Update and summer plans

Credit to linked pixiv user

Art by 曽我誠 on pixiv

Hey all, sorry for the lack of a new post these past couple of weeks. I’ve been super busy since my last post and can’t find the time and energy to do a quality post today unfortunately (my last day with free time until next week). But as usual, I didn’t want to go this long without blogging at all, so I thought I’d take a few minutes to share the cool events I’m planning to blog about this summer…

…but before that, I’ll explain why I’ve been so busy lately in case anyone’s interested. Besides having a school project to work on and tests to study for, in addition to my usual homework, I also had a handful of errands to run, some freelance work on the side, opportunities to hang out with friends that always take precedence over blogging, and during the past week, my mom and I have been working like mad to catch this stray feral cat in our neighborhood that keeps having kittens. To make a long story short, a jerky neighbor of ours got a few cats some years ago, letting them be outside cats yet refusing to get them spayed for whatever stupid reason, resulting in litters of unwanted feral cats being born from a roaming male cat in the area. Eventually us and the neighbor’s family managed to get some of the cats fixed, caught most of the kittens and brought them to the shelter, and last year we even got a cat rescue organization to come to our home and help us catch two of the remaining female cats to be fixed. But unfortunately the one remaining cat that we thought was male ended up being female, and has had at least two litters since – we caught the kittens from the last litter and two out of five she had in this litter. I’ve been working like crazy these past few days trying to get this female cat to go into the animal trap we got, waiting for hours for her to go into our garage where the baited trap is so we can seal it off, but she’s been too smart for it! Yesterday my mom and I managed to trap her in our garage – we had actually trapped her in there the day before, but she escaped due to our old garage door being warped and not fully closing at the top, where she slipped out. We got the neighbors to board up the top of the garage so she can’t slip out again, and we’ve just been playing the waiting game since, hoping she’ll get hungry enough to go inside the trap where the food is…but so far no luck XP

So yeah, between the usual school and other real-life obligations, this cat business has been wearing me out XD But I know it’ll be over soon, so I’m gonna try and focus on the cool summer events I’m planning to attend that I’m sure you guys will enjoy reading about. Usually Anime Expo is the only big event I attend each year, but this year I have a couple of others on the list =)

Pokemon Symphonic Evolutions
Pokemon Symphonic Evolutions

For those of you who haven’t heard about this, Pokemon Symphonic Evolutions is a full-orchestra concert that plays music from all the Pokemon games, from Red and Blue to X and Y. I first heard about it a while back when it was only touring on the East Coast, but now it’s finally going to be touring in my area at the Greek Theater in LA! =D It’s touring at many other locations across the US this summer, so if you’re interested in checking it out, you can see all the locations here. The one I’m going to is on Saturday, July 11th. My boyfriend and I already bought our tickets – looking forward to it!

Anime Expo 2015
Anime Expo 2015

As I’m sure most of you know, I’ve been going to Anime Expo every summer since I started this blog (well, minus 2009 because I went to Japan instead XD) As I’ve stated in my past couple of AX coverages however, the convention has been peaking in terms of how much crowding the staff and venue can handle – basically it’s become too popular and thus too overcrowded and hectic. That still doesn’t hinder my overall enjoyment though, since I try to stay away from the very busy events. This year however, I’m planning to only go to AX for one or two days because I’m saving money for another big summer convention…

D23 Expo 2015
D23 Expo 2015

D23 Expo is a fairly new bi-annual Disney convention that’s held at the Anaheim Convention Center near Disneyland (where Anime Expo used to be held). The first Expo was in 2009, making this year’s the fourth one. I first heard about it last year, which was one of its by-years, and was thinking about whether I should try it out in 2015. Being a Disney fan as well as an anime fan, I finally made the decision to sacrifice a few days of Anime Expo this year for my first time at D23 Expo (since it’s only a 3-day convention, unlike AX). I’m not sure what to expect from this convention, but from what I’ve researched about it, it’ll have a lot of cool events like behind-the scenes reveals about future Disney projects, panels celebrating Disney’s history, live performances and autograph signings from Disney celebrities, and of course, lots of vendors selling goodies! Besides the My Little Pony convention I went to in 2013, this will be my first non-anime convention and I’m very much looking forward to it =D

Besides all these events, I’m also going to try looking for a part-time job this summer. I’m done wasting my time with minimum-wage retail jobs like I’ve had in the past; I’m hoping to get some kind of part-time IT/computer-related job, perhaps something like data entry. I don’t care if I have to start out at a lower paying entry-level position as long as I can get my foot in the door as far as work experience related to what I’m currently studying. Of course, if I do end up getting a job that continues into my next fall school semester, there’s a good chance I’ll be too busy between school and work to keep up the blog, and will have to put it on hiatus. But until that happens, I intend to keep up my schedule of a new post every 10-14 days. And even if the blog does go on hiatus in the summer, I’ll still find time to post my coverage of these three big events! XD

Anyway, that’s what’s been going on and will be going on with me! Thank you guys again for your support during my busy times and I’ll be back with a real post soon~

No Comments… read them or add your own.

  1. Cytrus says:

    All this ado about a cat when you could just use a pokeball :/.

  2. Rioraku says:

    Sounds exciting, would love to visit ANY big con but Anime Expo and E3 would be at the very top of my list. Unfortunately there isn’t a lot in the way of cons here in Texas.

    And I know too well what it’s like trying to catch stay cats!

    • Yumeka says:

      According to this anime convention site, there are some cons in Texas…I have no idea of their quality though. But I’m sure at least one of them may be worth your while to check out =)

      Oh, have you had to catch stray cats before? Years ago we had another female cat that we fed, but because she was feral, we weren’t able to fix her right away, but we were able to get a hold of her kittens before they became feral too (kept some, gave the others away). Finally a brave neighbor of ours managed to get the cat into the cat box with his bare hands and we got her fixed. Everything was fine since then since all the cats we had were fixed, until this stupid other neighbor of ours got all these new cats XP

      • Rioraku says:

        Thanks for that info, I’m aware of some coins but its so hard to tell of they are with it or not.

        And yes, my wife and I had to catch some “sorta ours” outside cats when we moved and had those few ferals to deal with. Even have a couple battle scars =P

  3. Kal says:

    Sounds like a busy summer! I hope you have lots of fun, and find a nice job in IT somewhere :)

    I’m pretty lucky not to have cats around here (we have stray dogs, but those are much easier to handle). So good luck with the last cat as well :)

    • Yumeka says:

      Thanks!

      We never have any stray dogs here…just dogs that get loose from their house and need to be brought back. I can imagine them being easier to catch than cats since they’re naturally more trusting (being pack-oriented animals, unlike cats who are loners).

  4. chikorita157 says:

    From the looks of it, it seems that you will have a busy summer. I hope you have fun at the conventions. But in general, I suggest also looking into a summer internship as you will most likely be qualified for those since you are in a certificate program in college. I was not able to get one, but it will help.

    As for me, I had one interview for a recent graduate federal government job and I still waiting for a response since they take awhile (I also have another one coming up as well(… but If I somehow get the job, which I hope, I would have to move to Pennsylvania, which the new location will be three hours away from where I currently live. I don’t mind although I have to live on my own. But aside from that, I probably won’t be going on any vacations or conventions this year, even if I get the job since I have to save up money first and of course pay off student loans. Probably next year I will go to one. But aside from that, at least I will have more money to spend on my hobby once I start working, even if I will have slightly less time to spend on blogging.

    • Yumeka says:

      Yeah, I might look for an internship if I can find one. Even if it’s not paid, it’ll definitely be good experience and something to put on the resume.

      I hope you get the job! I assume they would pay for you to move to PA? Personally I would be nervous taking a job where I’d have to move and get my own place – I would worry that the job wouldn’t work out and then I’d be stuck on my own with rent, bills, and no job! But if you feel confident about it, go for it! The opportunity may never come again XD

      • chikorita157 says:

        I don’t know yet, but from the job description relocation expenses are not approved, so I will have to handle the costs, but it’s not too big of a deal since cost of living will be cheaper than in New Jersey. But yes, eventually I have to live on my own at some point and I can always find a job closer after a few years of working.

  5. Exciting plans! (Well… except for the cat.) And best wishes for finding an IT position – even an internship. Having been in IT for decades, I can say that it’s a great career.

    • Yumeka says:

      Thanks! From what I see on your blog, you like your job…I hope I get one like that too XD (except for the long overtime hours…that’s one thing I hope to avoid, at least on a daily basis). I imagine it’s much harder to get into this field now than it was when you first got into it, as it is for jobs in general nowadays. But I’m still trying to be optimistic!

  6. Nopy says:

    I really want to see the Pokémon Symphony, but I’ve already moved out of Toronto and they won’t be visiting my city :(
    Anyways, it sounds like you’ll have a fun summer. I won’t be going to Anime Expo this year, but I might next year.

    • Yumeka says:

      Hmm…I haven’t heard anything about the Pokemon concert near Toronto, but I don’t think it’s an impossibility for the future.

      Maybe next year we can meet up at AX! =)

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