Holiday

I'm going to start this post with a small rant, but I promise to end in a positive, unrelated note.

My father is an asshole. 

But thanks to his asshattery my sister is coming home earlier than planned from visiting him which means I've got a partner in crime for New Year's eve! I'm not going to lie...her and I are going to get omg chocolate drunk white-but-not-really-because-we're-Panamanian girl wasted. If my sister is old enough to realize how much of a dick my father is and not put up with that shit, then she's old enough to drink in my opinion.

My father also, in the holiday spirit I suppose, made a deposit to my checking account earlier last week, despite the fact that he's behind on child support payments to my mother. This is a pathetic excuse to get me to contact him. I have not made an effort to contact him since March, and I have constantly ignored his calls, texts, and emails. I delete his voicemails without listening to them. I could give a shit less about his life.

But thanks for the booze money dad. I'll make sure my sister and I enjoy it to the max.



My Christmas was great. Slept, played Angry Birds, ate, drank, watched it rain the whole day. I feel weird talking about gifts(actually just one) I received and showcasing them on my blog because it feels like a slap in the face to those who couldn't afford to get even one gift for themselves, their children or other loved ones. I'm all about Christmas/holidays and/or gift-giving but really, it isn't a holiday that not everyone in this country can enjoy. I SAY WE OCCUPY CHRISTMAS! I'm just joking. I'm pretty sure that movement already exists.

Jay Smooth sums up my feelings pretty well in this video from two years ago



By the way, the dude is pretty cool. Check out the rest of his videos.


Listening to Sneaker Pimps. Holy crap 6 Underground brings back memories of when I was a bad ass (around middle school, I was a loser in high school and still am). Did that last sentence make sense?


Happy holidays 8D
Mar

Song

On Sunday afternoon an overwhelming feeling came over me and I began writing. After a few minutes and many, many tears, before me was a complete set of lyrics. I have tried to write before but it was always just a line or two. While writing them I thought of a particular person who is very important to me, and even though I cried pretty hard the entire time, afterwards I felt relieved. It all just poured out. I can't even remember what triggered it. No, I will not post them here, mainly because it is very personal, and because they are in Japanese, so most of you will not understand it anyways.

It is almost 4 in the morning. I have been in bed since 1 but I can't seem to sleep. I will go try again now. Goodnight.

Observe

November is coming to a close. I have started shopping for gifts for friends and family.  My little sister asked me if there was anything I wanted for Christmas. There's a lot I'd like but one item popped into my head: a Dobsonian telescope. I don't expect my little sister or anyone else to get this for me but I thought I'd talk about one of my favorite hobbies.

I have wanted a light bucket for a few years now.  My first telescope was a Zhumell Zenith reflector telescope, a very basic telescope for amateurs. I still would like to keep my reflector one as my go-to telescope but I would like to graduate to a Dobsonian one.  Dobsonians are popular among amateurs because it is relatively easy to use and its simple design is easy to build.  They are called light buckets because they require a lot of light gathering power at a short focal length and operate at low magnification. With a light bucket you can observe faint objects such as nebulae, something my Zenith can't do. Dobsonians aren't that expensive. A 12'' one can go for less than a grand. I'd like to get a smaller one, around 8 inches, and there are some that go for less than $400. Even though I've been able to afford one in the past I always hesitate buying one because I don't know if I'll be moving out of the country next year. Dobsonians are portable but it would be hard for me to take it with me abroad.  Not to mention the fact I probably won't have a car wherever I live abroad so hauling it around on public transport would not work out. Looks like I'll have to continue going to star parties and mooching off the kind astronomers who bring theirs along. But that's what star parties are for anyways. I haven't been to one in a long time. Come to think of it, I haven't been out observing at all since last winter.  Part of the reason I haven't been going out is because I fear I'll get killed while I'm out there. It's a ridiculous reason but lately when I think of myself alone in the dead of night in the middle of no where I start to have weird thoughts. I've been having weird thoughts for the better part of this year, however. Perhaps I'll save them for a later post.

The last time I went observing by myself I went to a neighborhood under construction about 20 minutes away from my house in January. It was perfect because there was a wide clearing and the ground was flat so it made setting up my telescope easy.  I used to go almost every night the winter and summer before I went to Japan in 2008, even when I had to open up the coffee shop a few hours later at five in the morning.

Besides my fear of being killed (by a person or animal, haha) I'm not sure why I stopped going out to observe. It is an extremely calming activity and studying astronomy has been a hobby of mine since I was a child. Throughout high school, instead of taking electives I chose to take extra math classes because I thought I would study physics in college. That changed my first semester, however, when I took my first Japanese class. I don't regret studying Japanese but a degree in Physics would have been a lot more useful than one in Asian Studies. I'm sure I'll have a fulfilling career either way, so I shouldn't stress about it. It's all about what you make out of life! Right?

If you can, I recommend going out to observe one night with a telescope. Start with the moon, it's the easiest object to spot in the sky. Viewing the moon with even the most basic reflector telescope will blow your mind. I tend to feel really small but special at the same time when I do.


Currently listening to Massive Attack. My favorite album of theirs is Protection. It's a classic, and Protection is one of the best songs written of all time. Right now I'm listening to Teardrop, an epic song in itself. You might recognize it because it is used as the opening theme to the medical drama House, which used to be a good show(the first three seasons in my opinion). I do not recommend watching the music video to Teardrop, it is weird as fuck.

First post

I opened up this account in 2007 without a clue as to what I would write.  When I was chosen to study abroad in Japan at Osaka University in 2008 I thought I would turn this blog into my year there, but I took pictures instead (about 8000 over a 10 month period, wow) and never posted them.  In February of this year I started a Japanese blog on Ameblo and have been updating every week since this summer.  My Japanese blog is about my daily life around Atlanta.  Most entries are very short but include pretty pictures.  Please check it out at ameblo.jp/marenicolor

Writing a blog in a foreign language is interesting because sometimes I find myself wanting to say much more but I am limited, so I stick to easy topics, such as my daily life. I tend not to include my opinion other than "It's delicious," "I like it," "This color suits me." When I am writing in Japanese I prefer to talk about the way things are.  However, I do have opinions, beliefs, etc.  I have interests other than Japanese (I know, I don't believe it either) that I would like to share.  I would also like to use this blog as an exercise to improve my writing. Some posts may be in Spanish because even though I speak the language fluently I realise I do not write nearly enough. Spelling and reading comprehension are no problem, but I probably could not write a college level research paper in Spanish if I was asked to do so.

Anyways, this blog will be lots of things.  Personal, opinionated, random, sweet, toned-down, snarky, useless and most of all, unintelligent.  A reflection of myself.  I apologize if opinions expressed on this blog offends any readers. This apology will only be made once.


Right now I'm listening to Perfume's latest single, Spice. It is a double A-side with Glitter. Glitter is catchier but Spice is more mature. The PV for Glitter is classic, just the three members (A-chan, Nocchi, Kashiyuka) dancing. Reminds me of Computer City, one of my favorite songs of theirs. Spice's PV is different. I like it but I will not watch it as much as say, Dream Fighter or Fushizen na Girl.

Random first blog writing experiment

Favorite color is midnight blue. I have a Westie named Whiskey. I have $3.15 in my bank account but $262 in cash (I am a waitress).  I currently have no headache. My room has IKEA furniture in it. I own an Android phone.  And an iPod touch(4th gen), but I would like to sell that.  It has been put off for years but I must get my wisdom teeth taken care of.  I enjoy drinking high gravity beers and my favorite wines are Malbecs.  Perhaps I just never noticed before but this year's fall leaves are beautiful.  I cry a lot.  Pho is my comfort food.  I try to write lyrics in Japanese but I suck.  People buy too much shit for the sake of buying.  Lately I feel I am either too much for some people or not enough for others.  Sex is unnecessary and lately I have found it repulsive.  How do you start off a sentence without saying "I"?  Is double spacing really necessary?

Hm.


Tonight there will be a nabe (hot pot) party with friends who work at a local Japanese company.  One of them is moving back to Japan and is my friend's best friend.  It makes me sad to know I may never see this person again.  I have a feeling, however, that I will.


Please treat me favorably,
and have a good day,

Mar