Thanks So Much, Charlie

I wasn’t posting much last month. Someone I really respected passed away, and it honestly left me feeling empty for a while. Yesterday, while I was writing down my goals, Elyza’s bunny launched a surprise attack and bit me. Now I’ve got a tetanus shot to go with my goals. It just goes to show you never know what life’s gonna throw at you.

Anyway, I’m skipping the sad mood to dedicate this project I’ve been tinkering with to you. I’m bringing what you taught me along for the ride, and every time I figure things out, I’ll think of you and smile big like Luffy.

The Playful, the Curious, and the Quiet One

I

I told myself I’d sort my reading pile, yet sloth iya was already off in a daydream, slurping spicy ramen in a faraway Japanese stall. Isn’t life just better lying on the floor reading manga instead of caring about tidying up when I never do? Nah, I’m good.

Someday soon, I’ll have my own little café with shelves loaded with mangas. Right now, I’m enjoying the whole figuring-it-out stage. Guess that’s why my inner monologue talks more than I do with actual humans. Anywho… small talk’s fine, it’s just not my lane ’cause I mostly just listen.

 

II

Anyways, reading all this Super Mario stuff made me think, maybe I should check out Super Nintendo World in Japan and the Nintendo Museum… but for now, just on YouTube, lol. If I make it as an interpreter or translator, that’s my treat.

 

III

I’m down for laughing too loudly and having fun, but solitude is god mode. The more alone time I get, the more alive I feel. You know that feeling when you look at the ocean or sky and just feel lighter? Pretty much me. I just know I’m happiest in my own company. Not everyone’s built like that.

I don’t really think of things in terms of legacy or where I stand in the history of Nintendo or anything like that. The important thing for us is to make sure that we’re having fun in our job.  – Shigeru Miyamoto

Mario had a humble beginning as a side-story character for the hit game Donkey Kong.

Where Mario Got His Name…
While brain storming in their small office, they were thinking of game ideas and names for this little guy. The office owner then came in and demanded that he get rent money for the office space that they were using. Working on getting a game out there and distributed, the landlord made a big scene while demanding the late rent money. His name? Mario. The staff members then started joking and calling the little Jump Man, Mario. He looked somewhat the same, had the same overalls and the same appearance, so to this day, that’s how Mario is known.

Finished Reading: Korean, Chinese, French, Russian, Japanese Authors

 

“We have to wake up at some point, don’t we?”

You can’t be sure that beasts aren’t people, or that people aren’t just another type of beast.

I had lived my life one way and I could just as well have lived it another. I had done this and I hadn't done that. I hadn't done this thing but I had done another.

"I exaggerate everything, that is where I go wrong,"

A truth so terrifying, you won’t want to believe it.

Adults can draw what they see, the real thing, in their pictures. Children, though, draw the “idea” of what appears in their heads.’

When you’re a man, it’s all ‘go to work’ and ‘get married.’ And once you’re married, then it’s ‘earn more’ and ‘have children’! You’re a slave to the village. Society orders you to work your whole life. Even my testicles are the property of the village! Just by having no sexual experience they treat you as though you’re wasting your semen.

Unplanned

I was just watching comic book collectors on my laptop when my roommate’s guest, who stopped by, casually slides me wildberry and four red fruits tea bags. Didn’t expect a random tea drop-off to be this good (omg gimme more), and we ended up having a little chat about tea flavors, intermittent fasting, and she’s the first person I’ve ever spilled my Japanese translator game plan to, even though we’re barely friends. Shrugs.

Anyways, back to my comics and manga vidz.

[8:06] Because I enjoy reading the stories, and I enjoy the characters.

[9:42] I’m always going to be partial to Spider-Man, since he was the character that got me into comics.

[9:55] I have driven so many miles looking for these books. Now, you could just say, 'I could have ordered them online…' Why would I do that? What’s the fun in that?

[27:18] It didn’t make me cry, and it didn’t make me sad or depressed, but maybe that’s because I’m already depressed. And if you’re already down, you can’t go down much further. 

[28:59] What does it mean to genuinely connect with someone?

Binge-read 7 comics back-to-back

Superman #1
As a distant planet was destroyed by old age, a scientist places his infant son within a hastily devised space-ship, launching it toward earth!

Batman #1 (1940)
Edgar Martin talks too much… he might get a sore throat from talking so much!
– The Joker 🤣

Amazing Fantasy (1962)
Like costume heroes? Confidentially, we in the comic mag business refer to them as “long underwear characters”!
 
…aware at last that in this world, with great power there must also come – great responsibility!

The Amazing Spider-Man #1 (1963)
Where Spider-Man’s Story Begins!

X-Men #1 (1963)
I have the power to read minds – Professor X

Daredevil #1 (1964)

My father taught me how to take care of myself. Y’know, brains over brawn.
 

Invincible #1 (2003)
Jesus, mom! I’m just reading a comic book! 🤭🤣

You had the very thing I thought I lost

Dear Friend,

I didn’t think I’d feel that again, the sparks, the innocence, my love for words. There it was, right in your hands. Next thing I know, I couldn’t stop smiling like a fool. Can you believe it? Why do you always carry books like other people carry phones?

I’ve started reading again. Thought that part of me was gone for good, but somehow you brought it back.

Thanks, hope you rest well!

3 chapters down

Brutal: Confessions of a Homicide Investigator

Jūjika no Rokunin

I’m at chapter 3 of 9 mangas

Hazureta Minna no Atama no Neji

The Summer Hikaru Died

Freak Island/Kichikujima

Mieruko-chan

Kindergarten Wars 

Questions Floating in the Air

Dear Friend,

A sea of faces surrounds me, yet yours has this innocent, gentle aura that I usually only see in kids. That’s what I sense every time I find myself looking at you. But I’m curious, what do you see? I don’t know, just want to know you better, I guess. Do you like having lofi beats on, or is it just the rain when you write? Or do you just jot stuff down wherever? I need rain or beats to write, though I’m sure donuts could work too. Haha. By the way, what’s being vegan like for you? And speaking of choices that call for a ton of coffee, what made you wanna do a PhD?

Night, take care!

Just finished reading

Should’ve read Out ages ago. I guess that’s what happens when you’ve got too many books, y’know? Not gonna lie, it’s one of those reads where I don’t know if I should be thinking hard or reaching for a cigarette (haha, I don’t even smoke).

 

Just finished Offal Island and I can’t even. Now, why am I even signing up for Freak Island tomorrow? smh.

Swallowed Whole

Made it to the end of Shintarō Kago’s Dementia 21 and Brain Damage. Did you know I just went in for a quick peek and ended up reading the whole thing straight through? It totally ate up my afternoon I even forgot my love of my life coffee haha.