http://search.deviantart.com/?q=by:kenyastarflight&section=today deviantART RSS for by:kenyastarflight en-us Copyright 2009, deviantART.com Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:18:03 PST deviantART.com http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://s.deviantart.com/minish/widgets/apple-touch-icon-precomposed.png http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/28468708/ http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/28468708/ Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:22:11 PST Create a TF Cartoon Challenge!
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I'm not dumb, I just have a command of thoroughly useless information. -- Calvin, The Days Are Just Packed

TRADES ARE OPEN!

Okay, here's the deal -- I'm opening trades for a limited time. There will be ten slots available. And I can't guarantee a speedy delivery on my half of the trade, especially with the holidays coming up, but I WILL get them done.

These are NOT art trades. What I'm proposing is this -- you send me an MP3 of a song, and I draw you a picture. Plain and simple.

Rules of the trade:

1. Do NOT send me the MP3 unless I have approved the trade. Wait for me to confirm and approve, please.

2. First come, first served. I won't hold spots for anyone.

3. NO SLASH, and no risque or gory requests please. Keep it clean. Other than that, request whatever you'd like.

4. I reserve the right to refuse a trade if I feel I can't draw what you're requesting.

5. The trade doesn't necessarily have to be a TF picture. I've drawn dragons and chibis in the past, and I'm willing to give just about anything a shot.

6. One drawing per person, please.

6. Songs can be sent via e-mail or AIM. Let me know which you'd prefer.

As for what kinds of songs I'll accept... here's a brief list of what I like:

Movie soundtracks
'80s songs
Songs from musicals
Christmas songs
Parody songs or just generally off-the-wall songs, such as Weird Al, Luke Ski, or Lemon Demon
A Capella
...and I'll give most other genres a shot too. Surprise me.

Songs I WON'T accept

Heavy Metal
Rap
Extremely explicit lyrics

Trade list:

Previous trade:
Song -- "Little Drummer Boy/Peace On Earth" by Bing Crosby and David Bowie
Request --
1. http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/28460736/ Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:43:20 PST Create a TF Cartoon Challenge!
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I'm not dumb, I just have a command of thoroughly useless information. -- Calvin, The Days Are Just Packed

Okay, I know I said awhile back that I didn't take requests. However, I'm not adverse to trades. I'm more willing to do something on request if I'm getting something in return, though I still reserve the right to refuse a trade if I feel I can't do it justice or the request is for something inappropriate.

That said... I'm willing to write a story or draw a picture in exchange for an MP3 of a particular song!

The song I'm looking for is "Little Drummer Boy/Peace On Earth" by Bing Crosby and David Bowie. I DON'T want the version with all the accompanying dialogue, however -- I just want the song. I've checked Amazon.com and several other websites, but the only versions I'm finding are those with all the dialogue tacked on. *sigh*

If anyone is willing to send me an MP3 of this song, note me. In return for the song I will write or draw you a request of your choice (provided it's slash free).

As for art trades, a drawing for a drawing... I do those on a case by case basis. Poke me and we'll work something out.

EDIT: Thank you ! You rock! Name your request!

Feature -- Spirited Away



]]> *kenyastarflight http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/28442072/ http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/28442072/ Wed, 18 Nov 2009 21:42:44 PST Create a TF Cartoon Challenge!
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I'm not dumb, I just have a command of thoroughly useless information. -- Calvin, The Days Are Just Packed

Finally, I got something posted! I know people haven't been as eager for a new Riptide story as they've been for other things *cough TC's Glory cough* but hey, progress is being made, right?

I went back and reread some of my old journals, and I saw that I'd promised at the beginning of this year that I'd get Thundercracker's Glory finished sometime this year. Looks like that didn't happen... There aren't many chapters of it left, though, so except it to draw to a close sometime soon, and for a new multi-chaptered story to begin, most likely the story of Pterodactus Prime.

I'm also pondering going back and removing some of the more ranty journals, specifically the ones I posted during the moving-out fiasco back in April. Should I bother? I doubt anyone actually goes back and reads the journal archives, but still...

Meme time!

Tagged by

1. Post these rules
2. Each tagged person must post 10 things about themselves on their journal
3. At the end, you have to choose and tag 10 people and post their icons on the same journal
4. Go to their pages and send them a message saying that you tagged them
5. No tag-backs

Done lots of these kind of memes before, so if I repeat things I'm sorry ahead of time...

1. One of my favorite book series is The Dragonriders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey. At one point I even wrote a Pern/Star Wars crossover... but sadly I couldn't post it anywhere because McCaffrey banned fan fiction based on her works. Now that the ban is no longer in place, perhaps I'll try my hand at it again...

2. My earliest "fandom" was the Super Mario Brothers. I even wrote "fanfic" (basically comic books that were all pictures and no dialogue) where Luigi was the hero and I was a girl who'd been transformed into a Koopa Troopa, and I teamed up with Luigi to defeat Bowser and save the Mushroom Kingdom. My only defense for this horrible case of self-insert Mary-Sue-ism is that I was five or six at the time.

3. When I first became involved in the TF fandom, I somehow was under the impression that Optimus Prime was Hot Rod's father. I've since discarded that theory.

4. I once set my own hair on fire. Really.

5. I would love to own one of the following pets someday: a snake, a parrot, a Scottie dog, a bearded dragon, an iguana, a Siamese cat.

6. Thunderstorms freak me out. I cannot stand being outside during a thunderstorm. Knowing the odds of actually getting hit by lightning are pretty slim for the average person doesn't help matters.

7. I have hyper-sensitive hearing, and often am annoyed by sounds that other people don't even notice. Flourescent lights humming are distracting, for example. And I occasionally inadvertently overhear co... ]]> *kenyastarflight http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/28403244/ http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/28403244/ Mon, 16 Nov 2009 20:04:59 PST Create a TF Cartoon Challenge!
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I'm not dumb, I just have a command of thoroughly useless information. -- Calvin, The Days Are Just Packed

Okay, tested the journal skins for a few minutes there, and decided that, while they look pretty, they're really not necessary. Plus it's hard to read some of the text, especially the links I like to have at the top of my journal. (What, didn't know there were links there? )

Sorry it's been so long since I posted anything. I promise I have something almost ready to post! Then I'll finally get to work on that Christmas story I've promised people for years now, then I'll work on the next chapter of Thundercracker's Glory. Hope not to disappoint on any of those counts.

I would also like to finish up the G1 episode reviews in the near future, and maybe post more photocomics. Those might have to wait until after the holidays, however.

And I know I really need to get something original written and sent in for publication soon. This fanfic is just so addicting, though.

Gah, it's so hard for me to get motivated right now. About the only thing I'm excited about doing is making Christmas presents. Yes, I'm in the Christmas mood already here. No, it's not too early.

Feature -- Spirited Away



]]> *kenyastarflight http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/28342006/ http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/28342006/ Fri, 13 Nov 2009 21:06:25 PST Create a TF Cartoon Challenge!
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I'm not dumb, I just have a command of thoroughly useless information. -- Calvin, The Days Are Just Packed

Okay, I honestly need to quit reading stuff that I KNOW will give me nightmares. Or at the very least freak me out enough to make me lose sleep...

I admit it. I'm a wimp. I know I'll probably never be able to watch certain movies -- horror, slasher, zombie, violent shoot-em-ups... heck, I'm not sure I can handle the Alien movies. It's so bad that just reading a plot synopsis of some movies can freak me out, especially if said synopsis includes screencaps.

So why do I go and look up movies that I know are going to scare me somehow? Train-wreck syndrome? Am I just a masochist in that way?

This time around it wasn't horror movies per se -- it was nuclear-war movies, specifically The Day After, Threads, and When the Wind Blows. And the synopsis of that last one was even thoughtful (or cruel) enough to provide a link to the scans of the comic book it was based off of. And I know, the Cold War is over and Russia and the US are no longer threatening each other with nuclear strikes, but still, it's a subject that's bound to make anyone jittery, right?

So yeah, last night I was up half the night because of a nightmare about a bomb going off near our house. I feel ashamed to admit it, but there you go.

What's funny is that I can read horror fiction just fine most of the time -- Stephen King gets a little intense and squicky in parts, but he hasn't given me nightmares yet. I guess it's because with a book, you control what you "see" to some extent, but with a movie synopsis, you know it's visual and so you're trying to picture it in your head... and sometimes your imagination comes up with something far more awful than what's actually on the screen.

So there's my embarassing confession for the week, I guess. *slinks off to hide*

Journal Feature -- Darth Vader



]]> *kenyastarflight http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/28302990/ http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/28302990/ Wed, 11 Nov 2009 20:42:38 PST Create a TF Cartoon Challenge!
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I'm not dumb, I just have a command of thoroughly useless information. -- Calvin, The Days Are Just Packed

I don't follow too many webcomics (Insecticomics and Darths and Droids is about all anymore -- Casey and Andy is no longer being updated and I've fallen behind on Comics In Disguise), but I do enjoy finding and reading new comics, especially if I like the premise and the art is enjoyable. And they're often funnier and more entertaining than newspaper comic strips, which I find have fallen in quality ever since Gary Larson and Bill Watterson retired. (Alas, Far Side and Calvin and Hobbes, we knew you...)

Thanks to the TV Tropes website, I've found an adorable and clever webcomic called Housepets. Yes, I stayed up half the night last night to read the archives, I'm a dork like that...

For anyone who likes their webcomics with a healthy dose of cute, here's a link to the first strip -- [link]

I've been copying Christmas music to my computer's hard drive over the past few days, so now I have Christmas songs stuck in my head. It might be a bit early to get into the holiday season, but hey, I'm having fun.

I've asked this before, but I'm going to ask this again because I keep forgetting about it. Can anyone out there help me learn how to make an AMV? And please don't just point me at Windows Movie Maker and tell me "There's your program, go nuts." I'm pretty thick when it comes to these things and prefer a specific "Click here, stupid" to a vague answer. Is there a website that will show you how to make an AMV, step by step?

Journal Feature -- Darth Vader



]]> *kenyastarflight http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/28255421/ http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/28255421/ Mon, 09 Nov 2009 20:08:45 PST Create a TF Cartoon Challenge!
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I'm not dumb, I just have a command of thorougly useless information. -- Calvin, The Days Are Just Packed

You might be a Transformers fanatic if you have one or more robots in your purse, bag, or pocket at any given time.

Yes, I frequently carry one or more of my TFs in my bag or pocket when I go places -- the store, work, a friend or family member's house, even church. (Note that the TF doesn't usually come OUT of the bag when I go places...) I think just about every TF of mine has traveled with me in this way, from the Robot Heroes to the Masterpieces. And it leads to a lot of odd misadventures... and a lot of laughs.

On one occasion I took Henkei Cyclonus to Wal-Mart for a grocery run, and for the heck of it I took him out of my bag and let him ride in the cart while I shopped and checked the toy aisle to see if anything good had come out lately. (Don't remember if I picked up anyone new that run.) I finished my shopping, paid for my food, put Cyc in my bag, headed for the door... and got stopped by an employee who thought I'd removed Cyc from a package and was trying to steal him. I had to go back to the toy aisle with the guy and prove to him that I'd brought Cyc with me and Wal-Mart didn't even carry Universe Cyc at that time, much less Henkei Cyc.

Another time, at my brother's band concert, Mom suggested we all pool our change and see if we had enough money to go out for ice cream afterward. I dug around in my purse and came up with a handful of coins... and a bit of green plastic. I spent a few minutes staring at the plastic piece trying to figure out where it came from. "I know this belongs to somebody... oh wait, it's part of Thunderclash." Mom just laughed.

Then this past weekend the entire family went to Costco to pick up a few things and to check out the Bumblebee helmet and arm blaster set (which I would totally get if I thought I had fifty extra bucks to blow). At the checkout I reached into my bag to grab my checkbook... and pulled out Motormaster. Mom laughed while I set him aside and reached back in to grab... Breakdown. I'd taken the Stunticons to work the previous day to show a co-worker and forgotten they were still in my bag. The cashier was all "How many of those have you GOT in there?"

I used to set whatever TF I was carrying on the dashboard of my car while I was driving, but I've quit doing that after one too many times of turning a corner and having the poor TF go flying across the car. Not all TFs have flight capabilities...

And yes, I've gotten the occasional remark from someone as to WHY I carry a toy robot in my bag. I've even had a few people freak and ask why whatever figure I'm carrying isn't still in its box. Hey, I'm the type of collector who likes to actually play with my toys. Nothing wrong with that, is there?

Still banging my head on writing here. If I can get this sequel to "Breaking the Rules" written within a reasonable amount of time, I MIGHT have time to g... ]]> *kenyastarflight http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/28170523/ http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/28170523/ Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:10:27 PST Create a TF Cartoon Challenge!
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I don't need to compromise my principles because they don't have the slightest bearing on what happens to me anyway. -- Calvin, Calvin and Hobbes

I'm in a grumpy mood tonight -- won't go into details -- so tonight feels like the perfect night to get something off my chest here.

ATTENTION WATCHERS -- I DO NOT TAKE REQUESTS.

I mean it. Unless I specifically make a journal opening up specific requests, I won't take them. I have enough projects lined up as it is, and don't write stories on demand very well. If you have an idea for an epic crossover or character-themed story, try writing it yourself or plugging the idea to another writer. (Besides, chances are I'm not familiar with whatever you want to cross over with TFs, or I just don't care...)

Also, I do NOT take suggestions. Unless I'm specifically asking for help with a story, any suggestions on what to do next with a certain story will be taken into consideration but not necessarily implemented. I have most of my stories fully planned out already, so odds are whatever is being suggested won't fit into the storyline.

I'm glad that people like my writing enough to see more of it, but at this point I want to write what I want to write. And while requests are nice, they're something that can grow out of control in a hurry if an artist or writer isn't careful.

And about messages... I don't hide messages on my stuff very often, but when I do rest assured it's for a good reason. I'll hide a message on a journal, picture, or story if:

1. It contains excessive profanity (the "F" word being the biggest offender) and/or graphic or otherwise offensive comments.

2. It's an obvious flame -- I'm fine with honest criticism, but if someone's obviously being a jerk or a troll I'm not going to put up with it.

3. Two or more of the same comment get posted somehow. I'll leave one copy of the comment up and hide the other, just so people don't have to read the same thing twice.

Now that I'm done with my rant for the night, I'm going to go lay down and read some Calvin and Hobbes. That always seems to brighten my mood somewhat.

Journal Feature -- Darth Vader



]]> *kenyastarflight http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/28124186/ http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/28124186/ Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:16:15 PST Create a TF Cartoon Challenge!
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I don't need to compromise my principles because they don't have the slightest bearing on what happens to me anyway. -- Calvin, Calvin and Hobbes

Okay, I admit, going to eBay "just to look around" probably wasn't the smartest idea. But I did it, and there's no turning back, is there?

To my credit, I guess, I didn't bid on anything. But I came REALLY close.

There are still a few items I wouldn't mind adding to my collection, and I wanted to see if any of them were available on eBay. And yes, two of them were -- Actionmaster Thundercracker and a set of three of the KISS Players cassettes. Yes, KISS Players cassettes. I can't stand the concept of KISS, but the cassettes are cute, and I can always rename them if I get my hands on them, right?

The problem? Everything costs money. Thundercracker is $65 and the cassettes are $50 for the three (and a CD). Luckily the bidding won't go up, seeing as these are only available as "Buy It Now" items. But still, that's a chunk of money and doesn't include the shipping costs, especially since TC has to come from Europe.

Part of the problem is that I need to be saving for next year's BotCon, and purchases now can cause problems later in that department. But another part of the problem is that Mom and Stepdad aren't working at the moment, and the financial situation isn't going to be improving anytime soon from the look of things. And while I do suppose my money is my own to spend how I want, I still feel incredibly guilty buying stuff for myself when Mom isn't even sure if she can pay the bills this month.

Ah well. I guess I can just make a list out and hope I can find these figures again once someone gets a job here. I won't feel so bad about splurging on a figure or a T-shirt or something once another adult in this house is gainfully employed. For now... I'll just play around with the figures I already have and try to be patient.

Speaking of figures, that lock on my door will come in handy once we get it installed -- the cat seems to think my shelves are his jungle gym and the figures are currently a mess at the moment. Must straighten the shelves here...

Journal Feature -- Darth Vader



]]> *kenyastarflight http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/28061713/ http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/28061713/ Sat, 31 Oct 2009 09:01:12 PDT Create a TF Cartoon Challenge!
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I don't need to compromise my principles because they don't have the slightest bearing on what happens to me anyway. -- Calvin, Calvin and Hobbes

Happy Halloween, y'all.

Really don't have a lot planned for Halloween this year. My brother and I went to our church's Halloween party last night, but it was pretty dull -- we mostly ate, then stood around and talked while the kids chased each other around. Costumes were optional, but I went ahead and threw something together at the last minute anyhow. I wore my BotCon T-shirt, Autobot hat, Decepticon earrings, and BotCon lanyard (with Henkei TC hanging from it) and went as a nerd. Would have gone as Soundwave, but with the helmet pretty much destroyed that wasn't an option.

Stepdad's surgery went very well, and he's home from the hospital already. The doctor's ordered him to "be lazy" for at least two weeks, so it looks like we're all going to be waiting on him for the next little while. *sigh* Ah well, hopefully he makes a quick recovery.

Oh, and my sister and her brood are planning on coming down for Thanksgiving here. Hoo boy... this is going to be a madhouse.

Don't get me wrong, I love my sister. She's just... loud. And she feels she always has to be the center of attention wherever she is. And her kids are into EVERYTHING. Mom's talking about getting a lock for my bedroom door so they don't break into my room and steal my TFs -- we tried just putting a baby gate up last time, but my nephew figured out how to take it down and proceeded to abduct Henkei TC. (TC escaped unscathed, thankfully.) At least my sister understands that the TFs are a collection and isn't of the "They're toys, let the kids play with them!" mentality.

On a related note... I'm going to be an aunt again. Sister's pregnant again. Hope she can handle three kids...

Any of you got plans for Halloween? Plan on dressing up? Got pictures of the costume?

Journal Feature -- Emotes and Smilies



]]> *kenyastarflight http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/28001367/ http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/28001367/ Tue, 27 Oct 2009 19:01:51 PDT Create a TF Cartoon Challenge!
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I don't need to compromise my principles because they don't have the slightest bearing on what happens to me anyway. -- Calvin, Calvin and Hobbes

It snowed today. It freaking snowed, when normally we don't get the first snow of the season until mid-to-late December anymore. It shouldn't be snowing in October! And it's been windy and cloudy and generally miserable the past few days as well. Brrr... Kenya does not like the cold...

Other shelver has been sick the past few days, so I've been taking over his job as well as doing mine. I'd hoped to use my spare time at work to get shelves organized, but looks like that's going to have to wait until he gets better. *sigh* Ah well.

Watched Thunderball last night. There's just something amusing about watching James Bond fistfight a guy in drag. Also, what's up with Bond villians having a fascination with sharks or cats? If they made some kind of shark-cat mutant mashup, I'm sure the Bond villians would all want one.

We haven't had our washing machine for two weeks and already it's busted. This time we know what caused it, too. One of the hoses sprung a leak, and instead of calling a repairman my stepdad decided to take the thing apart and see if he could find and fix it. Suffice it to say that the washing machine is now in pieces upstairs, and Mom and Stepdad are fighting again. *sigh* And they wonder why I'm cynical about getting married...

Pondering what to do for people for Christmas this year. No, it's not too early to start thinking about this stuff. I have a lot of people to plan for this year -- not only family, both local and faraway family members, but my friends who are scattered all over the country and, in some cases, the globe. Must ponder this... I have an idea, but the question is if it'll ship well at all...

And yes, I'm pondering next year's BotCon already. Hoping to go with , and hoping to save up enough money for the trip and ticket. I know I'm going for the Primus package (totally worth it), but I'm not sure how to cut back on other expenses yet. We'll see closer to time, I guess. (*cough* Have it in Idaho or Virginia next year *cough*)

Also, StarWarsGuru and I are planning our costumes for next year. And it looks like I'm going to be Cyclonus. I'm not sure how good of a Cyc I'll make -- he's a rather skinny TF and I'm... not skinny -- but I never know unless I try, right?

Better go get something written here. Just thought I'd give an update.

Journal Feature -- Emotes and Smilies



http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/27931918/ Fri, 23 Oct 2009 22:13:23 PDT Create a TF Cartoon Challenge!
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I don't need to compromise my principles because they don't have the slightest bearing on what happens to me anyway. -- Calvin, Calvin and Hobbes

Watched Nightmare Before Christmas with my family tonight. Dang, that movie is a lot more twisted than I remember it being, but it's still clever and fun. Mom's reaction? "It was... odd. No wonder I never had an urge to see it." Ah well, she sometimes shows me movies I'm not fond of, so it evens out...

Expect another round of "Ten Songs, Ten Stories" soon. Maybe this'll knock me out of my writing slump...

I have an idea for a fanfic -- I know, that's not news, but this one's a bit different in that I've been toying with it for nearly eight years now. I've NEVER sat on a fanfic idea for that long -- I either write them or ditch them long before that in most cases. But this idea, while it seems rather odd and I doubt can be written reasonably well, is just too intriguing to me to let go entirely.

I've decided to share this idea, in the event that I never get around to writing it. This does NOT mean I'm giving ANYONE permission to run off with the idea and write it themselves. It just means I'm sharing a possible idea with people, and am open to feedback on whether it's a workable idea or not.

The basic premise is that every fictional world ever created exists in a seperate universe from ours. Star Trek, Star Wars, Harry Potter, Pirates of the Caribbean, Final Fantasy, Transformers... you name it, it exists in an alternate reality of some kind. Scientists have figured out how to breach the barriers seperating us from these realities, and how to let individuals from our world access these realities. Inter-reality travel isn't commonplace, but by this time it's regarded almost like the space program is today -- it's still considered "out there," but the "awesome" factor has kind of rubbed off for a lot of people.

And like any technology, someone gets the bright idea to turn inter-dimensional travel into a money-making business.

The premise of this business (it was originally called Mary Sue Inc. as a joke, but I think a name change is in order...) is that someone can pay a fee to create a fictional persona for themselves, an avatar of sorts. The avatar can be human, alien, robot, anthro, or whatever the customer desires. They can then assume the form of this avatar and use it to venture into an alternate reality and have an adventure there. The customer can also pay an annual fee to keep their avatar and keep coming back to visit other worlds and develop their character.

Of course, some people who participate in this see it as OMG SERIOUS BIZNESS, but for the most part the customers see this as a highly advanced RPG of sorts. They compare adventures, swap weapons and tips, and in general have fun. No one, however, seems to take into account that they're dealing with REAL universes here and not just a "virtual reality" scenario.

I can imagine all sorts of fun scenarios arising from this concept -- the inhabitants of these alternate realities get tired of the interference and decide to fight back, someone uncovers the conspiracy and the people in charge try to shut them up, someone discovers that breaching the barriers between worlds threatens to bring said barriers down... So far no idea has completely solidified, though.

What do people think? Try to make it work? Toss it? Si... ]]> *kenyastarflight http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/27898099/ http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/27898099/ Wed, 21 Oct 2009 22:23:01 PDT Create a TF Cartoon Challenge!
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I don't need to compromise my principles because they don't have the slightest bearing on what happens to me anyway. -- Calvin, Calvin and Hobbes

I'm gonna whine here, people, so bear with me...

MY FEET FRIGGIN' HURT.

There, whining over...

Yeah, so we've officially run out of room for books in the fiction section of the library -- and seeing as we're constantly getting new books in, that's a pretty big problem. So since there's some extra room in the non-fiction section, I've been shifting and condensing books for the past three days in an effort to free up some space. I've easily moved several thousand books this week, and still have a ways to go.

Then when I got home today, I ended up helping move a couple of washing machines. Ours died a couple weeks ago, but my step-grandparents got a new one and let us have their old one. Those things are HEAVY, especially when someone forgets to drain the water out of them.

So yeah, kinda tired and hurting tonight... but ah well. I'll live.

Meme time, since I can't think of anything else to report.

RULES:
1. Put your music player on shuffle.
2. Press forward for each question.
3. Use the song title as the answer to the question even if it doesn’t make sense. NO CHEATING!
4. Tag 5 people.
5. With the answers, give your own comments on how it relates to the questions.

HOW ARE YOU FEELING TODAY?
"I Wont' Say (I'm In Love)" from Hercules
(I won't say I'm in love because I'm not, heh...)

WILL YOU GET FAR IN LIFE?
"Deciphering the Signal" from Transformers (live-action)
(Okaaaaay... that doesn't make a lot of sense... there's a secret signal I have to decipher to get far in life?)

HOW DO YOUR FRIENDS SEE YOU?
"Life In a Northern Town" by Dream Academy
(Well, I live in a northwestern town, does that count?)

WILL YOU GET MARRIED?
"Gimmie, Gimmie, Gimmie" from Mamma Mia
(...I'm not that desperate to get married...)

WHAT IS YOUR BEST FRIEND'S THEME SONG?
"The System Is Down" by Strong Bad
(It makes no sense, but then, most of my friends are crazy people... in a GOOD way)

WHAT IS THE STORY OF YOUR LIFE?
"Jerusalem" by Don McLean
(Seeing as I've never been there and don't plan on going...)

WHAT WAS HIGH SCHOOL LIKE?
"Piano Man" by Billy Joel
(I was involved in music all through high school -- choir and such)

HOW CAN YOU GET AHEAD IN LIFE?
"Decepticons" from Transformers (live-action)
(Decepticons will get me ahead in life? I thought they didn't care about humans)

WHAT IS THE BEST THING ABOUT YOUR FRIENDS?
"Livin' La Vida Loca" by Eddie Murphy and Antonio Banderas (from Shrek)
(Wow, dead on )

WHAT IS IN STORE FOR THIS WEEKEND?
"My Heart Will Go On" by Celine Dion
(Note to self, avoid boats this weekend...)

THE BEST THING TO DESCRIBE YOUR GRANDPARENTS?
"Autobots" from Transformers (live-action)
(My grandparents are/were Autobots? That would be epic...)

HOW IS YOUR LIFE GOING?
"Two Worlds" by Phil... ]]> *kenyastarflight http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/27848757/ http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/27848757/ Mon, 19 Oct 2009 06:35:20 PDT Create a TF Cartoon Challenge!
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I don't need to compromise my principles because they don't have the slightest bearing on what happens to me anyway. -- Calvin, Calvin and Hobbes

Argh...

Yeah, writing has ground to a complete standstill. I just... cannot manage to get anything written down. The ideas are there, it's just that when I sit down to write, I can't get my thoughts onto paper (or word processor, or what have you...). I desperately want to write, but I can't get inspired.

And yeah, you might have noticed that I've quit doing photocomics. Not sure if that's another case of a creativity slump or if I just don't have a desire to inflict my crappy photography and MS Paint skills on the world anymore.

I might try the "Ten Songs, Ten Stories" meme again to try and get the writing juices flowing again. If that doesn't help... does anyone have any suggestions for breaking a writer's block?

Also, life at home is still stressful. It's been ten months now since anyone at this house besides me has had a job, and now that my stepdad is going to be having surgery in a couple of weeks, it looks like he'll be jobless even longer. I am NOT looking forward to the holidays this year, which are stressful enough anyhow...

*sigh* When did I get so cynical anyhow?

Journal Feature -- Emotes and Smilies



]]> *kenyastarflight http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/27770258/ http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/27770258/ Wed, 14 Oct 2009 19:51:03 PDT Create a TF Cartoon Challenge!
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I don't need to compromise my principles because they don't have the slightest bearing on what happens to me anyway. -- Calvin, Calvin and Hobbes

So Monday I didn't have to go to work due to Columbus Day... but my brother still had to go to school. Columbus Day is the one day out of the year where the library is closed but kids still have school -- and needless to say, my brother was pretty jealous.

And no, I didn't get anything constructive done Monday aside from some housework. I had the house all to myself -- Brother was at school and Mom and Stepdad took a "mini-vacation" to be by themselves for a bit. And I took the fullest advantage of it. It was fun.

Then I got back to work on Tuesday and the outdoor book and video drop were crammed full. On a normal day we might have between 20 and 100 books in the book drop. Tuesday I counted over 500 books coming in. And of course, everyone who wanted to come in Monday and couldn't came in Tuesday to return their books. By the time I left for the day over 1500 books, movies, and CDs had been returned, checked in, their stickers removed, and put back on the shelf.

And then Stepdad wondered why I looked like I'd been run over by a truck when I got home...

Working on the sequel to Breaking the Rules right now. No guarantee on when it'll be done -- it's shaping up to be a LONG one. Please be patient...

Yes, doing another meme. Because I feel like it. This one's stolen from

Basically you go through this list of movies and check off the ones you've seen. Supposedly if you've seen 85 or more of them, you have no life. Well, I don't have a life, but I am fairly picky about what movies I watch. If I've seen a movie, I'll give some brief thoughts on it as well, for the heck of it.

( ) Rocky Horror Picture Show
(x) Grease -- Loved it as a teenager, not so fond of it now
(x) Pirates of the Caribbean -- Okay, but don't see what all the hype is about
( ) Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest
( ) Boondock Saints
( ) Fight Club
( ) Starsky and Hutch
(x) Neverending Story -- Oh man, what a nostalgic movie... and I LOVE the theme song!
(x) Blazing Saddles -- Friggin' hilarious
( ) Airplane

Total so far: 4

(x) The Princess Bride -- "Inconceivable!"
( ) AnchorMan
(x) Napoleon Dynamite -- BORING... and like POTC, don't see what the fuss is about...
( ) Labyrinth
( ) Saw
( )Saw II
( ) White Noise
( ) White Oleander
(x) Anger Management -- Rather stupid movie...
( ) 50 First Dates
( ) Failure to Launch
(x) The Princess Diaries -- *kenyastarflight http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/27712055/ http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/27712055/ Sun, 11 Oct 2009 17:32:06 PDT Create a TF Cartoon Challenge!
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I don't need to compromise my principles because they don't have the slightest bearing on what happens to me anyway. -- Calvin, Calvin and Hobbes

Okay, I admit, I've got a bit of an ego. And like most artists and writers, I like having my ego stroked every once in awhile. Which is why I like receiving comments on my work, and don't really mind it when people do fanart of my stories. Heck, I put my name through the Search function every so often to see what comes up.

So when I visited the Comics In Disguise forums this morning to see what was up, I was floored to find someone had done an "audio-book" version of one of my stories. They basically posted a series of YouTube videos where they read the story aloud. Very cool, in my opinion.

So without further ado... I present the audio version of Beware the Fangirls!

Part I
Part II
Part III
Part IV

Thanks, !

Journal Feature -- Emotes and Smilies



]]> *kenyastarflight http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/27651186/ http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/27651186/ Thu, 08 Oct 2009 13:54:38 PDT Create a TF Cartoon Challenge!
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I don't need to compromise my principles because they don't have the slightest bearing on what happens to me anyway. -- Calvin, Calvin and Hobbes

So for the past couple of days I've been working split shifts at work -- working mornings and evenings but spending afternoons at home. Thankfully it's only temporary, since it kind of screws up my daily schedule. Though it has meant that I get a chance to see the somewhat weird crowd the library draws in the evening...

Finally finished with all the battle requests. Sorry it took so long! It's probably going to be awhile before I open up requests again -- want to catch up on my writing first.

Also, people have probably noticed by now that I've quit doing Kiribans. To put it simply, I don't care about pageviews so much anymore. Sure, it's nice to be noticed, but after awhile you come to realize that pageviews are pretty meaningless. I'd rather receive a nice thoughtful comment than see my pageview counter hit 100K or whatever.

Halloween's coming up... and yes, I'm looking forward to having an excuse to dress up in a costume and parade around in public. I was planning on wearing my Fandemonium costume again, but unfortunately Soundwave had an accident and ended up with a crushed helmet. So I have a couple of choices -- I can try to make a new helmet, or I can go as something else. At the moment I'm leaning toward the second option, since I don't have enough material to make a new helmet...

The library is encouraging its workers to dress as literary characters for Halloween, so maybe I'll go that route. Does anyone have any ideas? I'm open to suggestions. (Doesn't necessarily mean I'll take them, however...)

Not much else to report... so episode review! Only a few more of these to go...

Today's episode -- Grimlock's New Brain.

Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to have Grimlock be in charge of throwing the switch for the new power generator...

All the Dinobots are present except Swoop... where'd he go?

Sleezardo! Didn't expect to see THAT guy after "The Gambler..." But where's Devcon?

Cosmos! This is an episode for seeing old faces...

I think I liked Grimlock better when he was a rough, semi-rebellious fighter than his current state as the dumb sidekick. *sigh*

Aw, Grimlock... *shakes head*

Rodimus inherited Vanishing Trailer Syndrome from Optimus... must be a Prime thing.

There's one way to turn off the generator, I suppose...

I know I complained about Grimlock being dumbed down in S3, but it's pretty weird suddenly hearing him talk like a regular Autobot too.

Swoop's still MIA here... did his voice actor quit or something?

Looking inside Unicron's brain? Is Sleezardo telling the truth, or is he just trying to get Galvatron killed? Either's possible, I guess.

...I don't recognize those three Decepticons behind Galvatron here...

New beast-mode Decepticons! Terrorcons, perhaps?

I'm tempted to feel sorry for Grimlock, since the oth... ]]> *kenyastarflight http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/27610209/ http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/27610209/ Tue, 06 Oct 2009 06:38:56 PDT Create a TF Cartoon Challenge!
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I don't need to compromise my principles because they don't have the slightest bearing on what happens to me anyway. -- Calvin, Calvin and Hobbes

I need to get the downer journal off my page here, and I've felt like doing this for awhile, so... it's the "Ask Me Anything" meme.

Go ahead, ask a question, any question. I won't answer VERY personal questions, but most anything else is fair game. Though you might want to hit the FAQ (see link list above) to make sure you don't repeat a question...

Journal Feature -- Emotes and Smilies



]]> *kenyastarflight http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/27554780/ http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/27554780/ Sat, 03 Oct 2009 09:14:03 PDT Create a TF Cartoon Challenge!
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I don't need to compromise my principles because they don't have the slightest bearing on what happens to me anyway. -- Calvin, Calvin and Hobbes

Just got a call from the vet this morning. Mona's not getting any better. Her kidneys have failed by this point, and he says at this point it will probably be kinder to just put her to sleep.

...I'm torn here. I want to see her again, but at the same time, I'm not sure I want to go in and watch them put her down. What do I do?

UPDATE: Mona passed away this afternoon, around 1 PM. We all went to say goodbye and hold her one more time. I'm now glad I did so.

Thank you all for your prayers and support. It means a lot to me.

Journal Feature --

I know, I said I wasn't featuring individual artists anymore. But I HAD to share this girl's miniature sculpting work. It's phenomenal! And looks absolutely delicious too...



]]> *kenyastarflight http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/27534118/ http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/27534118/ Fri, 02 Oct 2009 06:12:09 PDT Create a TF Cartoon Challenge!
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I don't need to compromise my principles because they don't have the slightest bearing on what happens to me anyway. -- Calvin, Calvin and Hobbes

Please ignore the "Joy" mood icon at the moment... DA is still being a pain in the butt...

Our girl dog, Mona, is very sick at the moment. Two evenings ago we noticed she was shaking and moving around slowly, which wouldn't be unusual for an older dog... except that Mona's only a couple years old. So yesterday Mom ran her to the vet.

The vet says he suspects what's wrong is her kidneys. They seem to be smaller than they should be for a dog of her size, and are probably deformed as well. So toxins have been building up in her body for a long time now and only now has it given her problems. I guess we shouldn't be surprisd, since our dogs have such a mixed-up family tree (we think their father is also their nephew) that we should have expected some genetic defects. But she'd been perfectly fine (if not that bright) for a long time, and this suddenly coming up is a little shocking.

Our boy dog, Chi Chi, has never been seperated from his sister before, and he keeps wandering the house looking lost and jumping into people's laps to be cuddled. Poor guy... this is hard on him too.

We'll find out today if the vet was able to get Mona's kidneys working again. I hope she's all right -- it's always hard losing a pet. Even if they're just animals, they're still part of our family.

Pictures this weekend, maybe...

Journal Feature --

I know, I said I wasn't featuring individual artists anymore. But I HAD to share this girl's miniature sculpting work. It's phenomenal! And looks absolutely delicious too...



]]> *kenyastarflight http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/27504143/ http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/27504143/ Wed, 30 Sep 2009 13:34:39 PDT Create a TF Cartoon Challenge!
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I don't need to compromise my principles because they don't have the slightest bearing on what happens to me anyway. -- Calvin, Calvin and Hobbes

...Dangit, are moods stuck again? Or is it just my work computer acting up?

I PROMISE I will try to get the last of the battle requests online by the end of this weekend! Sorry it's taken so long!

So yesterday I was busy shelving and I realized I was starting to feel dizzy and sick to my stomach. Yup, the flubug the family has been passing around for the past couple of weeks finally hit me. My boss sent me home, where I slept for a few hours and generally took it easy. Feeling better today, though still not 100 percent, but I made myself go to work anyhow. I hate missing work, even if there are days I wouldn't mind skipping...

Not much else to report, so meme time! Stolen from

Rule #1: If you open this you take it.
Rule #2: You are NOT ALLOWED to explain ANYTHING unless someone messages you and asks.
Rule #3: Be completely honest.

Answer: True or False

Q: Kissed someone on your friends list? -- False
Q: Been arrested? -- False
Q: Do you like someone? -- True
Q: Held a snake? -- True
Q: Been suspended from school? -- False
Q: Sang karaoke? -- True
Q: Done something you told yourself you wouldn't do? -- True
Q: Laughed until you started crying? -- True
Q: Caught a snowflake on your tongue? -- True
Q: Kissed in the rain? -- False
Q: Sang in the shower? -- True
Q: Sat on a roof top? -- True
Q: Been pushed into a pool with all your clothes on? -- False
Q: Broken a bone? -- True
Q: Shaved your head? -- False
Q: Played a prank on someone? -- True
Q: Shot a gun? -- True
Q: Donated Blood? -- True

Last Person
1. You hung out with? -- Co-worker
2. You texted? -- StarWarsGuru
3. You were in a car with? -- Mom and Stepdad
4. Went to the movies with? -- Mom, Stepdad, and brother
5. Person you went to shop with? -- Brother
6. You talked on the phone? -- Zack
7. Made you laugh? -- Mom
8. You hugged? -- Mom

Answer Truthfully
1. Sun or moon? -- Moon
2. Winter or Fall? -- Winter
3. Left or Right? -- Right
4. Sunny or rainy? -- Rainy
5. Where do you live? -- Idaho
6. Club or pub? -- Neither
7. Are there 1 or 2 people who you can always trust and rely on? -- Yes
8. Do you want to get married? -- Eventually, if I find the right guy
9. Do you twirl your spaghetti or cut it? -- Twirl it
11. Are you afraid of commitment? -- Kinda...
12. What is your greatest hope/wish? -- Publish a book
13. Do you cook? -- Yes
14. Current mood? -- Content
15. Color of underwear? -- Not telling...

In the Last 48 Hours, Have You
1. Sang? -- Yes
2. Listened to music? -- Constantly
3. Danced Crazy? -- Yes
4. Cried? -- No
5. Liked someone you can't have? -- No

24 Firsts
1. Who was your first prom date? -- Some kid who I never spoke to again after the fact...
2. Who was your first roommate? -- Technically, my sister... *kenyastarflight http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/27476881/ http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/27476881/ Mon, 28 Sep 2009 20:47:31 PDT Create a TF Cartoon Challenge!
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I don't need to compromise my principles because they don't have the slightest bearing on what happens to me anyway. -- Calvin, Calvin and Hobbes

Whee, I'm an aunt again!

Yesterday at around 1:30, my brother and sister-in-law had their first baby - a little girl, 9 pounds and 5 ounces. (BIG baby...) We were all a little worried about the delivery, since she was two weeks overdue and the doctors ended up having to deliver her by C-section, but she's perfectly fine and healthy.

Too bad my new niece and her parents live in California, or I could go over and start corrupting the child at an early age. The geeks shall inherit the earth!

Alright, just wanted to make that announcement...

Oh, and episode review soon...

Journal Feature --

I know, I said I wasn't featuring individual artists anymore. But I HAD to share this girl's miniature sculpting work. It's phenomenal! And looks absolutely delicious too...



]]> *kenyastarflight http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/27446067/ http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/27446067/ Sun, 27 Sep 2009 10:35:09 PDT Create a TF Cartoon Challenge!
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I don't need to compromise my principles because they don't have the slightest bearing on what happens to me anyway. -- Calvin, Calvin and Hobbes

What a surprisingly beautiful book! The story is whimsical and yet strangely touching, the characters are wholly original and fascinating to get to know, and the author manages to take what could have been an absurd plot and makes it something beautiful, deftly weaving the story of every character together and developing them in the process. I love this book, and I highly recommend it.

I am, of course, talking about The Magician's Elephant by Kate DiCamillo. I've given up on Twilight after throwing it at a wall one too many times...

The Magician's Elephant takes place in the fictional European city of Baltese at the end of the seventeenth century. A young orpahn named Peter visits a fortuneteller, who tells him that his sister is alive and if he wants to find her, he must "follow the elephant." He thinks the fortuneteller is crazy -- until an elephant crashes through the roof of the city's opera house during a magician's performance. The story proceeds to follow both the elephant and all those somehow connected to her -- Peter, the magician who accidentally summoned the elephant, a noblewoman who was injured by the elephant's sudden appearance, a policeman who becomes involved in the matter, a singing beggar, a blind dog, a hunchbacked stoneworker who becomes the elephant's caretaker, and more.

The book is a short read -- it's intended for young adults, and I was able to finish it in a couple of days. But it's still well worth your time.

As for Twilight... I only made it to chapter 6 before becoming so thoroughly bored with it I gave it up for good. It's just a BORING book, like reading someone's diary. And from what I hear, it doesn't get much better as the series progresses. From now in I'll satisfy my curiousity through the Twilight Saga (Push Me Off A) CliffNotes blog -- here for the curious [link] .

I've also given up on the Transformers Trilogy -- it's just not holding my interest. I'll be donating it to the library. Hey, I'm only out four bucks...

What this means, however, is that now I'm without anything to read. Bugger. Guess I go book hunting tomorrow at work... there's got to be SOMETHING worth my time there...

Journal Feature --

I know, I said I wasn't featuring individual artists anymore. But I HAD to share this girl's miniature sculpting work. It's phenomenal! And looks absolutely delicious too...



http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/27393796/ Thu, 24 Sep 2009 14:41:50 PDT Create a TF Cartoon Challenge!
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I don't need to compromise my principles because they don't have the slightest bearing on what happens to me anyway. -- Calvin, Calvin and Hobbes

So I'm up to about Chapter 4 in Twilight. And I haven't died yet, so hopefully that's a sign that this book isn't THAT horrible...

Spoilers ahead!

Actually, the book so far isn't horrible so much as it's just BORING. I feel like I'm reading someone's diary here -- "I woke up, I ate breakfast, I got dressed, I went to school, I made dinner, I checked my e-mail, yadda yadda yadda..." I keep wanting to shout "DO something already!" So far the most exciting thing to happen has been Bella almost getting run over by a van, and even that was a little anticlimatic. She didn't even get a concussion despite whacking her head on the asphalt.

Bella herself infuriates me. I keep having to remind myself that this is written from a teenager's point of view, and that teenagers in general tend to be whiny and self-centered and think the entire universe is out to get her. Bella can't shut up about how she's stuck in "Hell," while personally I find the town of Forks as described in the book as a perfectly nice place. She also complains about how popular she is and how the boys won't leave her alone (um, what teenage girl complains about being popular?) and how ONE boy in the school doesn't seem to like her. Geez, girl, lighten up, life could be much worse.

And Edward? Honestly, he's a jerk. I don't know HOW these two end up hooking up in the series -- he treats her like crap. He calls her stupid and clumsy, he ignores her for days on end, and he constantly tells her "We shouldn't be friends" and "I'm dangerous" but still continues to hang out with her. Okay, so being a vampire gives him a little bit of a right to be creepy, but there are still limits...

I'm pondering taking a break from Twilight to finish reading The Magician's Elephant, which in my mind is a better and more well-written book. I could use a touch of whimsy to counteract the whiny, boring tone of this book...

Hope y'all enjoyed the latest chapter of "The Gathering Storm." Next up is, hopefully, the rest of the battle requests and the sequel to "Breaking The Rules."

Journal Feature --

I know, I said I wasn't featuring individual artists anymore. But I HAD to share this girl's miniature sculpting work. It's phenomenal! And looks absolutely delicious too...



*kenyastarflight http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/27347906/ http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/27347906/ Mon, 21 Sep 2009 21:08:45 PDT Create a TF Cartoon Challenge!
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I don't need to compromise my principles because they don't have the slightest bearing on what happens to me anyway. -- Calvin, Calvin and Hobbes

Well folks, I'm probably going to regret doing this, but... I've decided to read Twilight for myself.

I know, I know, I've complained about the book before and stated I'd never read it. It just doesn't seem like something I'd enjoy reading -- I'm not overly fond of romance, and I dislike vampires. But I figure that before I can really say I hate something, I need to have a look at it for myself. Besides, I'm curious to see if this book is really as bad as some people make it out to be.

Stay tuned for updates/rants, I'll probably need to vent about this book a little as I read.

Still haven't finished my last read, The Magician's Elephant, but I'll probably finish that once I'm through with Twilight. I probably need to get back to reading The Transformers Trilogy too, but that one just isn't holding my attention for some reason. I guess I expected it to be based on the G1 cartoon, but it's turning out to be based on the comic books, seeing as it's referencing events and characters I have no knowledge of. I hate to give up on it, but at the same time, it's getting harder to keep reading.

Kinda sad when a TF book doesn't hold my attention, isn't it?

Nothing much else to report. Sorry there haven't been story updates lately -- next chapter of The Gathering Storm is still being beta-read. Will try to update when I get a chance...

Journal Feature --

I know, I said I wasn't featuring individual artists anymore. But I HAD to share this girl's miniature sculpting work. It's phenomenal! And looks absolutely delicious too...



]]> *kenyastarflight http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/27295854/ http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/27295854/ Sat, 19 Sep 2009 08:43:16 PDT Create a TF Cartoon Challenge!
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I don't need to compromise my principles because they don't have the slightest bearing on what happens to me anyway. -- Calvin, Calvin and Hobbes

Arrr! Happy Talk Like A Pirate Day, me hearties!

I haven't done an episode review in a LONG time here. To be honest, I'm getting tired of them myself. I figure I'll keep doing the reviews until I'm done with G1, then not do the reviews when I watch other series. Sorry for those who are enjoying the reviews, but not to worry, I'll still post my thoughts on whatever show I'm watching.

Looking forward to watching RID here once I'm through with G1. Anyone know where I can find all the episodes? Hopefully in the proper order...

Not much to report here, so review time! Only Human.

There's a way to start an episode off with a bang -- literally!

So the humans now have hover vehicles (in the futuristic year of 2006 no less ) but the Autobots still turn into wheeled vehicles? Kinda defeats the purpose of being a "robot in disguise" there...

Lots of human characters in this one, plus a human villian... are we going to see Galvatron and company this episode? Personally I prefer to see the Autobots fighting Decepticons or Quintessons instead of humans, but that's just me.

Snake sounds like Starscream! And looks a bit like one of the GI Joe characters (can't remember the name) -- is this episode a GI Joe crossover or something?

Don't underestimate someone just because they're human, Springer... remember Lord Chumley...

Is it me, or does the animation look rather off in this episode?

Okay, the fact that the humanized Autobots just HAPPEN to find clothes laying around that are the same colors as their robot forms is hilarious... Even Arcee's hair kinda looks like her robot head...

I KNEW a couple of the Autobots were sneaking inside the estate in the truck... oldest trick in the book...

"Terrific -- I already need a shave."

That's gotta be disconcerting, to see your body running around without you...

There's one way for Springer to get control of his body back...

"What's this?" "It's called breakfast, dummy."

It's always the villian's girlfriend or henchwoman that ends up helping the good guys, it seems...

Poor Arcee... they think she's just a crazy human woman... then again, I doubt I'd believe someone who tried to claim they were a TF in a human body...

Guess I was wrong... the b**** was just setting up a trap!

Smart thinking, Ultra Magnus!

Trust Perceptor to know how to reverse it. I don't understand why people hate him so much...

COBRA! Yup, we got a bit of a crossover here...

Interesting concept, but I'm really no... ]]> *kenyastarflight http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/27261743/ http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/27261743/ Thu, 17 Sep 2009 12:23:14 PDT Create a TF Cartoon Challenge!
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I don't need to compromise my principles because they don't have the slightest bearing on what happens to me anyway. -- Calvin, Calvin and Hobbes

Decided that from now on, I'll be posting these journals on both DeviantArt and on my LiveJournal. Might as well get some use out of my account, right? Plus I have readers on FFN that don't have DA accounts, and they might prefer to read my journals over there instead.

Before I go into today's rant, I just want to say that if you haven't seen Up yet, do so when you get the chance. Saw it in the dollar theater this Tuesday and LOVED it. It's a cute and fun movie, and I haven't been able to look at our dogs in quite the same way since -- I keep half-expecting them to say something (even if it's to just randomly shout "Squirrel!").

[Commence Rant]

Okay, I love writing fanfiction. It's an addictive hobby, and I'm having to force myself to cut back so I can get something original written for publication here. And I do enjoy reading good fanfic as well, though anymore I'm VERY picky about what I read. There are genuinely good authors out there, and I like to think I'm a fairly decent writer myself. I try my hardest when I write a piece, and when I do goof up somehow I try to own up to my mistakes. And sure, going back and re-reading my older works makes me cringe, but every writer and artist is constantly improving and developing their style, right?

Which is why it irks me that so many fanfic writers don't even seem to care. They don't bother to do their research, spell-check or proofread their work, or make an effort to create believable characters or a decent, logical plot. And often (not always, but very often) what they churn out is just bad porn, smut, and squick.

I visit the TV Tropes website frequently, and one page on the site I like to visit is the "So Bad It's Horrible" page (there's also a "So Bad It's Good" page, but I haven't visited it yet), which lists the worst of the worst in comics, movies, literature, anime, cartoons, video games, etc. And the page has a special section devoted to fan fiction... and believe me, just reading the summaries of some of these fanfics is enough to make you want to gouge your eyes out. It's hilarious in a weird way, because some of these fanfics just look SO bad you wonder if they were deliberately written to be as horrible as possible. (And call me vain or paranoid or both, but sometimes I go there just to make sure nobody's posted anything of mine on that page... though I like to think I'm a better writer than that...) So far no Transformers fanfic has made it to the "So Bad It's Horrible" page, but it may only be a matter of time...

Last night, however, I came across a story on the "So Bad It's Horrible" page that didn't make me gag, laugh, or shake my head in disbelief. It made me ANGRY.

See, there was a dark time in my young life when I was a Power Rangers fan. Dang, I feel silly confessing this, but I LOVED the Power Rangers as much as I love Transformers now (except I was in grade school and couldn't afford to buy all the toys). I watched the show religiously, made up my own stories about them, and played with the few action figures of them I did have until they broke. And I loved the giant Zord robots, which I suppose has carried over into my present obsession of Transformers. (Megazord even bears a passing resemblance to Optimus Prime if you squint...)... ]]> *kenyastarflight http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/27189901/ http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/27189901/ Sun, 13 Sep 2009 13:44:37 PDT Create a TF Cartoon Challenge!
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I don't need to compromise my principles because they don't have the slightest bearing on what happens to me anyway. -- Calvin, Calvin and Hobbes

EDIT: I finally gave in and created a LiveJournal account! [link] Shock and horror! Just kidding... I might end up posting my regular rants and ramblings over there and save DA for art and fic and such... we'll see how things go.

Guess I should update this thing, it's been almost a week...

Got Motormaster's tire looked at -- nothing wrong with it, so it must have been an issue with the air pump at the gas station. The guys at the tire shop didn't even charge me for it, which is awesome. Now I need to get Motormaster washed sometime, he's looking awfully grungy... and get his new decals put somewhere...

We got a HUGE crop of tomatoes out of our garden this week, so we spent this weekend making and canning salsa. Still have a lot of tomatoes left over, though, so maybe sometime this week we'll end up doing more canning. We might also can some applesauce, if our apple trees produce anything this year -- we have a couple of apple trees on our property, but it's always a crapshoot if they're actually going to give us any fruit.

Yes, our family does a lot of canning. And right now with only one adult in the house working (Mom and Stepdad still haven't found jobs), having the gardens saves us a lot of money.

Hope to get SOMETHING posted here soon, whether it's the next chapter of Gathering Storm or these battle request pictures...

Meme time! Stolen from -- she's not on DA anymore, but I swiped it off her LiveJournal.

Write out the names of your characters and explain:

1.) How you thought of their name.
2.) What made you create the character in the first place.
3.) How the character has changed over time (If they have changed).
4.) Any random fun fact about that character.

Glory

1. Her original name was Delta, but for some reason I decided to change it. I'd been toying with the name Gloria for a human OC (non Transformer-related) for awhile, so I decided to alter that name and give it to my sparkling. It's not a very TF-ish name, but in my defense names like Bumblebee and Hound are a little weird for robots anyhow...

2. When I was first becoming interested in TFs, I started researching them and decided I wanted to know how TFs created new TFs. The show's answer -- they build them and get personalities from Vector Sigma -- made sense but seemed rather impersonal, so I started looking for an alternative that made sense. After scaring the bejeebers out of myself with "robot pregnancy" fics (eww) I finally decided that two TFs could still build a "child" and use Vector Sigma to give it a spark, but that Vector Sigma could use the programming of the... ]]> *kenyastarflight http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/27104992/ http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/27104992/ Tue, 08 Sep 2009 21:49:41 PDT Create a TF Cartoon Challenge!
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I don't need to compromise my principles because they don't have the slightest bearing on what happens to me anyway. -- Calvin, Calvin and Hobbes

Okay, this just proves it -- my car IS a Decepticon!

Muahahahahahaha!

You're evil, Motormaster, do you hear me? EVIL.

Hey, it's not my fault the air pump at the gas station was busted.

Yeah, but still, it's your fault I got into this mess anyhow...

How is it MY fault? I didn't do anything!

It's just... you... argh...

Explain to your readers what's going on already, they're probably confused by now...

*sigh* I got a flat tire today, folks. First trouble Motormaster's given me since I bought him. He's got this special system that'll alert me if one of his tires is low on air, and the light came on this morning on my way to work. So after work I swung by the gas station and tried to fill the tires...

But for some reason instead of putting air into the tire, the air pump just opened the valve and let all the air out of the tire. Who designed this stupid system anyhow?

Who's telling this story, Motormaster, you or me? Anyhow, I'd never changed a tire before, but luckily a lady who was handy with cars came over and helped me out, and we got the spare on so I could get home. Tomorrow, though, I have to take an hour or two off of work to get the other tire checked and make sure there's no holes in it -- the spare isn't designed for long-term use.

Could have been worse, fleshling -- the tire could have blown out on you...

Still, it's not like changing your tires was high on my list of things I wanted to do today. Why can't you change your own flats?

And it was pretty fraggin' funny watching you two try to figure out how to work a jack...

You want to get sent back to the dealership, Motor?

Aw, you won't get rid of me! Not after you spent sixteen grand on me...

Behave yourself or I won't give you these Transformer decals I got at the fair this weekend.

Fine, I'll behave... *sigh* ...for now.

Thank you.

In other news... weekend at my sister's went okay. Visited the Eastern Idaho Fair and had fun there, and went to a museum that was showing artifacts from the Titanic. But this weekend also proved that living at my sister's house is out of the question. Her family is LOUD and constantly on the go, and I don't function well in a loud and high-energy environment. Her kids are also constantly into EVERYTHING, which means my TFs would be in constant danger (not to mention my computer and the rest of my stuff too). Also, the room that I slept in this weekend (which would be my room if I moved in with them) is in the basement, which means I can hear every single footstep in the house. And my sister STOMPS wherever she goes, and since her kids wake up at the crack of dawn every morning... sleeping in is out of the question.

Oh, and I played "The Touch" for my sister at her request. Her response -- "It sounds like something a drag queen would lip-synch to." I can't say the same, since I don't listen to many drag queens sing, but still, it was a weird comment...

Meme time! Stolen from http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/26991181/ Thu, 03 Sep 2009 06:49:53 PDT Create a TF Cartoon Challenge!
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I don't need to compromise my principles because they don't have the slightest bearing on what happens to me anyway. -- Calvin, Calvin and Hobbes

Battle requests are finally inked! Now I just need to color and scan them. Sorry it took so long, people!

Writing has been going slowly for me. For some reason I just cannot dredge up the inspiration to get anything done. I freakin' hate writer's block...

Ended up having a talk with my mom last night, and moving out got brought up again. She's still willing to help me, but she recommends that if I do plan on moving in with my father, I stay with him for a week or two before making a final decision, just to see how things go. Smart idea... though at this point I'm leaning toward either finding a roommate instead or going back to school and getting some kind of degree or certificate that will let me get a higher-paying job. Or maybe both, since living completely on my own could get boring after awhile...

And my sister has offered me a place at her house... but I'm really reluctant to leave my job, especially with the economy so bad right now. Plus my sister's family tends to be loud and obnoxious at times.

I might be online this weekend, I might not be. We'll see. Part of it depends on if my sister gets wireless Internet at her house...

...

Episode review time! Let's see if we can get through the rest of Season 3 before the end of this year...

Today's episode -- The Dweller In the Depths.

I was wondering when we'd see Springer and Arcee again.

"There's Rodimus Prime's signal." That's Springer, Arcee...

If this was S1 or S2, Megatron would be after that power core in a BIG hurry... unlimited power source and all. And considering the Decepticons are scrounging for energy on Chaar, I doubt Galvatron's going to be able to resist it either.

Dang, how many types of Quintessons are there? And it looks like only certain ones actually have the five faces. (Though the five-faced ones seem to get all the publicity.)

I'm seeing a pattern here... the Quintessons can't seem to keep their creations under control no matter what, whether they're trans-organics or Transformers. Heck, now that I think about it, even the Sharkticons turned on them back in the movie. (Though that was temporary...)

Slimy, conniving Quints...

That "prosecutor" Quint's face just turned orange... Guess even Quintessons aren't immune to coloring errors.

Lowest level of Cybertron looks like rock instead of metal...

Ewww... those pods are kind of gross-looking... the creatures themselves are pretty freaky-looking too. But I guess that's the point.

Oh Scourge, your bravery inspires us all.

Cyc! http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/26952370/ Tue, 01 Sep 2009 07:31:30 PDT Create a TF Cartoon Challenge!
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I don't need to compromise my principles because they don't have the slightest bearing on what happens to me anyway. -- Calvin, Calvin and Hobbes

Random Transformers quotes gathered over time. I'm not crediting sources because I can't remember who said what most of the time, though I will credit a source if I can remember who it was and if I feel it clears up the quote a little. Also can't guarantee word-for-word accuracy here. If you said any of these to me or within earshot of me, thanks, by the way...

On Transformers in general:

"It's brain candy. If you try to make logical sense of it, your head will explode."

On KISS Players:

"Well, that's one way to make all the robots straight..."

"This thing... is official?"

"I blame Japan."

On KISS Players not getting a US release:

"Proof that there is a just and loving God out there."

On TF slash and yaoi:

"But... they're ROBOTS!" (Said by more than one actual yaoi fan)

"Did he just ask Peter Cullen if he's read slash???"

"The only 'canon' between Optimus Prime and Megatron is the one on Megatron's arm."

"I'm never going to look at Transformers the same way again." (Said by a co-worker who proofread my slash essay)

On G1:

"I love how scale means nothing to these guys."

"You might be a Transformers fan if you are extremely tolerant of poor-quality animation."

"Why does my mom only walk in while we're watching the WEIRD episodes?" (Said while a friend and I were watching "Webworld" and her mom walked in...)

On TF toys:

"Crack is cheaper. And probably easier to come by."

"I'm not playing, I'm collecting!"

"Please tell me you kept all the boxes for those!"

"That's the girliest toy of a girl robot I have ever seen in my LIFE." (Someone's reaction to BotCon Elita-1)

"We now have 127 adults [on this message board] arguing over a toy blue airplane." (Said on a message board during a nasty fight regarding exclusive Thundercracker toys)

"Those aren't the Transformers I remember! Where's Soundwave?" (Said by airport security when I showed them my BotCon exclusive set)

On Peter Cullen voicing Prime in the live-action movie:

"And there was much rejoicing. (One fan complained. He was torn apart, skewered, and eaten.)"

On BotCon:

"It wouldn't be BotCon if we didn't have to stand in one more freakin' line."

"I left my husband at home. He has his motorcycles, I have my robots."

"What is this place? Where's the Indian craft show?" (Said by a lady who got lost in the convention center and stumbled into our area)

On Tyrese Gibson at the Paramount Party at BotCon:

"Tyrese is a fanboy! He's one of us!"

"Is it sad that more people are gathered around the Ratchet car than around Tyrese?"

...

Episode review tomorrow, hopefully...

Journal Feature -- Alphonse Elric

... ]]> *kenyastarflight http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/26862498/ http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/26862498/ Thu, 27 Aug 2009 18:08:44 PDT Create a TF Cartoon Challenge!
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I don't need to compromise my principles because they don't have the slightest bearing on what happens to me anyway. -- Calvin, Calvin and Hobbes

I used to laugh at a poem by Shel Silverstein about a guy bemoaning the fact that he'd discovered a library book that was forty-two years overdue. Now that I work at a library, my laughter has a bit more of a knowing edge to it, since there are people out there who don't seem to take due dates seriously and turn in books weeks or even months late and expect to not have to pay any fines.

Today... something happened that makes the poem all the more hilarious.

To make a long story short, two books came in this morning via the outdoor book drop -- two books whose due date stickers indicate they were last checked out in 1997. That's right, these books are TWELVE YEARS overdue. They've been out for so long that they've been wiped entirely out of our computer system, so we can't even figure out who checked them out in the first place.

Let's put this into perspective -- this means these books were checked out before 9/11 happened... before well over half of the TF franchise existed... before the Star Wars prequels came out... before George W. Bush was a president... Heck, these books were checked out when Beast Wars was still on the air! The stories these books could tell...

And for those who are curious... we charge 10 cents a day for fines, so the fines on these books would come out to $876.60. At least they were books and not movies, I guess... movie fines are 50 cents a day...

Not this coming weekend, but next weekend, I'm going to go visit my sister who lives across the state -- about a four-hour drive away. Mom's not coming with me -- instead, I'm going with my dad and stepmom. I'll be taking my computer with me, so I should still be able to keep in touch with people, but we'll see.

Mom hasn't come right out and said it, but I get the feeling she isn't too happy with me going. In her mind, Dad and my sister almost talked me into moving out the first time. True, I probably let them talk me into trying to move out before the time was right, but still, they haven't pushed me since. And I'm allowed to have a relationship with my father and sister, right? Besides, I'm twenty-six freakin' years old. I should have a right to go where I want to go and plan my own time...

I risk going into a rant here... sorry...

Journal Feature -- Alphonse Elric



]]> *kenyastarflight http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/26827173/ http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/26827173/ Tue, 25 Aug 2009 22:54:25 PDT Create a TF Cartoon Challenge!
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I don't need to compromise my principles because they don't have the slightest bearing on what happens to me anyway. -- Calvin, Calvin and Hobbes

So this weekend I saw The Illusionist. It's a movie about a magician (not an actual sorceror, but something more like David Copperfield) who gets involved in a scandal with the Crown Prince of Austria and his fiance, who said magician knew years ago and is still in love with. SPOILERS AHEAD!

The Illusionist is a decent film, if a little slow-moving, and it's filmed with tan and sepia tones that really give it the feel of its time period (late 19th century). And I did enjoy the sleight of hand and the wit and wiles of the film's protagonist. However, the very end of the movie takes a rather surprising twist, one that I feel changed things for the worse and ruined both the feel of the movie and the supposed "hero" of the movie for me. It's clever, yes, but it immediately makes me like the main character a whole lot less.

Okay, end of spoilers... and note me if you want to hear my full rant on the movie, 'cause I know I was rather vague above...

Had to run to the store this evening, since my brother was making cookies and discovered at the last minute we had no eggs. While I was waiting in line at the checkout, I had a random thought. There are drive-thru restaurants, drive-up ATM machines, and other drive-thru and drive-up services -- why hasn't anyone thought to start a chain of drive-thru "grocery stores?" You know, for someone who just needs to run to the store and grab one or two things and doesn't want to wander Wal-Mart for half an hour or wait in a long line. You just drive up, say you need a loaf of bread or a gallon of milk or whatever, pay, grab it, and go. Hey, I'm lazy enough to go for that, and I'm sure other people are too...

I know, there are probably reasons it hasn't been done yet, and I haven't thought all the logistics through. There might not be enough of a demand for such a business to pull it off, for example. Plus I'm sure there will always be one irritating person who decides to use the "drive-thru" to buy a month's worth of groceries and annoy the people who just wanted to grab a sack of grapes to no end...

Don't mind me, weird ideas pop into my head at random.

Okay, fifteen features time. Here goes...

1.
... ]]> *kenyastarflight http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/26778306/ http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/26778306/ Sun, 23 Aug 2009 15:33:48 PDT Create a TF Cartoon Challenge!
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I don't need to compromise my principles because they don't have the slightest bearing on what happens to me anyway. -- Calvin, Calvin and Hobbes

One last thing about BotCon... I know it's been a few months, but the more I think about this, the more it bothers me.

See, Mom was paranoid about me going off on a vacation by myself, seeing as I'd never traveled on my own before. She was even more paranoid about the fact that I would be going to meet people I'd never met and only knew from online, especially since I planned for one of them to pick me up at the airport. And she asked me to call her frequently and to not be afraid to ditch someone if I felt uncomfortable with them. Okay, perfectly reasonable precautions...

Then she took the overprotective thing way too far. She contacted a friend of hers in California, one she (ironically enough) only knows from playing World of Warcraft, and asked him to go to BotCon with me and keep an eye on me! (He had a wedding to attend that weekend, so that never panned out.)

So my mom is paranoid about me spending time with friends from out of state that I've only met on the Internet... so in response she asks a friend of hers that she's only met on the Internet to go babysit me.

...

Am I the only one going "What the crap" about this?

Ah well, at least it didn't end up happening... though it still bothers me on some level...

Moving on then, since has tagged me for this...

First 15 people to respond to this journal will have three deviations from their gallery featured in this journal! First come, first served!

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.

Journal Feature -- Alphonse Elric



]]> *kenyastarflight http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/26721729/ http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/26721729/ Thu, 20 Aug 2009 20:05:32 PDT Create a TF Cartoon Challenge!
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I don't need to compromise my principles because they don't have the slightest bearing on what happens to me anyway. -- Calvin, Calvin and Hobbes

Okay, the songs that didn't get guessed on my song meme are as follows:

5. "The Living Years" by Mike and the Mechanics

7. "Sheep Go To Heaven" by Cake

12. "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley

15. "Breathe (2 AM)" by Anna Nalick

17. "Never Gonna Give You Up" by Rick Astley

Kinda surprised that nobody got 17... guess my watchers don't get Rick Roll'd enough...

...

A few weeks ago, here in Middle Of Nowhere, Idaho, an 8-year-old boy was reported missing by his mom. After both police and volunteer searchers spent hundreds of hours looking for him, they found his body in a canal about ten miles from where I work. Just yesterday the boy's mother and her boyfriend were arrested and are now being charged with beating him to death and lying to the police about it.

Also a few days ago, a woman was attacked and raped outside a bar practically across the street from the library -- yes, some genius (who also happens to be the former mayor of our town) thought it would be a good idea to build a bar between a library and an elementary school. The woman survived but was pretty badly beaten, and the attacker is still at large. My boss is asking us to go outside in pairs when we empty the bookdrop or leave for the day, just to be on the safe side.

*sigh* This kind of stuff shouldn't be happening in small-town Idaho. It sickens, saddens, and disturbs me on several levels to know that even here, a town where people still keep cows and horses in their backyards and a traffic jam is five cars waiting to pass a tractor, it isn't safe to go outside alone and innocent people are still being hurt by sick and depraved people. My heart breaks for both the little boy and the woman, and I pray that the woman recovers and that the boy's killers and woman's rapist are brought to justice.

And people wonder why I like my fantasy worlds and giant robots better than real life...

Journal Feature -- Calvin and Hobbes



]]> *kenyastarflight http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/26680862/ http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/26680862/ Tue, 18 Aug 2009 21:03:54 PDT Create a TF Cartoon Challenge!
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I don't need to compromise my principles because they don't have the slightest bearing on what happens to me anyway. -- Calvin, Calvin and Hobbes

Got my idea for a TF cartoon posted, finally. Let me know your thoughts, people. I may end up revisiting this universe from time to time to write stories and/or design the characters a bit more...

It is really, really hard to get writing and drawing done when the Internet provides such great distractions, isn't it? Sites like TV Tropes just suck me in and provide all sorts of useless but fun info, though at the cost of wasting writing time. Argh.

Another site that's been distracting me lately is the website of the Nostalgia Critic -- a guy who reviews and gives his thoughts on movies and TV shows, especially those from the eighties and nineties. This guys is FUNNY. His videos do contain some swearing, but thankfully he keeps it fairly toned down. (Especially compared to his longtime rival, the Angry Video Game Nerd.)

Words can't really do the guy justice, I think, so here's some links to some of my favorite Nostalgia Critic videos:

Top 11 Disney Villians: [link]

Top 11 Catchiest TV-Show Theme Songs: [link]

Transformers 2 Review: [link]

...

Um, that's it for tonight, I guess... not much to report. So I guess I'll leave y'all with a meme...

Random music meme stolen from

Mmkay, here are the rules...

1. Set your iPod, MP3 player, or other music player to random.
2. For the first 20 songs that play, type the first four lines or first stanza of the song. NO SKIPPING SONGS.
3. Let your watchers guess the songs and artists!

I listen to a bizarre selection of music, folks, so if some of these go unguessed I won't be terribly surprised... I also skipped songs that had the title in the first stanza, or that were instrumentals.

Oh, and please try to limit yourself to three or four guesses -- save some for other watchers. And if the song is from a movie soundtrack, you don't need to know the artist, just the movie it comes from. (Bonus points for knowing the singer, though...)

1. Let's get down to business
To defeat the Huns
Did they send me daughters
When I asked for sons?

"I'll Make a Man Out Of You" from Mulan
Guessed by

2. ... ]]> *kenyastarflight http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/26643867/ http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/26643867/ Mon, 17 Aug 2009 06:42:18 PDT Create a TF Cartoon Challenge!
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I don't need to compromise my principles because they don't have the slightest bearing on what happens to me anyway. -- Calvin, Calvin and Hobbes

Dang, normally I'm good about updating this thing on a regular basis...

Unfortunately, I've got nothing to say at the moment. So I guess I...

Wait a minute... could it be? Return of the episode reviews?

Today's episode -- The Ultimate Weapon.

"Why are the humans always fighting each other?" This from the giant robot whose race has been at war for who knows how many millions of years...

Geez, Rodimus, cool your jets a little, it's not like you weren't just standing around too...

So in the future, everyone has ray guns?

"Optimus Prime... who could live up to him?" Aww... Optimus DID leave quite a legacy to live up to. No wonder Rodimus feels inadequate.

Notice that despite all these energy beams filling the air, Blades is the only one that gets hit by one?

Okay, if Cyc of all mechs is grinning diabolically, something's REALLY not good for the Autobots...

That transformation cog is rather shiny... does Swindle have some of the same "Ooh, shiny!" programming as Megatron?

Oh, Swindle... will you ever learn?

Aw, poor First Aid...

Eee! Stunticons! Sorry, been awhile since I've seen my favorite combiner...

Good catch, Defensor.

Galvatron pulled out of the fighting awfully quick there...

Geez, Daniel, you scream like a little girl...

Sonic screwdriver?

Don't act so happy to see the humans, Cyc...

I kinda like that junkyard robot. Too bad he's not a recurring character.

"Hey, keep it down! This is a residential area!"

That's actually pretty clever of Galvatron... using the threat of an ultimate weapon against the Autobots. Though Rodimus has a point -- if he really had such a weapon, he'd have used it a long time ago.

Journal Feature -- Calvin and Hobbes



<... ]]> *kenyastarflight http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/26558493/ http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/26558493/ Wed, 12 Aug 2009 22:10:55 PDT Create a TF Cartoon Challenge!
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I don't need to compromise my principles because they don't have the slightest bearing on what happens to me anyway. -- Calvin, Calvin and Hobbes

Lost two co-workers today, both of whom were good friends of mine. Bugger.

Okay, so one isn't leaving YET. She's going back to school to get an English degree and study sign language, and she'll be around for two more weeks. Still going to miss her, as she was fun to talk to. Got her e-mail address, though, so we can still keep in touch.

The other co-worker... I suspect she was fired, though I can't imagine why. She showed up for work yesterday morning, but then vanished partway through the day. I wish I'd been able to say goodbye...

Ah well. Life goes on, things change, and one doesn't really have much control over their co-workers' careers, I guess.

Also work-related -- the other day at work I walked into the break room, where three other workers were taking their breaks. And all three of them said "Your phone went off." (They know it's my phone because I have the Transformers theme as a ring-tone, and when someone leaves a message it makes the "transformation" sound effect. ) One co-worker added "Every time your phone goes off, I keep thinking it's going to transform into something and jump out of your locker." Don't I wish...

Okay, true purpose of this journal -- now that Fandemonium is over and life has settled down a bit, it's time I got back to work doing fanfics and requests. So I'm posting my To-Do list so I know what I still need to do here. And feel free to bug me from time to time about it, too...

Multi-Chapter Projects

Finish "Thundercracker's Glory"
Finish "The Gathering Storm"
Star Wars/Transformers crossover
Post-TF 1986 movie fic
Megatron/Maleficent story
Pterodactus Prime story
TF/Wall-E crossover (multi-chapter)
Prime and Megatron swapping bodies fic
G1/RID crossover
Sequel to "Thundercracker's Glory"... ]]> *kenyastarflight http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/26516059/ http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/26516059/ Mon, 10 Aug 2009 22:10:17 PDT Create a TF Cartoon Challenge!
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I don't need to compromise my principles because they don't have the slightest bearing on what happens to me anyway. -- Calvin, Calvin and Hobbes

Fandemonium is over once again... and I'm already eager for next year. Conventions never last long enough to suit my tastes -- once I'm there, I never want it to end. Is it that way for anyone else?

This is the first Fandemonium where I didn't attend a single class or panel besides the one I taught. Not one. That's not to say I did NOTHING all convention -- I just didn't go to the classes. There was too much else going on, and even though I think I would have enjoyed the Zombie Survival panel or the Costume Armor Making panel, I attended other events instead.

The Disney Sing-Along was fun. Nothing quite like a roomful of nerds singing and dancing to new and classic Disney songs. Likewise, Karaoke Quest -- think an RPG where you defeat bad guys using rock songs instead of spells -- was a blast, and I hope they do that again next year! Also had fun at Fanspiration (a "talent show" deal where anyone in the audience can come up and perform), the AMV contest, and the Maniac Masquerade (didn't stay long there...).

Oh, and Soundwave won third place in the costume contest! I got high points for making the costume almost totally from scratch, and I guess the fact that two of the judges admitted Soundwave was their favorite Transformer didn't hurt... First and second place were Fox McCloud from "Star Fox" and Princess Zelda from the Zelda games.

I also entered the Cosplay contest for the first time. And... well... I didn't do a skit or anything. I just Rick Roll'd the audience by dancing to the Rick Roll song in my Soundwave costume. I didn't get a video of it, but maybe someone will put it on YouTube eventually...

I had a blast, and I hope to go again next year! Maybe I'll teach another class or ask to run a panel... we'll see, I guess.

If it hadn't been for the family leaving THREE DAYS' worth of dishes for me to do when I got home on Sunday, the weekend would have been perfect. I swear they let everything slide while I was gone. They're going to be in trouble when I move out, aren't they?

Okay, here are the pictures that didn't have Soundwave in them -- those will be uploaded as deviations later...

[link] -- Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn. Nice girls once you get to know them...

[link] -- Rorschach from "Watchmen"

[link] -- A gnome

http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/26459886/ Sat, 08 Aug 2009 07:49:29 PDT Create a TF Cartoon Challenge!
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I don't need to compromise my principles because they don't have the slightest bearing on what happens to me anyway. -- Calvin, Calvin and Hobbes

So... the class went well. Very well indeed.

The Fandemonium staff were all very helpful, and they helped me get a projector set up so I could give my Powerpoint presentation. Someone at one of the Artists' Alley tables (a guy I happen to know from previous Fandemoniums) helped me carry in my stuff, and another friend helped me take everything down afterward. And on my way across the convention center and to the room where I was to give my class, I had a few people following me with curious expressions -- it was like the Pied Piper but with TFs rather than music. One guy's explanation -- "I just saw the box of toys and figured I had to know what this was about."

By the time the class started at 8 PM five people had shown up, and since I had five prizes to give out, I simply gave them to those people to thank them for coming on time. More people trickled in as the class went on, so I had about twenty people by the time I wrapped things up. Everyone was amazed at how big the TF universe has gotten over the years, and one guy was ecstatic that I covered the obscure Japanese TF shows (such as Masterforce, Victory, Beast Wars II and Neo, and even Zone). And of course, afterward everyone had to come up and look at the TF toys -- "Dude, you have the old Soundwave!" "Is that Beast Wars Megatron?" "When the heck did they come out with a Grimlock THAT big?"

Oh, and the expressions of shock on everyone's face once I got to the KISS Players part of the presentation were priceless. I had to assure the audience that no, I was not making this up. One girl thought the picture of Hot Rod kissing a girl was cute, but her "cute" stance quickly changed... And when I revealed that KISS Players had not been officially released in the US, a guy in the back made the remark "Proof that there is a good and just God out there."

I had to get everything taken down and out of there fairly quickly once the class was over -- some joker scheduled the Yaoi Panel to take place in the same room right after my class, and I didn't want the giant robots around to give these folks ideas...

Fandemonium was a ton of fun, even as nervous as I was about the class. I got to see a bunch of cool costumes (including Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, Harry Potter, the Joker, and Edward Scissorhands) and will probably see more today, as today's the costume contest. People loved the Soundwave costume, though I did get attacked by one person who screamed "Robot, must kill!" the whole time. Will post pictures next week, hopefully...

Today's the costume and cosplay contests. Wish me luck!

Journal Feature -- Soundwave


http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/26413081/ Wed, 05 Aug 2009 22:45:30 PDT Create a TF Cartoon Challenge!
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I don't need to compromise my principles because they don't have the slightest bearing on what happens to me anyway. -- Calvin, Calvin and Hobbes

Fandemonium is this Friday! ACK!

Okay, calm down, I can do this... sure, I've always had a fear of addressing a crowd, but I can overcome it if it means talking about a subject I love, right? Of course, they scheduled my class to take place at the same time as a concert, so I have NO idea how many people will be showing up... I don't know what will be worse, no one showing up or a packed room. Or some idiot in the back correcting me whenever I screw up...

Things I need to do before Fandemonium:

Print out notes for presentation
Rehearse at least once
Staple and/or fold handouts for presentation (have a handout with common TF terms, plus a pamphlet with my "How To Survive a Decepticon Attack" guide on it)
Decide which TFs are going with me for display purposes
Cut up a black garbage bag for costume purposes...
Buy ticket (yeah yeah, I put that off...)
Pack costume, TFs, laptop, stereo (for pre-class music), camera, spending money, and any other items I might need
Maybe buy a couple inexpensive TFs as prizes for people who actually KNOW something about TFs before the class starts -- ask them questions, and if they know the answer they get a toy

Wish me luck, folks. I've never done this before and am paranoid that I'm going to screw up somehow...

Journal Feature -- Soundwave



]]> *kenyastarflight http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/26333217/ http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/26333217/ Sun, 02 Aug 2009 08:21:46 PDT Create a TF Cartoon Challenge!
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I don't need to compromise my principles because they don't have the slightest bearing on what happens to me anyway. -- Calvin, Calvin and Hobbes

Hokay, I threatened y'all with this earlier, so here you go -- how Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen would have gone had I written and/or directed it.

First of all, I need to state how I would have done the first movie differently, in case it has any impact on the second one.

In the first movie, I would have placed most of the focus on Sam and Bumblebee -- Sam getting his new car, becoming suspicious of some of it's quirks, and ultimately discovering that his car is indeed an Autobot. The attacks in Qatar and the governments of the world mobilizing against whatever threat is out there would take place mostly offscreen, seen by the audience mostly as news reports on the TV in the Witwicky household. This means the subplots involving Maggie, Glen, and the Secretary of Defense would most likely be cut out. (Might leave in the soldiers fleeing Scorponok in the desert, however.)

Once Sam discovers who Bumblebee is, Bumblebee takes him and Mikhaila to meet the other Autobots. Instead of getting to know Optimus and company in one evening and then immediately haring off to find the Allspark, the Autobots hang around for a few days, studying the glasses and trying to formulate a plan to get the Allspark back -- and causing no end of headaches for Sam, who's still trying to hide their existence from his parents.

Meanwhile, we get occasional glimpses of what the Decepticons are plotting. Barricade and Frenzy attack the Witwicky household at one point, but are beaten off by whatever Autobot happens to be there at the time. The other Decepticons keep demanding to know when they're going to go rescue Megatron, but Starscream says to be patient, they need the Allspark first -- he's grown comfortable in his position and doesn't want to abandon it.

Then Sector Seven finally invades the Witwicky household and drags Sam and Bumblebee to their headquarters under Hoover Dam. Frenzy and Barricade, frustrated at Starscream's repeated delays, follow Sam and sabotague the systems keeping Megatron frozen, releasing him. And from there, the final battle plays out much as it did in the move, though at this point hopefully the audience knows the characters a little better and actually CARES about whether they live or die.

The second movie... has more radical changes.

In this one, the Decepticons do manage to steal the Allspark shard and use it to revive Megatron... but it doesn't entirely work. Megatron is barely alive and probably hooked up to all kinds of machinery to keep his systems running. He reveals that the Matrix of Leadership can restore him to full health, and the Decepticons vow to find it. Starscream, while outwardly cowering and wishing to serve Megatron, hopes to delay the search and find an opportunity to offline Megatron permanently.

Sam, meanwhile, goes to college and befriends his roommate... except in this case his ROOMMATE is the Pretender. He tries to be friendly and get on Sam's good side in order to get more information on the Autobots out of him, but when Sam proves obstinate on not talking about the Autobots he gets frustrated enough to reveal his true nature, and has to be rescued by Mikhaila. Barricade, meanwhile, shows up on campus and Bumblebee has to rescue Sam from him.

From there,... ]]> *kenyastarflight http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/26273937/ http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/26273937/ Thu, 30 Jul 2009 10:43:20 PDT Create a TF Cartoon Challenge!
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I don't need to compromise my principles because they don't have the slightest bearing on what happens to me anyway. -- Calvin, Calvin and Hobbes

So Soundwave was a hit at the library yesterday morning. It's a tradition that I wear my Fandemonium costume to the end-of-summer breakfast every year, since it usually falls just before Fandemonium anyhow. It entertains the kids (and some adults too) and lets me give the outfit a trial run.

Long story short? Soundwave didn't turn out as well as I had hoped, but at least the costume is more comfortable than Swoop and TC were, and will be easier to move around in. It'll also stand up to abuse -- a co-worker says they threw a piece of ice at me to try and get my attention, and it bounced off my back without me even noticing. Plus the kids loved it and kept coming up to give me high-fives, shake my hand, and get autographs. It's rough trying to write while wearing thick gloves, but at least the handwriting was legible. (I also tried to include a fun message whenever I autographed something, such as "More than meets the eye," "Soundwave Superior," or "All Hail Megatron!")

And unlike in years past, most people recognized who I was. I did get a few cases of mistaken identity, though -- some people called me Shockwave, Optimus Prime, and Starscream. The first two I can kind of understand, since Shockwave and Soundwave's names are similar and Soundwave's head bears a passing resemblance to Prime's (that and he's the first TF to come to mind for most people)... but STARSCREAM? With TC and Swoop that was understandable (though a bit of a stretch for Swoop), but Soundwave looks nothing like the guy!

Debating on whether to post pictures or not. My brother manned the camera, and most of the pictures he got are of my butt for some reason... Might hold out until I can get ahold of some better pictures...

Monday I went and saw Revenge of the Fallen again with my co-worker. She really liked the film and thought it was great fun, though she admits she probably won't be taking her kids to see it. As for me... while I still had fun, I must admit that seeing the film a second time around has made me find some more faults with the movies, and more nitpicks with the story, characters, and concepts.

SPOILERS AHEAD

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Main issues I had with the film include, but are not necessarily limited to:

The Chevy twins -- These two have taken a lot of flak for being "ethnic stereotypes" of black people. It wasn't so much this that bothered me as it was the constant profanity these two degenerated into using. Yes, they picked up Earth's languages from the Internet, probably including its slang and swearing, and a few TFs might end up using these words even if they don't fully understand their meanings. (Someone explain "mofo" to Skids or Mudflap and see if they keep using it... ) It still wasn't needed, in my opinion.

The Pretender -- ROTF was my first true exposure, so to speak, to the concept of the Pretenders (Slog's appearances in the Insecticomics don't reall... ]]> *kenyastarflight http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/26205990/ http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/26205990/ Mon, 27 Jul 2009 07:23:33 PDT Create a TF Cartoon Challenge!
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I don't need to compromise my principles because they don't have the slightest bearing on what happens to me anyway. -- Calvin, Calvin and Hobbes

Okay, so I made the mask and visor for Soundwave's helmet, with a little aid from my brother in getting things centered. Looks like I did a passable job on it, but it'll look much better once I get it covered in fabric. Plus, despite my best efforts on the mask and getting a haircut Saturday, a tuft of my hair still sticks up behind the visor. I may have to wear a stocking cap under the helmet to solve that. Which means my brain will be nicely steam-cooked after a run in the outfit...

What I still need to do on Soundwave:

Cover the mask, chest piece, arm pieces, and leg pieces in cloth
Cover the door to the tape deck in foil and attach Velcro so it doesn't fall open at an inconvenient time
Buy some blue Crocs (the rubber shoes) and return the white shorts (goofed up on what color Soundwave's pelvis was, but no permanent harm done...)
Make the buttons and attach to the blue shorts that will be Soundwave's pelvis
Find black gloves
Make Laserbeak (if I have time)

What I still need to do for Fandemonium that isn't costume-related:

Make a Powerpoint presentation
Make a "Helpful Transformer Terminology" handout
Go to my bank and withdraw a little money for food and dealer room purposes (won't spent a whole lot, but still nice to have a little pocket money)
Make copies of "How To Survive a Decepticon Attack" for the flyer table
Make sure my camera and video camera both have plenty of battery life and file space
Box up what figures I'm going to take as "visual aids"

I better get cracking here... which means I'm probably going to be incommunicando on AIM for the t... ]]> *kenyastarflight http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/26146786/ http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/26146786/ Fri, 24 Jul 2009 08:50:38 PDT Create a TF Cartoon Challenge!
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I don't need to compromise my principles because they don't have the slightest bearing on what happens to me anyway. -- Calvin, Calvin and Hobbes

Yes, I'm completely serious. If you were to go through our garbage cans this morning (better hurry, today's garbage day), you'd find Swoop parts. Poor little Dinobot...

No, I didn't throw away my G1 Swoop toy. I've dismantled last year's Swoop costume and am using as many of the parts as I can to build Soundwave. All that hasn't been incorporated into the Soundwave costume or chucked in the trash is the beak, the wings, and one wing missile -- the arm and leg pieces are being recycled as Soundwave's arms and legs, one wing missile will be the shoulder cannon, the chest plate and parts of the helmet were made into the Soundwave helmet, other parts of the Swoop helmet will be made into Laserbeak, and the rest was tossed.

Farewell, Swoop, your sacrifice serves us well.

I need to make the mask and visor for the helmet, make the shoulder cannon, make the chest and pelvis pieces, and cover everything in cloth or paper to make everything neat and tidy. If I have time I'll make Laserbeak to sit on my shoulder or arm. Will try to get it done this weekend -- and the very latest I can get it done is Tuesday night so I can wear it at the library party on Wednesday. Wish me luck...

Thanks for episode suggestions, folks! Will make a list and see what we have time to watch tomorrow night.

Also, quick question -- am I obligated to thank everyone who faves my stuff or puts me on watch? Not that I don't appreciate faves and watching (though comments are nice too), but it's starting to get tiresome...

Journal Feature -- Soundwave



]]> *kenyastarflight http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/26118403/ http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/26118403/ Wed, 22 Jul 2009 21:56:45 PDT Create a TF Cartoon Challenge!
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I don't need to compromise my principles because they don't have the slightest bearing on what happens to me anyway. -- Calvin, Calvin and Hobbes

Okay folks, opinion time!

This Saturday my co-worker and I are having an "exchange of obsessions" night. We're going to go to her house, eat junk food, and watch cartoons all night. It'll be fun. She's going to show me some anime and a few episodes of Stormhawks, and I'm going to show her a few episodes of G1 Transformers. (She has only a rudimentary knowledge of TFs, but enjoys hearing me talk about them.)

The opinion I'm seeking? Well, what episodes should I show her? I was thinking about showing her "Megatron's Master Plan" and maybe "Webworld," but wasn't sure about others. Any suggestions from people? I'd prefer not to weird her out right off the bat, so I'll probably avoid showing her a strange episode like "Carnage in C-Minor" or "Girl Who Loved Powerglide." Otherwise, anything's fair game.

Monday I have plans to take another co-worker to go see Revenge of the Fallen again. It'll be her first time seeing it, but my second time, so I probably won't be having the same edge-of-my-seat, jaw-on-the-floor, holy-crap-this-is-epic-I-want-giant-robots reaction to it as I did the first time. Expect a journal containing further reactions to the movie (and probably some nitpicks with the film as well, but we'll see).

Okay, I have a minor rant here. And yes, it involves family. So if you don't want to hear about it, stop reading now. I won't force you to read past this point...

Several days ago, Mom and I were talking and somehow the subject of weddings came up. I'm most likely not going to get married anytime soon here, since I don't even have a boyfriend, but it's still kind of fun to think about what kind of wedding I might want, how to decorate for the wedding and what my dress will look like and stuff like that. I told Mom that I wanted a masquerade-themed wedding -- guests could show up in costume, or they could just wear a nice dress and a mask. I thought it would be really fun.

You know what Mom said in reply? I don't remember the exact quote, but the basic gist of it was that she was going to be planning my wedding, and that since I was the only child who she would get to plan a wedding for (my sister ran off and eloped), she got to call all the shots. And she said, I kid you not, "I wanted to get married on Halloween and have a costume wedding when I married your father, but my mother wouldn't let me. So YOU don't get to have a costume wedding either."

I know I probably shouldn't be upset over something this trivial (I might not ever get married, after all)... but I'm torqued off about it. If I'm the one getting married, shouldn't I get to decide what kind of wedding I get? And just because she wasn't able to have the wedding she wanted doesn't mean she can take it out on me, right?

My dad suggested that I could let Mom plan my wedding, then have a second reception somewhere else and have THAT be masquerade-themed. We'll see when/if the time comes, I suppose. Guess what really upsets me about this isn't the wedding deal, but the fact that once again Mom is being a control freak.

*sigh* Shutting up now...

Journal Feature -- Soundwave

http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/26064873/ Mon, 20 Jul 2009 12:00:19 PDT Create a TF Cartoon Challenge!
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I don't need to compromise my principles because they don't have the slightest bearing on what happens to me anyway. -- Calvin, Calvin and Hobbes

Things I've learned while planning for my class, both about Transformers and other subjects:

Transformers might never have been created had the FCC not repealed a ruling in 1982 that banned cartoons based on toy franchises. Thanks, FCC.

When the Transformers were first released in the United States, experts predicted the toys would bomb horribly -- kids wouldn't want to play with such complicated toys, and parents wouldn't want to pay $10 for a toy car. (And this is why people don't listen to the "experts..." )

None of the G1 voice actors knew that characters were going to die in the 1986 movie until they were actually handed the script. Actual quote from Peter Cullen (said to Frank Welker) upon receiving the script: "Hey Frank, have you read this yet? I'm getting whacked! That's it. No more car payments."

Orson Welles hated working on Transformers: The Movie, and couldn't even remember the name of the movie or the character he played when asked about it later in an interview. He died five days after recording his lines.

Beast Wars won an Emmy Award for outstanding animation. Yes, today the CGI looks kind of crappy compared to, say, Pixar animation, but it was considered state-of-the-art back then.

There are no less than FOUR Beast Wars cartoons in total -- Beast Wars, Beast Wars II, Beast Wars Neo, and Beast Machines. There was a fifth planned -- "Transtech" -- but it was cancelled when Beast Machines was poorly received by the fandom.

Robots In Disguise began airing in the US around the time of the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York. Because of this, several episodes were pulled out of the lineup entirely while others were edited, because they showed buildings being blown up and contained references to terrorist attacks.

Disney now owns the rights to the English dub of Robots In Disguise. So if we see Sky-Byte or Build Team show up in the next Kingdom Hearts video game, we... ]]> *kenyastarflight http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/25979292/ http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/25979292/ Thu, 16 Jul 2009 06:45:19 PDT Create a TF Cartoon Challenge!
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I don't need to compromise my principles because they don't have the slightest bearing on what happens to me anyway. -- Calvin, Calvin and Hobbes

*whines a little* My back hurts this morning. And my chest. It feels like I pulled a few muscles somewhere along the line. I don't know how that's possible, I haven't exactly done any heavy labor lately... maybe I'm just tired and sore from taking over a co-worker's job this week. She's on vacation and I've ended up taking on most of her duties as well as my own until she gets back. Man, I have a whole new appreciation for her job now...

For those of you I talk to on AIM... expect me to not be online too late anymore. For the past few weeks I've been staying up until about 1 AM or later, simply because I find I lose track of time easily when I'm involved in doing something. But it's cutting into my sleep time and I'm starting to get really run-down because of it. I'm going to have to cut myself off here and force myself to turn off the computer and go to bed no later than midnight, or it's going to start affecting my health.

Once Fandemonium is over, I might -- MIGHT -- have a little more free time to devote to projects and such. I'll definitley get drawing requests done, sorry for the delay there. In addition, I want to learn how to make AMVs and try my hand at a few. I have a few ideas. And no, they're not ALL Transformers AMVs. I have ideas for Star Wars, WALL-E, and Last Unicorn AMVs as well.

Anyone know any good software for capturing video? I'll take suggestions for either buyable software or open-source...

A meme here before we move on to the episode review... stolen from

Take the first 5 novels from your bookshelf...then do the following:

1. Book 1 – take first sentence
2. Book 2 – the last sentence
3. Book 3 – second sentence on page 100
4. Book 4 – next to last sentence on page 150
5. Book 5 – Final sentence of the book.

Make the five sentences into a paragraph. Feel free to cheat and make it a better paragraph. Name the sources and then post.

*goes and gathers up the various books laying around her bedroom* Hmmm...

Book 1 -- The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle
Book 2 -- Life of Pi by Yann Martel
Book 3 -- Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus by Orson Scott Card
Book 4 -- The Transformers Trilogy by David Cian and Scott Ciencin
Book 5 -- Transformers: The Ultimate Guide by Simon Furman

And the paragraph...

"The unicorn lived in a lilac wood, and she lived all alone. Very few castaways can claim to have survived so long at sea as Mr. Patel, and none in the company of an adult Bengal tiger. True, it was just the sort of opportunity that he had been preparing for all his life till now, begging his way onto any ship that would carry him until he knew the coast of Liguria better than he knew the lumps in his own mattress. The high-speed pursuit had culminated in a pile up, with at least four vehicles overturned, and shots had been fired after that. But, as Over-Run, Sparkplug, Commetor, an... ]]> *kenyastarflight http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/25946697/ http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/25946697/ Tue, 14 Jul 2009 16:14:34 PDT Create a TF Cartoon Challenge!
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I don't need to compromise my principles because they don't have the slightest bearing on what happens to me anyway. -- Calvin, Calvin and Hobbes

Yes, I promised there'd be an episode review this weekend. Sorry it didn't happen. Will see about reviewing Quintesson Journal in the next few days.

Also, the Soundwave costume is back on track! I've decided, instead of starting from scratch on it, I'll recycle parts from last year's Swoop costume -- chest piece, leg pieces, and arm pieces especially. That way it won't take as long to make and I can (hopefully) still get it done in time for Fandemonium.

For those of you reading The Gathering Storm... I'll be working on that one after I'm done with the costume and planning my lesson. Sorry for the delay...

It was recently brought to my attention (thank you ) that information about myself has been posted on Encyclopedia Dramatica. Among other things, said "information" describes me as a "tartlet" who is "lusting" after Thundercracker and Vector Prime and the Dinobots, producing "s***ty art," and constantly ranting about my personal life on my journal. It also states that I'm Mormon, have Asperger's (they call it "ass-burger" or something similar in a lame attempt to be funny), and dislike slash, but I won't argue those points, because why argue with the truth?

Just a correction to whoever wrote this -- I don't "lust" after any character. I love certain characters and express that love by writing fanfic and drawing fanart, but I can love a character without wanting to sleep with them or drool over them fangirl-style. Also, I don't recall ever giving much attention to Vector Prime, other than stating I like him and favoriting the occasional piece of fanart of him.

And yes, I know my artwork is crappy. I'll never be a good artist. I draw because I like to draw, and I post it not because I have delusions of being a great artist, but because I like to share what I create. Besides, I'll never improve if I don't practice, and even though I know IDW will never be banging down my door begging to give me a job, I can still develop my (admittedly meager) drawing skills, right?

Lastly... yes, I probably rant too much about my personal life here. But I thought the journal function was here on DA in order for people to post what was on their minds or what they thought was important to them. If some people choose to post nothing but memes, that's their choice. If they want to review books, movies, fanfic, games, etc. via journal entries, or offer information on commissions and/or requests, or share snippets of writing, more power to them. I choose to use my journal to, among other things, talk about what's going on in my life, because I think my friends who keep up with me via this site would like to know such things. Is that such a bad thing?

I'm not going to ask Encyclopedia Dramatica to take down the blurb about me, because I have a feeling they're just doing this to me and other artists and writers to get a reaction out of them. I am going to ask people to, if they decide to read the entry about me, PLEASE ask me if you have questions and don't just take their word for it.

*sigh*

And speaking of ranting about my personal life, I'm just going to give a small rant... ]]> *kenyastarflight http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/25854233/ http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/25854233/ Fri, 10 Jul 2009 06:39:39 PDT Create a TF Cartoon Challenge!
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I don't need to compromise my principles because they don't have the slightest bearing on what happens to me anyway. -- Calvin, Calvin and Hobbes

Haven't updated in a few days, so might as well update this thing now.

Project updates for the curious:

Thundercracker's Glory -- Chapter 13 is complete and has been sent to the beta-reader. Expect it sometime in the next few days.

The Gathering Storm -- Will update this story next, but it will be delayed just a bit -- need to finish researching for my Transformers class first.

One-shot stories -- The sequel to "Breaking the Rules" is up next.

Drawing requests -- Going slowly but will finish sometime... For those of you who requested Animated characters, sorry if the pictures turn out crappy. There's a reason I mostly draw G1...

Episode reviews -- Expect a review of The Quintesson Journal sometime this weekend.

"Transformers: A History" class -- Currently researching. If anyone knows a good resource for information on the comic books, drop me a line please.

Soundwave costume -- Postponed until next year. Not sure I'm going to have time to make it this year. Ah well...

That looks like about it for now. Y'all have a good day and a good weekend, and I'll leave you with some more Top Ten lists... these ones Transformers-related.

Ten of my favorite G1 episodes (including multi-parters)

1. Megatron's Master Plan
2. SOS Dinobots
3. Desertion of the Dinobots
4. Webworld
5. Child's Play
6. Make Tracks
7. The Killing Jar
8. Fire on the Mountain
9. Masquerade
10. The Search For Alpha Trion

Ten favorite G1 Autobots

1. Optimus Prime
2. Jazz
3. Ratchet
4. Swoop
5. Bluestreak
6. Seaspray
7. Cosmos
8. Kup
9. Wheeljack
10. Beachcomber

Ten favorite G1 Decepticons

1. Megatron
2. Soundwave (and cassettes)
3. Thundercracker
4. Motormaster
5. Dead End
6. Kickback
7. Swindle
8. Astrotrain
9. Cyclonus
10. Mixmaster

Ten favorite non-G1 Transformers

1. Sky-Byte
2. Vector Prime
3. TF:A Blitzwing
4. Movie Bumblebee
5. Movie Jazz
6. Movie Blackout
7. Movie Jetfire
8. Beast Machines Jetstorm
9. Armada Scavenger
10. Wedge

Ten Transformers I'm not fond of (but don't necessarily hate)

1. Blurr
2. Wheelie
3. Starscream
4. Springer
5. Movie Megatron
6. Movie Wheelie
7. Headmasters Cyclonus
8. Lockdown
9. TF:A Bumblebee
10. TF:A Blackarachnia

Ten best moments at BotCon 2009

1. Getting to hug Peter Cullen
2. Finally getting to meet Weird Al Yankovic and thank him for his music
3. Michael McConnohie doing the Cosmos voice for me
4. Finally meeting a very good friend face-to-face
5. Weird Al Yankovic and David Kaye singing the "Rubber Duckie" song in their Wreck-Gar and BW Megatron voices respectively
6. Getting to see the Optimus Prime, Ironhide, and Ratchet vehicles up close
7. Seeing Michael Bay in person and getting a sneak peak at Revenge of the Fallen
8. Talking to the VERY confused people who showed up at the convention center for the antique fair o... ]]> *kenyastarflight http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/25768129/ http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/25768129/ Mon, 06 Jul 2009 06:42:44 PDT Create a TF Cartoon Challenge!
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I don't need to compromise my principles because they don't have the slightest bearing on what happens to me anyway. -- Calvin, Calvin and Hobbes

So did all the USA-ers out there have a good Independence Day? Ours was pretty good, though a little less exciting than usual due to the fact that most of us were fighting a flubug all weekend. Still, had fun.

Can't guarantee when drawings and the next chapter of Thundercracker's Glory will be done -- need to plan my presentation for Fandemonium first. That and put together my costume, if I'm going in costume. Part of me wants to skip the costume this year and not bother with it...

Oh, and you won't believe what book I've been attempting to read -- The Legend of Rah and the Muggles, by N.K. Stouffer. Before you say "Wait, doesn't J.K. Rowling have a copyright on the Muggles or something?" I should explain that this is the infamous book by the author who sued J.K. Rowling several years back for copyright infringement, mostly over the use of the word "muggle." She lost the case, but last I heard was planning on appealing and still insists that Rowling has been plaguirizing her works.

Not to sound nasty, Mrs. Stouffer, but don't you think that, if an author wanted to steal someone's ideas, they'd steal them from someone who could actually write worth a lick?

I couldn't even finish Rah and the Muggles. Stouffer's writing is THAT BAD. Her characters are uninteresting, her story is unimaginitive, her jokes are not funny, her storytelling is all over the freakin' place, and nothing makes sense -- and even in a fantasy setting things have to make SOME sort of sense. It feels like I'm reading a bad fanfic (albiet one that's at least spelled correctly...), complete with some implied "ick" in the first chapter.

What gets me is that Stouffer intended this book to be for children. A book that practically opens with a vivid description of nuclear holocaust and World War III is meant for children?

Gah... avoid this one. I'm sorry I gave in to curiosity and picked it up. At least I'm not out any money -- yay for Interlibrary Loan.

Today's episode -- The Big Broadcast of 2006.

Wreck-Gar has a girlfriend? Okay, so it's not clear on that point, but still, nice to see a femme Junkion.

...journal? Am I watching the right episode here? *checks* I thought it was NEXT episode that was called Quintesson Journal...

I still love the funky corkscrew shape of the Quintesson ships. Nice to see something different in the way of spaceships.

I was wondering when we'd see a Sky Lynx vs. Astrotrain dogfight...

Three Wreck-Gars?

"With the mantle of leadership come obligations." "Hmm... don't suppose I could interest you in a used mantle?" Oh, Rodimus... http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/25688981/ Thu, 02 Jul 2009 06:32:07 PDT Create a TF Cartoon Challenge!
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I don't need to compromise my principles because they don't have the slightest bearing on what happens to me anyway. -- Calvin, Calvin and Hobbes

This is not a rant, merely an observation. Yes, there's a difference.

I have had people point out to me before that I "don't write the Decepticons mean enough" in my fanfics or in RP. This has not escaped my notice -- I've seen that I tend to portray the Decepticons as far less evil and vicious than many writers and RPers, with a few exceptions. Heck, even the IDW comics make them harsher than I do...

I feel that I should explain my reasons for this. Not as a defense, but simply to let people know why I choose to do this.

First of all, my stories are almost always based on the G1 cartoon (with the exception of "Riding With Tracks"). Not the comic books, not other peoples' interpretations, but the G1 cartoon. And let's face it, the Decepticons might have been evil in G1, but they were hardly the vicious sadistic monsters they're often shown as in fanfic and the comic books. People will argue here and say "It's a kid's cartoon, they couldn't be graphic about it," but still, even taking into account the fact that they had to keep the violence toned down a bit in the cartoon, the G1 cartoon Decepticons are markedly different from their comic book counterparts.

Second, totally evil characters are uninteresting. This is why I've never taken a real liking to the villians in Harry Potter, who all seem to be out-and-out evil without any redeeming qualities (except perhaps Snape, but I've never liked him for different reasons...), and why the live-action movie Decepticons really haven't caught my interest. There's nothing interesting about a villian who has no personality beyond "Muahahaha, look at me, I'm evil, GRRR!" And giving a villian an actual personality, quirks, fears, hopes, and dreams may soften them slightly in the eyes of the viewers, but in my mind it makes that character relatable, fascinating, and far less boring.

Third, and I will probably be lynched for this... just because a Transformer wears the purple crest doesnt' mean they're evil.

Just as in the case of real life, a soldier's allegiance doesn't necessarily make them good or evil. Sure, some Decepticons seem to enjoy the fact that they're evil and love to wreck havoc, but there are also Decepticons who fight for their own reasons -- out of loyalty, out of a sense of obligation, out of furthering their own personal goals for power or wealth. And I believe there are Decepticons who fight for nobler reasons as well -- to protect themselves or their loved ones, out of fear or a sense of duty, etc. And I also believe that perhaps there are Autobots out there who, despite being on the "good" side, fight for all the wrong reasons. What side an individual mech is on doesn't determine whether they're good or evil, but rather, their reasons for fighting and their actions while they fight.

I'm not taking this view to an extreme like certain fans and franchises do (*cough Raksha cough Shattered Glass cough*) and claim that the Decepticons have suddenly become the good guys. I'm just saying that they deserve to be treated fairly and like real characters as well, and there's so much more potential to be had by really looking at them and puzzling out their personalities, than by just relegating them to the "evil minion" pile.

Unless I decide to wr... ]]> *kenyastarflight http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/25644703/ http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/25644703/ Tue, 30 Jun 2009 06:21:12 PDT Create a TF Cartoon Challenge!
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I don't need to compromise my principles because they don't have the slightest bearing on what happens to me anyway. -- Calvin, Calvin and Hobbes

BWEEEEE!

Yup, I saw the movie at last! And I had a BLAST!

For those of you who haven't seen it yet, this journal contains possible definite spoilers!

S

P

O

I

L

E

R

S

...

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen was a LOT of fun. As promised, there were a LOT more TFs this time around, and the effects are as mind-blowing as ever -- at times you forget the TFs aren't CGI. This one focused much more heavily on the TFs as well, with most of the story revolving around their mythology, history, and artifacts. There are many nods at G1 throughout the movie, but they're not distracting and don't feel like ripoffs. (Animated, you taking notes?)

And I TOTALLY called it that Optimus Prime was going to die and come back to life. Totally called it. Like I told my mom during the end credits, there's a grand tradition of Prime getting killed and coming back to life.

As for characters... it's nice to see Starscream actually show some personality in this one. It's too bad that some characters, such as Ratchet, Sideswipe, and the Arcees, didn't get more screen time, but I did like several of the new characters. I love Jetfire, Ravage was awesome, Mudflap and Skids were hilarious, Wheelie is a tolerable (even likeable) character for once... and I practically squealed when Soundwave showed up! I was wondering how they were going to handle his appearance in the movie.

The movie isn't perfect, and despite enjoying myself and grinning like an idiot throughout the movie, I don't think it's quite as good as the first. Things felt a little jumbled and chaotic, especially toward the end. And a steadier hand on the camera would have been appreciated -- it's difficult to tell what's going on at certain points. I could have done without the scene where Wheelie humps Mikhaila's leg, the twins constantly using swear words, and the reference to Devastator's... um, equipment. (They're wrecking balls from one of the cranes that forms him, but still, you think they could have put them somewhere else on the robot... at least Long Haul in G1 didn't have to put up with THAT indignity on top of forming the pelvis of G1 Devastator...)

At least Maggie and the hacker kid (can never remember his name) stayed out of this one -- they felt like rather useless characters in the first one...

So was it the best movie of all time? No. But was it fun? Definitely! And our whole family had a blast seeing it, even if people kept poking me throughout the movie to ask "Who's that? What's going on?" The perils of being the resident expert...

Oh, and I ended up wearing my autograph shirt to the theater for kicks. And when we stopped at the gas station on the way home, we got in a discussion with the cashier about the movie (he loved it) and he had to gawk at my shirt. "Is that S... ]]> *kenyastarflight http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/25586337/ http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/25586337/ Sat, 27 Jun 2009 18:20:34 PDT Create a TF Cartoon Challenge!
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I don't need to compromise my principles because they don't have the slightest bearing on what happens to me anyway. -- Calvin, Calvin and Hobbes

Just a quickie journal to update folks on how I'm doing with their requests... I swear I'll get these finished before summer's over...

1. -- Megatron vs. Optimus Prime w/ axe and flail -- SKETCHED
2. -- Rumble and Frenzy vs. Eject and Rewind, wrestling
3. -- Blaster vs. Soundwave w/ blasters
4. -- Ultra Magnus w/ Matrix vs. Hot Rod w/ Star Trek bat'leth -- SKETCHED
5. -- Animated Arcee swatting at Animated Blackarachnia w/ rolled-up newspaper -- SKETCHED
6. -- Buzzsaw vs. Ramhorn w/ dead fish -- SKETCHED
7. -- Beachcomber vs. Skywarp, laser tag -- SKETCHED
8. -- Megatron w/ energy flail vs. Galvatron -- SKETCHED
9. -- Animated Jazz vs. Animated Bumblebee, DDR -- SKETCHED
10. -- G1 Prime vs. Animated Prime w/ axes

...

And it looks like has tagged me for the "eight things" meme, where you list eight random facts about yourself. I've done this several times before, and I'm not going to bother looking up the previous ones, so I might end up repeating myself here...

1. I like weeding in the garden. There's something almost soothing and therapeutic in the job for me. The problem is that I like to do a VERY thorough job when I weed -- and have been known to accidentally pull up fl... ]]> *kenyastarflight http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/25573284/ http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/25573284/ Fri, 26 Jun 2009 18:18:31 PDT Create a TF Cartoon Challenge!
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I don't need to compromise my principles because they don't have the slightest bearing on what happens to me anyway. -- Calvin, Calvin and Hobbes

Still haven't seen Revenge of the Fallen. I plan to on Monday, however. Then I can finally engage in TF-related conversations with my friends, whoo hoo!

One thing that worries me about the movie? Hearing from multiple sources that it's full of crude humor. Our local newspaper pretty much panned the movie, but that's to be expected -- unless it's an Oscar contender or a Pixar flick, our newspaper seems to hate all big-budget movies and goes all out to trash them. But many other people who otherwise liked the film have also mentioned that there's a great deal of sexual humor in the film.

Okay, so I'm a prude. I do giggle occasionally at a dirty joke (though I'm often blushing at the same time), but in my opinion a movie can't rely on endless sex, bathroom, and anatomy references to get its laughs. Whatever happened to clever humor in movies, or even good old-fashioned slapstick? To me, a laugh gained through clever wordplay or situational comedy is far more rewarding than the shocked "I-can't-believe-I'm-laughing-at-this" chuckles that come from a sex or potty joke.

I say this because last night I somehow got talked into watching The Love Guru. Hearing it was a Mike Myers flick should have warned me away from it, but Mom insisted it was a good movie despite the rude humor. Final verdict? NEVER. AGAIN. I am scarred for life... and will never look at an elephant quite the same way again.

I sincerely hope that Revenge of the Fallen is a good movie despite the questionable content, because despite the flaws of the first one I really enjoyed it. I'd hate to end up hating the sequel because the screenwriters and Michael Bay decided to go pervert on us...

On the subject of movies... I also saw Spin last night. (Yes, our family watches a lot of movies.) Spin seems to be an obscure independent movie, so I don't blame my readers if they've never seen it before. And as far as I can figure out (was only half-paying attention and the plot wasn't very coherent anyway) it's about an orphan boy, his Hispanic girlfriend, and an airplane.

Verdict? No. Just... no. Mom kept going on about how good it was, but I can't stand it. Why is it that in order for a lot of people to call a movie "good," it must be full of tragic, painful, gruesome stuff? In this movie alone you get a plane crash, a man writing a message to his soon-to-be-orphaned son using his own blood, alcoholism, incest in the form of a man raping his teenage daughter (thankfully it's only implied and not shown), said teenage daughter threatening to pour scalding-hot water in her father's face, suicide by a gunshot to the head... and that's just the stuff I paid attention to. Ugh...

I'm going to go put in WALL-E and be lazy for the evening while Mom and Stepdad go out to eat and to discuss their marriage (or what's left of it). At least WALL-E manages to be cute and hopeful despite essentially taking place in a post-apocalyptic world...

Journal Feature -- The Last Unicorn

http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/25510955/ Wed, 24 Jun 2009 06:51:34 PDT Create a TF Cartoon Challenge!
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I don't need to compromise my principles because they don't have the slightest bearing on what happens to me anyway. -- Calvin, Calvin and Hobbes

Before I say anything else, I have a favor to ask people:

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen hit theaters at midnight last night, and I understand a large chunk of the TF fandom has probably already seen the movie, or at least are making plans to see it sometime today. I would like to ask all of you -- PLEASE do NOT spoil the movie for me. Our family would like to see the movie together, and my brother is off at camp this week and won't be home until late Saturday evening. So the soonest I'll be seeing the film is Monday sometime.

This doesn't mean you can't talk about it at all. I probably won't read any movie-related journals about it (so if I don't reply to your journal I'm not ignoring you, I'm just hyper about spoilers). And I don't mind hearing simple non-spoiler things like "It was awesome!" or "Eh, it could have been better." Just nothing plot-specific, all right?

Thanks in advance.

Mom is home from the hospital, and needless to say she's still pretty ticked that she had to go there at all in the first place -- especially since this is probably going on her record and could prevent her from getting a job. However, while she was at the hospital she had the opportunity to talk to and help out a lot of her fellow patients, helping boost their spirits and offering help and advice to help them cope with their own problems. She's trying to look at the bright side of the situation and say "Maybe my being there has helped someone deal with their situation and possibly recover faster."

Oh, and Robot Heroes Kickback kept Mom company at the hospital too. He happened to be in my pocket when I went there to drop off a change of clothes, and the nurses let Mom keep him. (At least it wasn't Robot Heroes Galvatron in my pocket at the time... Sure, leave the crazy mech with Mom in a psychiatric hospital...)

One other thing... I could use a word of advice.

While at BotCon I placed an order for the upcoming G1 DVD set -- the "Matrix of Leadership" set which includes all of G1, a booklet and episode guide, and some other special features and items. People who placed orders at BotCon got a discount and free shipping, and it seemed like a good deal.

My issue here? With Mom not working and no idea if my stepdad is ever going to be in the picture again, I'm the only one with an income of any kind in this house at the moment. Thus, I'm wondering if I should cancel my order, since at the moment DVDs are a luxury item and the $145 or so the set costs could buy a LOT of groceries for the family.

On the one hand, it's my money, and Mom has repeatedly said I can spend my money how I want to. But at the same time, that doesn't give me license to spend it all on myself and to spend a great deal of it at once. And I fully admit that I overspent at BotCon and probably need to avoid TF purchases for awhile to balance things out. Plus, Mom wasn't exactly thrilled that I bought so much stuff at BotCon that I had to bring home an extra suitcase and ship a few things home to boot. So she's probably not going to be happy when yet another package arrives in the mail for me...

That and I already o... ]]> *kenyastarflight http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/25456124/ http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/25456124/ Sun, 21 Jun 2009 15:19:05 PDT Create a TF Cartoon Challenge!
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I don't need to compromise my principles because they don't have the slightest bearing on what happens to me anyway. -- Calvin, Calvin and Hobbes

...because the minute you say "Things can't get any worse," they will.

So... last night, shortly after making my journal entry, I get a text message from my mom saying she would be home soon, and that she and my stepdad had been attempting to talk things out. Though it didn't sound like things had gone well, because she also said that she wasn't sure if he was coming home or not. I relaxed a little and began to get ready to go to bed...

...and five minutes later I get another text message. My stepdad called the police on my mom, telling them she was suicidal. And the cops, of course, took her to the hospital.

I drove to the hospital to bring Mom a change of clothes and a few other things, and the whole time I was worried about her. But when I got to the hospital, she was laughing and joking with the nurses... and royally pissed off at my stepdad. She had NEVER made any threats against her own life, she said, and she was of the opinion that he called the cops on her just to be spiteful. Even the doctors and nurses said Mom was perfectly fine, if somewhat stressed out -- but they were still legally obligated to keep her for at least 24 hours for observation.

As a consequence of this -- my stepdad is not allowed back in the house. And at this point it pretty much looks like the marriage is over. What kind of husband has his wife sent to a psychiatric ward just because of an argument? *sigh*

To be honest, I feel better now. With my stepfather gone, maybe the fighting will go down to a minimum. I still wish they could have worked it out... but sometimes that's not an option. And this looks like one of those times.

And me... I'm exhausted. Only got three hours of sleep last night thanks to this fiasco. Hopefully the rest of the week goes okay and I can catch up on some rest...

Journal Feature -- The Last Unicorn



]]> *kenyastarflight http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/25442731/ http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/25442731/ Sat, 20 Jun 2009 21:17:44 PDT Create a TF Cartoon Challenge!
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I don't need to compromise my principles because they don't have the slightest bearing on what happens to me anyway. -- Calvin, Calvin and Hobbes

Moods are currently broken (again). "Tired" should read "Utterly exhausted and depressed and frusrated and fed up with it all."

Since I'm sure people don't want to read a huge rant, I'll sum it up as best I can in a paragraph.

Mom and Stepdad have been fighting for DAYS. Nights too -- one night they were up until 5 AM yelling at each other. And today the fighting took an ugly turn. After a HUGE shoutfest (which included Mom shouting at me for a stupid mistake), Mom got in the car and drove off without saying where she was going. She's still gone. And Stepdad is now packing his bags and getting ready to move out.

*sigh*

Why did I let Mom talk me out of moving out back in April again?

Journal Feature -- The Last Unicorn



]]> *kenyastarflight http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/25367366/ http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/25367366/ Wed, 17 Jun 2009 06:59:14 PDT Create a TF Cartoon Challenge!
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I don't need to compromise my principles because they don't have the slightest bearing on what happens to me anyway. -- Calvin, Calvin and Hobbes

Quick project update -- I'm about half done with the next chapter of Thundercracker's Glory. Once that's done I'll work on the second chapter of The Gathering Storm. Also plan on starting the requests soon. I can't make guarantees on when any of these projects will be finished, however, seeing as I have a costume to make and a presenatation to prepare before the first weekend in August...

Picked up Stephen King's Dark Tower series to give it a look here. I love his writing style, even if I don't dare go near a few of his books because of the subject matter, and this series looks interesting, to say the least. So far I'm several chapters into it and still trying to figure out what exactly is going on -- and it doesn't really help that he seems to be telling the story backwards here...

Also regarding books... every once in awhile I go to Google and put my online name through a search, just to see what comes up. And recently I found my name had been brought up in an online discussion regarding the Eragon books and how terrible people thought they were. The person's comment was (and this is a direct quote) "And to make it worse, a person I think is a Goodfic writer likes the books. Said Goodfic writer is Kenya Starflight... How could she degrade herself this way?"

Daaaaang, I'm degrading myself by reading a book?

Seriously, I'm glad they think I'm a good writer. And I have no complaints if they don't like the Eragon books. Heck, if we all liked the same things this world would be a very boring place. And to be honest... I fully admit that Christopher Paolini is not the best writer in the world, that several of his characters feel like Mary Sues, and his books "borrow" liberally from multiple sources, from Star Wars (the entire frickin' plot) to Dragonriders of Pern to Lord of the Rings. The books are a sort of guilty pleasure for me, I guess, and I am curious to see where the book series goes from here.

I guess that's why, while I'm pretty fed up with the Twilight craze and refuse to read the books, I can't be TOO harsh on the Twilight fans. Because the Eragon books really aren't that much better, even if they lack vampires...

Lastly regarding books -- I know many of you have favorite books. Out of curiousity, do you have any LEAST favorite books? Books that you can't stand or that just annoy or bother you? Share with us...

In my case, the book I can't stand is Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli.

SPOILERS AHEAD!

Stargirl is about an eccentric girl named Stargirl who goes to high school after being homeschooled all her life, and who at first shakes things up and inspires many of the kids to dare to be different. She dances in the rain, changes her name to suit her whimsy, sings Happy Birthday to students in the cafeteria, and is generally a sweet, if slightly odd, girl. Unfortunately, after an ugly incident at a basketball game the entire school turns against her, even the story's narrato... ]]> *kenyastarflight http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/25288599/ http://kenyastarflight.deviantart.com/journal/25288599/ Sat, 13 Jun 2009 10:02:04 PDT Create a TF Cartoon Challenge!
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I don't need to compromise my principles because they don't have the slightest bearing on what happens to me anyway. -- Calvin, Calvin and Hobbes

Journals are going to be a bit more sporadic, most likely, since both work at home and work at the library are keeping me occupied. At home the work mostly consists of yardwork -- gardening, pulling weeds, mowing lawn, fixing fences, etc. At least the weather has been bearable lately and not super-hot, though the frequent thunderstorms aren't too pleasant. (Always been a little skittish about lightning...)

Summers are normally very busy for the library anyhow -- our Summer Reading Program began this week, and kids invade the library in droves now that school is out. But with the economy in bad shape, libraries all over the country are seeing an increase in visitors. Hey, when the library offers free entertainment in the form of books, movies, music, Internet access, and programs for kids, a lot of people are going to choose the library over spending money at a theater or bookstore. There are days when I do so much running around at the library that my legs are sore by the end of the day.

Now that the BotCon report is over, I guess now's as good a time as any to post my Buy/Sell/Trade list. Never done something like this before, and don't know if I'll do it again, but we'll see how it goes...

I need to get rid of some stuff here, in order to clear some shelf space. I was going to sell them on eBay, but I figured I'd give my DA watchers a chance at it first. So I'm posting a description of each item and a price I'm willing to accept for it.

The prices aren't fixed on these items -- I'm willing to make a deal if you're willing to make an offer. Also, I accept trades for other items, such as TFs, art commissions, etc. I do reserve the right to refuse an offer, however...

Darth Tater Mr. Potato Head figure, out of package but complete and in excellent shape -- $20

Three Star Wars puzzles in collectible tins (one featuring Heroes, one Spaceships, and one Bounty Hunters), still sealed in the plastic and never assembled -- $20 each

Globe of the planet Dagobah from Star Wars, comes with display stand and Yoda figure, out of package but in good condition -- $15

Model of the Death Star from Star Wars, comes with display stand and Darth Vader figure, out of package but in good condition -- $15

Jabba the Hutt action figure (from A New Hope Special Edition), out of package, no accessories, fair to good condition -- $8

Transformers Collectors' Club Exclusive Airazor toy, brand new and complete, wi... ]]> *kenyastarflight