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Kayla or Yunie :: 16 :: June 24, 1990 :: Junior in HighSchool ::
Auburnish hair :: Multicolored eyes :: Not looking for a date ::
Loves Pizza rolls, chocolate, sushi :: Diet Coke :: Dreams to be a writer,
singer, or actress :: Loves graphic designing
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Moonlight Denetsu :: Blog site :: Hosted by Jen ::
Originally at here ::
Moved to here ::
Originally a graphic site :: Only a blog now
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Moonlight Denetsu :: Version 6 :: Tears From The Moon :: Featuring Yuna :: FFX-2 ::
Pictures here :: Lyrics from 'Tears from the Moon' by
Conjure One :: Coded by Arial-phurr
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No, this isn't a sappy recount of how my Memorial day is going or anything.
This is something I ask everyone to read, and to spread around.
Whether or not you hate the war, you believe in hugging trees, whether or not you plan on partying today or going to go into work, I ask you to read this, something I, Kayla (Or Yunie/Kara) wrote.
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Don't wish me a Happy Memorial day.
Today, people everywhere set up for barbeques. They buy soda in large quanities. They raise flags just out of habit. They call up their friends and laugh.
And they wish each other a happy Memorial day.
Many people associate Memorial day with the war. With fighting people. With needless violence.
Memorial day has nothing to do with the war.
It has to do with the soldiesr. Not the war. And yes, for god's sake, there is a difference. To you, and to so many other people, the war is nothing more then something far away, something needless, something a 'waste of time and resources.' Politicians use this day to spew anti-war, anti-defense, 'liberty' and peace ideals everywhere, using the foolish idolization of sheep-minded people to line their own pockets. Anti-War protesters use this day to protest against the war.
And what are these people saying to the family waiting for the letters from a son who already passed away?
What are these people saying to the mourning family whose son was buried in a shallow ditch somewhere, missing limbs from a misplaced bomb that exploded on him?
There are those who will read this and say it's god's own punishment for him going to war, or something of the sort, trying to justify their harassment of the people who have lost someone.
This isn't a day for people to be so vulgar about the war. Today is a day to remember.
Stop thinking about the war. Stop saying it's their fault for going into the war.
Just, for once in your life, sit down and remember.
Remember the uncle who looked so proud in his uniform.
Remember the sorrow of the sweetheart who waits for her lover that will never return.
Remember the grief of the family who lost three sons.
Remember the pain of staring at the memorial with a name engraved on it too soon.
Just... remember.
Don't wish me a happy memorial day.
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It's been a few months since I decided to blog here. The HTML is just a bit of a hassle sometimes so it makes blogging almost not worth it. I'll probably design a layout that's easier to blog in.
I decided to blog, in my English class, because I can't concentrate enough to work on my rough draft. My topic is Helen Keller and how she influenced perceptions on the disabled. Before Helen Keller, and even after her, there was a widespread belief that physically disabled meant mentally disabled. People who only had a little disability, like blindness or deafness, were sanctioned together with the crazy, schizophrenic, psychotic, and criminal. Helen Keller was a blind and deaf woman who graduated from college, was firm in her beliefs, and lived a long life.
She's been an idol for awhile, heh.
Sometimes I wish life was as easy as writing a research paper on things that have happened. I know life has to be full of trials and such. I just wish life would stop adding experiences and momentos to my girl scout's sash of traumatizing life experiences.
In America, from the time that you're old enough to comprehend what people are saying and understand it at a basic level, you are trained and taught to dial 911. If someone hurts you, you're supposed to call the cops. In your mind, it's easy to think of that. It's easy to imagine yourself as a hero in a tragic drama. You pick up the phone with a dramatic flourish, type in those significant numbers, and help comes. You're revered as a hero, the bad person is sent to jail.
I wish it was that easy. Dialing those numbers into a phone are some of the biggest shocks you could ever feel. Even more so when the person you're calling against is a family member. Even more so when you can't even call from the sanctity of your own home. You're not feeling grande and safe. You're scared. You're shaking. And you know that the law is corrupt enough to sometimes put the victim in jail instead of the pursecutor.
911 is supposed to be a number to dial to get comfort, to get safety. So is family. So what are you supposed to do when you're calling on your own sister? Do you keep letting yourself be abused, be squashed, shattered, damaged every day by her biting words, her orders, her condescending tone to you? Do you keep letting everyone yell at you for trying to stand up to her, do you let yourself hurt because no one can bring themselves to break charity?
Or do you break charity yourself?
Where is the line?
I wish it was as easy as it should be. Instead, you're near tears inside, trying to figure out, am I the wrong person here? It was only a few hits, it wasn't that bad. Am I overreacting? Is it safe to go home?
Why isn't it easy? Why?
Is this how those girlfriends of abusive boyfriends feel? The thoughts running through their head of, I can't stand to have them hate me, I'm scared I'll be cuffed for defending myself, it would just be easy to hide. But is it? Is it easier?
Is it easier to feel so afraid in the same house that you have to barricade your door at night? Is it alright to be near tears in school when your teacher is asking if you want to work elsewhere because the trauma is making you unable to concentrate on the rough draft of a project due in two weeks?
Where is the line?
Why can't dialing those three numbers be easier? Why can't it? Why do you feel so horrible afterwards?
Is it easier just to let yourself get hurt, or do you try to do what you think is the right thing and break charity with someone who breaks charity with you day after day?
Even with support of family members who actually care for you and not what you can be or aren't, and friends who actually see you, it's still not easier.
It's not easy.
Why...?
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I'm singing along to Defying Gravity from Wicked right now :)
It's a positively wonderful song, I love it.
I've been a bit down about my voice.. It sounds like.. A voice. Like I can't sing. So I asked my friend Nishi, what she suggested I do, considering I have limited funds, every job I've applied at has dumped me without telling me why, and the high school choir teacher focuses on the Sopranos. I mean she teaches everyone, but when it comes to extra help, Sopranos first.
*Eyeroll*
We had a mini blizzard here in Issy recently. Usually when it snows here in Issy, my neighborhood gets like a centimeter and everyone else 2-3 inches. But this time, we had thunder, lightening, and 5-6 inches in 30 minutes. It was SWEET! We couldn't go to school for 3 days. Sure, the snow days will have to be made up later in the year, but it was the break that I SERIOUSLY needed.
*rubs her head* I have to write a screenplay script this weekend for a student movie, 30-45 minutes long... *Sighs* I shouldn't have procrastinated...
I've done some CG things on my deviantArt. Check 'em out, okay? :)
I really want to work on my singing more...
See ya!
-Kayla
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I'm pulling off a two blogger, there were two topics I wanted to write tonight.
As some of you know, I don't really have a religion. I was baptised Christian but drifted away after a bad experience at my old church, formally known as Northshore Chuch and is now known as Today's Church. My children's group leader didn't really like me and told me that God would hate me after I turned 13 because I wouldn't be a child anymore and I'd be evil and all sorts of things. As I came into that terrible time known as the Teens, I gradually drifted, with low confidence from the horrible attitude and rudeness from someone who should have been a good example for me. That's why I was so adamant on my last post about setting a good example. I was eight years old and it hit me hard. Children are easily susceptible to harsh words. One wrong word can change a child.
So now I start my second post. This one is on Halloween and the giving out of bibles on the holiday based on Pagan holidays and such.
Halloween: Are the Christians going too far?
All Hallow's Eve. The day before Day of the Dead. Harvest Festival. Samhaim. The Celtic New Year. There's all sorts of names that Halloween is based on.
I'll start off by quoting from "Confessions of a Teenage Witch" by Gwinevere Rain, a book detailing the practice of Wicca.
Samhain. Celebrated on October 31st, this is a time when the seperation between our earthly plane and the spiritual realm is at it's thinnest. The God descends into the underworld, but His spirit lives in the Goddess and awaits rebirth at Yule. This sacred night marks the Celtic New Year and plays a significant role in the God's mythic cycle of death and regeneration. Samhain is also known as All Hallows' Eve and Halloween.
A quote from Anubis RainHawk, age 15, pulled out from "Confessions of a Teenage Witch": "Samhain reminds us of death and the mysterious. The veil between worlds is thinnest as the God descends into the underworld. It is a time to recognize our ancestors, other realms, and our life's path."
Both of the excerpts are directly from the book sitting on my desk. No paraphrasing at all.
I can imagine some of the reactions and such coming from people out there.
So as you can see, Samhain, or Halloween as it is more commonly known, is a pivoting point in a minority religion. It's not just a candy-collecting frenzy.
I have studied Wicca to understand it more in the past year. Many stereotypes I held before fell to the ground shattered as I learned more. So is it any surprise I feel shocked that bibles are being handed out on Halloween?
It may seem like an innocent gesture. After all, Halloween is associated with devils and evil beings. Yet, here we have an explanation as a pivoting point in at least one religion, and is an important day recognized in others.
Where did this 'Evil on Halloween' come from? Where did October 31st go from being the thinning of the veil to the devil will come and steal your soul?
Christian followers moved to stamp out Pagan holidays, to try to kill the religion before it could threaten the power of Christianity. Is it not bad enough that we have lost so much of different religions because of fear of something different?
And here is a woman, passing out bibles to children trick-or-treating.
I know not if she knew the consequences of her actions. I don't know if she was merely a sweet lady trying to save children's souls with all good intentions or if she hated those 'pagan devils'. I don't know her, but I can say the reaction I feel by this act that happens every year in at least one house is mixture of horror and disgust.
What this says to me is that 'I don't believe your religion is anything. So now I will give you this bible and hope you can save your soul.'
This, to me, demoralizes a religion. This reminds me of the days where people were hanged for not being Catholic. How does that atheist child feel, being handed a bible on what is supposed to be a fun night to gather candy? How does that muslim child feel? How does the wiccan child feel?
Christian children think nothing of this. It is their religion. It's just a bible to them. They're disappointed that they don't have candy. But that atheist child, that muslim child, that wiccan child, how does this affect them? That atheist child doesn't want religion cluttering up her fun. That wiccan child starts to doubt herself. She thinks, 'Am I wrong in my religion? Am I a bad person? Why are they passing out bibles on this holiday?'
What does this say to the minority religions, especially those with pivoting holidays on this night? It reminds them that they're in a country where, despite saying 'The US has no set religion', the majority is Christian and the laws are based on Christianity. Oaths for presidential office were sworn under God and on the family bible before they changed this.
With that act of handing out bibles, that woman was demoralizing a holiday that many take seriously. Her actions said 'I think your soul needs to be saved because you're in trouble. This is an evil night.'.
What is that saying?
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I'm back doing some political rants, some of which my dad has proudly displayed here. For the original postings, check out one of my many livejournals: Emujazyla. Yeah I stopped updating it, I got fustrated with Livejournal.
Politics or Ethics?
So, today on the radio, listening to Kiro 710, I heard the story about the busdriver who was fired from her job because she flipped off the President back in the summer when Bush came to her town. (I think it was Issaquah, but I can't be sure. I heard two different city names in the radio report.) Now, I don't know all the facts. I do know that she was a democrat and didn't like the president. So while she was on the job, she passed the president and flipped him off. He saw, told Reichert that she flipped him off, and Reichert called up the transportation. Then transportation fired her.
Now I will state now, I do NOT know the whole story. I don't know whether Reichert was trying to remind people of his power, I don't know if this was entirely political or entirely ethical. I don't even know if she was driving an elementary or middle/high school bus. Some reports differ on the gender of the busdriver.
Many people I have heard spoke up political discrimination, she was fired because she was an evil democrat against the president. I've heard that the president is evil because he discrimated against a poor democrat.
These are lovely little stories, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to focus on the ethical side, not the political side.
Government workers, such as teachers and bus drivers, are not supposed to show their political alliances. During the time they are on the job, they are neutral. They have no side. This is to stop unfair influence and unjust thinking from invading the youth. Not to mention lawsuits can pile up. People see that a democrat was fired because she flipped off a republican president. But she is also a government worker who broke the rules. She is supposed to be neutral. If she was on her own time and passed the president in her car while picking up the dry cleaning, and got fired there, then we can say it was unjust and political discriminating. But she was on the job and driving a bus. She provided a poor example for this children and she also broke the neutral-rule, as I call it.
Until I know the full story, I can not make a complete judgement on this. If it was middle/high schoolers, I think she should have gotten a reprimanding, a warning, maybe be one strike away from getting fired. But if it was elementary schoolers, then good, let her be fired. These are children. I don't care what type of example they get at home, they should not be getting this bad example in a government facility.
Bus drivers are government workers. They are neutral. This busdriver broke that rule, by engaging in a political struggle based on the nature of her political alliances. Not only that, but she failed in her duty as a member of society to set a good example for these children.
Frankly, she deserves the punishment she recieved. I may be unjust. I know that logically, I can not come to a true conclusion until I know the full story. But I will speak my ethic descision. Who knows what her actions will do to these children. Who knows how this will effect them? Will they think it's right to flip off a president because they can't hurt you because of political injustice? Will they think that the president is a bad man? I'm not justifying the president's character, or the rights of political differences.
I'm talking about the ethics here. She broke the rules. A slap on the wrist isn't enough. What type of example are we setting if we just slap those who break charity and bend the rules to their will and let them go walking as if nothing happened?
After writing this and thinking it over, I have decided that I think she deserves it. Let the democrats raise a cry for injustice. Let the republicans cry witchcraft. (The Crucible (Miller) referrence.) But she got what she deserved. She failed in her duties.
And that's all she wrote for this topic, folks.
-Kayla
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Eh heh heh heh. I know I know, the site looks like shit right now, but I'm trying to alter the HTML to fit in with Pitas. It shouldn't be too hard and I should get things up and running, back to normal soon.
Today was the second day of the move. My room is almost completely set up, furniture wise, and after a bit of work today, dad took me down to Anime Kingdom, where I got a Kingdom Hearts Kingdom Key necklace, a Kingdom Hearts 2 Wall Scroll, aaand... An AXEL FIGURINE!! *SQUEE~* He's set up on my desk, chakrams and everything, watching me. I'm going to start getting wall scrolls, Advent Children pillows (I can sleep with Cloud and Sephiroth! ;D), and more figurines.
I really want my room to reflect who I am. This is the first time that I've really designed my room myself. Before, when we moved, I was always sharing so I never had much of a say. Or mom would design it for me. This time, I designed it how I like it and I'm proud of the results. My room is seperated by all the others and is isolated. I like this. I'm nice and cosy, I've got double-french doors instead of a regular door, and everything is arrange so it doesn't look crowded, but looks cosy and just me. It's become my sanctuary. And there for, I want to complete my sanctuary with items from my favorite game series, Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts. I'm so tired of everyone choosing for me. Now, I'm choosing for myself and it's all for the better.
I'll take a picture eventually to show you all what it looks like.
Maybe I'll get lucky and be able to get a cosplay this year. Then again, I could be dreaming. Maybe I'll grab some black clothes, my Kingdom Key necklace, and go as a member of Organization XIII. I could also use my red Darth Vador light saber and pretend to be Xemnas. (*coughMansexcough*)
Well I'm going to try to figure out how to fix my lurvely little HTML issues. And I'm going to drool over the sexy Axel figurine watching me in all his dramatic-light glory.
-Kayla
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So I guess my hostess forgot to renew her domain. I guess in the meantime, I'll go back to Pitas. Good ol' Pitas. :]
Today was pretty shitful. I was sick all day, and I fell asleep in math during my teacher's lesson. Well, since I'm taking the damn thing over again, I've heard this before, so I can afford to sleep. We're not into the stuff I didn't get yet.
FYI. I'm an Algebra mind, not a Geometry mind. I have trouble understand Geometry. Left side of the brain, right side of the brain. *shrugs*
Anyways. I've been playing Adventure Quest often lately. Very entertaining. I'm a level 37 Vampire, class Rogue/DragoMancer/Vampire Slayer/etc..
I'm still pissed off at Kathleen. She had no right to blow up in my face for no friggin reason. And her little 'I'm going to get into a record label' thing in 2008? They're going to treat her like a new Britney Spears.
Meh. I need sleep.
-Kayla
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Today's Topic:
Art Theft?
Let's start off with the world class question. What exactly is 'Art Theft'?
Kayla shall give you her definition, and the basic definition of 'Art Theft'
Art theft is the theft of a copyrighted piece of work. This includes: Mutilation, taking credit, or redistributing it without the artist's permission.
Basically, the same thing as if you took the Mona Lisa and drew a mustache, stole it, then claimed it as your own. Simple to understand.
However, people take this simple meaning and decide that showin a piece of work on the internet that isn't yours is art theft. Now, I can understand that some artists don't want their artwork flying everywhere on the net, but if it was put on the net in the first place, then they wanted it to be seen. Say your friend sent you a funny comic piece over MSN. You decide to show it on a forum. But when you post it, you say 'I have no idea who made this, it wasn't me, I take no credit for it. My friend sent me it over MSN'. To these people, that's 'art theft'. You're 'disrespecting' the artist because you didn't 'ask their permission' to show it to people so they could enjoy it.
As an artist myself, I don't share this opinion. If you put it on the net, you want people to see it. As long as they don't mutilate, steal, or claim credit for my works, I don't mind. Nor am I going to ruin my works with excessive watermarks to make sure people don't steal it. If people like my art and want to steal it, fine. Karma will come back and hit them.
But some people take this too far. It's art theft if you save it to your computer to show someone on MSN later. It's art theft if you use an unknown CG-anime picture without knowing who the artist is. It's art theft if you even SHOW it to people without the artist's permission.
Now here's my philosophy.
Everyone uses those CGanime pictures, the real pretty ones, for layouts, icons, etc. No one's made a huge uproar yet.
If they didn't want it used, they would've said 'Do not use' or 'Do not show to other people'
I am not going to every artist and saying 'Can I show this to my friend? This? This?' It's a waste of both of our times.
I am getting so sick of being hounded by like one person about this. Not only that, but now they're hounding other people and using me as a bad example. It's not right, it's not fair. And you know what? Tough luck. I'm not changing my views, I'm not going to force them to change theirs.
Art Theft.
It's if you steal, mutilate, or claim credit for a piece of work.
Not for sharing.
Kayla or Yunie.
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I've finally gotten it up. Not much to blog about, yo.
I'm rather tired today, as to be expected. The company picnic yesterday was fantastic.
I was the anchor on my side of tug-of-war and I PWNED! And the rides were great at the
country fair. Me, Kyle (my brother) and Christopher (A new friend of ours) rode this one FOUR times.
It was these barrels that spun in a circle, and you had this plate-thingie that you used to spin the
individual barrel. So all the barrels were going in a circle, spinning individually. Kyle, Chris and I
all had spinning contests. I won the fastest 3/4 times with no side effects except maybe thirty seconds of
vague dizziness and five minutes of kind of a loopy attitude.
I'm outta diet coke. *cries* OH HORRORS.
I'll go drink the diet pepsi. Nummy. And I'll ask Kyle to buy me a soda from the machine up at the office.
Anyways, enjoy the new layout! Thanks to Arial-phurr!!!
Visit her livejournal, yo. :]
~Kayla or Yunie
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Loves Anime :: Especially Hellsing :: Manga :: Especially DeathNote and Id_entity ::
Diet Coke :: Animals :: Especially Wolves :: Webdesigning for almost 5 years now ::
Graphicking for just as long :: Loves her friends :: Jer, Jace, Christine, Chelsea,
Lilly, Arial-phurr, Jen, Alyssa, Gracie, Terri, Whitney, Funzer, Sari, Annie, and many,
many others
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Last layout :: Version 5 :: Returning to My Memories :: Featuring Sora and Co :: Kingdom Hearts 2 ::
Keep an eye on my livejournal :: Making a wallpaper of the layout :: Brushes from various sites ::
Images :: Videos ::
Windows Movie Maker for pulling images from movies
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