Dreaming of Dancing Burritos

Another mindless post:

Samurai Champloo r0xx0rz as well. DSL r0xx0rz too, but downtimes aren’t.

*dawdles off to the cubicle to start working*

I crack the whip
And you skip
But you deserve it, you deserve it, deserve it, deserve it…

I’m always such a sucker for cute things. So far, this is the cutest thing that I found. Featured in TIME Magazine, the Walkie Bits (yes, that’s the singular form) could be the smallest programmable robot in the world. Only roughly 5 cm. in length and comes in a cute candy tin case, a Walkie Bits can be programmed to walk in a certain rhythm using clicks, and it can store up to 15 clicks at a time. So, if you tap a 3-3-7 rhythm on the shell, it will make the turtle to walk in a 3-3-7 rhythm.

It can also be used for racing (with other Walkie Bits, of course); and since it will run/walk/shuffle in an unpredictable pace, there’s no way of correctly guessing which widdle turtle will win. But with those wiggling happy tails while racing, who cares which Walkie Bits wins? XD

The Walkie Bits can also sing Leopold Mozart’s Toy Symphony in it’s sing mode. I have no idea how, but with my happy experience with the Hanauta no Tami (however by a different toy company), I’m sure I won’t be disappointed. How could I go wrong with widdle singing, tail-wagging, happy turtles?

Somebody give me a Walkie Bits! I’ll even pay *sobs*. Seriously, if you happen to see one, kindly buy it for me and I’ll pay ^__^.

Okay.

Recently I’ve been conversing with friends about their love lives (or lack thereof). With my past fiasco, I’m really confused what expectations I should set for this weird thing called love. To put it more simply, I’ll describe what each friend has to say about their own experience (grueling or otherwise):

Friend Numbah One is so happy with her beloved, she told me she even cries just thinking about it. She’s verging on obsession, but her beloved has the sense to tell her to magtira ng konti para sa sarili nya (I’m sorry, but the best direct translation elude me at the moment). I think this happiness is also what prompted her to burn some of her diaries, which are tokens of her past. I’m just scared because I thought it meant that she burnt a part of her. It’s similar to what I did, and look what happened. XD

Friend Numbah Two is also happy with whom she is with right now, despite her misgivings in the past. She’s one of the sort who doesn’t relish losing her freedom (and such freedom, she also has an idealist’s mindset which involves making the world a betterplace). One small problem though; her boyfriend belongs to an affluent family which may not sit well with what she wants to do in the future. But who cares if the guy is totally under her thumb? Heheh.

Friend Numbah Three is rethinking about his pursuit for the love of his long-time bestfriend. He tells me that he can make her happy than all of her exes combined; and I ask him if he knew what she really wanted. He tells me that in their ten years of friendship, how could he not? He then states his good points, that he can support her financially, is good-looking, and has a car (XD didn’t really state that as is but I took the liberty to infer it; also, have the impression that he feels that all of it is a chore). His main problem is that he feels that he doesn’t get any reward for his efforts, that it is frustrating to have her cry on his shoulder when he knows that he can make her very happy.

He’s currently thinking whether he should just give it all up and devote all of his time in his dream of drag racing.

Friend Numbah Four is the saddest case (for me). I mentioned to him about my ex (who was our mutual friend) PM’ing me to have some sort of "affair" since his girlfriend is overseas (no way. No effing way), told him how ludicrous and pathetic it was (like what Friend Numbah Two said, that my ex think he’s Mr. Universe but…no comment…uhm). To which Number Four said "baka nagbabakasakali lang", to which I ask him if it was right to cheat. "Malayo eh," was his reply.

Of course, I was in shock. How many guys had the same POV? I immediately asked him if it was enough justification, if he would also do the same. He told me no, but most guys would. He went on to say that since it made me lose faith in relationships, I should prioritize something else.

I beg to differ. Even if love should take a backseat behind work (and I believe it *SHOULD* be) and personal well-being (it’s not good to love another person if you don’t do the same for yourself…I had to learn it the hard way), it’s never an excuse to cheat. I wonder how many relationships and marriages *nod* to this certain arrangement. If it’s so…hmm…

I dunno. At least there’s Friend Numbah Five, one of the very few people who retains my faith in this whole stupid business. Friend Numbah Five is your proverbial knight-in-shining-armor, romantic and chivalrous. He’s hopelessly in love with this girl, who unfortunately had to leave for somewhere else. But nooo, distance is not a factor for him.

Because he’s going to follow her there. Even as she shuns him (to what extent I really don’t know), he’s still there, biding his time. Still hers. He’s praying that some day, she will realize what he’s doing for her.

I’m praying for his happiness.

Why am I posting all these? Because I myself am very, very confused. Whenever I see soaps or TV shows depicting people killing for Love, or people losing their lives because they lost their other half, I wonder if it’s supposed to be that way. Then I look at my past, at times, though without any pain nor regrets (I have realized that what happened is a blessing in very good disguise).

Is Love supposed to be…such a pain? More importantly,

Is it worth it?

Tell me, beloved.

This is the first time I’ve been hooked on a certain band instead of liking just the song, since my deep infatuation with U2. The Smiths/Morrissey r0xx0rz >.o \m/

I wish I knew about their Unhappy Birthday song two months ago. Too bad. Heheh. Nah, let it be. I was just reminded of those things when someone sent me an unsolicited emoticon.

Anyway, the reason I felt compelled to write despite the fact that there’s something wrong with my ADSL router (can’t view my blog at times) is that there’s this Smiths song that really pulled me in; hook, line and sucker (sic). Everything from the long intro, the rhythm, instrumentals, and most especially the lyrics…swallowed me whole.

Last night I dreamt
That somebody loved me
No hope, but no harm
Just another false alarm

Oh, GOES ON
And on
Oh, goes on
And on

Egads.

Why is it that the MP3 of The Smith’s There is a Light that Never Goes Out always, ALWAYS comes off corrupted in my PSP? >.<x And I even downloaded the file from Limewire 2 times already.

Richard, be a dear and PLEASE send me an MP3 of that song. *sobs*

One of my friends burnt her old diaries recently. One could say she burnt bridges. I could assume the same, though I don’t think it’s as simple as that.

It could be because she is happy with the present. That’s good.  So happy, she’d be willing to eschew her past. Now, I’m not saying that keeping remnants of the past is good or obligatory or even polite, it’s just that I know in my heart, that someday, she may feel a twinge of regret.

Or maybe I’m just placing myself in her shoes. I don’t know *shakes head*.  Anyway, enough of that.

Another friend introduced me to The Smith’s music. He asked me if I was familiar with Morrissey. Of course I am; his "The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get" piece haunted me since the first time I heard it sometime in my intermediary years. I just absolutely love "There is a Light that Never Goes Out".

Take me out tonight
Where there’s music and there’s people
And they’re young and alive
Driving in your car
I never never want to go home
Because I haven’t got one
Anymore

Take me out tonight
Because I want to see people and I
Want to see life
Driving in your car
Oh, please don’t drop me home
Because it’s not my home, it’s their
Home, and I’m welcome no more

And if a double-decker bus
Crashes into us
To die by your side
Is such a heavenly way to die
And if a ten-ton truck
Kills the both of us
To die by your side
Well, the pleasure - the privilege is mine

Take me out tonight
Take me anywhere, I don’t care
I don’t care, I don’t care
And in the darkened underpass
I thought Oh God, my chance has come at last
(But then a strange fear gripped me and I
Just couldn’t ask)

Take me out tonight
Oh, take me anywhere, I don’t care
I don’t care, I don’t care
Driving in your car
I never never want to go home
Because I haven’t got one, da …
Oh, I haven’t got one

Oh, There Is A Light And It Never Goes Out

Ditto.

Been reading the English translation of Vampire Hunter D - Raiser of Gales novel. To the uninitiated, D is considered as one of anime’s classic, albeit one riddled with stereotypical characters: the aloof tragic hero, the spunky girl/damsel in distress, the villain with the irritating laugh always amazingly synchronized with a booming thunder.

D himself may exude coolness, but it is a coolness better seen than read, if you catch my drift.

This second volume of Hideyuki Kikuchi’s serial novel which spawned the classic anime and other helluva lot of merchandise (and what great merchandise too) could practically be the first one to make me cringe two or three times per chapter. One of the reasons is the seemingly awkward way the translation was written. Now, I’m too lazy (and I’m past my self-imposed bedtime) to stand and get the book to put in an example, but please be advised that the books feels and tastes like crumbly cake that probably wasn’t mixed well. It’s obvious that it may be very well due to the translation, but I’ve read many translated Japanese texts and I should say that they felt like silk against skin; poetry in paragraph form. I guess that comes with being decoded by experienced translators.

I sound like a terrible reviewer. I’m actually cutting corners.

Second is that I haven’t reached the half of the book yet and already the whole thing reads fanfic-ky. Too much fanservice is inserted here and there (mostly of D doing things uncharacteristic of him), and there’s just too much effing mention of his gorgeousness, beauty, grace, etc. It’ll make your tooth ache. Those same words even manage to slip into action sequences. Egads.

Raiser of Gales would have been better pulled off if it was a graphic novel; but as a novel it just wasn’t worth my 500 pesos. I wish I just purchased Haruki Murakami’s Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of The World instead.

They didn’t even insert enough Yoshitaka Amano illustrations. *grumbles*

Rating: 5/10

There was this tightrope that was anchored from a building and rose up, gradually, to the heavens.

This girl walked by the building with the tightrope every day and every night of her life, to and from her destination and her home. At that time, she passed the building everytime she went to school.

She could see a few people crossing the tightrope that sloped up to the sky. There were people who walked the rope with utter confidence and never looked down; there were people who walked with care and had their arms stretched out to their sides for balance; and then there were people who clung to the tightrope with the limbs but limbered on inch by inch. There were many kinds of people, different people.

But the girl knew that those people walking the tightrope had one thing in common: they were brave.

The girl decided that she was not brave enough to walk the tightrope–that it was even stupid: is it not true that you can spend the days of your life not even stepping a toe on that line? What is it that drew the people into walking the rope?

Years went past with her totally ignoring the paperline-thin sliver of a string that stretched out into infinity, and the people who dared step up to the challenge of walking it. She ignored them all.

Occasionally, even almost too often, the girl would see people fall from the rope. Some died from the impact, skulls shattering all over the concrete ground. It was pitiful, yes, but life goes on; people didn’t mind much when the cause of death was the walking of the tightrope.

One day, two of her friends decided to do what she dreaded: both of them climbed the rope, together. Upon hearing their decision she railed at them, told them that it was utter stupidity; after all, what good does walking the tightrope do?

But they ignored her. Contrary to what she felt, both of them were very excited and happy about the journey to reach the heavens.

After a few hesitant steps one of them fell; however, since she fell only a few steps away from the starting point where the angle was not so steep, she survived with bruises and a broken arm. Then her friend shrugged it off, biding her time to heal and climb the rope again.

The same thing happened with her other friend, but she suffered more injuries since she feel a few feet away from the starting point, and since the tightrope did slope upwards, the height and impact of her fall was greater. Her other friend had to walk with crutches for a few months and shuffled along her path most of the time.

The girl thought it was pitiful.

But she ended up walking the tightrope anyway.

As she started out, she was like one of the people who started out ambling on, inch by inch. Eventually, as she went farther and farther, eventually gaining altitude, she became more confident and walked the tightrope with a straight back, her sights trained on the infinite stretch of beyond, where everyone dared to go but no one knew if anyone had reached it.

She decided that it felt good. The girl looked back, and realized she was ahead of most of the other people. She even thought that she heard cries of "go back! It’s too high up there!" and even "You’ll die!".

But, smiling, the girl relished the wind in her hair and went on her way to the heavens.

It felt good.

Then she fell.

.

..

…

She thought she died. But she managed to open her eyes, staring at a blurry, wildly bright blue sky that eventually gained sharpness after a few seconds of a lifetime. People were staring down at her, and that was when she knew she was lying on her back on the cracked concrete.

Aside from her friends and who helped her and her familiy who gingerly took care of her deep wounds and broken bones, there was another person…

At least she was not alone.

Maybe she could try it again.

These past few days I have been downloading RF Online on my 4-year-old lappytop: Compaq Presario 1500, Pentium 4, 256 RAM, 20 GB HD, Mobility Radeon 7500. Wow. Sounds like the l33t right now, eh?

WRONG.

RF Online sucketh on my poor machine. I even tried that nifty flying Ragnarok/Rose-like MMORPG, Flyff, and it started out with no rendering on the sprites, but the background is okay. I updated my DirectX driver to DirectX 9c SDK, just like what my machine told me, but NOO. everything worsened. And I just reformatted poor Mr. Lappytop.

If only upgrading laptops aren’t expensive.

*sob*

I’ve decided: I WILL BUY A NEW DESKTOP. I’ll go and canvas(s?) for a new one with decent specs to support my gaming needs. FOR GREAT JUSTICE!!!

Wish me luck.