Video Blog 2

Hoorah #2!

bjs

ps. if you scroll down to a youtube clip with ballet, you'll see what I danced my senior year at our recital. since bina asked. except of course it's not ME dancing in the clip. But i did basically the same dance. WOOT.

Transgenders, Robots, and Japanese Television

I don't watch much TV during the year, mostly because I don't have a TV in my room, but let's take this moment to explore a very different and interesting genre/realm of Japanese Television.

Today, I was introduced to two new TV shows.

One consisted of nothing but Transgender/Gay men, with one straight man and a couple of straight women. The other is a weekly drama about a girl who has fallen in love with a Robot, somewhat reminiscent of that Robin Williams movie whose name has escaped me.

Ones-man: The Japanese Obsession with Gay Men
Onesan is a Japanese word for 'sister.' It can also mean 'older woman.' This Transgender based TV show takes that word and changes the ending to match the English word 'man.' And thus the cleverly titled television show begins at 7 pm, a prime time for Japanese Television. Furthermore, the show exists on a network/channel that is free for anything who plugs in their TV. This means, unlike Queer As Folk or Queer Eye For the Straight Guy, which existed on cable channels only available to those who pay, the Japanese TV watching population has free, uncensored access to the life of the gay/transgender celebrity. Each section of the show is similar to Queer Eye in that the men have specific specialities that they feature on their television shows. But otherwise, from the 30 minutes that I watched today, it seems to be a lot of fake eyelashes, boas, and flamboyance. Again, only in Japan.

What Happens To Sex?: The Details That The Writers Missed
There's also TV show that features a young, handsome (by Japanese standards) Robot who effects the lives of all of those that he interacts with until finally a poor girl falls in love with him, even with the notion that he is a robot. As I watch the last episode, the poor Robot expresses his love for the girl, but ultimately leaves her as he realizes that his hard drive will crash in one day. One last day of bliss before we must all face the reality that technology breaks. That said, before the sad ending was foreshadowed, and it seemed like the two 'lovers' might actually might make it, I couldn't help but wonder 'If this works out, and this girl decides to spend her whole life with him... What happens to the basic human needs such as sex?' Call me dirty, but I'm sorry, that would suck. It's also a mystery to me as to why the writers decided to write such a show, and who in the world decided to produce it.

There are many more mysteries involved in Japanese TV, but I had a day of work of nothingness, and I'm tired, so maybe we can talk about this again later.

In the mean time: yay Kina and her weekly blogs!



One day, I shall go to her concert. As well as William Fitzsimmons. Sweet.

muito bjs

Working Wo(man)

I am tots tired (I don't know if Americans abbreviate 'totally' like that... I know us semi-Americans of the Japanese islands do)

But, I am (almost) officially a working gal (as soon as I finish all of my forms). Yay.

Looks like what I'll be doing is marketing. Yay.

That basically means that I'll be surfing other law office websites to figure out what website is cool and what isn't, and why ours is or isn't up to par yet. It's basically looking websites, interfaces, and all that good stuff that Cliff Nass talked about in the first two quarters of my sophomore life, which, sadly, makes me wish I had paid more attention to his classes last year. But not to worry, I will be Ok.

Japanese customs in the work place are so, I don't know. I guess I don't have much to compare it to. My first day started with an extensive (not really) orientation about forms, ID keys, Security cards, and the time card/punch thing (which I have successfully failed to use as I left the office today). I started with a 6'5" (I know because he told me) Wisconsonian (?) who happened to be a "sound guy" for theater prior to his Japanese studies and English teaching. It was an odd coincidence to be starting at a Law Firm that has absolutely no relation to theater whatsoever (besides maybe us two) with another fellow techie who knew the job of a stage manager. And then this young Japanese girl started giving us a tour of the building (of which 6 out of... 9? 10? floors are occupied by 'my' firm) and then dropped off the Wisconsonian (whose name is Matt) off at IT and then we proceeded to my cubicle thing... I share it with a very... odd... to say the least, lady who seems not to be too social. But I can't blame her. She has to sit in a cubicle for 8 hours translating documents from English to Japanese, and then Japanese to English. I'd be weird after a while too. What else... Yeah, that's about it. I guess work starts tomorrow!

And now... As a request from Ms. Pacheco:

The feature of the day today is a joke.

The World's Funniest Joke

Two hunters are out in the woods when one of them collapses. He doesn't seem to be breathing and his eyes are glazed. The other guy whips out his phone and calls the emergency services. He gasps, "My friend is dead! What can I do?". The operator says "Calm down. I can help. First, let's make sure he's dead." There is a silence, then a shot is heard. Back on the phone, the guy says "OK, now what?"

Okay, i don't know if that's even that funny, but apparently it is, according to wikipedia.

Sweet.

bjs
C:)

What's In a Blog?

If you can guess where that is from... or what that refers to, 100 points for you. 100 points of love!

I was asked for the purpose of this blog. And to be honest, I don't really know what the purpose is. I just need a constant in my life, and I think this may be one of them. It's a nice place to write things out. And because I know this is public, I'm forced to write them in a coherent, eloquent manner assuming that the other party (aka the reader) doesn't know what I'm talking about. It's a fun challenge, especially for someone like me who tends to be more eloquent on paper/computer screen, then in person. So the purpose of this blog is to write down whatever I feel like that is not too intimate that it needs to be put in a personal journal, and also have some sort of summer project/constant where I can 'share' things with people. That's legit, I think.

Also, here's something that I pooped out of my conscious today.

A random ramble: i believe that your soul keeps living after you die. now some would say that your soul is 'reborn' when a new being (i'm assuming human, well that's what we assume, but i don't see why we can't be reborn as a zebra or alpaca) is born on earth, basically you're moving from one body to another. some might call it reincarnation. but that's different from reincarnation... or is it? In reincarnation, you might feel that you are a reincarnation of someone, but there's no way of knowing. well some people claim that they do, but if you don't remember your past life, then how do you prove that the soul that is in the "reincarnated" you is the same one as the "past life" you. That's different from your soul moving from one body to another. Like ramtha, who embodied the lady as "ramtha" not, 'ramtha reincarnated into the lady and the lady feeling like she is a reincarnation of him" So then I was thinking, after you die, your soul leaves your body and wanders. But if it doesn't put itself back into another body (or you, in 'soul' form, decide not to) then where do you go? I personally wouldn't want to go to heaven or hell or its abstract equivalents... I think I would want to stay in the "real" world (or the world as we know it). but then maybe when we leave our physical body, we'll see the world differently. If after enlightenment (or awakening... i'm assuming those are two different things, i'll have to figure that one out) you see balls of energy/light. then after you leave your physical self, then perhaps you see/feel the world as balls of energy/light. but then that would mean that you become enlightened after you die. which i don't think everyone does... hm...

The response that came back with this was ginormous, and I need to read it again, but that was it.

Feature of the day:

I danced this way back when, when I was younger, skinnier, and crazier...



peace out, T-town.

Books For This Summer

If you're looking for my Video Blog - scroll down!

in the mean time...

I get to commute to work on a train for 30 min in the morning, and 30 minutes at night. That means at least 1 hour of reading time every day, guaranteed. YAY! I'm sure I could've done the same in school, but whatever...

Here's what's in my possession right now that I plan to read:
- One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
- Women Who Run With The Wolves by Clarisa Pinkola Estés, Ph.D
- "Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?" And Other Conversations About Race by Beverly Daniel Tatum, Ph.D
- The Path To Love by Deepak Chopra
- A New Earth: Awakening To Your Life's Purpose by Eckhart Tolle
- The Tipping Point: How LIttle Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell
- Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
- The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge by Carlos Castaneda

Yup, so those are at least the books that are in my possession right now and that I'm staring at. If I have time and energy, I"ll read the random Japanese books in my cousins' collections. And I've decided, that, when I'm done with each book, I'll write a little something-something about them either in this blog or elsewhere... It'll force me to reflect!

If you'd like, I'll let you know what book I'm reading, so we can talk about it together!... I'm reading the first one on the list right now. The list isn't a reflection of the order in which I'll be reading the books, they're just the list. I'm almost done with it though, so I'm thinking I'll move on to The Tipping Point. We'll see. It's either that, or Eckhart or Deepak.

Superficiality of following trends and diseases (er... i dunno if the latter is superficial per say...)? or awakening your consciousness via Chopra and Tolle? We'll see...

In the mean time, here's a random video that the very personalized and new YouTube featured on my home page today.



Yes, that's the feature of the day. Some guy named Natty. Commentators claim this song makes no sense. I don't think so... It's a... pre-sex/during-sex/post-sex song....... I think.

Anyways. I'm super jetlagged because I was supposed to sleep during the flight, but I got bumped up to Business class, so I felt that I should stay up and enjoy the business class-ness of the flight. So i was going to order wine and champagne, but i decided that that would completely and utterly defeat the purpose of trying to stay awake.. so alas, I sat up, watched 27 Dresses and part of that Kate Hudson Gold related movie (only a part of it, couldn't deal with it otherwise) and now I have a severe case of jetlag.

Blogging to occur again soon.

exes and hos...?

i mean: XOXO (x's and o's...)

Video Blog 1!

oi,

so... here's my first video blog! CLICK!



And like I promised, the link to atha's blog

and if that doesn't work : http://pongwithme.blogspot.com

so to recap.

I got the new OP System for FREE! Yay Apple store! and they fixed my speakers. DOUBLE YAY! and my case... TRIPLE YAY.

and now I'm off to Japan.

ciao kiddos.

bjs
C:)

Pimp My Blog

... or something...

So there's an opportunity that if I specify my blog to one thing... concentrate on one interesting thing to write about, I can get advertising on my blog, and thus get paid... that sounds super cool, but i don't know enough about one thing or another that I can't really think of one specific thing to write about.

wait, on a completely funny note...

so there's a commercial by itsyoursexlife.com... and you get this scrawny white kid talking about how sex is great and how cool it is, but that at the same time he's going to wait so that he doesn't need to get tested, or something. It's just weird cucz this kid is like "sex is SO COOL and it's crazy blah blha blah" and then he goes "BUT I don't need sex cuz I don't need to/want to get tested" and etc. It's just funny. I don't know. just as funny as Joseph's Engineer Picture. which i'll try to post if i can figure that out.

Anyways. So yes.. I need to pimp out my blog cuz it's kinda boring. Don't get me wrong, i love the green and kind of peaceful feel that it has, which makes sense, considering my blog's name... but i odn't know. i think i can work on it.

That said... Lemme work on that. And now Atha is my blog friend! yay!

Feature of this post:

Ms. Kina Grannis, yet again. Not her newest, but cute cute song. NOt hers, but w/e.



bjs

ps. I think I need to talk about the Tonys when I get my comp back. Which yeah, btw, I don't have my comp, it's in the shop. TUrns out I've been working for 2 years w/ my right speaker blown out. Booooo.

Home Reevaluated

Home alone... ? Nope, not at all. Just in bed, with my brother and the dog in the other room.

While it is nice to be "home," I miss my bed in Uj. Better yet, I miss all of the various beds and futons that I have slept on at Stanford this past year.

I feel that in my very last night at Stanford as a Sophomore, I was sleeping on an open thing of lip gloss with some house across the street (possibly Muwehkma, though Sigma Chi seems like a better guess) blasting music until about 3 am. Thank goodness someone heard my alarm, or else I would've never been woken up and I would've missed my Super Shuttle, which was 20 minutes late, by the way, 20 minutes that could have been spent more wisely in bed.

And now I'm home, not in my bed, but my mother's bed. I don't really have a bed. My only constant bed is whatever Stanford supplies for me over the school year. Otherwise, I sleep on various other beds for the rest of the duration of the year.

'Home' has become an interesting concept lately.

I think I'm going to go with the thought that home is wherever I feel comfortable. It's where I want to be, and where I like to transport myself when I can (also known as day dreaming to many). Right now, my homes are:
- Stanford
- Ashland, OR
- Rio De Janeiro, Brasil.

There's a good chance that Japan will be up there as well, but I won't know until I get there next week.

I have no photo or feature for today. I'm too tired.

I posted two last time so I think i'm okay.

C:)

AmaZed

and now that people have met, conversations can go smoother. TADA

anyways.

I'm done packing. Which is a good thing. Now I've got random knick knack things to get rid of.

Amazed
by MoZella

Your picture is on my wall
It helps me remember you
and I recall
how I'm amazed
I still love you the same
Yeah I'm amazed I still love you the same
I still remember
the shape of your hands
The times when you'd walk with me
and make me laugh
and I'm amazed
at how much we've changed
Yeah I'm amazed
I still love you the same
and each night I see you in my sleep
And I'll always dream that
you're here with me
and I'm amazed
I still love you the same
Yeah I'm amazed I still love you the same
Yeah I'm amazed I still love you the same

I had an AHA moment last night. except i can't remember what it was about... which defeats the purpose of writing it down here and such things. But I did have an aha moment...

*sigh*

what a year.

bjs
C:)

What I Learned This Year

Oh no, I'm addicted... again... to blogging.

Well, kind of.

I was supposed to write today's post after I was done with all my exams, but instead I decided I'll write now, and then I'll just write again later if I was ever so inclined.

I wonder what Stanford's policy is for professors that arrive to your exam 15 minutes late.

Also, apparently my blog is not google-able yet.

I really need to learn a new language. I just don't have time. I was sitting listening to two guys go at it in a south american language (that is not Spanish, you now have two choices, GUESS!) and I just felt like "damn, i need to learn another language" It'll also help me understand half of the songs in my playlist, no joke.

muito mais, muito mais... does that make sense!?

--------------

6 hours later...

I'm done, I'm done, I'm done...

I'm done with sophomore year.

It was.......

INTERESTING

I learned a lot about myself and about how I relate to people.
I learned about what excites me intellectually.
I learned that I have opinions about certain things but am not able to express them eloquently yet.
I learned that some people are important to me and some are not.
I learned that I really like Brasil.
I learned, in the world, there's so much more to learn.
I learned to differentiate between good and bad alcohol.
I learned my tolerance is very dependent on the situation, the company, and so forth.
I learned I have an incredible propensity to love.

I think so...
C:)

ps. damn, I always forget.

Random findings online today:

Dude, this portfolio is intense... Photo Portfolio

Photo of the day?


Here's another one

Studying for Finals

... is overrated.

Oh, I know. It's my own fault for not starting to study until 48 hours before, and now I'm semi-freaking out and semi-over it. It's not like I'm not studying. I'm just blogging.

And this blogging thing is very important, because I am tapping into my "communication" side of my life. I'm being an active member of the virtual world.

So Carrie (carry?) Heeter says in 1992, that our presence in the virtual world is our way of self-validating our own presence in the natural world. Mind you, he said this in 1992, before the Sims, Second Life, and all that scary WOW stuff was not a regular household word thrown around. But isn't it depressing? I mean think about it. People are online in virtual communities because it validates their existence in this world. Incredible.

I mean, it's not like I don't see where they're coming from. It's just a little disturbing.

Maybe it's disturbing because I can understand it. Maybe it's disturbing because I know that a part of me gets it.

In any case.

Finals. Let me sum up the content of my finals for you in a few sentences.

Newspapers and Broadcast TV are dying in its competition with the internet, unless they learn to integrate and share advertising, and to get profit out of their advertising.
The virtual world is a fast growing market that still needs a lot of studying and experimentation, but is also very theoretical and interesting.
I'm very sleepy.

I guess the last sentence was irrelevant.

Things to do this summer:
- Meditate.
- Read.
- Yoga.
- Finish Project 3.
- Finish my website.
- Take my Auntie out for a girl's night out.
- Go out to drink with my Uncle.
- Paint next to my Grandfather.
- Learn independence
- Get my ass whooped at one of the top 10 law firms in the US of A.
- Establish my ideas regarding the soul, soul mates, and spirituality. Or at least come close to establishing it.

That looks like a good list to start with.

Okay, I must now return to the futile activity that I call "studying for finals"

I don't think I want dinner today...

C:)

ps. oh, feature of the day, i almost forgot.

One day, I'm going to decorate my house with paintings by Matt Jones. love it.

Poems, Say What?

Friends, yes it has come to this. I've begun writing poems/songs again. Throwback! to the good old days of... middle school? I don't even know. But since no one reads this thing anyways, I think I'm going to post it.


Soon you will find her.
She will be sweet like your grandmother.
And be crazy like your baby girlfriend.
She will be powerful like your mother.

And when you kiss her
She will envelope you like the sunshine.
She will ground you like Mother Earth.
And move you like the Buddah

I can’t compete with that.
Baby, we’re living in inevitables.
It’s a web of promises
We both assume we’re going to keep.

Soon I will find him.
He will be sweet like my uncle
And be crazy like my brother.
He will be powerful like Apollo.

And when I kiss him.
He will envelope me like the blue sky.
He will root me like the great Evergreen.
And he will move me like this melody.

But for now your lips are mine.
My smell your cologne on my pillow
The pattern of your heartbeat is my lullaby.
And your warmth my memory.

The 101th page in my diary
I give to you, hands down
But you will not receive it as a gift
Nothing implying attachment.

I am not Pocahontas.
You are not Aladdin.
But I am as real as I can be.
I can give you nothing more.

Soon you will find her
That epitome of energy
And I will find him
The intelligence of my love.

But until that day comes
Let’s play pretend
That you are him and I am her
And we are.

----

The end. Why do I do this to myself? I don't know.

I need to finish my paper.

Photo of the day:


What a fucking ugly creature..

C:)