Stolen from :iconexplosivetoaster: because she's explosive and makes toast.

My original character's name is Evangeline.

1.What is your character's name?
Evangeline Wong

2. What is your character's name in another language?
Spanish=Evangelina

3. How old is he/she?
Mmmm I think 33.

4. What is your character's race/species?
She's half-Chinese. I suspect the other half is white.

5. Do they have a crush?
No.

6. Do they have many friends?
She has an assistant.

7. What planet is your character from?
Earth.

8. Does your character like to eat?
I think she views it as a necessity rather than a goal.

9. What's his/her favorite food?
Anything that can be eaten while reading a book without getting anything on the pages. So even though she likes ramen, she hardly ever eats it, because it drips. A peanut butter sandwich is perfect.

10. What's his/her favorite drink?
Water, because it doesn't stain pages.



11. Is your character annoying?
No, she's the opposite of annoying. She's unintrusive, but when you notice her, she's very interesting.

13. Is your character loved?
SHe's more feared than loved.

14. Is your character hated?
No.

15. Is she/he emo/goth?
No--she avoids rigid categories of style. She dresses for comfort and for safety. She drives a bookmobile, after all. And yet, if you ever saw her standing up, you'd find a certain odd stylishness in her dress. It probably just comes naturally out of her very definite but individualistic personality.

16. Is she/he an antagonist or protagonist?
Neither. She's more a catalyst in the lives of various protagonists.

17. Is he/she violent?
No. For her, the word is supreme. Although it's important to drive the bookmobile well.

18. Name 3 hobbies:
Evangeline has a mission, rather than a hobby. Her mission is to instigate fundamental progress in the lives of others by acquainting them with the stories that influence their lives and by encouraging them to advance their own stories.

19. Is your character normal?
Not in the least.

20. Is your character attractive?
She's somewhere between pretty and plain.

21. How does your character handle emotions?
She sublimates them and uses them in her work. The result is that she doesn't really have a personal life.

22. Does your character have other forms?
Only in a figurative sense. You can live many different lives through reading!

23. Does your character overreact?
No. She's very calm.

24. Is your character a criminal?
She might be a sort of outlaw. Certainly if the FBI had a clue about her, they'd have a file on her if not an active investigation.

25. Does your character go to school?
She might take the occasional class at the local college.

26. What's his/her IQ?
I think it's very high, but I don't know if she's ever taken the test.

27. Does your character have a disease/curse?
No, but she does have a mission that would be something of a burden if she weren't such a true believer.

28. Is your character dead?
No.

29. Does your character have a family?
Everyone has a family, but no one seems to know anything about Evangeline's.

30. Has he/she encountered any tragic times in life?
I don't think so, but it's possible.

31. What's the best time in your character's life?
There are so many. Her life seems to be a series of peak experiences.

33. Is your character single?
Yes.

34. Has he/she developed any relationships?
That's something of a mystery.

35. Does he/she have an element?
I'll repeat what the Toaster said: lolwat
Then I'll say her element might be paper. Or it might be asphalt.

36. Do you roleplay as your character?
Pretendy-fun-time games! SO CUTE! No. No one has ever asked me to, and I've never offered, and only one person knows about her so far! Besides me that is.

37. Do you write about your character?
Yes, that's the only thing I've done with her so far.

38. Does your character have a bad temper at times?
No. By upbringing and by vocation, that would be very disadvantageous.

39. Does your character get depressed?
I imagine she does, now and then, but no one knows about it.

40. What's your characters favorite animal?
Birds. Though she hates the fact that parrots will destroy books if given the opportunity, she's very sensible and understands that all you need to do to prevent that is to keep your books out of the reach of parrots.

41. Does your character have any fears?
The cops and ignorant people with power.

42. Does your character have any weaknesses?
I think the fact that she doesn't have a personal life or a lover is a huge weakness.

43. Does your character look up to anyone?
Robertson Davies, the late Canadian novelist. Shakespeare. Amy Tan and Maxine Hong Kingston.

44. Does your character like music?
Yes.

45. What's your character's favorite type of music?
Bach, Chopin, Beethoven, and jazz.

46. Is he/she impatient?
Occasionally, in traffic.

47. What's something funny about your character?
The fact that there are so many similarities between her and an elderly literature professor.

48. Name 5 nicknames
Ev, Mrs. Wong, Madame Mao, Angel Face (her dad used to call her that, despite the fact that her face has never looked remotely angelic), and Fred

49. Does your character curse?
In Chinese only.

50. THIS QUIZ IS OVER. What does your character have to say?
"Please step up."

I stole this from

I know I haven't posted in forever, and it's kind of cheating to post this as my first post in a long time.

For a real update, just to let you know, Small Gestures is back! Go here for true enjoyment: [link]



001. Name: Barbara
002. Nickname(s): barbjo, bjo, tag hag, perverted penis hag (I made those last two up, but that's what I call myself over at yamete_uzai at live journal)
003. Status: 18 years married. 28 years with the same man.
004. Zodiac sign: Aquarius
005. Male or female: Female
006. Elementary: Hoover Elementary in what is now Cupertino (they tore it down during the baby bust, how shortsighted!)
007. John F. Kennedy Junior High School. I can still smell the tar from when they redid the blacktop.
008. Monta Vista High School, Cupertino
009. Smart: Yes
010. Hair color: natural =almost black current=chocolate brown with blond highlights
011. Tall or short: Medium. 5'6"
012. Quiet with occasional outbursts.
013. Sweats or Jeans? Sweats. Elastic is my friend.

014. Phone or Camera: I have both but use neither often.
015. Health freak: Heh. Heh heh. Heh heh heh heh heh. No.
016. Drink or Smoke?: Drink. But not much anymore.
017. Do you have a crush on someone?: Shamefully enough as a long-married woman, I usually do, but not right now.
018. Eating or Drinking: Both.
019. Piercing: Ears only. Closed up. I dream of getting a genital piercing, but I'm too chicken.
020. Tattoos: No.

FIRSTS:

023. First piercing: Ears at the age of 30 or so LOL Late bloomer.
024. First best friend: Amy Ryder. She lived two doors down. At one point she became an actress. I wonder if she's still in the business! She was in Tales of the City.
025. First award: I got academic awards in Junior High and I won third place in a creative writing competition in seventh grade.
026. First crush: Jedd Monson. Hi Jedd! Did you turn out to be gay?
027. First pet: Star. He was a mutt.
028. First big vacation: That summer we went to Lake Tahoe for a week. Weird but fun.
030. First big birthday: What does that mean? First time I had a major to-do at my birthday? Then age 19. I threw my own birthday party. It's a little embarrassing to remember.

CURRENTLY:

049. Eating: starving. Had no breakfast. Will eat leftover beef & broccoli for lunch.
050. Drinking: water.
052. I'm about to: Create some pivot tables of patronage data.
053. Listening to: Traffic noises and a colleague grumbling.
054. Plans for today: Wish I had Little Shireling's plans. My plans are to make progress with these data tables and then attend two focus groups as an observer tonight.

YOUR FUTURE:

058. Want kids?: Have two of 'em. My plans for them are to spend time with them before they grow up and leave the house and to continue helping them to become good adults.
059. Want to get married?: Yes, and I am. Yay me. My plans for my marriage are to make it better. We're having a little bit of transitional angst right now.
060. Careers: I didn't really plan it, but I'm a Transit Planner. I guess if I dared to wish, my wish for my future would be to continue writing.

WHICH IS BETTER WITH OPPOSITE SEX?

068. Lips or eyes: Penises.
070. Shorter or taller?: Medium. I like a nice, medium-height guy. From 5'8" to 5'10"
072. Romantic or spontaneous: Those two aren't mutually exclusive. My guy isn't either, though. A little romance would be perfectly awesome.
073. Nice stomach or nice arms: Arms. I love nice arms.
074. Sensitive or loud: I guess some women like loud guys, but not me.
075. Hook-up or relationship: Now, come on. Who answers hook-up?????
077. Troublemaker or hesitant: Yeah I can't hack the troublemaking lifestyle. A good balance is what I'd look for.

HAVE YOU EVER:

080. Lost glasses/contacts: I've lost many pairs of reading glasses, but none since I had to pay big bucks for them.
081. Ran away from home: No. Again, troublemaking is not my style.
084. Broken someone's heart: Yeah, a little, but he deserved it.
085. Been arrested: Nope.
087. Cried when someone died: Of course. What else can you do? Believe me, the alternatives are not healthy.

DO YOU BELIEVE IN:

089. Yourself: Six months ago, yes. Right now, no, and that's my whole problem in a nutshell.
090. Miracles: Not as such, no.
091. Love at first sight: No.
092. Heaven: No.
093. Santa Clause: No. God I'm such a sceptic.
094. Sex on the first date: Yeah, baby! Well...I've done it, but I guess it's probably not the best thing to do.
095. Kiss on the first date: Yeah of course.

ANSWER TRUTHFULLY:

097. A funny cartoon: If I can include manga, I'd say "Punch Up" by Shiuko Kano. It's really cracking me up. There are funnier ones but I can't remember their names, because they're in Japanese. If manga isn't acceptable, then Life in Hell by Matt Groening.
098. Are you seriously happy with where you are in life: Again, six months ago, I was deliriously happy. What in hell happened????? I am SO not happy right now.
099. Do you believe in God: No.
100. Post as 100 truths and tag: Tagging is kind of intrusive. Read and follow my example if you care to.


Well, that wasn't as much fun as I thought it would be, but at least it got me to post. I really enjoyed reading about Little Shireling's life.

Just in case you haven't seen this (it's in the daily deviations for today). Check out the above deviation. It's a little cake box you can print out and make yourself. It is teh completely total cute.