Pocky Central

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. 

I am an only child. But I have a lot of brothers and sisters.

This is because of two things - one, the way my family (a fairly traditional Korean one) works, and my habit of ‘adopting’ friends.

I’ll talk about the family thing first.

In Korean culture, much like many others, you refer to your cousins (and often your close friends) as ‘big brother’ or ‘big sister’. Why this is, exactly, I couldn’t say. It just is. So at family gatherings, I have a lot of ‘hyungahs’ (big brothers) and ‘noonahs’ (big sisters) as well as younger siblings (who I just call by their name).

Thus, I have a fairly large group of ’siblings’ as is. (At current count, I have six cousins on my mother’s side of the family, and fourteen on my father’s side, not counting second cousins and the like)

As for ‘adopting’ friends, some people just click with me. Others have been friends for so long, it feels like we’re family. These are the people that I call ‘little sis’ or ‘bro’ or what have you. I don’t have nearly as many of these ’siblings’, but they’re out there, and they count as family to me.

Most of the time, I don’t even realize I’ve stopped calling a friend by their name and by a sibling term until they point it out.

Sometimes I wonder if I’ll have a ‘family’ with more than one hundred people in it by the time I pass on.

One of the games I have always been fond of is pool/billards. I’m not very good at it, but I like it a lot. It’s a lot of fun, it’s something I can do with friends, and it involves both mental acuity and some physical skill.

When I was growing up, one of the few things I can remember doing with my father when he had time-off was to go to a local billiards hall and play pool. We’d spend three or four hours there, talking, playing pool, and eating instant ramen. He taught me the basics of pool, then proceeded to kick my butt at it. I did get better, thankfully. We did this for a while, until I hit college. Then I just didn’t have the time, so it kind of died off.

I’ll be hitting a local pool hall with some friends to celebrate my birthday, and hopefully my pool skills haven’t gone completely to crap. I did play a couple of games last October, but I spent most of the time knocking off the rust. I’m looking forward to it, though, because I’m looking forward to playing with my friends, and because pool always makes me feel good.

I need to play golf with my Dad some time soon. If I’m lucky, his skill will rub off on me - he’s REALLY good. We used to have tons of trophies that he won at amateur tournaments.

The problem is… I used to hate golf. But that’s a story for another time.

I love snow.

I love snow a lot.

My favorite Japanese word is 雪　(yuki), which means ’snow’. Same goes for my favorite Korean word, ‘nuhn’.

For some reason, I’ve always associated snow with good times and with being happy. Part of it might be because of how much fun I had on snow days when I was in elementary school. Part of it might be because I just like the way fresh snow looks on the ground and on buildings. I’m not one hundred percent sure.

But I really do love snow. When I hear that snow is on the way, I may complain (’bah, driving will suck’, etc.), but inside I’m thinking, “Yay! Snow! YAY SNOW!”

On the other hand, I hate rain. Hate it a lot. It always depresses me. Almost every time something really bad has happened to me, it’s been raining. And it makes most drivers in my area really stupid. It feels like they look up, see the rain, and go, “Oh my God, it’s raining, now I have to completely forget how to drive!”

I understand that rain is important, that it’s essential to the survival of our world. This is why I always yell at it in the same way: “Damn you, live giving water that falls from the sky.”

Okay. Two in a row because I completely forgot to post yesterday. This is backdated, as usual.

I have been playing World of Warcraft since the second closed beta. I’ve always like online multiplayer games, but WoW really has been a lot of fun for me. However, I’m not going to talk about WoW specifically today.

I’m going to talk about MMOs in general, the ones I’v played, and why I like them so much.

I started playing online games in college. My friend, L, told me about MUDs (Multi-User Dungeons), and a week later, I was hooked. I played them in all of my spare time, and sometimes in my not-so-spare time. There was something about knowing that the other characters were being controlled by other people. (I’d already messed around with IRC, so the idea that there were people online to talk to wasn’t knew, but actually playing a game with them was)

After half a year or so, I forced myself to stop so I could concentrate on studying and my job. But every once in a while, I would think, “Man, I miss playing on (name of a MUD that I don’t remember anymore).”

A couple of years after I started college, Everquest came out. Needless to say, I bought it, installed it, and played it for a while.

Since then, I’ve played Asheron’s Call, Dark Age of Camelot, World of Warcraft, and a slew of others. I’m currently in a couple of beta tests, too. Why?

One reason is that I love to play new games. I like trying out new systems, seeing how companies do with variations on the same theme (thus all the MMOs), and seeing how far graphics are being pushed. I like participating with a group of like minded people (the beta testers I’ve met are, in general, fairly cool people), chatting with them, and finding out how to best play the class that I’ve chosen.

I like the idea that I can roll along by myself, soloing my way through a slew of quests, but that I can also group up with a bunch of other players and work with them to achieve a goal. And I like being able to ‘dress up’ my avatar in neat armor and clothes that I earn through quests and by defeating enemies.

Those are the reasons I can currently think of as to why I like MMOs. There are a lot of things I think need to be changed/fixed, but that’ll wait for another time.

My friend, S, asked me to talk about cars, and why I like them so much.

So I will. (If anyone has something they’d like for me to write about, let me know. There are some things I’m trying to avoid, like current events, but in general, anything is game. I’m also trying to keep things PG-13 when I can.)

I like cars a lot. While I’m not the most knowledgable about them, I am an enthusiast. I love driving, I love cars, and I love talking about them (within my admittedly non-expert range).

I have owned three cars in my life thus far.

The first was a metallic blue Chevrolet Corsica LT. The running joke was that it only had half the calories of a regular Corsica. I had Rebecca from 1992 to 1996. I moved to Japan for a year in 1996, and that’s when my father gave ‘Becca to one of my cousins.

My second car was a metallic green Toyota Camry. Myndi was a fair bit bigger than Rebecca, and not nearly as fast. But man, she was nigh-indestructable. I had Myndi from 1997 to 2000, when I moved back to Japan again. Myndi is currently being driven by one of my cousins as well.

Finally, my current car, Alys, is a Subaru Impreza WRX. She’s also metallic blue, and to date, my favorite car of them all. She moves quickly, handles like a dream, and is quite comfortable to ride in (unless you’re a giant, like my friend Leo…).

Why do I like cars so much? Part of it is the idea that I’m in my own little world. Inside the car, it’s me, the car, and whoever else is there. No one else.

I also like going fast. I’m not necessarily a speed demon, but I do like to hoof it once in a while. Also, unlike a lot of ‘fast drivers’, I stay in control. If things are looking bad, I safely slow down. I do not want to be a smear on the road.

Another thing is that I like how cars look. I can enjoy looking at a well designed car. I like smooth lines, graceful curves (man, sounds like I’m talking about a woman, doesn’t it?), and complementary accessories (spoiler, etc.). A lot of the blocky cars (I’m talking to you, Hummer series!) really don’t appeal to me.

Next time, I’ll talk about some interesting stories involving me and my cars. Only one story actually involves an accident.

One of my biggest hobbies has been collecting, watching, and translating Japanese animation. Yes, I know, it’s “anime”. That’s an argument I’ll get into another time.

I should rewind a bit. I have always loved animation in general. From animated drawings to claymation/stop-animation to 3D work, it has always facinated me. I remember growing up on Bugs Bunny cartoons (my favorite “anime” of all time) and Tom and Jerry. Then, one day I got a tape from my mom. It was dubbed in Korean, and it was… different. The animation was smoother, the “story” from what I could tell, was deeper, and the characters were more interesting. Granted, I made a lot of it up in my head, since it was in Korean.

I forget what show it was, exactly, but I do remember thinking, “hey, this is really neat”. It wasn’t until years later that I learned that it was a Japanese cartoon. By then, I had watched several shows off of tapes from a penpal in addition to Robotech, Voltron, and Star Blazers. I was still watching American shows (and still do today), but I well and truly a fan of Japanese animation.

Since then, my tastes have changed quite a bit. I started off as a big comedy and mecha fan. I was big into Gundam (still am, for the most part), Macross and Mospeda, Ranma, and a lot of other shows. I didn’t have much of a taste for the more serious shows and movies.

Then my tastes shifted… towards more dramatic/less slapstick fare, like Maison Ikkoku (yes, a comedy, but one without giant hammers) and “girls” (shoujo - never forget the ‘u’) shows. I started watching a lot of majokko (magical girl) shows from the early eighties, and found them to be a lot more serious than some of the mecha shows I had watched.

These days, I watch a very mixed bag of shows. I’ve enjoyed The Meloncholy of Suzumiya Haruhi, I liked the Gundam Seed series, and found myself laughing out loud at the antics in Pani Poni Dash. I don’t watch as much as I used to, partially because of time, partially because I’ve translated some shows. There’s nothing like doing your hobby as your job to kill your taste for it.

This is hardly all I have to say on anime… I just want to save material for later.

One of the reasons I’m posting to this blog is to make myself write a little something every day. I’ve never really considered myself a writer, but it’s a part of my everyday work. When you translate, you have to at least be a passable writer, because there isn’t always an editor.

I’m already finding myself running out of things to write about. I don’t think that I’m all that interesting, and I think I’ve exhausted all of the stories that I can share. Part of the problem is that I can’t remember some of my own stories.

I’m trying (possibly in vain) to write more than a few lines per post. With luck, it won’t all be crap. I’m thinking of posting little story ideas I have, though I’m mildly afraid that someone might actually want to steal my crappy ideas.

I think I need to get some copyrighting (is that even a word?) done soon. At the very least, I should get my ideas down somewhere, if not here.

More than likely, though, I will run out of ideas and not be able to remember anything funny from my life, and thus be forced to unveil one of my ideas on the world.

And on that day, the world will weep. Or not. Maybe.

I am a collector. I love collecting books, videos, figures, games, and many other things.

If the phrase “Collector’s Edition” is on something, there is a strong chance that I will want it. (Case in point, the World of Warcraft Collector’s Edition)

The people who have been to my home know how much of a collector I am. I have shelves and shelves full of books, DVDs, and other collectables. I am continually buying, selling, and replacing the things in my collection. Sometimes I just give things away, and sometimes I sell them (to friends, on eBay, whatever). But regardless, I’m always running out of room.

Someday it will be the death of me, I’m sure of it.

Every time I tell myself, “Okay, no more of ‘X thing’,” I end up finding that ONE thing I need for my collection. I swear, if I did drugs/smoked/drank, it would be cheaper… because I’d be too drunk/chill/stoned/high to care. (Well, maybe.)

I have gotten better about being a pack rat, thankfully. The sales I mentioned earlier started a few years ago, in order to break myself of the pack rat habit.

However, it ended up just being a way to make room for new things. Despite my best attempts, I’m still a collector.

But at least I have a hobby.

Many people in the world know that I love girls who wear glasses. They are, to me, the most beautiful people in the world. I honestly think that a ‘plain’ girl that is wearing a nice pair of glasses, that match her face’s shape and eye color and such, is more beautiful than a supermodel or the like.

Why, many of my friends have asked, do you like girls in glasses so much?

The answer is both simple and complex.

The simple answer is that I find girls in glasses (meganekko is a slang term for them in Japanese) alluring. Girls in glasses tend to be smart (or at the very least, fairly well read), and to me, intelligence is one of the attractive things in life.

The complex answer is… I’m not sure. I just do. I have dated girls who didn’t wear glasses, and inevitably, there’s always a moment where I ask them to put a pair on… and God help me, they are even more beautiful to me when they wear them.

I am a sick, sick man.

I’ve thought about it long and hard, and have come to the conclusion that while I could and would date a woman who didn’t wear glasses, I would probably be much happier if she did… even if it was just for me.

My love/obsession with girls in glasses is probably worse than this post reveals, but I’ll save that for another time.

(And again, this is post dated… because I’m stupid and didn’t hit the ‘Publish’ button when I finished writing this)