Aside from the obvious, such as interesting plots, engaging characters, realities that can only be depicted through that medium (at least for the time being), and themes that either inspire or teach (or let me veg for 20 minutes), I like anime for its nuggets. I call good quotes nuggets because they're like little nuggets of gold that you mine out of the continuum of the dialogue or plot.
Anyway, here are some of the nuggets I found:
"I like any book that makes me feel like I'm in a sea. Swallowing in knowledge and emotion and everything else. Endlessly expanding but somehow different from reality." - Black Lagoon, episode 20
"If there's no meaning to something that'll eventually be lost, then there's no meaning to your life either, right? Whether it's because of time, illness, or the blade, your life will eventually be taken. Then, will you take your life now?" - Pumpkin Scissors, episode 19
Anime (and any media, really) seems to have the ability to impart such things but it depends on whether or not the creator wanted to. Anime has a lot of them; so do books. This is why I enjoy them.
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
Friday, February 14, 2014
Random but useless factoid
Did you know that the Tetris pieces are combination of four squares arranged to make the different tetrominos? And apparently, that's an actual word - tetramino - I wiki'd it. Hehe.
I just realized, that's probably where the name Tetris came from, huh?
Oh the little things in life...
I just realized, that's probably where the name Tetris came from, huh?
Oh the little things in life...
Thursday, February 6, 2014
Why grammar is important
It pretty much boils down to whether or not you're articulate. In order to be so, one must have knowledge of grammar and its structures to properly express what one is trying to say.
For some reason, if the grammar is off or there are many typos, I start to question the authority of the writer. When reading anything, when a person does not care enough to look into his or her writing, I question how serious they are because they can't even get the basic writing part down.
I just can't take the writing seriously and as a result, seriously undermine the worthiness of the information I am looking at.
I wonder if this, too, is a type of prejudice.
[edit]
Though ironically, when I go back and read some of my old posts, I realize how much I suck at grammar too. -_-;; Perhaps rather than a prejudice, in my case, this is a kind of hypocrisy.....
For some reason, if the grammar is off or there are many typos, I start to question the authority of the writer. When reading anything, when a person does not care enough to look into his or her writing, I question how serious they are because they can't even get the basic writing part down.
I just can't take the writing seriously and as a result, seriously undermine the worthiness of the information I am looking at.
I wonder if this, too, is a type of prejudice.
[edit]
Though ironically, when I go back and read some of my old posts, I realize how much I suck at grammar too. -_-;; Perhaps rather than a prejudice, in my case, this is a kind of hypocrisy.....
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
It's always the little things
Why is it that as of late, what bothers me and gives me cause to write are people?
It makes me feel superficial. :/
Anyway, I'm taking two online classes. For the most part, I like the discussion and the people I'm taking the class with seem to be interesting (though diverse, which adds another dimension to the discussion in a good way).
It's only the third week of classes, but there's one person that kind of annoys me.
I'm not sure if it's because I complete disagreed with one of her posts but the more I read what she writes, the more she feels unintelligent to me. I'm trying to step out of this way of thinking but my goodness, she cannot type (perhaps it's the grammar or lack thereof?). It adds to the sense that she's either very young, or simply kind of dumb.
And yes, I'm being intelligent-ist (or whatever) and in many ways, I'm discriminating against this individual because I feel like she is unintelligent and thus, has little to contribute to the discussions but I think I'm giving her too little credit.
It's just that she sucks at articulating what she's trying to say.
And perhaps it's because I didn't agree with what she said about my post and I felt like she did it in a poor way and maybe I'm somehow subconsciously offended at that.
Who knows?
Hopefully, I'll be able to get out of this kind of thinking so that I can be more accepting of all types of people and their viewpoints.
It makes me feel superficial. :/
Anyway, I'm taking two online classes. For the most part, I like the discussion and the people I'm taking the class with seem to be interesting (though diverse, which adds another dimension to the discussion in a good way).
It's only the third week of classes, but there's one person that kind of annoys me.
I'm not sure if it's because I complete disagreed with one of her posts but the more I read what she writes, the more she feels unintelligent to me. I'm trying to step out of this way of thinking but my goodness, she cannot type (perhaps it's the grammar or lack thereof?). It adds to the sense that she's either very young, or simply kind of dumb.
And yes, I'm being intelligent-ist (or whatever) and in many ways, I'm discriminating against this individual because I feel like she is unintelligent and thus, has little to contribute to the discussions but I think I'm giving her too little credit.
It's just that she sucks at articulating what she's trying to say.
And perhaps it's because I didn't agree with what she said about my post and I felt like she did it in a poor way and maybe I'm somehow subconsciously offended at that.
Who knows?
Hopefully, I'll be able to get out of this kind of thinking so that I can be more accepting of all types of people and their viewpoints.
Friday, January 31, 2014
Storytelling
I just watched a video (I honestly wonder how I stumble across these sometimes - mainly it's just stuff people post on fb..) about storytelling and how everyone is telling a story, whether they realize it or not (well, he might not have said that, but that's what I got out of it).
I realized that my blog posts are very much like that. I only share what I think is interesting (not really to my readers because I think I have, like one reader, if I'm lucky (hi A! *waves*)) but I suppose what is interesting to me.
I feel like my thoughts meander - the way I present my ideas are interrupted by other thoughts but somehow I try to maintain coherency (though I have lost coherency before and had to go back and had to fix some posts - though I think it's been rare that I've had to do any heavy editing, in which case, I note it).
Anyway, going back to what I post, I find that sometimes, I'll post out of boredom to let my reader know that I'm bored, but usually it's just thought projects that I want to write out because more often than not, I write them down, forget them, and then return to them. Sadly, if it was some kind of self-revelation, I return to such epiphany (which feels as such because I've completely forgotten that I've even had any kind of realization to begin with), as a dog returns to its vomit.
"Oh, that's right, I need to change..."
"I wanted to become ... kind of person."
"When these things happen, I should...."
Again, when these things happen, I wonder if I'm just denying my core self but I just think that it is in part laziness.
One thing I thought was interesting was that my brother (now also a dad) mentioned that having children force you to look at yourself and change because children are mirrors - they mimic and you become aware of some things about yourself that you would previously never have been aware of.
I suppose this could have something to do with the whole memory thing and one could probably go into a discussion about cognitive load and psychology and all sorts of fun stuff, but that "one" is not me.
The other thought project that I had today related to storytelling was this:
Stories swim in my head. Before I have a chance to catch them, they disappear, as if they never existed.
I like how it sounds without explaining it so I'm not going to. It's got this weird fluffy romanticism to it and I'd rather not break the spell.
I realized that my blog posts are very much like that. I only share what I think is interesting (not really to my readers because I think I have, like one reader, if I'm lucky (hi A! *waves*)) but I suppose what is interesting to me.
I feel like my thoughts meander - the way I present my ideas are interrupted by other thoughts but somehow I try to maintain coherency (though I have lost coherency before and had to go back and had to fix some posts - though I think it's been rare that I've had to do any heavy editing, in which case, I note it).
Anyway, going back to what I post, I find that sometimes, I'll post out of boredom to let my reader know that I'm bored, but usually it's just thought projects that I want to write out because more often than not, I write them down, forget them, and then return to them. Sadly, if it was some kind of self-revelation, I return to such epiphany (which feels as such because I've completely forgotten that I've even had any kind of realization to begin with), as a dog returns to its vomit.
"Oh, that's right, I need to change..."
"I wanted to become ... kind of person."
"When these things happen, I should...."
Again, when these things happen, I wonder if I'm just denying my core self but I just think that it is in part laziness.
One thing I thought was interesting was that my brother (now also a dad) mentioned that having children force you to look at yourself and change because children are mirrors - they mimic and you become aware of some things about yourself that you would previously never have been aware of.
I suppose this could have something to do with the whole memory thing and one could probably go into a discussion about cognitive load and psychology and all sorts of fun stuff, but that "one" is not me.
The other thought project that I had today related to storytelling was this:
Stories swim in my head. Before I have a chance to catch them, they disappear, as if they never existed.
I like how it sounds without explaining it so I'm not going to. It's got this weird fluffy romanticism to it and I'd rather not break the spell.
Thursday, January 30, 2014
Words written on one's heart
I feel like there are things in everyone's hearts - souls, if you will - that we all want to express. Sometimes there are people who know it and try to express it. Others simply ignore it.
I don't know how to explain it really, but when you meet someone whose heart language is similar to you, there is resonance. I don't mean something as simple or frivolous as love (well, not to minimize love, but sometimes that's the only time people acknowledge such deep connections and this is not the case). I want to call this resonance a connection of sorts.
People often chalked it up to similarities in background, upbringing, worldviews, moral stances, hobbies, etc. I want to disagree because this resonance seems to have depth. It's those moments when you meet someone and you just know you'll get along with them. Or that you'll be friends. Other times, it is through experience that you realize that this was someone you could've been good friends with, had circumstance been different.
There are things that get in the way of this resonance - the very things that people claim it is - upbringing, differences in opinion on the small matters, simply being on opposing sides of an argument, ways of operating, etc. I suppose another way of looking at it is that on a deeper level, people can connect, but other factors get in the way.
Sometimes, I feel like this generation has this desire to write - is it because of the field I'm in or does everyone and their moms want to write a book? Apparently this generation has this false sense that everything creative that comes out of it is made of gold, even if it's shit (so gold shit). I like to think that this means that this generation simply listens to the words written on its heart and tries to express it. It's a flowery way of looking at it, but sometimes there are things going on in the mind, things going on in the heart, feelings swimming around the body that need expression but words fail to be adequate.
People usually associate this kind of thinking and the feelings of limitation with artists but I still don't think myself as an artist. If I am an artist, so is everyone and their moms (again). I like to think that I'm just like everyone else, but I simply choose to think about these things and try to attune myself to the depth that every person is capable of having.
We marvel at certain things past generations were able to do, but to be quite honest, I don't think it's all that spectacular. If a generation is permeated with certain kinds of thinking or certain types of art forms, would not the generation reflect it, and from that, wouldn't certain people emerge as geniuses of that art form? We could have graphic design, computer graphic, gaming geniuses precisely because that is what our generation is surrounded by, could we not?
All this because I wanted to talk about Bentham but it turned into something else. We're so obsessed with loss and waste when sometimes, those very things are necessary for someone, or a generation, to learn. It sucks for the individual, but is not the lot one is given in life just that? A lot in life - some have it better, others do not. From that, isn't what one does with it and how one lives one's life that makes the difference? Basically, why decry something that cannot be changed - rather, take what one has and do what one can with it, right? If society can "equalize" things, great - but talent/energy/resources lost because society has not yet come up with a way to do so is foolish. This is why societies, people, and organizations evolve (well, this is the hope, anyway). Eh. There is background to this but at this point, I don't want to get into it.
I don't know how to explain it really, but when you meet someone whose heart language is similar to you, there is resonance. I don't mean something as simple or frivolous as love (well, not to minimize love, but sometimes that's the only time people acknowledge such deep connections and this is not the case). I want to call this resonance a connection of sorts.
People often chalked it up to similarities in background, upbringing, worldviews, moral stances, hobbies, etc. I want to disagree because this resonance seems to have depth. It's those moments when you meet someone and you just know you'll get along with them. Or that you'll be friends. Other times, it is through experience that you realize that this was someone you could've been good friends with, had circumstance been different.
There are things that get in the way of this resonance - the very things that people claim it is - upbringing, differences in opinion on the small matters, simply being on opposing sides of an argument, ways of operating, etc. I suppose another way of looking at it is that on a deeper level, people can connect, but other factors get in the way.
Sometimes, I feel like this generation has this desire to write - is it because of the field I'm in or does everyone and their moms want to write a book? Apparently this generation has this false sense that everything creative that comes out of it is made of gold, even if it's shit (so gold shit). I like to think that this means that this generation simply listens to the words written on its heart and tries to express it. It's a flowery way of looking at it, but sometimes there are things going on in the mind, things going on in the heart, feelings swimming around the body that need expression but words fail to be adequate.
People usually associate this kind of thinking and the feelings of limitation with artists but I still don't think myself as an artist. If I am an artist, so is everyone and their moms (again). I like to think that I'm just like everyone else, but I simply choose to think about these things and try to attune myself to the depth that every person is capable of having.
We marvel at certain things past generations were able to do, but to be quite honest, I don't think it's all that spectacular. If a generation is permeated with certain kinds of thinking or certain types of art forms, would not the generation reflect it, and from that, wouldn't certain people emerge as geniuses of that art form? We could have graphic design, computer graphic, gaming geniuses precisely because that is what our generation is surrounded by, could we not?
All this because I wanted to talk about Bentham but it turned into something else. We're so obsessed with loss and waste when sometimes, those very things are necessary for someone, or a generation, to learn. It sucks for the individual, but is not the lot one is given in life just that? A lot in life - some have it better, others do not. From that, isn't what one does with it and how one lives one's life that makes the difference? Basically, why decry something that cannot be changed - rather, take what one has and do what one can with it, right? If society can "equalize" things, great - but talent/energy/resources lost because society has not yet come up with a way to do so is foolish. This is why societies, people, and organizations evolve (well, this is the hope, anyway). Eh. There is background to this but at this point, I don't want to get into it.
Friday, January 24, 2014
Healthy Living
I realize that people in my age group - that is in their 20s and 30s take youth for granted. We are used to being young and we are used to thinking that things will happen easily in terms of recovery and metabolism.
We complain when this does not happen and when things (i.e. our bodies) start breaking down, we cry age! and continue with our unhealthy lifestyles.
Lately, I've been told that I look a lot younger than I am. A lot of people are shocked to find that I am nearly in my 30s and I've come to realize that the "solution" to looking/feeling young is what everyone says one should do but no one actually believes or follows. (Okay, I'm being extreme but I'm guilty of this type of thinking so bear with me)
Eat healthy, sleep well, and exercise.
It's always the same conclusion, but because so many people find it somewhat disagreeable as one must come to terms with the fact that one must change their lifestyle, they try to find another easier solution. It's like that with many things in life, isn't it?
So before I left Korea, I wasn't all that healthy in that I ate okay (it's easier to eat healthy in Korea so I wasn't eating crap as I would be if I got comfortable with my eating habits in the States), I didn't really work out, and I slept more or less okay. Because I wasn't working in an office (the beauties of freelancing allowed this), I was able to control a lot of things that would normally adversely affect my health.
When I moved back to the States, I started eating really healthy (thank you Trader Joe's for affordable, healthy eating :)), I started to exercise regularly, and as a student with an incredibly flexible schedule, I started to sleep more.
Fast forward about 2 years and I'm back in Korea. Everyone here (so I can't call the "Asians-look-young" card) tells me that I look like I'm in my early 20s or even younger (I've gotten as young as high school graduate, but I attribute that to several other factors). Of course it's a compliment and I feel awesome because that means that I'm doing something right in the way I live.
I showed my students a picture of me from a couple years ago and they said that I looked older in the picture and they were pretty much thinking, "What happened?" Being in Korea, I wouldn't be surprised if they thought that there was plastic surgery in the picture but it really goes back to the basics of survival (again it seems extreme to call it that, but I think there's truth to it):
Eat healthy, sleep well, and exercise.
We complain when this does not happen and when things (i.e. our bodies) start breaking down, we cry age! and continue with our unhealthy lifestyles.
Lately, I've been told that I look a lot younger than I am. A lot of people are shocked to find that I am nearly in my 30s and I've come to realize that the "solution" to looking/feeling young is what everyone says one should do but no one actually believes or follows. (Okay, I'm being extreme but I'm guilty of this type of thinking so bear with me)
Eat healthy, sleep well, and exercise.
It's always the same conclusion, but because so many people find it somewhat disagreeable as one must come to terms with the fact that one must change their lifestyle, they try to find another easier solution. It's like that with many things in life, isn't it?
So before I left Korea, I wasn't all that healthy in that I ate okay (it's easier to eat healthy in Korea so I wasn't eating crap as I would be if I got comfortable with my eating habits in the States), I didn't really work out, and I slept more or less okay. Because I wasn't working in an office (the beauties of freelancing allowed this), I was able to control a lot of things that would normally adversely affect my health.
When I moved back to the States, I started eating really healthy (thank you Trader Joe's for affordable, healthy eating :)), I started to exercise regularly, and as a student with an incredibly flexible schedule, I started to sleep more.
Fast forward about 2 years and I'm back in Korea. Everyone here (so I can't call the "Asians-look-young" card) tells me that I look like I'm in my early 20s or even younger (I've gotten as young as high school graduate, but I attribute that to several other factors). Of course it's a compliment and I feel awesome because that means that I'm doing something right in the way I live.
I showed my students a picture of me from a couple years ago and they said that I looked older in the picture and they were pretty much thinking, "What happened?" Being in Korea, I wouldn't be surprised if they thought that there was plastic surgery in the picture but it really goes back to the basics of survival (again it seems extreme to call it that, but I think there's truth to it):
Eat healthy, sleep well, and exercise.
Eating healthy. I mean if you don't eat healthy, you're slowly poisoning your body. I can't say I'm 100% healthy and good at watching what I eat but when you change your perspective, you come to realize that perhaps eating healthy is a better choice. The counterargument may go along the lines of "but it's so good!" or "I'm decreasing the quality of my life" but that argument only works if you're talking about the present. Smoking (for smokers), impulse buys, and anything that give a person that instant gratification has the same kind of reasoning behind it but the regret that comes with it later just doesn't seem worth it. Eh. I'm still guilty of wanting instant gratification and fulfilling such desires so it's something that I understand more in theory than in practice.
Sleeping well. Seriously, this is so underrated because it feels like a waste of time. When I was trying to use a lot more of my brain for doing things I wasn't used to (i.e. trying to get back into studying after working for 5 years), I got sleepier a lot faster. This wasn't because I was bored of the material I was studying. I actually immensely enjoyed it, but I would find myself dozing every 15 minutes or so because there was a lot to process. A quick nap would allow me to feel refreshed and ready to process the new material. As I continued studying, the time I was able to process such things got longer, which means my brain was getting used to studying again.
There was a new study that came out about sleep (I found two articles on the same study that give an interesting slant on them here and here) that show that we get rid of a lot of cognitive waste when we sleep. Apparently it's too early to say that that is the sole function of sleeping but it is at least a part of why we need to sleep. I mean there are a lot of studies out there than prove that sleep is important but we still downplay it because we need to get more things done in a day than we have time for (though, I start to wonder, why is that the case?).
Exercise. Another obvious one. Duh. I'm not even going to bother getting into this one except that everyone (myself included) needs to get off our collective lazy asses and start exercising.
I feel myself deteriorating because I've been eating less healthy and exercising less. And as an "older" 20-something, I feel myself deteriorating faster because my metabolism is slower and my body doesn't do the same things it did when I was a teenager. Thankfully though, years that I've spent working out and eating healthy (in my own way since I can't say I really eat healthy) as allowed me some leeway and I don't look or feel as old as some people my age.
There are other factors though - I don't dress, act, or live my age. Most people my age are working and I'm still freelancing (yes, it's a form of work, but it's not the norm, at least for now) and they are forced to dress as adults. I can still get away with hoodies and tshirts. I think because I look younger, I tend to act younger without realizing it.
Anyway, these are some factors that contribute to my looking-young thing, I think.
Perhaps this is just a post about how awesome it is because I look younger than my age but I honestly feel like lifestyle is a huge contributing factor to this. I'm just sayin'.
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