While I was busy being sick this Friday past, my brother Chris was turning hatachi (20). If we were Japanese, he would have now reached that magical age where he's an adult.
And while I was thinking about what a crappy way it was for me to commemorate this day of his, by becoming whiney and sick. It also occurred to me that he really has reached a point where I think of him as an "adult."
We've been through a lot together since he moved out here to go to school a year-and-a-half ago. He's succeeded and failed. He's made descisions that I disagreed with. We've argued and we've hung out.
And I've watched my "little brother" turn into my "brother."
I have to say, I'm proud. Happy birthday, bud.
Friday about 3am, I woke up. It felt like I swallowed a rock without chewing (which I admit, is probably preferable to feeling like I swallowed a rock after chewing it). I tossed and turned all night and at best I was able to doze.
Saturday morning the pain had increased greatly. Looking down my throat in the bathroom with a flashlight revealed patches of swelling. So I went to the emergency room and they declared me to be with Strep Throat.
I haven't had Strep Throat since I was eight. And I am glad of it.
Last night, the Unit 7 exam for JPN 122-02 took place. As Chris and I were exiting the spoken half of the test, a pair of our fellow students approached us with a question:
"Do either of you know how to break into a Neon?"
One of our most honorable fellow students had locked her keys in her car!
It turns out that my most honorable girlfriend, who also drives a Neon, has done that very thing on a couple of occasions, so I had the knowledge and the equipment to break into our classmate's car for her in under a minute.
It later dawned on me: I have a Power. A Power that I can either use for good or for evil. The Power to rapidly break into Neons. Now all I need is a name, a costume and a band of superheroes to join! Beware Evil Doers!
And, as if I didn't respect the man enough already...
This morning on the way to work someone in a minivan cut me off.
Now, normally when someone cuts me off, I grumble and forget about it. But this particular minivan had one of those pastor-fishes on it and I found myself thinking about what a miserable witness that driver is.
Now, I haven't got problems with people who want to represent. But if you're gonna be showing off your affiliation, you should at least drive like someone of a higher moral fiber.
Either that, or don't call attention to yourself as a hypocrite and take your pastor-fish off the car.
It’s our reputation you’re dragging through the mud, buddy.
Last night there was a message on my answering machine:
This is *blah blah* at Gamestop *blah blah* Game Boy Advance SP *blah blah* tomorow *blah blah* broke street date *blah blah* 10am.
So today at lunch I swung by Gamestop and picked up my GBA-SP. There are two things I think about it at this point:
1. Way smaller than I expected. I mean, I was expecting small, but...
2. I think the case is made of some sort of metal. I appreciate that.
It might not be made of metal. I haven't examined it all that closely yet. It will probably take a magnifying glass when I give it the once-over.
Sweet hyperbole!
So I begin with a Torchick. Because Torchick is fire-type, which eventually leads to the ability to burninate!
Many of you may not realize this, but today is Pokemon Advance day. One of the more signifigant holidays of the year. Time to dust off the GBA, seeing as the GBA-SP doesn't hit for another week.
Bad Nintendo!
Nickel Creek! Why is it that every time I put one of their CDs in, I'm happy and relaxed when it's over? What manner of sorcery is this?
In any case.
Recently I took note of how far into The Art of Drowning I am. Page 67. The poem: Dream. I've been reading diligently since I picked it up in January.
Kinda ironic that I'm moving so slowly through a book of poetry when I traditionally consume several novels/comics in such a time span. It largely stems from my practice of rereading a poem several times.
So many people blogging about productivity this week and I'm snailing my way happily through a book of poetry.
Back into Japanese.
And you know what? I finally feel up to it again. I finally got my week off even if only in my mind.
I do, however, need to increase my day-to-day language immersion if I'm every going to become fluent and hold on to my knowledge once the semester ends.
Right now I'm retaining things because I'm working at it. That's all fine and good for now. But as this is probably my last semester of the language for the forseeable future... I need to make some Japanese friends or something. I need to listen to more of that j-pop I have sitting on the CD rack.
I also hear that Advance Wars 2 has a release date. June 23.
So. My second act of leisure, this week of Spring Break was to read vol.1 of Powers. Another book by Bendis.
Powers is a noir tale about two investigators in the Powers department (the department that handles superhero-related crime) of a metro police station. Neither of them has powers themselves; they just investigate the activities of those who do.
Volume 1 encompasses their investigation into the murder of Retro Girl (yes, the comic is swimming in irony too).
The thing that sticks out most to me about this work is that Bendis has an ear for dialogue. Some of the best quotables I've heard/read in a long time are in this book.
I really feel that the Powers has a lot in common with Unbreakable atmospherically.
I got snowlocked in my apartment this morning, leaving me to work from my iBook. So I got cvs up and running and downloaded a demo of BBEdit...
Hello. My name is BBEdit and I kick a whole lotta ass!
Very strong text editor experience!
Sometimes my apartment complex's laziness about plowing the lot isn't so bad. ^_-
As my first official act of leisure, I read Fortune and Glory by one Brian Michael Bendis. It's a comic book about the artist's experiences trying to get one of his properties made into film. His adventures in and with Hollywood.
Why this book was worth my time:
It's true, I don't really plan on ever selling a screenplay. And after reading this book, the thought of such a task does not seem to me a lot of fun. But what I found in the pages of this book was a bit of insight into Bendis, himself and what the man behind Powers and other things I haven't read is like.
In this book, was not so much a cautionary tale as a portrait of the man behind the curtain...