Start of 2011 post. Nothing new in particular, except that I hope that the Year of the Rabbit won't maul me like the Year of the Tiger has...check that, I hope my luck finally improves and I get all I need and want this year, because God knows I've been putting in three times more effort into looking for a job and finding stability than when I started living in Australia 5 years back.
Finally got a new job. It's not bad, actually. Except that the pay isn't very high and I can't work more than the specified hours a week. Which means that I've got to both watch my spending on non-essentials (meaning: my whole collection), as well as try to up my efforts with my XS Energy Drink business. XS would be damn fantastic if I could get into more conventions/festivals in a year.
I'm pretty full-on with work and other things that need doing. This has been the only time so far I've had to update my webpage, and with scant info at that. I've personally been thinking about my old webpage (The Shiori Shrine), and while I'm no going to revive it anytime soon, I guess it can't hurt to put some of the old pics up on this page. It's shocking how many of those old pics are no longer available online. One other thing I'm considering is putting up a section about FPS games, specifically sort-of military shooters like Call of Duty and Medal of Honor. I used to be a huge Counterstrike player in the past, but since then I haven't been playing as many games (tight on budget) and quite a few of them won't run on my laptop. That, and I'm not a huge gamer-type, nor am I as big a military fan as I used to be, so...I dunno. One thing's for sure. Anything Goes! The Kamen Rider Troll strikes again! Sometimes I wonder why the heck I still do plastic modelling, toy collecting, etc. A lot of people tell me to grow up and get a 'normal', boring hobby, like Stamp Collecting or Golf.
I hate stamp collecting. I'm not a fan of Golf (I was probably the last person on earth to hear what happened to Tiger Woods). And I'm most certainly NOT going to learn how to play bloody Mahjong or Poker. I mean, seriously, why in the world is everyone so hard-up insistent about doing what everyone else is doing, even if it's not what they like? Seriously, what's the damn appeal of making everyone you know equally bland, boring, and miserable? It's a HOBBY. RECREATION. You need to fit in with rules and regulations at work, yes. That doesn't mean you have to be a drone and do everything everyone else does in your off-time, too. That's why I don't go to a gym; I'd much rather run around the city or park than stick myself in a room for hours at a time on an ingeniously-designed torture machine that I have to pay a membership to be strapped to. On hobbies: Do what you want to do as long as it doesn't harm anyone. You're much better off relaxing and putting a few plastic toys together than stressing out because you have to keep up your Golf score. Prioritize what least stresses you out if you want a hobby. Yeah, I know how this feels. Another new year, another new decade (it's the 2000-2009, I can count, I'm a bloody Math major). Looking forward to it mainly because 2009 wasn't the best of years for me.
Another thing is probably the realization that most of my friends are way too stuck in backwards thinking. I mean, we're in our 30-40-ish ages, and already these guys are whining about how much better the 80's were, in terms of fashion, entertainment, etc. It's really annoying the hell out of me. We're not that old yet, and more importantly I fail to see why the need to be so cynical. I mean, I'm cynical for humor purposes (like on this blog), but how can you, for the love of Mike, spend every single day of your life complaining about something then not do a damn thing about it? And then when I suggest they do something different, they just react with shock and horror, and tell me "Well, it's not that bad, I can learn to like it." Or worse: "I can't be f---ed." And then repeat the whole complaint process all over again. (I'm trying to avoid these people right now, obviously). If you have to do a resolution this New Years, do this: Write the damn thing down, everything you are serious about changing, and then POST IT IN PUBLIC. Uncomfortable? Sure. But I've just found that nobody will do anything until they have the guts to write it down and commit to it. Which is pretty much what I've planned to do. Added my first gag comic to the Kamen Ride section. Will probably make sense to you people who follow Toku + Animu. Nyu.
Why is it, that when I tell people I'm a computer programmer, they IMMEDIATELY ask me if I can hack the bank and give them money? It doesn't work that way--even if I wanted to, I can't do it. Banks are more secure than you think--if Computer programmers working in banks could hack the system and bleed money out of the bank whenever they pleased, the global economy would have been ruined ages ago.
Banks hire a lot of computer programmers. A LOT. Money does not simply flow from one bank account into the next, there are literally dozens of back-checks and confirmations going on with a simple transaction, and no single A/P has the authority to do anything he wants with the virtual cash being transferred. Seriously. People would make a lot more money and profit if they did the right thing (work hard, invest in legit business systems, develop success habits) as opposed to always trying to outsmart or destroy the system. Isn't it funny when you tell someone NOT to do something, then they do it--and then blame you for it afterwards?
To the guy who ranted at me for fifteen minutes straight: It's not my fault that you slathered PS paint over your brand new Master Grade when I TOLD YOU NOT TO DO SO, FIVE TIMES LAST SATURDAY. If you want to blame somebody, blame Decade! This week is all in the 30's and up on the Centigrade scale.
I hate the heat. If it were somehow possible for me to joing an Antarctic Expedition for the next couple of years and STILL be able to do the Mech Workshop projects and mech modelling in general, I'd jump for it--Australia isn't that far away from Antarctica, but mail comes VERY slowly down there. Still get skeptical looks from people whenever I complain--after all, they say: "You're from a tropical country, you should be used to the heat." Why do you THINK I moved to Melbourne? It's wonderfully cold without being icy between May-September, and most times, March-April and October-December weather isn't too bad. MOST times. It's start of November, and we're on Day 3 of scorchers (from my perspective). Won't see the 20-degree temperatures until Sunday, I'm afraid. Also--finally read Orson Scott Card's book "Empire". I'm not American and really, REALLY don't like Politics in general, so whatever the Left or Right have to say good or bad about it, I don't really care. Personally, the criticisms levelled at the book probably would never have happened had Card written about a foreign or fictional country, but since the story takes place in America, some feathers were definitely ruffled. Back to the book--Not bad, and I can understand the criticisms levelled at the book, but it's an overall fun read. Which I think is a bit of the problem--I loved OSC's "Ender's Game", but felt that the sequels weren't as engaging character-wise. Empire at least is a bit different in direction, but I read the main characters and can't help but compare Cole with Bean (any OSC reader will know my reference) and Rube with Ender himself. Not personality-wise, but in terms of character dynamic. Don't get me wrong--Empire is a good sit-down entertainment, and Card does raise some valid points (Roman Empire comparisons to the US and how they fall flat). But I don't think people should be taking the book as seriously as they have been; again, maybe because I'm apolitical and not American, I may have a skewed view. Then again, Robert Heinlein's "Starship Troopers" was most controversial back in the 1950's because it advocated a volunteer military. Also: Apology to OSC himself--I haven't read his books in a LONG while, and only read Empire because of it's connections to the (fantastic!) X360 platform game Shadow Complex. Well, I suppose allowing the Idolm@ster Revoltechs to play with the McFarlane Halo 3 figures wasn't the best of ideas...Haruka just loves dual-wielding those Brute Spikers. Slow going lately. Began seeing a chiropractor to hopefully help with my posture problems and blash. Never really been a fan of massages and other touchy-feely hands-on care, so me seeing a Chiro is like most people seeing the Dentist.
Anyway, it wasn't so bad. Though he did warn me that my next session might be a bit more 'ouch'... |