Happy 2014!

....a month in.

I've been really busy since my family came home for the holidays, and up till now with the first semester of my Masters Program concluding in the next two months. Job applications are doing okay. The schools I've submitted my resume to have told me to call back in March, when graduations are over and they're open for hiring teachers for the new school year. In the meantime, I've gotten myself a part-time job as a tutor for my sister's boss's boss.

It pays incredibly well for what I actually do, so I'm hoping I can really save before summer rolls around.

3 built. a whopping 13 to go!

I'm really looking forward to this year. 2014 is probably my most important year yet. I plan to start a lot of things, accomplish a lot of things, be loads happier with what I'm doing in general.

Hobby-wise, I'd love to get to building that tall pile of LBXs (and a lone Gundam my sister got me for Christmas!).  It'll double as practice for me since I plan to join this year's GBWC. I want to perfect nub removal, sanding, and seaming--so I can build the cleanest units anyone's ever seen. This March, I'm going to purchase a body for Honey, and finally get to complete him, fulfilling what seemed such a lofty goal when I decided he'd be our 10th Anniversary gift back in 2012 (not to mention making my debut in the BJD hobby after two years of lurking and dicking around).

Yes, it's the 10th Anniversary of The JohhnyMcKilt Productions, my pseud when I was in FanFiction.Net. And while most people would rather forget their early years in FF.Net, they are immensely important to me. A lot of things in my life are centered around fic and fandom. I've experienced a whole lot through writing--loved, gotten hurt, and grew as a person. It's going to be amazing for me to sort of look back and laugh at myself and all the dumb things I wrote for the past ten years, and see how far I've gone.

So yeah, January's over. I'm on a road I feel good taking.

今年もよろしくお願いします。(❁´▽`❁)*✲ﾟ*

Life updates, plans for the blog & big news

After two part time jobs, a Masters Program entrance exam, a vacation in Singapore, and the Licensure Exam for Teachers, I feel the need to say I have not made any progress whatsoever in modding current projects Suama and Achilles.

Instead, I have amassed ten LBXs, nine of them (Achilles included) are still waiting to be built. Who's the lucky exception? Dot-Phaser, the owner of this smokin hot leg.

He was built last May when I purchased him after work. I fell in love with his colors and wanted to try coating him with Tamiya Flat Clear (TS 80) without further modifications. You can see my liveblog of it on Tumblr. The reason why I neglected to post here is because I had affixed his shoulder armaments backwards and found out the mistake much later, to my embarrassment.

He hasn't had new photos taken since so the leg will suffice for now.

Aside, as I've mentioned, these past few months have been busy real life-wise. The free time I had was admittedly rather ill-spent *coughplayingthesimscough* but now that my exams are over and I have two free-ish months ahead of me while waiting for the results, I can get back to modding.

(I'm supposed to be looking for a job but hey)

Plans for the blog! I've decided not to limit the entries to just gunpla and dolls, although this blog will mainly be about them. I will occasionally post more serious entries such as my future teaching experiences or whatever nerdy thoughts and ramblings I have about my classes or work. Things that aren't too personal to be posted on LJ, and things that I actually want people to read about and reference.

And lastly, big news! Yesterday, I paid for Honey's head--a Switch Ryun:R.

I can't even begin to explain how important this is as my first ever step to getting into the BJD hobby. Honey is an OC of mine who has a special place in my heart, and an incredible story to tell. Moreover, his sculpt is very hard to come by. Switch is a gorgeous gorgeous company that does not rerelease sculpts once they've sold out, so finding him brand new on the secondhand market (as I did) is an amazing stroke of luck which makes him worth the price I paid.

The goal I set on November 2012 still stands--I get my first BJD on the JMP's 10th anniversary, which means I have seven months to get a body for Honey. Wish me luck!