...Since I last updated this journal? Ack. But with a profound lack of creating, why not? It's sad to note the only reason I even signed in was because of the DA shirt sale going on. I hope the wasabi gum shirt I ordered fits me, and if not, I hope I can cut up a black shirt and add a stripe panel to *make* it fit me. I also threw down for Threadless's "Now Panic and Freak Out" shirt:

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...And ThinkGeek's 非常口 (hijouguchi) shirt:

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Now I need more money so I can get one of these:

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I know the guy that runs that shop - do give him some business!

Okay, so that has fuck all to do with *my* art. I'm barely, barely crawling back into getting inspired and excited about creating again, and coming up with ideas. But acting on them? Hm. (You see, I've been hanging out with a fire performing troupe lately, and if I pick art up again soon, it's going to be the thing I'll be doing when I should be learning how to spin fire. Eh heh.)

I am careful - I do plan out my books rather than just cracking one open and going to town on it. I usually have a theme or a story to follow, so I make an outline first. I don't plan the layouts ahead of time much, though it is common for me to plan the main elements of a layout beforehand.

Ideas on the table:
* altered book on my relationship with Japanese language and culture (in that order)
* stand-alone series of pieces based on parts of Hybrid's DJ set for Avalon C2C from 2005
* altered book based on passages from Jeanette Winterson's book Written on the Body
* altered book on the subject of Vietnamese, Chinese, and to a small extent, Thai cultures and how growing up around them has impacted me

I have been making some purchases, among them a set of hiragana stamps. I've been mentally thinking about what kind of things I have in my books and around my house to use. I've been thinking, hey, maybe I'll make holiday cards again this year. I want to make some for Chinese New Year as well, and *this* time, for the year of the earth ox - I can make them in three different languages! Rock out!

No promises, but it's all very tempting. One can take it that I've been re-reading my collage technique books as a good sign.

In other news, I've been going four-to-the-floor on Japanese language again. I lost most of it during a long bout of depression. Before that, I knew all 92 kana and 380 kanji. I lost most of that. Now I got it all back and then some. I know just over 600 kanji now. So if anybody wants to say I sit around moping and don't get anything done, this is a Great Big FUCK YOU from me to them.

Encourage me. Give me a great big p( ^ ^ )q or something.