Subject: Kirk, Spock, Uhura, Bones, Chekov, Sulu
Fandom: Star Trek (reboot)
Rating: worksafe, gen
Media: photoshop
Notes: Art for startrekbigbang. I got the joy and honour to collaborate with fortassetu, who wrote the fic The Quiet Sound of Thunder (link to fic forthcoming, when it's posted!)

I think I loved everything about this fic - the story, the characterizations, the dynamics, the cameraderie, the dialogue, the badassery, THE EVERYTHING OKAY. WHEN IT IS POSTED, PLEASE TO BE READING IT BECAUSE IT IS AWESOME.

( The Quiet Sound of Thunder: Poster )

( The Quiet Sound of Thunder: Illustration )

And so begins the rest of the adventure!

( MiniNaNoWriMo Challenge: Day 16 )

Word Count: 297

(Pretend that this is a letter you received in the mail and I'm a good friend who went away. Just humor me a little here.)


There is something very scary about coming back to a place you left behind because there were things about it and around it that scared you so much, you spent most of your time questioning your line of thinking. I don't really want to start on a low note, but I do feel like I owe a number of people an explanation, or at least some sort of preamble about where I've been, why I dropped out of my little corner of cyberspace and chose pretty much to go under. As for the ability to actually accomplish that, I am not sure if I can -- but I can ramble the way I used to and share because once, in what seems like long ago, I was always sure that someone was there to read and "listen", so to speak.

I am trying to compose my thoughts as I write this. Somehow, what I wanted to say seemed clearer on the way home in the Fx, m head resting on Neal's shoulder as we sped down the highway. Or even in the middle of paying for the things I'm planning to send to a friend overseas. Or yesterday, in the company of so many brilliant minds and talents where I laughed and laughed and joked around like I haven't -- not in awhile.

Outside, I am hearing the nighttime sounds of this place we now call "our neighborhood". As some of you know, we moved to Pasig a little bit over nine months ago and while it sometimes feels like just yesterday that I was in the back seat, feeling tears welling up in my eyes (though from exhaustion or an over-excess of emotion, I don't know). From where I am sitting in the floor of my room, I can see a cluster of red Christmas lights framed between one side of my door and the edge of the corner that marks the beginning of our stairs and I can't help but think: It's been a year now. How time flies, even when you're not having fun. But for all that the last few months have been a trial -- one that has been hard and crazy and nervewracking in the many aspects of my life: emotional, intellectual, creative, physical, interpersonal, intrapersonal -- I am here. I made it, somehow.

I was crying on Bunny's shoulder in Jollibee GreenBelt 1 earlier this evening. My baby brother, Neal had just finished his spaghetti and a pack of fries when a simple conversation veered into me tearing up while the most unexpected of all my friends curled her fingers around mine.

I don't even know where to begin. There has been too much that most of it is a jumble both in my head and in my hands. I can feel my throat siezing up and my fingers trembling over the keys, but after the last few days of laughter and fun and feeling so light in the heart, I know: it's time.

There have been a number of you who have expressed the hope that I would come back, that you missed my posts, my comments, my spazzy-ness and whatever else I would babble on this little slice of electronic earth. I want to take this moment to say that it has and still means a great deal to me to see the LJ notifs with those messages when I opened my email to check. Unexpected as they were, I have to say -- the whole lot of you have brilliant timing. The hellos and I miss yous went a long way to getting me through the day.

The abridged version of it is that I haven't felt much like myself in months, perhaps even years. So much that for some bizarre and entirely intimidating reason, the posts on this online journal seemed like the words of some thoughtful and brilliant stranger. A stranger, who, according to my email and the profile -- was me.



But let's gloss over that. It's late and I don't want to keep you (nor should I be keeping myself really, because I have work tomorrow at 5am, and let me tell you, it is a killer not to get enough sleep).

There is however, so much to tell, and while the telling will not come tonight, for the first time in months I can say this much: I have time. We, have time.



Officially off her unexpected hiatus.

♥,
N.

Today's bento consists of leftovers from last night's dinner. Unfortunately, it all seems to be the same color. Here it is:



( Bird's Eye View )

Left to Right:
1 - Asparagus Risotto
2 - Roasted Fennel
3 - Grape Tomatoes
4 - Carrots
5 - Turkey Breast stuffed with mushrooms, onions & Swiss cheese

WW Flex Points = 7

Boosh! Chapter 26 raw is out!
http://mangahelpers.com/downloads/details/62871

... That there is no need to go all the way to Belgium for elegant and extremely delicious Belgian chocolates. We can find 'em right here.

I'm sure that there are quite a few very discerning chocoholics on my flist. Chocolate, for us, is indeed theobroma - the food of the gods, ambrosia, manna from heaven... All that is good and true in the food world, and in the dessert world, in particular, can be summed up in that one delightful word that conjures up visions of heaven and cravings faster than anything else.

And for a chocoholic, there is no place more sacred than Belgium. This European country has come to symbolize that most luxurious, most wonderful of delights called the "Belgian chocolate," and while the price may often give us pause, there are times when the temptation is too great, and one must give in to the lure, the siren song of chocolate. Alas, though, truly luxurious Belgian chocolates may only be acquired when one goes to Europe; they are otherwise inaccessible.

But I have recently discovered this may not be so any longer. Rejoice, oh chocoholics of the Philippines! I have discovered the delightful treats of Benoit Nicolay, Chocolatier, and I deem his creations an answer to our prayers!

Some history: Benoit Nicolay is a Belgian who moved to the Philippines after marrying his wife four years ago, and true to his roots, he started creating and selling his chocolates (truffles and pralines, for the most part). I stumbled upon him last Sunday, when my mother insisted that I join her at the International Bazaar at the PICC (that's why I wasn't at FB, for those who were there). His little pralines were just displayed there, like jewels at some ancient Oriental bazaar, and I had to have them - well, at least some of them.

So I opted to buy a box of nine pieces, which costs 340PhP. If that seems expensive for just nine bites of chocolate, the price is actually quite reasonable, especially when one considers the fact that it takes ten times that amount to go abroad in order to get the same kind of quality. I made my choices, and have declared that I will carefully space them out, and not devour them all that once.

My choices were pretty simple, a mixture of flavors I'd already come to know and love, plus some others I was terribly curious about. I chose a regular truffle and a Bailey's flavored one: the former covered in dark cocoa powder, the latter covered in sparkling red sugar. I followed up this selection by going for two small slabs that were labeled 61% Peru and 71% Ecuador, the percentage representing the concentration of cacao in each piece, and the name representing where the cacao came from. I then gunned for the pralines: a coffee-filled one, another containing three different kinds of vanilla, and one that had a dark-chocolate inside and a dark-chocolate shell. These are all familiar flavors to me, and so I decided to take a risk and pick out two flavors from the available selection that I'd never tried before. I wound up choosing one praline that was simply labeled "Spice," and another one that said "Lavender." I assume this means that the former is filled with a spice-flavored cream, and the latter with a lavender-flavored one.

Now, I'm familiar with chocolate and spices together: cinnamon and chocolate go fantastically well, and chili is said to work wonders with chocolate, both in savory dishes but especially in desserts. But this one didn't specify what kind of spice or spices had gone into the mix, so I decided to see for myself, and chose one piece.

As for the lavender-flavored one, well... That was me being adventurous. I've never tried anything with lavender in it - or anything flower-flavored, for that matter, so I'm really curious as to how this is going to work out.

Oh, and I'm not that big a fan of milk chocolate, so most of the ones I chose were dark chocolate.

For more information, here's the info:

Phone: 822-6995 or 0917-327-1877
Email: info@chocolatesbybenoit.com
Website: www.chocolatesbybenoit.com

As I understand it, his home is also open for visits and purchases, but I don't know where it's located. I bet, though, you can email him for the information.

XD

I AM SO DISAPPOINTED IN ME YOUNG LADY

I AM SITTING HERE, rationing out how much work I have left vs how much time. I work in Total Silence when I'm seriously on crunch time, because otherwise I slow the hell down. That doesn't mean my brain is silent, and in silence I tend to automatically start replaying Into the Woods in my head. If you don't know what that is, it's a fabulous musical about oldschool fairy tales. I have had this play memorized since I was literally nine years old when my father was in the play. When I say it's been my favorite forever, I SUPER MEAN IT.

So I'm thinking about the Baker's Wife singing to her husband about duping Jack into giving them his cow for beans. Her husband is bitchy because it was low to take advantage of such an idiot, but she argues that they need the damn cow in order to get their curse lifted.

THE LINE IS:

Only three more tries and we'll have our prize
When the end's in sight you'll realize
If the end is right, it justifies...
The beans!


I JUST NOW realized that the reason she pauses and the reason it's funny is because it's supposed to be "justifies the means."

JUST NOW.

After fifteen years of having this play memorized and having 10 scenes from it in my head at once at any given point in time.

son I am very disappoint

About a week ago I'd purchased a "striped beet" in a store - and more or less forgot about it. But last night I decided to cut it up and see if it was really striped. It looked more or less like a small turnip so I wasn't sure how it would look inside... But once it was sliced up, the prettiest sight emerged! I'm in love with striped beets!

Bento # 657 Smoked mackerel. Carrot flowers. Corn Cob. Fried noodles with egg and vegetables, toppped with a flower made of spring onion and a striped beet root.

It's late, but this is dedicated to teracia! :D

Teaser:

( Lottiiiiii~ )


~ECK ♥

brought to you by 3:30am on a Monday, procrastinating paper writing, and Voltaire.

Where would I go to buy wool for felting?

Simple question, I know, but...I have no idea.

Preferably already in bright, fun colors. I'm not a big fan of dying the stuff myself.

Title: Antiquity
Author: Charpieinuse
Characters: Mukuro (past and present)
Word Count: 420
Warnings: None
Rating: PG
Summary: A quick glimpse into one of Mukuro's many past lives~

(Death would never stop him)





Title: Dangerous Love
Artist: Charpieinuse
Characters: Bianchi
Warnings: None
Rating: G
Comments: My incredibly late entry for round one of khrfest . This person requested Bianchi with scorpions with Battle the prompt, including the phrase "People deal with their box animals very differently." While I wasn't able to write a fanfic for it, I was able to create some fanart. I decided to paint it traditionally rather than digital color. To whomever requested this, I hope you enjoy this~



Click on Preview for Full Image




Title: Slick
Artist: Charpieinuse
Characters: 10YL Ryohei
Warnings: None
Rating: G
Comments: Fanart request for rodickparker who wanted a drawing of 10YL Ryohei fixing his hair in the mirror. I hope you enjoy this!



Click on Preview for Full Image

I bring you the continuation of previous part :3 I promise not to spam so much after this *__* Let me just post this before resting my head on the pillow, yes?

Title: Panorama (2 of 3)
Type: Comic strips (6 panels)
Pairings/Characters: First generation: Alaude->Giotto<-Spade (Cloud->Sky<-Mist). Totally one sided, mind you.
Genre: Crack. Lulz :D
Rating: PG
( Welcome to the state of blissful despair ♥ )