Current location:	living room table
Current mood:	artistic
Current music:	"Thank You My Twilight"

MARSHMALLOW PEEPS, IT'S A DELICIOUS BUMP TOUR!
Happy Easter, everyone. ^-^ By popular demand (and by popular demand, I mean Tasha asked me to a while back, out of boredom), I'm updating my LJ, wa-wa-wee-wa. :3

I went to NYC with Ping and Justin on Friday 3/21, for the NY Auto Show and the Noodles/Pillows concert at the Blender theater in Gramercy; amazinnnnggggg O_O We almost didn't make the 8:50 train to Grand Central, but because we pretty much all sprinted there, we made it with a few minutes to spare. We met up with [Asian] Matt and Ty on the same train (though I was asleep for most of the time, after playing Wi-Fi Mario Kart DS with Ping and Justin); met up with Ron after getting in to the station. After walking for a bit, we hit up a small ramen shop in NYC for lunch; I ordered 3 rice balls and Ping had a huge bowl of ramen, out of which I was picking at bits of squid (mm, tentacles :D). Thankfully, it was pretty much empty when we got there, because it was absolutely packed when we were getting up to leave. x_x

If I remember correctly, Justin was in a hurry to leave with Matt to get his spot in line for the concert (he got there around 1:30, I think); outside of the shop and near a Jamba Juice, Ping and I said our goodbyes to Ron and Ty (but not before Ty admired some $10 cashmere scarves with Ping and did the hand jive with me), and then we were off to the auto show. HOLY CRAP SO MANY CARS :DDD Though I can't say I know much about cars yet, it was a really good experience, seeing so many different companies all under the same roof and getting to compare features and whatnot. We stopped by the Scion display (of course XD), picked up some swag, and Ping got surveyed for a free T-shirt and drawstring bag (the look on his face when he got the free stuff, oh god XDD). Got some really good pictures, also walked away from the Suzuki section with a free 1G flash drive (which happened to weigh like 5 pounds, poor USB port ;_;). I didn't sit in more than a couple cars, but the '08 Smart Fortwo and the Toyota Yaris stood out to me the most, I think. Well, appealed to me most, anyway. A lot of cars stood out to me.. *_*

Ping and I also stood in line for a Toyota photo booth (free picshurs, yes?); when we got in there, a voice in the booth said something like "Insert five dollars." Ping and I checked for a dollar bill slot, and alas, none. Shrugging, we adjusted the camera for our poses; we then heard, "Seriously, I want my five dollars." We looked at each other and laughed; after taking the first picture, we (for the most part) kept the same poses because there was no clear indication that the first picture was taken. After that, we heard the same voice through the speakers: "You guys keeping the same pose?" or something to that effect. We're still laughing at this point; after waiting for the picture to print, we hear the voice of a Toyota rep (who was hosting a live interactive show not far away) saying, "..and don't forget to visit the Toyota photobooth; there's even a surprise inside." Then, we hear one last time, the unknown voice inside the booth: "There's no surprise." Wide-eyed, Ping and I grab our picture and leave...CREEPY. I STILL WANNA KNOW WHO WAS WATCHING US DD:

Also, props to whoever decided to include two flat-screen TVs and Wii Sports to the bottom level of the auto show. Neither of us had any idea why they were there, but hey, way to keep people entertained anyway. X3

After the show, we went to CVS to pick up some earplugs for the concert (we ended up not using them) and some headache pills for Ping; I munched on one of my leftover onigiri while walking back to the Blender, to meet Justin and Matt--who indeed were some of the first people in line, XD. We were able to get there around 5/5:30-ish, so the line just barely turned the corner of a drugstore, but thankfully we got there when we did--the line grew ridiculously long x_x Ping, Matt, and I played Mario Kart for a while, and then Ping and I pretty much just chilled (more like FROZE, LOL), chatting and keeping each other warm. Ron came by to let us know Ty couldn't get a ticket, so he would be staying behind with her to help her with her Java homework in the meantime; immediately after, he yelled out to the people behind us, "So who doesn't have a Pillows ticket yet?" Some hands shot up, haha. I think he got about $30 for his ticket, IIRC.

7:00 came, doors opened, and people filed in. After being chided by the prick checking bags, we went downstairs to put our things in Coat Check, then went back upstairs and got seats. The layout of the theater was great--a good size stage,plenty of standing room (which eventually was packed, expectedly), and plenty of seats to accommodate those who didn't feel like getting pushed/shoved/elbowed/drenched in sweat (after having walked a lot, Ping and I both felt it would be best to sit this one out x_x). We met Jan, Sarah, and their art group there, as well as Desi (who I hadn't met before); Jan, Sarah, and Desi ended up taking balcony seats as well, not being able to see very well from where they stood. The room was sorta foggy, but visibility was still great from where we sat; good lighting effects and all that jazz :D The Noodles were up first, and had an amazing sound, though the energy down on the floor was nothing compared to when The Pillows came out (though, I'm sure most people came mostly to see the Pillows anyway). They performed a really good cover of "Ever Fallen in Love?" which I was pleased and surprised to hear (knew I recognized that song ^.^). The bassist (Ikuno), though most people I heard from thought she looked unenthusiastic, was cute; reminded me of a kokeshi doll..^^

When the Pillows came out, the crowd went NUTS. It was clear that they were pretty much the reason for such a packed theater ^_^;; Until about a month ago, I hadn't really listened to their music (Ping and Justin were the ones who turned me on to them, and Ping had gotten me a ticket to the concert as a 4-month anniversary present), but since then, I've been listening to quite a bit of it, so I was able to recognize a lot of their setlist right off the bat. They opened with "I Think I Can" and ended with "Hybrid Rainbow" (which, IMO, was bursting with so much energy and emotion, I was about to fly down to the floor and join the mob, XD); there were like 3 or 4 encore songs after that (the crowd was all "one more song!" at least twice)--at one point, Sawao picked up his guitar and said, "I'm really tired.." XDDD. A lot of the songs were off of FLCL, I later found out, because I've only watched one episode of the show; it's kinda nice to listen to a band's music outside of what it's been featured in, for a change, instead of the other way around. "Crazy Sunshine" was really good, as was "Ride On Shooting Star" (of course, everyone was jumping around to that one ^^); I especially liked "Little Busters" :DDD Overall, there was such a tremendous energy that seemed to echo off the stage, very contagious ^.^ I later found out that Justin got respect knuckles from Sawao, in addition to a bottle of water thrown his way (which I don't think he's opened yet, no surprise there ^^). I'm definitely looking forward to the next time they perform in NYC; I can easily see myself becoming a big fan of the band and their music :D (And next time, I will be on the floor, mark my words ^^)

Here's a link to some video footage of people outside the theater, waiting in line (I'm at the end of the video, on the left, with my back to the camera and the panda ears): http://youtube.com/watch?v=YYIkMjh23lw

The concert ended around 10:30/11 pm, my ears still buzzing from the noise; all of us (including 3 of Justin's new friends) took a shuttle and headed over to Yoshinoya in Times Square for some grub, and stayed until about 12:30 am, eating and playing Mario Kart (in which I was called out for winning too much XD). Ron and Ty showed up partway through, and sat next to Ping and I (while I was mooching off his beef bowl with my chopsticks :D); I was surprised that we had stayed there as long as we did, but eventually we headed out to the subway and exchanged our goodbyes. ;_; Justin, Ping, and I headed back to Grand Central and boarded the 1:12 to New Haven, drove back to Justin's and dropped him off, then drove back to my house around 3:45 am and...fell asleep around 4:10. XD

EPIC WEEKEND :DDDD I could go on and on, but I won't because I may have to get offline soon, and besides, I'm probably annoying the people on my friends' list by having such a long entry without a cut. XD

What else have I been up to? Not too much, really; Ping and I have been together for about 4 1/2 months and are anticipating moving in together later this year; he's been driving here every weekend from New Jersey ever since the year began, and our time together has been indescribably wonderful. I've been keeping a memory box filled with ticket stubs and memorabilia of things we've done, and our relationship is just going so smoothly, it's hard to find words to do it justice. I still have the same job, but I may soon be going to driving school in Middletown (Middlebury? God, I can't remember), when I get my tax refund. Probably some time in April or May. I'm saving up for three anime conventions in the meantime--AnimeNEXT (registered already, going in June), ConnectiCon (I reserved a space in Artist Colony, so you better come see me if you're there, and buy my artwork :DDD), and Otakon. Very recently, I started getting into the hobby of Perler beading, and thus far have made some video game sprites out of those beads (you can Google it, it's really cool and easy to do), which I'll also probably be selling at my table.

Shameless plug tiemz: http://www.dekupyro.deviantart.com

The release of Smash Bros. Brawl was pretty much amazing, and I've taken the reins again as Kirby, after having forgotten about him in Melee; I attended Justin's Smash party on the release date (went to FYE Games at midnight to pick up my copy), and brought a Falcon Cake with me. Took 3rd place overall in the tournament. You can find the cake article here (it was featured in Wii Fanboy!): http://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/2008/03/11/falcon-cake-goes-great-with-a-little-falcon-punch/

This has been a rather large update, ne? I think I'll end it here for today, get some other things done around here. Overall, life's been good to me so far this year; I hope you guys have been doing okay as well. :)