Well, it really is amazing how having a wonderful new world of Internet abilities eats away at your time! I've discovered that I can play the various Flash based games over on Facebook (ie- Farmville and Vampire Wars.) I've discovered I can make use of those “Free trial for Music Downloads” that come with thumb drives. I can do all sorts of things!

And yet, half of the time I still find myself just off and visiting fan fiction ^_^ How sad.

And having speeds like this, well, I shouldn't admit to it, but I'm itching like a mad woman to tweak my website again. I mean, I already had to go through and adjust a freakin boat load of links after the death of GeoCities.

On to other things though.

Wheel of Time Report:

I finished the 12^th book. I really quite enjoyed it! It started out feeling a little stilted at first with the introduction of the ghost author. There were a few characters (ie – Rand) who just didn't quite seem to behave correctly. The thing is, as you got further into the book, either I got used to the new author, or he got better at blending writing, or some combination happened. By the end of the book I was more than happy with the results.

There were times though... there were times when I felt a pang for Robert Jordan though. I could see his writing in some of the scenes, I really could. But in others I missed it. There was a certain lack of expansion on some details that left me wanting of my infamous author. Did these lack of detail do anything to ruin the book? Absolutely not – the flow was just fine with out them. I just know that RJ would have had them in there, and knowing that makes me nostalgic...

Anime Report:

Hah, I can watch anime online now! Novelty! And there are a few series I've been told about over the years, or that I've wanted to see that I just never had the opportunity to get too. Anyway, I found this website that has a number of anime on record and well pinpointed that I've been using for my viewing needs. This lace has all of the anime in Japanese with Eng. Subs. Its called AnimeSeason – just in case anyone else is looking ^_^

So. I went through and watched Black Lagoon on a good friend of mine's recommendation. Wow, what a fun and violent anime! And wow, what terrible English >.< One of the few times I wish there would have been subtitles for the English bit too... Any way, this is an awesome anime for those who like modern day pirates, politics, and frightening lady gun wielders!

And then, well, and then I had the urge to watch Trigun. It is one of those classic anime that I saw one or two episodes of AGES ago and always meant to watch. So... I did! And wow, does that anime go from happy go lucky to a dark sort of mental train wreck! I like Wolfwood though. A lot.

And, if you haven't seen the whole series but intend too, don't read this spoiler!

( Read about Wolfwood )

For those who have seen the anime and really enjoyed it, you MUST read the manga! Wow, the Trigun comic is worlds away from the anime in the level of how dark it turns. And Wolfwood is so much a darker character too. Never mind that you get a load of back story that just sort of got left out of the anime. Things are so much clearer to me now as I'm reading the manga. I'm loving it though.

Looking for the manga online? Go to Bleach Exile's Online Manga Reader. They have a whole boat load of manga available, not just bleach. You'll find it translated and easy to read. In this case, scroll down to Trigun and Trigun Maximum. Enjoy ^_^

My next anime goal is to watch Death Note – I've been told it is a must see!

The Pit Stop has been successfully moved-- again! Lots of available space here at 000webhost. I hope I can settle in and make this web host my home for a few years at least.

 The index page is here:

http://fanpitstop.comlu.com/

 The Gohan Fan's Pit Stop is here:

http://fanpitstop.comlu.com/gohan/main.html

 The Sanosuke Fans Pit Stop is here:

http://fanpitstop.comlu.com/sanosuke/main.html

 Sorry about any inconvenience this has caused anyone >.<

Yeah, really. So, if anyone is following this at all, you'll all know that I recently moved my fan website over to Bravehost. They offered 50MB of space for their free web hosting – which was PLENTY for what I needed. So, yes, I moved, all was well. About a week after I got everything moved in, I got an e-mail notice saying that they are planning on changing their free web hosting service as of September 15^th.

The new service? Its a joke. 5MB of space. That is approximately 15MB short of what I currently have for content. And never-you-mind if I should think I would like to add anything more!

I do understand where Bravehost is coming from, I really do. There are plenty of people who use things like this as just mass storage, or abuse the privilege in other ways. No doubt they also have had an up shot of new websites with people trying to move away from Geocities. If they want to screw with their web hosting and bring it down to a level that a one page shrine might find suitable, that is of course their prerogative.

What pisses me off is the somewhat limited notice they gave about this change. Really, guys?

So.... I've been out hunting (again) for a new free web hosting service. And -crossing my fingers and knocking on wood on this- I do believe I struck pay-dirt on the matter! http://www.000webhost.com/ has a wonderful free service, which offers me plenty of room and bandwidth and to top it off, FTP! I signed up for an account, and as we speak I am now moving my website (again) to this new host.

I'll post links shortly on the matter, just thought I would update you all on whats going on. And, you know, rant about it a little bit ^_^()

Woot! I had a most delightful time out spending money yesterday! My boy toy decided he needed to go out shopping at a local Fleet Farm. Fine. My request in return as to take a trip over to the local book store while we were there (literaly kitty-corner to the Fleet Farm.)

And you know what? SQUEAL!!!!!!! I found and purchased the last two books of Fruits Basket Manga. I love this series. I was first drawn in by the anime, but I have to say the manga has really endured the characters to my heart. Kyo, I love that boy! And I love how the entire series ended. What more could I ask for? I don't know, maybe a “10 years later” segment. Or maybe, I should go prowl around for fan fiction on that subject.

And, while we were out we found ourselves at Walmart. I went exploring movies and... wound up buying season 8 of DBZ. I know, its been out for ages now, what's wrong with me that I hadn't bought it yet? I was being “good”. I couldn't anymore. So, I'm now marathoning through the episodes, in their native Japanese of course!

If I'm going to be COMPLETELY honest with myself and any others out there who watch DBZ though, then I have to admit that I jumped straight to the part where Goku was negotiating with the old perverted Kio in order to get Gohan trained. The T and A bit just kills me every time I see it ^_^

On a side note, I discovered that I can buy a 4GB thumbdrive for 12 dollars. So, I bought it. I have a bunch of original images and such that I'm gonna toss on their – all files related to them from Photoshop to Illustrator! That, and some of my music too ^_^

Woah, good day and good news! The Gohan Fan's Pit Stop has now been moved and completed on Bravehost! I don't want to go fully public with it yet there, as I really want to finish my Sanosuke section before putting it out there as a full replacement for the Geocities website.

But, you know, if you want a sneak peak of just the Gohan section, I'm feeling generous. Click here.

I noticed today, as I was reading through a mutual fan's post on her web page (Amber, the webmistress over at the RICEBOY Gohan shrine) and she had a great rant. She pointed out how the falling of Geocities will mean the collapse of a great many Gohan/DBZ websites. Granted, most of them were not the ritz, but imagine all of the fan fiction, fan art, and general thoughts that are going to be lost. Because, we all know that most of these people have moved on and will not move their websites-- they may not even know that Geocities is closing! It really brought this point home today as I was going through my links today, and realized how many point at Geocities.

As a side note, Amber put out a request considering DBZ (Gohan) Geocities sites that anyone may know are closing and not being saved. She's after that content, in order preserve what she can. Check on that at RICEBOY.

Think about it though, this will not just affect DBZ fans. Consider how many fan pages from OTHER shows are going to be lost in this? It is disappointing. So, do your reading now, friends, as these places will be gone forever very soon!

I've known and spouted about GeoCities closing for a while. I FINALLY looked it up today, and discovered that the jig is up as of Oct. 26^th. I'm just throwing that out there. I'm sure anyone of you could find that on your own, but... yeah.

In other notes of interest- I spent all day on my website rebuilding project. All Gohan fan fiction and Images that I had on the old site are now moved over to the new. I just need to finish building the rest of my pages, and, you know, post a link for you all! I'm working out Sanosuke Fan templates as I work through things. I'm attempting to multi-task, I suppose.

A final note, for my daily giggler. It seems my fiancé's mother has started to make him cook one meal a week, so that he knows how when we get married. Oh come on, is that not an “Aww” moment if you've ever heard of one?

Well now, I have one more chapter to write for my Sanosuke story “A Truth in the Darkness.” Which, if you don't know what I'm talking about, you can find here. Anyway, instead of putting the finishing touches on that, I've been working on other things.

Number one, my fan website. So, I've all ready established that Geocities intends to go the way of the Tasmanian Tiger – as in gone. Great, I need to move my website. I planned on that anyway as a matter of space issues. However, if you've followed my website for any amount of time, you KNOW I had to re-do the layout before putting it up! Ack, so, this time I've had the wisdom to use a CSS template that I can easily tweak in the future by just adding new images. Why haven't I done so earlier? I have no friggin idea! In the mean time, I busy transferring all of my stories one-by-one to the new layout. And then I have to read them. And then it dawns on me that I should really finish those two Gohan fics I've left undone. What a nasty little circle.

In the interest of the new location/version of my fan website, I wanted to create a lovely new layout for my new Sanosuke section. This lead to pose studying and drawing and a couple of new pieces of fanart, but I have yet to complete that layout. On the other hand, I explored the bulk of my notebooks/sketchbooks from throughout my time in college and had a BLAST last night taking pictures of all of the random sketches I've drawn over the years. Some were fanart, some original, and all the products of boredom. When I get to the third section of my website, the Misc section, I'll have all kinds of random drawings to post!

In book news: I've read Niel Gaimen's Graveyard Book. That was fun. Little boy raised by ghosts and a vampire? Sweet. Good book, if a little bit different. I recommend it to any who likes a little fantasy.

Right. I don't know where to start. So... I'll fake it for a moment. I'll start with real life.

I Graduated, that's a darn good start. No more college for me, now I get to start paying the bills that go along with it though. Graduated Cum Laude. I'm pretty pleased with that. Gotta say though, they day I graduated, back in mid may, it was cold as the arctic and kinda rainy and the ceremonies were outdoors. Ack.

I had a nice party though, supplied by my parents, at a local bowling alley. It was a lot of fun, as once we were done eating and gabbing, we ran off and bowled! Okay, so maybe I'm just weird enough to find that exciting.

On that note, I have NOT found a job yet. I haven't looked nearly as hard as I should, but all the same, I have not found the job. I'm still working my part time fast food job in the mean time.

I got engaged! Yes, that's vital news, if only for me. I don't plan on having the wedding for a couple of years yet though ^_^()

Otherwise, I got to have my yearly (as of the last three years) trip to Canada. Got a big ugly fish. I brought home a 41inch Northern Pike. My fiancée and his family insisted it needs to be mounted. I'll play along, but all the same, it's an ugly fish. Don't know where I'm eventually going to put it.

As for my fan interests...

I know I need to move my website soon. Geocities is under the imminent threat of shutting down. Can't say I'm heart broken, but that should force me into moving stuff. And when I move things, of course I mean to say change up the layout again. Maybe make a more stable one.

And for my one friend who has asked via Live Journal, I finally updated that Rurouni Kenshin story. A Truth in the Darkness is now up to chapter four, and I'll wrap it up in chapter five ^_^