What Matters Most

I've reconnected with Onepunch-Man. I finally watched the anime and was blown away. I was afraid that the animation wouldn't live up to the absurdly high standards set by Murata, but I'm happy to be proven wrong.

The last episode left me shaking with sweaty palms and a pounding heart. I haven't experienced something this epic since the conclusion of Gurren Lagann -- which remains to this day my personal benchmark for "epic." With the way the manga is shaping up, however, it may soon reach that level should a hypothetical second season materialize.

ONE, the author of Onepunch-Man, is proof that as long as your ideas are great, it doesn't matter how bad your art is. The same holds true for writing. After you get past the misspellings, the bad grammar, and all the stuff that wannabe editors latch on as proof that the work is objectivity shit, you'll realize that what matters most are the ideas. Some of the best stories I've read were hidden under layers of shit writing. 

There are writers and there are storytellers. When they become one and the same, that's when you have something truly special on your hands. Writing can be practiced by writing more, but storytelling is something that gets refined by experience. Whether you draw from memories or other works, storytelling is something you practice by living. 

And the Award Goes to...

I'll have to go against the grain and declare unequivocally that Mad Max shouldn't win Best Picture. Anyone campaigning at its behest clearly has not seen any of the other contenders. My pick is still Spotlight. I have no idea how The Revenant won at the Golden Globes. It's a good film -- probably the most beautiful that I've seen this year -- but there are better ones out there like Room. 

After the Golden Globes, I thought I'd be primed for a heated discussion about movies since I headed out to a birthday dinner that same evening. One of my friends is a movie nut. I can stand toe to toe when it comes to the intricacies of Academy Award history and various other aspects of the film industry. I'm usually the guy that always knows the name of actors on the tip of tongues. Browsing IMDB is a familiar past time. 

This weekend is the first time that I get to stay home and relax. Nothing good in theaters. It's get tiring to go out every weekend. Sometimes, I don't want to do anything. Just leave me be! Thanks to some unfortunate circumstances in the world of MS, some discussion may be required to sort out future travel plans and liquidation strategies.

There's always something that needs attending. I eagerly await the day the world stops spinning. 

No Dice

Fantasy works precisely because it's fantasy. The drawbacks of reality are conveniently omitted. Nobody likes to be dragged down to earth because we're constantly reminded of it everyday. Only through dreams can we feel alive and rise above the grind. And that's why we chase silly ideas like winning the lottery. 

I spent too much time fantasizing about what I'd do with the hypothetical winnings than focusing on my job. With that much money, I can do anything. It's fun to dream, but alas, we must focus on the bitter world before us.

My dream is help others dream. Without ideals, there's nothing to look forward to.  So, even if I didn't win the jackpot, that doesn't mean I should stop fantasizing. It just means I have to get more creative. Besides, everybody knows that winning the lottery at the end of the story is a cop out. Like everyone else, I gotta do this the long and hard way.

Resolution 2.0

I looked at my resolutions from last year and laughed. I pretty much failed everything. Hardly any progress. But just because I failed doesn't mean I have to give up now. I never put a time limit on my goals. It just means I'm taking the long road.

I'm already employed so my new goal is to get employed by an even better place. I'm tired of slaving away for peanuts. I can live on peanuts just fine, but it'll be nice to have something a little more substantial. Enough to become independent.

Here are my goals for 2016:

1. Exceed a net worth of $20,000.
2. Go on a big trip and travel abroad.
3. Finish one or even more stories of FF.net.
4. Transition into original writing.
5. Make some headway into my gaming backlog.
6. Start dating.
7. Get paid better or a better paying job.

Welcome to 2016, year of Jomatto 2.0.