Ramen Tip

For tastier, healthier ramen, boil the ramen in plain water, then DRAIN, then add hot water and the seasoning.  There is a lot of oil and starchiness that the noodles exude when you first boil them.  Switching out the water makes it taste better (to me), too.  It's just not as noodley.  

Kickin' Around

I've always wondered about something.

When I was a kid walking home from school bus, or generally walking from point A to B, I used to kick a rock along the way. I still do sometimes. Being public transportation guy these days, it happens kinda often. I was doing it the other day when I went to Home Depot. Whenever I do this, I often wonder if I have a specific intuition or if all people have it. Whenever I kick a rock it shoots ahead a ways and then comes to a rest. When it comes to a rest it's usually about 4 or so paces ahead of me. When it comes to a rest I can intuitively tell at that point if my steps are on pace to kick the rock again or if I need to do a stutter step to make it happen. The knowledge is instantaneous. Once I become aware of it I start thinking about it and I find it a little harder to just do.

I doubt that it's a rare ability. I know that I have a naturally athletic physicality. I'm not Michael Jordan, but I pick sports pretty quickly. So, I wonder if it has something to do with that or if it's just something that everyone can do.

Between the two blogs, we posted 44 times in the month of August. There were some lulls in there, but I think that that is a tremendous output for a fun hobby. I haven't gone through it all, but I'd guess that it's about 2/5 me and 3/5 Aak. I know I haven't been johnny on the blog lately, and I don't think he's posted in a couple of days. Was that just a weird month. I now go online rarely during the day.

Uncomfortably Numb

I just went to the dentist's. It turns out not flossing is really bad for you. I had to get scaling done with an ultrasonic scaler. A very weird sensation under the local anesthetic.

I haven't been numb from a dental appointment for... I can't remember if I've ever had local anesthetic. Must've happened in the fog of childhood.

It's been three hours now and I still don't have total control over my face. I keep twitching it around to feel the numbness's line of retreat.

In addition to the scaling, I had an antibiotic delivery to 11 sites in my mouth. This is for areas that the scaler could not reach. Deep in my gums this morning, bacteria was happily farming away at my body. Now, on the right side at least, the bacteria are being visited by a flood of death, awash in apocalyptic antibodies. Die, gum-dwelling scum!

My insurance did not cover this bacteria-culling plague. I'm paying for it. Apparently, the bacteria wasn't far enough along for my insurance company to worry about. I called them to make sure. They said they would wait until I lost structural integrity of these 11 teeth before they would cover treatment. Anyone at MetLife ever hear of preventative care, I ask into the receiver of my phone. Confused silence comes back.

So I'm paying for it. First, because it could spread if left untreated, and who's to say my next dental plan would cover it, either? And second, because the bacteria is transferrable to my "mate," as the dental assistant put it. As I'm about to enter the dating world, I don't want to be that guy who gave a girl gum disease. Gross.

This Must Be Pointed Out

I put google adsense on this blog when I started it. Their site-monitoring algorithms have scanned our subject matter and targeted the advertising to what interests us. Today I saw an ad for "Urine Odor Removal."

Also, I don't enjoy correcting people's grammar. Aak had the keyboard while I was verbally contributing to the blog. I was trying to think of something else and he typed that under my radar. I was aware of it but had already moved on to the next thought. Just had to point that out.

Gone in 600 Seconds

I need to blog quickly before Aak posts political crap, which he threatened. I'm heading out the door in a few minutes so this post will be a hasty one.

I have nothing to blog about, except the lack of interest in politics. I must say that I do get a feeling of awwwwww, daaaaaamn when I pick up the newsweek with a picture of Barack O'B and his new "attack dog" Joe Biden. I want to see some public fights between some good fighters. I remember the 2004 vice-pres debates between Dick Cheney and Jon Edwards. I remember being intimidated by Cheney while sitting in my living room. That man is mean. I remember him wiping the floor with dandy boy, even though he may have been lying the whole time. Very entertaining. I want to see Joe Biden rip out one of his hair plugs and throw them in someone's neck like the Joker with a feather pen in the 1989 Batman. That's how to get a man like me interested in politics. Bring back the days of physical challenges on the senate floor and senators packing heat. Let me see John Kerry's lanky ass punch across the aisle like Dhalsim.

Gotta go. Everyone be safe tonight.

Borg Lore

Some thoughts on rewatching the episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation where Lore takes over a bunch of individualized Borg, meanwhile corrupting Data with angry emotions and switching off his ethical program.  

(In other words, GEEK POST.)

The Borg have no individuality.  Many people believe that "borg" is not only short for "cy-borg" but also "bourgeoisie."  

When one of the Borg was found damaged and cut off from the Collective, he formed individual thoughts.  

These individual thoughts infected the rest of his bunch of Borg, leading to chaos.  (Moral at the end of this two-parter episode:  Maybe one day you'll learn to function as an individual AND as part of a group.)  

The chaos was quelled by Lore, who appeared in the nick of time as a strong leader for the new individuals.  They could not lead themselves, so they looked to Lore to show them the way.  

Lore is portrayed as a religious figure.  At one point, a character says "we viewed him as a Savior."  Lore is The Chosen One, another character says.  

Lore is, of course, evil and dangerous.  He starts performing experiments on his subjects.  He devalues all biological life.  He preaches destruction from a pulpit-like set.  He tells his congregation that there is strength in their purpose, but you mustn't question that purpose.  

Data's ethical program has to be inhibited, but then Lore falls back on the old "for the greater good" argument.  Picard asks that, if what you are doing now is wrong, how can it be for the greater good.  (A nice and convenient argument, given that it circumvents the ends/means point altogether.)  This was foreshadowed earlier in the episode, when Picard says about something else, "It might have been the moral thing to do, but was it the right thing to do?"

Therefore, when the bourgeoisie start to wake up from their commercialized-samenetude and try to be strong individuals, they often don't know how to strike out on their own.  Thus they turn to religious fundamentalism for the strength in the united message of the church (whatever church that might be).  It's just another form of not thinking for yourself, which is always bad.  Also, the ends never justifies the means.  

Life problems solved.  

Co-Blog: Moneymaking Pastimes?

Answers, anyone?

Seriously, though.  I (H&C) was riding the Metro today, and I had a revelationary thought (AAK:  what?  H&C: revolutionary.  AAK: Oh.  H&C:  Let it stand.)  What if I were to take a hobby that I enjoy and somehow make money off of it?   So, I started a list of all the stuff I enjoy doing.  

1. Games

2. Fighting

3. Outdoor activities (rock climbing, hiking, camping, starting fires, more)

4. Blogging (recent)

5. Vague idea: learning new things

6. Playing guitar

7. Small group socialization

8. Correcting grammar

9. Reading nonfiction

10. Math (am returning to school to firm up this idea)

11. Playing with animals

12. Playing sports

13. Eating

14. Finding a completely new hobby I never would have imagined

(to be continued)

The idea was to keep a running list privately.  I had no intention of blogging it but Aak pushed a little.  Really, we had a case of co-blog writer's block.  So, now I ask Aak to put up such a list.  Not necessarily for exploiting in the future but just making such a list:

1. Photography

2. Learning new languages

3. Being online (Blogging, interesting articles, social networking, etc...)

4. Being in bookstores 

5. Cooking relatively easy and unique meals

6. Playing with dogs 

7. Biking

8. Games

9. Learning new things

10. Finding good new music

(to be continued) 

I Never Knew Anything At All

If you are able, please check out the video that I posted on my Facebook account. It's an old friend of mine performing the virile half of "All the Wasted Time" from Parade. Funniest thing I have seen on the Internet since I don't know how long. I can't stop watching it.

Gosh I'd like to start acting again. Gosh, yes, I would. Gosh yes indeed. No time for it now, but gosh.

One thing that disappoints me about my previous acting gigs is a kind of strict author-interpretation I had about every play I was in. I wanted to play the part the way it was written, no more, no less. I look at my friend's performance in that video and I think, oh yeah, being an actor is also being creative.

I was never that creative with my roles. I read the lines in context, figured out how the author wanted the character to say them, and I'd say them that way. When I was traveling in the repertory theater group, I would watch two other interpretations of the same characters I was playing, and it kind of amazed me, the kind of "choices" they made and the way they inserted jokes into text that was dry. They would think, "Okay, what if when I'm saying this line I'm putting out a fire that my cigarette started on her purse, and she thinks I'm stealing from her, so it's funnier when I say the next line, 'I wasn't looking for anything!'"

That kind of grandstanding and "gagging" the play can be annoying, but sometimes it's so charming that you don't care. I'd never be a grandstander, but I would like to try to be more create with my next role, whatever and whenever it may be.

Renewed Enthusiasm and Non-Sequiturs

Between the two of us over two blogs, this is the 6th blog today and the 18th in four days. Maybe it's because the two of us are both at a crossroads and have a lot of nervous energy to get out. Maybe it's because Aak is a compulsive writer and when I have a lull he writes me e-mails saying "blog today." I know that my style is to obsess over something for periods and then wane. The waning part is something that I'm working on (but I like the obsessive part). So, this is my second spurt of blogging fun. The first was when Aak and I started.

I have found that blogging is simply fun. I didn't expect it to be this enjoyable. It's really a blast to bang these things out then go back an read them later. It really helps that it's not a solo project. I knew that a solo blog wouldn't have gone anywhere. I needed someone to react to; specifically someone who would get into it as intensely as Aak eventually would. Well, more like immediately.

I ran the Exorcist steps yesterday. I haven't done that sort of thing since college crew. It was hard and I couldn't help but take some rest between trips. There were 3 other people doing the same thing over the course of my 20 minutes or so there. Apparently it's an exercise mecca. Right next to the stairs there's a pipe that seems to be a popular pull-up bar because 2 of the guys were using it. Having run those steps, I would not be at all shocked if there's a news story of some sore-legged college kid stumbling on a down-trip while working out there. When you get tired it gets kinda scary. Today's workout will be some low-altitude pushups and situps.

I can't wait to read our reader's next food blog. She's making chili braised pork shoulder nachos for her bf. Mmmmmmm.

I have never been mugged. I've lived in cities all of my life, but it has never happened. I know that it's a very good possibility that it will happen sooner or later but it just doesn't seem a possibility to me. I imagine that that's the sort of thing that completely alters your view on things. I can't imagine how unsafe I'd feel all the time if I had an experience where someone pulled a gun or a knife on me. I feel pretty fortunate now that I think about it. When I was taking martial arts there was a guy with a bullet scar from a time when he was mugged and ran away. I don't remember the situation as I remember it, but he wasn't being an idiot in running. I've never had any sort of near death experience. As I wrote that sentence I had a sneaking suspicion that I blogged about that topic before at some point. I don't remember.

I saw a squirrel fall from a tree a couple months ago. I was walking to work in the morning and he just fell from a branch right in front of me. He probably fell about 20 ft or so. It was so funny and took me by such surprise. The funniest part was that he made a plopping sound when he hit the ground. In my memory he fluttered like a leaf then plopped. He was fine when he landed and scurried away.

Commiserating

Aak, you make me proud that I chose you as a co-blogger, despite recent irritations. Limbo, and difficulty to concentrate due to it, pretty much sum up the past few years of my life, and it's coming to a head these days with my decision to go back to school. It's been a very long time since I could just forget myself and just do something. Hobbies included. There's this lingering sense of "what the hell is going to happen to me?" all the time. It's there when I wake up and go to bed, chit chat with people in my every day life, block (blog mock - an aak original portmanteau) my friend, f%&&ing apply for jobs, etc...

I've heard people say that in order to stay motivated toward a goal over time you need a specific and clearly stated end in mind. It helps to write it down, give yourself a timeline and measurable steps and so forth. That's great and I agree, but the process of figuring out a valid end seems to be a learnable skill, not an innate one - at least not for me. How could you not know what you want? I have asked myself that question many times. Phrases like analysis paralysis and overwhelmed by choice come to mind.

I'm sure this confusion isn't rare. It's just extremely difficult to convey how profoundly difficult it is to just pick up and move forward from a prolonged stage like this. My fix at the moment is to dedicate huge chunks of time to getting what is objectively needed for someone in my situation: reasonably decent work & going back to school. Hours go by and sometimes tangible results come of it, sometimes not. But if I dedicate this time over and over again, while eliminating distraction, my brain gets used to the idea. It gives me something to expand upon.

When I started blogging I had no intention of making it personal. Sue me.

Too Much on My Mind

Far too much. I got up early to study Japanese, but completely failed. I have a tutoring session coming up in two days, but I have done so little homework it's almost not worth it.

I am finding it difficult to concentrate on anything. I think this is due to my lingering limbo status. I'm still not sure what the law firm's higher-ups are going to do with me once I begin school. I'm still not sure I want to stay on as a paralegal. I'm still not sure what else I can do. I'm still not sure I can pass my test in December. I'm still not sure what branch of Linguistics I want to go into. I'm still not sure about anything.

To study Japanese, you have to devote a solid chunk of each day to it. I'm finding that incredibly difficult to do, these days. I need some sort of finality in order to progress. Perhaps I should just quit. Perhaps I should. I wish I knew.

I Got Somethin' You Can Read Right Here

Cinnamon Apple Sauce:

Apple sauce - 1 bowl
Ground Cinnamon to taste

Stir together. Enjoy.

For the Reader

This one goes out to our reader, for consideration on her blog:

Mabo-Dofu Recipe

package of soft/firm tofu (soft is slightly better)
1/2 lb or less of ground pork/beef (a mixture of the two is ideal)
1-2 cloves of garlic
ginger (same approx. amount as garlic)
veggies*: green pepper, red pepper, yellow onion, corn, tomato
three green onions
5 spoonfuls of tobanjan**
ketchup and oyster sauce to taste

Mince up the garlic and the ginger and pan fry in a wok.

Stir-fry the pork or beef. At some point, add a couple of spoonfuls of tobanjan.

Add diced veggies. I like my tomatoes in big chunks but my peppers diced small.

Add some more tobanjan.

Add the diced tofu and turn down the heat to medium-low. Mix.

When you feel like it's almost done, add the chopped green onion.

Serve in a bowl with white rice on the side or overtop white rice.


*The veggies can be anything. It's not supposed to be a veggie-centric dish, though. The tofu and the meat and the sauce are supposed to be the main characters. Don't add too many veggies, just a pepper can be enough.

**Tobanjan is bean paste. The red color is because it's actually "ra-tobanjan," broad bean paste with chili, but just remember "tobanjan;" it's easier. A substitute is sriracha & ketchup, but there's no real substitute. Go to a Chinese grocery store for this item and look for this label:

Bike Musing #2

Hooray! Mr. Hatandcoat returns! Half of our readership is relieved!

And now I bring you Bike Musing #2.

I was biking on Georgia Avenue in Silver Spring, and I came up to the bridge. There's a dip in the road where it goes under the Metro/MARC tracks. The first time I went under that bridge, a bus nearly grated my face. Now I always take the sidewalk tunnel.

On either side of Georgia is a kind of tunnel that is really fun to bike through--when no pedestrians are in the way, of course. The walls are mosaicked and painted bright colors. The sidewalk is made of interlocking fat-S shapes. The atmosphere of the construction of these tunnels is completely different from the rest of Georgia, which is dominated by strip malls.

I almost think I'm taking a tunnel into Germany.

When I studied abroad in Bavaria, I rode a bike to the high school every school day. I fell many times; I was an uncoordinated child. But there was one section of the ride that I really liked. It was a bike tunnel, set apart by a wall from the road it ran alongside. At the time, I didn't realize what I was looking at. The roads had been constructed to accommodate a steady stream of bicycles. Wow. Think about that.

Here is a picture I took while riding my bike behind my exchange student. (No wonder I fell so much.) I am just emerging from the bike tunnel after her.

Urine Freeze Zen

I haven't read the recent blog posts, but aak tells me that they were all about urine until I blogged again. Here it is.

For the record, it seems that one bite of asparagus can completely alter the stench of my output. Coffee seems to as well.

I haven't blogged in a looooong time now because I've been job hunting kinda hard. Every time I sit at a computer I do not allow myself any play time. I was going to post a blog in response to aak's Crossroads one, but it got too personal and I freaked out a little bit and deleted it. Basically, I said that I am at an equally daunting intersection myself, but it's nothing new and been stretching far too long. I need to alter my habits, make a decision, pick something and go with it, get out there, etc... I have decided to return to school. I did college wrong the first time. I've been saying that for years now, and I'm now in the process of doing something about it.

Changing bad habits is extremely hard. That's all I'm going to say about the subject.

There's a guy sitting next to me in the library who is rapping to some music in a low voice with his headphones on. It's extremely irritating...in principle. There's no doubt that this guy is a massive douchebag who deserves his up-flipped hat brim to be ripped off and jammed in his eye. But I find the sound to be very relaxing. I always have found such things to be so. I remember in grade school when the kid behind me would be restless in his seat and kick mine, I wouldn't want him to stop. I once had an artist friend teach me to draw (failed effort), and the two of us quietly sitting in a room with pencils dragging across paper did it for me. My roommate freshman year in college used to hum under his breath every once in a while. All these things that are objectively annoying somehow bring an incredible calm over me and seem to relax all the muscles in my body. I don't know why.

Funny-Smelling

Not being an eater of asparagus, I can't confirm the claim that it makes your pee smell funny. But I do notice a difference when I eat certain kinds of cereal. Kashi's GoLean, for example. It comes out smelling the same way it came in.

Anything else? Please let us know.

Yellow

Until Mr. Hatandcoat brought it up, I had forgotten that some people consider frequent pee-ers to be more feminine. I never bore the brunt of that insult, but I recall that some did. Long ago, if I had had a middle-school gym teacher as a father, I imagine this scenario:

(Driving to another state to see a sports game as a "family outing")
Son: Dad, can we stop at the next rest stop?
Fictional Gym Teacher/Father: What, again? Aw, c'mon! Hold it like a man, son!
Son: I... can't.
Fictional Gym Teacher/Father: What's wrong with you, boy? You got your mother's bladder?
Fictional Beleaguered Mother: Now, Gary...
Fictional Gym Teacher/Father: Don't take his side, Bethann! You're the main reason I have to stop this car ten times an hour!
Son: I really gotta go...
Fictional Gym Teacher/Father: If you wet that seat back there you'll be back in JV as soon as you can say "urinal." Hold it! Ain't no boy of mine got a pansy bladder. Be a man! Men don't need to pee as much as you do. Man up, boy!
Son: (losing urgency) ...fine
(Car screeches to the side of the highway. Fictional Gym Teacher/Father gets out, comes around to the back door, opens it, shoves Son over and curses at the dark stain.)
Fictional Gym Teacher/Father: Godddammmitt, boy! No, don't sit over there! You sit in it and you think on what you've done! Grow a pair, you pansy!

I think I'll work this into a screenplay. The Fictional Gym Teacher/Father will turn out to be having an affair with the coach of the team they were going to see, and that's why he was so upset about being late. The Fictional Beleaguered Mother will then kidnap her son, but she will turn out to be a psycho who is bent on committing suicide with her son at the place where she was born. The cunning Son leads authorities to rescue him, however, by "marking" their trail all the way. The Fictional Gym Teacher/Father is reunited with his small-bladdered Son and begs forgiveness for shaming him about his peeing frequency.

I think I'll call it "Yellow."

Blogger Boggler

That's just hilarious. I was gchatting with aak when he wrote some sort of japanese word meaning "okay" or "I understand" or something like that, and I wrote that gibberish back. Maybe if I were to do that a lot longer I could randomly happen upon some random languages like the philosophical monkey that could conceivably type War & Peace.

I was going to blog about what confuses the hell about me about the urinal where I'm working, but aak sort of talked me down. Perhaps mercifully for our vast readership.

That conversation did lead us to wondering why having a small bladder is somehow a sign of lower masculinity. If you pee a lot then you have a woman's bladder supposedly. I drink a lot habitually and pee all the frickin' time, so I don't judge people on that basis. My theory about it is that if you pee a lot then you have a smaller bladder which is a biologically feminine thing, and thus you are feminine with feminine parts. Truly insulting individuals may go ahead and put the toilet seat down for you.

In an issue like this we can only have theories and never really get to the bottom of it. That really bugs the s$%* out of me. Aak says that you can observe it over time in yourself or other people around you and see where that attitude stems from in that subgroup. Perhaps over time it will be representative of general human attitudes. And who knows, years down the road someone can make a thorough study of the issue and make this post a point in a timeline toward figuring it out. Screw all that. My issue is so much more riveting because it could potentially be figured out. Not realistically because the steps to make it happen would just be weird, but it's doable.

Screw it. Here's the deal (warning, this may be kinda gross for some). Whenever I go to pee at that urinal the sensor for automatic flushing makes a noise about 3 seconds in acknowledging my presence and letting me know that it will flush when I'm done my business. It then waits patiently for completion before crashing down like Niagara Falls. I tested it by moving slightly to the side once to see if it would activate, and it did. But the flushing took so long that it outlasted my work. Really, really long. I was actually annoyed that it was s'darn wasteful of water. So, the thing that confuses me is that most of the time I approach the urinal it's dark yellow from the previous patron. That thing flushes for so long after it has clicked on that even if it starts flowing at the same time you do (which it shouldn't unless you move to the side), I can't imagine it not outlasting you. And I certanly can't imagine someone peeing for so long that it can't at least be somewhat diluted and not so dark. And I damn skippy can't fathom that this happens repeatedly. Wtf, mate?

There's space enough behind the urinal for me to park a lawn chair and watch what goes down over time. I envisioned a few moments of people zipping up, turning around, seeing me, and firing me. Or I could hunt down a very discreet camera to post there. That'd definitely go well. The thing is, though, that though this question cannot be answered because of social weirdness, it could be found out after a day or two of research. The above question that aak finds so much more interesting will never be definitively solved.

Did you mean: Wakdinvyv csbayfll a;owhfc KNICKNACK ?

Google, it's no secret that I love you. But sometimes you do things so endearing that I can't help but share.

Recently, Mr. Hatandcoat wrote to me in gibberish, but it could've been in Thai or something, or an obscure reference, what do I know?

He said, "oooyooo pikka pinda floo." So I Googled it. And Google gave me one of these:

Did you mean: oooooo pikka pinder floo

No results for either, unfortunately. Why'd you do that, Google? Why'd you offer me an equally-useless search phrase? Just to be cute? Aww, we already know you're the sweetest thing.

Do you have a translation for us, Mr. H&C? Or a blogpost, perhaps? I'll take either.

Too Many Exits, a Play by AAK

I am at a crossroads. Except it's not just a crossroads. It's a multi-highway interchange with 64 cloverleaf off-ramps and no signs. My only clear choices are to exit or not to exit.

This is about my job. I'm a paralegal, which sounds cool, like "paramedic," "paranormal" or "paratrooper." Unfortunately it doesn't train you how to be a supernatural, flying EMT but instead has something to do with lawyers.

Back to that maelstrom of highway concrete I now face: should I continue working at a job I have no reason to be at, or should I ______? Options include:

• go to school UBER-full-time, taking all the classes I can;
• work freelance as a pro-photographer;
• do editing work for a translation/publication company;
• become a wedding photog's assistant;
• return to Kaplan and teach;
• tutor ESL;
• find some bullshit job to do on campus

I guess the only reason to stay at my job would be "the economy," whatever that is. I just got promoted, and my job security increased tenfold. If I stayed a paralegal, even part-time, I'd be assured an income through the "recession" or whatever we're having.

I'm also afraid that any other option involves too much work for not enough payoff and might become a detriment to my studies.

I don't have an answer to this situation; just announcing the situation is enough for a blog, correct?

Disco Stu's Got a Blog For You

I wish I had better musical instincts, or a better ear, or whatever could fix the following. I was walking to the store today to buy ingredients for Lasagna. Along the way I had Staying Alive by the Beegees in my head. I was mentally playing the refrain: "stayin' aliiiiiiiiiiiiii-iiiiiiiiiiii-i-i-i-iiiiiiiiiiiiii-ive" and trying to figure out the penultimate note. I was about 80% sure that it was lower than the previous note, but had to keep repeating it to be sure. Some nagging part of my brain kept questioning whether or not the i-i-i part just ended up on the same note as before. The problem was that I had no way of knowing if I was right. I had no way of anchoring it to other notes in my head.

Ok, so it's "sequitur" and not "sequiter." I'm a pretty good speller, and a pretty good proofreader, but sometimes it just gets too tedious. The other day I fired off a cover letter that I later realized had a typo on it. Whoops.

Speaking of tedious, girlfriend is a scientist who fills pipettes and tubes and things. Today I helped her mix 12 samples then put them in containers, then mix them, then empty those containers carefully making sure that cells don't get stuck to the walls. Oh my GOD! Granted, when I do tedious things I obsess to a ridiculous extent which makes it like chinese water torture on my soul. And of course you develop skills to do such things more quickly over time. Maybe science simply attracts the meticulous type who notices things like spelling errors in blogs.

It's gonna be cool to see you without the facial fuzz again, aak. Well, to tell the truth I was indifferent to it. When I saw your moving friend's new beard I thought it looked cool because it gave him a strong chin (which he called the nicest thing I have ever said to him), but yours was just kind of a somehow unimportant facial feature. Come to think of it, it made your head look really huge. Like a tough boxer who could take a punch.

Tell me, was the Jason Bourne comment a reference to our last dueling blog?

I feel like your last blog had a rant about portmanteau words. This is apparently a thorn in the aak side. A Thaakside.

It does not follow

After months of indecision, I broke up with my girlfriend last night. And you know what? I had a sudden impulse to shave the beard I'd been growing since my bike accident in March. A few minutes ago, I shaved it all off. I feel refreshed. Is this why girls cut their hair at the end of a relationship?

One of my roommates got on Facebook for the first time yesterday. She saw me on there but didn't "friend" me because she thought it would be redundant, living together and all. I'm like, that's what Facebook is for! If you can't be Facebook-friends with your roommates, who can you be Facebook-friends with?

I watched Batman Begins again last night. I keep liking it better each time I watch it. But it'll never become a top-5 favorite. The original complaint I had of BB was that its pacing was off. Dialogue was packed in too tightly, and there was no time for anything to really sink in. This is the most significant difference between the direction of Batman Begins and of The Dark Knight. The Dark Knight was paced perfectly, I thought. Moody buildup, sexy explosions, and tense action scenes were great, and moreover, The Dark Knight allowed the characters to reveal themselves at their own pace. See for example the minor characters on the boats, or Heath Ledger. Christopher Nolan probably learned a lot just from working with Heath. Dammit, now I want to see Knight again.

I went food shopping yesterday but still have very little consumables. I bought stuff like rice and frozen gyoza. Man cannot live on gyoza alone. Don't get me wrong, though; I adore gyoza. This past fourth of July, I was over my friend's house and we watched the hot dog eating championship. Kobayashi was robbed, dog. But anyway, I found the contenders' stats very interesting. One of the people had won the year's mayonaise-eating contest by consuming X amount of mayonaise, etc. But the stat that sticks with me is the gyoza-eating champion: Joey Chestnut ate 212 gyoza in 10 minutes. I could totally do that. I would do it, just for the love of gyoza. Bring it on, Chestnut.

Dude, I wish I could fight like Jason Bourne.

I'm probably going to study abroad next year. That means I have to move YET AGAIN. I am already stressing out. Maybe I should buy a 20'-by-20' patch of land out in Virginia, assemble a small shed, and store all my crap in there until I get a real home. I am so sick of this shit. Plus I just found a place I really like. This sucks! On the other hand, if I go, I will get fluent in Japanese. No doubts about it. That's a pretty cool feeling. But moving! Moving blows. Everybody feels this way, except I don't think people normally feel this way a year in advance.

Keep on with the posture updates, Hatandcoat! We will keep tabs on it. Maybe you should set up a web graphic, like people use for their moods, so that we can have live updates about how straight your spine is. That's what this blog needs: live spinal updates.

It's Working!!!

As I write this my back is straight. Occasionally I'll be completely ignorant of my posture while sitting at my desk, then just notice that I'm sitting up straight. Awesome! I don't know if it's a mental thing (my subconscious is warming up to the idea) or if my lower back is becoming physically stronger. Well, both, obviously.

When walking down the street I also put my shoulders back and my head up consciously. By default I normally walk staring at the ground, noticing things on the grounds like patterns for my footsteps to follow. It doesn't have anything to do with timidity or shyness...or at least I don't think. But in recent weeks it's been a totally different experience to notice all the people that I walk by. It's a little unnerving. For a couple of days I was following a challenge that I read somewhere to make eye contact with people that I see and not break it until they either pass by or break it themselves. I was astounded by the amount that people avoid eye contact, but I was completely unnerved by those who didn't. There was some random guy on a bench who fully engaged me in a stare down and freaked me out a little bit. It takes a new type of attitude if you're going to pull such a thing off.

Well, now my back's a little slouched. What do you expect?

I've gotten a little feeback on my blogging. Apparently the non-sequiter thing does not go over well with the reader sometimes. I've been treating this blog as a stream of consciousness receptacle and enjoy the jumps while writing them. I have wondered how annoying they can get for anyone reading it, though (the feedback came from a direct question: "are the non-sequiters irritating?"). Due to my habit, any given topic that I'm writing about feels like it's getting stale after a paragraph or two. That's how I converse, that's how I write, and that's how I read. I plan to write single topic posts in the future.

My back's straight again. I have a rotation of body positions while sitting, and the ram-rod straight option has inserted itself into the mix. This means that I have established my good posture beachhead, and I will now fight my way in from the shore.