Are You One of Those People?

At this risk of making people mad at me, I will post this...

Are you one of those people that reads jokes forwarded to you, and laugh to yourself, and then continue on with your day? Are you one of those people that gets a link in your email or you are told to visit it, and you do, and then do nothing except keep it to yourself. Do you never respond to links, jokes, or other non-personal e-things?

You just think to yourself, 'Oh, that was neat.', or you laugh to yourself, or you think 'Ugh, weird.', never to let those comments reach anyone else's ears except your own? Do you not think it is odd that you do not respond to the person who sent you the e-link/message/joke? Do you think they are all rhetorical, and that you should not bother to send something in return, that they'll somehow think that you are thinking what you are thinking, that you subconsciously think they have some kind of ESP that can understand what you are thinking without them actually knowing, and so your need to respond to them in the physical world is not needed?

In reality, they never ever actually receive your thoughts of amusement, disgust, or impassiveness. They have no knowledge that you even opened the email. Does everyone live such jaded lives that they cannot bother with a simple response, that you mind-numbingly go on to the next email and revolve around your own little world? Yes, harsh words, especially when I am somewhat of a hypocrite, since I can answer yes to most all of the questions I asked in the couple paragraphs before this. Are people's lives are oh-so-busy that they cannot seem to spare a moment to acknowledge the person who sent them something or link to something of interest?

Let us take a personal example for instance. I sent out an email about a comedic explanation concerning quantum physics. I sent the email to 12 friends. I do not get a single response... not one. Wait, I take that back, I got one auto-response telling the person was out. Did each one look at the email and skip it? Did they even bother to open it? Heck if I know. Should I have written in the email, 'tell me what you thought'? I thought that it was courteous to respond to someone who was nice enough to share a bit of something they enjoyed. I guess my internet manners are set too high and I should not expect such things from friends.

Another example, I had a link in my Gmail status message to some pictures I took. I am pretty sure that many people saw the link and might even have clicked it. At the risk of sounding high-minded (or is it too late?), I can say that those pictures were damn cool and that I am sure that others thought they were damn cool too. In the nearly five days it has been online (almost all day and night), only one single person has said anything. You know how happy it made me? You probably do. When someone acknowledges something you are proud of, something you spent considerable amount of effort on, that is the feeling I got when that person told me the pictures were damn cool. Of course, some people might have thought to themselves that the pictures were damn cool, but I do not have ESP, so I have no clue what they thought.

Perhaps those two examples were fuel for this blog, but they were mearly the catalyst for something that has occurred to me for quite some time, that people do not thing it is worth their time to respond to a friend.

No, it is not like I want everyone to be like; 'that was super cool' (super is said with a French accent, pronounced sue-pair), but a comment here and there is surely appreciated, and I am sure that when you send out something that is funny or weird or interesting, that you would like some kind of acknowledgment of appreciation too.

So next time you get an email from someone or a forward, perhaps you should try and respond with a comment that takes you less than ten seconds to compose and send out. You will make that person a little happier for actually responding to them, I mean, they are friends after all. If you remain impersonal to them, you will drift apart when you no longer see them after they have left for jobs not near you. That excuse for being too busy sure wears thin after the umpteenth time of hearing it. Where it may be true, you surely are not always too busy.

Respond to emails, you will be surprised on how far a response, that takes less than a minute to send out, will go.

I am sure to have raised the ire of my friends, but I am trying to say something that encompasses not only me, please remember that.

Ciao for now
-K

Watching the Clouds

As a kid, did you ever look up at the sky and let your imagination run wild as you looked at the clouds? I do, and I still do now, but not as often as when I was a kid. You saw anything and everything in those clouds, from creatures such as fish, deer, and ones you could not name to houses, cars, and other fantastical constructs. It did not matter what shape the cloud was in, your mind could always think of something that the cloud would be shaped like.

Now though, graduating from college soon, to start a new chapter of my life (scary, huh?), and you find you are too busy to really take the time to relax and do nothing. There is always something you should be doing, whether it's studying, doing work for your organizations, looking for a job, or practicing your Australian accent. You might find that you are not able to relax, you have been so busy for so long that when you really can relax you might not be able to relax properly. I know some people would deny that they do not know how to relax. Relaxing can be anything that you personally find relaxing; drinking a cup of tea, reading a magazine or book, hitting the trails with your mountain bike, or spending time with your friends or family. But what about watching the clouds like when you were a kid?

Imagine a rolling field of grass, as far as your eyes can see. The grass is green, lush, and soft to the feet. As you breath in you inhale the sweet fragrance of spring, a fresh smell of grass and flowers and clean air. A soft breeze sends ripples through the grass, making the vast field look like a green ocean, rocking gently underneath the touch of the of wind. Wild flowers such as foxglove, lupine, morning glory, and flox are scattered in patches among the grass. The only sounds you hear are the whispers of the wind as they pass through the blades grass and the occasional twirping of a bird. It is a warm day out, you are comfortable wearing shorts and a t-shirt, neither too hot nor too chill and the humidity is just enough to wrap you in its warm embrace. The sun shines down on you, warming you through and through. You look up to see clouds, white and fluffy, gracefully floating through the air, casting large shadows on the field as they pass by. The ground is soft and yiedling and when you lay down in the cushioning grass, you are comfortable as you stare up at the sky and clouds. You are relaxed.

That is the type of relaxing I can imagine. Unfortunately such a place would not be the easiest to find. I do not think I have had the experience to find such a place here in the states. I have come really close to such a field in Europe. I am sure such a place exists in reality, but not near any city. I would encourage anyone to find such a place and just sit back and stare at the sky, letting the rays of the sun warm you, and let your mind wander as the breeze carries your consciousness to the clouds. The clouds will be shaped to my imagination's desires and the sky will become my imagination's playground as it creates creatures and things that only I can see.

One day I will find that field and relax. But for now, I will let my imagination continue to do its work and dream up wonderlands in my mind.

The Night An Engineer Dressed Up

Last night was the culmination of Engineering Week, the banquet at Music Hall, downtown. It was only my second time attending, last year being the first year I attended the banquet. It was not a good night to be out and about, the weather was horrible; rain, sleet, and the onset of night was not a good combination of conditions to be driving in. But my resolve prevailed, (and the fact that I did not really care about the weather) I drove to Music Hall. I was there a little early to help Mike out with a few last minute things. When I arrived (on time) everything seemed to have been squared away already. After saying my hello's to Char & Mike, I took the chance to look around, admire the decorations, and take a few pictures before all the other guests (and my friends) started to arrive.

The DJ was still setting up, the tables were set, and the food was being laid out on the serving tables. I was relatively hungry, and all the food that was visible was not helping things out, so I moved away to quell the tempatation of acquiring some food. I did not have to wait long before the first bus from campus arrived dropping off people, including a large group of my friends. They were all fancied up too; the guys wearing sleek suits and the girls wearing alluring dresses, quite the change when compared to our usual wear around campus. Compliments were passed around, pleasantries were exchanged and coats were checked before making our way over to a table. There were too many of us to sit at one table, so we managed to split ourselves among two tables. I sat with Mike, Carley, Adam, Emily, Dusty, and two others that I do not know. Emily, Dave, Andy, and Stacie sat at a table next to us with some others that I do not know names of either.

After the dust settled in the scramble to getting seats, the mingling began. Casual chit chat was had, some went to get some of the appetizers that consisted of chips, veggies, and dip. I wandered around talking intermittently to friends. I went up to the entrance, where Roy and his wife and Janie were kind enough to check ID's and give out bracelets to those of us who were old enough to drink. Mike and Char were overseeing everything, answering questions as best as possible and not freaking out in the process. The buses were coming reguarly now and wave after wave of students came in, all fancied up as well. I think we were able to say that we were officially sold out of tickets, after all the final head counts were made, breaking last year's attendance record.

Soon it was 8 o'clock and it was time for dinner to be served. We wanted the the faculty, alumni, and sponsors to go first to get their food before the horde of students befell the spread like the ravenous beasts that we are. I am not sure how well it worked, I might have missed an announcement or three, because I was walking around only to see the people at my table in line and being informed that I could get food as well. Of course I did not hesitate to stake my place in line, because if this year's dishes were anything like last year's, I could not waste any more time. I mean, I had to get through the main course as quickly as possible to get dessert... What? Did you think that I was worried about getting the main entré? Please, the delictable desserts were not to be passed up. Though, the main entré is not to be pushed aside, because it was delicious. This year the entré consisted of two types of salads, one plain and one with a raspberry dressing, dinner rolls, steamed vegetables that consisted of brocoli, cauliflower, and carrots, a cheese sauce that was to die for, roasted chicken, cheese potatoes, roast beef and gravy, and of course one cannot forget about the buttered spiral noodles with 'Shake & Bake'. I might have missed a something, but that is what was on my plate and anything else must have not been appetizing enough for me to give it further thought.

Making my way back to the table, my plate properly laden with food, I sat down to dig in only to discover that if I wanted any more alcoholic drinks I should go now before the bar closes during dinner. Accompanying Emily to the bar, I asked for another glass of white wine (a Chardonnay) and a Screwdriver with a shot of Sprite, per request from Adam. We eventually made our way back to the table, after being waylaid a number of times, and I was finally able to eat. The cheese sauce was just as good as it looked, and it made everything on my plate taste much better. The chicken was a little dry, but with a little cheese sauce, all was well again. The salad was not the greatest, and so I did not focus on it too much, because I doubt that the cheese sauce could have improved it.

After a fascinating discussion about Mike's love of buttered noodles in highschool, we went and headed to the dessert table, which was hidden in the back corner of the hall. There was a lot to choose from, all which looked delicious; brownies, chocolate cookies, cream puffs, mini pies, fresh fruit (pineapple, grapes, strawberries, and cantalope), and lemon bars, with bowls of yogourt spread and a large bowl of warm melted chocolate. My choices were sadly halved due to giving up chocolate for Lent (yes, I'm crazy), but that did not stop me from enjoying all the non-chocolate dishes. Mike could not pass up the chance to tease me about the chocolate though. I enjoyed the fruit & yogourt and lemon bars the best. The creme puff was a little bland and I did not favor it too much.

Just as I was finishing up dessert, the more somber part of the evening began; the speeches and award recognitions. There were a couple of different awards, including the Herman Schneider Award and Professor of the Quarter Award. There was another, that even some friends were in, but I do not remember what it was. The best part of the award and speech ceremony was probably when the Electrical Engineering Coop advisor butchered the Herman Schneider Award's recipient's name that sounded very similar to the last two syllables of 'lasagna' minus the 's'. I'm sorry, but if you nominate the person and then mispronounce their last name, you have to see some humor in it. I almost forgot, the E-week competition winners were announced, but most of us already knew who placed in the top three. The team I was in placed 2nd, five points away from first place. If we had had perfect attendance or went just a little further in the food drive, we would have had clinched first place, but oh well, it was fun and I would do it again if I was not graduating this year. The winning team's captain gave a little victory speech, which was more of an announcement that they were going to blow their prize money on a kegger after the banquet. He really did sound the model partying drunk college student. A baritone voice that seemed to lack intelligence. I am probably being a little harsh, but it's my blog.

After Andrew, one of the three E-week co-chairs, finished stumbling through his little mini-speeches, the dancing was next. Before that there was a round of pictures before everyone threw off their shoes and loosened their ties for the dancing. There was a group picture of the Electrical Engineers attending the banquet, then one for the graduating class of Electrical Engineers, and finally a group picture of the Engineering Tribunal Executives. Nothing really happened during the picture taking, so I'll leave it at that, though I am sure Steve did something.

There is something that I forgot to mention earlier; Jeff was at the banquet. Jeff, the MSA racing fanatic, the one who refuses to do anything social unless it only involves drinking, the one who said he would come dressed in jeans and his most pit-stained shirt if he came at all, showed up at the banquet. He told those who did not know that he had bought his ticket on Wednesday and had atempted to keep it on the down-low, to surprise everyone. It was pretty cool that he came to the banquet. Of course he really did not dance... at all. Well, maybe he danced a little at the end with Char, but he must have been pretty inebriated at that point. Some of us later in the evening attempted to force Jeff to dance with us, but we were unsuccessful on multiple tries.

I am jumping ahead a little though. The dancing began shortly after everyone took pictures. Personally, I am not a big fan of dancing, especially that freestyle type of dancing, because I think I look pretty silly when I do eventually start dancing. It would be pretty boring to sit at the table all night long, not dancing. I had my camera and it was a good excuse to be on the dance floor and not dancing a lot. Janie danced a little at the beginning which was cool, I think I have a video clip of that. The DJ played songs that the majority of people seemed to recognize, which was a little passé, in my opinion. He played the usual songs, like Cotton Eyed Joe, Electric Slide, Electric Salsa, and other late 90's dance songs. Throw in some rap and a handful of slow songs and you have a pretty generic set that does not dissapoint the majority, nor does it make it very amazing. A couple of shining points in the DJ's set was when he played Kylie Minogue's Love at First Sight (per request from Adam in lieu of the DDR competition) and the one and only techno song of the evening, a remix of Darude vs. Robert Mile's Children of the Sandstorm (sample here). To me, that song generated the most energy in the crowd, but I favor that genre, so I might be a bit bias. You cannot blame the DJ too much for not straying from the safe confines of accepted music, but a little variation from last year's banquet would have been nice too.

You have to wonder though, would people dance like they would if they were not as intoxicated as they were? I probably had a glass of wine and few sips of drinks people offered me, the under-developed drinker, to sample, and even though it took me a little to warm up to dancing, I thought I swallowed my humility rather well without the need to be intoxicated. Of course my dancing style is probably an issue as well, but who is to judge someone's dancing when they look just as silly? And what do people really think when they see someone else dancing? Do they mentally judge the person's dancing capabilities? Perhaps some of my friends will enlighten me on that issue.

The dancing went on for about two and a half hours, a long time for dancing, but it seemed shorter, maybe because I was enjoying myself a lot. For someone who does not like the free style type dancing, club style dancing, I thought I covered my bases pretty well, I danced to the fast songs, to the line dances, some salsa, and even a couple of slow songs. Everyone else seemed to have managed too. Even Dave, who hovered at the edge of dance floor, and would do nothing besides mingle with people, danced a little too. I even dragged him through the dance floor once, so he could say that he was on the dance floor and not merely on the edge of it.

When the dancing ended, I was a little disappointed, because it meant that the night of fun was pretty much over and that reality would rush back in a very short time. As the buses started taking the partygoers back, people chatted among themselves, taking a few last pictures, before going their separate ways, either to get some rest or continue the party elsewhere. I was part of the former group, going back to get some rest. I said my goodbyes and left.

Overall, the evening was a blast, the food was delicious, especially the dessert, people had fun hanging out with friends, and enjoyed some dancing. I do hope that there will be more times like this before graduation and I think that others would agree with me.

Oh my!

What an exciting evening! Wow, simply, wow. Tonight was the Date Auction for E-week, at The Mad Frog. People get auctioned off for dates, and all the proceeds from the auction go to Children's Hospital as donations. I was there to see some friends auctioned off, as well as getting some pictures of all the fun. I was pretty close to the front, near the stage (and a speaker!) so I had a pretty good spot for taking pictures. One of my friends was the MC (Master of Ceremony) to auction off the girls, he read their bios and convinced people to continue bidding. People danced, guys took off their shirts, and more, just to get more money.

Another friend of mine was getting auctioned off and she was super nervous about getting auctioned off, whether it was because she was worried about having people bid for her, or if just general stage fright. She eventually gets on stage and the bidding starts. I started bidding, and soon the bidding became very heated, the amount continuing to go higher and higher. It was crazy and I won! Let's put it this way, the auction came down to two people this way and I had a great amount of support from my friends who were very encouraging. My heart was racing, and I definately was weak kneed, the bass made me dizzy everytime it beat. The girl who I won in the auction, is very well known (she probably had the loudest cheering when she was introduced), and so me winning put a lot of attention on me. People were looking at me and were probably wondering who I was, or if they did recognize me were wondering why I bid so much.

I'm a little concerned about what will happen. I hope I did not step on anyone's toes, I do not even know who I was bidding against. Was it someone setup earlier to be that person to bid so that the girl was not auctioned off to someone she did not want to get auctioned off to? (Actually I found out, and two words... oh dear.) Is she okay with me winning? I think her initial reaction was disbelief, as was the reaction of many others who know me and her. I was not sure how to react, and so I tried to be as casual as possible, but I doubt people really thought that. I hope everything works out okay. The rumor mill is surely working overtime.

Formality of Names

It has sure been a while since I have blogged anything. The days of inspiration from Psych 101 have long been past and I found that if I was not typing on my laptop it did not feel the same, perhaps my laptop is my 'journal' and without it, I cannot write. Enough of that, down to business. In this blog, I will refer to myself as Kevin Soulchaser, to maintain some semblance of anonymity.

In Japan there is great importance to names. Take the Japanese name Tsumura Tokiko, a girls name, in case you were not sure. You would introduce yourself and then she would introduce herself as Tsumara Tokiko, and since you are simply an acquintance, you refer to her as Tokiko. You may also use Tokiko-san, the san is a title of respect, similar to Mister or Missus. Until Tokiko-san gives you her permission to call her Tsumara, you may not call her that, unless you want to be considered rude and unmannerly.

'Wait a second, we do that here in America, do we not?' That is probably what you are thinking right now. Yes we do, but we do not hold as much importance on the use of our first name. You see it mostly in business or more formal meetings, where someone might say, "I'm Kevin Soulchaser, but please call me Kevin." In an informal setting, such as school or gathering, people introduce themselves by their first names to be amiable and because it is odd to address classmates as 'Mister' or 'Missus'. Even professors who wish to be more personal with students, will let their students know that they can refer to their teacher as 'First Nmae' or 'Professor'.

However in Japan, first names are reserved to kin, very close friends, or relationships. When a girl and guy start going out, often the girl will tell the guy to call her by her first name, or vice versa, and that is considered to be an act of intimacy, not so much in a sexual way, but in terms of being closer. Even in school, classmates call each other by their last names, unless otherwise asked.

I have observed something of this in school too, here in America. I know people who refer to others by their last names. I have had friends refer to me by my last name often, not by Mr. Soulchaser, but simply Soulchaser ("Hey, Soulchaser!"). I do not think that they are doing it the same way that Japan's culture uses names, I doubt they even know that aspect of Japanese culture. But at the same time it is a little true. In college I have a friend who calls a girl by her last name almost all the time. I have heard him call her by her first name on occasion, but not as often as the way he uses her last name. He does the same to a few others too. He works at a place where he is surrounded by a lot of Japanese co-workers, though they have probably adopted the Western style of addressing people and use first and last names like us, so I doubt (and he would vehemently deny) that he has picked up on their culture.

When I think about it, I have done the same, and not just to one person, to multiple people, whether I am talking to them directly or mention their name in passing. I have realized that these are people who I really have not had much interaction with over the last few years, due to the rotation of schedules, despite being in the same class. Did I automatically use the Japanese style of addressing people, and use their last names, because I did not know them well enough? Probably not, but at the same time I did anyways. I do it less now, because I realized what I was doing.

There could also be another reason behind the use of last names, to prevent any confusion on who someone actually is addressing. Last names are more unique and you usually will not find another person with the same last name in the same group of friends, but it is probable that there will be more than one person with the same first name. So that could also be a reason why some of my friends will refer to certain friends, using their last names.

In closing, I do think it is interesting the way we have developed another way to refer to friends, even if it does resemble the way people in Japan call each other. Work may also have picked up on some of this, but it mostly when the boss needs to call someone out, without a doubt on who they may be referring to. Perhaps in time, when people develop a better connection with those they address using last names, they will use their friend's first names more.

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.