HAPPY BIRTHDAY! | Shira No What?

[ShiraNoMai]

Seriously, what kind of weeb has a handle like that in <current year>, anyway?  :dodgy:

Hello, fellow members! Today we'll be learning a few things about the oddity that is ShiraNoMai, or Shira for short. 

Here's some quick fast-facts for ya:

• 24 year-old entry-level graphic designer and newsletter back-end manager for blues-rock guitarist Joe Bonamassa
  
• Born, raised and reciding in sunny South Florida
  
• Met and married fellow admin Moonface on this very forum (previous iterations, mind you)
  
• Been playing games since my Super Nintendo in '96, with Yoshi's Island being my first game
  
• Yoshi's Island is also my favorite game of all time
  
• Love me a good anime or manga; currently watching My Hero Academia and reading Attack on Titan & Noragami
  

Other than that stuff, I enjoy some good ol' rock music (generally alternative, post, blues, Japanese, math and prog rock) and occasionally delve into KPop (and by occasionally, I mean constantly), though I mostly just listen to SHINee and their solo works. I'm open to new music, as long as it's good.  Though, of course, that's my viewpoint on almost anything I can consume: Time is precious, so I would like to experience only what people deem to be the best things in their market. Curated content is the best content. Mind you, sometimes you want to indulge in guilty pleasures, and I'm not one to knock that, haha.

That should cover the basics. Any questions shall be answered in the order in which they're posted. Hope I left room for questions, at least...  :angel:

[Karo]

That is a good question why the weeb name?

[Mr EliteL]

If I asked this already, forgive me. I really don't remember. XD 

Where is your Yoshi avatar image from? 

Also, this topic does not demonstrate your liking of Yoshi enough. *shot*

[queenzelda]

So... What's up with the Yoshi obsession?

Also...obligatory:


XD

[ShiraNoMai]

The name ShiraNoMai mostly came out of me just combining Japanese words that sounded nice together. It generally translates to "White Dance", in reference to Bleach character Rukia Kuchiki's power of which were called dances, essentially (Some no mai, Tsugi no mai, San no mai). Her sword itself "Sode no Shirayuki" was something I was considering to be my title, but I noticed it being used a lot around the internet so stuck to making my own. I've stuck to it since because people still call me Shira around these parts and it's stuck to me. I'd change it, but at this point, I wouldn't even think of where to go with a new internet identity XD

My avatar was made by an amazing pixel artist I follow on Twitter. Her info is at the bottom of my signature

Lastly, Yoshi obsession really just started at a super young age that just made such an impression on me that it really stuck. Yoshi's Island being my first game, it was all I played for the first 3 years of my gaming life (well, played the most; I had other SNES games). My parents bought me my first Yoshi plush around that time as well, and he was my best friend. He became my first OC, actually, Michael Brown. Then I got more and more Yoshi plushies and they all became OCs, too, and that's all she wrote, really. 
Possibly fun fact: My first website I ever made was Yoshi's DOMAIN, a Yoshi fan-site basically (like everyone and their mom was making back in the day). I made a forum to go alongside with it, and through that, I had members join that would eventually lead me to this site!

[Hotspot]

Talking about your yoshi fan site reminded me of when I started "Foruming" (Is that a word, should it be a word?), in 2004. I either joined a group of people who called forums "Shrines", or forums were just called shrines. It was a very interesting approach to forum fandoms. It was always "Teen Titans Shrine omg" "Terra and Beastboy frvr bbby shrine". My first forum was for the Rave Master, you bet I called it the Rave Master shrine. (I still want to forget the horrible coloring design I came up with it. Literally the first link for typing in the Rave Master forum. online)

What is your favorite kind of thing to create in Photoshop, Illustrator.. etc? Like, It can be a theme, or logo's, or whatever you like to make the most.

[Mr EliteL]

Haha, yeah Yoshi's Domain. Yup everyone was making their own forum back then. Even us, separating from EGF for no reason at all. Those should never have happened. XD Yours was OK since it was before any of that. Oh, do you remember how long Yoshi's Domain went on for?

Ugh, if I missed that note in your signature, and if it was in other forum, I'm an idiot. I suppose it is at the bottom and hard to miss if not paying attention. XD Might've checked before too, but forgot. Yeah, moawling is really good. The other Yoshi and Poochy ones are cute too!

[Karo]

Talking about your yoshi fan site reminded me of when I started "Foruming" (Is that a word, should it be a word?), in 2004. I either joined a group of people who called forums "Shrines", or forums were just called shrines. It was a very interesting approach to forum fandoms. It was always "Teen Titans Shrine omg" "Terra and Beastboy frvr bbby shrine". My first forum was for the Rave Master, you bet I called it the Rave Master shrine. (I still want to forget the horrible coloring design I came up with it. Literally the first link for typing in the Rave Master forum. online)

What is your favorite kind of thing to create in Photoshop, Illustrator.. etc? Like, It can be a theme, or logo's, or whatever you like to make the most.

You know I never heard of people calling forum shrines, but it sounds amazing. XD My favorite shrine is UG XD

Haha, yeah Yoshi's Domain. Yup everyone was making their own forum back then. Even us, separating from EGF for no reason at all. Those should never have happened. XD Yours was OK since it was before any of that. Oh, do you remember how long Yoshi's Domain went on for?

Ugh, if I missed that note in your signature, and if it was in other forum, I'm an idiot. I suppose it is at the bottom and hard to miss if not paying attention. XD Might've checked before too, but forgot. Yeah, moawling is really good. The other Yoshi and Poochy ones are cute too!

I actually created a really horrible forum once....and I hope to never hear mentions of it again.....tapatalk will kill them forever if they are still around! :3

[Chloe]

Do you enjoy your job?

[ShiraNoMai]

Talking about your yoshi fan site reminded me of when I started "Foruming" (Is that a word, should it be a word?), in 2004. I either joined a group of people who called forums "Shrines", or forums were just called shrines. It was a very interesting approach to forum fandoms. It was always "Teen Titans Shrine omg" "Terra and Beastboy frvr bbby shrine". My first forum was for the Rave Master, you bet I called it the Rave Master shrine. (I still want to forget the horrible coloring design I came up with it. Literally the first link for typing in the Rave Master forum. online)

What is your favorite kind of thing to create in Photoshop, Illustrator.. etc? Like, It can be a theme, or logo's, or whatever you like to make the most.

That's super cool! Yeah I happened to see a couple of "shrines" in my day, I actually think I joined a "Yoshi's Shrine" forum once.

Favorite thing to make in Photoshop... well, whatever it is is used for web-based stuff, so probably at this point I really like making "movie poster" banners. They're intricate but getting things to look just right is probably the most challenging yet rewarding thing to do. Illustrator, it's definitely logos. I always find myself being challenged with the tools that way because I'll try to do something that for some reason isn't always a one-click solution problem.

Haha, yeah Yoshi's Domain. Yup everyone was making their own forum back then. Even us, separating from EGF for no reason at all. Those should never have happened. XD Yours was OK since it was before any of that. Oh, do you remember how long Yoshi's Domain went on for?

Ugh, if I missed that note in your signature, and if it was in other forum, I'm an idiot. I suppose it is at the bottom and hard to miss if not paying attention. XD Might've checked before too, but forgot. Yeah, moawling is really good. The other Yoshi and Poochy ones are cute too!

Yoshi's DOMAIN (you gotta do caps, that was part of the brand!) ran from 2005 to about 2007. I was going through the process of a re-brand when I got into high school but I learned that my site had, without warning, been taken down (probably for all of the copyrighted content on it). I was really gutted about it at the time since I put a lot of effort into it, but eh, it was the end of an era of fan pages in general

Haha, it's all good, dude. I did put something in my member title on Zetaboards UG and chose not to this time, which may have led to it being over looked here

Do you enjoy your job?

I do! Almost going on 3 years now, and it's been quite a ride. I've learned a whole lot of things I didn't realize I hadn't learned in college, I've met quite a strange group of people, and I've learned the ins and outs of the record industry, especially from an independent angle. The only unfortunate part of my job is that I spend most of my time there (45 hour weeks), so I don't have a lot of time to do much else. I squeeze in time here, but I mostly spend time with Moony =3

[Karo]

I do! Almost going on 3 years now, and it's been quite a ride. I've learned a whole lot of things I didn't realize I hadn't learned in college, I've met quite a strange group of people, and I've learned the ins and outs of the record industry, especially from an independent angle. The only unfortunate part of my job is that I spend most of my time there (45 hour weeks), so I don't have a lot of time to do much else. I squeeze in time here, but I mostly spend time with Moony =3

This brings up a question I am curious about and I guess this really depends on Moony and you. When Moony finishes college and gets a full time job are you going to keep going for 45 hours per week? Or will you cut back a little? I am not sure how the industry your in works or if it like 45 hours a week or nothing.

The great thing is you enjoy it, but I am curious if when you have the opportunity to will you elect to gain more free time? :O

PS: Keep in mind I have no idea how much it actually cost for a couple to have a place to live and all the bills and expenses.

[Nightingale]

Since you mentioned watching My Hero Academia at the beginning of this thread... may I ask who your favorite character outside of Class 1-A is?

[ShiraNoMai]

@Yuri: Yeah I work a normal Monday-Friday office job, technically, so there's nothing I can do to "change" my hours. It's set in stone until I decide to quit. I get 12 PTO days per year, so I tend to use them for extended vacations or whenever I get sick. If I could, I'd love the have more free time. Only thing I can do at this point is force it like I will this weekend by driving up to Orlando XD

@Nightingale: Hmm, outside 1-A, huh? Probably Stain. He seemed to be the most relatable villain at this point (to me) and I enjoy how his logic works. Also he looks badass, too

[Hotspot]

omg I just started Academia the other day, I'm on like episode 8 already. lol

Would you be able to do Graphic Design for any company? Or do you personally need some kind of interest in what they do? What they want their designs to look like... etc..

[Moonface]

Happy Birthday waifu! I hope I can find a way to help you enjoy your day.