So I get up a bit late today (which happens most every day). I race around in the usual fashion, choking down cawfee, trying to de-orcify as quickly as possible. I make it to work on time. Go me! I walk in.. the office is dark and something just doesn't seem right. My boss comes down and looks at me like I'm a space alien here to take over the universe. With that bewildered look she asks me, "WTF are you doing here so early?"

I look at the clock, it's only 8. My designated arrival time is 9'ish. I say, "um.. we changed the clocks this weekend! It's really 9!"

She replies, "THAT'S NEXT WEEKEND YOU MANIAC! BUAHAHAHAHAHA"

-_-;

It seems that the UK changed their clocks on Saturday night. Since snow changed his, I just assumed it was the right weekend here as well and changed mine. Well shit. I was wondering why the Pismo didn't change the time automatically. Double sheet. As a result, I have to work an hour longer today and I got an hour less sleep. That make naku mad.. NAKU SMASH!!! *SMASH, SMASH, SMASH, SMASH!!!!!*

If anyone knows why on earth the clocks would be changed on a different week, please enlighten me. I'll bet it was someone's idea of a practical joke to get people like yours truly. Well, I don't think it's very funny.

Oh well, guess that's one price to pay for having the stupid-orc-ocean in the way relationship.

Side note, I hope everyone had a lovely Easter! My mom lent me Angels and Demons ^_^ I can't wait to start it.. perhaps tonight!

Looks like a sneak excerpt from Anansi Boys by Neil G. was posted. ^_^; Looks neat.

After sending that link to snow, he told me a lovely story of "How Stories Came to Earth". He posted it here! Enjoy!

It's funny how a 1.5 hour work out, followed by a long bath surrounded by candles and Lateralus (Tool) can really put your life into perspective. This will be an odd rant, just to warn you now.

The gamers out there that possibly read this? Perhaps you can relate. I work all day, constant stress from orcs relentlessly wanting more and more than I can possibly achieve in a day. I come home... I log in to my game (FFXI) and I escape. I play until it is late and I know I need to sleep. Rinse, Repeat.

I can't do this anymore. I love games and value their worth probably more than anyone out there. They have served me well. The price I paid unfortunately is... I lost myself a little bit. I know a few of you read this... though not sure many of you actually know much about me. I was a trained fighter. I fought and lived my life for nothing else than to improve my strength and agility. It's very similar to the desire to skill up in the game mentioned above. Life living alone... my focus to be strong and forgive the adjective "badass" in real life... was replaced by being strong and superior in another fashion. In a game. And I forgot my true passion.

Recently, I have gone back to training as I did a year or so ago. I was a bit psycho in how I was pushing my body many moons ago. I was training an hour in the morning, 2 hours in the evening and eating like a new born bird. This time around since there is no competition and I have no foes to face every sunday afternoon... I'm sticking to a solid 1-1.5 hours per day to train my body and eating proper to coincide with the stress I'm putting on my body.

I have to say it feels good. It feels good to step away from the glowing screen that once brought me such comfort and kick serious ass. I will... it took one bath with my favorite album to see... things just are not right.

So... any of you out there that could read this... you only have one body in this life, don't waste it. My inspiration? Yes I would like to touch on that as well...

Any of you that have read anything I've had to say out there.. know I 'know' my music. I explore every genre, listen to it all with an extremely open mind. Hell, I watched that er... what's it called... *thinks* shit I had to google it :I well, I watched it last night. It was called "Nashville Star" on the usa network. I'm not a fan of country but I like to see talented people. They sang.. they were brilliant as far as that genre goes... and I thought, people out there must eat this stuff up like it's chocolate from chocolate world hehe.

My point is this: People find inspiration in all different places. I personally have chosen the album Lateralus by Tool. Those that have met me in real life (probably cuz I've picked their foreign asses up from the airport with the exception of snowchyld lol in which I have picked his HOT™ ass, and would any day from the airport.) know that the only promotional sticker I have on my car is Tool. Maybe I should clarify why.......?

I have listened to many albums...... more than the average person. I honestly consider myself a completely open person when it comes to music. And so I collect... collect and listen. HIp Hop, hardcore, metal, pop, dub, ska,, DJ shit....... I dig all the good stuff and appreciate it as art. Anyone that comes up to me and asks me what my favorite album is of all time.... I'd never hesitate. It is Tool - Lateralus..

Why? I'll say that only a very, very few people "get" that album. That album has been much needed bullets in an empty gun for me when my life has seemed lost.. I put it on.. lay on the floor and think. And I always come to a beautiful compromise with where my life is. I'm not saying this album is magic... I'm saying it is magic to me.. It is what I need when I feel lost. The art and production is perfect in my brain. Some may look at Dali work and think it's shit.. some look and think it explains everything. For that very reason I can't expect any of you to understand this album for me.

Lateralus... whether it be with headphones laying on the floor staring at the ceiling... or covered in bubbles, vegging in the bath after a work out..... this album has driven me. I think mostly because as an artist I am envious that "art" can inflict such emotion and pattern of thought.. It inspires me.. I want to create, I want to confuse, I want to hurt an old wound, I want to create. I want to create. I want to create. <-- the most powerful tool ever provided to the lost artist.

In closing... if you don't understand Tool (which I know so many don't yet) please listen to me..... I'll never pour my heart in a rant like this again.......

mission: Get a copy of Tool - Lateralus. (easy part duh slsk) then comes the hard part. Listen to the masterpiece in a particular fashion. I stress this so much so you see what I see :I

ok... breathe...... lay on the floor staring at the ceiling
listen to it..... from start to finish.... it is a complete work of art..... the art they produced was meant to be heard from start to finish... and it is astonishing
just listen

I am touched by few artists on a personal level... Ralph B., Tool,,Leo D.. Salv D. <-- People who "get it"

I hope some day you get it.......Please try.

So familiar and overwhelmingly warm
This one, this form I hold now.
Embracing you, this reality here,
This one, this form I hold now, so
Wide eyed and hopeful.
Wide eyed and hopefully wild.

We barely remember what came before this precious moment,
Choosing to be here right now. Hold on, stay inside...
This body holding me, reminding me that I am not alone in
This body makes me feel eternal. All this pain is an illusion.

~for drew, I love you

Today is Friday and that makes me want to run circles outside while singing. I decided to step out of the office today for a bit and get some sunshine. Ended up visiting a little Japanese grocery shop that I'd never been in. Along the one wall was gifts and figures and tons of assorted neat things.

Hidden on the crowded shelves were two 'lucky cats' that I happily picked up and declared MINE! I sort of collect them. I have a bobble head lucky cat in my car that jingles when I hit bumps too hard and protects me from impending car do0m. Also two others in my apartment. They're kind of hard to come by, unless ordering online but they are something I like to seek out in real life. Buying online takes the thrill out of the hunt sometimes. Anyway, for those of you who never heard the stories or just wondered why every chinese restaurant has a maneki neko on the counter... here ya go!

Maneki Neko -- The Legend
Japan, several legends which explain the origin of Maneki Neko have been handed down to the present day.

Legend of "Goutokuji" Temple
Maneki Neko in Goutokuji Temple At the beginning of Edo period (17th century), there was a rundown temple in Setagaya, western part of Tokyo. The priest of the temple kept a pet cat , named Tama, and he sometimes complained to Tama about his poor situation, "Tama, I'm keeping you in spite of my poverty. So couldn't you do something for this temple? "

One day, Naotaka Ii who was the lord of Hikone district (western part of Japan near Kyoto) was caught in a shower near the temple on his way home from hunting. While avoiding the rain under a big tree in front of the temple, Naotaka noticed that a cat was inviting him on the temple gate. And as soon as he left the tree tempted by the cat's gesture, the tree was struck by lighting. Naotaka's life was saved by the cat which was proved to be Tama.

By the incident, Naotaka became closer to the priest of the temple. The rundown temple was appointed to be the Ii's family temple, and changed it's name to Goutokuji. Goutokuji became prosperous backed up by the Ii clan after that. Tama saved Naotaka from lighting, and saved the temple from it's poverty at the same time.

After it's death, Tama was buried at Goutokuji's cat cemetery with all due respect, and Maneki Neko was invented admiring Tama.

Legend of Courtesan "Usugumo" in "Yhoshiwara" Usugumo and her cat
During Edo period there were some amusement towns for men called Yuukaku which consisted of many entertaining houses in Japanese style, and one of the most famous towns was Yosiwara in eastern part of Tokyo. Roughly speaking, there were two kinds of women worked there to companion guests, one was a hostess professionally trained in traditional music and dancing called Geisha, and the other was a prostitute called Yuujo. And the supreme hostess for the super rich classes especially trained in various arts was called by an honorific title of Tayuu.

In the mid-Edo period (18th century), there was Tayuu in Yosiwara who was called by the name of Usugumo. She was well known as a lover of cats, and kept her cat by her side all of the time.

One night, when she wanted to visit the toilet, her cat disturbed her pulling the hem of her skirt violently. Though she tired to chase it away, the cat did not stop the disturbance. Being terrified by its insistent action, Usugumo asked for help, and the owner of the house who rushed to her cut off the cats head by Japanese sword suspecting it was a goblin cat. Then the cat's head flew to the ceiling of the toilet, bit and killed the large snake which was aiming at Usugumo there. The cat sacrificed its life betting its life to save its master.

Usugumo mourned deeply over the mistake to kill her cat. To console her, one of her guests presented her the cats image in aromatic tree. The image of the loyal cat was the origin of Maneki Neko.

Legend of Old Woman in "Imado"
Maneki Neko of Imado-yaki In the last part of Edo period (19th century), there was a old woman who lived in Imado, eastern part of Tokyo. Though she had kept a pet cat, her extreme poverty did not allow her to keep it any more. So she told her cat, "I'm sorry I have to abandon you under this poor situation".

On that night, the cat appeared in her dream and told her, "Please make my image in clay. It will surely bring a good luck to you". When the old woman made the cat's image in clay following to her dream, guest visited her wishing to buy it. The more the old woman made the cat's images, the more guests visited her to buy them, and she could save money. The cat's image in clay which relieved her from poverty was the origin of Maneki Neko.

MEW to the RAWR! I'll try to get a pic of the new, cute ones I got today. I wish everyone a lovely weekend!

So here's a funny story. Over time things collect in my car. Usually an extra jacket, some CDs, google map print-outs (since we all know how good I am at finding places *cough*) and other assorted things. Today I decided to leave for a little while around lunch time to break up the day and free myself from oppression even if only for 45 minutes. The sun is shining, the sky is clear and blue, the G. Love would probably have sounded better had I not been singing along, but sometimes you just have to.

I make a stop at the store for some more Diet Coke with Lime™ that I'm apparently addicted to now. When I get back in I notice the extra coat. I decide to move it up in the front seat so I remember to take it inside when I get home. Hidden cleverly under the jacket was 5 DVDs rented from Blockbuster oh about three weeks ago. Umm. Keeping movies that long is punishable by death isn't it? -_-; I'm do0med for sure. I'll have to get false identification and wear a tricky disguise if I ever want to rent another movie. See, this is why people like me should pir9 movies instead of trying to pay to see them.

So in light of the discover I made today (and the yelling at I'm going to get from snow who was here when they were rented) I figure I'll review one of them.

Resident Evil 2:
I can't lie and say I liked the first Resident Evil movie. I actually disliked it kind of a lot, so I did a serious eye-roll when it was time to watch it. I figured I'd give it the benefit of the doubt and see what horrors they could present, meaning the terrible movie-making, not the zombies. Movie starts, snow is all smiles and sparkle eyes since it's Milla and well, that's understandable. She's a lovely woman. Few minutes in and I found myself not hating life or wishing I were staring at a crack in the wall instead. Now granted, I'm certain they choose actors that suck so that Milla's acting actually seems notable. Nonetheless, good action, nice fighting sequences and the zombies didn't look like absolute crap. With the exception of the big, giant scary Nemesis project dude who scared me and gave me nightmares in the game when he came busting through a wall at me. I actually never made it through that gave because of that. My heart simply could not take it. In the movie he looked a bit silly. I was secretly thankful though since he really made me jump and scream in the game. Anyway, I'd say see it. Especially if you were a fan of the first one or Milla. She kicks some serious ass and think even took a name or two. ^_^

On the rawr meter it gets about 3.5 out of 5.

Now I go home!

All of the girls out with their hips asway
And I'm the loneliest man
They're selling incense and sunglasses on Orchard Street
Boatloads of bootleg Sean John

And I'll dream you up in this vast, dark bed
Believe I loved you for each hair upon the back of your neck, and I
Want to kiss you but I can't
Down on the river by the sugar plant

Earrings
Weighing down the lobe and
Nose a lovely slope and the mouth turned down
Shoulders
Pale and beautiful and
Angle of the throat and
Your sweet sad stare

All of the waves that crash upon the shore
Fruitlessly shushing the world
I pledge allegiance to my displacement
My flag of doubt is unfurled

And I'll dream you up on a vast, dark coast
Believe I see you walking toward me, arms outstretched like a Ghost, and I
Want to kiss you but I can't
Down on the river by the sugar plant

~Mike Doughty

Well, the week of do0m is finally almost over! It's been pretty hectic 'round these parts! All sorts of drama with the LG linkshell.. that I think is pretty much resolved now. The solution is pretty much to build up kweh and maybe even invite some special, nice people into Tehwingkong (my LS). I find it really kind of funny how politics find their way into something like FFXI. Corrupt and selfish hehe. *shrugs* What can you do? It's the natural instinct of man I suppose.

Other news, I finally got new glasses after having lost my old ones while fighting nazis in the jungle on a treasure hunt a few months back. That's the only place I can think of I could have lost them because I searched all of Pennsylvania for them and turned out empty handed. I can't really read with out them because I get terrible headaches and eventually feel like I will throw up all over the book I'm looking at. So, I bit my lip and went for new ones. Several hundred dollars later I can see again! That night I started to read The Da Vinci Code and let me tell you.. it's a really shockingly good treat! Snow has been poking me since November to read it and finally..... I am!! Already half way through and have to stop myself from reading strait through till the sun comes up and I am a zombienaku™ for work. So, if you haven't read it.. even if you're a gamer that forgot about the paper thingies, please read this. It goes super fast and a really wonderful/smart read!

Another funny tidbit. I was talking to my Dad the other day on the phone. He told me that their area was hit by a brown out, which I believe is when the voltage supplied to the system falls below the specified operating range, but above 0V. At least that's what google told me and I usually listen to the master. Anyway, he told me that several electronic thingies in his house got fried and are dead. Including his PS2. So, he went out and got the sexy little wee PS2 like snow has. *jealous... oh so jealous* He then tells me he bought Devil May Cry 3. Hahaha which is supposed to be extremely difficult. I asked him.. "Is it tough?? I heard it was really hard" and he proceeds to completely geek out and say something like "OK, you know like the first level is pretty easy till you get to a boss fight right? Right, well this game is like as hard as the boss fight from the first second you start playing. I had it on regular mode and was like screw this and put it on easy and I still am having trouble. I don't want to have to get cheats but I dunno if I can play with out them" Yeah, Dad's pretty cool hahaha!

I don't know about all of you, but I'm ready for the weekend. /sigh. Only 6'ish hours away! So, let's all listen to some Ian Brown and pop-candy out and have a good Friday!
One love!

This has been an incredibly busy week. For some stupid reason I've actually had to do actual, real work.. like pretty much all day long. This insanity must stop! *pounds desk* Anyway, stealing an orc free moment to catch up on zee blog o' do0m.

The 1337 pirate snowman melted a bit but his spirit is strong and I believe he will make it through the week. I wish I had a gigantic freezer to cryogenically preserve our masterpiece. It would be pretty funny to see a snowman in the summertime. ^_^ I'm currently conducting scientific experiments in my kitchen to successfully preserve snowballs. The purpose: so I can throw one at snow if he comes for Otakon. At least I can surprise the swedes with an iceball to the head when they visit. *adjusts lab coat and goggles*

I still want to properly review all the great films I saw recently. However, the orcs prevent me from taking too much 'fun writing time' so I'll save those for later. I hope everyone is having a pleasant Thursday and you don't have to work as much as I do.
rawr,
~N

Thanks Vlad!

rawr!
^_^