Catch Up Post/Minecraft oblivion

Falling behind during this time of year is no good, no good at all.  The 3 days have been a hazy blur of Minecraft, upset stomach (and today, Pepto Bismol), bed rest, chatting with my new friend, and not much food or productivity.  But I've been trying to get back on track since yesterday, and hopefully my stomach won't revolt against me again like it did today.

Caught up my Gaia responses, so now to catch up on my blogging! Sorry in advance for the long post!
(EDIT:  42nd post, yeahhhhh~!  >w< )

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My good friend and penpal Brandon got a Liebster Blog award and mentioned me in
his top 5 blogs.  Congrats and thanks, Brandon!  :D

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Chritsmas Gifts Updates:

~Christmas cards/packages sent out:

-Panda pal #3

-Rainbow goat princess (part 1)

-Fly

~Christmas cards/packages ready to be mailed out on the next postal run:

-Brandon

★★★★★★★★★★★★★ iPod/iPhone/iPad Apps   ★★★★★★★

Touch (formerly Pingchat)/ Voxer

"evolved"??  more like "devolved"  D:<

Ok, you'll probably hear this from me more than once if we talk a lot, but I have to say this here.  I ABSOLUTELY HATE THE NEW PINGCHAT "UPGRADE"  (more like a major downgrade!!)

I fell in love with Pingchat for many reasons, and now all of those reasons are GONE.  Nothing to do now but hope that the app company listens to the scathing reviews for this version (mine included) and reverts it back.  Until then, me and my original Pingchat friend are trying out Voxer (also for smart phones -hint hint-  ;D  )

what a cute icon.  >w<

Voxer is no Pingchat, to be sure.  The interface feels more crowded and less sleek, the notification noise is more muted, there's no video capability, no cute emotes like Pingchat (that I've come to love  ; - ; ), it only shows your current location, doesn't show the status of the messages received, but there is voice recording, group chat, and photo capabilities. It'll do for now, I suppose.  PINGCHAT, COME BACK!!!  TT^TT

★★★★★★★★★★★★★ PURCHASES   ★★★★★★★

After a few weeks of impatient waiting, my package finally came...!  (oh, that reminds me, I need to leave feedback for them on Etsy)  Working padlock charms with mini keys, all for around the same price that it would have cost to get that one star padlock necklace that I wanted so badly before.  YESSSSS!!   *w*

                                           

★★★★★★★★★★★★★ FOOD/SNACKS   ★★★★★★★
CAKE POPS

After having first seen them around 1-2 years ago, I ate my first cake pops yesterday!  They weren't super good quality, but I'm happy to say that I finally got to try them!  c:  Next on the list?  Jar cakes.  

http://www.etsy.com/shop/tookies

★★★★★★★★★★★★★ GAMES  ★★★★★★★

MINECRAFT

For most of the time since I last posted, I've been far, far away, in the world of Minecraft.  I spent most of that time building my room, but I finally got to play with more than one other person for the first time! My new friend, SpecOpsSR (sorry, I just realized that I had misspelled your name in my previous post, sorry!!), was kind enough to let my friend Habible onto his server.  Before Spec joined us, Habible gave me more pointers about the game, showed me his style of mining, and found a sheep stuck in the minecart that Spec had built the other day, going round and round and round (before Habible set it free).  

on setting it free:  "it was inhumane", he said.  "(Actually, I wanted to see if I could fit
in the cart with it)"  xD

 Very shortly after that, Spec joined us, and we all had a grand adventure deep underground, where Habible found some diamond!  (and went swimming in lava a few times)  While there navigating around all that lava, Habible gave me some tips about how to deal with lava, like using a bucket of water to create an obsidian pocket around you if you fall in.  I created a bucket and got my first bucket of water, yay!  I then proceeded to try and turn the lava into obsidian.  I got a bucket of lava instead.  Wanting to empty it, I ended up killing myself.  Dx

His poor items...

first (and last) bucket of lava  >.>

After all that short (but fun) mini adventure, Habible had to log off, so we all went back to our "secret base" and me and Spec decorated it and built a lovely waterfall pool with a sky view glass roof for our base's "bathroom", and I started building my room across from it.  Can't wait til we can all play together again!!  >w<  

...what on earth are you guys looking at?  o_O

~~~~MY ROOM  (more pics later!)~~~~

Two level sky/ocean view wall and roof.  And not any view of the ocean.
It's holding back the ocean.  

a waterfall... and a painting of a creeper looking through a window  o.o  

First day of December

December 1st.  (And no partridge in a pear tree.
Oh wait, no "true love" either, much less a boyfriend.  >_> ) 

 Almost the end of the year!  >.<  Time to put up the advent calendar that my Grandmother made and has been put up every December since my Mom was a kid~

Really quiet day.  Could have been a lot better in some respects, but whatever.  >_>  Not in the best of moods today.  Hormones are not helping.  xD  I was especially happy, however, to randomly get texts from Habib, Belle and (out of absolutely nowhere) Kamadashi, since I was starting to feel generally frustrated because it seems lately that people (including my new texting pal  ; w ; ) don't text me unless I text them, in which cases, it often feels like I'm bothering them. 

But hey, I know, it's a really crazy time of year.  People are busy as heck, sick (and sick as heck), and it's almost finals time. It's not that I don't understand or am demanding more attention, but it's just this crummy feeling that it's been a while since someone sounded like someone actually really missed or wanted to talk to me in particular, you know?

Lately, it feels like even when friends do talk to me, it's just because I texted them, they're bored, because their lovers/other friends are busy at the time, and that I'm often the only one really happy to be talking to them.  (non-passive aggressive/sarcastic) But hey, what can you do?  I'll just have to suck it up and stop being such a panda pansy, lol. [/griping]   Cause I do love hearing from you guys whenever you do want to/ have time to talk... Maybe I just need a boyfriend, lol.  x__x;  (mostly joking)

How a panda pansy would look?  

But anyway.    

Two more packages came in the mail today, yay.  My lego block ice cube tray (that I want to make gummies or soap with), and my wing charms all the way from France!  <3

★★★★★★★★★★★★★ CRAFTING   ★★★★★★★

Ohhhhhh mannnn, I'm just dying to post about my pictures and progress of the Christmas gifts that I'm making for people, but a few of you actually read my posts.  xp  So instead, here is a picture that I took a month or two ago.  ; w ;

But yes!  I'm going to be sending out my first batch of Christmas gifts and cards to my friends on the mainland within the next week! <3

★★★★★★★★★★★★★INTERNET   ★★★★★★★

Watch out.  First, there was being Rickroll'D.  Now, there's the danger of being NickRoll'D.  

"It now appears that Rick Astley has some competition for his meme crown as the NickRoll is here, and it’s awful.

Nickelback’s latest travesty song, When We Stand Together, is being passed around the Internet, but not necessarily because people like it. Just like the the RickRoll, people are being directed to the video under the assumption that it’s something that they’d actually like to watch. Sadly they’re greeted with the Chad Kroeger repetitiously screeching the word 'Yeah'."  

-http://www.webpronews.com/nickrolld-latest-meme-leads-victims-to-nickelback-youtube-video-2011-12

Oh, Nickelback.  

Oh.  And after having signed up for RedditGifts, I also subscribed to their facebook page.  So checking my news feed today, I saw that someone participating in the secret santa exchange this had been given a cruise.  Yes, a freaking CRUISE trip.  Um, wow.  This secret santa exchange is truly scary.  You can get anything from paperclips and boxes of dirt to a cruise trip.  Mind=blown.

You're all getting Spheals

Everyone was saying what a beautifully gorgeous day it was, so once I felt well enough, I went to sit outside on my favorite suntanning/cloudwatching step, and was dazed by the gorgeous and cloudless sky.  And thanks to my dog, Hachi, who decided to go off on her own to experience it more fully, I got to go on a little walk and experience it more fully for myself as well.  [/half sarcasm]

All well and good...until my body remembered that I was still weak and sick and developed a slight temperature after this short venture.  v_v;
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[tone=crazy]
 I've just decided.  I'm just going to make everyone Spheals for Christmas, unless you request otherwise.  For Fly, since you don't like Pokemon, I can make yours brown and replace the tail with a monkey tail, and voila!  We just maxed out cute.  Now that I've found a simple solution of my holiday giftgiving problem, I can now spend more time on other things (Like Minecraft?)

  And if we don't exchange gifts, I can draw you a picture of one (in crayon, and left-handed!).

  "Hope your holiday season is Spheal-y and bright!"

Spheals all around!  I can make one in your favorite color!

...................................
[/crazytalk]

...No?  No.  I suppose that won't do after all.  Don't worry, that was just the cold and the stress talking. 

No time, no money.  Bleh.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★ANIME   ★★★★★★★

USAGI DROP

Being sick in bed, I watched the episode 10 of 11 of the super quiet "slice of life" genre anime series, Usagi Drop, on my Crunchyroll app on my iTouch.  Coincidentally, it happened to be about the main girl, Rin, being sick in bed (though with the stomach flu).  Huh.

Personally, I feel that this anime is secretly propaganda for some
kind of "being a parent is great" campaign to ease the
imminent population crash of Japan-- After watching this series,
I kind of feel like I want a kid.  ahaha....

Sweet, cold, soft, and juicy canned mandarin oranges... oh god,
I want some so badly now, eating all this soup makes me crave
something cold, sweet, and nostalgic like this...
(is this just an Asian thing?)

★★★★★★★★★★★★★PURCHASES/GIFTS   ★★★★★★★

ETSY

On Friday, my order from Delishbeads came in the mail, YAY!  I just love their acrylic rainbow beads, I haven't seen anything like it anywhere else, so when I saw that they finallllly restocked some, I made sure to buy them along with some pretty aqua star beads that I saw.

  

So they'll join the rest of my favorite beads and embellishments in a jar that

 used to house my favorite French strawberry jam preserves.  <3

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PANDA STUFF

Yesterday, my lovely sister brought back a small gift from her day out on town, Panda Mart stickers!! <3  (that smell like sickly sweet Japanese strawberry candies)

...I wonder why they show the panda melon pan, sushi, and cup ramen, etc, when they're not included..

On an off-note, my sister said that she'd totally read Panda Jump.  "One Panda", "Panda Ball Z"...
and you people always call ME a dork.  My reaction = blank look

★★★★★★★★★★★★★GAMES   ★★★★★★★

Pokemon Black

One thing that I hate about being sick is that my eyes head and eyes often hurt too much to be on the computer or play games much, so no MMOs today, though I was working on my bizarre underground labyrinth library of sorts last night in Minecraft.  Sadly, now that I actually have it, everyone is too busy to play.  I wanted to play Maple story, but I don't want to leave Kerning until I decide on which hairstyle to get (please check bottom of previous post and let me know your opinion!)

Still need quite a bit of cards

So instead, not wanting to just lie in bed (I was, however, playing Words with Friends sporadically on my iTouch throughout the day), as soon as the aspirin kicked in enough, I finally started playing my Pokemon Black game again after a long absence.  I found myself near Chargestone Cave (oh, goodie, caves), so I decided to try and make it through there.  I caught a bunch of new Pokemon, but accidentally killed the only Drilbur that I ran into.  Oops.  Maa, ikka.  

Image Source

Truffle fingers

Daylight Savings Time is over~!!!!  Now I'm an hour closer to Habib and the rest of my mainland friends!  :,D  know that 1 hour sounds really trivial, but hey, as my sister said, "an hour's difference can mean walking home in the dark [or not]."

........on the flipside, though, that extra hour definitely made some things possible that really won't be anymore.... A LOT less early morning chatting and no more early-morning gaming sessions for me, I'm guessing...   ; ___ ;   Oh well, it was fun while it lasted...  -sighs sadly-  </3

On a happier note, though, I got phone calls (and voicemail!) from my 3 friends in Minnesota today, one of whom I had never spoken to before... but I guess we're friends now!  >w<

Also, I have the strangest conversations with my friends... so just for the record, I DO NOT HAVE TRUFFLE FINGERS, Mr. Loui....!!!!  (and they're not weird, either!  > A <;;;  )
It's all a figment of your truffle brain imagination.  Honestly.  -coughs-  moving on...

Nope, that's Habib (some of the time).  

★★★★★★★★★★★★★SNACK  STUFF ★★★★★★★

Dangerously addictive to panda rabbits.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★PURCHASED  STUFF ★★★★★★★

Now I can display my shop jewelry in a more professional
manner in photos!

★★★★★★★★★★★★★PRP/BUSINESS STUFF ★★★★★★★

B. Castleman, T. Singer, and J.Ruiz, your
packages have been mailed out today!

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EBAY

After being told by my friend Justin last week that eBay dropped the listing fees for the holiday selling season, I finally got all my leftover inventory from this past anime convention together (all small stuff, like bookmarks, pins, and sticker sheets) and made my first 10 eBay listings!  Wish me luck!

my very first ebay listing!.. of a product made from my sister's art, lol

★★★★★★★★★★★★★INTERNET  STUFF ★★★★★★★

GAIA

While his his/our 2 friends went to the store to buy stuff for the fire at his place, Habib and I talked about possibly running an art gifting thread during the upcoming holiday event, and possibly recruiting artists (and my lazy sister) for it.  Looking for people who would want to stick around and chat, draw gift art! 

★★★★★★★★★★★★★GAMING  STUFF ★★★★★★★

TIBIA

Right before turning in last night, I suddenly really wanted to explore Venore a little bit since it seems that it'll be a while before being able to play with my Tibia guide again, but after logging in and seeing a whole bunch of players, one of whom had a red skull, I decided that I should call it a night after all.

thanks so much for leaving me somewhere safe, Vyce!
and ew, that guy looks almost like me.   =A=

Random LotR movie references = EPIC WIN

"This is why you are my friend" moment + not-so-inner LotR/dork spazzing
Yep, this came out of nowhere.  Crazy?  yes.  But in a good way.
He also says that Gimlum will have a metal beard.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★CRAFT  STUFF ★★★★★★★

Tools of the trade:  Latex gloves, bottle of rubbing alcohol, hot glue gun,
glitters, measuring spoons, iPod timer, chopsticks, popsicle sticks,
toothpicks, Q-tips, plastic containers, EasyCast resin,
scissors, resin molds, napkins, freezer paper underneath

A few days ago, my good friend (and penpal) Mitsuki requested that I make a cell phone keychain to match her sakura phone case.  Since everyone was busy today, I finally had time to set out to do that, PLUS test out my new resin molds~  I'll be having my fingers crossed (that the resin will harden properly) until I can de-cast the them in 72 hours, on 10/29 @ 3:30 PM.   o ~ o ;;   

★★★★★★★★★★★★★PURCHASED  STUFF ★★★★★★★

Proof that you CAN buy happiness

Today, I got my purchases from CutePaperEtc! They came very quickly, in a mailing envelope with cute deco tape and a cute shop stamp, the items in a cute plastic bag, a cute thank you note, and with a small bit of freebie stickers (pictured) .  ♥

★★★★★★★★★★★★★ONLINE  STUFF ★★★★★★★

GAIA ONLINE

Logging in today and seeing the new header, it was apparent that the REAL Halloween event had started. 

The event, Moonrise, is basically a humans vs werewolf battle, and users can do battle in two places,

the Masquerade flashspace and the event forum, where users can regain energy (but risk getting attacked), heal/revive their respective teammates in addition to attacking those from the other team.

It's said that you receive an alchemy item for making kills in the flashspace, though the frequency was uncertain at the time due to infamous event glitches and instability.  

So far, the general consensus is that this event is quite boring, and to many, frustrating.  I've made several easy kills in the flashspace, but there wasn't much more to clicking.  And in the forums, my level 1 attack, Jab, hasn't really accomplished much, and I ended up dying (I wasn't aware that attacks show up on static 

feed on the top of the page) before long.  

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YOUTUBE

My ultra crazy awesome  friend, Kamadashi (incidentally, the same friend who I was chatting with in that FB chat screenie at the start of this entry) made a video that stars a gift commission plush that I made for him, who he named Kakkoii Chibi.  Here's Kakkoii Chibi in my dA gallery, and his video of it:

★★★★★★★★★★★★★TECH  STUFF ★★★★★★★

iTOUCH/SMARTPHONE APPS

Remember my quest to find friends to talk to on PingChat?  Now I have 3 people on my contacts.  WOO!

Me and Belle spent a good part of the afternoon sending talking via voice clips and sending each other pictures.  >w<

This isn't really news, but one of my other apps that I enjoy using is Doodle buddy.  I think that I'd like it even more if their "draw with buddy" connection option worked.  I wanted to draw but didn't have the energy to go on the computer and do so on photoshop, so I did something quick there.  Drawing with a finger is harder than you'd think, though.

Empty hands are colder...