Why?

Well, I was going to write a post about videogames and January and the fun that was sure to await me and I was going to talk about the new Kingdom Hearts game I got for my DS today. But then bad things happened. So this post will go down a much more sullen path.

So for a while now the right shoulder button on my DSi hasn't worked. This is a pretty standard issue for pretty much all generations of this console. I myself experienced on my DS Lite but I can' remember if it fixed itself or not. So anyway, I recently became more involved with my DSi and the games I have yet to finish in anticipation of the 3DS- which I reserved the other day- and in this process the shoulder button was really getting on my nerves. Navigating menus was cumbersome and in some cases crucial functions were but a fleeting dream. So my first thought is to buy some compressed air in hopes that maybe there is just some dirt trapped in the crevices. So today I got some and unfortunately that didn't work. The air just wasn't working it's way in there. So the next idea I had was to use rubbing alcohol. I called my mom in to help me out. So she goes to grab some rubbing alcohol. I will now transcribe the events that unfolded.

Me: Ok, Mom. Use a dripper or something because we only need a few drops in-between the crevice.

My mom cooperates and uses a tiny dripper and we squirt the rubbing alcohol into the side of the shoulder button. It wasn't as precise as I had hoped but some definitely worked it's way in. After cleaning off the rest and clicking the button a couple of times I turn it on and it works! Woohoo!

My mom then proceeds to snatch the system out of my hands and starts to pour rubbing alcohol all over the top and bottom screens.

Me: Mom, stop! You can't put that much you're going to damage it!

My mom had plenty of time to stop but it's like in a bad dream when you're yelling at someone but they can't hear you.

Me: Mom! Stop! Stop! What are you doing?!

My mom has at this point drenched the whole thing in rubbing alcohol and begins to rub it in with paper towels.

I quickly took the DSi away from her and turned it on to made sure it worked. The shoulder button was working. I was happy. I then returned to my private quarters to get back into Kingdom Hearts, this time with a proper handling of the camera system.

No. That is not what happened. That shit backfired. Hard. Now the shoulder button only works when it wants to and when it does the system menu bricks and Kingdom Hearts takes me to the main menu and then I can't go anywhere from there. At first I thought the game was broken and I wanted to die but then I tried 358/2 Days and it doesn't work either so it's just the system because Pokemon works just fine.

This was supposed to be a good day damn it! I am so distressed. Writing about it helps though. I'll just borrow my friends DSi and beat Kingdom Hearts. Yeah. It'll be okay.

A Post for Learned Youngsters

Oh, man! What a great Thursday! I only had rehearsal for Wednesday so the rest of the week is totally chill. I mean, if you decide to neglect most of the responsibilities that come with my classes it is.

English class is freaking awesome right now. We're in the middle of reading A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway and I'm really digging it. Before this we glossed over Pudd'nhead Wilson by Mark Twain and we went really in depth with The Scarlett Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Now, being a fan of literature, I can appreciate works like Pudd'nhead and Scarlet Letter on a certain level but the writing is really daunting. Hawthorne's more than anything. Then here comes along Hemingway with a fresh and straightforward story and character. It's great. Everything he writes is completely blunt and repetitive and it drones on and on and it's through his lack of flourish that he is able to tell a story differently from any other literature at his time.

Hemingway is part of a group called "The Lost Generation". This pretty much ran from the 1920-30's. Essentially it was the sign of an age where people of great intellect were overcoming the ideas of American labor. The daily routine of work a 9-to-5 job to support your family was not acceptable for them. They looked beyond their restraints and sulked in their depression at being stuck in a world where so few shared their same outlook. This all comes into place with the concept of existentialism. It's the philosophy of why anybody is who they are at a specific time and why. It also delves into the concepts of human individuality and one's purpose in life. A lot of this came out of post-WWI discussions. Which is the setting of A Farewell to Arms.

So these are the topics that we were discussing today in class. Before today I already had an interest in the ideas associated with existentialism. Not too come across as pretentious or anything but I often myself being lost in my thoughts as to why anything really is rather than keeping my sights set on just making sure it gets done. This isn't necessarily a positive attribute because in the eyes of the rest of the world this would appear as just a common slacker. In the Greek myth of Sisyphus this is referred to as the "absurd hero". Sisyphus, who lives in the underworld, defies the laws of his nature/existence and is condemned by the gods to an endless torture of rolling a boulder to the top of a mountain only to have it fall back down. Yet through his punishment, Sisyphus gains a new view on the world he used to belong to and becomes conscious of his situation. He does not want to go back to his old life because he now realizes that it wasn't the life he ever wanted. So his eternal punishment becomes his greatest gift as he now has grander view on life than anybody that is till trapped within their lives. So this knowledge brings him happiness, but what does he really gain? The truth can often times bring a pain greater than what our realities may hold for us. So did Sisyphus really win? What is our reality but what we make of it.

Existentialism really is an amazing philosophy.It questions our very humanity. I feel like I have a strong connection to the idea and even Hemingway himself. I'm nowhere near as adventurous as him but my writing more often than not has a very flat and direct tone to it. I recently wrote a short story for my english class that I'm pretty proud of. Maybe I'll share it later.

Hey look!

I finally fixed the banner! I didn't think that was a task I could tackle all on my own.

Let's play catchup.

Hey... it's been a while. How are you? Oh, that's good to hear. Yeah, um, I've been good... so, hey, I know I haven't posted in like, what, 4 months? But you know I would never leave you without good reason! So why don't we just pretend like I was here the entire time and we can move on with our lives. Okay. Good.

So new year, new posts. I guess a good resolution would be to write more and with some consistency as well. Last time I posted it was the first day of school followed by total silence. I'm pretty sure the situation is self explanatory.

So on the school side of things, I'm kinda getting my ass kicked by classes. I'm taking two mind-wrenching- to me at least- math classes and on top of that of that I have two college level courses for English and History. I really fucking hate mathematics so yeah I'm planning on easing up on that next year. But I do love English and I can tolerate History but the work sometimes is just bullshit but I get to learn about a lot of historically significant topics i.e. wars and famous literature. The literature is more fun.

I'm also taking Italian 1. The teacher is pretty damn out there so it makes the class a nuisance but I'm learning a 3rd language so I feel cultured at the end of the day. I'd like to learn to speak French and German some day.

I've also become more involved in extra-curricular activities. In my journey to become an actor I have taken up a position in my school's drama department. I've made some pretty great friends and I'm getting to work on my acting. It's been going pretty well. We're doing a play for the first week of February entitled "The Man Who Came to Dinner". I play the role of Beverly Carlton, a very famous, very british, and extremely flamboyant actor. It's my first real role I guess we could say.

Then between school there is a bunch of stuff sprinkled in-between. I bought some games, I bought some movies, I saw some movies. I'm enjoying my youth.

I just recently made it a priority to invest some time into Anime. I've always been captivated by the stuff but I never really devote any time to it. Well, I just finished watching a series called "Ouran High School Host Club". I really adore it. I'm a huge sucker for high-school/slice-of-life type settings. It only ran for one season and doesn't go through the rest of the story that's depicted in the manga so I'm strongly considering reading it now. After that I started watching Fullmetal Alchemist and of course it's incredible. I have a lot on my plate if I keep this trend going.

On the topic of television shows, I pretty much had to abandon every show that I watch except for Community due to rough schoolwork schedules. Sucks. But I'm getting by!

So I think that's it for now. Sorry if this post was less than riveting but I just wanted to make sure we're all up to speed. I really want to write more here and with less restraint even if it means just popping with tiny little blurbs. So yeah we have a full year to look forward to together. Let's make the most of it!

P.S. For who it interests I'm gonna put up a link on the side somewhere here to my Tumblr and Twitter just in case you want to make sure you read every tiny thought that escapes my mind.

Hooray! School is back in session!

After reading this post title you're probably saying to yourself:

"Hooray? What are you gay or something?"

Well, no. I am not gay. I mean, not that there is anything wrong with that... moving along.

Even though I hate getting homework and this year totally seems like it's gonna be a bitch- damn you Advanced Placement education!- I am also pretty stoked. Because this time of the year signifies the start of something wonderful! TV Fall lineups! Summer is a pretty barren time for television as all the writers and execs take some down time and let the masses revel in the horrid mess that are Summer Blockbusters. But now the cycle starts all over again. So let us take a look at my most anticipated shows.

Community- Season 2

I think this pretty much the only show that I currently follow that I have seen from the absolute beginning and I'm glad it's this one. When Community started I really wasn't expecting that much out of it. The premise seemed alright and it really appeared that it would just be a series of throw-away jokes shoved into a 22 minute time-frame but as it progressed and relationships developed amongst the characters and this small world was created it quickly became one of the funniest and smartest shows. It really reminds me a lot of Arrested Development in that future episodes would have a throw-back joke to a certain character or event- obviously not to the extent that AD did it- and I find that to be a big factor that comedy sitcoms miss out on.

Chuck- Season 4

Last time I mentioned Chuck I had talked about how I sort of wish they ended it on a high note as it it appeared to be on a wavy pattern with some eps. being great and some... not so great. But I guess I miss the show because now I really couldn't want more Chuck than I already do. Of course, I'm still concerned that it will only go downhill from here but I have enough faith in them. So I might as well enjoy the good times as they come.

Dexter- Season 5

I literally just finished watching season 4 like 3 hours ago and although I had a pretty big plot twist spoiled for me, the show was as intense as always. I can usually call something in a show before it happens as television and films become more and more predictable but Dexter is the show that has made me WTF out loud more than I can count. I'm always telling myself Dexter will get away but will he? These are the types of questions that keep me up at night. Not to mention that the season 4 finale totally left everything in a crazy mess. So yeah, pretty much one of my favorite shows ever. I guess it also helps that it takes place in my hometown. It gives me a strong, false sense of significance.

There a bunch of other shows I plan on watching but just don't really matter to me as much. But I don't want the other shows to get jealous so we'll at least list them.

Honorable Mentions

30 Rock- Season 5

The Office- Season 7

Parks and Recreation- Season 3

It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia- Season 6

I think that's everything.

On top of keeping up with these shows I'm also in the process of watching shows that I've been meaning to get to. Weeds, Mad Men, True Blood and I'm waiting on Netflix to get Bored to Death in stock. And I saw the Big C the other day and it was pretty cool I guess. God, why don't I have DVR already?

P.S. Boardwalk Empire looks really interesting but I'll watch anything with Steve Buscemi in it.

Scary Things

I always forget how much I like shitting my pants from fear until genuinely awesome horror presents itself to me. Lately though, it's been a much bigger part of my daily intake, which I can thank the guys over at my forums in the scary shit thread for.

I recently read 2 horror novels. They were both thoroughly entertaining and it felt awesome to read books again. The last time I read this much for recreation was too embarrassingly long ago to even want to remember.

The first book was House of Leaves. Pretty much it's about this guy who has sex all the time then finds this manuscript to a movie that doesn't exist and then continues to have sex all the time until he has so much sex that he is homeless. The manuscript in question is called the Navidson Record. It's the story of a family who moves into a house that is bigger on the inside than it is on the outside. A door pops up in their living room that leads into a never ending abyss of scary. The stress and fear this instills in the people living in the house is so bone-chillingly real that you will actually start to question if just what the hell you're reading is nothing more than a novel.

The other book is John Dies at the End. This one is a horror comedy and let me tell you that I have never seen a more beautiful combination of the two words. This book is abso-freaking-lutely hysterical! I have never laughed audibly at a book. Maybe a smirk here or there but this shit had me rolling on my bed. It's about two slackers called John and Dave who take a drug they call Soy Sauce that opens up a world to an alternate and monstrous dimension that they often believe to be hell. They start seeing freaky shit and they start a business where people see weird shit and they take care of things. What makes the book so funny are all the genuine characters. John and Dave are the type of guys I'd expect to find at the mall on weekend maybe without all the hell-beast adventuring part.

What strikes me as neat is that these are two very well-regarded horror novels and they both circulated around the internet before they gained an audience and were published into novel form. The flood of creative media that comes out of the internet is so immense that I wonder what is out there left to be found and enjoyed.

Which leads me to Slenderman. Slenderman is a tentacled, suit-wearing, 6 foot tall and faceless monster that is currently the the king of horror on the internet. The legend goes that he stalks children and likes to hang out in the woods and the deeper you get into his whole lore the closer he is to getting his crazy tentacles around your mind and then nobody knows what happens once he has you.

It started off as a simple horror photoshop game on the SomethingAwful forums and then it took off and spread like wildfire. There are now a bunch of blogs, youtube accounts and community forums based around the mysterious entity. Some of them are utter crap but there are quite a few decent ones. Easily the most recognizable Slenderman tale is MarbleHornets. It's a series of viral videos about a kid who is being stalked by Slenderman after his friend disappears trying to escape him. This series gave way for a rush of new fan created account of Slenderman attacks and sightings.

The scary thing about Slenderman is that it comes to a point where there are so many stories that other blogs and videos start to reference one another and you essentially end up with this fictional world set within the rules of another fictional world. There were a few days where I became paranoid that all the Slenderman research I was doing would result in some sort of hallucinogenic freakout that I would then write about in a tumblr account and restart the cycle for some other helpless sap. It never did. I've been wanting to write my own Slenderman story for a while now but I'm still kinda freaked.

The next step into my downwards spiral of crippling fear-induced anxiety is Uzumaki. Some horror manga type deal. Sounds like fun! Which reminds me that I have to finish Death Note...

P.S. I'm sorry if you don't like horror and you just happened upon this post. Please accept this picture of a flying kitty-cat if I have left you too scared.

Complete at last.

I saw Scott Pilgrim vs the World. I can finally say with certainty what my favorite movie is. It's Scott Pilgrim, just in case you weren't getting that.

Now the film wasn't perfect but the films biggest flaws are things that are rather unavoidable when you're stuffing 6 books into a 2 hour film. So in that respect, Edgar Wright did the best he could with what he had and his best is fucking incredible.

I'm pretty sad that it's over now. I'm adding this to the list of bittersweet moments of my life. Moments like this come by frequently when you're constantly becoming emotionally attached to a series and it's characters. I was so heartfelt that as soon as I got home I played Ramona by Beck from the film's soundtrack and wrote Bryan Lee O'Malley an email thanking him for creating Scott Pilgrim.

If you could all only know the surreality that came over me when I first saw the title sequence. It was just something I knew was coming but when it finally happened... I was speechless. I'm still kind of feeling that. Talking about the film this way only makes it seem even more over than it already is.

Oh well, I'll just go see it again. You should see it too!