What are you SUPER saiyan?

Gohan and Goku may look relaxed here, but they are actually actively training for their next battle with the foe, Cell.


I'll never forget how much power I was drained of the first night I spoke in three languages.

It was back in June of last year and I had just moved to Japan. My Japanese was subpar at the time but one night I somehow found myself being invited to one of the local clubs by a group of Japanese girls. Once we arrived I met a variety of other people, including other foreigners. One of the groups I began a chat with didn't respond in either Japanese or English, but rather Spanish.

I hadn't spoken Spanish in months, maybe year, but there I was trying to communicate in my father tongue.


"¿De dónde eres? ¿Verdad? ¿Cuál parte? ¿Soy de Los Estados unidos pero vivo en Japón."

「何がおすすめですか。ジントニックか。好きな飲み物だよ！ちょっと待って、頼もうと思う。」

"Hey, where's the restroom?"

"¿Te gusta Japón?"

「写真を撮りましょう！」

"En el futuro quiero estudiar in España. Hay muchas fiestas en España. ¿Qué no?

「その彼女と喋りたいんですが、私の日本語はちょっと。何をするべき？」

"Is it OK to go out and come back in? I need to breath outside!"


And so the night continued to progress in this manner.

Now, let's return to the above related picture.

If you're not familiar with the Dragon Ball Z series here it is in a nutshell. It's a group of fighters who are always training and powering themselves up to try and beat their next foe, usually from another planet or galaxy. Two of the main characters, Goku and Gohan, can transform themselves into powerful angelic beings called Super Saiyans. When they first discover this ability they are new to it and have a hard time controlling and understanding it. For them to go in and out of Super Saiyan mode requires a large amount of energy.

In order to beat their next super opponent Goku and Gohan learn to maintain their energy levels while continuously being in the state of a Super Saiyan. They do this even while taking a nap in the grass. By carrying out their day like this they are able to maintain their strength levels so that they can be ready for battle at the drop of a hat. This is an ingenious strategy: one that I've tried to adopt for myself.

I used to babble on about how one day I was going to know five languages in the future. Truth be told I couldn't foresee it happening on my own. I imagined that one day I would just wake up and magically be able to spit out five national anthems in five different languages out of nowhere. Unfortunately though nothing that awe-inspiring could take place overnight. I've realized now that it's going to take a lot of work. And that work has already begun.

Everyday I read Spanish news on my computer, teach English at work, study Japanese throughout the day, and just recently I started to learn Chinese pronunciation. I'm doing these things daily so that I won't be drained in the future when I have to switch between speaking five [possibly more] languages that all have different pronunciation, grammar, sentence structure, intonation, formalities, and tenses.

~Anthans

Throwback Thursday: This must be the "Macaroni Poem"

Opportunities come our way in unexpected forms. For example, four years ago I came across a Kraft Macaroni & Cheese box with a contest for kids on the back. It was a contest to find "the cheesiest" kid in America and kids could enter by writing of a poem centered around this theme. "Hmm," I thought. "That sounds like something I can do." But then I read the age requirement and saw that I was too late to enter by about four years: the age limit was 15. But then I remembered that I had a younger sister who was 14 at the time. "Hot shit!" I exclaimed when I realized this fact. I was already into poetry myself at the time so I decided that it would be a splendid idea to write the poem myself and then enter the contest under my sister's name. Before telling her what I planned to do I sent out the poem without her consent anyway, just in case she rejected the idea. Fortunately she was OK with it, but even if she wasn't, there's nothing that would have stopped her from accepting the throne of "The Cheesiest Kid in America." The prize for winning the contest was a chance to have your face appear on Kraft Macaroni & Cheese boxes across the country, and about $5,000 in scholarship money. The scholarship money was the real prize to me.

So as I brewed the homemade cheese for my delicious macaroni noodles that day, my mind began to concoct a poem that could make everyone know that my sister was indeed, the cheesiest.

When Art met Kraft

(circa 2006)
By Melanie

When people ask me why I’m the cheesiest,

I simply respond “It’s not the easiest”

Because sure, there’s lots of Mac brands to buy.

But when it comes to Macaroni, Kraft is the one that I will stand by.

My Kraft Macaroni is the food that matters only,

to me when it comes to what’s for supper.

Better than the leftovers stored in last night’s Tupper…

where, I can still see sitting in the fridge.

I just want a meal that’s meant for kids!

Kids like me who value quality pasta,

and one that’s great but won’t necessarily cost ya’.

I think the theme of the poem was "arts & crafts." Even for me that took a minute to register. And I wrote the damn thing! They must have known someone of higher intelligence wrote a piece like this. It's probably why they didn't give us the scholarship money and why I never saw my sister's face on thousands of Kraft Macaroni & Cheese boxes.

~Anthans

Growth

I visited Fresh & Easy a few days ago to purchase some ingredients for a new dish I was making when suddenly I came across some fresh produce. This was produce that I had never seen before: they were plants! I thought to myself, "why are they selling plants here?" The plant pictured above is the one I saw. It was nicely planted in a small black plastic container and had plastic around it, similar to a bouquet of flowers. As I stood there looking at it I slowly began to envision it sitting on the window sill of my room. I thought to myself, "That plant would bring a nice biological vibe to my room". I immediately picked it up and took it home. The thing only cost 50 cents. What a bargain!

The only thing written on the item said, "Fresh herb." It reminded me of the kind of herb I would collect in a video game to heal myself. This, however, was not that kind of herb. When I came home I decided to finally smell it. To my surprise I discovered that it was a mint plant. You can never mistake the odor of mint because it's something you put in your mouth everyday.

The only recipe I'm familiar with that calls for mints is a mojito. It's hardly the time in my life to be making any of those right now. Given this, I have decided not to consume the mint plant. Starting tomorrow I'm going to put it in the ground so I can reconnect it with mother nature. It already had the chance to grow on me, now it can grow on the soil again.

~Anthans

Jhqnxztl

According to my friend, Joe, the title of this blog is how you spell the word "inconsistesizing." It's a word he made up when we were at a cool fountain in Vegas one day. It wasn't any ordinary fountain though: the water came from the ceiling. The ceiling was painted like a sky and the water that fell form above was supposed to simulate a storm indoors. On the ground level there was a pond filled with a few rocks and a wooden bridge to cross over. It was very Vegas. When the show began the rain drops started to fall. It was peculiar the way the rain drops fell though. All across the lake the rain drops kept dropping in the same spot. There must have been about 30 rain dispensers up above. I mentioned this to Joe and we both thought it was odd how rain drops could consistently hit the same spot in a pond, over and over again. It didn't look natural. However, as time progressed, the rain drops began to spread out. Joe said to me, "Hey look, the rain drops are inconsistesizing." I immediately knew what he meant. The rain drops were no longer consistently hitting the same spot. It was the perfect word to describe the situation.

~Anthans

Ambidexterity

Ambidexterity – it's just another one of the many goals I plan to conquer in life. Like most people, I'm a righty. However, a few years ago I was playing basketball and severely injured the base of my right thumb. It was swollen for months. This interfered with a variety of things, including using the mouse for my computer. At the time I decided it was a good idea to teach myself how to use the mouse with my left hand. It's one of the best things I've ever forced myself to do. After my right hand recovered I never went back to using my right hand for my mouse ever again (except when I use other people's computers). It's amusing watching someone try to adapt to a mouse that has the buttons switched. Nine times out of ten they will resort to using their right hand for a mouse with left-handed settings. It's incredible.

Since then I've developed a left handed preference for doing other things as well, including shooting a basketball, holding a drink, eating, and occasionally writing. My left-handed writing isn't nearly as good as my right hand still. But one day I think it would be pretty hip to be able to write two different thoughts on two different pieces of paper with two hands. Somehow I don't think our brains would allow that. But who knows, maybe I'll be the first to break that limitation.

Most people who are right handed tend to have stronger right limbs. In spite of this, after my basketball incident I feel that the power in my body has finally reached an equilibrium. I no longer have a weak side.

Sometimes bad things happen in life and it's up to us to make the most of them. This has been an example of one of those situations. And why the hell not? The biggest lesson I learned from this is that we all have two arms and two legs (most of us). We should use them!

~Anthans

Test Drive

Today I took a test drive at a Nissan dealership and received 5 free gold coins through a promotional offer. This is the conversation that took place afterwards between me, my Dad, and my sister, Mel.

Anthans: Oh hey Dad, I went to the Nissan dealership with that offer you showed me and took a test drive.
Dad: Did they give you the five golden dollar coins?
Anthans: Yeah, but I already spent four of them.
Mel: Typical.
Dad: What car did you drive?
Anthans: I drove an o'10 Altima. I figured it'd go well with my story.
Dad: What was your story?
Anthans: I said I was graduating soon from USC and that my parents were going to get me a car for graduation. I asked the salesman what he had under $30,000.
Dad: And they bought your story?
Anthans: Yeah, I think so. But now that I think about it, I think I should have driven something more stylish. Did you know that Nissan sells the Skyline in America now?
Dad: They do?
Mel: That sounds better than the Altima. Why didn't you drive that, stupid?
Anthans: Hey! Driving the Altima was still pretty cool. And it's still a big tease compared to what I currently drive.
Mel: I think any car is a big tease compared to what you drive right now.

~Anthans

Buzzer Blog

I'm 6' 5" but don't live up to the hype of my height. Kinesthetic intelligence was not integrated into my design and sports have never kept my interest for too long, or too high for that matter. I played varsity tennis in high school and have never risen to a higher level in any other sport, especially basketball. People usually approach and comment on my tall stature, and then immediately ask if I play any sports. After I tell them that I like tennis they always, always, always elude to me playing basketball. It's inescapable. They always ask. And I always reply, "Yes, I do play basketball." Shortly after I say, very softly, "but not very well."

When I step on the basketball court to play a game the opposite team always perceives me as a threat. There is no doubting this. They always talk amongst themselves or directly out loud about how everyone should watch out for me. After the game starts they commence their neighborhood court watch program and then abandon it as soon as they figure out that my tall stature was deceiving. The ball suddenly becomes stolen from me, my shots are blocked, rebounds are recovered by people who are shorter than me, and neither person on the opposite team or my own take me seriously. All the above was true until I really tried, which was just last week.

I currently play for a beginning intramural basketball team known as The Owls, and our record is 1-1. We lost our first game, 59-32 or something embarrassing like that. Not to make excuses but our team only consisted of five players, the entire game! That meant no subs and running the entire game on our own. It was a 40 minute brutal test of stamina, but somehow, we finished it.

Our next and most recent game brought us into a different scenario. The next team we were supposed to face off with was a no show. Fortunately this time however we had more than five players on our team. We decided instead to have our own 4 on 4 game and played a game until 13. That whole game I pumped out every maneuver and shot I could muster. It resulted in at least four or five points and plenty of rebounds and blocks. I was known as the LTMVP, the Losing Team's MVP. My team still lost, but nothing will summarize my actions better than the shot I took during the same time a buzzer was going off in the background. The same goes for this post. It's 11:59 PM and I'm making the buzzer shot for this daily blog to count.

~Anthans

Days of the Week

A conversation I had with my sister:

Anthans: Are you sure today is Wednesday?
Mel: Yes, stupid.
Anthans: I thought it was Throwback Thursday already.
Mel: Why do you keep calling it Throwback Thursday?
Anthans: Because that's what it is.
Mel: OK, well what do you call today?
Anthans: Whack-ass Wednesday?
Mel: Haha. How about Monday?
Anthans: Mundane Monday.
Mel: Well, what about Friday?
Anthans: Fucking Friday.
Mel: (childish laughter over profanity). And Saturday?
Anthans: I refer to it as Gladurday.
Mel: Oh yeah, cause you don't want to be sad.
Anthans: Mmm hmm.
Mel: Last one, what about Sunday?
Anthans: Sunday.
Mel: Yeah, what about Sunday?
Anthans: I just said, Sunday.
Mel: That's it?
Anthans: Yeah.

~Anthans

Post Script: She didn't ask me about Tuesday. I think we all know what Tuesday is: that's Taco Tuesday! Everyone knows that.

Tik Tok

I really like the song Tik Tok by Ke$ha, but that's not what today's post is about. 

Earon, one of the people I met recently through capturing videos for Music Choice, chose the song Tik Tok by Ke$ha as his favorite music video. He encouraged viewers at home to vote for it based on what the song meant to him:

"...because it always [sic] reminds me that time is always running out, and you should use time while it lasts."


Brilliantly put, Earon. 


We don't have a lot of time on this Earth, and neither do the bison, bald eagles, or gorillas that live in our backyards. Unfortunately, none of those animals are native to where I live. A cat named Casper is the animal that means the most to me and she lives with me, or rather, I live with her. Between her full 14 years of living at my house and my segmented 23 years of going here and there, I'd say she's the more permanent resident.


Her name is Casper, and although she's not a boy, somehow we made the mistake of thinking she was one when we first adopted her. The name Casper stuck, and many other derivative names like Caspy, Casperella, Kitty, and Misses Kitty followed shortly after. She looks nothing like her brother Ferris (deceased) and does not behave like the average lovable house cat. She's quite irritable and has been for a long time. Don't expect her to hump your leg. That's not really her thing. 


Recently though, within the last 3 years, she's become more crabby and detached than ever before. We found out 2 years ago that she has some condition with her thyroid: it's enlarged or has some hideous extra growth or something. Oops, sensitive subject Casper. Just trying to fit in a little tumor humor whenever I can.


She used to weigh 11 pounds and always attracted negative attention to herself for being fat, lazy, and evil. Over the past few years though she's dropped to the weight of 6 pounds and has adopted some form of cat bulimia, yaking up almost everything she eats. We've tried putting her on pills, letting her go out more to eat grass (to help her digestive system), and feeding her A LOT more. Nothing has worked. Doesn't she know that skinny with fur is SO OUT?


Two days ago she had an episode. Can you believe it? They finally launched her pilot: The Real House Cats of Pomona. And right after that she had a more serious episode where her tongue was hanging out for no reason, and she was crying like she was going to die. My mother and sister took her to the emergency room. 


Good thing she was covered by an HMO. This shouldn't surprise you. Imagine that, some animals have better health care than humans. Regrettably, my cat and I are in the same boat when it comes to health care: actually, we're not even covered for the boat. 


Now she needs to have radioactive surgery on her thyroid. Once the tumor is removed we can expect her to return to a normal weight again. 


When she came home from the hospital today she behaved in the most affectionate manner I've seen since she was a baby. My sister advised me to leave her alone while she readjusted herself to the house. She had been with strangers at the vet for more than a few hours today, which is 1000% more time than she's used to. When she came back, she was different. Maybe this time she knew how close her life was to the threshold of death. When I said hello to her, she responded with a genuine kindness. I picked her up and let her rest on my lap. Normally I would have to force her to stay. This time, however, she stayed on her own. No extra petting was needed. She was legitimately happy to see me, purring the entire 20 minutes she rested on me. Whenever she readjusted her chin on my knee or her paws on my legs I feared that her warmheartedness had faded and that she was preparing to leave. She didn't though. She just kept staying. Purring. Relaxing. 


We almost fell asleep together. What else could I have done? I couldn't abandon my post and get up. She may never be this adoring again. I took it all in and used my time wisely to appreciate my Casper.


~Anthans