But first!  I took these at the zoo this summer:

This guy popped up out of nowhere when the zookeeper banged her bucket on the glass.

Elephant! I was actually pretty far away when I took this one.

The lions were quite good at ignoring everyone.

Ah!  You must be thinking.  You had such a wonderful day at the zoo!  Nope.  We got rained out by a massive storm and then came home to find my apartment had been flooded.  Arg.

Now on to the real reason for the post! 

I started my stained glass class a few weeks back and took some pictures of my first work in progress.  I made a suncatcher (we all did) which will be gifted to my mother at Christmas.  And she will like it because she is my mother and it was made by her only daughter.  :)

I forgot to bring my camera to the first two classes (of course), but I got to bring everything home to do some of it there. 

These are all the glass pieces that make up my suncatcher. One of them has copper foil on it.

 It’s really important to have your pieces numbered according to the pattern.  They might all look the same here, but there were enough differences in shape that they wouldn’t have fit together properly if out of the right order.

The outside of the suncatcher!

The whole thing! I didn't really get to choose the colours I wanted, btw. The teacher brought in scrap glass and if you weren't fast you missed the really good colours. I'm not fast, and was too polite to grab all the blue colours, darnit!

 There are gaps between the pieces because the pattern is cut out with special scissors that don’t just cut along a line – a teeny strip of paper is removed along the inside lines.  That way you have room to add the copper foil, yet still have the finished piece end up the same size as the pattern.  My homework was to edge each part in copper foil, which is sticky on one side and can be folded around the edges of the glass.

I finished! Well, mostly. The yellow centerpiece had to be edged as well.

The pieces assembled! You can tell from this picture that I wasn't always the best at following the pattern lines. Some of those gaps are way too big!

The first step in the soldering process is to tack your pieces together. My gaps weren't as bad as I thought they'd be, with the exception of #7. That one is practically floating in space...

You can also see where I dropped bits of solder on the glass.  They came off.  And this picture is blurry.  My camera continues to suck at close ups…

I got pretty caught up in the soldering process and didn’t get a chance to take any more pictures.  The next step was filling in all the holes with solder, which you can see I started around pieces 4, 5, 12 and 13.  It took me a while to do #7.  After that was bubble soldering, which meant running another layer around each glass piece, but trying to make it puffy and nice.  Decorative.  Unfortunately I discovered that I was not a natural at soldering.  It took me ages to do and the teacher had to fix a couple of places.  It didn’t help that I can be really anal about things like that.  Sigh.

I would also like to mention that I did NOT get burned by the soldering iron!  I managed to scratch up my thumb the first night on a glass sample, and got a glass chip embedded in a knuckle during class two so I was understandably concerned.  You have to hold a super hot iron in one hand and feed in the solder cable as it melted with the other.  I did get a headache from the fumes, though.  :)

After that we used a tarnishing solution to turn the solder to a colour that matched whichever foil we used.  I used copper, but was quite jealous of how the black foil suncatchers turned out!  After that there was much washing, and we had to rub wax into it and polish polish polish.

I'm done!

Or maybe not. You can see the wax I missed in this picture. Guess I have more polishing to do!

That’s it!  I’m doing a floral panel for my second project, and have picked out a bunch of different glass colours and patterns.  Tonight I was supposed to start to cut the 63 (!) pieces I need, but I (for the first time in my personal history) got a fever from the flu shot and ruined most of what I cut.  Guess it’s hard to be accurate when your hands are shaking!  I’m hoping it was the fever and not me completely sucking at cutting curved lines, anyway…  I think I’m going to find a geometric pattern as a back up.  :)

My main set of shelves are in my living room - these are generally things I am currently collecting and favorites that have finished. Most shelves have two rows of books, but I've tried to stagger them so things in the back peek out. This also makes it easier to find things!

Before my last move I plastic wrapped about 500 or so volumes to free up much needed shelf space. Those boxes now live in my living room closet along with my 3 last boxes of comics. Some day I will actually label them just in case I ever want to find anything again.

One of my yaoi/shonen-ai shelves. Along with a stack of unsorted manga, that Clover omnibus that I have yet to get around to reading and a Totoro musical figurine I bought in a craft village in Japan. (When the clerk heard I was bringing it back to Canada she said, "Ooooh! Totoro is going very far away!" Then she did the shushing gesture and slipped a free magnet in my bag. I liked that clerk.)

Yaoi shelf #2. Carefully edited out is my collection of Fruits Basket stuffed animals that live on top of the shelf along with Mr. Saotome, P-Chan and a few Chococats. That middle shelf holds books I'm planning on covering someday with a second layer. They aren't things I reread much and so are hideable.

When I first put everything away in the new place I went with themes for each shelf.  #1 was shojo, #2 for shonen, then a weird sort of logic for the other 2.  Sadly, the first consideration for the yaoi books are size.  :)  It makes it easy if you’re browsing for roughly the same kind of manga, but I have literally lost things since then.  If a title is tucked behind the front row I’ve had a really hard time finding it.  I’m thinking of switching to alphabetical order.

I do feel the need to point out that Shojo Beat has THE most boring spines ever.  I’ve stood in front of my shojo shelf and tried to find titles that have blended in with the other red, basic print spines.  I make an effort to alternate the occasional CMX or Del Rey series just to break the monotony!  If you look at the top picture, the first shelf on the left is the most boring visually.  It’s mostly Shojo Beat books.  I can identify virtually everything on my shelves from that picture based on the spines *except* that one.  I think Viz is trying to be less yawn-inducing (based on Magic Touch and Otomen, anyway) but it’s already too late for my shelves….

I’m also going to say that while I felt pretty geeky taking pictures of my shelves, when I was looking at the top one and wondering if I should crop the sides I found a graphic novel that had gone missing.  I’ve been trying to lend the first Mouse Guard book to a friend and couldn’t find it anywhere.  I finally decided that I must have lent it to someone and forgotten about it (which happens, and then you can only hope the person who has it brings it back!) and gave up looking.  Nope!  For some reason I stuck it on the shelf next to my Kelley Armstrong books instead of where I normally keep it.  Sigh.

Wow.  I’m a bit out of touch, aren’t I?  Just found out today that there’s a Kimi Ni Todoke anime!  This is probably old news to everyone else, but I liked the preview:

I posted a note about the defective copies of Kimi Ni Todoke #1 that the Indigo stores in Toronto received, but I just realized that I never mentioned how much I liked the first volume.

In what I hope isn’t a new tradition, I was foiled in my attempts to buy volume 2 this weekend at work at the bookstore.  Some days the thought of getting to buy new manga early is the only thing that gets me there (I work the opening shift every Saturday morning, if that helps explain my reluctance to go in).  I was so happy at the thought of buying the new Skip Beat, Baby & Me and Kimi Ni Todoke… then I found out that none of the stores in Toronto got them in.  Ours didn’t even have them on order!  (Though that meant I got to make a manga list of titles we needed to get.  One of my favorite ways to kill time there is to make lists of things to order.)

Today after work I remembered it was new comic day and popped into the comic store.  I managed to spend $99 instead of the $28 I had planned.  Oops!

The first thing I read from my new stack?  Kimi Ni Todoke #2.  If you haven’t read the first one, it’s the story of a pleasant, helpful girl who is nicknamed Sadako (a horror movie name) and the object of much fear and scary rumours among her classmates.  In volume 1, a popular guy in class helps her break out of her shell a bit and make some new friends.  I liked the interesting mix of characters introduced in the first book and found Sadako’s odd situation both sad and amusing.   She’s just so weirdly helpful about the oddest things!

Volume 2 continues with a plot introduced at the end of volume 1.  Someone at school starts spreading rumours about Sadako’s new friends Yano and Yoshida.  Nasty enough on its own, but Sadako is also getting the blame for starting them.  This leads to misunderstandings among the group as Yano and Yoshida try to keep faith in Sadako while getting hit with hints that she might not like them as much as they like her.  Sadako hears part of what is being said and tries to find out what’s going on, but is also horrified that the two girls who were so nice to her are being hurt because of her.  She starts avoiding everyone, which sets off Kazehaya who wants to know why she won’t talk to him anymore.

Part of what elevates this a bit above the usual nasty rumour storyline that pops up in shojo stories (for me, anyway) is the fact that these characters actually spend time trying to figure what’s really happening and the confusion generally stems from half heard, half finished and half understood conversations.  Complicated (of course) by Sadako’s inexperience.  She’s used to being alone and not talking to people so she’s not the best at getting her meaning across.  Or even feeling like people want to get her meaning.

I think if I have any complaint at all about the story it’s that there’s far too much repetition.  Kazehaya will say something to Sadako, and while it’s nice that she takes it to heart and it helps her, I don’t need to hear her repeat things over and over again.  I have a low tolerance for that sort of thing.  I feel like it’s wasting time and space.  :)

I’d also like to mention that if Sadako was lifted from her book to replace Sunako in Wallflower, it could only be an improvement to that series!

While I think some of the characters designs are a bit odd, I really like the art in the book.  I also appreciate that although the supporting characters are nothing new, I like the mix of personalities and the relationships they have with each other.  I will also admit to getting a bit misty when Sadako was struggling with keeping her friends vs. abandoning them to protect them.  sniff!

(Whatever.  It’s late, I haven’t slept in two days and I think I’m coming down with a cold.  That’s why I was getting emotional.  Really.)

Two thumbs up!

Yen wins cover-wise with me because the title stands out a little less than ADV and lacks an advertising blurb.

Sadly, I can't stand the cover blurb that Yen wrote. Yes, it's an all ages title, but does the blurb need to be directed to 4 year olds?

ADV's blurb makes me want to open the book.

This one is from Yen.

Er… I forgot to scan the ADV panel for this one (and my scanner is now put away) but the dialogue is:
Jumbo:  Wow, look what you’ve got here.
Yotsuba:  Bad mitten!  Ena lent it to me!
Yotsuba:  I’m practicing!
Jumbo:  Well, well.

ADV wins this one for me.  Yen seems to mix more of Yotsuba speaking normally (well, for her) and saying things like “borrowed it to me.”   I think Yotsuba is charming and childlike enough without resorting to mixing up words like that.  Yes, I know it’s natural for a small child, but I’m reading a comic here.  I also get annoyed when manga characters refer to themselves by name.  Not even Yotsuba can make that one better with me…

The next panel is from the end of the volume.  Yotsuba has decided to be a summer fairy, which is why she’s dressed like that.  The previous panel has her father asking where she got the ice cream from.

ADV

Yen ftw! I just think the dialogue fits with the reactions more. Also, this panel made me laugh.

This next bit is from a series of four panel strips in the middle of the book.  Yotsuba finds a soccer ball in the park, and Ena explained the no hands rule.

Gosh, this is blurry. I was trying to avoid spine damage. :) I think this one is funnier, though. Again, it made me snork in the cafeteria at lunch. Risking possible public embarrassment is always the sign of a funny panel.

ADV

A break from the competition! I love this section. Five panels, four reactions from Yotsuba. She's such a fun character. Dialogue aside, the art is always enough to keep me entertained. Kiyohiko Azuma does great reactions.

 

These two panels are from ADV.  (Captions refuse to take on this picture.  Perhaps they are scared of Miura….)

This one is from Yen. I don't really have a preference for either bit of dialogue, but here you can see one thing Yen is doing that ADV didn't. The cultural notes are placed within the panels to illuminate readers.

Hmm.  Do I have a clear winner?  No, not really.  Pros and cons to both, I guess.  I’m just happy to have Yotsuba&! published again.  I also appreciate the clean, white paper I get with the new volumes and I love the black and white drawing of Yotsuba in the back cover.  I think it would look charming in a frame on my wall, if it didn’t involve destroying the volume.  :)

I’m going to save #6 until I have the time to appreciate it properly.  I think it deserves it after I waited so long.  :)

All told, I think Yen Press has more than earned the extra love and money I’ve been trying to send their way since I heard they licensed Yotsuba&!.

I declared today to be an unofficial Yotsuba day! Yes, I was happy to traipse off at lunch to the comic store to pick up volume 6 of Yotsuba, which I have been very eagerly anticipating! (Thanks ADV!)

So I went shopping today expecting to get Yotsuba 6 and the first volume of Super Human Resources (because I loved what I saw of the free online preview, but was too lazy ass to finish reading. I hate reading comics on my computer!). Sadly, after my Summer of No Manga I have little control over myself when presented with new books and I ended up spending $85 instead of $25. Oops!

I was curious about how different the Yen Press translation of Yotsuba would be from the ADV so I ended up picking up volume 4 as well… chosen at random because I didn’t really remember the scenes I saw when flipping through that one. Ah, crappy memory… you’re finally good for something! I decided to read #4 at lunch since I didn’t have much time left after shopping and there were a few things that stood out as being pretty different. For instance, I don’t remember Yotsuba referring to herself by name before. (That’s one of the manga standards that annoys me, I admit. At least she’s probably doing it because she’s 6, though, and not because she’s trying to be precious and cute.) I’m probably going to do a closer comparison when I get home and if there are a lot of changes, I’ll probably end up rebuying the other 4 at some point. What the heck. I’m trying to send what extra love I can to Yen because I was so happy about them picking this title up. :)

Last night I signed up for a class to learn how to make stained glass through the Toronto District School Board. I’m so looking forward to it! I was torn between this and taking pottery, but the beginner’s pottery class filled up a little too quickly. What I found funny about the course catalogue is that stained glass was listed under crafts, but pottery and mosaics are art. Apparently I’m more crafty than arty. :)

The course runs for 10 weeks through the fall to the beginning of December. That means handmade Christmas presents! To add to the Christmasy themed dishcloths I’m already knitting as gifts. I don’t usually do so many handmade gifts in one year, but I’m starting early this time.

Posting has been non-existent lately as I’ve been busy with family visits (one more to go!), an apartment flood (don’t worry – my manga is safe, but has everyone been getting as much rain as Toronto this summer?), the aftermath of the apartment flood, the waiting for someone to come look at my floors which never quite happened and sleep deprivation + drama due to my noisy, noisy upstairs neighbours. If I do a posting in the spring about how I’m moving again (damnit!) it’ll be because of those yahoos.

I also haven’t bought much manga this summer. I did two months where I wasn’t allowed to buy any – a period that I had to extend because of a rather fabulous sale my bookstore had – and I found that once I broke the manga buying habit it was a lot easier to be selective and leave books on the shelf. I imagine I’ll do a catch up sometime in the fall, but I’m quite proud of myself for being so good this summer. :) Except for the 24 volumes I bought during the sale. Buy 3 books get the 4th one free AND I got my employee discount! Resisting that level of temptation was beyond me….

Today I popped by the bookstore because we finally got in the first volume of Kimi Ni Todoke. I say finally because it was in the front cover ads in last months Shojo Beat books. Bad Viz for being confusing!

Of course out of the two copies we received I got the one that is defective. Beware! Check out the back of the book before bringing it home! Random pages start getting fainter near the end of the story (about 15 pages in from the back cover) until finally they turn completely blank.

Semi-appropriate for a story about a shy awkward girl branded as a cursed ghost girl, less fun when you’re trying to make out the words.

I called the store and the other copy is fine, so who knows how widespread the problem is. With my luck it’s possible I got the only misprinted copy. :)

UPDATE: Nope. Second copy at our store had the same printing problem and when I went to the Eaton Centre store all three of *their* copies were the same. Hmm.

I keep forgetting that Ponyo will be opening in English on August 14. I wasn’t sure about going (it’s not the most exciting or coherent movie I’ve ever seen) but I think I’m leaning towards it now that I’ve seen the English trailer.  (Oddly enough, the only anime I seem to prefer dubbed are Ghibli films.)

Half my problem is the complete lack of excitement over most of the movies released this summer.  I’ve only really loved 3 so far (UP, Star Trek and Harry Potter) so my enthusiasm has waned with each new let down.  I supposed I shouldn’t punish Ponyo for everyone else’s mistakes.  :)

But!  I do feel that it’s important to support films like this in the theater.  Movie studios love looking at profit and if crappy movies get sequels based on the box office,  then I think it’s important that ones like Ponyo get my $11-13.

Plus, Leam Neeson is in it.  Gotta love that.

I don’t normally buy Love Com – after watching the anime I didn’t  feel like collecting the manga (which is why I normally don’t watch the anime version of something I’m reading) since the stories were so close.  I also have to admit that I was kind of resentful of how badly Otani was treated by everyone just because he didn’t have romantic feelings for Risa which affected how I saw a big chunk of the middle of the series.  I’ve been giving the volumes a quick read as they come into the bookstore though, and I do plan to eventually start back  up where I stopped buying.

But, ah!  Volume 13 came in and I discovered a new story that hadn’t been in the anime…  So I bought it.  Give me something new and I will reward you financially!

There’s going to be spoilers for volume 12 here, btw.

The volume opens with a continuation of the fallout from Suzuki’s failure to get into college.  A buff judo expert has declared that he will be stealing Chiharu and Suzuki stupidly says he’ll think about it.  Silly boy.  Otani complicates matters by challenging the judo black belt on Suzuki’s behalf.  His heart’s in the right place but sickly, brainy Suzuki isn’t likely to win the fight.  We get some rare Suzuki time for the rest of the chapter as he has to rise to the challenge he’s been thrown and to prove that he’s not a loser after all.  I liked it just because Chiharu and Suzuki don’t really take center stage that often and we rarely get to see any sort of character development there.  I also like that even though he’s determined to improve himself, there are no sudden  miracles in Suzuki’s character growth.

The next story focuses on Risa’s brother Taketo.  He’s failed some exams of his own, and is now stuck going to the same high school as his sister.  Taketo is incredibly bitter about this as he’s convinced that her school is filled with idiots and he’ll be contaminated by association.  Risa’s offer to show him the school and change his mind doesn’t exactly go as planned.  It’s cute to see how much he idolizes Otani though, especially since Otani is so often the target of everyone else’s jokes and insults.

The last third introduces a new character – Risa’s grandfather!  He’s kind of a pervy old man who likes to con pretty women out of their email addresses.  He’s been travelling and his grand return is marred by Otani spoiling one of his email schemes.  It’s even worse when Grandpa discovers that the obnoxious and overly  short kid is his grandaughter’s boyfriend!  He’s determined to break the two up so that Risa can find the kind of tall, handsome boy she really deserves.  It’s interesting to see the plot he sets into motion – usually it’s the kind of thing you’d expect a bitchy ex-girlfriend to pull (think Sae from Peach Girl.  Heh).  Will Risa keep her trust in Otani despite the mounting pressure?  I suspect we’ll find out in the next volume.  And these two fight enough that I’m not going to say 100% that I know what will happen.  I’m pretty sure, but not 100%  :)

I do like Risa, Otani and their friends and had expected the rest of the volumes to follow along with what I’ve already seen.  I was delighted to be wrong!  I’ve always liked the art (the characters are always really expressive) and appreciate the fact that unlike most of the manga I read, the students at Risa’s school don’t wear uniforms.  I generally like the fashion in shojo books and there’s more opportunity for variety here.  I believe that it’s pretty close to the end so I’ll  add Love Com to my purchases for the rest of the run.  I’ve been making a lot of cuts to the list of what I buy lately so I don’t mind putting this one back on.