Just a little something my friend Jaja managed to unwittingly remind me of.
Writer's block, for me, inevitably comes down to a matter of distraction and concentration. Sadly, I'm the type that gets easily distracted from my writing. Fortunately, the things that are capable of distracting me tend to ne so specific that they ought not to crop up so damn much. In fact, they actually didn't crop up very often. Until fairly recently.
I've found that the things that are capable of distracting me are now more prominent around me than ever before. I've never piled on so many...extra-curricular activities on myself than ever before. Now, my computations tell me that I ought to be able to weather this through before June (I'd be done with all of them by mid-March if I'm lucky), but that's assuming I don't find ways to extend my period of distraction. Sadly, I inevitably do end up finding such means. Again, this is thanks to the relative ease by which I can distract myself nowadays.
Between my reawakened anime interest (damn you, Anime Grand Prix), the combination of a DSL connection and BitTorrent, and the financial ability to buy DVDs for series that are just too long for me to download, I'm surprised my list of titles to watch whenever I find the time isn't much longer than it currently is. Fortunately, the "priority" titles list isn't that long. I ought to be able to work through them in about...a month. Current titles that I simply have to watch when I gather the free time would be...Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai, Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion, and (Zoku) Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei. There's another list that consists of titles that I plan to watch when the fancy strikes me, which is not much longer than the priority list. This disturbs me a bit.
Of course, sad as this may be, they are not my only distractions, but they are the pertinent ones.
Pleasant though they may be, I can't help but wonder why I so willingly seek out distractions.
The Asylum Director
- VIIIofSwords
- "The only thing I was fit for was to be a writer, and this rested solely on my suspicion that I would never be fit for real work, and that writing didn't require any." - Russel Baker
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Friday, February 22, 2008
Observing The Human Pack Animal
Human pack behavior.
Such an interesting thing to observe. There's very little in the world that entertains my inner Social Darwinist and Nietzschean than watching human pack behavior in action. Provided I can safely stay on the sidelines and observe with as much objectivity and neutrality as possible. Thankfully, this little conflict hasn't drawn me in, nor has it managed to cause me to have a personal interest in it.
So I can safely sit back, and watch.
It also tickles my fancy a little that I may have a better view of what's going on than either side of this does. Sometimes, being the spectator is the only way you're ever going to understand how to win a game.
And now, to lighten the mood, an AMV of my current favorite song, "Stalker," by Goldfinger:
Saturday, February 16, 2008
In The Philippines, People Never Learn
Makati City is the Philippine equivalent of the US' New York City. Crowded, noisy, full of some very stupid people, and usually so full of people that sardines in a can look like they have more leg room than the average corporate drone in Makati does. Yet, starting from mid-afternoon to some time late at night that I am not sure of, it was, well...see pictures below.
Where are all the people? This is like walking into New York and seeing something right out of I Am Depressing. Oh, sorry. I mean I Am Legend.
Oh, there they are!
I forgot, there was a "political rally" going on. It was an attempt to gather popular support to overthrow the never-really-popular-in-the-first-place president, who's just this much shorter than your typical Tolkien hobbit child. Mind you, this has been done tons and tons of times before. They typically do this for some scandal or another, usually with no real results other than annoying the very people they're supposed to be trying to convince to join their side. Smart people, these activists. Me? I don't bother keeping up with the "scandal of the week" anymore. There's really no point to doing so, or the rallies. I'd hardly even consider the turnout from yesterday a rally. Looked more like a particularly dull street party, I'd reckon.
Want proof? Take a look.
It was even complete with music. The music wasn't very good, mind you. Just some local band that's hardly of any real importance or talent. A couple of half-decent, half-"worse crap than even Britney Spears now could pull out of her crack-smelling ass" songs, with campaign songs being thrown in every few songs. The non-campaign ones were, obviously, the only things that were really keeping people's attention. It certainly could not have been the speeches, which were of two variants. First were the ones that were dull, boring, and just full of the same pseudo-political, pseudo-intellectual, pseudo-sensible ranting that makes no sense when you really listen to it, but has just enough snarky commentary to make an odd listener or two laugh a bit. The other kind? Imagine it as being roughly ten times worse in construction, take out any semblance of intellect, and throw in a good dose of misguided "passion."
Some reports claim that a huge chunk of Makati came out to listen to all this. I beg to differ.
The MRT was still so full that people couldn't tell whether they were stepping on other people's feet, or their own, as you can see from these shots.
Still, there might have been some truth to those reports. As you can tell, there was just a tiny, tiny bit of...breathing room.
Philippine politics? Bah. More like Philippine comedy!
Delayed Edit: No, I was not there. I just had to pass through the sea of asinine humanity because they were blocking my way home.
Where are all the people? This is like walking into New York and seeing something right out of I Am Depressing. Oh, sorry. I mean I Am Legend.
Oh, there they are!
I forgot, there was a "political rally" going on. It was an attempt to gather popular support to overthrow the never-really-popular-in-the-first-place president, who's just this much shorter than your typical Tolkien hobbit child. Mind you, this has been done tons and tons of times before. They typically do this for some scandal or another, usually with no real results other than annoying the very people they're supposed to be trying to convince to join their side. Smart people, these activists. Me? I don't bother keeping up with the "scandal of the week" anymore. There's really no point to doing so, or the rallies. I'd hardly even consider the turnout from yesterday a rally. Looked more like a particularly dull street party, I'd reckon.
Want proof? Take a look.
It was even complete with music. The music wasn't very good, mind you. Just some local band that's hardly of any real importance or talent. A couple of half-decent, half-"worse crap than even Britney Spears now could pull out of her crack-smelling ass" songs, with campaign songs being thrown in every few songs. The non-campaign ones were, obviously, the only things that were really keeping people's attention. It certainly could not have been the speeches, which were of two variants. First were the ones that were dull, boring, and just full of the same pseudo-political, pseudo-intellectual, pseudo-sensible ranting that makes no sense when you really listen to it, but has just enough snarky commentary to make an odd listener or two laugh a bit. The other kind? Imagine it as being roughly ten times worse in construction, take out any semblance of intellect, and throw in a good dose of misguided "passion."
Some reports claim that a huge chunk of Makati came out to listen to all this. I beg to differ.
The MRT was still so full that people couldn't tell whether they were stepping on other people's feet, or their own, as you can see from these shots.
Still, there might have been some truth to those reports. As you can tell, there was just a tiny, tiny bit of...breathing room.
Philippine politics? Bah. More like Philippine comedy!
Delayed Edit: No, I was not there. I just had to pass through the sea of asinine humanity because they were blocking my way home.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
My Annual Expression Of Hatred For Valentine's Day
It's February 14 again. Regular readers (all two of you) will know what that means: time for my annual expression of hatred for all things related to Valentine's Day.
I have nothing but cold contempt for this ridiculous excuse for a holiday. The whole thing is little more than an excuse for people to give chocolate and flowers, or to spend a couple of hours in some nice motel. Valentine's Day doesn't even have the pseudo-religious foundations that Christmas has, which makes the 14th of February an even worse excuse for people to buy and give pointless little trinkets that will cease to have any real meaning by the day's end.
Let's not even begin to talk about the utter stupidity that drives some people to seek out a date for Valentine's. Like a date on Valentine's that was obtained in a last-minute rush is going to have any actual meaning or point, aside from being a date on the day itself. This is sort of like that thing some Americans have about kissing someone on the New Year. It doesn't really matter who you kiss, or why. It just matters that you're kissing someone. Same thing applies in this situation. It doesn't matter who you're going out with, or why, or how long you two have been on a "relationship." So long as you've got yourself a date on Valentine's Day, you're all set. Pardon me while I feel sick.
I despite this holiday to my very core, and I've gone out of my way to do as many things that are against the stereotypical "spirit" of Valentine's each year as possible. I don't go out, even with friends. During the times I had a girlfriend on Valentine's, I didn't act like there was anything up. As far as I was concerned, it was just another day. I make it a point to watch horror movies and anime, particularly the ones that have little to no "romance" element in it. On the off chance that I decide to play a game, I become extra sadistic and take my time tormenting anyone I play against. Slowly. I avoid all bright colors, usually preferring to get dressed in as much black and dark blue as possible.
I hope, one day, Anonymous declares war on Valentine's Day and makes it a target for Project Chanology.
Damn you, Valentine's Day. Damn you to Hell.
I have nothing but cold contempt for this ridiculous excuse for a holiday. The whole thing is little more than an excuse for people to give chocolate and flowers, or to spend a couple of hours in some nice motel. Valentine's Day doesn't even have the pseudo-religious foundations that Christmas has, which makes the 14th of February an even worse excuse for people to buy and give pointless little trinkets that will cease to have any real meaning by the day's end.
Let's not even begin to talk about the utter stupidity that drives some people to seek out a date for Valentine's. Like a date on Valentine's that was obtained in a last-minute rush is going to have any actual meaning or point, aside from being a date on the day itself. This is sort of like that thing some Americans have about kissing someone on the New Year. It doesn't really matter who you kiss, or why. It just matters that you're kissing someone. Same thing applies in this situation. It doesn't matter who you're going out with, or why, or how long you two have been on a "relationship." So long as you've got yourself a date on Valentine's Day, you're all set. Pardon me while I feel sick.
I despite this holiday to my very core, and I've gone out of my way to do as many things that are against the stereotypical "spirit" of Valentine's each year as possible. I don't go out, even with friends. During the times I had a girlfriend on Valentine's, I didn't act like there was anything up. As far as I was concerned, it was just another day. I make it a point to watch horror movies and anime, particularly the ones that have little to no "romance" element in it. On the off chance that I decide to play a game, I become extra sadistic and take my time tormenting anyone I play against. Slowly. I avoid all bright colors, usually preferring to get dressed in as much black and dark blue as possible.
I hope, one day, Anonymous declares war on Valentine's Day and makes it a target for Project Chanology.
Damn you, Valentine's Day. Damn you to Hell.
Monday, February 04, 2008
Things I've Learned Or Realized Fairly Recently
1. Microsoft Office 2007's visual interface is convoluted, confusing, and has a tendency to show you functions you don't want, but keep out of reach the functions that you do. The whole thing is like Anna Kournikova: looks pretty, but can't really do much aside from looking pretty.
2. The higher-ups at the place I work have a tendency to forget little details that can effectively ruin the whole deal when planning something out. A lot. For example, forgetting to make sure that the writers actually have word processing software on their remote server accounts.
3. It is a bad, bad, bad idea to watch Higurashi no Naku Koro ni alone, in a dark room, late at night. You won't find yourself scared out of your wits, but you will note that it isn't an easy task to fall asleep. I find this particularly true for Watanagashi-hen and Meakashi-hen, which are interlinked.
4. One of my kid brother's former teachers is someone I went to high school with.
5. A variety of highly unpleasant things that I'd rather not talk about here.
2. The higher-ups at the place I work have a tendency to forget little details that can effectively ruin the whole deal when planning something out. A lot. For example, forgetting to make sure that the writers actually have word processing software on their remote server accounts.
3. It is a bad, bad, bad idea to watch Higurashi no Naku Koro ni alone, in a dark room, late at night. You won't find yourself scared out of your wits, but you will note that it isn't an easy task to fall asleep. I find this particularly true for Watanagashi-hen and Meakashi-hen, which are interlinked.
4. One of my kid brother's former teachers is someone I went to high school with.
5. A variety of highly unpleasant things that I'd rather not talk about here.
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