Finals next week

 I didn't even realize my finals were coming so soon. They're next week. I'm not really prepared, but I don't mind much. Japanese I'll have no problem with, I don't think History will be a problem since he gave us the essay questions so we can focus on making good essays. I'll just gather information up this week. The only final I guess I should be worried about is the Computer Science one simply because the professor likes using vaguely worded questions and "fill in the blank from this textbook sentence" stuff. Plus, failing it or getting a low grade secures me an F in the class since I missed the first test. This week I spent mostly catching up on a few things. I plan to make a (late) post regarding what I'm watching this season after I finish my finals.

On Monday, nothing really eventful happened aside from me having a headache on and off for the day. After Japanese I was of course followed by the girl from before. Don't remember much about what subject she brought up, aside from Mirai Nikki and asking me if I could handle a Japanese conversation. At my current level, I can't, but I kinda took the classes to strengthen my verbal skills. They are helping for that purpose though. We eventually came to the point where I usually head to my bus stop, since I've no class after Japanese on Monday. She asked if I wanted to have lunch with her, and I declined. I actually just wanted to go home and watch Densha Otoko anyway.

On Wednesday she told me she wish she'd spoken to me earlier since the semester is ending so she'd have someone to walk with after class, but she's too timid to do so. That, and the class is filled with Koreans that don't even speak English fully, and she's one of the few non-Korean Asians in the class, so not many people for her to talk to. We actually don't talk much when we're with each other, that's pretty fine to me. When I'm just on my laptop waiting for the next class we're fairly silent aside from when she occasionally brings something up for small chat. Then again she could just be scared to speak up due to me being such a closed individual.

What was really eventful on Wednesday was me passing up the opportunity to make an easy $100. I totally regret it now. How'd I pass this offer up? There were fighting game tournaments being held at my school. Although I didn't want to really participate, I was in the mood for a match or two so head over there. I played Marvel vs Capcom 3 and Ougon Musou Kyouku (yeah, they actually had this there, surprisingly). With Seakitties I got a perfect on the dude I was against, and in MvC3 I didn't lose any of my characters. Apparently I was up against the best that the school has to offer, according to multiple people there (mostly trying to get me to join their game club). I left and, wouldn't you know, the girl from my Japanese class just so happened to be in the area and was watching me play and decided to leave with me. She asked why I didn't enter the tournament since I had a high likelyhood of winning the ones held for those two games. I had no idea how long they'd take, and I really didn't want to end up home at 12AM just for some fight money, especially with the late night bus schedules. $50 for each of the tourneys, and glancing at the other matches it didn't seem I'd have a tough time with anyone (they're mostly just button mashers).

When I got home I was hit with a huge wave of regret. I wish I'd stayed for that, because I realized I have to make a payment of $92 this week to debt collectors and I really could have used that money. But, too late for that now, and no use crying over spilled milk. So I'll just deal with it. Maybe if there's another one I'll go through with it.

I don't want to make this shitpost too long. I'll end it here.

~ Kirari ミ★

Kirari returns with cool stories with a side of Takoluka

Alright, so I'm past the initial hook of my Marvel vs Capcom 3 addiction and settled down a bit so I don't have to stay on the game all day. I should continue normal posting starting tomorrow. I have a few images from my Flandre Nendoroid that just came in last week, so I'll be doing a review of her. I was thinking of reviewing Takoluka, but there's not much for me to really talk about, so I may just make a brief post tomorrow with cute pictures of her if I feel like doing so.

I might as well use this post to stuff in a few short cool stories to fill some space up. First of all, yesterday I went to my usual Japanese bookstore to pick up Yotsubato volume 10. I was also looking to see if they had that new Madoka Magika manga, but sadly they didn't have it in stock. I asked at the counter for them to special order it for me though, so I'll go pick it up whenever they receive it. 

I remember /jp/ had a thread about places in New York and mentioned that another bookstore called Bookoff is just a few blocks away from Kinokuniya, and sells Japanese books at very low prices. Well, I decided to give it a look, and wow. They're used books, but they're mostly in new condition, as if taken right off the shelf of a new bookstore. I managed to get Oyasumi Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei 20, Mirai Nikki 3, and Kodomo no Jikan 1-5 from the $1 section. All in good condition. Also picked up Oyasumi Punpun 2 which was about $5, if I remember correctly. I'm very satisfied with the store, and will of course be doing business with them again.

I missed the deadline on a test from one of my online courses, but I didn't make a big  deal about it. Taking it easy, it's just something that can't be helped. The professor is a crab so I don't even feel like emailing her to ask if there's any way I can take a makeup exam. It does annoy me that she also gave a research topic that's limited to 1 internet source and 2 library sources. Honestly, I don't really understand the logic behind this. If you can find the information needed, it shouldn't really matter where you got the information from. Information is information, regardless of where you get it. I really dislike when instructors live in the past like this. I'm in no way belittling printed books by insinuating that they're no longer useful. Of course there are still things that are simply better found in books than on the internet, the internet doesn't have everything on it. But at the same time, the internet certainly has enough resources to complete a research paper in depth. I supposed if I was doing a thesis on something, I'd want to dig deeper into as many sources as I could get, but if it's just a simple essay then I shouldn't have to go out of my way when everything I need is at my fingertips. 

What makes this whole situation even worse is that the class this essay is for is, ironically, a Computer Science course. Now tell me, why the hell would I go to the library and pick out a printed book to do research on web design? What is the logic behind this? Literally everything I need for this research topic is right online for me to look up. I really doubt there's any books I can find that will tell me something about web design that I couldn't find out already on the internet. If I was doing a history paper? Sure, I may not agree with getting information from books if I can find it on the internet, but at least books give the chance of boring old dudes that write personal experiences of their time in World War II or something. But web design? Come on. I guess I'll just download am ebook or something, because I'm too lazy to go to the library just to pick out a PHP guide or something for reference.

That aside, tomorrow is my court date to fight the ticket I mentioned in a blog post last month. It was moved 3 times, but I haven't gotten notice of a new date yet, so I'm assuming that tomorrow is the real final date. I'll head over there tomorrow and hopefully get this settled so I don't get legally robbed of $75. I'll watch the newest episode of Kimi ni Todoke and get some sleep. Win or lose the case tomorrow, I'll probably just come home and celebrate, or take it easy, by playing some Marvel vs Capcom 3.

Until then

~ Kirari ミ★

Short rant on procrastination

Me being a lazy ass cat. Cats are professionals at taking it easy.

So I realized I had this essay due this weekend that I completely forgot about. I was a relatively easy essay though, but because it was so easy I pushed it back so far. The thing is, when I procrastinate I try splitting my free time in increments. So, I'd wake up and browse around online for an hour, let's say it's 1 PM by now.

 

"I'll start my essay at...2" is what I say to myself, because I haven't satisfied myself yet. But I don't do anything important in this time frame, or anything interesting, like watching anime (if I get too into it, I'll want to watch more and it will distract me), or reading VNs (easy way to lose track of time). So what am I left with? Just browsing online, lurking 4chan and constantly refreshing stuff for a full hour. An hour I could have spent doing something else, at least playing games or something. But by the time it's 2, I don't feel ready to do the essay yet. "2:30 then, really."

So I go and maybe take a shower or something to increase blood flow a little. But wait, I haven't eaten yet! No worries, at 3 I'll get started! Oh no, I suddenly feel sleepy now that it's 3, maybe I should nap a bit. I mean, there's no use in doing an essay while sleepy, right? I'll make sure it's just a 15 minute nap. Damn, 15 minutes passed already? I'm still sleepy. I'll just set the alarm for another 15 minutes.

Crap like this goes on the whole day. I know I'm making excuses to procrastinate, and it does more harm than good anyway because I waste the day for an essay that I could have done at the start of the day and be over with, leaving me the rest of the day to do whatever I want without worrying about meeting a deadline that I set for myself. I usually get stuff on time, but last minute. 

I was supposed to do the 999 review this weekend, but I kept saying "after my essay because I don't want to get caught up in writing it up" which is kinda how I keep myself from watching anime or playing games or something while in my procrastination stage. Maybe if I actually satisfied myself by playing a game or watching anime, or whatever, I'd actually stop procrastinating because I'd feel more relieved. But I never do this.

So tomorrow is class for me, but I don't have anything after, so I should have my 999 review up then. I actually wrote it up a bit before doing this entry, but realized I had to go in game for a few screenshots I wanted and didn't feel like doing that right now. I have to head off it a bit to wake up early for tomorrow's classes anyway, so I'll do a quick daily Japanese study session and maybe watch an episode of Aria to calm me down before I sleep.

~ Kirari ミ★

PUDDI PUDDI PUDDI PUDDI JAYPEE JUST GOT SHIDDI SHIDDI

So because Moot wanted to be super cool again and added PUDDI PUDDI everywhere, /jp/ (and probably the rest of 4chan, but I don't visit other boards) has gone into complete shit. I mean, extreme shit. I haven't seen /jp/ this shitty since GIRUGAMESH spammer. Seriously, it's horrible right now. I was going to do a review on Lazengann today, but I'm too busy hosting music for /jp/ers that want something to calm them down while they take a break from the crap.

So what are you guys doing right now?

~ Kirari ミ★

Kirari's (possibly) near rape encounter!

Get ready for a cool story. That's what blogs are for, right? Cool stories?

So, I was running late this morning for Japanese class because I was playing video games for too long. I usually have to leave at around 1 PM to catch my bus, and I get back home around 6 PM or so. I don't eat breakfast, but since I'm out for so long, I usually do eat something before leaving for class. Since I was running late, I didn't have that luxury. I mean, I could have done that whole "run out the door with toast in my mouth" thing, but I don't really like toast alone that much, and was running too late to even get a slice of bread out.

So I arrive at class just barely on time. I had a quiz today, so it'd be quite a problem if I actually came in late. After class I take my normal bus, and everything is fine. I go to the back and take out my laptop and kill time by reading my light novels and catching up on my news here and there. However, today was rather different. There's this guy that always sits in the back as well around this time. I never really cared about him or paid him any mind, but I do always see him playing his PSP, and we're always the only ones in the back. He comes in a few stops after I get on, and never sits next to me anyway.

So I'm on my laptop, killing time, and he asks me something out of nowhere.

"Would you like to get something?"

I didn't answer, because I didn't know what the fuck he meant and I try to ignore people until it becomes uncomfortable for me stay silent, by that point I usually proceed to end the conversation myself with "I'm busy" or something after answering their question. Usually I don't have to do that becaue I guess I just have this aura around me that spells out "don't wanna talk" to people.

So he asks:

"I mean like, to drink. Like Starbucks or something?"

Oh shit nigger, what the fuck are you doing? I couldn't leave this without responding, because he'd keep on, so I told him:

"No, I'm busy right now."

And get back to my laptop. He then keeps asking and insisting, and since I am thirsty and have a hard time dealing with people pressuring me into something

I give in and say yeah, shortly before the stop he apparently gets off at, usually. The Starbucks is right in front of the bus stop. We go in, I order some hot chocolate and a cinnamon bun. The cashier hands me my stuff and I tell the guy "I do have to go home though, so thanks for the drink and stuff" before he has the chance to say anything to me. He was saying before that he just wanted to buy me a drink, I didn't have to stay and chat with him or anything, so it shouldn't come as a surprise to him that I just leave after taking his offer. But then, he says something to me as I'm walking out the door.

"Ah, I live near here. The next bus doesn't come for about 15 minutes, if you want I can just get you a ride home"

But luckily, just as he says that, a bus comes. It's not the bus I usually take, but it does take me near my house. So I told him "No thanks, this bus is fine for me. Bye."

But the story doesn't end there!

I get on the bus, drink my chocolate and eat my snack. I'm on my laptop like normal, and while reading my light novel I start feeling a tad bit drowsy. When I get home, I just crash onto the sofa. I don't even take my stuff off, I just pretty much go straight to it and fall out. I stay knocked out for a few hours, and when I wake up I'm still a bit groggy, but decide to force myself awake.

So...what the hell just happened? Did I get something slipped into my drink? I mean, I'm not dumb enough to accept a drink from a stranger and not keep an eye on them to make sure my drink is safe, but I wasn't paying attention to when the drink was being made because an employee was making it. The guy does live around the area, so maybe it's possible he knows the dude that works there and they had planned this out from the start. Or maybe it was just coincidence. You know, like when you get sleepy after getting some warm liquid in your tummy and fill yourself up after being hungry? Maybe that's what happened? But I didn't gradually get sleepy, it pretty much just hit me like a train when I got home.

Needless to say, I'm not taking the same bus again. I wouldn't take his offer if I didn't think things through and plan on never seeing him again. There's another bus I can take that comes about 5 minutes later and takes a completely different route, but still leads me to my house at about the same time. Stuff like this makes me realize that I should have just stayed a lazy NEET and never ventured into the outside world again. Maybe I won't register for another semester and quit here.

~ Kirari ミ★