Journal

This is going to be a wall of text so I'm just warning you ahead of time that if you start to get lost it's perfectly okay to turn around and go right back to wherever you were before you came here and saw that I just started typing without an end goal in mind. I have to say that I'm still incredibly surprised that 'okay' gets the red squiggly line underneath it indicating that there's something wrong with it. There's nothing wrong with it though. Okay is a word. YES IT IS YOU INEPT SPELL CHECKER! GAH! Anyway, where was I? Oh, that's right: nowhere! I'm pretty much just typing for typings sake and I'm going to keep typing until either it's been 10 minutes since I started or I feel that I can't really type anymore. At least that's what I'm supposed to do for the journal I'm supposed to be keeping for my English 101 class. Oh snap, that's right! This was supposed to be a little blog about the journal I'm supposed to be keeping for my English 101 class. Woah, deja vu. Wait, woah isn't a word either on here? I know it's slang but even slang eventually becomes common vernacular. Hmm, vernacular didn't get the red squiggly line so maybe the spell checker isn't stupid so much as it isn't savvy, hip or with it. Has it been 10 minutes already? No? Okay then. So anyway, about this journal I'm supposed (are you sick of that word yet?) to be keeping for my class. We need at least 50 entries but there's no minimum. I know, logical paradox and what not but that doesn't matter. The guidelines for writing in this journal is that it needs to be at least 250 words, and we have to spend at least 10 minutes on each entry. Other than that we're completely free to talk about whatever it is we want to talk about. Somebody cut me off in traffic, write about it. Hell, the whole journal would be about idiot drivers if I took the time to document every one that I saw. That's just an example though. We might see something pretty like a sunset or blooming flowers and write about those. Or maybe write about a book we read or a movie we saw and try to wring a 10 minute expose on the experience. For example: 'I went in, saw the movie, left when the credits started to roll.' Now, that's not 250, and while it might have taken 10 minutes to write if you suck at using a pencil or peck at the keyboard desperately trying to find where that stupi... (WHERE'S THE D!? Oh, there it is) stupid letter is that you so desperately need. If you can't write to save your life (not that writing has ever saved or ever will save your life) and you don't know what a home row is then maybe worrying about a journal for English 101 isn't your biggest concern right now.

TEN MINUTES!!!

Sleep

I enjoy sleeping very much.

School and work have cut into this little hobby of mine recently but that's alright. Because while I do enjoy sleeping, being awake has taken more of a precedence.

A kind of dichotomy has been created.

While I'm awake, I don't look forward to going to sleep. It isn't until it's absolutely necessary that I finally drag myself to bed and pass out from a long day of school and dirty dishes. Because once I do fall asleep, I'll just wake up again and start the whole process over again.

It's not a bad process by any means. I love school this quarter and I really like my job too. Is it just the fact that I'm starting over in a way? I haven't lost any progress but sometimes it feels like I have.

Which is ridiculous.

I'm missing quite a bit to be sure, but I know that'll remedy itself in time.

So while I don't want the day to end as much as I don't want the day to begin, there's that time in between. While I'm sleeping obviously. Because while I'm sleeping, anything can happen. I can dream that everything is how it should be (more accurately, how I'd like it to be), and the impossible is possible.

I have the most vivid dreams of flight that it's a wonder I haven't figured it out in the real world yet. I'm with those that I love and there isn't anything to get in the way of that. I don't think I could properly convey my desire to stay where everything is perfect.

I can easily convey my displeasure at it being taken away, but who's to say that what I've woken up to won't be the day the dream becomes reality.

So is it the day I fear to wake up to, or the dream I hate to wake up from?

I hope that some day it will be neither.

That the only thing I will miss from my dreams is the long cherished ability to fly. And that what I wake up to will be better than any dream I may have.

There is no title appropriate enough. Please just read.

'Oh you have got to be kidding me.' or one of it's many variations is sure to cross your mind and/or lips before this blog is over. Should be fun :)

So after school today I was feeling pretty hungry. I remembered that I still had a five dollar coupon for Taco Bell so I decided to go there. Normally I go through the drive-thru but the line was so long I decided it was best to actually go inside. I know, novel idea right?

Anyway, I ordered my food without incident but while I was waiting for my order to come up, an older lady came inside holding a small Taco Bell bag. Obviously something must have gone wrong with her order and she was coming inside to have it fixed. Nothing out of the ordinary, right?

It's a good thing I listened to the conversation this older lady had with the worker behind the counter or I'd have thought so too.

What really happened was this lady had gotten two extra items by mistake and was trying to return them. 'Oh, she's just being honest.' I thought. Not entirely uncommon, but still a rarity when it comes to fast food.

Then she kept talking.

Turns out that she didn't just want to return the extra food, she wanted money for it.

Yes, that's right. She was holding the food for ransom!

I couldn't believe what I was hearing and apparently the worker talking to her couldn't either. The lady was given the options of either keeping it ('But my husband doesn't want it, and if I eat it, I'll get fat) or throwing it away ('Well I don't want to be wasteful'). But she kept insisting that she be paid for returning food she got for free, by accident!

I was severely tempted to walk up, say 'Oh, I'll take it!', pick up the bag and leave. I didn't obviously, or else I would have played up that angle of the story quite a bit, but I was soo close.

Really though, I'm just glad that I was there to witness such a thing.

Good for you

"Hey, Kelly. Do you smoke?"
"No, I don't."
"Oh. Well good for you."
"Wow."
"What is it?"
"Hmm? Oh it's nothing really. I just didn't know people got congratulated for not purposely killing themselves."
"Oh."
"Do I get a cookie?"

I've actually had the first third of this conversation a few times. It's usually followed by "Yeah, I really need to quit." which itself is followed by a long drag. I can only assume it's their attempt at irony, which while technically proficient, is undoubtedly unintentional. Yeah. They totally want to quit.

Naturally the rest of the conversation up there is where I would absolutely love for it to go.

I also like telling people I don't drink. I have to reassure them a few times because they never believe me and keep whittling down the instances in which I might drink. Like so:

"So you don't go to bars?"
"You don't drink at parties?"
"You don't drink at home?"
"You don't drink ever?"

I mean it. No.

Is it seriously that hard to believe that somebody of legal drinking age doesn't want to and chooses not to drink?

I guess it's just because of the way I was raised that being told "Good for you." for not doing something that's bad for me throws me off so much.

Zune Backgrounds

Ever since I got my Zune about a year ago I've kept an eye out for pictures worthy of being my background. The only problem is it can't just be any picture. Due to the tallways rectangular shape of the Zune screen, and the fact that it refuses to scale or stretch an image to fit it, the picture needs to be in the general shape of a DVD case.

So pretty much whenever I see something remotely cool looking that's taller than it is fatter, I download it just to be safe. Since I know some of my blog readers are proud Zune users themselves, I'm going to post some of my favorite ones so far.


This one doesn't quite fit, but it still looks pretty good. Like something Tolkien didn't get around to creating.


Yes this is from one 'o them Japaneesy comics but the black and white contrast still looks great on the screen. And don't tell me it doesn't look cool.


This one fits just about perfectly on the screen and it's a great picture to boot. You'd never guess it was a library.




I don't know if he's going to break my kneecaps or if he's choking on his Coke Zero.


Again, it fits the screen and shows up really well. Pretty too.

I think Lewis Carroll would be proud.


This is naturally occurring? Where can I get some? Because that's freakin' awesome!

These are just some of the ones that can be enjoyed by people that aren't just me. I would think that it's obvious I've got about 50 other anime/game/music themed pics stashed on my Zune. For the other owners out there please, give these a download. Because you never know when you might be in the mood to have a goon with a coke bottle mouth be your Zune background.

♪♫This is how we go to school♪♫

I'm going back to school on Monday and since I want to be presentable, I went and got a haircut. I also did some clothes shopping for Christmas and I really like what I got. Then it occurred to me that I might want to record this momentous occasion for posterity... sort of. Anyway, I took pictures so here ya go!

See how casual I look?

See how relaxed I am?

I think I prefer the casual look though.

And this is how I'll look when I go back to school on Monday.

I'll be looking pretty freakin' cool if ya ask me.

Well that was my self indulgent post for the week. Also my third in as many days. Is that a roll I'm on or what?

Why Anime?

There's a drastic shortage of mediums that can accommodate the telling of stories the way animation can. Sadly, most of America seems to think that animation means strictly kiddie fare that every so often can be enjoyed by adults. With anime, it's no holds barred as for what stories can be told.

Sure there are plenty of brainless "I'm better/faster/stronger than you and I can prove it by flexing my muscles at you and breathing heavily for 20 minutes" kinds of series, but those are aimed squarely at kids that don't know any better. Now, I could list off all kinds of anime that showcase the best the medium has to offer, but there's one in particular I'm going to talk about:

BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad is about a group of friends that form a band and work their way through the club scene. Let me tell you about the main character for a little bit though.




This is Koyuki.
He's 14 years old
and as any 14 year
old boy would be,
he's just a tad
disillusioned with
his life. Nothing
interesting ever
happens and it's
likely that nothing
ever will.

One day he meets a guy named Ryusuke. At first Koyuki is less than impressed, but after another chance encounter he's invited to hang out with him. Turns out Ryusuke is really into rock music and turns Koyuki onto a few of the basics; like Led Zeppelin, The Doors, Eric Clapton, The Beatles etc. Koyuki is amazed at what he's hearing, as he's lived solely on J-Pop or whatever was popular at the time

Eventually he's invited to one of Ryusuke's shows and is mesmerized by his guitar playing skills. Koyuki decides right then to learn how to play. Pretty soon Koyuki and Ryusuke form a band with some of their (very talented) friends and they play local clubs together.

They name their band Beck, after Ryusuke's dog. They were hesitant to use the name at first because it's already in use by Beck and Jeff Beck, obviously. They even release an EP in America but are renamed Mongolian Chop Squad by the indie record label exec to avoid confusion and lawsuits. Hence the title of the anime.

Through a series of (at times exciting and sad) events, Koyuki and his band mates land a spot for one of the biggest music festivals in Japan, Grateful Sound 5. Just before they're due to go on, there's a kind of falling out among the bandmates as the audience is waiting for them to come on.

Koyuki isn't about to let this opportunity pass by, so he goes up on stage by himself and starts playing "I've Got A Feeling" by The Beatles. Inspired by him, the rest of the band joins him on stage one by one. For me, it's seriously one of the best moments of any story I've read or watched.

I threw this video together because the performance takes place in two episodes. After they finish the song they play the rest of their set and end with a crowd of a few thousand cheering them on. Really great stuff. Unfortunately, the anime ends shortly after. Fortunately it's based off of a manga so the story doesn't end there. They even manage to tour the US.

So if you ask me why I love anime so much, it's because of series like this. It shows that any story can be told using animation, and can be told well.

Work in progress

I heard a song tonight that really moved me and reminded me of the first songs that I wrote. Back then I wasn't trying to impress anybody or make a song that sounded good; I was just writing what came to me.

I've tried before to recapture the desire to just write and not care if it's catchy or smart or cool, but I haven't been able to stay in that mindset long enough to get a good base going. Fortunately I was just in the right mood to write without anything getting in the way of my words. I think what I managed to write came out really well and I'd like to share all of it with you.

I recorded myself singing it so I should have the music by tomorrow. I'd really like to get started recording the nice little backlog I've built up for myself. I'd really like to get a decent amount recorded and put them up on here via a playlist.

Soon :)

According to plan

If nothing ever goes the way you plan it
Wouldn’t it be better, if you lived without a plan?
To push aside the ones that try to lead you
Instead of meeting their demands
Just ask yourself if all you really want
Is to be grown up but not yet be a man

You can take your time
But is it worth the climb?
When you reach the top I’m sure you’ll have your answer
It’s a state of mind
But one you can’t define
And all you’ll know is that you’ve gotten what you’re after

You’ll realize
You’ll see it with your eyes
What started out as a disaster
Has proceeded as according to the plan