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Hello there, this is Katana, also known as Kat in some circles. I'm your friendly neighborhood twenty-two-year-old illustrator/writer whose sarcasm is second to none and harboring the ability to verbalize the parentheses in stories. I drink coffee and draw like an addict and am liable to get you into things that I like. Currently the wielder of a BFA in Illustration and a minor in English.

Questions? Comments? Death threats? Feel free to PM or message me in some iteration. I'm always around, you just don't know it.

"Some of the great artists of our time started off by doodling in class. ...Maybe. Oh heck I dunno."
- Miss Anonymous

T-minus 10 days

Ten days from now, I'll be sitting in ArtS 215, Fundamentals of Graphic Design, bored to tears probably satisfied at the lunch I had gulped down between classes.

But yeah, as it stands, my summer is coming to an end. I don't think it's school starting up that I'm anxious about so much as it is the fact that I'm moving into a new place. Good-bye to dorm living, hello townhouse. I am nervous as hell and, of course, a-twitter about money and paying for everything and all that good stuff. Money likes to terrify me like that.

The good news for the townhouse is that I'll be with three of my very good friends, so it's not like we had to scrape for roommates and will have to deal with someone we don't know (or worse, someone we do know but don't like). I think the biggest qualm will be fighting over the kitchen table to do assignments on. Then again, with smooth walls, I can also just tape things up and work on them...

Whatever the case, I have a feeling the only place not covered in paint or chalk will be the techie's room, which is the room with the balcony so we'll probably be invading it anyway. Negate the previous line.

This semester makes for a marked change from both freshmen and sophomore years. From last year, the change is not taking six classes, but rather a meager five, and from both years, it's not having the adviser job that the art school hired me for. Budget cuts do that.

To make fall '11 my most leisurely semester yet, I took two summer classes. Now I have just one more gen ed to finish and then it's exclusively hacking away at my major and minor. Though I do think that means one more semester of six classes; however, without the office job, it is so much easier. I couldn't believe more much more time I had when I opted out of it the last two weeks of the spring semester. (Which I needed, desperately.)

I have so meticulously planned everything that I am hell-bent on getting done in four years. This isn't a dig at those taking longer, because too many of you know where I live. This is more a dig at the advisers who keep telling me to take it easy. No, shut up. I don't get any sort of financial aid (much to the surprise of practically everyone I meet), so I'm essentially burning through my parent's money. Yes. Fear me, I am the spoiled one. Youngest in the family, only one to go to university. And I am going to finish in two more years with both my useless major and minor.

Damn, where was this going? I kinda got off in a tangent there. Oh, I have to get ready for work. Okay. Cool story bro.

V-log: Unpopular Opinions

So I have this idea. Pardon the poor lighting.

Things I forgot to say:

- Scheduling: I think one show every two weeks would help us avoid burnout. If this actually goes and we get into a groove, we could up it to once a week.

- You wouldn't have to participate in every show if you have no opinion on it. I mean, I could do a Harry Potter thing, but I can't exactly argue for or against it, if you know what I'm saying. At minimum we'd need like, two people for a show, maybe a third as a moderator (which I'd be willing to do).

- Anything and everything is fair game, except politics and religion because then we'd end up hating each other. But sticking to geekeries is probably a better place to start.

Yeah, I really have no idea where to start on this. @_@ Buuut it sounded like a good idea at 2am.

Something feels weird about this one

Hang on, there's something I'm missing...

There.

Today is my birthday. Today I turned 20, thus putting to rest my teenage years and starting a new decade of life. It's...ayesh. I'm not sure why, but I just feel so odd about getting the phrase "I'm twenty" to come out of my mouth, let alone type it. I tweaked my introduction a bit more than I have in recent years (new banner, check it!) and I couldn't bring myself to put down the number last night so I waited until this afternoon.

It's not like I'm feeling "old" or anything. It just seems like this sort of age that I'm not ready to be yet. I can't be called a "stupid teenager" anymore 'cause I'm not one. Yes, I'm aware that I'm WAY overthinking this.

Anyway! This year's celebration was a quiet one. Mom and I went out to lunch and got fancy cupcakes in lieu of cake. Played Dragon Age Origins, dozed, had steak sandwiches for dinner. Oh, and coffee. (Sweet).

My parents, along with Dist the monitor, gave me some money and a memo board for the townhouse. It's blue!

Missay gave me the XBox 360, as I've already discussed. The news on that is that I've named it Idris. But again, so many gracious thanks to you, lady.

From TC came "Remembrance of the Daleks" on DVD and the novelization of the Doctor Who TV Movie. 8th Doctor hnngh - I mean, thanks. :'D

My friend Becca made me this! I envy her ability draw derpy/awesome things and her mad colored pencil skills.

Got a lot of text and Facebooks messages wishing me a good one. Also DeviantArt! Oh, and of course, my guestbook! Thank you to everyone who did that.

Thanks to Felix, RenaMonogatari, bell, Trip, Shishou, superstarpanou, Nehs, ichi, chocolatemud, TC, Ace, and Waffles for the gift-sprites. (Little secret, I always look forward to bell's. This year is BIRTHDAY PEEP.)

I'll be around for a while yet. Thanks everyone for a great year and many more to come.

Year 8 accomplished

Oi. Hello July 31st, how are you? Good, glad to here you're going to be sunny for that graduation party I'm going to.

More importantly (to me) is that today marks eight years of my membership here at theOtaku. Now I roll into year 9 and continue to whine and complain about everything that goes on. It's like the drama I never got in high school is suddenly making a fierce comeback.

Regardless, yeah, eight years of officially flying under the Katana moniker actually happened in June, since that's when I joined the OtakuBoards. But this place is more my home and I hardly poke the OB these days and is where I've been camping out for years.

This place has seen me do important things. Band trips, eighth grade promotion, plays and projects, regular tests and the ACT, getting my driver's license and a job, high school graduation, moving into my dorm, having the existential crisis about my major, and now about to leave my teenagerdom come Tuesday.

It's pretty much the stuff I talked about in Tales of an Eternal. I'm still here because I want to be here because the people I have met and befriended have made it completely worthwhile.

Also, if you're part of that group on Twitter, you saw what happens when the site breaks and we can't get into chat. So many @ replies...TweetDeck...TweetDeck...!

360s and dancers

There are pictures contained within this post, so I'm making it a new page to skip over that awkwardness. (What awkwardness?) I dunno shut up. Well, the XBox 360 that Missay very very generously gave me arrived yesterday right before I had ...

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