Manga Readers

After a few hours scouring the internet for the best way to get my manga on a nook, which I currently want above all else, I lapsed into my usual searches. You know the ones I mean, where you’ve searched the same thing several times just to see if you can get a better or more recent answer? Unless I’m the only one that does this, which is entirely possible.

One of my favorite searches involves my two favorite things – my Android MyTouch 4g, and Manga. I prefer the area where the two overlap – the wonderful world of Android Manga readers. In the year since I’ve had my phone, I’ve tried several. Before, with my iPod Touch, I had relied on an app called MangaDL, which (thanks to jailbreaking) I was able to dig into and change the files to allow me to download mangas that the app had blocked, which was anything US licensed and therefore anything worth reading.

When I finally got my phone, it seemed like the world was at my fingertips, but with more options came more failures. Thus, I did what everyone in my generation does when they have a question. I googled it. The answers I got back were less than satisfactory. Though I ended up with some good suggestions, it seemed that most articles and reviews that offered a comparison were completely out-of-date. Some of the most relevant pages came up from months or even years ago. New apps were completely disregarded, and the old ones were usually reviews on older versions.

Still, I don’t like making my own opinions – I’m the kind of person who likes to have someone else do it for me when it comes to certain things. I wanted to hear why one app was better than the rest, but ended up with a slew off apps that tried to do the same job without a real decision as to which one was absolutely perfect for me.

So for all those who are like me, and want a review that isn’t outdated or irrelevant, I’ve decided to write my own reviews. I’ll try and get to every app on the market, and by then I assume I’ll have plenty to do with editing reviews, and writing reviews on new apps.

This will probably go on a new blog, to preserve sortofazombie as an outlet for my ideas. I just wanted to let anyone who might stumble across this learn of my plans(:

Essays.

I love writing. I really do.

But something about essays makes me want to curl up into a ball and die.

Rarely am I told to write about something I want to write about, but rather I’m given a limited spectrum of choice and have to write something that I don’t really feel passionate about.

I feel like I want to paint a portrait of a person, yet the assignment is to paint fruit, y’know?

As usual, I finished my rough draft at the last minute, finally settling on a topic that I could write a couple of pages on without constantly scrambling for more filler. I’m not particularly happy with my work, but rough drafts are made to be revised.

What I really want is a freewrite assignment. Ten pages on whatever you want to write about. A story, a memoir, a long poem, whatever it is that tickles ze fancy. I’d really like the inspiration that a deadline provides – so many of my writing has gone unfinished simply because I had no reason to finish it. Que tragedy, yes?

Though I doubt I will ever receive that assignment, one can only hope and dream. For now I’ll write the introduction to a thousand and one stories and hope I’ll somehow be able to see them through to the end. 😛

Volleyball <3

Ahhh, I love my team.

For the first time, I’m playing with girls who aren’t full of attitude, a coach who doesn’t just care about the win, and a club that isn’t just interested in making money.

This season, I’m on a team made up of girls selected because they’re good at the game and have good attitudes, which is unfortunately a hard to find combination.

We practice three days a week, two hours a session, and for the most part we’re playing in a gym until the weather gets better and we can practice on the court in Gabby’s backyard.

We have thirteen tournaments, mostly in Austin and Houston, and several here in San Antonio. The possibility of a qualifier in Baltimore is even being discussed. Needless to say, I’m excited!

So far, We’ve decided on uniforms, sweats, backpacks, decals, shoes, and kneepads. We’re still discussing socks (Knee, Crew, ankle? Color?) but I like what’s been chosen so far. Even if I hate crew socks, I’d rather wear crews with a team I like than wear knee’s with a team I hate.

Though I’ll be benching it for the first few tournaments until I feel comfortable jumping and hitting with my gimp leg (ACL Reconstruction in May, still recovering) I’m not too worried about that. There’s only 9 girls on the team, and three don’t plan on touching the front row. Out of the remaining 6, three to four prefer hitting outside (left front), and my preference is Middle or Right Front (no special names for this position :P)

The only thing I worry about is that I’m not going to be able to keep up with my superTeam, but the coach has already reassured me that once I get my game back, It’ll be all good in the hood.

To sum it up, I’m excited for this season! Now all I gotta do is work my schedule around practices and tournaments 😛

Press Week -__-“

If by any chance you happen to be part of a Newpaper or other printed publication, you probably understand this. Well, it’s probably limited to monthly and quarterlies, like my school paper, but still, it’s a known concept.

Essentially, during pressweek all the pages get done. Until that point, stories are still being written, photos taken, and ads sold. However, during the last week before the pages get sent to press (the printer) all the page editors are scrambling to put everything together in a cohesive and enticing design.

Press week for me, as the sports page editor of my school paper, means that I have to stay after school until around 9 o’clock p.m. every day that week, until my page goes through initial edits, secondary opinions, staff critiques, body-text editing, photo checks, infographic redesigns, and finally: Final Edits.

These steps are crucial for any page editor to go through, as any good editor knows that the first design is never good enough, and never stays the same. From the Friday before press week to the time the pages are exported as PDFs, they have undergone almost total overhaul.

It’s during these weeks that I always wish to go back to being a reporter, so I can spend the hectic days of press week as the majority of them do, chatting at the tables and doing relatively nothing. Instead, I’m painstakingly editing photos to press quality and arranging and rearranging stories so they fit on my page with all the other aspects I’m supposed to cover.

Thankfully, the week is over and I can get back to not pulling my hair out. Hallelujah.