Pocky Central

When I was in high school, I had a keen interest in both the choir and the musical theater. I eventually joined both, though at admittedly different times. (Choir was freshman and sophomore years, musical theater was senior) While I love to sing, I don’t fool myself into thinking I’ve got any kind of talent for it. The same goes for acting.

So it was to my great surprise that I was given a bit role in our school’s production of Fiddler on the Roof, kind of at the last minute. I was originally part of the chorus, i.e. the people who sing backup and such to the primary characters. It was still kind of interesting that I was an Asian Russian Jew. (thinking about it makes my chin itch, the ‘beard’ I wore was really ragged)

I ended up being Yussel the hatmaker, who ends up making a hat for Motel, the tailor. I had a bit line in that, and I also ended up being half of the ‘it was a horse/it was a mule’ argument in the opening act. It was quite exciting, and a lot of fun. (One of my best friends, J1, still brings it up from time to time to our mutual amusement)

Since then, I’ve always had an interest in musical theater. I don’t know if I’d want to be on stage again, but I definitely want to see more shows. On my list, right now are Avenue Q, Spamalot, The Producers, Rent, and many others. The problem being that I don’t live in New York, and I don’t have many friends who want to go with. (or so it seems)

But sometimes I wonder what would happen if the part of Mr. Bloom (of the Producers) was played by a Korean.

Computers. Nearly everyone I know uses them in one way or another. I for one can’t imagine my life without at least one. (I own four right now, long story)

I got into computers when I was very young, thanks to the influence of one of my earliest friends, D, and his father, who worked for a local computer company at the time. Thanks to them, I got my first exposure to a computer - an Apple ][ to be precise.

Soon after, my family bought me a Commodore Vic 20, which I happily messed around with. I played a game or two, but I mainly tried to figure out Basic. In the end, I discovered that programming was fun, but tough. This led to me becoming even more interested in computers, and eventually getting an Apple ][ C, which only fairly recently left my home. (My uncle, who works with computers as well, took it to his place)

Fast forward to high school, where I’m fairly computer savvy and a fully-fledged computer geek. (Not a nerd - I couldn’t tell you how the chips worked or anything, but I could fix an error you had, and I was pretty good at games) Sometime in my senior year (Grade 12 for you folks up in lovely Canada), I decided that I loved computers enough to make them a major part of my life.

Even though I’m not an I.T. professional (I kind of missing saying ‘I’m a computer tech’) anymore, I do try to keep up with the latest news and information on them. Which means I’m scanning around for stuff on XP, Vista, going from XP to Vista, and the problems thereof. I also look at Mac news, just so I know what’s going on in general.

I don’t have a Mac because they’re too expensive for what you’re getting, in my opinion. But they’re very pretty.

I’ve even tinkered with the idea of getting my A Plus certification, just because.

Yes, I’m strange.

Many people have asked me why my nickname is “Pocky”. It’s a semi-long story, which I’ll go into here.

When I was a kid, my mother went shopping at the local (well, as local as it could be at the time, it was a forty minute drive from what I remember) Korean grocery store. I think that I had asked her for some cookies or something, and when she came back, she gave me a box of this stuff called “Pocky”.

Being a kid, I gleefully devoured the mostly sweet contents. (The chocolate is Japanese chocolate, which is generally not as sweet as American chocolate) I loved it, and asked my mom to buy more next time.

Fast forward to 1995.

I was going to my first anime convention, Katsucon. I had been to sci-fi and gaming cons previous to this, but this was the first time I’d be meeting people who liked anime, and the first time in a while that I wasn’t staffing a convention.

I figured that since I would probably be socializing for the most part, I wouldn’t have much time to eat. So I decided to bring snacks with me that were portable, a good burst of energy, and Japanese. So I brought a ton (20 boxes, I think?) with me.

By Friday evening, I hadn’t touched a box.

So I decided to give it out to my friends, who ranged from curious (oh, neat!) to frightened (what the heck is Pocky?). Eventually I had hit all of my friends, and still had a ton left. So I started to give it out to random strangers.

Pocky turned out to be a hit, and by Saturday afternoon, people who remembered me from the night before were asking for more.

It went:

“Hey, you, with the Pocky!”

to

“Hey, you! Pocky!”

to

“Hey, Pocky!”

By Sunday, the name had stuck. At the Closing Ceremonies, they had a raffle. I ended up with a winning ticket, and when I stood up, the crowd started to chant, “Seig Pocky! Seig Pocky!” (in reference to Gundam, not Nazi Germany, mind)

After that, I decided to maintain the tradition by buying Pocky and giving it away at the cons I attended/staffed. Before it became widely available from online stores and dealers, I was (apparently) the only source for it on the east coast.

I haven’t given any away in years - there’s no need anymore. But the nickname has stuck.

My birthday is on January 29. I had to think about that for a second. I’ll explain why in a bit.

First, thanks to everyone who wished me a happy birthday. I really appreciate it.

Second, my birthday is one of the days of the year that I tend to forget. If I didn’t have three (yes, three) reminders on my phone to tell me it was coming up, I wouldn’t remember, most likely.

One of the reasons I do this, beyond wanting to remember the day I was born, is so that I can set up a get-together for my friends and myself.

“Why don’t you let your friends throw you a surprise party?” you may ask.

“Because I’m not so fond of them, and they have almost always gone badly.”

It isn’t that I don’t trust my friends, because I do. It’s because I have a very inquisitive mind, and if even the most subtle hint is dropped, I try to investigate it to the fullest.

Another problem is scheduling - if I have a weekend free, I will often times call people up and ask if they want to hang out. (A long running joke is that if you want to see me, make a ‘reservation’ a few weeks in advance)

As for the parties going badly, I’d rather not saying on a public forum. Needless to say, being led into a dark room in a place I’ve never been before, and then approaching me before the lights are on is probably a bad idea.

Throughout my life, I’ve been dealt a variety of injuries. These have ranged from ‘ow’ to ‘how the heck did that not break my arm?’ level injuries.

I feel that I’ve been very lucky, thus far, that I’ve not actually had any lasting injuries. The strange thing is that a lot of the time, I don’t realize I’ve been injured.

For example, when I used to put together plastic models, I would use an X-Acto knife to cut the pieces off of the sprues (the large sheets of parts). I was usually careful when I used the knife, but once in a while, I would get distracted, and end up with a minor cut or two.

One time, however, I was really careless and ended up impaling my left pointer finger with the knife. I looked at my right hand, wondering where the knife had gone. I looked down at my left hand, and saw the handle of the knife sticking out of my finger. It didn’t start hurting until I pulled it out. It has left a definite scar, as do most of my self-inflicted (all accidentally, mind) injuries.

Next time you see me, ask about them. They’re mostly on my hands and my arms, and many of them just appeared. I have no idea how they came about.

Heya, folks.

I will be on a longish business trip from 1/29 to 2/2, so updates will be sporatic at best. I will have net access, but I’m not sure how exhausted I will be when I get back to my hotel room.

Take care, all.

One of my hobbies is cooking. I’m not very good at it, though I do hope to get better at it.

I’m very fond of cooking for several reasons. The biggest reason is that I like to feed my friends. I enjoy hearing them dig into a dish that I’ve worked on. I like knowing that I’ve created something that brings a bit of joy to the people I care about. And with luck, it actually tastes good.

Another reason that I like cooking is that I like working with my hands. Normally I dislike my hands and my work area being messy, but with food I don’t mind it at all (with the possible exception of some types of offal). But it feels good knowing that the various bowls and plates of raw ingredients that are sitting on my kitchen counter are going to end up as a finished dish.

The final reason is possibly the most obvious - I like to eat. So I tend to create dishes that I would want to eat myself. This leads me to make a lot of pasta sauces, stews, and meat dishes. (Sorry, vegetarians) So far, I’ve yet to get any complaints, although that may be because my friends are too kind to tell me that my cooking is bad.

I’m willing to try just about any recipe, though I’ve had bad luck when it comes to baked goods and desserts. That hasn’t really stopped me from trying to make them, but the results are often thrown away before anyone else can sample how bad they’ve come out.

I have lived in Japan twice in my life (the first time for a year, and the second time for two), and both times I spent most of the time mainly in the area I was living (Chiba and Yokohama) and in Tokyo.

I did do a little sightseeing, but for the most part, I didn’t travel much. I actually am not big into sightseeing and such. There are a few reasons for this.

One is that I live in Maryland, just a short distance from Washington, D.C. So when most people visit me from out of town, they’ve wanted to (understandably) spend time there. Thus, I’ve seen the Smithsonian and most of the local monuments more times than I can remember. I don’t dislike them, but I don’t go out of my way to see sights of any kind because of it.

This applies to Japan, too. I’ve seen a lot of temples and shrines. A lot. Especially Senoji Temple in Asakusa. (Which is kind of tourist trap-y, but still cool) I do think that temples and shrines are impressive places to visit, but I’ve had my fill of them for now.
There ARE some places left that I’d like to do some sightseeing in - London, for example. But for the most part, I generally travel to see my friends. I am perfectly content to spend time at my friends’ local haunts, talking and enjoying their company.

I went to watch my friend Jimmy perform tonight at a semi-local comedy club, and had a blast.

Whenever I’m asked what my favorite genre of movie/tv show/etc. is, I always respond with ‘comedy’.

I love to laugh, despite it sometimes being painful (I have been known to laugh so long and loud that I’ve nearly suffocated to death) to me. I love hearing jokes and funny stories. Most of the time, for background noise, I’ll have a comedy show or movie of some sort on. (Recently it’s been An Evening With Kevin Smith 2)

I personally don’t think I’m a funny person, yet people often laugh at the things that I say. I hope that they’re laughing with me, and not at me, but I have the feeling it’s more the former than the latter.

Sometimes people tell me I should give stand-up comedy a go, and I’ve toyed with the idea. But I don’t think that I have the right timing for it. Maybe some day I’ll try an amateur night or something, but for now, I’ll leave the comedy to the pros.

If there is one thing I can say about myself, in regards to clothing, is that I’ve got very little fashion sense.

I know that I look better in dark clothes (thanks to a friend). I know that I look better in loose clothes (thanks to my being overweight). I know that I look good in a suit. Thankfully.

But in general, my clothing options, these days run as follows:

Work - dress shirt, Dockers pants, dress shoes, necktie

Home - same pants, but now with a Polo t-shirt (with the essential front pocket)

As you can see, it’s pretty bland. I’ve toyed with the idea of buying new clothes and such, but as of right now, I’ve not the time, really.

But I do think that I can be ‘prettied up’, as it were. The question is just how.