My Friend Has a Manga and You Should Buy It

Two good things for me today. First, I had lunch with Sam(antha) at a ramen place in the Marukai Marketplace. And second, I had a solo shoot for Norwalk that was to cover a pep rally for the Special Olympics. Both were good, uplifting activities to participate in. Though I the food was WAY better at the Sam lunch.


To start off, for the lunch with Sam, I punched in the destination into my GPS, Sheila… and was led down a direction that got me to the place, but took way longer than was necessary. Sheila has rarely led me astray, so it was troubling to have such an obvious betrayal of my trust. We will have to talk about it at some point…


I met up with Sam at Book-Off, a used bookstore next to the Marukai Marketplace, and we headed out to get some ramen. Once we got our food, I was presented with Sam’s self-published manga, The Piper’s Promise. She had worked for two months, from writing to drawing to printing, and had just received the copies a few days previously. And she gave me a copy! I gave her all the money I had at the time (three sad, measly little dollars), but figured I would blackmail her into having lunch with me again by promising to give her the other $3 when we meet up again.


Quick Plug for Sam’s Manga!:
Have you ever read the Pied Piper? Have you ever wondered as to the background of this mysterious figure? Who was he? Was he the bad guy? Was he the good guy? Was he human at all? In The Piper’s Promise, the prologue to the much anticipated follow up, all these questions will begun to be answered. But like any fairy tale, Once Upon a Time is only the beginning…

Sam (Sammi G. for print), is only asking for $6 for these little one-of-a-kind babies! The art is completely original, and all the money goes to paying off her publishers (i.e. PARENTS). And it does not get any more Independent then this gal. Hand-made manga, what else do you want? She’s also going to be at Anime Expo, so hit up her table!

So yeah, my friend has a manga and you should buy it.

The ramen at the place was pretty good, but I confess that I still like Santouka more. No place has beaten it for me, yet. But who knows, the future is big and wide and unknown. That’s why it’s the future. After the ramen, we hung out and talked, catching up on all the different people and events in our lives. I eventually had to head to work, and we said our farewells.

Norwalk was a little intimidating, because I would have to shoot everything by myself. No backup. Nobody to ask for advice on a shot. Yes, this is good for me, and it helps me grow and learn. But it still kind of sucks. Especially when the damn white balance changes so damn much!

(“White Balance” pertains to the balance of light and color in a shot, and is a film/video term, NOT a racial one).

The Special Olympics Pep Rally was pretty cool, after all was said and done and video taped. The athletes were happy, as were the parents, and the staff involved seemed to be having a ball. There was a slideshow of all the pictures from past events, and the training that the athletes had undergone. And then there was a big dance party after the Pep Rally was over. I didn’t dance, but everybody danced for the video camera.

After I stressed out if I shot the entire event wrong, or hadn’t recorded enough (I actually recorded too much, but it didn’t hurt to have too much footage), I dropped off the equipment and headed home and caught the Doctor Who episode, Amy’s Choice. Britain was now three episodes ahead of us. But at least I was this far along. The episode was really good, with a great threat and even better character moments. I can’t wait till the next episode. Maybe I’ll charm Vic or Justin into letting me catch the next two episodes before I have to die from old age waiting for America to catch up.

Topics of Conversation: Self publishing, Diet Milk Tea, first autograph, Greased Lightning, AX, music videos you can’t say no to, mango flavored, Free Radar, new Aunts, happy noise, sandals for stilettos, those that we can’t forget, turning green, camera hogs, gentlemen, etc.

-Nate

Friends Make The World Go Round

February 4, 2010:

Its 9:something in the morning, and I got a text from Lainey to get my lazy ass out of bed. Though the text was more informative, rather than threatening. Apparently, Lainey doesn't need to sleep, needing only kittens and sarcasm in place of food and rest. I cleverly hid the fact that I was only technically conscious by sending this genius text back to her:

"M up now. Whn u want meet?"

Wow.

Honestly, that was one of the worst texts I've ever sent. And I've drunk-texted, folks. To people that had done nothing to deserve that freak show. Perhaps I shouldn't pull the curtain back from all my diabolical secrets, but drunk-texting is fun because its the only time I don't give a damn about grammar and punctuation. Proper sentence structure can suck it. Though I'm only a English class rebel when the whiskey flows freely.

Moving on.

Lainey had a mission today. She wanted to get Hemlock a little frame painted for him. It was at this place called "Color Me Mine" in Long Beach. Interesting store just nestled between the Shore House and a coffee shop, I think. The kind of store that looks like some one's retirement business. Like they retired from being a high-powered who's-it, and can finally focus on their life's passion: Painting pottery. I'm not mocking the store in the least. Its actually very tidy and inviting.

Lainey's scheme involved putting a dab of paint on Hemlock's paw. Yeah, paint on a hyper-active, nervous kitten. Easy. It became apparent why my presence was needed. I was the muscle. Lainey was the brains. And the kitten was very indignant. We finished up and headed back to her house to watch Spaced, eat Del Taco, talk, and pet Hemlock. I eventually got rolling, leaving Lainey to painting, and Hemi to napping.

For the next few hours I made plans with Mike, Colin, and The Anime Club Alumni to have dinner at Colin's home. It wasn't going down till around 7:00, so I headed home and I would like to say I was productive, but mostly I slept. I woke up already late for the party by 15 minutes or so and headed over to Colin's. It worked out either way. The food hadn't been procured nor cooked yet. I ended up getting some drinks and, for hell-if-I-know reasons, bought Twinkies and Sno-balls. I'm under the impression that Zombieland inspired me to do so. That's good, Nathan, blame the movie.

We made CostCo steak and salad. I also made a contribution of meh garlic bread from Food 4 Less. The garlic bread... well, it tasted like it was from Food 4 Less. Take that as you wish. But what is important is that I do not underscore the sheer deliciousness of rest of the food. The steak was marinated with a delicious sauce, and cooked perfectly. The meal was so good that Mike broke into giggles after saying "I'm so happy" at least four times. One more bite and one more Fresca, and I wasn't very far behind him.

I mean, really, what's better than good food and good friends? Not much.

Topics of Conversation @ Colin's: Renting costs at the Block, never looking up when you hear birds, Blue Barry Flash, prepping cast iron skillets, Kevin Smith, Swap Meets, when "the Look" is actually a signal for beer, dead men's bed frames, false Victor Cambas, visible heart beats, murder for matresses, nuts, etc.

We ended the night with a viewing of Wet Hot American Summer. This movie is pretty funny, but can get really random at times. I've already seen this movie twice before, but I didn't mind checking it out again. If you want a movie that is quirky and has a sketch comedy energy to it, then pop this little DVD in and get ready to watch Bradley Cooper like you've never seen him before, a talking can of vegetables, and a man hump a refrigerator. Its THAT kind of movie.

We called it a night, and I'm already chomping at the bit for another night like this.

-Nate