Sunday, January 7, 2007 - Happy New Year. Ah... right now Yuoo is focusing on getting things back into shape: his personal fitness, his financial budgeting, and his time management. I know that that's a kind of boring way to start out a diary for the new year. I wish I could always keep Yuoo's life filled with fairy-tale wonder, but that would create too great of a gap between my world and his world, which would wreck the whole purpose of this diary. That's one reason why I go so long without writing. I admit I've been a little lazy in not using my imagination enough to find wonder in the world, but I still have to keep it real. For this new year, I probably won't be making many comics and drawings, but I'll do the best I can. Ahem...
Yuoo had a good Christmas vacation. He spent a week with his parents, all the way over on the other side of the continent. His parents are living in a new house, which is built into the side of a hill. The house is three stories, but it's three stories deep, not three stories tall. (You enter at the top story and go downward.) Yuoo especially enjoyed spending time with his brother. For Christmas, Yuoo got a powered ear-groomer, as well as a new, fancy polygon-drawing card for his computer. While he was there, he showed his Mom how to play Sudoku, and he also cast an enchantment on his parents' two computers, linking them together on the Ethereal Plane. (Yuoo isn't very exerienced with Ether-craft, but it works well enough.)
As for exercise, Yuoo plans to focus this year on simple exercises that don't rely on good weather outside or the functioning a game machine. He has come up with a system of red and white tiles, arranged in binary order, as a fun way to keeping tally of his daily exercise. You see, he counts all of the exercise he does as points:
His goal for the year is to average about 10 to 15 points every day (or at least keep a minimum of 5 points per day). So far, his daily average has been 11 points each day. Yuoo is fully aware that this exercise regimen won't keep his attention forever, but it will accomplish what it can.
Right now, Yuoo is working on a system to help manage his time, and he will make a formal budget for his money.
Thursday, January 11, 2007 - For the past two days, people from the National Sorcery Foundation (NSF) have been meeting at the Etheratory, Yuoo's workplace. (The Etheratory gets much of its funding from the NSF, by the way.) During such days, you can always find many important, smart-looking creatures standing around, talking about the lastest discoveries, pointing at complicated charts, or eating really good food from the caterer's buffet table. (Yuoo and his coworkers aren't allowed participate in the buffet lunch, but sometimes there are leftovers.)
Today (or perhaps it was yesterday), Yuoo noticed an unusual group of visitors in front of the Etheratory. Visitors aren't unusual, of course; there are frequently school group tours. But, this time it was a group of elders, disciples of Aslan, from Saint Thomas Vole Abbey. The way they were dressed, you'd think they were going to a Bill Gator gospel concert. Now, there is no real reason why a disciple of Aslan wouldn't want to visit the Etheratory. Granted, it is true that the Etheratory does practice some branches of magic that are controversial, such as biomancery and geomancery, but its main area of study is, of course, Ether, which is very well-accepted by everyone. Also, some of the workers themselves at the Etheratory, including Yuoo himself, are disciples of Aslan. Still, Yuoo found the elders' visit a bit strange.
Saturday, January 13, 2007 - Here is a tale of a very foolish fox.
Today, Yuoo was taking a shower, and at the same time he was cleaning the shower using a solution of concentrated citrus oils. As he was cleaning, he thought to himself, "Gee, this smells good. Say, I wonder if this stuff makes good fur shampoo."
**scrub, scrub, scrub** [Fortunately, he had at least enough sense to keep his eyes shut tight.]
"AGHHHHH!!! IT BURNS!!! IT BURNS US, MY PRECIOUS!!! "
Still, keeping his eyes shut, he made the water cold and washed the citrus oil away, very gently around the eyes especially. Ten minutes later, Yuoo was a local pharmacy store, purchasing some eye drops and some Aloa Vera lotion. This fox has learned his lesson.
Friday, January 19, 2007 - Recently, Yuoo has been listening to audiobooks. He uses his eyes a lot at work, so listening to audiobooks lets him rest his eyes. He has just finished The Positronic Person. It's the story of a golem, a machine fashioned in the shape of person, who slowly realizes that he is intelligent, and over the years he makes himself less and less a robot and more and more a living being. The end is a little sad, but it was a good book. Yuoo is also in the middle of the first Harry Otter book. If Yuoo got a chance to go to Hogworts, he would probably like to be of the Huffelpuff House. That's the group that's known for friendship, loyalty, and hard work.
Sunday, January 21, 2007 - Yuoo has finished reading (or listening to on audiobook) first Harry Otter book. When he returned it to the library, he saw Harry Otter and the Half-Bird Prince and decided to check that one out. The reason why he skipped ahead is because he pretty much knows the story already, having seen all the movies except for "The Sorcerer's Stone" and "The Prisoner of Azkaban." Also, he wants to find out whether Professor Snipe is really a badguy or not.
For the next few weeks at Mortar Abbey, Abbot Rains will be giving sermons about his favorite heros. Today, he talked about Marten Luther King, Jr. Abbot Rains talked about his life in terms of being a prophet, which is "someone who brings comfort to the Afflicted and brings affliction to the Comfortable."
Later that day, Yuoo helped a friend of his move furniture into their new house. Moving is hard work!
Wednesday, January 25, 2007 - Today, Yuoo went to Mortar Abbey after work to eat dinner. Tonight they spoke about Reconciliation. They watched a movie called "Crash," a story about how easy it is for creature to hurt each other. Yuoo thought the movie was sad but good.