"What do you think about my dick?"
Here's a list of things I hope I won't do or go through or have happen to me, ever.
Picnics
Jury Duty
Prison Sentence
Dancing
Going Blind
Road Trip
Head Trauma
Karaoke
Camping
Hiking
Becoming a cripple
Sky Diving
Getting Stabbed
Bungee Jumping
Rock climbing
Scuba Diving
Losing a finger or body part
Skiing
Sailing
Going to the Beach
Burned Alive
Attending a Wedding
get smooshed under a car
Baby Shower
Birthdays
Raped
Coming of Age events
Sporting Event
Hitchhiking
Fishing
Hunting
Getting Shot
That's right, picnics, jury duty, and prison are on the same list! Notice I did not add getting struck by lightning! I really do think "what do you think about my dick?" is an elegant response in spite of the vulgarity because of how effectively and efficiently it communicates everything I think and feel about the matter. The only other adaquette response I can think of is flipping the bird.
Saturday, November 23, 2013
Welcome to the N.H.K. Review
I watched the anime in japanese with english subs several years ago and I really liked it, but I wasn't able to appreciate it back then. Why? Someone had prepared me for a comedy, so I expected a comedy. This series is even classified as a comedy. It's not a comedy. NHK is dark. Real dark. It's a story about a bunch of very sad, tragic people. The manga is even darker. How dark? There are several suicide scares all throughout. By the end, the suicide scares become dramatic for different reasons than someone no longer wants to live because life sucks, instead the suicide scares become dramatic because suicide is used as emotional manipulation by main characters against other main characters.
I recently watched the anime again, this time in english and I was prepared for a tragedy this time. When I finished, I thought it was brilliant, so I had to read the manga. Here's the thing: The anime stops about halfway through the manga and so it makes up an ending. It makes up a lot of other stuff too; It does it very well, but it doesn't prepare you for the manga.
In the anime, it seems that each character has their own emotional baggage, and it seems pretty minor, actually. In the manga, it seems that each character has a themed fucked-up-ness. I think every character has a themed psychology problem like batman villains. The main character, Sato, is an irresponsible, habitual liar with various phobias, anxieties, and delusions who by all rights should be homeless by now. Misaki is not some cute girl with problems due to a hard past anymore, actually, she's a rich girl with a serious psychological disorder who wants to make Sato her emotional prisoner. Even early on this character makes you nervous. Yamazaki is a misogynist and pedophile. I think the two problems could be related? Hinata has depression and is a druggie. There's something else wrong with her too.
I started speed reading from chapter 30 on, so maybe I missed some stuff, but I don't think the ending made sense. Granted, the ending doesn't need to make sense because it's a story about a bunch of crazy people, so whatever. At the very least, the manga's ending wasn't satisfying. It had an open ending. I hate those. It showed us promise of the characters all getting their shit together and that everything would work out like we all hope, basically it stopped at an otherwise arbitrary point. I kept reading because I wanted to see something. It's not enough that you hint that It would happen and say the end. Actually, you could even see that there's room for things to fall apart.
Anyway, so whoever decided that this was a comedy is an idiot and a liar. Either that, or they're an abuse victim who never learned better. But, because the material is so dark, then obviously you have to insert humor wherever you can or else no one could stomach it. It'd be too depressing. I recommend the anime though. I think it has appeal to people who don't even like anime because it is a good story and it's not a typical anime. It's got a very fun style and direction. Just don't prepare people for a comedy when you recommend it to them. It's to dark to be a comedy.
I recently watched the anime again, this time in english and I was prepared for a tragedy this time. When I finished, I thought it was brilliant, so I had to read the manga. Here's the thing: The anime stops about halfway through the manga and so it makes up an ending. It makes up a lot of other stuff too; It does it very well, but it doesn't prepare you for the manga.
In the anime, it seems that each character has their own emotional baggage, and it seems pretty minor, actually. In the manga, it seems that each character has a themed fucked-up-ness. I think every character has a themed psychology problem like batman villains. The main character, Sato, is an irresponsible, habitual liar with various phobias, anxieties, and delusions who by all rights should be homeless by now. Misaki is not some cute girl with problems due to a hard past anymore, actually, she's a rich girl with a serious psychological disorder who wants to make Sato her emotional prisoner. Even early on this character makes you nervous. Yamazaki is a misogynist and pedophile. I think the two problems could be related? Hinata has depression and is a druggie. There's something else wrong with her too.
I started speed reading from chapter 30 on, so maybe I missed some stuff, but I don't think the ending made sense. Granted, the ending doesn't need to make sense because it's a story about a bunch of crazy people, so whatever. At the very least, the manga's ending wasn't satisfying. It had an open ending. I hate those. It showed us promise of the characters all getting their shit together and that everything would work out like we all hope, basically it stopped at an otherwise arbitrary point. I kept reading because I wanted to see something. It's not enough that you hint that It would happen and say the end. Actually, you could even see that there's room for things to fall apart.
Anyway, so whoever decided that this was a comedy is an idiot and a liar. Either that, or they're an abuse victim who never learned better. But, because the material is so dark, then obviously you have to insert humor wherever you can or else no one could stomach it. It'd be too depressing. I recommend the anime though. I think it has appeal to people who don't even like anime because it is a good story and it's not a typical anime. It's got a very fun style and direction. Just don't prepare people for a comedy when you recommend it to them. It's to dark to be a comedy.
5 Stages of Grief from Immaturity to Maturity
"When I was a kid..." Words I often think to myself whenever a situation becomes too difficult or awkward. When I was a kid, that is to say, when I was innocent, the world was an great place. When I reached the age of reason, I became unhappy with the world which I was beginning to question, and the time in between the age of innocence and the age of reason is forgotten.
1. Denial
I haven't forgotten the first time I experienced anxiety. It was at the start of puberty. I just wished it would go away. For several years, I no longer enjoyed anything. I felt sick in my stomach and I just wanted to sleep all the time. My mom told me I needed to distract myself and the pain wouldn't bother me, even go away. Her advice worked, but those commercials asking for money for starving kids in poor countries always killed me. Also, I think this is when I started getting fat.
2. Anger
I haven't forgotten the angst of my teen years either. I used to hate my peers because they were so stupid to me. I was even bitter for about 6 months in my senior year of high school. I couldn't stand the routine, the work, and I hated the attitude people had for it. A particular example of the attitude I mean is when teachers promise "This project will be fun." I'd think, "go fuck yourself."
3. Bargaining
As an atheist, I don't think I ever bargained for anything, but I'm sure I wasted a lot of time hoping for good things happen on their own a lot.
4. Depression
I remember turning 19 or 20 and suddenly being hit with the realization that I was an adult now. I was doing my thing when suddenly I felt old! Sometime when I was 21 I had another realization that I was completely free of my angst and I had become a different person since high school. I took some solace.
Finally, I had a health scare. I went to the emergency room 3 times when I was 22 for non-existent heart or breathing problems and I'm not a hypochondriac. Anxiety from stress caused me to have high blood pressure and shortness of breath that seemed to persist for at least 8 months. My medical doctor probably couldn't tell me outright, and it retrospect I think I can see that he was hinting at it strongly, but I had some stress that I wasn't aware of.
5. Acceptance
I finally realized that my species has a sense of entitlement. We think we're fucking special. I heard a goth perspective that anger is the emotion of rejection but sadness is the emotion of acceptance. I was at times indignant about life's indifference, but now I am happy with it; I no longer believe humanity is fucking special.
Anyway, I think all people experience the 5 stages of grief over the loss of their innocence. Its different for everyone and some people probably live full lives without ever getting to stage 5, trying to hold onto that innocence.
1. Denial
I haven't forgotten the first time I experienced anxiety. It was at the start of puberty. I just wished it would go away. For several years, I no longer enjoyed anything. I felt sick in my stomach and I just wanted to sleep all the time. My mom told me I needed to distract myself and the pain wouldn't bother me, even go away. Her advice worked, but those commercials asking for money for starving kids in poor countries always killed me. Also, I think this is when I started getting fat.
2. Anger
I haven't forgotten the angst of my teen years either. I used to hate my peers because they were so stupid to me. I was even bitter for about 6 months in my senior year of high school. I couldn't stand the routine, the work, and I hated the attitude people had for it. A particular example of the attitude I mean is when teachers promise "This project will be fun." I'd think, "go fuck yourself."
3. Bargaining
As an atheist, I don't think I ever bargained for anything, but I'm sure I wasted a lot of time hoping for good things happen on their own a lot.
4. Depression
I remember turning 19 or 20 and suddenly being hit with the realization that I was an adult now. I was doing my thing when suddenly I felt old! Sometime when I was 21 I had another realization that I was completely free of my angst and I had become a different person since high school. I took some solace.
Finally, I had a health scare. I went to the emergency room 3 times when I was 22 for non-existent heart or breathing problems and I'm not a hypochondriac. Anxiety from stress caused me to have high blood pressure and shortness of breath that seemed to persist for at least 8 months. My medical doctor probably couldn't tell me outright, and it retrospect I think I can see that he was hinting at it strongly, but I had some stress that I wasn't aware of.
5. Acceptance
I finally realized that my species has a sense of entitlement. We think we're fucking special. I heard a goth perspective that anger is the emotion of rejection but sadness is the emotion of acceptance. I was at times indignant about life's indifference, but now I am happy with it; I no longer believe humanity is fucking special.
Anyway, I think all people experience the 5 stages of grief over the loss of their innocence. Its different for everyone and some people probably live full lives without ever getting to stage 5, trying to hold onto that innocence.
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