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Archive for the ‘Life’ Category

Review – Scott Pilgrim (graphic novel) & The Women in Scott Pilgrim

Wednesday, August 18th, 2010 at 1:37 am

***SPOILER ALERT FURTHER DOWN…You’ve been warned***

I’ve read the 6 Scott Pilgrim graphic novels completely twice now, in order, panel by panel, and skimmed through individual volumes quite a bit lately. I’ve only owned them for maybe 2 or 3 weeks now…

I’ve found the world of Scott Pilgrim to be hilarious and entertaining, I love the references to a number (at least 5) of Toronto places that are actually within a 15 minute walk from where I live. It’s awesome. I played the PS3 8-bit Scott Pilgrim game for 2 nights, beat it on all 4 characters and got them $9999.99 each. I’ve yet to see the movie, waiting for Z to read the volumes before we see it….but I may have to see it despite her lack of motivation to be a perfectionist and witness the universe in the chronological order that the products were released. Yeah….I’m the odd one, I know.

Anyways, the 6 volumes are a masterpiece. There are some parts where I’m totally like Scott Pilgrim.

and other parts where I’m intrigued about his character. He’s mysterious, as are many of the characters in the graphic novel. I find him innocent and charming (in his way), trying to forget the bad decisions he’s made the the bad parts of the person he is. Trying to do right despite being a bit of an idiot, trying to be good and change for Ramona. It’s really a “coming of age” story for Scott Pilgrim when you get past all the sillyness, video games, and hilarious absurdities.

I remember reading this (below) in Volume 1 in literally LOLing. I mean, I say “lol” a lot but I’d say that I rarely do it when I’m alone..but this…this is when I knew this Scott Pilgrim thing was just for someone like me:

Again. Sooo me. Even the way he speaks…

What I find somewhat perplexing is the love of all these women in his world. Despite being a bit of a goof, he’s got the adoration of Knives Chau, the long time infatuation of Lisa Miller, a previous relationship with Kim Pine, a previous relationship with Envy Adams, and a relationship with Ramona Flowers. Maybe he’s just really handsome/cute looking “in real life” though not artistically captured in the graphic volume…which I realize is an absurd statement in itself because…you know, everything’s fictional and (until the movie), everything existed in the graphic novel.

I can understand why the girls all like him:
Scott Pilgrim shows Knives a world she’s not accustomed too, much like the Aladdin-Jasmine relationship from Disney’s Aladdin (1992). Man I’m such a girl. Anyways, Knives is just…intrigued by the crazy world Scott’s from and wants to experience this whole new world with him. Again, I’m such a girl.

Lisa Miller is best friends with Scott only to have him fall for another girl, Kim Pine. He’s completely unaware of these deep feelings she has and he never really realizes what he means to her. Years later, Lisa’s probably thinking how Scott was “the one that got away”….well, not quite, it’s high school. But I can understand her wish to have an unrequited love return her feelings, even after so many years.

Kim Pine obviously had/has a connection with Scott when they were young but probably became a bit bitter and angry regarding how her relationship with Scott ended. Again, it’s Scott being an idiot…selfish and a child…but he was young. And stupid. Honestly, I didn’t care for her character much until her departure in chapter 5 as well as her support in chapter 6. Of all the characters…well, women…in the series, I like her the best. Realistic and grounded, sarcastic, brutally honest, intelligent….she looks like she hates the world but I can see a very warm character in her, albeit a bit bitter given some of her life experiences. Wait a sec…I just realized (after proof-reading) that I described liking her for reasons and characteristics that describe me! That must be a form of…self incest or something…Maybe I like her because I see similarities…I’ll have to give this character more thought…

Envy Adam. He might be the only one that really knew the original her. The Natalie V. in her and not the public Envy that the world knows. Well, he should know her…it seems his memory is, as always, a bit of a failing of his. His interpretation of events clearly bias themselves towards his benefit. She’s still attracted to him because he’s the ground in her high flying world.

Ramona Flowers. She’s obviously had some bad experiences with boys in the past, they’ve treated her poorly though she’s treated them equally as bad. Cheated on some of them, left them for other guys that “walk by”. She’s looking for someone who will stick with her mess of a life, someone who won’t hurt her, a nice guy. She’s a bit annoyed when she finds out Scott cheated on her…or…specifically on Knives for her. She expected better and that’s why she’s with him. And that’s why they stay together…because by the end of the volumes, Scott’s more mature and still genuinely a nice guy…

Now, why he likes them. Or why he should. Or shouldn’t.
Knives. Shouldn’t. Rebound girlfriend. Not real…Scott’s an idiot here.
Lisa Miller. Should. His teenage best friend. She’s totally in love with him, he’s just too stupid to realize it. There probably should have been something there. Or specifically, there should be (kudos to you if you got that).
Envy Adams. Should. She’s hot now. Shouldn’t. But a celebrity…don’t do it Scott, it’s a trap! Too much hassle.
Ramona Flowers. Should…NOT. She’s mysterious…I liked her a lot too but the more you read, the more high maintenance she becomes, the more baggage she has, and the better…
Kim Pine turns out to be. Scott SHOULD be with Kim Pine. That’s the girl I’d choose. <3 Honestly, I'm bit more intrigued by the personalities of the girls, their point of view, personalities and character. Well Scott's fun and similar to me, I'm afraid he's simply a bit too unrealistic as a human to empathize with. The girls are different though, they're realistic, well developed, they each have their own spot light and defining moments. I love Scott Pilgrim's precious little life (kudos to you if you got that too). I’m envious for all the amazing women in his life that love his stupid ass. He’s a socially retarded, socially stunted, immature, forgetful, selfish, boy. But he’s genuinely nice (or, he tries to be), he’s childish, innocent, believes smoking is evil, doesn’t drink (or claims not to). There are similarities as well as differences with his character and my own. I find it easy to be placed in his shoes and make the decisions he’s made but difficult to understand them. It’s…confusing. Identifiable but not identifiable at the same time.

What can I say about this graphic novel…it’s like a video game-highschool-Dawson’s Creek/One Tree Hill/Gilmore Girls/The O.C./<insert other highschool show I’ve watched and enjoyed>

I’m a sucker for love stories. I love realistic ones. Well, realistic characters. I enjoy empathizing with them. Being sucked in their world and watching/analyzing their decisions. Characters like these are as believable as any real person to me if I can understand their feelings. The moment I can’t understand them or their decisions, I dislike them. They aren’t realistic. And that’s when I stop being interested. Note: It’s okay to disagree with their decisions, as long as they’re made somewhat rationally. When a relationship simply does not make any sense <insert random O.C. relationship>, and I can’t even understand it, much less agree with it, that’s when I stop watching/reading.

/wrote so much on Scott Pilgrim….I really really hearted this book (kudos to you if you got that too). I think it changed the way I wrote the last two posts. I felt passion again, after so long and wrote a post worthy of my site.

Tags: Scott Pilgrim
Posted in All Posts, Anime, Manga & Comics, Love, Love | 2 Comments »

I like you. Like like.

Thursday, June 3rd, 2010 at 12:10 am

Sometimes…I think about all the people that walk by me everyday…literally hundreds/thousands of people pass by me in a single day. And each one of them…

-Has lost something/someone they’ve loved in life
-Shed tears for a reason they felt worth crying over
-Have their stories to tell
-Liked a number of people. Like Liked.

Think about all the strangers that pass you everyday…how many people have they been infatuated with over the course of their life. Take one person and imagine them as a dot. If that person has liked say, 5 people in their life (which is a pretty small number I would think), then you have 5 lines coming from that dot. And 5 more lines coming from THOSE end dots, and so on and so on – whoa, Math 239 Graph Theory just popped into my head – until you have this enormous web of infatuations. Now, much like that 6 degrees of separation, I imagine EVERYONE in the world being connected in this web.

If everyone liked say, 5 people, then on average, you yourself should be liked BY 5 people. 5 connections from every single person = 5 x total population = 5 times everyone is liked…on average.

Now me, I’ve been infatuated with a number of people throughout my life. Rarely did I ever tell them…and if I’ve never told them, it makes me wonder how many people have never told me they liked me. And this goes for everyone. Now…I start thinking about the people I know…who might never have had anyone be infatuated with them. I’m sure you can think of at least one or two people in your life like that. If you really can’t imagine that nobody has ever liked them…why is that so?

I would hate to be THAT person. To be either so unlikable, so obnoxious, so awkward…so ugly….that not a single person has ever been infatuated with them. I don’t know…I’m insecure in the sense of my own worth through how others see me matters. Throughout my life, when I knew people were infatuated with me…I felt good about myself. That I’m doing something right in life and that people actually would…want to be with me. Obviously this isn’t so much the case now, I’m thinking about my past. There are a number of people that have confessed feelings for me…kinda makes me wonder about all the people that didn’t. I guess I’ll never know just like I’ll never confess my feelings for the girls I’ve liked in the past.

Love is tough…putting yourself out there hoping to be accepted. Kind of like applying for a job or trying to get a promotion or applying to a school. It’s like a date, one side is figuring out if you are worthy of the role or not. And you get acceptance or rejection. And acceptance makes you feel good, rejection makes you feel lousy.

I don’t envy that game at all. I mean, unless you’re fairly attractive, having tons of people like you, the game isn’t that easy. Love is some tough sh!t to get.

/stupid game…it’s like metal gear solid on extreme mode. after a few hours of playing the same impossible thing ur like “fuck” and you turn the console off. but you can’t turn life off. well…you can but I would advise against it. Not talking anyone into suicide…well, not again I mean. It didn’t work out so well the first time…I joke, I joke……. :S

Posted in All Posts, Insightful Reads, Love | No Comments »

Money + /rant

Tuesday, June 1st, 2010 at 5:50 pm

Some good and bad news regarding my financial situation. I won’t go into either tho…the point is that I’ve been thinking about money and its importance in my life. And its importance to other people’s lives.

For me, money is all well and good if you have enough to do what you want, when you want. That’s always been my way ~~of the ninja~~ in life. I don’t need a lot but I’d prefer more than “just enough”. I want to live a comfortable life.

While money is great and all, it doesn’t really affect my work or my need to strive for better things. Regarding career goals and job aspirations, I don’t really have either. Though I don’t think that would be really easy to tell. I’m not really ambitious but I’m also not one to just do his day’s work and leave. I like/strive for doing a good job, the best job I can without sacrificing the rest of my life (too much). But it’s not like I work really hard to get to Job A or Money B. It’s just my own personal standard that I follow everyday…which is a good thing because my standard for myself (and others…) is pretty high. If it were low and I weren’t going for Job A or Money B, I highly doubt I’d ever get anywhere.

I don’t know, I think other people have other goals. They want Job A or Money B. That’s most important to them. Am I the odd one out again?

Note: Regarding the again from above, I was at a townhall meeting a couple of weeks ago, around 80 people were there…and everyone was asked to write down their childhood dream. 79 people wrote down what they wanted to be as a child. A doctor, actor, astronaut, Batman, etc. I was the only one, out of 80 people, that interpreted the dream differently. My dream was to have an epic toy room, glass shelves, comics, all my toys in display cases, manga shelves, etc. I know I’ve always been a bit odd, an outsider…but this situation really stood out to me. Out of 80 people, I was the only one to interpret a question differently. I’m not really an out of the box thinker, I do it occasionally but I imagine my thought process is fairly linear and logical. Anyways…sometimes I really feel like the odd one out….

Anyways…there’s someone I know who comes from a rich background. Her husband is rich, she’s rich…they purchased a million dollar house on a whim, not even really considering the financial cost. But she works. She has the money that she doesn’t need to work…but she still works. How many people would work if they don’t have to? Though I can understand it, I can understand working even if you don’t have to because you need to challenge yourself. You’re not working for the money, you’re working for other reason. I get that.

What I don’t get is people that don’t work and aren’t rich. There are a few people in my life that don’t work and let their significant other pay for everything: mortgage, expenses, food, everything. And that’s okay with them. I can (slightly) understand when someone doesn’t work because they take care of kids during the day. But in an instance I’ve seen, this couple (who didn’t have kids at the time) had one person working and the other didn’t. She looked for a job but her attitude was so sh!tty, she didn’t want to do anything. There were a million reasons not to do something, “this is too hard”, “no one is hiring, I’ll try in a few months”. And this is what I don’t understand…none of these reasons factored in that she HAD to work to support herself and family.

I don’t understand not pulling your financial weight around in life. There are few that LIKE to work. I would say the majority of people do it because they have to to survive, to make ends me, to live their life well. But again, they’re working because they HAVE TO. I don’t understand being financially carried in life. To me, I find it exactly like being a bum.

Bums don’t contribute anything and leech off other hard workers. It’s the same as people who copy assignments, skip class and get notes from someone else, lie on resumes saying they’ve done stuff when they haven’t. It’s all they same…getting something out of doing nothing.

In what fantasy life does one think it’s okay to do this? Where’s the self-respect, where’s the independence, where’s the pride? I’ve thought about this a number of times but if Z had chosen not to work, to be lazy about life, to expect that I pay for everything…I would have ended it. I’m not one to be leeched off of. Just the same, I would feel bad getting a free ride in life. Again, it’s different if I were rich and we didn’t really need to make ends meet. Then Z could do whatever she wanted. Vice versa, if Z were rich then I *might* not feel bad about not working. But we’re not rich, either of us. We need to work to make ends meet, like most people.

Again, people take shortcuts sometimes, if my boss offers me a day off, even if I don’t know if I deserved it, I’m going to take it. I don’t know how much of that statement makes the rest of the post hypocrisy…but I felt I should mention that I don’t believe you have to work hard for EVERYTHING you do.

I wish life were so easy that we could do whatever we wanted. But it’s not. People that delude themselves and their significant other that they can do whatever they want when they shouldn’t…that pisses me off. Who am I to judge you ask? I’ll judge whoever the hell I want cuz I’m up here *hold hand at head level* and you’re down there *points to ground*. Yikes, this goes back to another topic I had about judging people and their right to judge people…I’ll save that rant for another time. For now, just think of me as an arrogant prick. Don’t worry, you can think that cuz it’s true.

/passionate post = long post = real post = /satisified warren

Posted in All Posts, Money | No Comments »

Friends are Replaceable

Monday, May 3rd, 2010 at 12:57 am

Let’s think numbers…
Think about the number of close friends in your grade school.
Think about the number of close friends in your high school.
Think about the number of close friends in university/college.
Think about the number of close friends at work.

Given any situation, you always have your really close 2 to 5 friends.
You have your slightly close 5 to 10 to 15 friends who you know, maybe see a lot, but you probably wouldn’t confide in.

I’ll tell a story: I met my close university friends because of a girl. I noticed this girl in my classes and one day, about a week or 2 into uni, just went up to their group and introduced myself. It was…extroverted, social, so very unlike me. Nevertheless, I became a part of their group…it was still early in uni, groups hadn’t really been defined yet. I realize now that had I not tried to pursue this girl, I would never be close to these friends that I have now. I could have just as easily joined another group for another reason and my friends would have been completely different.

Basically, whatever situation you’re in, you always find a couple of people you’re close with. You always find a bunch of people you might talk to but not confide in.

These friends of yours now, the people who know you best, who understand you, whom you laugh with and chill with. They could just as easily have been other people.

From a mathematical standpoint, friends are replaceable.

Friends, best friends, significant others, husbands and wives…they all could be other people given different circumstances.

As much as you cherish your friends, as much as you love them…they could just as easily have been a different group of people. And you’d have just as many special memories, relationships and connections with another group of friends as your friends now.

Soulmates are a mathematical impossibility. People who use the term to describe their significant other…don’t understand it (that’s my way of saying – they’re idiots).

The fact is, the significant other you’re with, the person you’ve married…could easily have been someone else. I guess the point is a bit moot…life is what it is, there’s not much point in pondering the what could have beens and the what can still be. I just wanted to point out that the people you hold dear in your life that aren’t your family…could just as easily been other people. If you lost your friends, you’d get new ones.

Friends are replaceable. Your friends aren’t special, my friends aren’t special, you can find them anywhere given enough people or depending where you look. If you don’t have many friends…you were probably never in a situation with enough people similar to you. If you don’t have many friends throughout your entire life…there’s probably something wrong with you. Or something wrong with everyone else. But it’s probably you. Truth hurts. Do something about it.

Getting a bit side tracked. When I think about Zena and I, I don’t see us as anything more than 2 people who found what we needed in each other. We’re good together…but I don’t think it’s because we just are, like we were meant to be together. I think it’s that we both understand our relationship, our roles, and we both have what we want in each other. But it’s not a Notebook or Serendipity kinda thing. Hmm…I’m not very romantic…I’m definitely looking at things from a statistical and mathematical standpoint.

Anyways…that’s one of my saved rants that I’ve had. It’s been a while since I wrote something that wasn’t a site update or a long tweet. Sadly, I don’t have many rants left…if you want more of these, I’ll have to force myself to think them up…

Posted in All Posts, Insightful Reads, Life | No Comments »

“Å“I’ve thought for a long time to do something fun in this city…”Â

Thursday, April 22nd, 2010 at 11:47 pm

“I’ve thought for a long time to do something fun in this city. But in the end, I, myself, don’t know what is fun to do. Still, I sort of understand something. That is, you probably can’t do fun things if you’re alone.” – Ukiya Ayane, Gate Keepers 21

I’ve spent so much time…being alone. I’m good at it. But it’s not fun.
I’m content. I’m productive. I’m at one with myself. But it’s not fun.
I don’t smile. I don’t laugh. I enjoy my time alone. But it’s not fun.

There’s not much you can do alone that’s fun.
When you add other people with similar interests, anything you do is more fun.
When you add other people with similar interests, everything you do is more fun.

Humans are naturally social creatures. Despite how much of a social recluse I am…even I admit…it’s more fun to be with others than to be alone.

Humans are not meant to be alone.

Tags: Gate Keepers 21
Posted in All Posts, Introspection, Life, My Life | No Comments »