Main Entry: 1hoard
Pronunciation: ‘hOrd, ‘hord
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English hord, from Old English; akin to Gothic huzd treasure, Old English hydan to hide
: a supply or fund stored up and often hidden away

I’ve been secreting away 100/0 paintbrushes a few at a time for the last 6 or 7 months. I didn’t even realize I had so many… and I’ve found 3 more since I took this picture!

;_;

Today we went to Volks for the last time. We’ve gotten to know the staff there pretty well, considering that we only speak bits of each other’s language. We made a cute little photo book as a thank you for the staff. I feel weird saying that, because I know some people would say “They’re only nice to you and helpful because it’s their job, you know. It’s just to make money.” And while I’m under no delusion that Volks is indeed out to make money, our local Sumika staff have just been so sweet and helpful, and have on some instances gone out of their way to help us or get things from other shops for us.

We talked to Yamada-san, and he actually spoke English with us today! He’s adorable when he speaks English. We talked briefly about the LA Showroom. He’s going to be the manager there, for sure. I’m happy about the possibility that we may one day meet again, if I ever make it to the LA showroom. He was really moved by the little photobook and note (in my clumsy Japanese) – and he seemed a little distressed that we were leaving. Here’s the crazy part… he actually called Mayumi so she could talk to us! I’m amazed by how much Mayumi’s English has improved since we first came. When we first came, she couldn’t speak English, beyond the English loan words already in Japanese. Now, she can carry on a basic conversation on the phone. Wow. That’s so great! She said she loves Kyoto (”Very very enjoy!”) and she’s taking lessons now so she’ll be able to do the faceups on Full Choice System… at least I think that’s what it was. It might just be to do the faceups on the standards. She’s so sweet. I really wish her the best. Yamada-san too. He gave us his card with the contact information for the LA Sumika and told us when it was going to open and all. I think he’s a little nervous about going so far away, but I know he’ll do great. And everyone who meets him will love him.

We also used up all the points we’ve been accruing. Good stuff. Between my deputying and our own purchases, we’d racked up about $100 worth of store credit. Wow. Mandy got the new Post Pet Pinkys and some other stuff, and I mostly got customizing materials. I hope they Mr. Color survives the flight home! Either way, it’s gonna be wrapped up in sturdy plastic bags for the flight… just in case the pressure on the plane makes the bottles break! (I know it’s not supposed to do that, but Blake was bringing a bottle of salsa back to Japan with him last month and it exploded all over his clothes! I think it’s because it was vaccuum-sealed, but I’m paranoid anyway!)

Anyway! The dolls who remained in Japan after the big ones were mailed got packed up tonight… we’re both mostly packed. But we’ll definitely need the next few days to finish packing and cleaning so we’re ready to go bright and early on Thursday morning!

Man… I’ve been on hiatus from modding for about 2 months on DoA. With my official little commission list, anyway. I actually had to finish two commission jobs from when I closed my list – that F-8 for NoNoNanoon, and then the Rasendo for Dezarii.

The Rasendo is FINALLY finished and was delivered today when I met Dezarii in Kyoto. I’m so happy he’s finished! He was an insanely difficult mod… Rasendo bodies are NOT good. The torso has the most stylized, visually exciting sculpts I’ve ever seen. However, NOTHING fits together right. The ball joint at the top of the thigh doesn’t fit into the socket, so the doll is largely incapable of standing… and it’s impossible to make it sit. The knee and thigh sockets are too shallow, so those joints roll and are very unstable. The weirdly placed, oddly-large testicles also prevent the thighs from fitting into the sockets. Weird.

Anyway, for this mod, I actually resculpted the 3/4ths of the ball at the top of the thigh. Much sawing and rebuilding and smoothing. In this project, I also learned how to make… BUTT GROOVES! :D So now I know how to make a locking butt joint for dolls who like to sit. I also modded the knees by extending the bottom of the thigh, and also by extensively carving and reshaping the knees themselves. I also, um, removed his testicles and sort of semi-carved them into the back of his groin-bulge.

Here are some before and after pics:

And here he is, all wigged and faceupped and stuff at Kyoto Station. :)

And we also went to Tenshi no Sato for the last time. We’d made a little picture book for Volks… a lot of people do, and they go on the big long table in the downstairs picture area. It was well received… I hope that they liked it. We need to make the little book for our local Volks. OH!!! NEWS! Heh, I think were the only ones who know or care…. but the Nagoya Showroom manager (Yamada-san! ) is going to the LA Showroom! He doesn’t speak English. But he’s studying very hard now, according to the English speaker at Tenshi no Sato. That’s so great for him! He’s such a sweetheart, I’d love to go to the Volks shop in LA just to visit him. Maybe I will! Next time I go to visit my brother in California. :) Anyway. All of my big dolls are in the US… so while I wanted to bring Rory or Mac, I actually brought Marlow (Baron). People seemed really surprised to see him. I’ll resize my Tenshi no Sato pics later. :)

Today has sucked muchly. Here’s the timeline of my day:

5:00 am: Get up, wash hair.
6:00 am: Leave apartment for After Event.
6:45 am: Arrive at Volks, probably 10th in line. First females and only foreigners.
8:00 am: Got our lottery tickets for our places in line. #112 and #78 respectively. Pretty much resigned myself to not getting Rengemaru, but nursed some faint hope that all of the 77 people in front of me wanted Toppi or Magical Michael.
9:30 am: Got lined up, and the actual slips for LEs were passed out, starting at the beginning. Suzuna sold out after about 10 people, followed by Toppi after about 25, and then Mimi and Rengemaru were sold out about 10 people before me. Heartbreak.
10:00 am: Entered the store, picked up nothing unusual, save for a pair of SD sunglasses (hadn’t known they were re-releasing those!). I also snagged the sleeping Rengemaru pyjama set for Mandychu…
11:30 am: FINALLY made it through the hour and a half long line to pay for my goods, watching people in front of me get LEs. One woman, obviously a scalper, had gotten a very good number and had managed to get one each of the LEs. And THAT is why I refuse to pick up dolls on the second-hand market. People who waited for hours like me always get screwed over so someone can make a quick buck. Some girls were so upset when they saw their lottery numbers that they cried.
12:00 pm: Made my first trip to a Japanese Denny’s. Was weirded out by the completely alien menu and the complete lack of Denny’s standards, or even appetizing foods.
2:00 pm: Used my new can of MSC UV Cut to coat Dezarii’s Chiidori that I’m modding.
3:00 pm: Went in to flip the pieces and spray the other side, then realized that instead of MSC Matte, I had used MSC GLOSS and the the pieces now look like they’re coated in glass.

The After Event really turned me off of attempting to get sleeping Rengemaru in another way. So I used the money from selling Yen, plus some of my commission money, and I have ordered Hound. He’ll be arriving at my house within a few weeks, so I’ll have a project to work on when I get home. YAY! Unfortunately, since I’m already in a bad mood, the “buyer’s remorse” has struck in hardcore. Sigh. Oh well, he’ll be there to greet me when I get home.

Wheeeee! I’m finished with work! After teaching almost 2000 NOVA lessons, I never have to teach another one! And now I have two weeks of just good old relaxation and travel. Tomorrow morning I’ll get up at the crack of dawn and go to the Nagoya Sumika for the Afterevent and try to get a Sweet Dreams Rengemaru. I’m really nervous because I’m not positive that I’ll get one. I don’t know if the Nagoya shop is going to do their limited dolls by lottery, or by first-come-first-serve. Many shops are doing it by lottery… also, tomorrow is likely to be packed, even without the doll side. The other side is FINALLY going to have Robofie. Apparently, if their website is to be trusted… when they reopen tomorrow, there will be a ROBOT STADIUM!!!!!!!

I kinda feel disenchanted with doing custom work. A couple people have contacted me about doing customs for them when I’m off of hiatus, but… I just feel frustrated lately and a little paranoid. There’s a thread on DoA right now where someone started by talking about some problems she’s had with buying from individuals and customizers, and how she’s becoming disenchanted with dolls because of it. That in itself is no problem – I totally understand her feelings. But then a lot of people posted to that just to harp on about low quality stuff being sold on DoA or eBay. No names were mentioned, and I’ve never sold to any of those people (to my knowledge) … but I still just feel like maybe I shouldn’t try to make things to sell because these people have such high standards. The idea of making something that I felt was good enough to sell, and then getting anonymously griped about in public… it seems very hurtful to me. Especially since very few of these people e-mailed the sellers about it. I’m kinda paranoid about it happening in the future, or having happened (without my knowledge) in the past. I’m not so worried about my customs/modding and I don’t intend to stop those, really… but my sewing projects. I’m not a professional seamstress and have never claimed to be.

But anyway. Afterevent. YAY! Wish me luck!

Well, it’s done, finally! Face-upped and ready to ship tomorrow!

Yen has also been sold…. crisis contained! Thanks for those who offered me help getting him home. It was really sweet of you.

Please wish me luck getting Sweet Dream Rengemaru! I find myself getting really nervous about the After Party and the possibility of not being able to get him… *frets!*

I love Nari-pon owners. They seem to have really delightful senses of humor. And Naripon dolls are so evil looking when they pose them like this, so these little photostories work perfectly.

Observe:
Hell hath no fury…
The Witches! Beware… the witches…

I should post a pic of my one 2 year old student who looks like a Naripon doll.. with about the same disposition.

I’ve heard it’s common practice that people will promise to buy dolls on the marketplace, and then the deals for whatever reason fall through. This seems to happen with amazing frequency, and it’s just happened to me.

I’m so hurt and angry about it. I told [person] that I really needed to have payment sent by a certain date because I was moving home and I needed to ship the doll, and she said she’d send payment “in three days.” Well, after having the doll on hold for almost a week, I got worried and PMed her. She didnt respond to my PM, though I could see that she had read it. I PMed her again, asking, pointblank, if she wanted the doll because I still had one other person who was waiting in case the deal fell through. She read it, but again didn’t respond until HOURS later. And what was her response?

“After a lot of thought (and trying to find the money), I don’t think I can get him. Sorry.”

What the fuck? That’s IT? I had a doll on hold for her for a fucking week and that’s IT? And it took her a WEEK to tell me this? I’m so angry and upset about this. All of my dolls are packed up and shipped, and now I have to figure out how to get Yen home as well. The worst part? There had been another girl who REALLY wanted Yen, and she’d been waiting on me to see if the deal fell through. I messaged her this morning after [person] messaged me that, and unfortunately… the other girl ordered from CH just a few hours ago. So I’ve also lost the other buyer as well. If she had just PMed me back when she read the damn thing instead of deliberating or stalling for hours, I wouldn’t have lost the other buyer. So I’m in a crap situation. I wonder when [person] was going to tell me that she was going to flake on the deal.

This situation SUCKS. I’m going to relist Yen and hope someone wants him.

(We’re trying to use up our horded stores of American food that our families have sent us over the course of the year.)

Well, eBay stuff is mostly worked out, most everyone has paid for their items (except for the two people who talked to me in advance)… so all in all, this campaign of selling has been a success.

I feel a little stressed about selling Yen. I have two people who are interested in him. One person said she’d buy him, but said to give it three days for her to get everything in order before she sent the e-check. But that was about five days ago… and since it’s an echeck, it’ll be a bit before it clears. I really need her to get it started so I won’t be scrambling at the last minute to get him in the mail before I move. I PMed her today on DoA to see if she’d gotten things worked out… and I see she’s read the note, but hasn’t replied to me. So what is the proper etiquette? Do I mail again and say that I REALLY need her response because it’s causing me undue stress? Do I just wait? The other girl has asked me to tell her if this deal falls through because she’s interested in him. And she would be able to pay all at once, not using an e-check. So I don’t know. I feel very stressed. It’s crazy how something so small can be such a big stress.

Speaking of a big stress… tonight I packed up my dolls to mail home. I’m going to ship them out tomorrow by EMS. I will be a total wreck until I know they’re safe in the States, waiting for me. I’m also absolutely DREADING how much it’s going to cost. There’s a doll right there in postage. Hopefully because it’ll be being shipped from me to me, marked “PERSONAL BELONGINGS” they won’t be charged customs fees. I just feel so stressed! It sounds dumb, but I’m also sad because I’ll miss them. Usually, when I wake up, I look over at the (makeshift) shelves where we keep the dolls and just sort of think about what I have planned for the day. I feel like something will be missing in my morning. But I’m not mailing Tam or Marlow, they’ll go into my suitcase (also saving me on postage). So I can have them around! YAY!

The Rasendo’s on the back burner right now while I finish up a face-up/modding commission. I need to go through and revise my commissions page for how I would like descriptions and instructions given. I think it’ll make my life easier in the future!

And I’m excited because the F-4 mod got sold to someone really cool! I’m really happy he’s going to a good home – I really like the dolls that his new owner has, and I like how he treats them. They’re well photographed and well cared for, and they all have good personalities. So F-4 boy won’t end up being anything weird.

Today I got some cuuuuuuute Rement. I got some of the pastry shop stuff and I’m delighted with it. The main reason I buy Rement is because I want to get little miniatures of the things I usually eat here, and things I have in Japan. So while I can’t bring home yakisoba or melon pan permanently, I’ll always have these ltitle reminders of what I liked her. And Ilove how the Rement kitchen looks like my kitchen (minus the PET bottles and ice shaver), and the Rement fridge looks like my fridge. I love it! :D YAY REMENT! Tomorrow maybe I’ll have time to take some pics.

I’m doing some extreme modding on a Rasendo doll to try to make it capable of sitting or standing. I think I may have inadvertantly learned how to do butt-grooves that make a sitting body work! GLEE! Yay for on-the-job training.

I’ll take pics after this leg is modded to show what was changed. This is a ton of work.