Kicks

I've been binging on anime lately and one genre that I've been squeezing to pulp is the "normal guy ends up in a fantasy world" genre. My most recent victim is Re: ZERO, which is slightly more interesting than usual because of its dark undertones, but it's also got one of the most annoying garbage protagonists I've ever had the displeasure of standing in for me. What an annoying guy.

What recently kicked off my anime watching spree was season 2 of Psycho-Pass, and I'm reminded of how much of a sucker I am for high concept media like that. This is why I'm intrigued by The Purge: Election Year no matter what kind of ratings it gets. I can't get enough of fucked up societies.

I was totally blown away by the season finale of Game of Thrones. The last couple season finales ended with a whimper so my expectation weren't high, but I was totally blown away this time. Bravo.

I finally caught up in Digmon and I can't believe the next release is in September. That's to far away. It's also a trip (literally and figuratively) to have actually visited Odaiba for reals. I'm anime, yo. Anything that takes place in Tokyo, I can say that I've been there. So cool.

Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night

Wednesday's usually aren't this exciting, but it appears that we've arrived at a turning point in our household. My older brother has officially abandoned home. He's moving out of state to who knows where. He's not telling anyone.

Preparations for this abrupt departure had begun months ago. He was planning to give us the slip while no one was paying attention. It would've worked except that I work from home and he took too long to pack his things. Instead of slinking off into the night, I had to see my mother in tears trying to convince him to stay. It didn't work.

He got fed up with my brother in law. Even I was getting tired of watching him get hassled repeatedly for rent money. While he has personal responsibility issues, that's no reason to exacerbate his already deep malaise. No amount of lecturing can snap someone out of their apathy.

My brother in law comes from the old school of hard knocks. Sadly, that kind of approach is outdated. Tough love is just another word for abuse. You don't tell someone who is depressed to cheer up. A modicum of sympathy is necessary to arrive at a mutual understanding. 

My brother concluded that there was nothing for him here. He found no peace or calm in this house and that his only recourse was to leave. The decision is quite impressive in some respects. Aside from my parents, he had always lived at home.

This is the first time he's demonstrated a shred of independence. It's finally time to break free, spread your wings, and soar! If there's anything to take from his departure, it's the courage to move forward on my own. Brother, wherever you are, I hope the world treats you a whole lot better than our house did. 

Godspeed, brother. Godspeed.

Crunch Time

Me and my friend took a day trip to Vegas. Not much happened but we accomplished what we set out to do. If anything, I saw it as an opportunity to stretch out my legs. Our plan was to walk out of the airport to the strip and we were successful. We saved money on transport, but we were dead on our feet. With all the flying and walking that happened, I actually fell asleep early from sheer fatigue. That hardly ever happens.

The next day, I reaped the rewards of my weekly aerobic training. Despite the rigorous workout the day prior, my legs felt fresh. My preparation for Japan has paid off. There will be lots more walking in the future, and now I'm confident I can handle my ambitious itinerary.

Departure is less than a month away and this is where all preparations must be completed. Every detail must be vetted and vetted again. I can't overlook anything. I must consider every possible scenario to make this trip one to remember for the ages. No more slacking off. The clock is ticking. 

Too Much Stuff

A big reason why I'm staying up so late is because I'm consuming way too much content these days. If it's not manga, then I'm watching YouTube videos. I'm subscribed to several guys and I really like their stuff. New videos are coming out everyday and hours are lost to the nether thanks to these guys. 

The first guy I'm subscribed to is ChrisSmoove. I watch mainly for his NBA 2K videos and Madden. I enjoy his Madden videos more than his 2K ones. His latest Let's Play is Far Cry Primal and that's been interesting, especially since he's been condensing them and removing the filler. Somehow, I get the feeling that Primal isn't going to be a very long series. His Let's Plays have been dying premature deaths lately. I can understand since his bread and butter is sports games.

The second guy I'm subscribed to OneCheesyMofo, or "Nacho." He's my go-to for Battlefield videos. He does Call of Duty, Hardline, and some other shooters from time to time. I've been feasting like a madman in Battlefield 4 recently. I credit my success to watching his videos. It's not like I'm watching for tactics, but I might've unconsciously picked up a few strategies that could explain my recent beast performances. 

My latest subscription is to ChristopherOdd, who I watch for XCOM. I enjoy his narrative game playthroughs as well, such as Firewatch and Gone Home. He's got that Canadian geniality which is very charming. He is amazing at XCOM. I'm a save scummer so seeing him play a tactical RPG with Ironman enabled is pretty tense. One mistake and you're screwed. His latest campaign in XCOM 2 has been a lot of fun to watch. 

These bastards are the reason why I'm not falling asleep until five in the morning. I can't tell if that's a good or a bad thing. Either way, I hope they keep up the good work. 

Rolling in the Deep

I've got too much money. 

Okay, one can never have too much money, but a bevy on developments have left me with a huge surplus and I have no idea what to do with it. Since I'm constantly working all day long, I haven't really had a chance to redo my budget. 

Since I'm working as an independent contractor, I get paid weekly. On top of my tax return, the Lunar New Year got me a decent amount of change. I've got a whole lot of cash to earmark for future use now. I've pretty much covered any lingering debt from my Black Friday spree so this is all gravy. I guess I can put it all on my trip to Japan or just keep it close to the vest. 

Knowing me, I'm just gonna sit on it. Nothin' wrong with that.

Waking Late

The theme of this week is waking late. Sleep is a luxury. I've been deprived of it for so long that my body lusts for it. I need my sleep and now that nothing is getting in my way, I'm overindulging. I can't say this is a bad thing since I'm bad at sleeping. Anything to restore my body to something that resembles the average adult's biorhythm is good in my book.

Of course, nothing comes without a price. I'm getting more sleep at the expense of free time. I feel like all I do these days is work. I'm working from the moment I wake up all the way to midnight. A lot of this has to do with the generous breaks I take at home, and another part of it is simply not waking early enough.

It'll take some time, but I'm sure I can get back on schedule. Once I catch up with my work, I plan on waking up earlier by 30 minutes each day. I'll eventually rewind my wake up time somewhere in the ballpark of ten in the morning. That's fine by me.

I started working out again this week since my body is finally up for it, but I've still got a lingering cough that will probably stick with me for the rest of the month. The same thing happened the last time I got sick.

If I had actually gotten any prescribed medication, this is where I take it until it's gone, but since I went with over the counter cough syrup, I'm just gonna ride it out with cough drops. I'm probably gonna be sucking on a whole lot of them while I'm watching Deadpool by myself.

Sick and the Street Fighter V

I've been laid out like a mother this entire week. I wasn't doing myself any favors by playing the SFV beta, but when time is limited, you gotta squeeze all the play you can get.

Predictably, I started off as a total scrub. Throughout the weekend, I managed to land myself somewhere in the top 10k. That's probably my ceiling in terms of skill. To get any higher would require too much investment.

I stopped playing SF4 because I hit a wall. I was getting way too pissed off. This time, I'm changing my frame of mind. I'm gonna be casual. I'm here to enjoy the fight. It's not all about winning. I'll try to improve wherever I can, but becoming pro is not my goal.

SFV is launching in less than two weeks. This has certainly been one hell of an appetizer. I can't wait for the full release.