A Multitude of Gratitude

For these people who have stuck with me in all their pixellated glory...

NM. For sticking with me throughout the years, even after quite some time of losing contact, and picking up right where we left off effortlessly. And for those god ol' days when I could actually communicate with you in a non-pixellated way, BFF!

NC. For always being there when I need you, and being so much of a determined, passionate genius that you became an inspiration.

R. For your cuteness, R-rated language and angelic looks. And all those times you cheered me up, even if they were crude.

FO. For always trying to be there for me. And for that time I wailed to you on the phone. It must've been hard...

EJ. For still being there, even if your existence is hardly more than smoke these days. And those phone calls. I'm sure if I poked you right...

SB. For your creative artwork, your generous helpings of cheer and your constant concern. And of course, your loyalty.

Where's the Nearest Trattoria?

FETTUCINE!

So the past few days since I retrieved my most useful, multi-socketed-multi-plug extension cord from my other aunt's house saw me going through a lot of DORAMA. It's turned me back into the Nightstalker that I was. Not that waking up early is an option here, even when I decide to turn in early. It's like a curse; I don't feel comfortable venturing out of my room, especially to get food. Even though they don't really mind that I'm contributing a lot to minimize wastage of food on their behalf. Sadly, being naturally inclined to have a variety of food in vast quantities, I found their stocks too dismal for my liking, despite the awesome hospitality (and ACed room, a Godsend in this hot and sweaty climate).

But back to the dorama.

I started watching Kurosagi. Got distracted at second or third episode. Watched Bambino yesterday night and finished the whole series early today, the proceedings of which accounted for my bedtime of 6 00 in the morning. I then got up to fulfil my duties, went back to bed and was woken up by my Grandmother on the phone about fifteen minutes shy of ten o'clock. Apparently my adorable baby cousin needed some remedies from the village people to cure his 'ailment', and she was adamant that it was a total emergency and that she needed to return with him and Grandfather before noon to get him there in time.

Oh really? I never knew babies with fever and a sore throat required special healing practices at the countryside to cure them... What ever happened to good ol' 'Plenty of rest, liquids and take your medications precisely as indicated?'

I snored her away; unfortunately not before she got a few words in on that.

DOLCE!

An hour or so later I got a call from a good friend who was terribly helpful in getting all sorts of written documents for me from my *past* university. I woke up a bit more whilst talking to her. As soon as she hung up to return to her class, my consciousness evaded me and I sunk back into Dreamland.

The shrill ringtone on my primitive cell jolted me awake from fluffy candy clouds to a call from an aunt from Mom's side, and in our conversation concluded that I was saved from renewing my L license from scratch, at least for the next 3 months. But I have an exam next week, which means I can't go back in the near future to get this whole 'driving thing' over with as soon as I
would like it to be.

Ah, phooey.

PESCATORA!

I need to watch more dorama. With an exam coming up, possibly another driving exam following shortly afterwards and then the entry to a new episode of Uni life, right now all I can think about is escaping reality and enjoying other people's elaborate (acted) lives on screen.

What a masochist.

However, watching Bambino had its advantages. I picked up on a few more Japanese words and Italian ones. YUMMY Italian ones.

Ano...

Eto...

... Seen them anywhere?

They're Gonna Do It All!

Building a beach in their backyard...

Giving a monkey a shower...

They're typical, if not some of the more mundane activities that two overly-imaginative kids get up to during their summer holidays!

Young children in school must be the luckiest beings on earth. They have no responsibilities whatsoever aside from doing their homework and the occasional chores, have easy school work and loads of free time and, best of all, a 104-day summer break! Being kids, it must be sort of overbearing to come up with ideas to make each day worthwhile (THAT'S how lucky they are)...

Which is what Phineas and Ferb are all about!

To all the overly-imaginative kids outside the cartoon realm, Phineas and Ferb may be the creative outlet needed to display all the ingenious planning in their minds on some of the wackiest summer holiday activities anyone can ever come up with! Bringing never-before-seen plans to zest up any boring summer day, Phineas is the big thinker, with his stepbrother, Ferb, as the genius who realizes his plans. From building large ice-cream machines to monster trucks that could convert into the family car in an instant, Ferb is the quiet yet highly intelligent inventor who seems to dwell in the shadow of his creative, more outgoing stepbrother Phil, and yet does not appear to mind. They have a pet platypus, Perry, which ALSO happens to be a secret agent with an evil arch-nemesis, Doofenschmirtz (I think). Phineas and Ferb think Perry is a mere platypus who does nothing at all and disappears almost everytime they come up with an ingenious activity ("Hey... where's Perry?"); boy, they've never been more wrong. While their plans are being realized, Perry is undercover, on his way to foiling yet another of the evil (yet surprisingly moronic and funny) genius Doofenschmirtz's plans to... overtake the world, I'm guessing. Doofenschmirtz's ebuln3ss makes Mojo Jojo seem like a terrorizing big-headed monkey- Err wait a minute, that sounds just about right when it's not supposed to be...

Anyway, behind every successful genius plan is a Thwarter, as I'd like to call it- a person with much more conservative (and undeniably more logical) views and reasonings; at least one person who wouldn't be stoked to see the plan realized. In this particular case, the Thwarter is Candace, their older, teenage sister whose only (may I say overused and unimaginative) move everytime seeing her brothers come up with something is to call their Mom. Being inside the typical cartoony world, she NEVER succeeded in showing their mother the true works of genius Phineas and Ferb manage to scheme everytime! I'm guessing their father is a wee bit on the clueless side- an artist- who appears very docile and harmless. He was even involved in their monster truck plan to help Candace gain her confidence in parallel parking. Candace happens to have a huge crush on this guy I can't remember the name of- he seems to be about the only thing that could distract her off of trying to tell on her brothers.

Their mother, Mom (she has no specific name that I know of) seems like the type of mother who can't sit still at home during her children's (presence!) summer holidays. She's always off to cooking class, at home playing cards with other moms while her children are out, doing grocery shopping while her children are having fun in their colossal backyard beach... though she seems like a decent enough mother. She is so used to Candace calling her during her activities and interrupting them that she gets insanely worried when Candace does not interrupt her at all and says that everything is fine while she's away, leading her to cut her current activity short to check up on them! That was what made me sure that she's a normal, caring decent Mom, despite her frequent absences around her children throughout the show.

And of course, there's Isabella- a very cute girl scout who, in my opinion, fancies Phineas, and thus is always around to help him realize his plans with her girl scout skills and, when necessary, friends. She's always calling him up to ask him on his most recent activity with a casual "Whatcha doooing?" and of course, always gets to join in the fun! One of her most notable (if not plausible- but what cartoon show would hit it off with kids if it were plausible?) contributions to Phineas and Ferb's plans has got to be leading her other Girl Scouts members as their pit crew when both boys decided to join in a car racing competition (may I just add, the girls made a kick-ass pit crew!).

If it ain't apparent enough yet, I love this show. Phineas and Ferb, though portrayed as big thinkers and always doing stuff that are not advisable to kids their age (or even anyone without some uber architectural and engineering skills, for that matter), are actually very nice kids who never fail to be polite to their friends and family and always think of other people to include in their fun. They share their temporary inventions with other people, are never bitter on Candace for her usual 'Ooh, I'm telling Mooom!' and never refuse to help other people. 'Sides, their show is fun without the stupidity- like most of the stuff Cartoon Network had to offer. I thought Cow and Chicken and I M Weasel are the worst cartoon shows on earth for kids. Boring and sort of vulgar. Not to mention Sheep in the Big City, Mike, Lu and Ogg, Ed, Edd and Eddy and others of the like. About the only cartoons I liked from Cartoon Network are the classic ones like Tom and Jerry and Courage the Cowardly Dog.

Phineas and Ferb are on Disney Channel here and over in RT.
So that puts Fairly Odd Parents, of Nickelodeon, on the second spot of my favorite cartoons list!

And may I just note that anime *squeal!* is in NO WAY related to the genre of cartoons asides from the fact that they are both in 2D and for most of the time, highly colourful and non-realistic.

Motto!

As in, Japanese for 'more'.

My newest anime obsession, though it's almost 5 years old already:

GAKUEN ALICE!

It's about a special school/government research facility in Japan for special children/teenagers with special abilities, revolving around a 10 year old (I think) girl, Sakura Mikan, who is a bit on the airheaded side but determined and loyal nonetheless. It starts when her best friend, Imai Hotaru, a seemingly cold, money-centric yet unbelievably kind and thoughtful genius left their school in the village to pursue her studies in a special school in Tokyo. Unable to let her go, Mikan decides to look for Hotaru in the city, with the help of a postcard, on which the view outside Hotaru's window is depicted. When she reaches the school, she was obviously unable to enter- but an unexpected turn of events involving a strange, cat-masked boy with fire powers and an apparently 'perverted' male teacher abruptly allowed her to see Hotaru- by entering the school! Mikan has no idea how her world would change in a school that made the extraordinary seem ordinary...

As expected of me, I finished the whole anime series (26 episodes in total) in less than two days. Even though the story revolves around a child, I loved it regardless- probably because it resembles Harry Potter and X-Men with a light-hearted, anime spin. Trying to read the manga but, as usual, it is proving to be a pain in the butt- waiting for pages to load and not being able to turn the pages... Eurgh. I would feel better if I downloaded it; unfortunately I can't find the zip file anywhere.

And so, the holidays are flashing past me in a flurry of eating festivities and chaotic Midgie events. To my surprise (and dismay) I find it hard to stay up at night, the way I usually 'roll' during the past holidays- come 8 p.m my eyelids are already starting to lower their anchors, ready to dock on the Sea of Purple Pillows- thus limiting my gaming, online-chatting, anime-watching time. PRECIOUS time before the academic year kicks in again.

My body is taking revenge on the past sleepless nights!

WHYY???!

Oh well. Lol, it has to be a good sign, finally getting the right amount of sleep at the RIGHT TIME. The whole point of holidays!

My brother should be returning today; if he is, I will look forward to driving the golf cart around the compound, hopefully without any serious injuries, mechanical or otherwise! Nyahahaha!

Currently singing: Garden of Everything by Maaya Sakamoto feat. Steve Conte

THE CAKE IS A LIE !!1!1

Internet Memes

New term for the day! I would love to write more stuff about Maths, which is what I'm taking a break from now, but that isn't new, and kills the whole point of a break. So anyways, quoting Wikipedia (gotta love Wikipedia):

An Internet meme is simply the propagation of a digital file or hyperlink from one person to others using methods available through the Internet (for example, email, blogs, social networking sites, instant messaging, et cetera). The content often consists of a saying or joke, a rumor, an altered or original image, a complete website, a video clip or animation, or an offbeat news story, among many other possibilities. An Internet meme may stay the same or may evolve over time, by chance or through commentary, imitations, and parody versions, or even by collecting news accounts about itself. Internet memes have a tendency to evolve and spread extremely quickly, sometimes going in and out of popularity in a matter of days. They are spread organically, voluntarily, and peer to peer, rather than by compulsion, predetermined path, or completely automated means.

To put it simply, let's hand out some examples of famous memes you're bound to have come across sometime before. Some may be stills of a video, but they illustrate the... thing... that they're supposed to be.

Chris Crocker's 'Leave Britney Alone' video... Lol, I have yet to see the full thing.

The concept of getting RickRoll'd (I still don't get it!)

Lol-rus?

He's supposed to move, but I can't find a .gif of one

LEEEEEEROOOOOYYYY JENKINS! My personal fave ;)

The O RLY? Owl

Lolcatz, probably one of the most varied memes of all time- and the cutest!

So there you have it; a few examples of internet memes. I'm not sure if Philip DeFranco's an internet meme, but that would be so awesome. Even if he has a girlfriend already.

Oh and I'm now addicted to Shaycarl and his family! They're hilarious!

Basically, these, bar the screamers, are all that I do when I'm on one of my 'breaks'. I've become quite the YouTube addict, but only when it comes to viewing. For more reasons than necessary I do not 'YouTube' in the sense that I upload home-made vids or VLogs- I mean, why would I? Blogging can be quite a handful in itself. Either that or I now officially suck at typing my heart out.

More blogs with essence and meaning after February, I guess =)

Tattooes Gone Physical

Thank you Google Images~!

If I got some temporary tattooes like that with more functional Physics equations (a.k.a those that're sure to pop up in the exams this Monday), wouldn't that just be swell? Like, the promo for these temporary removable tattooes, depicting Physics and Mathematical (and possibly other subjects) formulae would be: Cheating Made Easy - Cheat Without Paper! Use Tattooes!

Then of course, they would gain notoriety in less than a fortnight, and responsible people would get a whiff of them, track them down, sue them and force them to close down.

Nothing worth it is ever easy ^^