Picture of the Day - October 25th, 2006

The forum admin is being slow and is not putting the Image forum back up. He has not responded to my PM either.

Today's picture,

Click the picture for the full image.


Snow White and the Seven Days of Vacation
Artist - Vo Tran





Comments: I found this one interesting, it's been a while since I've seen a Disney themed drawing, maybe because of copyright reasons artists don't do anything like this. I think it's really neat. Can you name all the Seven Dwarves? (Without searching in the interweb?)

Picture of the Day - October 24th, 2006

Welcome to my Blog!

Because the Picture and Image forum is not up on Fantasy Essentials, the Picture of the Day posts will temporarily be going through my otherwise unused blog. Once the forum returns, I will move back and create a thread there, especially since picture posting is not setup correctly here, and I would rather change the code of the template. In the meantime, please enjoy the pictures.

Click the picture for the full image.


Legend of the Vampire I
Artist - Michelle Chuang

Love & Relationships in Anime vs. TV Dramas

As a viewer of both Japanese Anime and U.S. TV Drama, I've found that the mechanics of love and relationships aren't the same. Anime and TV shows typically have the same number of episodes per season, except anime is more consistent. TV dramas typically start their seasons beginning mid-late September/early October, have about a 1 month hiatus for the holidays and continue until May. Depending on the network and the writers you get around 26 episodes, but that can vary. Anime is more predictable in the number of episodes they have per show. You can get 13, 26, or 52 episode shows. That is your typical structure; some shows have 100+ episodes (aka never ending). The difference between TV dramas and anime is that anime shows are pretty much one time deals, once the show has run its course, there no more 'seasons' like in TV dramas, where a network can opt to renew the show for another season. Technically the 52+ episode shows are multiple seasons, except that it's not broken up, just played continuously (one per week). That way, anime watchers don't get stuck with boring filler TV shows as regular shows go into a summer hiatus while filming continues or there is just a break.

I will explain anime love and relationships first, as it's probably the tougher of the two. And I will be focusing on the anime that has more high school age kids, which is typical in teen TV drama. There are so many, many different kinds of anime you can watch. If you look at Netflix, anime has its own subgenres due to the variety. Sci-Fi, Romance, Horror, Drama, Fantasy, etc... so the types of romance also vary quite a bit. Most anime romance & relationships have fundamental rules that you can see through a variety of genres.

The girl typically does the confessing to the boy she likes. Asking the guy out is not very common. Love letters are normal, and a girl usually confesses her feelings to a guy in a letter, or in person via a meeting arranged through a note (letter). The delivery of the note can be done a variety of ways; in the shoe locker of the guy, having a friend deliver the letter to the guy, personally handing the letter to the guy (which usually ends up with the girl running away), or the girl handing him the letter and waiting nervously for a response. After the delivery of the letter, answers to the letter are usually received within a day or two, either on the roof of the school or behind the school, meaning, secluded locations. Of course a guy can confess his feelings too, but a guy writing a confession letter is pretty a-typical. Guys typically have face to face confrontations with the guy blurting out his feelings because he's so nervous and awkward. Face-to-face confrontations by a boy or a girl lack direct eye contact until an answer is given. In either case, the girl or guy receiving the confession usually is shocked, as if they were completely oblivious to anyone’s' feelings. Of course there are other types of confessions, but those are often during times of dire circumstances; such as a culmination of feelings and the girl gets in harm's way somehow and the guy bursts out telling his feelings to try to snap the girl back to reality. Or if the main character guy is on the verge of dating a minor character girl, the main character girl that has been hiding her feelings will blurt out her feelings in an desperate attempt to get the guy, because she had hoped the whole time that the guy would understand her undying love for him simply because the girl talked to him twice, alone.

In anime, physical contact, especially skin to skin contact, is a big deal, whether a girl and guy are dating or not. If a girl and guy's hand would happen to touch, both would flinch and be embarrassed. If a girl stood close to the guy he would appear nervous, especially if he liked the girl. Holding hands is a BIG step, hugging is an even bigger step. Usually a hug occurs only if the girl is emotionally upset and in a sign of affection the guy will hug her, and that hug will initially shock her and she'll freeze up, but only for a moment, then she will melt in his arms and have a real emotional breakdown. A girl and guy dating often will simply wave a good-bye to each other. Another sign that a guy and girl may be involved is if they are walking close to each other. Proximity is important. Then you get to the kiss. It's uncommon to see kissing in anime. But the times you do see kissing it's often very dramatic. It's almost always a first kiss too. You may only see one or two kisses in a series, and only if there is a dramatic romance.

You will not see a romance like you are used to in a TV drama. Romances in TV dramas can be a sub-plot that surfaces as a main plot time and time again, but that's not true with anime. You either have a romance in anime, or you don't. A romance in anime is still a romance if the guy or girl harbors their feelings until the end of the series where some circumstance will make them confess. Unrequited love is almost a given in anime. When a girl and guy start dating in anime, especially if it's a main character, the relationship is pretty solid. It may have it's rough spots, but break-ups are very circumstantial and not common. Romance I described for anime is a basic overview, and it does not cover all types of anime romance, just the typical ones.

In TV dramas, romance and relationships are much more, for lack of a better word, dramatic. Confessions are not like confessions in anime. It's more along the lines of your traditional 'boy likes girl' scenario. If a guy is interested, he will ask her out, either to dinner, to a movie, or something traditional like that. You will also get that 'instant attraction' type of relationships where the guy and girl would be talking or just be standing really close to each other and somehow their lips would have acquired a magnetic attraction for each other and their kissing. In TV dramas, unlike anime, it is not uncommon for the kissing to come before hand holding and hugging. TV producers know that that sort of thing will attract an audience and so kissing is very common in TV dramas. Another plot device that attracts an audience is unstable relationships and break-ups. TV Drama would not get its name if it did not have drama, and the most common way to drum up drama is for teens to have relationship problems and break-up. Whether it's because of another girl or guy, or because they don't feel the 'magic' anymore (aka the kissing is no longer good), a TV drama's relationships will go through many predictable hook-up and break-up stages.

A relationship in a TV drama may start relatively early in the season/series only for it to have a rocky path throughout the entire season. Or two of the main characters will become more and more attracted to each other throughout the season and have a magical episode where they act on their attraction at the end of the season only to start their rocky relationship path the next season. Of course hook-ups always have an episode or two of bliss and happiness, but the producers of the show have determined that that does not get TV ratings, so they always make the relationship become unstable.

Where a relationship/romance in anime tends to be a culmination of the series, in TV dramas it is almost the opposite where relationships/romances start at the beginning of the season/series. In anime, producers aren't typically worried about gathering ratings from a romance; rather, they prefer getting ratings for the uniqueness and quality of the series they created. In my opinion, I think the approach anime takes is better than the way TV dramas work. I prefer seeing a quality series, with good music, good animation, and a good story, rather than romantic ups and downs that are designed to hook the viewer emotionally through shallow plot devices. Seeing a romance/relationship work out in anime is much more satisfying because the characters will go through more normal motions of relationships, doubting their feelings, trying to discover their feelings, overcoming obstacles to approach the person, or simply accepting their feelings for someone. Anime is full of shallow characters, but shallowness hardly ever wins out in anime and the shallow characters are often made fun of for that. It's the personal growth of characters that makes anime romance and relationships better than TV Drama romance and relationships. Of course that's only true of the anime has that sort of aspect in their story line. Anime is able to do more, because they aren't limited by a young actor's abilities, rather they simply have to pull from a vast list of voice actors and the animators can do the acting of a young character that a young flesh and blood actor cannot.

Anime and TV relationships can both be enjoyable, but I find that I prefer anime ones because they seem more realistic, once it's compared to real life romance.

Chubby America

Gastro-bypass surgery is such a common term anymore. If someone mentioned 'stomach stapling' a few years ago, you'd probably not know what that meant, you may not even know now. Both those terms are surgical processes that aid overweight people get thinner again, by making a smaller stomach. Jenny Craig, Slim Fast, Weight watchers, used to be the common things people thought of when women wanted to lose weight. This was years and years ago, now their are whole aisles and sections of health and food stores devoted to weight loss for men and women. Pills, tonics, elixirs, powders, emulsions, etc... you name it, are available to help you lose weight. Ten years ago you wouldn't have seen such things at your local GNC or health store, at least not in such quantity or variety.

America is fat. There is no way around this, so many Americans are overweight that it has become norm in our society. The other day I was at a theatre to watch the latest Pirates of the Caribbean movie. While waiting for the movie to begin I looked around and was amazed on how many fat people were in the theatre. I should probably use 'overweight' but that's just prettying up 'fat' as it's more derogatory. I needed to get a drink of water and as I walked down the large aisle on the side, I had to squeeze myself through two fat people walking up the aisle. Of course these people had large containers of sodium loaded popcorn with extra butter on it. There are even butter dispensers... butter dispensers? More like fat dispensers. That fat allows for the popcorn to slide down easy, you don't even have to chew. Of course you chase it down with a gallon of your favorite soda. Fat people are hardly the only ones who eat this stuff, many others enjoy it too. Though, when a thin couple walks in with a large popcorn it seems too much, but on a fat person the large popcorn seems proportional somehow. That’s pretty scary. I can't even finish a third of the popcorn in one of those large bags, it's just too much.

When I say 'fat' you probably imagine some large 400 pound man or woman who is obviously heavier than is healthy to the point where overweight people think the person is fat. True, that's fat, but my 'fat' also includes those who have pot bellies, beer bellies, or who I consider 'chunky'. Not overweight in excessiveness, but are still overweight or fat. Of course I'm referring to mostly adults. What's scarier is a fat kid. Parents should be ashamed of themselves if their kids are fat, it is their fault and their fault alone. They manage their kid's diet and activity, they are responsible. And don't give me that 'my kid is a healthy eater' or 'my kid has thick bones' excuse, it's just another reason to cover up your short-comings of a parent. Wait, I'm being insensitive, overweight can be considered genetic now. Though, I wonder, 50 years ago, if overweight was genetic, or if it's just an excuse to hide behind in this day and age. It's true, I suppose, I've seen stories where a fat-- excuse me -- overweight person eats healthy and exercises daily and still gains wait. I believe that only a small percentage of people really are affected by that condition, the rest that claim their fatness on genetics are just making up excuses. I also have my suspicions that these this overweight condition can be developed just like diabetes can be developed.

But who can blame them? It's so easy to get fat in America... fast food restaurants, elevators, escalators, moving walkways, rich food, grocery stores loaded with salty and sweet snacks and junk food, delivery of food to your door step, etc... Junk food is inexpensive and healthy food is not. Foods are loaded with sodium, fat, cholesterol, carbohydrates, preservatives, additives, anything to make the food taste better. What was that? Oh yeah, 'reduced sodium/fat/cholesterol' foods/snacks. Don't delude yourself. Just because your eating those types of foods doesn't mean you are eating healthy. Do you really think you are eating that much healthier when you are eating reduced sodium Doritos’s [chips]? If that appeases your conscience, fine. No trans-fat! Yay! There is still the other fat and it's bad for you too, trans-fat is just the worst of it. Oh, and drinking a galloon of 'diet' soft drinks is probably just as bad as drinking the regular stuff, you just have another excuse to hide behind if you are fat. I've seen regular people switch to 'diet' soft drinks to manage their weight gain. Hey, how about drinking water instead? It quenches your thirst and has no bad stuff in it. If you really need flavor, get some of those flavored + caffeine water drinks.

Soft drinks are available at almost every street corner. Many kids grow up practically breast-fed soft drinks. It's cheap and easy to get. Milk is expensive. Why pony-up nearly $3 for a gallon of milk when you can get a 2-liter of pop for $0.99? I have yet to see a 'pop-machine' dispense healthy fruit or vegetable drinks. That's how bad it is, 'pop-machine', a ubiquitous term that people identify as a machine that one puts money in and then one can select a drink. It's not necessarily 'pop'. It can be water or some sort of sports drink. Healthy drinks are either more expensive or don't sell as well. I'd be happy if I saw a drink-dispenser have fruit and/or vegetable drinks alone. I'm waiting for the day when drinking fountains have a soft drink rather than water.

It seems every town and city have 'gyms', places that you pay to have access to facilities that have weight training, exercise machines, running tracks, and/or swimming pools. When I look into some of these places (most or completely glass paned, for whatever reason, so you can see who's working out) it's mostly slim/healthier people. I'm not saying these gyms are bad, as it's more convenient and comfortable to work out in an air-conditioned building year round, rather than biking or whatever outdoors especially when weather can be temperamental and seasonal. Also, weights are expensive and not everyone has the room or money to have their own set, and a gym is ideal for weight training. You can watch TV or movies while you work out to help make the grueling experience somewhat more palpable. Though, of the time I've spent overseas, which is a lot, I've never really seen 'gyms'. Bigger cities may have them now, but people typically eat healthier and are more active in Europe and don't have the need for 'gyms'. I feel like America is the only place that really needs gyms.

I think that's one of the problems in America, people don't make the time or have the time to eat healthy or stay active. People jam pack their lives so much, that they only have time and patience to pop in to a fast food place or get a microwaveable dinner. Both are very unhealthy. Healthy-Choice dinners aren't as healthy as one would hope. People don't eat normal anymore either, skipping breakfast, and sometimes even lunch, just to eat unhealthy food or snack on junk food later. All your food intake ends up being unhealthy, loaded with sodium and fat. If that's all you eat, it's no surprise that you are fat. A part of keeping your weight in check is to have a healthy diet, but of course everyone knows that. People just define 'healthy diet' differently and end up being fat even when they say they are eating healthy. If you want the true definition of a healthy diet, talk to your doctor or a nutritionist (those only came into existence because of fat people).

There is no easy solution to fix fat America, mostly due to the fact that it's up to individuals to take the steps necessary to maintain a healthy weight. And that 'healthy' is defined by the nutritionists and the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) as well as doctors. Fast food restaurants would end up losing money if people chose to eat healthier. Maybe that would force fast food chains to re-evaluate their menu and get rid of 400g of fat burgers. But, it really boils down to the individual to have the will power to do something about their fatness. Many men make the mistake of eating how they did in college, after their metabolism slows down in their 30's. Changing your diet is tough, but it's necessary to change it as your body changes and handles the foods you eat. Women never really have a change in metabolism, but they need to change their diet too, and change it according to the way their bodies handle food. It's easier to develop a healthy diet earlier, the longer you maintain an unhealthy diet, the harder it is to change it. Maintaining a healthy diet requires effort. Fruits and vegetables go bad, so you can't buy large quantities of them and have fresh fruit two weeks later. You also need to be smart about what foods you cook, how much fat, cholesterol, and sodium they have. The initial effort is the hardest, but once you develop a healthier diet you'll find that it is relatively easy to maintain.

"Let's Just Be Friends"

It's been a while since I've blogged. I either haven't had the chance, or maybe it's because I haven't been in school where I have inspirational Psychology to spurn the blogs I've typed up in the past, haha. The other day, my younger sister told me she enjoyed reading some of my blogs and that I write well. I thank her for that (I write well? Sure.). It's partly because of her and some unfortunate events that lead me to this next blog.

Again, this blog revolves around romantic things, to which I am hardly qualified to write about. I'd like to assume that I am qualified, but reading situational romantic stories and scenarios hardly qualifies me to write about this sort of thing. I will still write about it, but remember, please take what I write with a grain of salt. I should also point out (for my girlfriend) that this purely from an objective viewpoint and are just opinions. Also, this blog has no direction, you've been warned.

"Let's just be friends."

Those words you would have loved to hear from the 'large boned' 4th grade bully, who terrorized you and your fellow first graders, back in grade school. But those words were never forthcoming. Her reign of terror, (What? You expected a male bully? Welcome to the 21st century.), only ended because she graduated. I digress…

"Let's just be friends." Did you just feel a chill run down your spine? You have every right to feel that, because when you are in a relationship, those are some of the last words you want to be heard together, in a sentence. Guys probably felt the chill, more than the girls, because more so than not, the girl will say those words when they wish to end a relationship. The reasoning behind saying those words can be seen from different views. On one side, the person really wants to remain friends with you. They just don't want to be your boyfriend or girlfriend for reasons to broad to even cover. They met someone else, but still think you are cool, and they want to hang out with you still and talk, but they need to be free so they can pursue their next match-up. Or the person simply wants to cushion the break-up.

For the latter reason, in the previous paragraph, it's hardly a cushion, and can be an even harder break-up. When you break-up with a person, you want it to be simple and clean. No beating around the bush, no pre-emptive speeches, no disguising the truth with a fancy dinner or one last make-out session (I hear high emotions make for a nice aphrodisiac). When you break-up with a person you want to cut the strings quickly, and then proceed to be there to help break the fall. You want to pick a neutral location, so that they aren't emotionally attached to a location that might drudge up the breakup later. You don't do it in an email, phone, fax, page, voicemail, forum, or letter. You don't do it at their house or at a restaurant. In my opinion, the best place is at your place, hopefully where they are comfortable. Don't make a big deal out of it, I recommend not making dinner. If you don't want to seem ominous, ask them over to your house for drinks or ask them over to hang-out with you. When they come over, offer something to do drink, during which you can cover with some casual chitchat. When you are seated, that's when you tell them. You can say something like, 'I don't think we can be together anymore.'. Personally I can't tell you what the right thing to say is. But after you tell them something indicating an end to the relationship; quickly proceed to explain to them why you are breaking up with them.

After you give your explanation (be sure to have one, else they'll think that you are breaking up for no reason or for someone else), be prepared to answer a lot of questions, possibly explaining yourself a few more times, there may be tears, and there may be violent outbursts (which I hope doesn't happen). If you are a girl, and you are afraid that the guy may get irrational, you may want to have a guy friend in the other room or close by, but I sincerely hope you don't have a guy who would become physically abusive. Anyway, before the person leaves, make sure that you've explained the break-up to the best of your abilities, and that the person understands. It may take 15 minutes or 2 hours. Be patient, you broke up with him/her, the least they deserve is time. And when they leave there should be no hugs, no kisses, and no handshakes. Another reason for picking your place for the breakup is that when they leave, they will have the illusion of leaving you, allowing them to maintain some pride. After all, you did the dumping.

If you don't plan on seeing the person anymore, then you are done. But, if you plan on staying friends with the person, make sure you leave an opening for that, before they leave. If they bring it up, then it's fine, and go with that. If they didn't bring up friendship, you can ask him/her to be friends, but let them be in control. You pretty much will have to ask for their permission to be friends. Try to indicate that it would not be an immediate thing, but maybe in a two or three months or possibly even a half a year to a year. Remember, you'll need to time to sort through your emotions, as well as your ex.

Moving on… So let's say that you break up with your boyfriend and girlfriend. Do you remain friends? Or don't you? That depends on a few factors.

Was the break up amicable? Meaning, were you on speaking terms with each other after you broke up? Whether yes or no, that doesn't necessarily determine whether you will remain friends. I prefer to think that there are other factors involved. A friendship can weather fights and disagreements. So that is the main point; were you friends before the relationship? Some relationships are based on lust and desire (we like to call those 'sexual relationships') and those people tend not to be friends, if they breakup. (They may be on good terms with each other, but that only extends to a smile, wave, or greeting in public.) Some relationships are arranged, but then again, we don't really live in that era anymore, at least I hope not. Other relationships are based off of a traumatic or emotional experience, such as being marooned on an island together, but, that's rather far fetched. You could also get one of those 'captive falling for captor' situations, but that's just weird. Then there are the relationships that are based or built off friendship. All these type of relationships have the potential for friendship after a breakup. But I would tend to favor the relationships based off of friendship. Friendship can mean many years or just a few weeks (days, if you spend everyday together). You both will have something in common, and even after you breakup, you probably still have that thing or things in common still. And the desire to be able to be able to talk about your common interests will probably remain, as they were not hinged on your making out or anything else that happens in a relationship. Then again, it's possible that your common interests would be a sore spot in a failed relationship.

Of course there are the ever-mysterious middle and high school flings that defy all logical relationship rules. These flings (note, 'relationship' does not even qualify) are common in middle and high school. The different combinations of girl and boyfriends are only limited to the number of popular and shallow people in the school. One day Bobby is with Samantha, but a couple of days later they have a tear filled break-up, all because Samantha got a note from her girlfriends that Bobby was seen making out with one of the cheerleaders behind the bleachers. Was it true? No use trying to find out, because no amount of reasoning will win Samantha back to Bobby's side, even if Bobby was in the hospital because of a burst appendix. The note is more valid than any doctor's signature… somehow, someway, Bobby had sucked face with that cheerleader. And of course Bobby's next 'girlfriend' becomes Sam's sworn enemy, as she is that chick that stole Bobby, completely ignoring the fact that she dumped Bobby.

I think this is the end of the blog. Like I said earlier, this blog had no real direction besides having a focus on relationships.

Ciao for now.

Handshakes

I don't know if it is just me or if other people do it too, but I tend to shake hands differently based on the person.

The main difference is gender based. I am not going to crush some girl or woman's hand, because they tend to be more delicate, compared to a guy's hand.

When I was in church for Christmas, you get to the part where you shake everyone's hand (sorry, I forget what it's called, I do not attend church regularly) and I get through my family, wishing Merry Christmas and I Love You, etcetera. Then you look around to people near you and shake hands. I look behind me and there is a couple behind me. I shake the gals hand first, a firm, yet gentle handshake. Then I shake the guy's hand, and it's different from the girls. The handshake is stronger, for lack of adjective. Even when shaking a kid's hand, you aren't going to shake with the same vigor you did with a large (muscular) guy.

It's something done automatic, your mind makes the split second decision, as your hand is going in for the handshake, judging by the person's outward appearance, how you are going to shake their hand.

Is Kissing Sensual Only Because We Make It So?

I was thinking, kissing,is a sensual act one does to indicate their love for someone else, whether it be a family member, lover, or pet. But what made kissing be that sensual? I guess since humans are very much into touching one another in order to display feelings, it is natural kissing would follow. But how did kissing come about?

Was it because when two people are making love (traditional style, mind you) that it is something to do to avoid talking, or just because it is convenient. I mean, it (kissing) only feels good because in society today that's what we are told and that's what we know. Why isn't licking someone's chin the same as kissing, because of society? Maybe. Sure you can argue that it is fun and feels good, but there was definite societal influence.

If you were to take 2 children, and never have them exposed to society, put on an island and were brought up, by seperate 'parents', and manage to have them develop feelings for each other, all the while, never teaching them about intimacies as we know, would they instinctually kiss? Or could you 'train' them that licking a chin is a sensual sign of affection?

I think it's possible, but I also feel like thousands of years of human evolution has somehow ingrained 'kissing' into humans, so that it happens naturally.

Nooo! Oh the tragedy!

I just finished watching the last 3 episodes of Chrono Crusade (see previous blog for more info). And the ending! AH!!! It's not fair! Why does it have to be that way. They could have lived, God could have intervened and let them survive. It pains my heart everytime I remember it. It's probably one of the saddest moments, in anime, that I've experienced. Oh the heartbreak!

I won't explain in more detail, if you are interested in more, you can talk to me, I just needed to write it out.

Anime - Sandglass of Summer Colors

Throw in a love story with futuristic elements and you get a very touching anime.

Sandglass of Summer Colors (Natsuiro no Sunadokei) is just like this.

At the end of the school year, Makimura Kotaru decides to confess his feelings to Serizawa Kaho. Kaho-chan is considered to be a school idol, and Kotaru gets made fun of, by his friends, telling him he has no chance. But his resolve is set, and Kotaru is determined to reveal his true feelings to the girl he likes.

Kotaru

Afer deciding to write his confession in his letter, he walks home with his childhood friend Senou Ai, who has agreed to give Kaho, a friend of Ai, the letter.

Kaho

After dropping Ai off at her house, Kotaru observes a suspicous figure and goes to ask this person if they were stalking Ai. Afer wrestling the suspicious person's coat off, it turns out the person's a girl, and Kotaru had accidentally grabbed her chest, during the attempt to wrestle the coat off. She slaps him and breaks an hour glass, sprinkling dust over Kotaru. The girl then runs away.

Feeling ill, Kotaru goes to bed, and wakes up to find that it was somehow the end of summer break, and school was starting again. Confused, he goes to school and finds everyone at the gymnasium. The director was giving a speech about the death of a classmate, Kaho. Kotaru is confused. He finds out that they had been going out all summer too. Kaho had been in a tragic car accident. And he finds out, she was on his way to see him. He faints, and is carried back in time a few times, experiencing his confession to Kaho, and a date they had. Eventually he gets back to his own time, to find this suspicious person from before, standing over him. Her name is Ligene, and is a Time Patroller. Her job is to correct irregularities in time. And she is here to correct time, so that Kaho does not die. It turns out that the dust that Kotaru had been exposed to, gave him the ability to exist out of the framework of time, which would allow him to affect the future.

Ligene

Ligene tells Kotaru what he must do to prevent the death of his girlfriend. He agrees to do this, because he cannot stand idle. So while going out with Kaho, Kotaru also gives it his all to prevent her death.

Throughout the summer Kaho and Kotaru spend more and more time together. Their bond gets stronger and stronger, and Kotaru is more determined to save Kaho.

Kotaru also discovers that Kaho cares for him very much, and could not bear to be apart from him.

As the fateful day of Kaho's death arrives, everything starts to spiral out of control, and Kotaru finds out he has very little time to save Kaho, if at all. What would he do without his beloved Kaho?

This was a great OVA (non-series) and I recommend anyone, who is a romantic too, to watch this. It's a story that would warm your heart.

Teacher Responsibility

Today in Psychology, the professor had trouble getting the overhead projector to start, so while help was coming, he opened up the floor to questions. Someone asked if he would be giving back the old exams, and he said he couldn't, but you could come in to his office to look at it.

Not being a forward person, I usually don't speak up, but I had a question that I thought required an answer. I asked if he could post the previous exams and the solutions on Blackboard. He told me that it would take too much time. That was a bit odd to me, because he posts Powerpoint presentations for the lecture notes. Thinking that he meant posting individual exams, I pressed the issue, asking why he couldn't post just general solutions. In the back of my head, I knew he knew what I meant initially, but dodged the question. For some reason some of the students thought that the question had been answered and when I continued asking questions they actually laughed.

My professor never answered my question, because he used the arrival of the UCiT help to ignore me.

As an Engineer, I am not used to having previous exams to study off of, our professors do not hold on to the exams, and they usually post solutions to the exams, because Engineering students usually use previous exams to study for a final so that they know what they did wrong and also use it to get a feel for the questions the professor may ask.

Awkwardness

I was watching this anime called Suzuka yesterday, and two characters who had been going out, broke up. A short summary of it:

Yamato and Honoka have been going out for a little while now, but initially Yamato had only eyes for this girl Suzuka, but after being turned down and snubbed many times, he learned that this girl, Honoka liked him, one thing lead to another and they end up dating. But Yamato is inexperienced with relationships, so he makes many mistakes. Honoka puts up with it pretty well, partly because she really likes Yamato, and also because she is inexperienced as well. The breaking point was when Yamato goes shopping, for Honoka's birthday present, with Suzuka and Honoka finds out about this, but she plays it off as nothing significant. She was ready to accept Yamato's birthday present, but then he starts going on and on about Suzuka, how she helped him, and how annoying she was sometimes. Honoka doesn't want to hear this and gets really mad at Yamato and refuses to accept the present. They eventually agree that breaking up would be the best idea, but Honoka chooses to keep the birthday present, because she still harbors feelings for Yamato. Their first initial meeting after the break-up is right outside their class, and it is extremely awkward.

Is this really the case for relationships? When two people break-up, but still are contact with each other, is it really awkward, and weird afterwards? Sometimes there is hardly a days difference, between the break-up and seeing the person again. One day you are holding hands, laughing together and being a couple, and the next it's like you are meeting a new person. I can understand more weirdness if you were a lot more intimate, but if you had just been kissing, then what makes it so weird to see the person again? I think that the awkwardness is only there because the couple still harbor feelings for one another (or it could be one sided), but even if it is a mutual break-up there can be some tension (which there usually is) between the two people.

Drivers Who Should Not Be Drivers

I drive a lot, as I live a considerable distance from the city. So I am familiar with people driving. But there are some people who should not be driving, or at least have a big sign on their car that indicates their lack of driving skills.

Yesterday was a good example of why some drivers need remedial driving courses. Driving home, I take a two lane highway most of the way, and once out of the city the legal speed limit is 65 MPH. Though as any highway, the usual speed in the left lane is 75 - 80 MPH. Courteous drivers will let the faster (more impatient) drivers pass, if it doesn't slow the courteous driver down too much. Sometimes a driver going 70 - 75 MPH is just trying to pass a truck or another slow moving car, and a car going 76 MPH will still ride the bumper of the slower driver. Road rage and impatience makes driving very trying.

But often there are those drivers who drive in the left (highspeed) lane because it's less congested, or they will eventually need to be in that lane to take an exit, and those drivers are more annoying than those impatient, 81 MPH, drivers.
That was the case yesterday. I admit, I drive in the left lane, between 75 and 80 MPH, when I can, and since that is the general accepted speed, that's what mostly everyone else drives, in that lane. There is a big hill during my stretch home, and the people tend to slow down a little, and I was behind a car that had slowed down to about 70 MPH, and I just drove behind that car, hoping, at the top of the hill, that they'd speed up or move over. But the car didn't, even when the right lane was clear enough to change lanes, with room to spare. Sure, I could have passed the car on the right, but I try to give slower cars a chance to move to the right, since it is technically illegal to pass on the right.

After about a minute, there was a decent line of cars behind me, waiting for the car in front of me to speed up. Finally I decided to pass on the right. Driving past the slow car I got a chance to see who was driving, as most are interested to see what driver is causing the congestion in the highspeed lane. I usually assume an older person. But what I saw, was worse than a slow moving old person. A blond, female college student, who could barely see over her dashboard, talking on her cellphone. I don't normally stereotype, but this made me think of her as a stupid, ditzy blonde, who believes the world revolves around her. I am sure other people who passed her, probably thought similar things when they saw who was driving.

You shouldn't be on your cell phone while driving, it splits your attention, so you drive by instinct rather than full focus. Germany has a laws for using a cell pohone while driving. It is required to have a hands-free handset if they must absolutely talk on the phone. Even that is highly discouraged. I think some cities in the US also have laws about this too. But the least a driver needs to do, while using a cellphone on the highway, is to move to the right lane, and slow down. Most will slow down subconsciously, but these people also sit in the left (high-speed lane).

If people were more courteous on the highways, everyone would be happier.

Chrono Crusade

Recently I subscribed two free weeks of Netflix, the online rental place. Depending on your account type, you can rent one to three animes at a time and return them whenever (as long as you pay the subscription fee). I did this to watch some licensed anime, that I prefer to watch legally. I've always wanted to watch an anime series called Chrono Crusade, and with Netflix I was given that option. I watched the first four episodes this weekend and I really enjoyed it.

A note, this series follows religion, dealing with God, Satanism, devils, and other holy and unholy dealings. If you would be offended by such an 'incorrect' view of religion, you might want to abstain from reading.

Chrono Crusade

The setting of this anime series is America, specially New York City, during the 1920's. It's a time of change, and the elite are bored. So they turn to Satanism to get their thrills. The Order of Magdalene stops these people who are bent on destruction.

The Order of Magdalene use weapons imbued with holy power to stop them. The Sacred is a bullet that has small amounts of holy oil in it, which gives the bullets power to stop the devils, where normal bullets would not affect them. There is also the Gospel, which is more powerful bullet because it has holy scriptures written on the bullet itself. With these types of weapons, the devils are exorcised.

However the major plotline revolves around a greater evil power and the seven Apostles. The seven Apostles were born with from God, who gave them the power to perform miracles. However the devils are trying to ge the seven Apostles because they can use the power in the Apostles to become more powerful themselves. And the two main characters are Rosette and Chrono.

Rosette and Chrono

Rosette is a Sister of the Order of Magdalene, who has a reputation for being very destructive during her missions. It's no fault of her own though, they just turn out that way. But she is very good at Exorcising the demons. Her main reason for becoming an Exorcist, or part of the Order, was to get revenge on the devils that took her brother, Joshua, away from her when they were kids.

Her partner is Chrono, who is a devil. Chrono has been stripped of his power and his title, for he was one of the most powerful devils before that. Rosette and Chrono are more connected than most realize. Chrono's true form is kept hidden, and Rosette is the reason for this.

Rosette is Chrono's Contractor, meaning that Chrono hides his true form and draws nourishment through Rosette lifeforce, her soul. The emblem she keeps around her neck, seals his true form. But when the seal is released, he is able to transform in his true form.

But when he transforms, he draws on more of Rosette's lifeforce. And this shortens her life. By becoming Chrono's Contractor she will probably not live past the age of 30. But together with Chrono, she can stop the evil power that is lurking in the shadows and take revenge on the evil that took her brother away from her.

This Weekend Anime 11/05

Much of my weekend was made up of studying for exams on Monday and Tuesday, but I did have a chance to watch a few episodes of anime. One new one in particular caught my attention, because of its uniqueness. Jigoku Shoujo; in this anime there is a rumor that a website exists, called Hell's Correspondence, only accessible at midnight, where you can write in the name of a person you want to take revenge against, and that wish will be granted, and the person will be taken straight to hell.

(Click on the images for a larger picture.)

The first episode is about a girl, Mayumi, who gets chosen to watch after some money her class had raised for charity. But the money gets stolen from her back, where she had kept it for safe keeping. As fate has it, an answer comes in the form of another one of her classmates, Kuroda, who offers her to give her the money, if she pays her pack. However, Kuroda is a bully, and will not let Mayumi go, even after Mayumi returns all the money. Kuroda has some perverse pleasure in making Mayumi do things for Kuroda and her posse.

Mayumi had heard about this site, Hell's Correspondence, and was almost on the verge of putting the name in, until she got a call from Kuroda.

Being forced to do unbearable tasks, Mayumi enters Kuroda's name on the website, at midnight. And she gets a text message, saying her reqest was received. But a day goes by without anything happening. And after Kuroda takes Mayumi to a shady part of town, making her talk to perverts who would take advantage of her. Not being able to do such a task, she runs away, but Kuroda took a picture with her phone and threatened to email it to the headmaster at school if she does not obey her. That's when Mayumi's will breaks.

Not being able to take any more shame, and not being able to tell her parents, Mayumi decides to commit suicide by jumping off a building. Before she hits the ground, she is taken somewhere, by a girl.

This girl, is from Hell's Correspondence, Enma Ai.

Ai tells Mayumi that if Mayumi wishes it, Ai would take revenge on Kuroda and take her to hell. However the deal comes with a price, if Mayumi decides to take revenge, her soul is forfeit, and her soul would not go to heaven, but to hell, when she died. Ai gives her a voodoo doll with a red ribbon around it, and if Mayumi pulls the ribbon off then she would make the covenant with Ai, and Ai would take Kuroda to hell.

The next day Mayumi is called to the headmaster's office, who got an email of the picture of Mayumi with a shady guy, the same guy who Mayumi ran away from when she was with Kuroda. Kuroda had sent the picture. Not being able to explain herself, and with her future slipping away, Mayumi pulls the ribbon off the doll, and she hears a whisper in the wind telling her revenge will be taken.

Kuroda gets a call from "Mayumi" to meet her at school to receive more money. However, when Kuroda goes to school she sees "Mayumi" go inside the school, and when Kuroda enters, she is bombarded with images that freak her out. Her classmates look weird, a volleyball turns into a skull, her posse friends get sucked into a wall and she is confronted with a replay image of her stealing the moeny from Mayumi's bag. Ai appears with a few of her friends, upon which they ask Kuroda to repent her sins, but she denies it still, and that's when Ai takes her to hell.

The next day shows Mayumi at school cheerful and happy again. Though when she is shown walking to a club meeting she stops infront of mirror and unbuttons part of her uniform shirt to reveal a mark on her chest.

The mark is the sign of her covenant with Ai. When she dies her soul will go to Hell. But until then she can live her life, free of the bully who was ruining her life.


...


That was the first episode, and I did watch a second episode that had been subbed. The mood is rather dark, as it has to do with revenge, and cohorting with Hell. Though the struggles of the victim are done very well. It's not your normal anime, but it is interesting to watch.

Romance On Screen And In Real Life

Watching the O.C. you see relationships constantly fading in and out of harmony. The particular couple right now is Ryan and Marissa. It seems like every episode there is something that gets between them. The most recent episode has Ryan's decision about his education get between Marissa and himself. I'll recap so you understand:

Ryan and Marissa were kicked out of their plush and exclusive highschool, by the Dean of Discipline (a.k.a. 'the bad guy'). Marissa chooses to go to another, local, less glamaorous, highschool. And Ryan goes the homeschooling route. With the Dean of Discipline bent on ruining Ryan's future, Ryan decides not even to try for the future, and cancels his homeschooling. Upset by this decision Marissa tells a new guy friend about Ryan's decision, and this friend talks to Ryan and offers to put in a word for him with his uncle's fishing business. Taking this oppurtunity, Ryan gets hired as one of the crew on this fishing boat, meaning, he'd be at sea for three weeks at a time. Marissa is very upset about this and doesn't allow Ryan to talk to her. Skipping drama, in the end Ryan decides to stay with Marissa, saying something along the lines of, that his future is with Marissa, whatever it is. Marissa is happy and everything is once again koscher in Orange County. Next week we see one of Marissa's new guy friends get closer to her, and this makes Ryan jealous.

So as you can see, the relationship gets a lot of stress. And it's the same with other couples in T.V. series, Smallville, One Tree Hill, Bones, etc... all have couples that are in a constant state of flux.

Now, I know that this is T.V. and they have to do this to keep the show interesting. It would get boring if T.V. couples were in relationship bliss continually, so the producers have to do this, trying to cause viewers to relate emotionally to the T.V. show.

But does this relationship flux happen in real life too? Do couples have disagreements where one or both are too stubborn to even talk and try to resolve their issues. Does one guy friend cause insane jealousy in a boyfriend if his girlfriend and this new friend spend a lot of time together?

I find it hard to believe that this is really the case. Could it be that these television relationships are overexaggerated? Being a frequenter on a few forums, I've seen people post their issues in their love life. Break-ups, betrayals, marriages, etc... I've read a lot, and I know some of it is out there. But the intricate details, like the way I described about the couple from the O.C., are never posted on a forum. Does it happen, in real life? I wonder.

Continuing along this vein, I'd like to mention an intracy of relationships that I've pondered.

I am lucky to be in a wonderful relationship, but I know that isn't always the case with others. The city I live in has been called one of the most undatable cities (cities, not small towns) in the nation, that there is virtually no dating scene. When couples hook up, especially couples in their early to late 20's, they tend to stay together. Other cities, hook-ups and break-ups are common place, nobody raises an eyebrow. Just look at Hollywood, couples exchange partners as freqeuntly as couples exchange partners in square dancing. So it is hard for me to conceive why people are constantly getting together with people and then breaking up again.

For me, I've come to, occasionally, associate this break-up/hook-up process with something else. When you get a new toy, a new gadget, or a new lipgloss, you use it frequently. More frequently than you normally do. When a kid gets a new video game, he is able to play it days even weeks on end, not getting tired of it. When you hear a new song you like on a CD you bought, you can listen to the song again and again, not ever getting enough of it. But all of sudden, one day, the kid stops playing the game because he simply doesn't have interest in playing it, or you stop listening to the song that you've listened to constantly for the past month, or the new gadget you have just becomes used by any other gadget you have.

Can this be related to relationships? Is it an accurate analogy for explaining why guys and girls are constantly hooking-up/breaking-up? When a guy meets a beautiful girl at a bar or café, and they hook-up, then three weeks later they cannot stand the sight of each other. Is this because they just got tired of each other, they became overhead songs or an overused gadget to each other? This can be called burnout, but even couples who have spent a month, two months, or more, together, just break-up, for no reason except that there is no interest anymore, no spark. Like a toy that has lost its appeal? Possibly. It seems like an analogy that is accurate to me. People would probably disagree with me, offering up any number of reasons why couples break up.

In any case, it's just one view.

Ciao for now.

Cows Are Loose

And addendum to yesterday's post about love. The "Love you." can also sound like slang. "Love you, bye!" was originally, "I love you, bye!", but the 'I' is slurred until it goes from "I love you." to "Love you." to "Love ya.". Each digression loses more of the original meaning. "Love ya." holds only a fraction of the meaning of what it used to be. When you whisper "I love you." into your lover's ear, you wouldn't even think about saying "Love ya." because it hardly holds the meaning that you are trying to convey. But "Love ya." originally was "I love you."

Back on topic...

Yesterday, early in the morning a tractor trailer carrying 39 cows was barreling down Interstate 74, the conditions were less than optimal. A dense fog had a choke hold on the area surrounding the Harrison township. The fog is always densest around Mt. Plateau-74, the highest part of the interstate in the area. The tractor trailer was heading near Mt. Plateau-74 cuttin through the fog, like a bullet cuts through jello. There is a reason why trucks drive slower, because their ungainly cargo inhibits maneuverability. Compared to boats, a car is like a speed boat as a tractor trailer is like a cruise liner. If this tractor trailer had been equipped with a radar, he would have seen an ominous dot ahead of him. This dot was the beginning of the tractor trailer's demise, a slow moving car. Without radar, the tractor trailer did not see the car until it was right in front of him. With less than lightning quick reflexes the truck driver swerved to avoid the slow car.

Obeying the laws of physics the trailer behind the truck could not compensate for the sudden movement; the truck went one way the trailer, a different direction. Losing control the tractor trailer tipped over, sliding across the pavement and freeing the cows inside. Half the cows got loose, frightened and dumb, they scattered to the four winds.

A truck driver carrying cattle, is by law, made to carry a rope with him in case some cattle get loose. One rope does not do the poor driver justice, especially since 20 cattle were loose. He needed a tranquilizer gun. But without immediate aid, and due to the dense fog, the cattle roamed the area.

Law enforcement closed both directions of the interstate and got a team of volunteers and police together to attempt to wrangle the cattle. The task was harder than it appeared, with the fog, visibility was reduced to less than 100 feet, and in the woods, finding the cattle was a very trying task. A few pictures below show what happened. The interstate was closed for almost 12 hours.


The tractor trailer overturned.


Dense fog.


The wreckage.


Cattle round-up.


Roam free! Head for the border!


Can't catch me! Moo!

There were some cattle casualties, the most interesting was the cow found dead in the front lawn of Harrison yard. Unfortunately the police found the carcass before the residents of the house could recover their dinner.

I Love You, Love You, Love

I apologize in advance if some of what I say you may not find particularly true, or if you cannot relate with what I am going to say. This is just some random observations that formed a semi-coherent thought. And that thought is actually continued in this blog post.

I am in a relationship, and I am bold enough to say, as a couple we've told each other our feelings, with this sacred, and sometimes harrowful words, "I love you.". Movies and books have revolved around those three simple words, none of which extend beyond on syllable, but mean SO much... depending.

Three phrases, each phrase containing the word love in it, "I love you.", "Love you.", and "Love". And each of those phrases can have very different meanings.

I'll start with the longest (3 words) phrase, "I love you.". "I love you.", such an easy phrase to say out loud, by yourself. Try it now, say those three words in succession with each other to form a sentence. It's not tough by any means, but guys (and girls) choke up, feel sick, or are rendered speechless when they hear those words or when they are trying to say them. That's how much that one single phrase impacts us. It's a big step forward in a relationship, usually an affirmation of feelings but also sometimes said in hope that a relationship will last longer. A desperate measure, used sometimes by men to try to hold onto a relationship. But the latter part is not what I am focusing on, just indicating the impact it can potentially have. They can be said anywhere; shouted out from the top of a cliff, or whispered softly into the ear of the one you love. Either way, it's a show of emotion.

You knock off the word "I", and you are down to "Love you.". This phrase is used often when you are simply reminding someone that you love them. This happens a lot in relationships that have been going on for some time (a year or two) and couples say it so frequent that it has gone from a term of endearment, to a everyday, couple-y thing to say to your beau or lover.

"-Love you! Bye!" *click*

Such a common phrase, if you didn't recognize it, it was the end of a phone conversation. Said often to friends and family, where an "I love you." is hardly ever appropriate, unless something tragic or emotional has happened, and the "I" is added to the phrase. But normally it is used to indicate your feeling to a friend or family. In the friend or family case, the significant of the phrase doesn't change drastically and is a common and easy thing to say. In a relationship it signifies the comfort level of the couple, among other things.

Then you have "Love". You mostly see this in emails and letters, as a farewell at the end of the message.

"Love, Noelle."

This phrase is often used as an indicant of the level of friendship between two friends. The "love" means "we're tight" or "we've been through a lot together". In a relationship, it shows that you care about that person. If he/she were to sign their name without the love, it doesn't mean much, but if they do sign with "love" I am sure you feel a lot warmer inside by reading it. They love you.

It's interesting to see how such small phrases can have such a different impact on peoples' lives. If I were to sign this blog with "Love, Kevin", the guys might think I was gay, and the girls might think it's a cute gesture. It's not 100% the case, but there is truth in the previous sentence. And it was just one word.

Do you have to say "love you" everytime you leave the arms of the one you love? No. "See you soon.", if said correctly, can have close to the same meaning as "Love you".

These phrases can be overused. Try not saying them for a while, or as often, and then when you finally do decide to say "I love you.", "Love you.", or "Love" you might find that the words have more meaning.

Ciao for now.

Happy Halloween

Yes! An excuse to eat candy to excess and scare little kids. What better holiday can there be? I've already dipped into the candy that is meant for the trick-or-treaters. Why shouldn't I? There are wonderful bags of chocolate, and there is no reason for me to eat some of it. I don't get to go trick-or-treating anymore, no longer can I go days without regular food, by eating all the candy I got, so I must gorge, I mean, satisfy my sugar needs by pilfering the hordes of candy that would normally get wasted on the kiddies. Plus, where I live, there won't be too many kids, except for kiddie train that comes by with 20 kids or so.

I won't be handing out candy this year, I did it last year, and all the kids at once is just too overwhelming... I can see it now... death by cuteness. An awful way to go.

I saw a movie or two this weekend...

Hitch - Funny romantic comedy, it got a little boring towards the end, as the plot had to be resolved. Watch it, you should like it.


On to some anime, I have to talk about it a little.

Wolf's Rain - I finally finished the series. I am a little disappointed, the ending isn't what I expected. It was no happy ending, but that is how a lot of anime is. This one was particularly depressing though. No spoilers, even though most of you will not watch it.

Suzuka - A good episode. Jpop star, Nana, who is a friend of Honoka, meets Yamato, and turns his relationship into swiss cheese, poking holes into a solid relationship he thought he had. Doubts are starting to arise in Yamato. We all know that he is meant for Suzuka, but how will he pull it off so that he doesn't look like a jerk, by breaking up with Honoka? And how will Suzuka deal with her feelings for Yamato and not look like some girl who is trying to steal a guy away? Mmm, Drama.

Look Both Ways

Most kids you know, were probably brought up to "look both ways before crossing the street". I know I was. You first look left, then right, then left again in case a car pulled out of a driveway or was going really fast. Then you crossed the street. This was done so that you did not get hit by oncoming traffic.

It was brought to my attention a day ago, that one of our fellow engineers was involved in a car accident. He got hit by a car. No names will be given, as there is no particular functionality to know the name. But for the sake of the story we'll call him Zak. Zak was a friendly guy, amiable, and always glad to be chatting with his engineering buddies. Everyone knew him. One day Zak had to go meet his Little somewhere. He ran out of the house and as he was in a rush, Zak did not bother to go to a crosswalk on a four lane road (with enough room for parking on both sides). In fact, Zak b-lined across the road, and being in a rush, he forgot his childhood lessons of 'looking both ways before crossing the street'.

Now, normally, if you forget to look, it's not a big deal, either cars will break to a screeching halt and the driver will start making obscene gestures and say other things to imply his obvious displeasure for you being a wreckless pedestrian, or you would get lucky and you'd play a successful game of Frogger and avoid getting hit, while maintaining forward motion, maybe getting some honks from cars. In either case, there is no lasting (physical) damage on both sides. Emotional damage is another story or if you have a heart condition you might not fare so well either...

However, in Zak's story, he was not so lucky. Either he did not remember how to play Frogger or he just simply had a bad roll of dice, but in either case, a car and Zak tried to be at the same spot at the same time. Zak is no Superman, so the car did not bend and crumple around his body. The roles were reversed, his body bent and crumpled to the shape of the car, effectively shattering a leg and providing a head injury from the impact on the windshield.

Considering the circumstances, he could have fared much worse... both legs broken, broken ribs, internal bleeding, coma, even death.

Physical recovery will take a lengthy amount of time, however emotional recovery will take longer, it might even become an emotional scar. Why? Because after getting hit by a car, you don't expect to get a fine. But Zak did get a visit from the men in blue, who gave him a $104 ticket, for jay-walking.

Moral of the story? Even if you are in a hurry, cars don't care, especially if you run in front of one.

Watching People

Have you ever taken the time to just watch people, observe their actions, just to see what they do?

Every once and a while I like to observe people. Please note, that it's different from being nosy, because I really have no interest in what they are doing, I just want to see what's happening.

Psychology lecture is a great time to do that. It's a good sized, auditorium style, lecture hall. Not as big as Zimmer Auditorium, maybe a third to a fourth of the size. But, sitting in the back you can watch people, unobtrusively. It's a little early, about quarter till eight, when class starts, and most people come in around five till. But even now there is action.

College doesn't have a seating chart, people are not assigned seats, but people tend to sit in the same seat after a few classes, so if you pay attention you can recognize faces, just by their location. For instance, five rows down from me, there is always a group of people, one guy and four or five girls who sit together. They are by far, the loudest of the students of the class. You can listen to an entire conversation, especially if the guy is talking. They must be freshmen, because they have that aura about them, plus they talk about Chemistry and English 101 very often. But I believe the girls have a slight crush on this guy, or he just one of those guys who get along/flirt well with groups of girls, a player perhaps.

Moving down a row or two, you get to the next group. They don't sit together, a few sit in the same row, but apart by a seat, and some sit down a row or even across the aisle. They talk together before class. I'll call them dorm buddies because of their proximity, because if I were to have class with my friend Richard, Dustin, or Mike, I'd sit next to them. But these girls do not sit together, so they probably know each other from living near each other and happen to recognize each other in class.

The next group is the classmate group. Looking around before class you can see people, groups of two or three of people who are talking together. They don't sit next to each other, they sort of have that same dispersal as the previous group I talked about. Across an aisle, a row down, but not together. They probably have a few classes together, maybe an art class or something where they recognize each other in a smaller class size. They are suprised, initially when they recognize someone they have another class with, sitting close by. They don't realize it, but they are pulled together, almost by a magnetic attraction through their familiarity.

Then you have the loners, like me, who are just single individuals who are taking this class as a needed BoK (supplementary class) or just wanted to take it early to get it out of the way. Even these people tend to sit in the same spots. In the three days that I have sat in this seat, the same girl has sat in front of me, and in front of her a guy with a laptop has been sitting. He is always checking out clothes online, but he has a word document open that he uses as a front; an excuse to have his laptop open. These people don't have a particular time when they come in, but more often than not, they are there earlier than the other students.

Of course, there are the students that come in late, they are even more random than than all the other groups, but even they have patterns. These people never take an empty aisle seat because it leaves them too exposed. And they rarely go down past the first ten rows since they don't want to be too obvious about being late. Though, you do have some people who do go down to the half closer to the professor, either because they don't care or because they see someone they know, and prefer the comfort of these people rather than sitting by themselves.

So, the next time you have an auditorium type class, sit in the back to watch people and how they group together, it's pretty interesting. This is done best in the morning when you have some time to watch people rather than coming in with a few minutes to spare.