Mercy is alive and kicking shit up.

I was bored out of my mind the other day and decided I wanted to try making some more icons for that 100 Serial Experiments Lain icons I had tried to do a while back. First, I posted the new ones I had made onto my website So-Koi.com and that lead to me reminiscing about Merky's Icons, my icons website that was taken down due to a domain name hijack. After a week of designing and coding (and an hour or two today of making it IE-friendly), I introduce to you So Koi Avvies (avvies = my shorter term for avatars).

It seems that I'm still missing a few on that website as I see some in my LJ usericons list that I don't have up on the site, so there's a little more work to be done.

In other news, I'm getting married. Twenty-three years old, the both of us, and we're going down to Miami to tie the knot. We got engaged back in December and will be man and wife in August.

As far as entertainment goes, I'm really into the anime Soul Eater. I am loving loving loving the song "I Will Possess Your Heart" by Death Cab for Cutie. And I really want to play that new FF Tactics game for the DS.

Mmhm.

It's a big change for me to live in a place that's predominantly white and black. There aren't so many Hispanics around here, and even fewer Asians so I tend to stick out more so than I used to.

I have a new job (something like technology retail) and it's situated between a few major cities but it's also close to a lot of small towns, meaning I get a lot of people who either know way more than I do about what I'm supposed to be selling and a lot of people who know next to nothing because they live in some hole.

At this job, someone was supposed to be coming today to train me on a specific service that we sell. I knew this a few days in advance, so last night I went to bed knowing that the next day, I would be meeting someone and learning a few new things.

After dreaming about a rusty toilet and other things, I dreamt about my trainer coming in, training me and flirting at the same time, then inviting me to lunch after my shift - his treat. In my dream, I declined, as I care about my boyfriend very much and I'd much rather go home to eat lunch, knowing in my heart that the only reason I was here was because I wanted to be with my boyfriend Sean and only him.

Whenever Sean and I argue (which isn't often, luckily) I start thinking about leaving to somewhere or maybe even someone, then I always start crying because of the aforementioned reason. I don't want to leave his side.

So I went in to work today. Some smart looking clothes, no makeup, just some chapstick, and sometime during my shift the trainer comes in. An introduction, a handshake, then he decides he wants to get some coffee with me. It's a place just a few doors down from my store, and if I "didn't want coffee," he said, "then just walk with me over there."

He goes and asks my manager if we could get some coffee, the chief said it was fine, and so we went. We get there, and he buys me a cup without my asking.

After we get back and go through some training, we engage in some small talk. He asks if I was up here living with a friend, as I told him earlier that I moved here from Miami. My manager was close by and he knows that I'm living with my boyfriend and that I moved here specifically for him, and I know that I shouldn't lead guys (or girls) on, so I told him that I was living with my boyfriend.

His face dropped and he said, "Oh."

It makes me feel bad, but not bad enough cause my Sean is one sexy guy.

Tomorrow, I'll be able to finally feel some of the cold that one expects when it's wintertime. Sure, the heat is fun...but when you endure it from Spring to 80% of the Winter, you'd like to have at least some change. A nice, comfortable sweater; some hot cocoa with floating marshmallows slowly melting on top; and perhaps a short break from the mosquitos? One can only hope.

And hope I do. I was depressed a few weeks ago, and now I'm much better. I don't know what it is or how it came to be, but I feel like I'm improving somehow. Things are looking up. I'm looking up. There's a future for me, and I won't reach it if I don't try, if I don't look forward.

Like a forward march into alien territory.

There's this book I want to write. I have the general idea of it, the conflict, the solution, and whatnot. The problem is that the only place I think it could happen is in Japan, simply because of the abnormal obsessions and country-specific psychoses they have over there. So, within the next ten years I want to travel to Japan and perhaps live there for a couple of months. It'd be the best thing ever.

P.S. Rest in peace, Mr. Instant Ramen Inventor.

P.P.S. I swear that my fiction writing is better and more understandable than my journal entries...Really! Hey, it's 4:30 AM! Cut a girl some slack!

What can be said? I've been having some really crazy ideas lately, the craziest being about opening a restaurant with a guy "friend" of mine sometime in the future. It is a possibility, though.

Oh, have you heard of the Cereus? It's a plant whose flowers only bloom at night. While it's kinda awesome, it's freaky too just because the way the flowers are...they remind me of that man-eating plant from Little Shop of Horrors because it seems like the flowers are rearing up to eat you.

Seriously.

I really should be sleeping. Instead, I'm going to accomplish something for once! Hella cryptic.

Hello guys. Long time no see and whatnot. I'm not sure if I'm going to start using LJ again, but it doesn't hurt to come and say hi every now and then, right?

Wait! I'm not done!

Did Mercy actually write something? Why yes, she did!

Hey, I'm surprised too.

I need someone to break me - to rip my heart out from my chest, fling it onto the floor and put their foot deliberately, squarely, onto all of the good feelings I've ever had and just stomp on them.

There's no other way for me to get this. My heart's never been really broken, yet I've done it enough to people that didn't deserve it at all. It makes me wonder why I even go through with "love" and things of that nature, because I really don't understand it anyhow.

Nothing seems genuine to me anymore, and everything I do reflects that.

Anyway, life's been good otherwise.

Billy, a B-L-O-G is NOT a pad and paper that you carry around with you.

Next Sunday, we'll be seeing Billy with an iPod, except it's a record player that he just carries around!

I haven't posted in a long time, and it's even been a longer time since I've properly checked my friends list.

Thanks to Hurricane Wilma, I have no electricity at my house. It'll be a full 2 weeks without power on Monday, and there may be one more week until I actually do get power back.

Sucks.

And I have to run off to work. I hope all of ye are OK :)

After only half a day of playing, I am now addicted to Puzzle Pirates.

I am pretty good at bilge pumping, I beat a person at the Treasure Drop game my very first time of playing without knowing how the game works, and I'm getting more experienced at distilling rum and shipwrightery.

I also got invited to join a crew that goes looting other ships (I was doing a job for them and the captain invited me afterwards), and I happily accepted.

It's incredible fun and you get a 30 day trial. I'll probably end up getting myself a subscriber account soon :)

Not dialup safe!

( some shots I did late one night, some after the hurricane... )