March 31, 2003

Sketcharoo

Be excited. Be very excited. Kids, I've got tasty treats for you guys today.

While scrounging around and cleaning my room, I came upon my old sketchbook. Yes, behold all ye in wide wonder! My style's gone back and forth over the years from mathematically intricate details to clunky heaps of lead on grain to obscenely incomprehensible imagery. Unfortunately, I'll only share one of my old sketches with you at this time, ha!

This one's from junior high school, probably around the same time as when the infamous mini-Ivan photo was taken (damn you, Luis!). I never finished the thing, and I probably never will; I don't remember what I was trying to do anymore. Oh, I remember now: it's all about SEX SEX SEX!

Moreover, I've got a new screenshot up. I haven't done much work recently to make oppenheimer's desktop look particularly extravagant; however, he now has a fishtank complete with fish and rubber duckie.

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March 27, 2003

Shouting out to the Warriors

My man Allyn Morton (more often known simply as Astrok) is currently stationed in Bahrain. The latest I heard from him was that there were petroleum bombs being ignited right outside his camp. I still remember playing WarCraft II and ARC (and, sure, sometimes some Age of Empires) with him; ah, what a team we made! Astrok, may safety find you in times of danger. We've still got some games we need to play together! Same goes for my other homeboy wuddup, stationed in Japan. You guys stay dry. The only dude kicking your asses should be me!

And now, back to our regularly scheduled broadcasting which, of course, includes more infatuation with Japanese stuff.

I've begun reading my first Japanese book in Japanese. I got myself a copy of Haruki Murakami's TV People, a collection of short stories which includes *gasp* TV People, one of the more prominent stories from The Elephant Vanishes and also the name of my crazy cool cat Misha's band (How cool is that, having a band named after a Murakami story). It's been rough, but I'm making through the reading at a slow and somewhat steady pace.

Speaking of Murakami, I found an interview with the other Murakami, Ryu Murakami (the dark and gloomy and yet more introspective of Japan guy). In it is touched upon the subject about the issue of identity and current youth culture in Japan. You know how much I'm a sucker for this kind of stuff about the Japanese society and people.

Bestowed upon me the other day was Keisuke Kuwata's Top of the Pops and Rock and Roll Hero albums. That bastard Daisuke's told me that this guy's the lead singer of Southern All Stars and that he's inspired by (woo!) Eric Clapton. If you can, try to find this dastardly kawaii song titled Kuri to Itsumademo. Also, there's Kagami, which reminds me of the sunlight through the window that hits your eye on the beautiful warm morning of idle leisures and flowery cheeks. There's so much beauty, it just thrills me to know that it all exists.

I'll end with an unusually semi-revealing heartfelt thought: a smile from my memory has shined to help me alight once more!

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March 23, 2003

Infernal Affairs

Ah, it's been a while since I've bared my eyes to some good quality Hong Kong
action/drama cinema. Recently, however, the forces of coolness have bestowed upon me a viewing of Infernal Affairs. Now that's what HK cinema is all about! The story is about two undercovers: one is a cop deep in the triads and the other is a traid member deep in the police force. Both are working to discover the identity of the other, and both are so mixed up in their roles that they no longer have a clear idea of their own identities. Who does this remind you of? I give it a big whopping thumb up!

OK, kids, so tomorrow is the first day back to school after spring break. This past week has included activities such as bowling, motorcycling, occasional reading, off-and-on sleeping, the molestation of a vast number of fish at insanely early hours in the morning, and the obligatory drinking of booze.

Carol now has her very own blog! It's good to know that I can read it without having to decipher every other word from Internet shorthand.

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March 14, 2003

Friday Fish Talk

Friday has brought on another convergence of the Kinyou-kai, a silly group of folks doing silly things for dinner on silly friday nights. What started with a simple visit to McDonald's ended up as a weekly tradition; what a great way to end each week!

For one of my classes, I need to do a presentation for my final. I want to talk about Japanese youth culture and consumerism; it's a topic that fascinates me. Actually, it's kind of sickening. Nonetheless, it's an extremely interesting topic. What, with all those crazy girls giving all that money to Prada while either their parents become extremely poor or their credit problems engulf their lives. My main problem is that I have to find sources in Japanese, and I don't even know the word for "consumerism" yet. Why do I have to be difficult? Why can't I just do a simple presentation on DragonBallZ instead? My middle name is muzukashii, ne?

There are prospects in sight for me to work at a company called IMP Foods. I'd be an operator, taking orders from Japanese-speaking customers. Is my Japanese jouzu enough for this yet?

I had drinks this Monday with the SPC crew. We all had some good laughs at my expense; I can't help it, I'm just a funny guy! Soon, Jen will be moving to New Zealand; she's taking the bull by the horns, and I'm so proud of her. I can't wait to hear stories from her. You freakin' rock! It's interesting how some things happen, isn't it? It makes reality seem like a shape-shifting glob of incomprehensibility sometimes. Life is an adventure, enjoy it in all its wonderous glory!

My pen has found me again, and I've recently started two new short stories. They're rather Murakami-esque. Speaking of him, my bud Judah, a fellow Murakami fan, lended me a copy of Murakami's A Poor Aunt Story that was published in The New Yorker in 2001. If I feel in an especially open-hearted mood, I might plop a story or two on here, but only if you folks are nice. :)

Look at me, I'm being rather locquatious today.

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March 06, 2003

The Luckiest Bastard There Is

That's me. The past few weeks have been crazy for me, and I can feel something inside me that's shifting. I haven't felt these kinds of things in a while; I am planning on easing up on the people thing for a while until things have settled. Folks, this is going to be another milestone in my life! I'm excited. Are you?

Had lunch with Katherine, and we had a good chat about squibbles and squabbles. She's a funny gal.

After class today, I bumped into my old pal Daisuke. Freakin' awesome dude, and I just love hanging out with him. What was funny was that I was just thinking about contacting him to go drinking sometime, and the next thing I hear is some silly Japanese dude saying, "Ivan!" and it's that bastard. I end up meeting his friend Hiro, who wants me to recruit a pretty gal to be MC for the next Gakuensai. Hmm...!

When I get home, I find a letter from *surprise* 107.7 The Bone. I open it up, and it turns out that I'm the winner of four free tickets to the March 28th Bone Free For All at Paramount's Great America. Freakin' ROCK! Now, which three of you lucky bastards will I invite to come with me? :)

And then, later that night while at work, John La comes strolling into my cafe. Dang, I haven't seen that guy in a while. Also, Chandler from work is telling me all about how he's setup his own studio and has been running it for the past two years. Awesome! That's definitely some stuff I wanna check out.

Saturday night will be my last night of work at B&N. I'm planning on rolling out with some of the crew afterwards for some drinks in honor of me and my greatness. I'll miss all them folks!

I want a nice digital camera.

Alright ya blokes, that's it for now. Until next time, keep your noses clean.

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