Pixie's LJ (creative title, huh?)

Getting the short end of the stick

2007-01-19T15:13:26Z

So...after getting lost the first time I tried to find the Nagoya JE shop, I finally made it on the second try with the help of some LJ girls. It was a pretty small room with tons of girls packed in. I thought I'd find a whole bunch of pre-teens there and feel all awkward being older but surprisingly, all the fans in there were kinda old. It's a tiny little shop really. After still spending about an hour in there, I ended up buying only 13 pictures (may post pics up later). Ah well. Anyway, buying pics is pretty easy - you fill out the sheet, line up at the cashier, pay - but how in the world do you buy the other goods there like the posters and stuff? Do you just line up and ask for them at the cashier? Write it down on some separate form that I couldn't find?

Anyway, since my hotel TV doesn't have TBS, I thought I'd have to miss HYD tonight. So I was enjoying Shinobi on TV when one of the other trainees runs into my room to tell me HYD was on another station! So after a brief moment at wondering WTF it was doing on another station, I turned on the TV but was only able to catch the last half of HYD . T_T Totally bummed about it.

Finally made my way over to the magazine section of the konbini. I've been trying to hard to resist going to that section because once I spotted any mags with our boys, I knew I'd want to snatch it up. I actually spotted a couple of mags with our boys but alas, I was able to exert some self control and not buy anything. Not even the Fineboys that had a "special price" on the Feb. issue of only 500 yen. *sigh*

Might watch Bokuimo this weekend. I'd rather spend my time sight seeing Osaka and Kyoto but we'll see what happens at night time.

White Christmas

2006-12-25T08:08:58Z

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas
Just like the ones I used to know
Where the tree tops glisten and children listen
To hear sleigh bells in the snow

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas
With every Christmas card I write
May you days be merry and bright
And may all your Christmases be white

This year is a green Christmas for me but may your's still be merry and bright.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Masked Dilemma

2006-12-17T07:31:33Z

Pick one! Your vote is much needed!

Pixie lacks tact...

2006-12-11T10:01:11Z

I just remembered a really funny mIRC convo I had a looong time ago.

Me: I know nothing about anyone in NEWS except Yamapi...everyone else looks the same to me.
Her: Everyone always says that...NEWS isn't just Yamapi, ya know
Me: Oh I know. It's not like I purposely focus only on him...he's just the only one I know. That's all.
Her: I like Koyama the most.
Me: Actually, there is this one guy that totally stands out to me cuz I think he looks like a cross-eyed frog. You know, the one in N's Aoi.
Her: That's Koyama.
Me: . . .
*runs aways

Hehehe. I LOL every time I think about my stupidity. At least I started to pay attention to who people were in other JE groups!

Frustration

2006-12-10T10:34:26Z

I leave for Japan in ONE MONTH and yet, the company still hasn't told me yet where they are placing me. As of right now, I have no idea where I will be living.

Can you say grr??

P A T H

2006-12-10T10:32:13Z

I share a love/hate relationship with P A T H.. What is it, you might ask? Well, PATH is the underground network of shops and tunnels that connect much of downtown Toronto's core. If you really think about it, PATH is an amazing feat and I'm really proud that my city has it. On the other hand, it's heck confusing!

See, Toronto streets are laid out much like any other North American city's streets - in a neat grid pattern. But not PATH. PATH likes to run up, down, left right, and diagonally. There were so many times I reached a fork in the road and had to choose between three different paths to turn down! And you don't have the use of street signs to guide you to your destination. Oh no...PATH wants you to use the force or something like that to find your way. That's why, on Friday, when I had to perform some business downtown, I decided to walk the several kilometres between destinations above ground in - 3 degrees celsius weather, rather than attempt to tackle the mess called PATH. Good concept, bad carrythrough.

Still, I find the notion that I can live a half hour drive from work and still never have to step foot outdoors to reach work very interesting. For example, if you lived in the condos in North York, chances are that your condo is connected to the subways (No outdoors point #1). Then, if you work in the downtown core, say the Financial District, you can take PATH from the subway station to your building (No outdoors point #2). Need to run across the street to deliver something? No problem! Avoid traffic and the cold by going PATH (No outdoors point #3). And if you lived in one of the really good apartments, like Empress Walk, you'd have no need to conduct your life anywhere else cuz everything is in your condo! Movie theatre, restaurants, coffe shops, grocery store, electronic store, clothing shops....everything is located in your condo! (No outdoors point #4). The out-of-doors are overrated. =P

Anyway, lot of blabbering, not a lot of sense. Just wanted to get my thoughts down about PATH. And the following site has lots of info.

http://www.toronto.ca/path/

Things to sell...

2006-12-06T10:56:45Z

So I think the vast number of things I have to sell have finally outgrown my LJ. Plus, I'm sure there are people here who are kinda 'wtf?' about all the things I have for sale. As a solution, I've created a selling journal (yay! way to follow trends!).

Please stop by and friend babypixie_sells

This is an order.

That is all.

Reneging on word

2006-12-02T05:47:30Z

In a few days, I'll have another post up with some of the old things reorganized for sale along with a lot of new stuff. Originally, there was one item that I was planning on selling too but now that I know what it can do, I'm thinking I might wanna keep it for myself!

See, I bought myself a Pikanchi monkey, specifically the female one. And at first, I thought it was just a doll, but look at what it can do!

See for yourself

So now that I know how cool my monkey is, how can I sell it? Still...I have a feeling it'll just sit on my chair with the rest of my stuffed animals if I keep it. What to do??

And so ends one saga...

2006-11-30T21:00:32Z

Last night, I picked up my last giant package from Japan. Although I stopped hitting the auctions back in August, I didn't have my things sent to me until about a month ago. And so, Pixie's venture into the world of Japanese auctions finally comes to an end with the last package finally here. No pictures this time around cuz most of what I bought were just magazines anyway.

I've learned my lesson. Yahoo Japan auctions combined with deputy auction sites are bad for my bank account's health. T_T

I think I've tried pretty much every deputy auction site out there, excluding Rinkya for the obvious reason that they have a reputation for ripping the biggest whole in your wallet. I think it would be good to do a review of these sites. Then maybe other people won't waste their money on service fees like me and spend their money on the actual goods. Better yet, don't start on the auctions at all. Seriously. I got curious today and checked out the auctions and what did I see? Taiwan and Seoul concert goodies. It was so hard to not press that bid button. Haha.

And so...another saga begins as I begin the countdown to my big (temporary) move to Japan.

T minus 41 days and counting...

Involuntary insomniac

2006-11-29T09:56:01Z

It's a quarter to 5am right now and I can't sleep! Geez, I think my body is still stuck in the I've-got-a-huge-assignment-due-tomorrow-so-I-must-stay-up-all-night mode even though my last big assignment was due today and I don't have anything until next Monday to worry about.

I can't believe I'm near the end of the term already. I feel like it just started. As the years go by, the terms feel shorter and shorter. I can't believe most of my friends are graduating in 5 months. It feels so surreal. I look around my group of friends and I think, "Us, in the work force? You must be kidding me!" The guys still love their video games and perverted sex jokes. The girls...well, there aren't that many of us, so I don't know what kinda generalizations I can make. All I can say is that we're not ready to grow up!

I'm not ready to grow up. As my university life draws closer to its end, I'm starting to feel really anxious and uneasy about my future. I still don't know what I want to do with my life. I think that's why I chose to apply for co-op Japan even though the job has nothing to do with what I'm studying in school. I'm stuck in a rut and I just really need a change, something that will jumpstart me back into life. Right now, I'm really wondering if health studies was the right way to go for me. Why didn't I go into business as I originally wanted? I know it's possible to make a 180 and switch now but I'd feel like the last three and a half years I spent in school were such a waste if I did so.

*sigh* There I go again being all depressed at 5 in the morning. Whatever. Time to try to sleep again.

Blow out sale to save my life!

2006-11-19T00:53:01Z

As some people know, I'll be heading overseas to live and work for eight months in the beginning of January. My big dilemma is that I have no money to last me to my first paycheque because I spent it all (well...a lot of it) on auctions of Arashi stuff. T_T

In an effort to generate a little bit of income, I'm selling some of the items I've accumulated. Please have a look at what I have to offer.

Details:

The following is a list of what I have for sale and the prices I'm asking for. I have one of each item for sale unless the name is followed by a (x2), which indicates that I have two. Pictures are to follow further down the page. All prices are in US dollar.

Johnny's Mags & Memorabilia Sale
1. Wink up Sept. 20064 $10.30
2. Potato Sept. 2006 $11.40
3. Duet Sept. 2006 $10.80 (it's a shiny/metallic cover of KATTUN...that's why the pic turned out funny)
4. Popolo Sept. 2006 $12.00
5. Roadshow Dec. 2005 $10
6-9. Johnny's Jr Manga 1998-1999 $10 each
10-16. Unofficial Johnny's Jr & Arashi biographies $10 each
17. Arashi Pikanchi B@earbrick $10 each
18. Kansai Jr/Kanjani 8 set (uchiwa, blotting tissue, and tissue box) $25 as a set, $10 each if separated

All uchiwas $12.50 each
19. Jun Jr. uchiwa 1 (x2)
~~20. Jun Jr. uchiwa 2~~
~~21. Jun (1999) uchiwa~~
~~22. Nino Arashi ga haru no arashi o yobu (2001) uchiwa~~
23. Johnny's Sports Day 2003 uchiwa
24. Sho Suppin Arashi (2000) uchiwa
25. Sho Typhoon Generation (2000) uchiwa
26. Sho Arashi ga haru no arashi o yobu (2001) uchiwa (x2)
27. Sho Join the Storm (2001-2002) uchiwa
~~28. Sho Here We Go (2002) uchiwa~~
~~29. Sho How's it Going (2003) uchiwa~~
~~30. Sho Atarashi Arashi (2003) uchiwa~~
31. Sho Live is Hard Dakara Happy (2003-2004) uchiwa
~~32. Sho Iza, Now (2004) uchiwa~~
~~33. Sho One (2005) uchiwa~~
34. Aiba (1999) uchiwa
~~35. Aiba Arashi ga haru no arashi o yobu (2000) uchiwa~~
~~36. Aiba Here We Go (2002) uchiwa~~
~~37. Aiba How's it Going (2003) uchiwa~~
~~38. Aiba Atarashi Arashi (2003) uchiwa~~
~~39. Aiba Live is Hard Dakara Happy (2003-2004) uchiwa~~
40. Aiba Iza, Now (2004) uchiwa
41. Aiba Johnny's Countdown (2004-2005) uchiwa
~~42. Aiba One (2005) uchiwa~~

How to Order:
If you are interested in purchasing any items, leave a comment with the number of the item(s) you want and if applicable, the quantity. Then, e-mail me the same information at mai.san225[at]gmail.com, plus your country of origin (or postal code if in Canada) so that I can confirm shipping with you.

Shipping and Payment Details:
I accept Paypal (with 4% transaction fee), money order, and concealed cash (at your own risk!). Canadian buyers also have the option of an online bank transfer. Payment must be made within seven (7) days of receiving confirmation of order by e-mail or the items will be put back up for sale.

I will ship worldwide. Approximate shipping costs can be calculated here. Please use the postal code, L3R 0B0, for calculations. Please keep in mind that the actual cost will be slightly more ($1 - $5) to account for packaging material costs.

Pictures:

If you have any questions or would like more information about an item, leave me a comment here or send inquiries to the e-mail address provided above.

Masochism to the max

2006-11-18T06:24:40Z

Out of pure curiosity and self loathing, I decided to check out Kevin Federline's music video for "Lose Control." It was my first time seeing the video and hearing the song and I must admit, I threw up a little in my mouth.

He's a sad excuse for a rapper, he's not a superstar as he claims in his song, and I feel really bad for the crumper who appeared in his video cuz that guy was actually good.

I take pleasure in knowing that his album sold a measly 6 000 copies worldwide in his first week. I actually laughed aloud when I read that bit of news. Does that make me a masochist and a sadist?

baby_pixie225 @ 2006-10-03T15:38:00

2006-10-03T19:40:37Z

I have sooo much to rave about that I dunno where to start! Well, I guess I'll announce this first since it's short and sweet.
....

I'm going to Japan!!!!

Well, I got accepted into Co-op Japan and I will be working as an English teacher to young children starting from January, 2007. I don't have all the details yet like where I'll be working but I'll update as I find out.

I'm so excited!!!!!!

What's been going on with me?

2006-09-24T05:56:22Z

Let's see...what's been going on with me?

Well, I started school two weeks ago...and lived the last two weeks without internet! I won't go into details but it's been one big hassle and I'm hoping and praying that I have internet come Monday.

What else? I met up with Arwenna and Tokki last weekend! ^_^ We had tons of fun in Niagara Falls, USA. The Cave of the Winds is amazing! It was my first time on the American side of the Falls and I was shocked at how different it was from the Canadian side. It was a nice way of spending Arashi's debut anniversary. ^_^ I left early though because the pull of the haunted houses on the Canadian side was just too strong. =P

Co-op: Bleh, what an exhausting process, especially without the internet! I'm busy applying for jobs again. Oh, my Co-op Japan interview is on Monday! So I hafta drive all the way back to Toronto the day after I leave it! Well, I hope it goes well.

Lastly, I hafta make an announcement of my eBay sales. LOL Please stop by and have a look. CLICK HERE

That's it, I guess. I've been keeping busy trying to avoid all the germs at school and catching any colds (which always happened to me the first month back in school!). So far, so good.

Note to self: I need new Userpics

Current Obsession of the Moment

2006-09-10T18:13:03Z

I've been hearing this slow jam a lot on the radio lately but I had no idea what it was called or who sung it until I caught the video on MuchMusic last night. It's such a nice song and when I googled the artist, tada! He had a myspace. Check out his song "Talk To Me" and request it on your local radios!

And it doesn't hurt that he's damn fine!

baby_pixie225 @ 2006-09-06T01:05:00

2006-09-06T05:06:05Z

Hello! I've got some Arashi and other JE auctions going on right now on eBay. Please stop by and have a look. ^_^ \/

My auctions

Co-op Japan

2006-08-31T09:15:27Z

So I finally sent in my application to the Co-op Japan Program. I pretty much left it up to the very last minute to do so. Basically, I think I just needed the time to figure out if this is something I wanna do. If I get accepted into this thing, I'll be in Japan for 8 months, alone, with no family and friends from home, no one who speaks my language. It's a scary and exciting thing at the same time. In the end, though, I hope I get into this thing as I don't see myself having a chance like this to travel to another country once I've graduated from university.

On a completely unrelated note, anyone seen the video of the angry German kid on youtube? It pisses the hell outta me. I dunno how my friend found this kid funny. My ears hurt now and I dunno how he hasn't lost his voice with all that incessant screaming.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7FZnV-joeA

I hate you, dancergirl!!!

2006-08-28T06:32:52Z

I am so ANGRY!! What is wrong with this stupid dancergirl on eBay? Does she have some compulsion where she feels the need to outbid everyone on every single good seat for the So You Think You Can Dance Show? Seriously, she's already bought like eight tickets and spent over $2000. What need does she have to go and bid on the auction that I was winning? So....argjazfnglzfmg;arijg;lkv. And stupid Ontario law prevents me from upping my bid! Damn dancergirl! I hope she lives in Ontario too and has to restract her bid. OMG, I'm sooo mad right now!

Books

2006-08-16T01:05:38Z

I've been in the mood lately to read some classics. There haven't been any good new fiction, so I guess I'm turning to the old tried and trues. Browsing through the bookstore the other day, I thought about picking up John Steinbeck's East of Eden (the book that relaunched Oprah's book club! ...according to the sleeve), but I dunno how well he writes, so I just put the book back down. =/ Although, I heard that The Grapes of Wrath is good. I thought about picking up some George Orwell too, like 1984 or Animal Farm, but I feel kinda stupid reading Animal Farm now when so many people covered it in elementary school. -_-"

Of course, I also considered reading some serious classics like Gilgamesh but I figured that doesn't quite qualify as "light reading."

Please recommend some good reading to me.

I got my work term evaluation today. Although I'm happy with my grade, I'm kinda jealous that my co-worker got one level higher than me. I actually think she's a better tutor than me but in terms of doing the little things around the workplace, I think I do most of those. Anyway, I'm happy for her and totally think she deserves the good grade...I just think that I do too. =P Anyway, three more days and then I'm off!

Le troisieme Celga batch

2006-08-15T00:57:32Z

The last and final batch from Celga (it finally arrived!). There were three big boxes so be prepared for a long post.

First though, here are the posters from the SMJ batch that I forgot to post. It's not a clear pic of the Tokio poster, ai, but you can see err...a corner of it. I'll be selling off all of them except for the Wish poster.

And now for the real Celga stuff...

A KCE auction lot that included the Nippon Series DVD, two mags, some ads, and the Nippon Series movie pamphs. Sho love ^^

The ever present butai pamphs. I think I have all the butai pamphs now if I count what I got with crescent-shop. Actually, I know I'm missing Stand By Me but I've only seen that once and the price reached places that I don't even wanna contemplate. Please let me know if you see the Stand By Me pamph!

Aiba uchiwas. I dunno why I got these other than I'm prolly gonna sell these all off (with the exception of the Johnny's Sports Day group uchiwa). Anyway, I full list of what I'm selling should be going up soon...

Mags. I've now got a double of Roadshow December 2005, so I'll be selling that off. Actually, I had bought two more Roadshow mags but I didn't read the description thoroughly and didn't realize that they were WITHOUT the Jun pages >.< I've learned my lesson; all descriptions get read thoroughly from now on.

These are all from one auction that I won. I'm so happy to have so many mags with Arashi on the cover.

Jun uchiwas. Most of the uchiwas I won are from the early years but Jr Jun is so cute, I couldn't resist!

Look familiar? I completely didn't realize I bought two sets of Sho uchiwas >.< Well...you know what that means will happen to one of them.

Unorganized, I know. More Jun uchiwas. He was such a cute kid! Plus a World Cup '99 uchiwa, Jr. Jun keychain, plus a Typhoon Generation poster (rolled up).

Jr. Sho uchiwas! This person bid against me for these so I lost about half of the Jr. uchiwas. Sho was sooo cute! I'm still hurting from losing those uchiwas. =( The bottom is from an auction where the mother decided to get rid of her daughter's 'junk'. Well, one man's junk is another man's treasure.

Con clothes, none of which I know whether I can fit. =P Well, I now have an extra How's it Going T.

Extra com pamphs plus Nino's Rebel Without a Cause pamph. Dunno why Nino's pamph didn't get shot with the rest of my butai pamphs. Well, like I said, I'm disorganized.

CDs again (haven't seen these in a while =P). Oh, plus be@rbricks! I got these in a lot of three.

Arashi FC brochures. Yay! I've actually got three full sets of brochures plus plenty of loose ones too.

Last pic, I promise. Some Johnny's Jr stuff, plus Arashi 2005-2006 Calendar, and a Live is Hard Dakara Happy blanket! Now I can snuggle with Arashi whenever I want. ^^

Anyway, I think anyone who's followed my deputy auction adventures know that I have many doubles (and sometimes triples, quadruples, quintuples...). I actually took a big risk and bought some extras, hoping that I could resell them. Is it a risk worth taking? Will I end up broke with tons of Arashi goodies? Well, we'll see.

Documenting my excess

2006-08-09T01:29:14Z

I know you know what this post is about.

That's right. More stuff. This time, it's from shoppingmalljapan (even though my celga stuff were purchased waaaay before. Where the heck are they??).

Shirts, shirts, and more shirts! Let's see...two 24TV t-shirts (one of which I might sell), an Atarashi Arashi hoodie, a How's it Going T, and a Pikanchi T (the one in the tube). Heck, I don't even know if I'll fit any of these shirts (I better at least fit the LL size 24TV shirt -_-").

Some Pikanchi can badges, a couple of photos, and FC brochures! Yay, I finally have FC brochures! But...I think the brochures are bigger than the FC folder...wth?

Do I ever not get butai pamphs? I think they are my most favourite items of my collection. This time, there's the Jun unpronounceable-name-butai and Ohno's True West.

The first half of my Sho uchiwa auction win. You know I love my Sho! ^^

Second half of my Sho uchiwa auction. Hmm...I think the Iza, Now one is my fave (the one on the bottom right corner).

That's it (for now). I think my mom's starting to notice my excess; how can she not when I get a new box of stuff practically every week? *sigh* I'm stopping...I swear!

What a full day!

2006-08-06T05:39:35Z

Wow, I can't believe it's been such an eventful day.

I saw The Lord of the Rings musical today. I give it a 2.5 outta 5. I think they did a good job of condensing all three books into only three hours, the intrumental music was a good blend of folk and orchestral songs, and the actor who played Golem was great save for the fact that I think he too closely resembles the Golem from the movie version of LOTR. However, the songs just didn't quite fit with the story. Most musicals I've seen do a good job of interweaving the songs with the dialogue but this time, they completely detracted from the script. The only song that I enjoyed was Galadriel's song; that singer has a really powerful voice. After seeing this, I'm not surprised they're cutting short its run in Toronto. I guess ticket sales just haven't been as strong as they hoped. Well, at least I can say I was part of LOTR history by seeing this before they close it down and move it to the West End in London.

Upcoming musicals for the rest of 2006: Spamalot (hopefully), and Wicked (definitely)

Also today, I went to the Chinese Lantern Festival down by the lakeshore. It was really beautiful. That picture is actually the gate that you walk through at the front entrance. There was some serious craftwork on display with some of these lanterns. Some weren't as spectacular as they pretty much resembled giant wire frames with cloth stretched over them, but others were breathtaking, like this hectametre dragon that was constructed entirely out of parcelain dishes, plates, cups, and spoons. I wish I could post some pictures up but I've gotta wait until I get these pics from my sister (the above pic is from the website =P).

Anyways...it was an overall satisfying day. = )

Celga, part deux

2006-08-03T23:15:49Z

Package two came! It actually showed up on Monday but I had no time to pick it up until today. And this box consists entirely of.....Roadshow mags! I had won an auction for a copy of all the 2005 issues of Roadshow but Jun's only in 5 of them. Ah well, I still paid less than cover price for the five. I shoulda had Celga throw out the rest though, since it just added to my shipping costs! T_T Anyone interested in taking the non-Jun Roadshows off my hand?

I love his Roadshow pics! Top and bottom left pics are sooo yummy! ^^

Celga part three and four, to be continued...

Dreams...

2006-08-03T23:09:40Z

I had a dream the other day and I must say it was the oddest dream I've had in a while. First of all, I dreamt about a celebrity which doesn't happen very often. Second, I dreamt about Nino! O_O I mean, if I was going to dream about an Arashi boy, why did I dream about my least favourite one?

Anyway, as the dream goes, Nino was at my Learning Centre (don't ask me why he was in Canada) and he needed help with his english. So a conversation appointment was booked for him, and since I'm the queen of convo at the centre, he was booked with me. As it was, his english wasn't that bad but that wasn't even what I remembered most about my dream. The thing that I remembered most was myself thinking that if I had Nino fill in my tutor log sheet himself, I could then brag to everyone that I met and talked to Nino, and not only that, but I have his writing in my possession! -_-

So in the end, I think the point of that dream was to show me how much of a braggart I really am. That's right, I enjoy being the centre of attention. But why Nino??

The First of Many...

2006-07-15T00:43:02Z

I got my first package from Celga today! It's very small...and I wonder when my other packages will get here...

Here are the contents:

So I've got my third butai pamph (Tsubame no Iru Eki), the April issue of Roadshow with the killer HOT Jun pic, and two FC brochure file folders. I don't know what I'm gonna do with two since each can hold 40 but Arashi only has 29 editions out. *rolls eyes at her excessiveness*

Oh, the butai pamph also came with a DVD with some news and CM clips and some Aiba photos. Oh...and one of the file folders came with a group photo too! Ah...how I love perks.

Now I just have to wait for the rest of my stuff...my FC brochures aren't even here yet and I already have something to keep them in. *rolls eyes*

I shall (im)patiently twiddle my thumbs and wait.