Rant: Living Alone

I'm sorry to interrupt the 30 days thing, but I feel like I need to rant. The following rant is just that: a rant. So please take no offense to it. It's just my opinion.

Maybe it's just my own personal preference (hell, it definitely is), but the idea of living alone to me seems not only highly unpractical, but extremely unnecessary at this age. Recently, with people figuring out where they're going to live after college or just their next year of college, I've constantly been hearing "I just want to live alone", as if living with another person is a disease worse than death. I understand that there are some benefits to living alone such as being able to be messy however you want or do almost anything you want in your residency while having maximum privacy, but I believe there are far more drawbacks to living alone and even more benefits living with someone else. There are obvious ones like reduced costs and security, but the one that is most important to me (again, this is my personal opinion) is something I've been thinking about. I hear all the time "I just want to be alone" and other similar statements. To those who say such things, all I have to say is this:

You have your whole life to be alone. You only have today to be with friends.

Think about it: when you're thirty and living by yourself, will you have the opportunity to hang out with your best friends as much as you do now? Everything will change once we "settle down". Now is the time to be with those we love while we still can. To me, the most depressing thing in the world is eating dinner alone. I am dreading the day were eating alone is the norm of my sad existence. Having a roommate, even if they're not someone you're particularly close to, is a blessing. The only thing I regret by being an RA is not being able to have a roommate... I'm not looking forward to my boring, quiet studio in the Murphy's next Fall Quarter.....

So, in conclusion, just think about it for a second. What's most important right now? Things you can do whenever you want anytime you want? Or the things you can only do today?



--Till then...

Part 二

Day 07: A Photo That Makes You Happy
Well, there's a lot of those, so I'm gonna put two. This one is awesome for obvious reasons! I keep realizing that Aimi's graduation was one of the happiest moments in my lifetime, I guess because it was a ray of sunshine in a particularly bleak year.
This picture made me laugh right when I saw it because of Julia's hand gesture and Erika's face.
Day 08: A Picture That Makes You Angry/Sad
This picture makes me angry and sad for many reasons. I'm pretty sure I was happy when this picture was taken, but this night was definitely a turning point emotionally in my life. It shows such wasted promise and potential it makes me sick. Things could have turned out much better. They still technically could. This picture also makes me sad because it reminds me how much joy you've taken out of my life. I can't do origami or take pictures anymore, two of my greatest joys, because of you.
Day 09: A Photo You Took
Nara, one of the oldest cities in Japan, was a million photo opportunities waiting to happen. This one, I feel, captures the essence of Japan.

--Till then...

Part 一

While writing this, I realized that it is almost painfully revealing. Uhhhh, so just a warning.

Day 01: Your Favorite Song
Well, as many of you who know me, I have a very weird and messed up relationship with music. To me, music is very personal and I feel because meaningless when we share it, which I think almost everyone would disagree with me about. But I guess I'll offer it anyways.



I know, I know, how lame, a song from Inuyasha, but seriously, this song is amazing (you should listen to the full version). I think I love it especially because I'd hear it when I would fall asleep in high school cause it was on late at night. Nighttime is usually a scary, anxious time for me, but this song made it better.

Day 02: Your Favorite Movie
This is so hard to pinpoint, but I'll do it by genre. Traditionally Animated: Spirited Away. 3-D Animated: Up! Stop-Motion: Coraline. Comedy: Billy Madison. Romantic Comedy: Lost in Translation (I'm putting it in this category just cause I want to put it somewhere! There's romance and comedy in it, right?). Tragedy: Sophie's Choice. Musical: Hairspray. Drama: 誰も知らない（Dare mo Shiranai, Nobody Knows） and 東京ソナタ（Tokyo Sonata)　(I can't pick! They're both good). Bad Movie: Crossroads or B.A.P.S.

Day 03: Your Favorite TV Show
Well, LOST is definitely the show I follow the hardest. The broad cast of characters is amazing. They all have such depth and each episode has the depth of a movie. The thing that irritates me, though, is that people who I love are killed off and their back story is never explained. It's unfair that the characters that are "popular" (but usually the least interesting) get top billing while the true mysteries are never revealed :'(. But since LOST ends this year, I will be focusing all of my unused fan attention towards glee which is such an amazing show. The characters are hilarious, the songs phenomenal, and the acting is spot on (well, except for Finn. GET A BETTER LEADING MALE STUDENT!!!). I could write SOOO much more about other shows I love, but I feel like I'm being way long winded.

Day 04: Your Favorite Book
I am OBSESSED with the Wizard of Oz series of books. They are absolutely beautiful and paint a world never before realized in fiction. It truly is America's first fairytale.

Day 05: Your Favorite Quote
I'm not one for quotes. I usually let other people do that for me. But one particularly striking quote I heard at Mass back home in Milwaukee: "You can't get to heaven alone; you can't get to hell alone." It just highlights how important we are to one another in the overall scheme of things.

Day 06: Whatever Tickles Your Fancy
I love puzzles. I think it stems from my OCD, particularly the part that makes me always pick out patterns in disorder. There's nothing more satisfying than completing a puzzle after a long try. Puzzles that I'm particularly good at: Sudoku, Picross, Text Twist, and Bejeweled. I think puzzles go hand in hand for my love of math: they just work.

--Till then...

Get ready...

Soooooooooo..... I think I'm gonna do this cause Elaine attempted it and Bessie dominated it! I think it'll be something nice to do, but I'm gonna break it up into chunks.

Day 01 �¨ Your favorite song
Day 02 �¨ Your favorite movie
Day 03 �¨ Your favorite television program
Day 04 �¨ Your favorite book
Day 05 �¨ Your favorite quote
Day 06 �¨ Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 07 �¨ A photo that makes you happy
Day 08 �¨ A photo that makes you angry/sad
Day 09 �¨ A photo you took
Day 10 �¨ A photo of you taken over ten years ago
Day 11 �¨ A photo of you taken recently
Day 12 �¨ Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 13 �¨ A fictional book
Day 14 �¨ A non-fictional book
Day 15 �¨ A fanfic
Day 16 �¨ A song that makes you cry (or nearly)
Day 17 �¨ An art piece (painting, drawing, sculpture, etc.)
Day 18 �¨ Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 19 �¨ A talent of yours
Day 20 �¨ A hobby of yours
Day 21 �¨ A recipe
Day 22 �¨ A website
Day 23 �¨ A YouTube video
Day 24 �¨ Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 25 �¨ Your day, in great detail
Day 26 �¨ Your week, in great detail
Day 27 �¨ This month, in great detail
Day 28 �¨ This year, in great detail
Day 29 �¨ Hopes, dreams and plans for the next 365 days
Day 30 �¨ Whatever tickles your fancy


--Till then...

Wanting to kill oneself if an odd emotion. Merely the thought that thinking that death is better than life only solidifies the desire for it. Odd, no?

--Till then...

I Wish... Part 2

I wish...
...I could cry more easily, like I used to.
...I could take back that day. If I had never done that, I'd be a million times better.
...animals could talk.
...for super powers. All of them. Water manipulation, invisibility, control over time, you name it.
...I had more siblings.
...you two were still my best friends and we could laugh over the stupidest things again.
...I had the ability to fall asleep whenever I want. Or never need sleep. Well, actually, on second thought, I love dreaming, so maybe just being able to sleep whenever I want and having it always be super restful.
...I had a puppy.
...you weren't a sociopath.
...you lived in the real world instead of your own little world.
...you knew how much I love you.
...you could just apologize, forgive, and forget.
...for things that you wouldn't want to know about.
...to visit my childhood self and give him advice. I'd especially like to give him a notebook filled with all of my regrets so that he could avoid them for our own sake.
...I have wished in the past to not be the way I am. It would have made my life a lot easier. But now, I'd never wish for that. It's given me so much insight into the world.
...people could see me for who I am.
...Pokemon were real more than anything.
...lonely kids' could realize that their imagination is their best tool to realizing a better future.
...I could go on a journey like Chihiro does in Spirited Away.
...I could travel around the world with my friends. I especially wish that I could reenact the scene from The Cheetah Girls 2 where they sing "Strut" while walking down the streets of Barcelona.
...all my friends would never leave me.
...wishes were real.

--Till then...

I Wish... Part 1

I always wonder about what I'd wish for if given the opportunity. I think about various scenarios and restrictions on wishes. I think I think WAY too much about it to the point where I believe wishes are real and owed to me. Anyways, here are my thought processes on wishes, which I believe reveals more about my inner psyche than anything else.

When assessing the wishing scenario, I always first consider the number of wishes I have. If I have multiple wishes, I usually prioritize them in order to boil down what I really want in case I only have the option for one wish. These scenarios always involve a being or other sentient entity granting me such a wish, and not so much a "wishing on a shooting star" scenario. This way, I get instant feedback on whether my wish was accepted and how many wishes are left.

As for the actual wishes, the first wish I'd always attempt to make would be wishing for multiple wishes. I'd never say infinite wishes, because I feel that would be wasteful, but I usually think of some larger than needed number like 1,876 wishes, etc. If this wish is denied, then I'd move on to another wish. But if it was granted, I'd usually set up some sort of security system for wishing so that I wouldn't actually wish for something I didn't intend ("I wish you were never born!" type scenarios). These security systems usually involve some sort of complex gesture that I wouldn't do randomly.

As for wishes not involving wishes, I've put long thought into what my first wish is. The first wish I'd probably make (especially if it was my only wish) would be some sort of compact device (like an orb) that can answer any question I ask. I would limit the device, though, in such a way that it wouldn't give answers to questions that would "blow my mind" so to speak, i.e. "What's the meaning of life?", "Is there a God?", etc. In this way, with this device, I could almost fulfill any other wish I would have. For example, I could ask the device, "What would it be like to be a soldier in ancient Rome?", and the device would put me in a situation where I actually experienced the question rather than just giving me textual answers. This way, I could play around in history and whatnot without actually fucking things up. The device's other "security feature" would also include limiting use and knowledge of the device to myself so a 3rd party wouldn't be able to use it for nefarious purposes.

But think about the practicality of this device for a second. It encompasses many other wishes in one. You'd be able to read other people's minds ("What does so-and-so think about me?"). You could gain vast amounts of wealth ("Which numbers should I play in the lottery?"). And, if you don't mind the ethical dilemma, you could achieve true love ("Who is the love of my life?", "How do I get so-and-so to like me?"). If any of you do get the opportunity to get a wish granted, it would be in your best interest to wish for this. And when you do get it, make sure you throw some compensation my way ^_~

In addition to other possible wishing restrictions (like number, as noted before), I think about the scale of wishes the wish granting entity would allow. If the wish must be "realistic", so to speak, in that all things asked for must be physically possible (no superpowers, magical animals, etc.), then the ones I feel the most practical to me would be to either have all debts I have ever incurred and will incur be paid for instantly by some unseen force or have verbal and written fluency in all languages. The first one would be nice because it would mean that you wouldn't have to worry about money ever. Once you swipe that credit card, you don't owe a thing. The second one sounds amazing because you'd be able to communicate with ANYONE. The only thing I'd be worried about is my head exploding from all of that knowledge and the fact that learning languages is most of the fun of them.

Anyways, this is only part 1 (as noted above) of my views on wishes. I intend to do at least 2 more, one being just a list of things that I wish for (which I was originally going to make this post as), so be on the look out.

--Till then...