the cat's namesake, and a lottery prize

Instead of just a picture of the original Ryuzaki, I thought I'd post a video. You can skip the intro song if it annoys you as much as it annoys me, having heard it a thousand times. This is when the police are getting introduced to L, the world's greatest detective, who's never revealed his face before. I think you will see my cat in him.

And second, Mom, this is Fanatica, my all-time favorite Pullip. I think she is perfect. Honestly, I do not anyone I know to pay that much for a plastic doll. But I just had to show off what I believe is the pinnacle of Pullips.


SWEETEST FACE OF ALL TIME. In five years they have yet to come up with a prettier smile. Even if she didn't come in a red and black punk-Lolita outfit, I'd be in love. That's all just a plus.

END OF DORKFEST FOR THE NIGHT I PROMISE.

Attn: North Pole

Dear Santa,

Clarity is back in stock at Pullipstyle, and she's even on sale!

Just sayin'.

Best,
Erica

Dear Santa:

I have been a very good girl this year, much better than any recent years. I overcame my extreme fears and went back to school, and am doing very well there so far. I rescued a stray and became a cat mommy. I hope it's not too early for you to receive gift lists. My requests this year are a little unusual, so I thought I'd give your elves ample notice.

The most important thing I want is a new digital camera, since mine has started to fail. Not a large or expensive one, just a basic Canon Elph like before. However, I expect my parents might get this for me, since I've told them about it several times.

This is where you come in. I know it's been awhile since I've asked this of you, but I find myself once again in need of your services.

I want a doll.

My parents will not get me dolls, I'm fairly sure. But you might. You used to.

These Japanese dolls, called Pullips, are about the same price as American Girl dolls, but they're really not for kids. They're delicate things, made for photography and display more than play. They are also customizable and extremely addictive. It's hard to explain unless you immerse yourself in the community.

This one, Clarity, is my favorite. I absolutely want her, so even if I don't get her for Chistmas I'll buy her anyway once I've sold enough old things of mine. She has the most beautiful face, and she's so sophisticated, even my mom might like her. At the main site she's currently restocking, but she is available at this alternate site. I adore her so much. I will name her Margot.

Rida is another of my favorites, Clarity's polar opposite. I would name her Sako, after Haru's high school best friend. I love her style, and she's quite cheap because some problems have been reported (which I know how to fix). But because of the price, I could maybe even save for her myself. There are a couple other dolls (eg. My Melody and Marianne) whose faces I love and for whom I have character ideas, but whose stock outfits aren't really for me. It makes more sense for me to get those ones second hand, where they are often sold cheaper without their original outfits.

I have two dolls now: Haru, who was Horizon, and Jenna Celeste, who was Celsiy. It's Haru's fault I got into this hobby in the first place. He was a gift from friends. Jenna I got second hand for a good price.


They are cute together aren't they? They're college buddies.

Finally, I have also fallen madly in love with the November boy release, Richt, who has the most beautiful face of any of the boys yet. He's going to be Haru's boyfriend Liam. Haru is going to steal his flamboyant outfit, while Liam adopts a more conservative style. ;) Yeah, I preordered him. He'll be arriving in early December. He was my early Christmas present to myself. So even if you don't want to grant my wish for Clarity, or anyone else, a retroactive cash donation to assuage the guilt of buying Richt early would be a nice consolation prize.

Pullips are The Thing I'm into right now. I think about them a lot and talk to other collectors and take pictures and dream. I know it's an expensive obsession, but the online buying/selling/trading market is huge and a major part of the hobby, so it's not like I'll regret having them or won't be able to sell them one day if I need to. If I got gift money from my parents, this is where it would go. But even if I explained that to them, I really don't know if they'd be okay with buying me a doll for Christmas, or that matter, for my 25th birthday. So that's why I'm asking you, Santa Claus. Because Christmas hasn't been the same without you. <3

There's really nothing else I want. I don't need a phone, an iPod, or a laptop. I still have more clothes than I can wear and too little time to read non-school books. I don't buy CDs much these days and listen to everything online. So I don't know what to tell you, Santa. Maybe I'm regressing, but in the words of Sheryl Crow, if it makes you happy it can't be that bad.

Hope the economy's not hitting you too hard up there. If you ask me, you should have gotten the Peace Prize.

Sincerely,
Erica

Haru shows off some more

And now, just because I'm a huge dork and love my Haru-baby, some pictures. Humor me please! I've always been a crazy doll person. Click on pictures for full view if you care about the clothing details. ^_^

First, Haru wants to show off his favorite pants.

From the front they look somewhat respectable...

Not as much from the other side.



Stop trying to seduce us!!! SIGH. Silly Haru.


I pierced his ear!

Just chilling like a normal Ivy League student...


I love these little things so much. All the parts are movable, even the sugar packs and stirrers.
He's supposed to be studying, but I think he's procrastinating again.


A little night series:


Um....
I don't want to know why he looks so...content here. I really don't.

In any case, he's tired now.

For his undercover nocturnal escapades, I made him a dress! :D I'm really proud of this.



The white floof is from the Jordan Almond wrappings from Kristin's wedding favors. He's pretty convincing as a girl.



And because one pair of leather pants is never enough, he has another, more modest pair that he can actually wear at school.

(I don't know what he is doing in this picture. He's goofy.)

Now for some final gratuitous glamor shots.




He really is so pretty. It's not surprising his mommy was a model.

Yaaaaay, I'm eight! And slightly perverted! Whooo.

grad school, take 2

I haven't posted in a long time, except for my doll post. I'm going to change that, and not just as an excuse to post more doll pictures (though I have a ton more of those). I really do need to be better about keeping in touch, and with school coming up again, there should be a lot to say. NAturally I will have to be discreet. One thing I'm not going to do too much is political stuff, because I'm so tired of it and there are people doing a much better job of that than I could ever do. This is going to be archaeology-centric and life-centric. Including dolls. Not, of course, including too much talk of certain ex-roommates or -boyfriends, not to mention professors. Unlike on LiveJournal, I can't friends-lock this post, and unlike certain ex-roommates, I don't like publicly defaming people on the internet.

I've been in good spirits since Wednesday. Thursday I had my first classes, and it felt so surreal to be back in a classroom with a labeled notebook, doodling mangafaces in the margins. I'm so glad this Near East course is being offered, because I've never properly learned this materialand it's actually interesting! Specifically for the layman, "Near East" refers to Mesopotamia (Sumer, Babylon, Assyria...), the Levant (Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon), and Egypt. As Karl put it: "A Very Tough Neighborhood." Karl, officially known as C. C. Lamberg-Karlovsky, is kind of a big deal. I never got to know him before, as his specialty lay so far outside my own, but he's quite the character, and looks to be a very entertaining, informative lecturer. Immediately following is Gary's South America class, which should be one of the easier ones for me since much of the information is review. Even so, his course covers material I never learned at Yale, namely studies of the tropical forest areas in the Amazon, rather than just the Andes. So I think it will be extremely helpful.

Wednesday is goig to be my big class block. Oddly, even though Wednesday was the first day of class, it followed a Monday schedule in order to make up for lost Mondays (such as the upcoming Labor Day). Therefore, I haven't had Wednesday class yet. The Proseminar is going to be very difficult. This whole term is going to largely be a retread of Origins of Agriculture, except harder. In a bizarre way, I'm looking forward to it, because I need this stuff pounded into my brain about fifty times so I don't forget it before generals.

Here is my schedule if you're curious:

Tuesday/Thursday: 11:30-1: The Archaeology of the Ancient Near East
1- 2:30: South American Archaeology
Wednesday: 3-6 pm: Archeology Proseminar
7-9:30 pm: Ethnography and Archaeology

It's kind of a weird schedule, very compressed, but pleasantly allowing for very long weekends. I've already finished my reading for next week in everything but ProSem, because we haven't been assigned anything yet. I'm gobbling up these assignments. I have a beautiful office which I will take a picture of once I've finished decorating it.

Haru's photo post is going in a separate entry, just because. ^_^ Wish me luck with school; I'll continue to update, I promise.

Haru is here!

Many thanks to Rachel in Tennessee, Avonne in Baltimore, and Hajira in NorCal.


This is the box I received IN ADDITION to Haru's doll box:
It was hand -decorated by Avonne. Inside, there was all of this:

That L is the insignia of the Death Note character "L," Haru's biological father. Avonne made that herself. It was hard to get all of his stuff in one shot:


This was the original doll. Rachel and Avonne bought him. Avonne colored the silver part of his wig black, and bought him an extra, longer wig in all black. Each of them wrote me little notes and things. Haji included the original pencil drawings of her now-famous artwork of Haru. Avonne gave me a massive bag of candy. Rachel got me a set of little candies for Haru, since he basically subsists on sweets and other stimulants. :D And then, as if they hadn't gotten me enough, they got me a cute mug as well. XD Crazy women!

Here are a few more pictures, since that's what he's for. He's too fragile for rough play, but posing is his favorite thing.

Original outfit:

Cross dressing time! I seriously doubted that skirt was going to fit on him, but it did.

Just chilling:

By day, he might seem lazy sittin' in the mug tin with his candy and whatever's in that cup...


...or just very silly, with his panda suit and his T-shirt (custom made by my pals), and his very own Death Note...


...but he's also a secret ninja detective genius who occasionally cross dresses and (rather less occasionally) sleeps with the people he's supposed to be arresting.

Yoda looks interested:



Haru loves his candy.


But mostly he just loves being the prettiest boy in the world!



There are more pics where these came from, but believe it or not, I'm trying not to overload you. Leave that to the fangirls responsible for this...thing. XD He's so great.

For the record, Haru's make of posable Asian doll is the "poor man's" version. True ball-jointed-dolls range from $200 to $700 without hair, makeup or clothing and look like this. To be honest, I'm happy with Haru as he is, and with a fully furnished wardrobe, than something which would break just as easily and cost more than my bed. :)

grok?

I missed this back when it was relevant, but DFW would have had a good laugh at this obit headline. Aw, I miss him.

All is well back at home. We still have our spring weather, but most of the blossoms have given way to thick green leaves. I've never been in Cambridge at this time of year.

Soviet Pooh Bear is awesome, seriously. So cool.

I really am unable to complete a paragraph on a substantial topic at this time.

Really, Barack?

That's not change.

That's more of the same.

Don't buy from Amazon anymore, you guys, until they change this policy.

I honestly can't believe this.

okay fine but

What about Diet Coke?

They shouldn't tax the un-sugared beverages, right? Right?