Well, I should probably point out when the art I use on my entries are mine or someone else's. Today's is a quick doodle I did with Metacreations Painter Classic and my Wacom PenPartner USB pen tablet. August 15th's "eye" picture, and 17th's "smoker" picture are both my creations. Both created in either Photoshop or Painter Classic (or a combination of the two) with my PenPartner.

I like to read. I'm really glad that I like to read. Enjoying to read when I was in the sixth grade has helped me tremendously. It's really sad when your in high school and other people you're own age can barely read. Before the sixth grade, I did't give a damn about books. I knew it was important to be able to read, but I really had no desire to read outside of class...hell, I didn't have much desire to read in class.

The problem is, the books that are supposed to be entertaining for a sixth grader bored me. They all tried to 'relate' to you. I don't wanna read about a buncha fucking kids my age. "Hey Bill, did you do your homework?" "I sure did Sally! Lets go play basketball!" Blah! Fuck that. But my mom is a big reader, and I decided to accompany her to the library one day just out of boredom. Walking along the Young Adults section I noticed something unique among the piles of trash. Dragon's Blood by Jane Yolen. Wow! A book about a dragon? Why not...I'll check it out.

I loved it. I wasn't used to reading a 'long' book (292 pages), so progress was slow. I immediately went back to the library and got the other three books in the series: Heart's Blood and A Sending of Dragons. The book is a 'coming of age' story about a slave named Jakkin (there's an assload of 'kk's in this book). His dream is to steal a dragon from his master and buy his freedom by training his dragon to be a champion pit fighter. Maybe I liked this book because of the main character. He's not like the other bonders. He has a dream, and doesn't waste his time and money gambling or at the 'baggeries' like his peers.

Wanting more, I naturally looked for other books by the author. I found out that Jane Yolen has published well over 100 books, ranging from books for young children to adults. I choose a title pretty much randomly from the list, Sister Light, Sister Dark, and it's sequel, White Jenna. Checking out this book was embarrassing. The cover is a picture of three naked women with only their long hair obscuring their breasts. Determined, I checked it out anyways. However, it wasn't my most embarrassing moment at the library (more on that later). I liked this series even more! It was even more unique than the Pit Dragon books. It's about Jenna, a 'white babe' who is orphaned thrice and is raised by a tribe of warrior women. No corny Xena shit here.

Some other books I've liked would include Anne McCaffery's Pern books, David Edding's Belgareth books, Melanie Rawn's dragon books, and some Dragon Lance books. The Legend of Huma would have to be my favorite of them. I don't read nearly as much as I used to, but I have been re-reading them. They're somehow better the second time around.

Now, I can't mention favorite books without mentioning Nausicaa. Jane Yolen's books are still some of my favorites, but GOD DAMN Nausicaa is of such a high quality that nothing compares. When I was young, I had this video called "Warriors of the Wind." I thought it was really cool, and I watched it a lot. Later in my life, when I became interested in anime, I found out that it was actually called "Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind," and was by Hayoa Miyazaki. I found out that "Warriors of the Wind" was actually a much edited and chopped up version of Miyazaki's original. I have yet to see the original Japanese version, but I do have a Cantonese Video CD of it, and thanks to scripts of the original, I can say that I've seen the original in full.

But, would you believe, that now I think the movie sucks? Didn't I just say that Nausicaa was amazing? Yes, but not the movie. The movie was just an adaptation of the manga (comic). The manga ran in Japan from 1982 to 1994, and a movie was made in 1984 of the early parts of the comic. So while the movie is great, if only for an animated Nausicaa, it doesn't come close to capturing the magic of the manga. But here's the great part, you can go out right now and buy the first "Perfect Collection" graphic novel (the first of four) for only $17, and experience the beauty that is Nausicaa. Hayao Miyazaki has inspired me as an artist, a writer, and a person with Nausicaa. Few things have changed the way I live and percieve life as this manga. If I could convince anyone of anything, it would be to buy the Nausicaa manga from Viz Comics.

Unfortunately, I haven't seen anything else of Miyazaki's. Both "My Neighbor Totoro" and "Kiki's Delivery Service" are available domestically. I'm told they're of a more child-oriented nature, but they're supposed to be great all the same. But this October 29th Miramax Films will be releasing Miyazaki's "Princess Mononoke" in theaters nationwide! It's getting a lot of attention because stars like Claire Daines, Minnie Driver, Billy Bob Thorton, Gillian Anderson, and others are starring in the movie. Princess Mononoke was the highest grossing film in Japan before Titanic was released there. So this October, be on the lookout for Princess Mononoke.

Now, back to the embarrassing library story. Well, one day I'm at the library picking up some books I had on reserve. And, much to my dismay, one of the books the lady set on the desk was a sex education book! I quickly said that I didn't reserve that book. She looked at the book (and finally noticed the title) and saw that it was reserved for my brother (who has a similar name to mine). He claimed that his friend reserved it in his name (suuuure). It was embarrassing mainly because there was a girl my age right behind me at the time, and I think she noticed the title. Well, it didn't matter. It's not like I'd have a chance with her anyways...