山下翔央, Yamashita Shoon, Ya-Ya-yah
I've never liked changes. Changes are scary, and more often than not unexpected. Also, you never know if they're going to be changes for better or for worse. The "flow with life" advice has always been rather hard for me to follow. I'm not a very adventurous person, and thus, I have this tendency to try and have everything under control because otherwise I feel anxious and worried. However I've been crashing against a wall for more than two years now, and I think it's about time I overcome my fear of the unknown and take some risks.
Taiyô's, Hikaru's, Shoon's, and Yabu's lives took an unexpected turn last year, and even though we don't have many news from Taiyô these days, I'm sure that just like his three friends he's facing the changes bravely and doing his best, just as before.
In fact there's a little piece of good news concerning Taiyô, which I learned from my friend Mabel. Last month, on May 21st, Taiyô was elected president of the student council of his school, Horikoshi Gakuen! =D Congratulations, Taiyô! ^_______^
She found this piece of news on the Horikoshi Gakuen website, but strangely enough when you click on that link now the page is blank. Hmmm... I know it seems like I'm always seeing conspiracy everywhere, but isn't it strange? The link was working until yesterday. ^^
Actually, if you visit the old news page, where that link is, all the other links work just fine except the 2008.05.12 one, which is the one that had the news about Taiyô. O_o??? Hmmm... fishy. But they seem to have forgotten there's something really handy called Google cache. =p
Strange, isn't it? ^^ Oh, well, whatever. I'm very happy for Taiyô. That's all that matters, that he is doing well. =)
Back to what I was saying about changes, I'm going to face some major changes in my life soon. I'm thinking of quitting my current job. I don't think "quitting" is the word, as I'm a freelancer, but translating isn't really what I want to do for the rest of my life. I'm burnt-out. I'm tired, and I don't enjoy my work anymore. I've been translating for over 10 years now, and it feels like more of the same everyday. I've been so down in the last weeks that the day before yesterday when I went to bed I closed my eyes and thought: "wish I could be somebody else when I wake up". Of course it didn't happen. I woke up the next morning and I was still old me.
Thinking about it I don't really want to be somebody else. The life I have is better than the life of many people out there, I have a great family, I have good health... There's just things I want to change about myself, like my fear of change itself. I'm a little scared because I don't know yet what I'm going to do, but I have a few ideas. For starters I've always wanted to be a writer. I LOVE writing -I guess it shows, doesn't it? I used to have a lack of self-confidence as a wannabe writer, I used to think that I'd never be able to finish a story, but Ya-Ya-yah changed that. Bokura no Secret was the first long story I finished. It's just a fanfic, and it's not the best story ever, and the literary quality is very uneven -mostly due to the fact that at some points I rushed because I feared I'd lose the interest of readers XD;;;-, but it made me realize that I could actually finish a story and that I could capture the interest of others with my stories.
One has to be realistic, though, and perhaps some people may enjoy my stories, but perhaps if I send something to a publishing house they'll turn it down. And even if I got a book published, I might not get as lucky as JKR. Not that I aim at becoming a millionaire, but I need to make a living, and for most writers their writing does not pay the bills. So then... where to? I see several signs on the road in front of me now: copyreader, proofreader, freelance columnist, English teacher... They're all blurry, but so was the "translator" sign when I started my journey after graduating at university.
I'm scared but also hopeful and excited for the first time in 2 years. As Professor Keating said, you shouldn't wait until it's too late to make of your life what you really want it to be. So yes, I'm scared but perhaps it's true that all you have to do is jump, and the net will appear.
Still with me? =) I scanned a 2005 Ya-Ya-yah article I haven't seen posted anywhere else before. I love the individual photographs, especially the one of Yabu in that kitchen. And Shoon's puppet hairstyle back then was so cute. ^-^ Plus the title is kind of appropriate for this post: "Time is Money". LOL Same old, same old: please credit me if you repost these elsewhere (preferably linking back here - yayayah8.blogspot.com). And no hotlinking, please. Thanks! =) If you just want to make icons, graphics or translations there's no need to credit, though it's appreciated. =)
2005.07 Potato - Ya-Ya-yah scans
I've never liked changes. Changes are scary, and more often than not unexpected. Also, you never know if they're going to be changes for better or for worse. The "flow with life" advice has always been rather hard for me to follow. I'm not a very adventurous person, and thus, I have this tendency to try and have everything under control because otherwise I feel anxious and worried. However I've been crashing against a wall for more than two years now, and I think it's about time I overcome my fear of the unknown and take some risks.Taiyô's, Hikaru's, Shoon's, and Yabu's lives took an unexpected turn last year, and even though we don't have many news from Taiyô these days, I'm sure that just like his three friends he's facing the changes bravely and doing his best, just as before.
In fact there's a little piece of good news concerning Taiyô, which I learned from my friend Mabel. Last month, on May 21st, Taiyô was elected president of the student council of his school, Horikoshi Gakuen! =D Congratulations, Taiyô! ^_______^
She found this piece of news on the Horikoshi Gakuen website, but strangely enough when you click on that link now the page is blank. Hmmm... I know it seems like I'm always seeing conspiracy everywhere, but isn't it strange? The link was working until yesterday. ^^
Actually, if you visit the old news page, where that link is, all the other links work just fine except the 2008.05.12 one, which is the one that had the news about Taiyô. O_o??? Hmmm... fishy. But they seem to have forgotten there's something really handy called Google cache. =p
Strange, isn't it? ^^ Oh, well, whatever. I'm very happy for Taiyô. That's all that matters, that he is doing well. =)
Back to what I was saying about changes, I'm going to face some major changes in my life soon. I'm thinking of quitting my current job. I don't think "quitting" is the word, as I'm a freelancer, but translating isn't really what I want to do for the rest of my life. I'm burnt-out. I'm tired, and I don't enjoy my work anymore. I've been translating for over 10 years now, and it feels like more of the same everyday. I've been so down in the last weeks that the day before yesterday when I went to bed I closed my eyes and thought: "wish I could be somebody else when I wake up". Of course it didn't happen. I woke up the next morning and I was still old me.
Thinking about it I don't really want to be somebody else. The life I have is better than the life of many people out there, I have a great family, I have good health... There's just things I want to change about myself, like my fear of change itself. I'm a little scared because I don't know yet what I'm going to do, but I have a few ideas. For starters I've always wanted to be a writer. I LOVE writing -I guess it shows, doesn't it? I used to have a lack of self-confidence as a wannabe writer, I used to think that I'd never be able to finish a story, but Ya-Ya-yah changed that. Bokura no Secret was the first long story I finished. It's just a fanfic, and it's not the best story ever, and the literary quality is very uneven -mostly due to the fact that at some points I rushed because I feared I'd lose the interest of readers XD;;;-, but it made me realize that I could actually finish a story and that I could capture the interest of others with my stories.
One has to be realistic, though, and perhaps some people may enjoy my stories, but perhaps if I send something to a publishing house they'll turn it down. And even if I got a book published, I might not get as lucky as JKR. Not that I aim at becoming a millionaire, but I need to make a living, and for most writers their writing does not pay the bills. So then... where to? I see several signs on the road in front of me now: copyreader, proofreader, freelance columnist, English teacher... They're all blurry, but so was the "translator" sign when I started my journey after graduating at university.
I'm scared but also hopeful and excited for the first time in 2 years. As Professor Keating said, you shouldn't wait until it's too late to make of your life what you really want it to be. So yes, I'm scared but perhaps it's true that all you have to do is jump, and the net will appear.
Still with me? =) I scanned a 2005 Ya-Ya-yah article I haven't seen posted anywhere else before. I love the individual photographs, especially the one of Yabu in that kitchen. And Shoon's puppet hairstyle back then was so cute. ^-^ Plus the title is kind of appropriate for this post: "Time is Money". LOL Same old, same old: please credit me if you repost these elsewhere (preferably linking back here - yayayah8.blogspot.com). And no hotlinking, please. Thanks! =) If you just want to make icons, graphics or translations there's no need to credit, though it's appreciated. =)
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