The longest wait to date.

After being a fan of Ozaki-sensei's Meteor Methuselah/Immortal Rain for five years, long periods of anticipation for new releases in the States is nothing new. I remember back 2005, between volumes 3-6, TokyoPop would just keep rolling out the volumes; the manga would come one 2-3 months after another. But once they reached the 6th, thus started the periods of excruciating waiting. (Argh.) Volume 7 came after nearly a year and a half. Before then, my impatience was killing me that I eventually buckled down and went to Japantown to buy the 7th volume, still in raw form, in order to get a sneak peek of what's to come. Of course, when the English-translated version came out, I bought that too. Thankfully, the next volume (no. 8) came out less than a year earlier. Barely.

So now, since TOKYOPOP's first release of Immortal Rain, vol. 1 (June 2004), they have released 8 volumes in the span of five years. (However, if you count the original volumes' release in Japan, they've released 9 volumes within the span of ten years.) So far, since the last Immortal Rain release in September 2007, it's already been 2 years (the longest wait to date), and a whole lot of us fans in America are getting pretty antsy . . . and really, really annoyed. Eheheh. Those fans who can read in Japanese are absolutely lucky, because they can keep up with the latest storyline - of which came out last year on October.

Well, I'm definitely not gonna do what I did three years ago by spoiling myself, so I'll stick it out. But I'm actually doing pretty well, since it has been 2 years after all. [sigh] Like other fans frequently posting questions about the next release online, my friends have been bugging me from time to time about volume 9. And I tell them the same thing every time: Not yet, it just came out in Japan, TOKYOPOP is still doing their thing. Ridiculous.

The only thing I can do right now is re-read the whole series in my spare time, slave through college work, and pray that TOKYOPOP unveils an official release date for volume 9.

I wish good luck to other fans. Volume 9 may be around the corner!

Now on to my Sociology homework . . . [wince]

+ On the wish list: Ozaki Kaori's new Meteor Methuselah 2009 fanbook

+ Browsing through this site: http://www.ne.jp/asahi/innocent/bad/homepage/home.html

+ Currently reading: Sociology: 12th Edition, by John J. Macionis

+ Listening to: 2NE1

A chance for change? Yes, we got it.

For the first time in all my 18 years, I can finally say that I've witnessed a historic moment in our nation's history that I may be absolutely proud of - not terrified of. On November 4, 2008, Barack Obama was elected President of the United States of America. That makes him the first African-American president in the long line of 43 Caucasian U.S. presidents. And in the midst of the darkest moments of our country, he promised a chance for change. The man certainly has a lot to live up to. I'm tired with how much America has flopped on so many issues, and now we don't have a lot to thrive on as we've dug ourselves into a deeper whole. Fortunately for us, Obama's our key and symbol of hope that there may be a way to get this place back on its feet. Furthermore, he has my support, all the way.

I wish my great-Uncle had witnessed it. I really wished he had.

I've got my fingers crossed for our future. We're all counting on you, Obama!

Another Maternity Day

It's been nearly two months since I started working . . . I mean, volunteering at the maternity ward in Kaiser Hospital. It's a great experience, of course. I love the people there. Sadly, I don't get to touch the babies. The volunteers are don't have the authority to do that. But we do get to take the pictures. We also have the job of wheeling the discharged mothers out, giving them gift bags and baby hats, organizing charts, and so on. It's the best volunteer job I've had yet! (Plus, the benefits are just as rewarding. Hehe . . .)

There are downsides as well. Not to sound petty, but I'm getting tired of the uniform-polo thing. Nearly my entire school career required uniform, and throughout my high school years, we've done the polo shirt. Kaiser volunteers are required to wear blue polo shirts with the Kaiser insignia and white pants. The only upside of the shirt is that it's not green. (I'm sure St. Vincent and St. Pat's kids would understand that remark.) The downside with the pants is that it's white. Pfft. Well, what can I say? I'm a girl.

Many more Kaiser volunteer blogs to come.

Uh, maybe not.

It's been ten days since the last day of school, and I feel like I'm a sitting duck. I don't have a license yet, so seeing my friends everyday is out of the question. Staying home also means reading a whole lot. Without a working audio drive, I've also began using more iPod a lot more lately. Plus, I have been downloading a crapload of manga/manhwa chapters from morning to...er...morning?

LOL. That just made me sound like a geek. But yes, it has been quite boring and lonely...

The only highlight of the past week was the first Project Jazz 2007-2008 meeting. New songs, new people! How exciting... What's even better is that we're going to Ireland for our choir trip of the year (with Choristers). Hell yes! I can't wait for next year, even if it's kinda sad and weird to be performing with different people. It's hard to have sections and positions changing in choirs every year, but it is inevitable - especially when a choir is full of high school kids.

There was also Lisa's cotillion for your her 18th birthday, although her actual b-day was on April 4... or was it the fifth? Well, it was a fun night. I got to see at least one of my best friends then.

As of now, I'm still celebrating over my drivers' permit - my second one. Haha. That's what happens when wait a year, take an unexpected retest, fail that, wait five months, and take the test again. So basically it took me two tries to pass each of my permit tests. And technically, I took the permit test four times. Get it?

Ugh. I really, really, really need to get out of this house.