Wow-ee, that's a lot of stuff...

Hi~ya!! Wanted to give everyone a small update on things since I haven't really been on in a while. Been really sick (that's not really an update...that seems almost normal to me now, always being sick) I have been super sick, it seems, as of Thursday night. Since I have been almost constantly sick, there is no reason for me not to go to work. Yeah I know, health is important, but what do you do when being sick is 'normal'? Stayed at my sister's house because I had to work close to where she lived. Plus I helped out with stuff around the house and with her Christmas shopping. My head hurts and my feet ache from the constant working but I am happy because with the money I got from working, I splurged a tid bit ... and I do mean a tid bit...I bought the cat I've been taking care of (Sylvester) a special collar. It's made for active outdoor cats and is designed to breakway if it gets caught on something. Plus it has this mouse decal on it which is made of reflective material (like the ones they use on cross walk uniforms and suck) that way if light from a car or something hits the decal, it will shine. Which is good because he mainly has black fur. It didn't cost that much but even if it costed more, it would be well worth it. Especially since one of my neighbors has been feeding him (not that I am really mad about anyone else feeding a cat I take care of) BUT if it's human food that can severely damage his system...then yeah. I want a collar on him to show that he BELONGS to someone or that he is fed a healthy diet....hopefully I get the point across in some way. I forgot to add that it has a bell on it. XD I just love bells for cats collars, they are so cute! and I like the jingling sound, it helps to find him.

I am upset though because upon returning home, the weather became quite feirce. Wind and rain so bad that it shakes the windows. I am upset about this because before I went to my sisters house, I had just spent 2 days clearing up the back yard of: cleaning up garbage that my really rude neighbors feel the need to through into our yard (isn't that illegal or something? because I am tired of having beer cans thrown in my yard and they stuff them into our cactuses out front too. No one in my house drinks...wait, my step-dad does but he only drinks beer out of bottle, never cans); weeds (that I had to wait to grow back, if you read my previous journal about step-dad and the weedwhacker); a lot of leaves (from my neighbors tree that hangs over the fence); digging up some dead trees (one wasn't dead but I really dislike boganvia's [sp?] and their thorns); trimming other trees and bushes (got attacked by the branches a couple of times); resetting decor stones and stone borders around yard (somehow they got moved and I know who did it but I am trying to be on a happy note); trimming a vine plant and removing parts of it from the house and resetting it onto a designated gate...and some other stuff...the list goes on but I am not getting to the point I need to. I didn't have enough room in my garbage can, especially after spending a couple of days before that trimming the palms tree fur bark from our two palm trees (it reduces bugs and scorpions around winter time). So, since I didn't have the extra room in the garbage can (and my step-dad refused to load the bed of his truck with this stuff to an appropriate dump site) I just left them in suitable sized piles to remove every so often as the garbage can gets more room. Now that the weather is so bad...the yard and those piles I worked so hard on are now ruined...And ontop of it, all the recycle bins and most of the garbage bins in my neighborhood are tipped over from the wind and stuff is flying around...So there is a lot of added cleaning up to do. But I always say, Clean up the front yard first (because some places have high fines if it's nto a certain status) then clean up the back yard. Especially since the front yard is what people see most.

hmmm, anything else...? I am pretty sure there was another thing I wanted to state (as per usual according to some private messages and emails; I realize I write a lot, but I do love writing and I was raised to explain everything thoroughly so I don't really care one way or another *sorry for the tiny rant/vent/explosion of emotion*) but I can't seem to remember it at the moment.
For now, I will wish you all an early Merry Christmas. I hope you have a great holiday filled with great food, good company, lots of family and friends, and some presents. I am more for the family and food aspect of the holiday but the presents are a nice bonus. =^.^=

Yes, I did say Merry Christmas instead of 'happy holidays.' That is the holiday I celebrate and I will not give it another name because of political or religious restraints. Just because I don't rename it to 'happy holidays' in no way means that I do not respect others celebrations during this period; I do indeed wish that you all have a very happy and enjoyful holiday no matter what it is. I am just getting tired of people snapping at me and correcting me on something that really doesn't need to be corrected. I understand Christmas is a pagan holiday, but who doesn't LOVE free gifts and good tidings at the end of the long year? I LOVE the idea of Saint Nicolas and gift giving--not because I am greedy, oh no I am not very greedy at all--the joy it brings to others as you give them a gift is so....fullfilling and heartwarming.

I got a bit more flowing in text and wanting a bit of diversity in my wording towards the end. Too tired to worry about the rest of it but oh well. It's mostly fun. =^.^=

Plans for the future.

I love orating and voice acting literature and reading aspiring writers works. I have several voice acting parts for people's fanime's and sims movies. I am always auditioning and am part of an online group called the voice acting company, they do the searching for a lot of the open casting calls and auditions and send them to your based on your preferences for roles to play. Some people won't cuss and some people won't say certain things so I think that is a great thing to do. I will be putting up a new feature on my youtube account as far as orations go, I was given persmission to orate some historical documents and speeches so I will hopefully have at least one or two new ones up each week. I also plan to orate a book that is composed of poems from teens to parents and vis versa to help people connect with their feelings and how to communicate better with eachother, from teens communicating to their parents and vis versa....Being a teenager is a hard thing and sometimes it's hard to find the words to express what you want to say. Hopefully it will help some people have a better relationship with their parents and a more open on.
Besides my orating and voice acting, I am also an artist and am doing a bit of freelance work for some people. I am currently working on several banner requests for people and a couple of other goodies.

That's all I really have to report right now. I do have a very special something else to tell but I am waiting till I am almost finished with the first portion of it...so just a hint, if you are a johnny cash fan, you will like this.

Mandy Patinkin

I so so hope one day that I can meet him. He is such a great actor and performer. I love his roles as "Gideon" in Criminal Minds, "Inigo" in The Princess Bride, "Rube" in the TV series Dead Like Me, and much much more. Not only has he performed on broadway, he acts on TV on a variety of different shows and can sing wonderfully. If you don't know who I am talking about then here's one of his awesome pics.

(Picture courtesy of mandypatinkin.org)

I got a copy of a zombie book in a giveaway

I won a copy of Send more cops, Z.E.O. A Zombie's Guide to Getting A(head) in Business by Scott Kenemore. I just got it in the mail yesterday and so far I am loving just the make of the book. It's produced on cardstock and high quality gloss material with great graphic art in it. When I finish reading it I will put a review up of it but honestly it looks worth the money. You may not be into the humor of zombie attacks but I am. So if you are interested then come check back for the book review to see if it's something you would like.

giving in..

I caved and actually got myself a twitter profile.. -.- Still working out how to "tweet" but pretty much understanding it so far. I was so bent on not following everyone else with it, I wanted to be different but forth sooth I am the same...well almost anyways..I am still weird and I already successfully creeped someone out (didn't mean to, thought I was being helpful and giving good advice, apparently I am just a wierd creepy person for doing that...oh well) Here's my twitter: http://www.twitter.com/erica_ryoko.
If you have a twitter, post yours down in the comment that way we can be twitter pals!!

ZOMBIFIED!!

What happens to someone when they get attacked by a zombie?...well this is what happned to me (editing picture courtesy of Zombify-Yourself.net)

BEFORE ZOMBIE ATTACK

AFTER ZOMBIE RECRUITMENT

Fin-a-lly!

i didn't want to post a blog about it until after things kind of settled, because knowing my luck writing about it would only make stuff backfire. So here it is. After 6 years of pain, malnutrition, doctors in disbelief, and much more...we found a doctor who found out that the surgery my mom had (6 years ago) was done INCORRECTLY and was done too fast. My mom has been sick due to a mechanical problem from her surgery and that it truly is not in her head. What's odd is every doctor before this one (who's actually helping), even though they only thought that my mom's pain was in her head, they still prescribed and I should say over medicated my mother on heavy narcotics, then they have the audacity to put in my mother's charts that she was drug seeking. No one and I mean NO ON, in my family ever takes any medicine, like Tylenol, Aleve, Ibuprofen, etc..Unless they absolutely have to. That's just how we are. Plus there are just other factors that have occurred through these last 6 years that have made me very upset at how doctors treat people. In this case, it is the doctors' faults for not finding anything since they weren't doing accurate tests to begin with. That's not the case with everyone. Anyways, yesterday there was a doctors appointment and I haven't gotten a call yet from the doctor but I am hoping they found something in the endoscopy they did. One of those cases where you want them to find something. I am glad that we found a doctor that would listen to what my mom would have to say without making a judgement until he listened to it all. Our health care shouldn't be this way and people who are learning to be doctors shouldn't have god complexes and just honestly say if they don't know something. Yeah some people expect doctors to have all the answers to everything but the truth is THEY DON'T! They're human too.

Other updates happening, I am no longer sick with sore throat...it finally went away, YEAH!! The cat I took in is doing wonderful, I hope to have some before and after pics to show you how much he has improved within this last month and a half or so. He is honorary as heck but that's a cat for you. My mom thinks I'm crazy for taking care of a stray cat when I am allergic to cats but I couldn't help it. How can I just sit back and let a living thing die on the street, knowing that I could've helped it, whether I am allergic or not. I couldn't allow myself to let something suffer like that.

As per a previous post I am doing orations (speeches or reading of texts) and voice acting. I do have several voice acting parts and am co-working on the anime: Destinys Battle. The link is in the side bar if you would like to see what it's about. If you see a picture on the sidebar, it is a link and sometimes for the caption I will add the alternative link to a coinciding website of theirs as well as posting the link in my "friends blogs and links" section.

I am finished writing 2 chapters of one of my books as well as completing the writing portion of a children's book..now all I need to do is the illustrating then off to a publisher we go. Still haven't chosen exactly which publishing group I want to send the children's book to but it will be sent. I am trying to be very pro-active and finish some stuff that I have been procrastinating on. I am still doing tutoring and will hopefully start doing it online and once I figure out how to convert certain movie files to work with certain programs I hope to have on my YouTube some cooking tips and tricks. Plus subscribers will be the first to get videos about secret family recipes that I will be posting up there just for a few days at a time, but they will get them none-the-less....

That's pretty much it that I can think of....oh yeah I will be designing a line of clothing for the breast cancer foundation, I don't know how public it will go or if it will stay localized to their catalogues or auctions and I am not sure when the line itself will air, but I am working on it. I hope most of the process for that is finalized before Christmas (which means prototypes of the dresses and meeting with the head of the breast cancer foundation administration in that area); hopefully it all pans out the way it's supposed to.

So now I am pretty sure that's it for the updates on things happening now. Have any questions, don't hesitate to ask.

Tribute

Here's a video tribute to the other participants in the monosmash contest. There was a lot of creativeness and uniqueness that just had to be shown off. There are a couple of things missing from the video that for some reason didn't finalize with the rest of the video but there was a thank you to TenaciousToys for being such a great sponsor, then there was also 2 artists who are missing from the list, mine and someone's wife, at the beginning when it shows the sponsor (tenacioustoys) it was supposed to have an effect title that didn't transfer....but that's all the things I can think of that didn't show up. Also the name ryoko that is at the bottom of the video during the entire thing is a tag because there have been a lot of videos being stolen on youtube. So yeah. Anyways enjoy!

I won!!

It took me a long time to actually realize and process that my name was drawn to win a vinyl monosmash toy made by tenacious toys which values at around $100 and if I remember correclty, there were only 150 of this edition made so pretty awesome. Here's a picture courtesy of tenacioustoys.com:

Picture copyright of tenacioustoys.com

Thanks tenacious toys for sponsoring the monosmash contest on ToyBreak and OctoberToys Forums. Because of that I have a wonderful limited articulating piece to add to my toy collection. Thanks again!! =^.^= Not only that but now I have a reason to throw another party..because I won something and I hardly ever win anything. *squee*

More exciting news, I am looking into molds, pvc pipe figures and toy clay to try and make a unique toy of my own..well one that isn't a plushie anyways. So if you have any great toy making tips or where I can find the best stuff to use then please let me know. Thanks. =^.^=

Voice Acting

I am currently doing some voice acting for some people's fanime's: a fanime is someone who is a fan of a particular anime and makes one similar but in their own style and with a different story line but same basis. I do have quite a variety of voices I can do so I like this chance to be able to help others with it.

Umm...anything else that is new...Oh yea I am taking care of a stray cat, I have been for a little over a week and a half now. Sweetest cat ever, I am surprised that someone just left it there because it returns to one spot everday after I feed it and I am guessing that's where it used to live with it's owners. It's sad how people can do that. He was so skinny that I am estimated with how any body works--animal or human deterioration--it would've taken about 3 months or a bit less for that cat to die on the streets. And I wasn't going to let that happen. I have named him Sylvester because not only does he have the markings of Sylvester from the cartoon but he is also funny and cunning. My step-dad hates cat and saw the cat around his truck and got mad and kicked it away (I hit him upside the head and kicked him for what he did), but the cat backed off didn't even fight back and my step-dad leaves his truck windows open everyonce and awhile...well sylvester went into his truck one night and not only peeed on his seats but also pooped on the driver's seat. that cat is S-M-A-R-T!! Cat gets revenge against man. And people think that animals have a thought process...I just proved you wrong. Heh heh heh. My step-dad won't even go near the cat now..he learned his lesson. I can't take the cat inside my house yet because the place we live doesn't allow pets inside the dwellings...but I am working on that by bribing the owner with cookies and cake. Never underestimate the power of confectionaries. =^.^=

Well that's really all I have to post about. I am doing orations of Children's books, articles, and papers so if you have anything you want orated then let me know. BTW, an oration is someone speaking or turning written word into spoken word. Like someone standing behind a podium and speaking is giving an oration...otherwise known as a speech.
Here's my latest oration that I did of MY senior paper. There are two parts b/c youtube only allows a video that is uploaded to have so much time on it. Plus the second part has all the bibliography parts, the stuff where I got the information from. I will say that my senior paper topic is about Animal Cruelty so if this is a subject you don't want to hear points about then please don't listen. I did 4 months of research to back up my views and also the most famous of animal cruelty so I am not just talking to talk.
Here's the link for Part 1
and here's the link for Part 2

no time for being sick.

So I am sick...again. it's not as bad as having Mersa but I deplore being sick (as done anyone else...unless you are using it as an excuse to get out of something{even then I don't like it}). So the last 5 or 6 days I have had this horrible sore throat that is just below strep throat but not close enough to strep-throat that doctors will give me the strep throat medicine...which more or less would kick this sore throat bug out of my system a heck of a lot faster. Oh well..whatever doesn't kill me will only make me stronger. Despite my sore throat I still had to sing two parts of a song to finish my animation in time for a the scholarship deadline.

Ontop of being sick my step-dad's parents are in town and they are very active people. They want to visit so many shops and do so many things that I normally wouldn't mind doing if I wasn't so sick and have medicine that makes me drowsy. I did feel well enough on sunday...I think it was..to go with them to the OUTDOOR swap meet which was all the way across town. It took an hour and a half using the freeway to get there. I love going to swap meets, always have since my grandparents and dad took me there all the time when I was a kid. However, that day was not the best day to go to one. Already at 7:30 am, it was about 102 degrees outside. They didn't turn the misters on until later at 9:45am or 10:00 am. I brought a 1 liter aquafina water bottle with me and ended up having to buy 3 more large cups of water while we were there. It was so so hot and I am very suseptable to heat, it made me even sicker but we couldn't leave until my step-grandma was finished. So for about an hour or so I stayed in the food court area under the misters trying to cool down. Towards the end I did check out one shop and got this super comfortable set of pj's and some rocking t-shirts for my nephews. They were really good material for being at a swap meet but hey some of the best stores out there started at a swap meet. =^.^=

I don't really know if I am complaining, ranting, venting, or whatnot...I think I am just talking about events in a weird tone. I am working on another animation but haven't had a chance to start with this medicine making me so drowsy and my step-grandparents wanting to go to every event and store as possible in a day. I probably know I am going to get a comment or an email saying "well you have enough time to write a blog but you don't have enough time to start an animation...it sounds to me like you are making excuses for procrastination." Simply, blogs don't take that long to write and I do traditional animation which requires hand-drawn frames and it takes quite a lot of those hand drawn frames just to make a 30-second animation...so imagine how many I will need for a 3 minute animation. I am hoping to keep it under 300 still frames but who knows...we'll see how animated I want to make it. Not only that but I really should be asleep right now since I have yet another thing to go to with my step-granparents at like the crack of dawn...I couldn't sleep when I started this blog but now I am pretty tired. I will say though, no matter how sick I am, if they wanted to attend a car show, heck I will be there before them. I love love love car shows to death. The last car show I saw...which sorry I didn't blog about it...was about 2 months ago on a friday. I saw a custom 1930 wagon wheel buggy. So awesome...and what a day to forget my camera of all days. I did bring my sister and nephews to go see it, my one nephew is in love with cars (especially engines) so I knew he had the time of his life...plus you could tell by the gleam in his eyes and he was so excited that the moment we put him in his car seat, that was lights out for him. He was out.

Umm...well I was going to discuss some pretty important news but I can't remember what it was...I know it has something to do with Obama pushing something by threatening congress and the house but I can't quite remember what that something is. So until I remember I guess I will just have to leave you guys hanging wondering what it is. If you know leave me a comment so I can jog my memory and tell you what my research has found out about that subject.

Oh and I have added another book to my already 4 that I have started. The story lines are done for 2 of them but the illustrations are still to be completed so I have to hop on that soon. So I will let you know when I talk to the publisher...if I decide to get it published for sure. so hope you all stay healthy and active. =^.^=

I am heading to bed now..night.

Made it to the FINALS!!

Yeah I am now OFFICIALLY a Windows Brand Ambassador and should be receiving my umm virtual MS Brand Ambassador Badge soon to post everywhere. But I am still not done with the finals. I am in them but I need help getting through the weekly Challenges.

Week #1 Challenge:

Windows® Brand Ambassador — Week #1 Challenge Sponsored by Microsoft®

And if you could vote for my other entries too that would be very much appreciated. =^.^=

Create Your Own Internet PSA Sponsored by Internet Explorer® 8

Are You a Poppy Girl™? Sponsored by Visit Coach

Story of My Life Brickfish

Vote for my Friend's entry too please:

Are You a Poppy Girl™? Sponsored by Visit Coach

No Sign-up needed to vote but if you want to it is completely free and it is a legitimate site.

a week full of fun

At the sister's house again helping with the nephews while her fiance is away on a trip...I think it's a religous trip or something of sorts but not sure and to be honest I really don't care. It's been fun hanging with my nephews and my sister. we've been swimming, watching movies, cooking, all sorts of things and it's been fun. Didn't see any fireworks on the 4th but did have a blast making homemade cookies with joshua who was more harm than help but oh well..it was fun none the less. I have tons of pictures and videos of the boys just being boys and little kids, like those priceless cute moments. It pays to have a camera ready. I will post some of the cutest pictures at a later moment.

trying to get to the finals..Need help please

I made it to the semi-finals of my campaign for Microsoft(MS) Brand Ambassador. It end on July 7th and I really need every one's help to make it to the finals. Only 40 people will be chosen to proceed and I would like to be on that list. Please help. I would really appreciate it.

Windows® Brand Ambassador — Semi-Finals Sponsored by Microsoft®

Also if you want, check out some of my other campaigns. It would really help me out since all these separate campaign entries help me win money and items for college.

Your Life. Our Stage. Sponsored by La Jolla Playhouse

My Favorite Photo (I've Ever Taken) Brickfish

My Favorite Photo (I've Ever Taken) Brickfish

Thanks a million again! Remember you don't have to sign up to vote, share, or review these campaign entries. However if you choose to it's totally free and it's a legitamate site. I already checked it out.

Amazing artist!!

Marissa Kate is a good friend of mine and is just an amazing artist. A quick study of musical art and already is going to be releasing an album on itunes this year (2009). You should check it out, the site is directly connected to Ms. Marissa Kate so you can chat with her and get the lastest updates first. I promise you won't regret it. She is totally amazing.


Visit MarissaKate

go go shining star!!

So this was supposed to be a project between me and my little sister but she decided she was too old for crafts. Pish-posh, one can never be to old for arts and crafts. Anyways so I decided to make a rocket all on my own and for the most part it turned out how I expected but I hurried it so there are a couple of places where it's totally messed up. Here are some pictures of my awesome rocket which I have names "The Shining Star Athelia" and in commemorating the upcoming holiday of Independence Day or also known as the 4th of July. I thought I would incorporate red, white, and blue when painting the rocket. I know it looks a little kiddish as far as desgin goes but paper mache is hard to work with when you have something that wants to roll away like a 2 liter soda bottle and also because I hurried it to prove something. yeah anyways enjoy my kid like craft!