Apropos of nothing, I'm going to give the Hobonichi Techo another try

Over two years ago, I excitedly bought my first Hobonichi Techo planner. I also bought a rather snazzy, EarthBound-themed cover for it, which can be seen below. (Additional photos of it fill this old post.)

Embarrassingly, I never used it. Not a single pen or pencil mark made its way onto my Techo's beautifully papered pages.

I can't even tell you why, though I have a feeling the fact that its arrival coincided with me starting a new job had a little something to do with it.

Given that money-down-the-drain experience, what on earth pushed me to order a 2018 Hobonichi Techo? I guess I just want to try again. Plus, I'm feeling inspired by the "Games Played Report" project Bill Sannwald, aka Mister Raroo, has so diligently chipped away at this year. (See the latest "Games Played Report" post here.)

Who knows if I'll actually be able to fill up this second Techo, or even just fill a handful of its pages, but I'll certainly give it my best.

While we wait to see how I do, you may want to head over to 1101.com to check out this year's selection of Mother-inspired covers and products. Four 2018 Techo covers feature EarthBound imagery, with my personal favorite being the red leather Mr. Saturn one.

I also really like this "Magicant Map" Weeks planner--to the point I very nearly bought one before (wisely, I think) deciding against it.

Say hello to my Dragon Quest 'Smile Slime' mug :)

A few months ago, I noticed that AmiAmi was accepting pre-orders for a number of Dragon Quest "Smile Slime" mugs.

Although initially my eyes were drawn to this liquid metal slime mug, in the end I decided to plunk my money down on the more traditional design that can be seen throughout this post.

Now that the vessel in question has successfully made its way across the ocean and into my welcoming paws, I thought I'd snap and share a few photos of it.

As I'm sure you can imagine, the Smurf-blue box showcased above served as my "Smile Slime" mug's home as it crossed the pond last month. 

What you may not be able to imagine is that the box is pretty darn small. I'd say it's just inches--three to four, tops--in any particular direction. 

Here's a glimpse of the mug itself. It's pretty small, too--which I guess could go without saying.

Mind you, it's not so tiny it could be confused with a child's sippy cup, but it's definitely smaller than your typical mug.

Which kind of sucks, as my original plan was to take this mug to work and make all of my co-workers jealous whenever I waltz down to the kitchen to grab a cup of joe.

(Don't trust the selfie above, by the way. I was holding my Dragon Quest-themed mug at least a foot in front of my face when it was snapped. Also, don't mind that expression on my face. I was trying to give the camera the old "single raised eyebrow" look and failed spectacularly.)

Oh, well. I still love my new mug, even if it isn't as large as expected. (Now where have I heard that before?)

If you'd like to get one of your very own, just click on the following link. Don't worry, the folks at AmiAmi don't pay me--or give me any other kickbacks--for promoting their site or products. (Not that there's anything wrong with that sort of thing. I just thought you should know I don't benefit in any way from passing along links like these.)

Buy: Dragon Quest 'Smile Slime' mug

I don't usually 'do' Nendoroids, but that isn't keeping me from drooling over this Himouto! Umaru-chan-inspired one

Making all of this drooling even stranger is that I'd never even heard of Himouto! Umaru-chan before a couple of days ago.

Assuming some of you are in the same boat, here's the gist: it began life in 2013 as a Japanese manga series (written by Sankaku Head) and an anime adaptation of it is going to start airing in just a couple of days.

Oh, and its titular character is a teen who appears perfect at school, while at home she wears an animal hoodie and spends her time eating junk food, playing video games, reading manga and watching anime.

All of those interests are depicted in Umaru-chan's Nendoroid form (and related accessories), as you hopefully can see in the photo below. 

I especially like her little Vita-like game system. 

Speaking of the Vita, the folks at FuRyu (makers of The Legend of Legacy, among other titles) recently announced that they'll be releasing a Vita game based on Himouto! Umaru-chan this winter.

Apparently it'll be a "sister-raising simulation," which admittedly doesn't sound as appealing as, say, an RPG, or a rhythm game or even a Game Center CX ripoff based on the property would, but I'll take what I can get. 

Anyway, enough about that. Back to the Nendoroid. It'll hit Japanese store shelves this August. (You can pre-order one now via amiami.com.) Will any of you be buying one?

I think our home needs a set of these 'Smile Slime Yurayura' glasses, don't you?

I know I've said things like the above before and then failed to follow through on them, but this time I'm serious. Or at least I'm as serious as one can be when it comes to talking about possibly purchasing roly-poly glasses that resemble Dragon Quest Slimes.



That's because I now thoroughly regret passing on the Dragon Quest "Smile Slime" mugs--here's the regular one, and here's the one bearing the grinning visage of a liquid metal slime--that Square Enix offered for sale a couple of years ago. At the time, these vessels could be picked up for just $20 or so, while today they go for more than $40.

Anyway, these three-inch-by-three-inch "yurayura" (that's a Japanese onomatopoeia for “swaying,” “wavering” or “wobbling," according to crunchyroll.com) glasses potentially are less practical than the above-mentioned mugs--after all, I drink many cups of coffee each day, while I only drink wine (which is the liquid I'd most likely pour into these glasses) a couple of times per week--but I'm OK with that as they'd still be cool to own and even show off now and then.

They're pretty darn cheap, too, when all things are considered--with a single glass costing just 840 yen, which translates to about $7, if pre-ordered via amiami.com. (They'll supposedly start shipping in early July, so don't wait too long if you want to nab a couple.)



I'm also giving serious thought to buying one or more of the "Smile Slime" silicone ice trays that are being sold by amiami.com, too. I don't know about you, but I think 870 yen (again, around $7) is a small price to pay for something that's going to allow you to fill your drinking glasses with slime-shaped ice cubes.