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WanderingMind

12-31-2008, 02:45 AM

December 30, 2008:

Went to the circus with my family. It was toned down compared to what you would usually think of a circus. To give you an idea, there weren't any clowns in the circus show I went to. Crazy, isn't it?

Umbrae

12-31-2008, 03:45 AM

You know the rule: "Picture or it didn't happen".

WanderingMind

12-31-2008, 03:51 AM

Well...I couldn't take any pictures...so...ha!

Baberific

12-31-2008, 06:42 AM

guh, picture or didn't happen huh???

well, wandering I can trust, but hey...with the new digital camera I have acquired....things we get a little more, REAL.

and no clowns??? WHAT KIND OF CRAP CIRCUS IS THAT???

WanderingMind

01-02-2009, 05:52 AM

January 1, 2009:

Wow...I can't believe it's already 2009. 2008 felt like yesterday...wait, it was yesterday. Like any given year, 2008 had its ups and downs for me.

I'll start with the downs. My uncle Jeff passed away from cancer in early May. I visited him in Manhattan in mid-January when he was feeling well and again in late April when he was in the hospital. I miss him. In mid-June, I stopped speaking to my dad. The unpleasant trip to St. Louis for my cousin Jerry's bar mitzvah and the conversation I had with my dad during the drive from the airport back to his house were the last two straws. For those who don't know, my dad tried to do whatever he could to keep me from applying to the college of my choice a little over two years ago. I refused to speak to him for about two months and tried to get along with him once again. What happened in June made me realize that my dad would not accept the past and go on. It was if all of my efforts were for nothing. I haven't spoken to him since then.

Ah yes...I had roommate problems. On two different occasions, my roommate invited his girlfriend over for the weekend without telling me. The first time, she stayed from Friday evening to Sunday afternoon. The second time, she stayed from Thursday evening to Sunday afternoon. I got sexiled from my room one Saturday night during the second visit. I should have knocked on my door so I could sleep in my room that night.

1up never ceased to piss me off with its updates and problems that came with it, especially the server changes that wrecked 1up earlier this year and the change in the club format on December 2.

Still, as bad as the stuff above may sound, a lot of great things happened to me in 2008. First off, I found Foxkei, the best forums I've ever been on. I had made my comeback on 1up in February after two years only to have disaster strike a couple days later with the server change. The site became broken and I tried to set up a blog on Blogger called "Tales of a Wandering Mind." The blog lasted three days before I took it down, but I now had the inspiration for the name "WanderingMind." Sometime in April, I discovered Alucard's page on 1up. I liked his page so much that I sent him a friend invite. I checked out Foxkei through his banner and forgot about it for the next two weeks. Near the end of the month, I discovered GlassAdam's page and read his blog about Foxkei. On April 26, I joined Foxkei. I couldn't have asked for a better place.

I felt really welcome here. As some of you may remember, I started out as a very slow poster. Then again, I was forum shy at the time. The feeling went away after not long and I soon felt at home here. I have a lot of memories from Foxkei 1.0. Remember the Rainbow Carrot Revolution? It was thanks to the short-lived revolution that I got into Macross Frontier. How about when Skittlebrau became the official drink of Foxkei? I still remember the order of events:

We just broke the record for the most users online at any given time with the help of some bots. Someone said something along the lines of "Let's have a keg party!" I said "I'll bring the Skittles!" Alucard then posted "Skittles? Beer? Looks like we're going to have Skittlebrau!" The rest is history.

How about the color groups? They really didn't do anything, but it sure made for a lot of fun. For those who don't remember, I joined the Blue group.

Who can forget the countless derailing of threads? Good times.

I took some time off Foxkei and the internet in general to play Persona 3 FES nonstop. I made myself a promise that I would touch no other game until I finished P3 FES. It was a tough ordeal and there were times when I almost gave up, but I'm glad I accomplished the task. In all, it took me 137 hours to finish the game.

I stayed on 1up despite all the problems the place had and still has. I joined the Anime and RPG Tournament League well into Season 8, during the Semi-Finals. On the anime side, it was Masane vs. Brandon Heat and Anderson vs. 8 Man. On the RPG side, it was Heat vs. Gilgamesh and Aigis vs. Lenneth. I got to see Aigis win the RPG tournament, which made me really happy.

The next season, I helped out with the match descriptions. It was a learning experience, but I had a lot of fun, even if Syaoran and Mario never made it past the first round. There were a couple of really close matches, like Hiei vs. Sensui and of course, Aya vs. Jeanne. Congrats to Alucard on breaking his curse with Urd in the Anime tournament.

Foxkei, thank you for being an awesome place. You saved me from many hours of boredom while I was working at my congressman's office this past summer. I had a lot of spare time between phone calls, especially after the first two weeks at my internship.

The switch to Foxkei 2.0 took everyone by surprise, including me. I wish somebody told me about the change, but I got used to it soon afterwards. Remember the lotion craze? Thank you, Dirty Uncle.

At the beginning of August, I flew to Austin, Texas to stay with my grandma Mary Jo for two weeks. I visited a bunch of places, including the Alamo and Galveston. I had a lot of fun during those two weeks.

I happened to see a lot of good movies this year. Let's see...the newest Indiana Jones (yes, I liked it), Hellboy II, Iron Man, The Dark Knight (twice), Tropic Thunder, Pineapple Express, Wall-E, and Benjamin Button. It's the most I've been to a movie theater in any given year.

The only thing I got for Christmas from my mom this year was a 360 Pro. I thought I would have to wait until the end of the month before I could play it, but I got it as soon as I came home from school. Go me! On Christmas Day, while I was at my grandparent's, my older brother gave me the present and gift money my dad and grandma Ruth had ready for me if I still spoke to either of them. Grandma Ruth sent me a mean letter along with the check. It turned out I had enough gift money to get a PS3 sooner than expected. So I did. I also got Uncharted, Disgaea 3, Valkyria Chronicles, Star Ocean: First Departure, Gunbuster 2 vol 3 for $20 instead of the usual $40 price, and Tsubasa Chronicle vols 4, 5, and the vol 7 boxset.

Then came the bad news: due to database errors, we couldn't recover the Foxkei forum. Looks like we will have to start over again. I'm really glad the forums are up once again.

Thank you to everyone on Foxkei. I couldn't ask for a better group of people to hang out with. Here's to 2009!

AlucardsFate

01-02-2009, 06:07 AM

Well...thank Brian and Ed...they prodded me into coming here...so without their womanish nagging...I never would have had such a banner on my page...

Well...I must confess...that Skilttlebrau was just a random...but apparently well placed...Simpsons reference. (You know...from back when they fuggin rocked?)

I commonly drop obscure...and non-obscure references to different things into my posts...it seems they are caught very rarely...or nobody acknowledges them...

I would post my year...but I can't remember any of it!

Either way...Glad you found us!

WanderingMind

01-02-2009, 06:30 AM

I didn't know it was a Simpsons reference until a couple weeks ago. I learn something new every day...

If it wasn't for some of the bugs on 1up, I would've never found your 1up page, which means I also would've never found GlassAdam's 1up page. It's funny how things work out...

Heiae

01-02-2009, 02:45 PM

Niji~n loves you, yeah!

SnakeEyez

01-03-2009, 01:31 AM

You sure did have a busy year; it's a wonder you managed to maintain your sanity through it all. Here's hoping that the roller coaster ride called "life" continues to roll right on through 2009.

AmuroRay

01-03-2009, 02:08 PM

Alright WM, I'm glad I met you while on here. Here's to another year in Foxkei!

*Gives Skittlebrau to WM*

WanderingMind

01-04-2009, 01:50 PM

Thank you, Amuro Ray!

January 2, 2009:

Nothing significant really happened yesterday. I also didn't see anything out of the unusual that day, including porcupines.

January 4, 2009:

In ten minutes, I'll be leaving for the airport and flying back to Pennsylvania. I'll get to campus around noon and have the rest of the day to clean up my room, as I left it in a mess as I packed for home at the last minute and ran out as soon as possible. Most people aren't going back to school until the end of the month, so campus will be like a ghost town.

When I don't have class, I'll be spending my time watching a lot of anime, reading manga, and playing a lot of video games. I would play on Live, but I have to register my 360 on the school network, and I don't know when I can do it.

AmuroRay

01-04-2009, 01:56 PM

10 min, well, as I said on our little MSN chat. Have a nice and safe flight. Do they still make you take your shoes off and stuff?

WanderingMind

01-04-2009, 02:00 PM

They're going to make me do it....

KomodoAce

01-04-2009, 03:00 PM

I HATE the TSA.

Rude bastards.

Baberific

01-04-2009, 05:11 PM

GUH, I hated removing certain articles of clothing, such as my belt, cause My pants usually end up falling down.

But either way wandering, here's to another great year, for you that is.

Heiae

01-04-2009, 06:46 PM

Have a safe trip, my man!

Umbrae

01-04-2009, 06:54 PM

Have a nice flight~

WanderingMind

01-06-2009, 03:53 PM

January 6, 2008:

It's really quiet on campus. There's hardly anyone here and there's nothing to do. I went back to school on the 4th to take an interim course for the next three weeks. My class didn't start until today, so I had all of yesterday to myself. I spent most of the day running errands and playing a lot of Chrono Trigger. There were seven other people on my floor until today, which is more than most dorms during this time of year. Three of them left today to take an off-campus course in France and Germany for the next two and a half weeks. Other than class, it looks like I'll be watching anime, playing a lot of video games, and hang out here. I really need to clean my room some more and do my laundry.

I'm taking Contemporary Society and Cinema. This morning, I watched The Ox-Bow Incident, which I thought was a good movie.

I'm not sure if I'll be able to play Live for the next three weeks. Most of the campus is shut down and I have to register my 360 with the school network in order to play online.

At least I now have the room to myself.

Umbrae

01-06-2009, 07:29 PM

You have register your 360? For what?

And you're only taking one class?

WanderingMind

01-06-2009, 08:26 PM

I have to register my 360 with the school in order to get the password needed to log on the network. I did it with my Wii last year.

I'm only taking one class for the next three weeks, around 3 hours every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

Umbrae

01-06-2009, 09:18 PM

Oooh~ Quarter system, huh?

WanderingMind

01-16-2009, 01:07 AM

Oooh~ Quarter system, huh?

I have a regular fall and spring semester with a January interim session in between. I hope that clears things up.

January 9, 2008:

I like to update my status on Facebook so much that I joined Twitter last week. Here's my page in case you're interested in following me:

http://twitter.com/WanderingMind11

Thank you to Cody for convincing me to sign up.

January 15, 2008:

Screw Trinity Blood! I'm watching Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex instead.

I haven't felt this happy since I watched Witchblade. GO ME!!!!!!

Anyway, I should stop procrastinating and do my laundry.

This calls for Skittlebrau!

AlucardsFate

01-16-2009, 01:08 AM

January 15, 2008:

Screw Trinity Blood! I'm watching Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex instead.

I haven't felt this happy since I watched Witchblade. GO ME!!!!!!

Anyway, I should stop procrastinating and do my laundry.

This calls for Skittlebrau!

Bout damn time...geezuz....

WanderingMind

01-16-2009, 01:12 AM

I wonder why I was so persistent about finishing that damn show.

SnakeEyez

01-16-2009, 03:39 AM

Well, just about any other anime show is going to seem inadequate if you try to watch it right after finishing Witchblade.

AlucardsFate

01-16-2009, 03:46 AM

Well, just about any other anime show is going to seem inadequate if you try to watch it right after finishing Witchblade.

Not Sailor Moon R...

HAHAHAHA!

ChukoLiang

01-16-2009, 04:04 AM

yeah, that one just seems plain boring.

WanderingMind

01-25-2009, 10:41 PM

January 25, 2008:

Thank god I bought my books for next semester on Thursday. I didn't have to deal with the weekend rush now that everyone is back on campus. I was able to get all 17 books for 3 of my classes. I'll have to get the textbook for my World Music class in class when it starts on Tuesday. Add the 17 books and a special LAN cable I need to hook up to the wired internet in my room, and the price comes to $412.25.

At the end of last semester, I traded in all the books the bookstore would take and I got $150.25. I got a beaten up quarter for change. Words alone cannot describe it, so I'll show you a picture.

Heads

http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh18/egmmer/Photos/DSC00162.jpg

Tails

http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh18/egmmer/Photos/DSC00160.jpg

AmuroRay

01-26-2009, 04:51 AM

Wow, that thing looks like it got beaten up with a hammer. $412.25, wow.....that's a lot.....

Umbrae

01-26-2009, 05:31 AM

I remember doing something with coins in my high school chemistry class. I think we put acid on them or something~

WanderingMind

02-02-2009, 09:43 PM

February 2, 2009:

Let me tell you a story that took place last Saturday. I was hanging out with some of my friends in the first floor lounge of my dorm watching Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix when a group of people came into the room near the end of the movie. Before you say anything, I didn't mind them except for a girl named Alex. None of my friends could stand her and I always keep my distance from her. Probably one of the most annoying people I know at my school. We needed to find a way to clear the group of people with girl Alex out of the lounge.

My really good friend Susan used her secret weapon: German and Russian videos she had on DVD. We started off with a ten-minute Mercedes-Benz advertisement from the 1980s...in German. It cleared out the lounge the last time we used it, but it didn't work this time. Next up was an episode of D-Motor, the German equivalent of Top Gear. It was the one episode where D-Motor faced off against the crew of Top Gear. That video also usually clears out the room within seconds, but girl Alex and her group wouldn't leave this time. Great...they've been in the lounge for about an hour. Next up was a Russian movie called Daywatch. Girl Alex and her group cleared out of the lounge within the first minute of this movie. It was a great success.

With them gone, we took Daywatch out of the DVD player and put in the fourth Indiana Jones movie.

Now...if you excuse me, I have some reading

AmuroRay

02-02-2009, 10:27 PM

Way to make people go away....hahaha good job....

Still reading?!

WanderingMind

02-02-2009, 11:36 PM

Nope. I couldn't find the one book that had the 80 remaining pages I have to read for my one class by Wednesday. I'll have to go to the bookstore tomorrow.

ChukoLiang

02-03-2009, 12:16 AM

wait, you watched the fourth indy movie?

Well that could've driven anyone away anyway.

WanderingMind

02-11-2009, 03:09 AM

February 10, 2009

Today has been a long day for me. I got back to campus around 10:30 last night after spending the afternoon flying from Florida back to school. This included a three hour layover in Charlotte. I spent that time watching Spellbound on my laptop. Anyway, I went to bed around 1:30 and woke up at 7:00. I walked out of my dorm, got in my car, and drove it to a designated parking lot a couple miles away from campus. There's a shuttle that comes to the parking lot around 7:45 and the next one doesn't come back until 2:30. If I don't get my car off campus before 7:30, I will end up with a $20 parking ticket from public safety. Anyway, I take the shuttle back to campus around 8:00. Since I'm up this early and don't have my Hinduism class until 9:30, I decide to get breakfast. It was at this point that I realized I didn't have my student ID on me. Instead of going to the school cafeteria, I went to a nearby local coffee shop named the Cosmic Cup. I ordered a fairly large cup of coffee in a mug and a butter toasted chocolate chip muffin. It was a great day to start my day. Feeling refreshed, I went back to my dorm to take a shower. However, all the showers were taken, so I spent my time waiting by using my computer. I then realized that I had to go to my Hinduism class, so I waited until 1:30 in the afternoon to take my shower for the day.

I had my second class, Music, Myth, and Ritual, from 2:45-4:00 pm. I spent the time between that class and dinner working on the match descriptions for the tournaments and voting on matches. I'm not familiar with some of the characters, so I had to look up a lot of stuff on them. Anyway, I had my last class from 7:00 to 9:00 pm. I brought two cans of A&W to help me get through that class. It worked. I'm tired right now and I think I'll go to bed around 1 am.

Baberific

02-11-2009, 03:25 AM

AmuroRay

02-11-2009, 03:23 PM

So much for our matches in MGO WM. lol You spent it updating...

3 Hour wait in Charlotte? Damn that's long.

WanderingMind

02-19-2009, 11:39 PM

Baberific

02-20-2009, 12:03 AM

February 19, 2009:

Life is so much better now that I have a double to myself. No roommate, no problem. Anyway...I need to start looking for a job this summer. I tried to get one last summer, but things didn't work out. I'll hopefully do better this time around. That's all I have to say right now.

Remember...if you seriously want a job...APPLY EVERYWHERE!!!

cause I'm only able to get a filing job due to connections with my mom.

Coral

02-20-2009, 12:12 AM

February 19, 2009:

Life is so much better now that I have a double to myself. No roommate, no problem. Anyway...I need to start looking for a job this summer. I tried to get one last summer, but things didn't work out. I'll hopefully do better this time around. That's all I have to say right now.
I'm gonna need a new job soon too after I drop out of school. Times are tough now, like Baber said apply everywhere lol.

WanderingMind

03-03-2009, 09:46 PM

It doesn't help that I'll be in Florida in the middle of the summer. Times are tough, but it's hard to get a job back at home because a lot of businesses are not in season and therefore not hiring. I'll see if I can get something through connections with my mom.

March 3, 2008:

I felt like absolute crap when I woke up today. It didn't help that I had trouble going to sleep last night. I had my heater on and I was under my covers, but my legs felt really cold. It took me 10 minutes to get out of bed when my alarm went off at 8:40. My legs felt like they wanted to give out on me and I had a really bad headache. I wanted to go back to sleep, but I had class at 9:30. I actually had breakfast for the first time in a while. I struggled to walk to my first class. My arms and legs didn't feel warm at all.

I took an hour long nap when I got back around 11:00 and went to lunch around noon. I lost most of my appetite and could barely eat anything. I took another hour long nap when I returned to my room after lunch. Again, it took me 10 minutes to get out of bed after my alarm went off. I walked to my second class around 2:30, but decided to leave as soon as I got there. I went to the health center to get myself checked out.

Turns out that I have the flu. Ugh. I had an unusually high fever and stayed in the health center for about an hour. I was able to leave once I felt better and went on to buy a lot of food and Powerade. I'm excused from classes this evening and tomorrow.

I feel a lot better now, but I still feel like crap.

Baberific

03-03-2009, 09:50 PM

be thankful that you did not have stomach flu...now that is a real pain!!

hope that you recuperate 100%

WanderingMind

03-03-2009, 09:53 PM

be thankful that you did not have stomach flu...now that is a real pain!!

hope that you recuperate 100%

I'm so glad I don't have the stomach flu. Hopefully, I'll recuperate 100% by tomorrow.

KomodoAce

03-03-2009, 10:32 PM

I've said it before and I'll say it again.

Getting sick sucks. I'm finally out of my funk and it took two weeks to completely get out of the woods.

Heiae

03-04-2009, 12:05 AM

Get better quickly, Wandering!

ChukoLiang

03-04-2009, 12:10 AM

Get better swiftly

SnakeEyez

03-04-2009, 12:13 AM

Get better expeditiously.

WanderingMind

03-17-2009, 04:20 AM

March 16, 2009:

Today, I was planning to apply for a job this summer. I woke up at 10 am, watched some Trigun, took a shower, and got into my car to Best Buy. My closest Best Buy was one of the stores that had all anime DVDs marked off 50%, so I bought the Bubblegum Crisis 2040 boxset, the first season of Kodocha, first season of Black Lagoon, and the first three DVDs of Black Lagoon: The Second Barrage. I also bought Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard (PS3), Eternal Sonata (PS3), Star Ocean: Second Evolution (PSP), and Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon (DS). Street Fighter IV can wait for later.

I then went to Five Guys, where I ate a cheeseburger. I then went to Barnes and Noble. I picked up the latest issue of Otaku USA and was reading the manga insert when I started to feel light-headed. I figure that I would read the last four pages of the manga insert before I put it back and walk over to get a job application form. I blacked out, fell down to the ground, and got back up immediately. It all happened so quickly. I woke up within a second to find out that someone called 911. I was pale and sweating.

I was taken to a hospital, where I stayed for a couple hours. There goes my afternoon. Heh. My stepdad stayed with me while I was in the hospital. It turns out that I have some sort of medical condition that can be easily taken care of. I won't go into detail since I have the right to keep my personal medical information private.

My stepdad took me back home after I was discharged from the hospital. I ate Chinese food when I got home and spent the early evening doing some of my homework. I got a good chunk of The Jungle done tonight. I then played Disgaea 3 for 2 hours.

I had a short day of sorts today.

KomodoAce

03-17-2009, 04:27 AM

Wow. You passed out in the middle of a bookstore?

Either way, it's your right to withhold any info that you consider private, but I hope you get the proper medicine/treatment for whatever it is you have.

WanderingMind

03-17-2009, 04:37 AM

KomodoAce

03-17-2009, 04:43 AM

Good thing you didn't hit your head on anything.

The majority of fainting spells become much more dangerous to the health when the person hits his head on the way down.

Thankfully, I've never fainted before. Getting dizzy and throwing up on an airplane while wearing sunglasses is something else.....I'll save that for my own discussion.

Either way, stay healthy man!

WanderingMind

03-17-2009, 04:49 AM

That was the first time I passed out like that. I got 10 hours of sleep the night before and had something to eat, so I was otherwise healthy. I'm just glad it didn't happen while I was driving. That would have turned out terrible.

KomodoAce

03-17-2009, 04:53 AM

Yeah, be happy you didn't pass out while driving.

My grandpa passed out once (due to diabetic condition) while at the wheel. Luckily my uncle was riding shotgun and they weren't traveling at a high speed.

It would not have ended well.

Baberific

03-17-2009, 05:24 AM

guh, And I thought I was the only one who suddenly blacked out while doing something, hope such a situation doesn't happen to you again.

SnakeEyez

03-17-2009, 11:58 PM

I bet somebody drugged your cheeseburger. I never did trust those Five Guys.

On a serious note, I'm glad that you're alright. Are you sure you passed out for just a few seconds, though? It may have been a lot longer but only felt like a few seconds. It's kind of difficult to determine time frames in situations like that, you know?

As an aside, I'm sure Alucard will be happy to hear that you're the proud new owner of a Kodocha DVD.

AmuroRay

03-18-2009, 12:25 AM

I know the feeling of getting light headed then passing out....well that was like 7 years ago but I can remember it clearly...

You just fainted....but you got up in a few seconds....

I've fainted but it took maybe 5-10 minutes to wake me up with something I forgot.....blacking out like that while walking is not a good experience.

Also good to hear you are fine.

AlucardsFate

03-18-2009, 12:34 AM

WanderingMind

04-08-2009, 06:25 PM

April 8, 2009:

Remember how I passed out during spring break? I was sent to the hospital and it turned out I had some sort of medical condition.

That Friday, I was sent to another hospital to have surgery. I got there around 6:30 in the morning and didn't get out until 10:30 that night. I brought my PSP with Crisis Core to the hospital along with a copy of Reaper Man by Terry Pratchet. I played Crisis Core for 8 hours that day. If I didn't feel like playing my PSP, I watched whatever was on TV. I watched two episodes of the Drew Carey show...and then Ion showed some movie called Tango and Cash with Sylvester Stallone and Kurt Russel....not once, but twice in a row. I didn't get far in Reaper Man because I had trouble focusing.

I got out of the hospital that night and couldn't do any heavy lifting for the next few days. Near the end of my spring break, I went to a Japanese fair at a park 40 minutes away from my house, where they had taiko drumming and some other events. There were also a couple anime vendors at the fair, so I checked that out. I bought a lot of manga, the OVA series of the Irresponsible Captain Tylor, and an Evangelion wall scroll. It was hard not to get more stuff. Heck...I even found Japanese issues of Newtype, a famous anime magazine that used to have a US version.

I fly back to school that Monday and started class again. I'm moving into another dorm next year and got myself a single room...woo hoo! No more roommates!

Right now...I have a lot of stuff coming up...including a 15 page paper due in 2 weeks for my American Foreign Policy class. I wasn't getting anywhere with it, so I changed my topic last night and started from scratch. If you can go through college without writing a 15 page paper, you're fortunate. That's what I get for being a History major.

Some of you know that I don't get along with my dad at all. He constantly calls me on my cell phone, even though I haven't spoken to him since last June. He always leaves a voicemail whenever I miss a call from him, which is every single time. I cringe as I listen to them. In one message, he reminded me to "Stay warm" and "Get enough sleep." It's like he's not treating me like a responsible person. I'm getting his phone number blocked.

It's safe to say that I'm done with 1up aside from commenting on the blogs of my friends who are still there. You can usually find me here or on the Backloggery.

If you excuse me, I'm going to work on my paper.

Scion_of_Life

04-09-2009, 02:50 PM

Wow. It sounds like you are in the hospital a lot.

Glad the rest of your day faired better.

WanderingMind

04-09-2009, 03:02 PM

I need to update my journal more often, especially when a lot of stuff happened over spring break. It was my first time spending an entire day in a hospital. That's why I haven't had the chance to see Watchmen yet...so I may wait until it comes out on DVD.

WanderingMind

05-19-2009, 04:35 PM

May 19, 2009

Bad news come first. After months of courtroom battling, my mom lost custody of my autistic younger brother to my dad. My brother will still be able to go to my mom's house, but my mom will no longer be able to make decisions for him. I don't get along with my dad and he doesn't do a good job of looking after my younger brother. I think he's better off with my mom, so I'm worried about his future.

So onto better news.

I had to wake up early today to go in for an interview at a local museum at 10:00 this morning. The interview went well, so all I have to do now is to turn in a form and wait to hear back from them. If things work out, I'll be working in collections and artifacts for the rest of the summer as a volunteer. I got back home a hour and a half ago after a 40 minute drive back from the museum, so I'm going to relax for the rest of the day. I'm going to treat myself to a bunch of games, including Bioshock, Lost Planet, Street Fighter IV, and Prinny: Can I Really Be the Hero? I'll trade in some games like Rogue Galaxy, Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard, and Scurge: Hive. The only thing left I really have to do today is to finish the form I got at the interview and send it by mail. That's all I have to say for now.

SnakeEyez

05-20-2009, 01:13 AM

Oh dear. Well, sorry to hear about your brother. I can't offer much in the way of advice or solace, but I'll be hoping for the best.

Getting a job at a museum, eh? Or...if you're a volunteer, I guess we can't really call it a "job" since you don't get paid. But still, can't really complain about spending the summer in a museum. That sounds pretty neat.

WanderingMind

05-20-2009, 01:28 AM

Fedaykin

05-20-2009, 06:23 AM

Sorry to hear about your brother man. Good luck with the job though.

WanderingMind

05-23-2009, 03:53 AM

May 22, 2009:

Starting tomorrow, I'll be out of town for the next three weeks. I'm going to be taking a geology class where I will go to a bunch of national parks out west in Nevada, Arizona, and Utah. I'll be on campus May 23-May 26, meaning that I'll have internet access for those few days. After that, I can't guarantee I can be online at all until June 13, when I fly back to Florida.

See you around!

Heiae

05-23-2009, 04:46 AM

Have fun!

WanderingMind

05-23-2009, 04:47 AM

I will and I'll be sure to post some pictures here.

KomodoAce

05-23-2009, 04:57 AM

Have a good time WM.

Just read this and the last thing about your brother, sorry man, I hope it works out for you.

BTW, is your blog site still alive?

WanderingMind

05-23-2009, 05:08 AM

Yes it is. Still up and running.

Feel free to post there anytime you want.

SnakeEyez

05-23-2009, 11:23 PM

Ooooh, very cool. That sounds like it's going to be a lot of fun. Don't be stingy with the pictures when you get back.

KomodoAce

05-23-2009, 11:35 PM

Ah sweet, I need to update my thing a bit. Just not right now.

WanderingMind

06-02-2009, 04:43 AM

June 1, 2009:

It's been a little over a week since I left home. I got back to school on May 23, the same day that the seniors were going to graduate. I left my Honda Civic in long-term parking at the Allentown airport from May 14 to May 23 while I was back home in Florida. It was cheaper and more convenient than taking a 30 minute taxi ride to the airport and back. I drove to campus the day that graduation took place. One of the first things I had to do when I got back to campus was to drop off my Civic at a car storage place for the rest of this summer. You see, my parents don't want to bother with bringing my car back home to Florida and having to send it back to Pennsylvania when I have to go back to school. I dropped off my car sometime around 2 pm and had someone give me a ride back to school. Having nothing else to do that afternoon, I walked into the middle of the graudation ceremony and found somewhere to sit. Afterward, I got to hang out with some of the graduating seniors who were my friends because this was going to be the last time I was going to see them before they would go out into the real world.

From March 23 to June 13, I'm going to be without video games. Sure, I could have brought my DS or PSP with me, but I didn't want to risk losing either of them. I'm going to start Prinny: Can I Really Be The Hero? as soon as I get back home.

So...March 24 and March 25 were really brutal. For the next two days, I would learn about 3-4 weeks worth of geology in 2 days. Ouch and yes, I had class on Sunday. The first day, I was in class 10 am - 6:30 pm. My head hurt that evening. The next day, I was in class 9 am - 5:30 pm and had to take a quiz at the end. Again, my head hurt that evening. So I had to wake up early on the 26th to fly from Allentown to Las Vegas. Unfortunately, I didn't spend any time in the city that day. That will wait until the end of this trip.

I spent a good amount of the last 7 days at the Grand Canyon and just got back from a 4 day rafting trip down the Colorado River. I woke up very early today to hike 10 miles up the Grand Canyon. It was brutal and I'm really tired right now. The only reason I'm not asleep right now is because I napped a lot on the way back to the hotel I'm staying at and had a lot to eat for dinner.

So yeah, you're going to hear more from me even though I'm out of town for the time being.

Baberific

06-02-2009, 05:42 AM

hoho, hope you had a terrific time...I wish I could have gone river rafting, IT SOUNDS SO EXTREME!!!

ChukoLiang

06-02-2009, 05:52 AM

I wrote a new blog on wordpress. You'd be so proud.

AlucardsFate

06-02-2009, 06:52 AM

Devon made it out of the wild alive! He is now a man!

SnakeEyez

06-03-2009, 01:07 AM

That sounds both awesome and grueling. Glad to hear that you're still alive, though. Make sure you forgo shaving during this trip so you can return with a manly lumberjack beard.

AlucardsFate

06-03-2009, 01:23 AM

That sounds both awesome and grueling. Glad to hear that you're still alive, though. Make sure you forgo shaving during this trip so you can return with a manly lumberjack beard.

If you choose to shave...it should be done ONLY with a large hunting knife...no water or Shaving cream involved...

WanderingMind

06-08-2009, 03:49 AM

June 7, 2009

This is probably the longest I have been away from Foxkei since I did my Persona 3 marathon last year. Since I made it out of the Grand Canyon, I have visited Bryce Canyon and Capitol Reef National Park, both in Utah. I've done more hiking, but nowhere as much as the 10 mile hike out of the Grand Canyon. This trip is the most physically demanding college class I will ever take. Tomorrow, i will either go to Canyonlands or Arches National Park.

It's been a week since I last shaved. MANLY BEARD!

KomodoAce

06-08-2009, 04:07 AM

Pics or it didn't happen *STOLEN FROM UMBRAE!*

That sounds great. I've always wanted to go on those type of nature hikes. See any dangerous snakes or anything like that?

WanderingMind

06-08-2009, 04:43 AM

I have so many pics, I'll make an album on Photobucket or some other site, link it there, and post a handful of pics here. Haven't seen any dangerous snakes yet, just a lot of squirrels.

SnakeEyez

06-08-2009, 04:57 AM

Haven't seen any dangerous snakes yet, just a lot of squirrels.

...a lot of dangerous squirrels?

Fedaykin

06-08-2009, 04:59 AM

Pics or it didn't happen *STOLEN FROM THE INTERNET!*

That sounds great. I've always wanted to go on those type of nature hikes. See any dangerous snakes or anything like that?

Fixed.

WanderingMind

06-08-2009, 05:03 AM

...a lot of dangerous squirrels?

Yes. They're EVERYWHERE! They look innocent, but they're really after your food. The squirrels I see are not like the ones back at home. They're less shy of people, which means I have to do more to shoo them away from my stuff.

Those squirrels don't know how to steal my pics....bwhahahaha.

Baberific

06-08-2009, 05:10 AM

huh, a physically demanding college class....that actually sounds EXCITING!!!!

I hope that you didn't try to mess with Sasquatch.......cause shit really hits the fan when that happens.

Good luck in wherever you day takes you.....cause the baber is always watching.
That beeping noise you hear??? yea......I'm listening to you breathe.

WanderingMind

06-08-2009, 05:16 AM

Fedaykin

06-08-2009, 05:18 AM

The spice must flow.

Robobvious

06-08-2009, 05:28 AM

The spice must flow.

http://static.dropline.net/cats/images/dune-cat.jpg

WanderingMind

06-08-2009, 05:33 AM

Robobvious

06-08-2009, 05:35 AM

The worst part about the trip is that I've taken a test a couple days ago and have to take a final one when I'm in Las Vegas during the last night of the trip. Remember, this is a geology class I'm taking and I have to pass if I want to get credit.

What do you learn in Geology? Types of rock? How rock formations are formed? Rock layers? Something else?

WanderingMind

06-08-2009, 05:42 AM

What do you learn in Geology? Types of rock? How rock formations are formed? Rock layers? Something else?

Rock types, rock formations, rock layers, and other stuff.

Robobvious

06-08-2009, 05:44 AM

Rock types, rock formations, rock layers, and other stuff.

IF I took a picture of a rock could you tell me correctly what type it is? Cause I found this cool rock but I'm not sure what it is. I'm thinking slate, shale, or obsidian, but can not be sure.

WanderingMind

06-08-2009, 05:47 AM

IF I took a picture of a rock could you tell me correctly what type it is? Cause I found this cool rock but I'm not sure what it is. I'm thinking slate, shale, or obsidian, but can not be sure.

I can't gurantee that. You can take a picture of the Grand Canyon and I can pick out different formations for you.

Robobvious

06-08-2009, 05:50 AM

I can't gurantee that. You can take a picture of the Grand Canyon and I can pick out different formations for you.

I just googled some pics and now I am convinced it is Shale.

AlucardsFate

06-08-2009, 10:00 AM

WanderingMind

07-18-2009, 05:46 PM

July 18, 2009

Today's been a really slow day for me. Didn't get a lot of sleep last night, woke up, went through some of my old stuff from years ago to see if I needed to get rid of anything. Played some Donkey Kong Land 1, watched some R.O.D. TV.

Will go to the post office to send off some games I'm trading with a friend. Still need to talk to Alex (Grand_OoF) so I can tell him what games I'm willing to get rid of.

I'll probably update my journal later today.

WanderingMind

08-03-2009, 05:46 PM

August 3, 2009

Remember how I told all of you about that geology trip I was on? I got my grade back from that class a few weeks ago. I barely passed the class, getting a D as my final grade. I could have done a lot better, but that class was tough! It was supposed to be an intro-level geology class, but it didn't feel like it. At least I got my lab science credit, even though my GPA took a hit. Oh well. At least I enjoyed hiking and doing other stuff in what was the most physically intense college course I will ever take in my life.

This past weekend, I had to go up to the middle of nowhere in Vermont to go to a stepbrother's wedding. I left my house early Friday morning to fly from West Palm Beach to Newark. I was supposed to fly from Newark to Hartford, but the flight got canceled. We had to drive from Newark all the way to the middle of nowhere in Vermont. I'm telling you...this town was small! How small? A town so small, you can only tune in to 6-7 radio stations on FM. I didn't bother with AM. I brought my PSP with me along with Star Ocean: First Departure, Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions, and Prinny: Can I Really Be The Hero? I ended up playing Star Ocean 1 only. Made about 11 hours of progress this weekend.

The wedding went by really quickly, and I got to eat good food at the dinner on Saturday night. Mmmm....chocolate-covered strawberries.

I did a ton of traveling yesterday and didn't get in to West Palm Beach until around 1 am. I wasn't WanderingMind yesterday...I was TravelingMind! I had to check up on some stuff on my computer, so I didn't go to bed until 3 am last night. I slept in until after noon today, the first time I've done something like that in a long time.

Anyway, I'm back home.

RedWizard

08-03-2009, 05:51 PM

Welcome back old bean!

WanderingMind

08-15-2009, 04:32 AM

Hey...I've actually been to the Grand Canyon...what did ya think? It looks like a damn painting right?

It sure does.

(Sorry for the late reply)

August 15, 2009

I got kicked out of my room because my stepdad's mom needed somewhere to stay for the weekend. This is the second time I had to get out of my room to make room for her this summer. Seriously, she needs to be in a home. My room is the only bedroom downstairs and she can't use the stairs, which is why I got kicked out. I would be fine with staying in another room, but the bad part about this time is that I'm staying in my older brother's room. It wouldn't be too bad, but it's the only room in the house without a TV. So much for video game progress this weekend. Looks like I'll be spending my weekend catching up with a bunch of anime shows. Hopefully, I can get far in the first season of Sailor Moon and finish Read or Die TV.

I'm looking forward to watching Ponyo tomorrow and I'm glad it's showing in my town.

AlucardsFate

08-15-2009, 04:35 AM

It sure does.

(Sorry for the late reply)

August 15, 2009

I got kicked out of my room because my stepdad's mom needed somewhere to stay for the weekend. This is the second time I had to get out of my room to make room for her this summer.

You let her have your room...that is good karma.

Hopefully, I can get far in the first season of Sailor Moon and finish Read or Die TV.

Statements like this...are why Devon is more win then so many others.

Fedaykin

08-15-2009, 05:02 AM

Haha Devon you suck up. Man I gotta watch some anime... My laptop's dying so I'll have to move em over to my girl's netbook to watch 'em. *sigh*

Don't know which one to start with though. I'd go with Sailor Moon but I'd prefer watching others that are only 26 episodes. SailorMoon is looooong. Even just one season...

WanderingMind

08-15-2009, 05:05 AM

Haha Devon you suck up. Man I gotta watch some anime... My laptop's dying so I'll have to move em over to my girl's netbook to watch 'em. *sigh*

Last time, I stayed in my younger brother's room. I didn't mind that because he had a TV. Since he's staying at my mom's house for this weekend, I'm in my older brother's room.

I wanted to get in a couple sessions of Battlefield: Bad Company and beat Resident Evil 5 on Professional, but not going to happen until I get my room back.

AlucardsFate

08-15-2009, 05:46 AM

Fedaykin

08-15-2009, 05:52 AM

Just watch the back end of Sailor Moon R. After the Doom Tree Arc. The Chibi-usa/ Dark Moon Clan arc. It's like half the season.

I would, and thanks for the suggestion, but I hate not starting from the beginning when watching/playing/reading something.

I'll watch it soon though I promise.

WanderingMind

09-16-2009, 05:34 AM

September 15, 2009

Today was a long ass day for me. I would be talking about what happened, but I feel like shit and I should have been in bed a while ago because I have a 9 am class.

I'll fill everyone on the details either on this thread or on an upcoming blog post.

Peace out.

WanderingMind

10-12-2009, 06:00 PM

October 12, 2009

It's pretty hard to believe that last year, I was complaining about my roommate and how he invited his girlfriend over to my dorm over the weekend for the second time that semester. I let myself loose and wrote a really long post on Foxkei, which was lost when the previous forums imploded. The advice that everyone gave me last year really helped me. Thank to all you guys for being there whenever I needed support. It's stuff like this that makes me want to continue sharing my personal life. The same thing can be said when I told everyone here about all the crap that went on in my life three years ago and why I no longer talked to my dad. It was pretty bold of me to make a post like that, but I'm glad I did it. Again, that was also lost from the previous forums.

Today is Monday, October 12, 2009. Here at Lafayette College, we have this thing called Fall Break, in which we all get school off on Monday and Tuesday. It is also a time when a lot of people go home. Since I'm in Pennslyvania and home for me is in Florida, I stayed on campus. No point in going home if it's not for something important and for so little time. I'm staying in my dorm room on campus during this time. I'm so glad I live in a single this year. I can go to bed whenever I want, arrange my room the way I want, and not deal with other people, seeing how I've always had bad experiences with roommates. Maybe I'm being too harsh on other people, but it's just about the way things have been happening to me, especially about what happened last year.

How did I spend Friday, Saturday, and Sunday? Doing absolutely nothing productive. On Friday, I started Viewtiful Joe 1 and proceeded to beat it later that night. I took a break in between to go get my 2004 Honda Civic serviced. I thought I was having engine problems, but it turned out that my transmission was busted. Goody, I have to take my car to a Honda dealer to get the transmission replaced. Looks like I won't be seeing my car for a few days. I was planning on seeing Zombieland this weekend at theaters, but the stuff about my car means that I won't be able to do much and should get my car fixed as soon as possible. Dropping my car off would have to wait another day. I drove over to Target, where I needed to get some stuff and a headset so I can talk on Skype without having to rely on my computer's built-in mic. While I was there, I saw a green fedora and went "YES". It reminded me of the fedora that Firo, my favorite character from Baccano, wears, so I bought that. It looks great on me.

Not much happened on Saturday other than playing some Pikmin 1 on my Gamecube and watching some anime later that evening, mostly Sailor Moon R. I should get around to watching the Fruits Basket DVDs I checked out of the library earlier this week. That way, I can return them without running any late fees. I've been pretty bad about returning stuff on time, and I don't want to make it worse. Like I do whenever I have free time at night, I was hanging out at some gaming streams on Justin.tv, mostly the Backloggery user streams and then some others. Good fun. I'll sometimes hang out at WanderingWolf's channel. Wolf is a former 1upper and a friend of Cami (LuminousAtelier), so if you ever get the chance, you should check out his channel at http://www.justin.tv/wanderingwolf/old

Ah yes, lazy Sunday. Again, I didn't do much except for sitting around and play video games all day. I finished up Pikmin 1 and stopped gaming that night as soon as I was done. I went into town that night to eat some dinner with some friends. Easton isn't that big of a city and you have to walk down a big hill to get from campus to town, which is why I don't go in town all that often. Anyway, food was good. I then watched Zone of the Enders: Idolo with three people on my floor. Only one other person aside from me has played any of the Zone of the Enders, so we were the only two people who enjoyed that movie.

Right now, I'm going to drop off my car at the dealer and try to get a crapton of homework done today and tomorrow.

WanderingMind

12-12-2009, 02:21 PM

December 12, 2009

I found out last night that my grandpa died early yesterday. I'm in a pretty bad mood right now and I'm not looking forward to next week. I have 3 papers and 3 finals and don't leave until the 20th. Technically, I don't get home until the 21st because I'm driving all the way home.

I got a phone call from my mom earlier this morning asking me if I wanted to go home just for tomorrow. I'm really torn about this because I'm going to be busy as hell next week.

I think anything will cheer me up at this point.

Fedaykin

12-12-2009, 02:25 PM

Aww man, sorry about your grandfather, it's never easy to cope with something like that.

Here, something that might cheer you up: http://www.cleverbot.com/

Scion_of_Life

12-12-2009, 10:56 PM

I found out last night that my grandpa died early yesterday. I'm in a pretty bad mood right now and I'm not looking forward to next week. I have 3 papers and 3 finals and don't leave until the 20th. Technically, I don't get home until the 21st because I'm driving all the way home.

You have my condolences my friend. I don't know what it is like to lose a grandpa as yet, but my sympathies are with you all the same.

To be honest, I couldn't bear to lose my grandfather. He has been sick off and on for years now, but he has always been kind to me. Even with the family in the condition it is in now, I know he cares.

I know the loss stings as of now, but do try to remember the good memories and hold on to them. If you do that, he'll never truly leave you.

KomodoAce

12-13-2009, 12:20 AM

My condolences to you WM. I know it's especially hard with the Holidays coming up.

EDIT: Crap, wrong thread :(

Sorry WM.

WanderingMind

12-13-2009, 02:17 AM

December 12, 2009

So there's going to be an open house back at home tomorrow. My grandpa didn't want a funeral when he died, so this is the closest to a service he'll get. I'm not going home because I have way too much stuff to do next week and going home will only get in the way. I almost got into an argument with my older sister over me not going home. At least she isn't on AIM right now. My mom and my grandma were okay with my decision to stay here. I wasn't able to get a lot done today because I had to deal with a bunch of phone calls and had trouble getting myself to do anything.

I hope this week goes by quickly.

Phoenixx

12-13-2009, 04:02 PM

Aw, I am so sorry to hear of your loss Wandering): My sympathy and condolonses are with you and your family...It is very hard to lose a grandparent, and I can only imagine its even worse this time of year..Even if you weren't at his 'service' in body I am sure you were there in spirit, and I am sure your grandfather knows this wherever his soul may be, and that's all that really matters....

Anyways, I am very sorry to hear of his passing):

WanderingMind

01-08-2010, 12:59 AM

January 7, 2010

Tomorrow, I wake up early to leave for Japan. I have to leave campus by 5:00 AM so I can catch a bus from Easton, PA to JFK Airport in New York City. What I could do is not get any sleep and sleep it off on the flight, but I would rather get my sleep for tonight.

Here is what the next few months will have in store for me. For over the next two weeks, I will be going on a trip sponsored by my school to Kyoto and Osaka. I will make a visit to Hiroshima, but I'll mostly stay in Kyoto and Osaka. On January 22, I will break off from the rest of the group. While the group flies from Osaka to Tokyo to JFK to get back home, I will go in the opposite direction and fly from Osaka to Fukuoka. From the rest of January to early March, I will be staying in Fukuoka to go to a language school.

You see, my actual spring semester does not start until March. However, my school does not require a visa for the January trip. I can only stay in Japan for so long, so on March 10, I will be back in Florida for 10 days. I will have to pick up my visa and take care of other things before flying back to Japan. I will be spending the rest of March to July in Tokyo, where I will be studying at Kanda University.

It is now 9:00 pm.

By the time you reply to this post, I will probably be in bed falling asleep. If I do not log on tomorrow, then see you when I'm in Japan.

I've been looking forward to tomorrow for a really long time. It has finally come.

KomodoAce

01-08-2010, 01:34 AM

Jesus man, I actually am going to miss you. Take care of yourself in the Land of the Rising Sun.

If maybe I had focused more on judo and karate, or if I actually think I can live off learning martial arts (and was proficient in nihongo), I'd go to Japan to study those two martial arts and kendo.

Just remember, if some random thug runs up to you in Shinjuku and yells "come on fucker!", pick up the nearest bicycle and swing it around. Should keep them off you....until you run to the next street.

Seriously, take care. That's going to be one hell of an experience. Take a lot of pictures.

AlucardsFate

01-08-2010, 01:45 AM

Very cool Dev! Have fun! And if you get a harem of Japanese hotties together...remember your old friend Alucards out in Denver!

SnakeEyez

01-08-2010, 02:37 AM

Have fun, dude. (As if you needed me to tell you.)

Runepop

01-08-2010, 06:04 AM

Actually I'm a little jelous I alway wanted to go to Japan the home of anime and most rpg's we all know and love. Well have a great time in japan and remember what anime has taught you .

Phoenixx

01-08-2010, 09:47 PM

Have a great time(: (I have to say I'm a bit jealous myself)

Fedaykin

01-08-2010, 10:31 PM

I hate you man...

Have fun!

Scion_of_Life

01-09-2010, 03:00 AM

Have a safe trip and definitely keep us informed of what's going on as you find the time!

WanderingMind

01-09-2010, 11:12 AM

January 9, 2009

Thank you to everyone who replied. It's been a really long day for me. I woke up around 3:30 am on the 8th. I had trouble going back to sleep and I didn't have to leave until 5 am, so I pulled out my GBA and made some progress in Final Fantasy VI Advance. I get on the bus and make my way from Easton, PA to JFK Airport in New York City. That took about 2 hours. A few hours later, I find myself on a flight from JFK Airport to Narita Airport in Tokyo. It was a 13 hour flight, so I decided to set my clock to Japan time and try to stay up as long as I could. It worked for the most part. I watched two movies on the flight to Tokyo: Rocky I and Heat. I then pulled out my PSP and made some good progress in Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions. Once my battery started to get low, I put it away and pulled out my DS Lite, where I played Final Fantasy VI Advance for a little bit. I fell asleep near the end of the flight, but had to wake up to leave the plane.

I spent some time in the Tokyo airport before taking a flight to Osaka. From there, I went to my hotel.

As much as of a long day it was, I don't have much to talk about. Hopefully I'll have more to talk about tomorrow.

Phoenixx

01-09-2010, 02:56 PM

wow..reading that wore ME out! lol, glad you made it a-ok

Scion_of_Life

01-09-2010, 06:20 PM

Glad you made it safe, now get some sleep!

KomodoAce

01-09-2010, 06:41 PM

Adjusting to the time difference is a bitch, but glad to hear you got there safely.

WanderingMind

02-06-2010, 11:37 AM

February 6, 2010

So I wandered around Fukuoka City today. I went into Mandarake, a store that sells doujinshi, games, manga, DVDs, toys, figures, and a lot of other stuff. I spent some time looking at the game section, mostly at the OSTs. They were playing some stuff from The Black Mages and the a remix of the theme song from Ys II on the first floor. I went up to the 2nd and 4th floor to look at some more stuff. I skipped the 3rd floor because that was where the girls comics and stuff were. I wanted to get more money from the bank, so I walked out of the store and walked to the closest ATM machine that would work with my card.

After that, I wandered around the city, hitting the Apple Store to use the computers to check my internet. After that, I walked to the Il Palazzo hotel and the Hyatt hotel. I wandered around Canal City, a nice shopping plaza in the middle of the city. From there, I walked past the Excel Hotel and went to the ACROS building. I went up the highest floor and then went all the way back down because I could. By that time, I had walked in a circle and was back where I started. I went back into Mandarake and bought 6-7 doujinshi and the Persona 4 OST.

In all, it was a very good day.

RedWizard

02-06-2010, 06:52 PM

Daaaamn. It'd be really rockin if you met somebody awesome like Yoshitaka Amano or Nobuo Uematsu.

WanderingMind

02-07-2010, 01:12 PM

Daaaamn. It'd be really rockin if you met somebody awesome like Yoshitaka Amano or Nobuo Uematsu.

Yes it would. Oh, back when I was in Kyoto, I got to see Nintendo's headquarters from a train on one of my many travels around the area.

WanderingMind

02-28-2010, 12:33 PM

February 18, 2009:

So I've been in Japan for a little over one month. It's been quite an adventure so far. My journey in Japan began on January 9, when I flew into Osaka after about a 14 or so hour flight from JFK airport in New York City, stopping at Tokyo Narita airport along the way. My life was pretty rough for the last few months before leaving for Japan. I had to deal with passing out and going to the hospital last fall due to lack of sleep, not eating enough, and stress from schoolwork. I had to suffer through some classes I had to take and finals almost killed me. My grandpa died back in December, the week before I had finals. I had to get papers and finals pushed back since I was such a mess. There was the two day road trip I took with my stepdad from Pennsylvania to Florida at the very end of the semester. Since I got incompletes and stuff pushed back in 3 out of my 4 classes, I really didn't have much time do much during my time at home. At the beginning of last month, I flew back to Lafayette College to take care of some stuff before I left for Japan.

I was looking forward to going to Japan for a really long time. Last semester, I would tell people that my mind was months ahead in the future, when I would be in Japan. Here I am, currently in Fukuoka City. From January 8 to January 21, I traveled across the Kansai region of Japan with a group of people from school. For those who aren't too familiar with geography, it's in the southern central area of Honshu, the main island of Japan. I visited Osaka, Hiroshima, Himeji City, Nara, and Kyoto, although I spent the majority of my time in Kyoto. I got course credit for the trip as long as I did the work, which was just keeping a journal during the trip and turning it in at the end. It was very easy, so I didn't mind it at all. I visited a ton of temples, shrines, and a bunch of other places and took some pictures along the way. I still need to upload the pictures from after the first few days of the trip to now in Fukuoka City. Guess I"ll do that later.

I have to say, my group had a wide range of people. That being said, I was the only gamer in the group of 22 people. A lot of people from my group would go out to bars and such every night. You see, I'm not into that sort of stuff, even back on campus at Lafayette. The one night I did go out, my professor who was leading the trip and his wife, who is Japanese, were in the hotel lounge with her family. Her family was nice enough to give us money to cover the costs of going out that night. I only had to pay 1000 yen that night, so it was all good. I did have a fun time at the bar, had some stuff to drink, and pretty much walked back to the hotel room on my own. Thankfully, the one day off I had during those two weeks was the day after I went out, so I had that day to recover. I wish I spent that day wandering around the city of Kyoto on my own, but I was recovering from a cold at the time. Sadness.

Anyway, I did have a great time while I was in Kyoto and Osaka. Since I'm going to be studying in Tokyo from late March to mid July, I basically have time between the end of the Kyoto and Osaka trip to the beginning of my spring semester in Tokyo. At least I didn't have a weekend to get ready to go back to school like the rest of the people in my group. I'm very grateful for that. So from the end of January to the beginning of March, I'm studying intensive Japanese at a language school in Fukuoka City. I'm staying with a host family during that time and I have to say, my Japanese language skills have improved. I can now hold a basic conversation and can now write my name in katakana. I still need to figure out how to set up my keyboard to type in Japanese. Guess I'll have someone show me that.

Fukuoka City sure is a nice place. It's not small that there's nothing to do, yet it's not big so that it's overwhelming. When I don't have classes, I've been wandering around this awesome city, looking at stuff and doing the many things this place has to offer. I once went out of my way to spot the Excel, Hyatt, and Il Palazzo hotels as well the ACROS building since I'm personally a fan of Excel Saga. Hail Il Palazzo! I've been seeing a lot of use out of my DS Lite on the trains and subways. For a good part of January, I was working on Final Fantasy VI Advance. For the first half of this month, I was working on Pokemon Diamond. And here I am now, working on Pokemon Platinum.

My plans for the near future? I'm going to make a few day's trip to Hokkaido up north in Japan. I'll have time in between my last day of classes at the language school and when I have to go back, which is why I'm doing the trip. I have to go back home to Florida from March 10 to March 20 to pick up my student visa for Tokyo, but I'll be back in Japan in no time. At least I'll have some time to rest in between.

Life has been great in Japan.

February 19, 2009

So Friday has come along and it's almost midnight. I've been staying with a host family during my stay in Fukuoka. My host mom works at the reception desk at the language school while my host dad, who's originally American, works as an English teacher. Both are really nice people and I'm very happy with my homestay so far. So much, I'm willing to forgive the 40 minute commute to get to school. I have to walk 10 minutes or so to the train station, take the train from the small town of Kasuya to Hakata, and jump on the subway to Tenjin, which is located in the heart of Fukuoka City. I bring my DS Lite with me whenever I have to commute, so it isn't too bad.

I went to class today and stayed once classes were done for a party at school. I had a bunch of takoyaki tonight and it was good. I ended up leaving a bit early because I was starting to get really tired. I feel bad about not staying behind to help clean up, though. Otherwise, it was a very good day for me.

My plans for tomorrow? Hop on the train and take the subway to Ohorikoen, a fairly big park near Fukuoka City. I'm going to take a nice walk around there, assuming that the weather will be nice tomorrow. I should also set aside some time to talk on Skype with my parents. Shouldn't be a problem, though.

I really need to start looking into how I'm going to get to Otakon when I'm back in the States in July. It's going to be the first anime convention I've been to and I'm lost as to looking into a place to stay.

So it looks like I'm getting closer to the end of Pokemon Platinum. I've only been playing it for 4 days, I'm 15 hours in, and I already have my 7th gym badge. I have to say, it's been a lot easier for me than Diamond, partly because I've gotten used to this generation. As long as I teach my Gyarados Waterfall and Dragon Dance, I should make it through the endgame without any problem.

February 21, 2009

So I had one of the best weekends ever in Fukuoka City. I did so much stuff on Saturday and Sunday, it was amazing. You know, I've always been more of a fan of wandering around places on my own here in Japan rather than with a group of people. To put things into perspective, I usually walked around with a group of people from school when I was in Kyoto. I ended up feeling like more of an outsider than I should be comfortable with and really stood out. It didn't help that there were places I wanted to go that probably nobody else would have been interested in. Here in Fukuoka, I've been mostly on my own. If I want to go somewhere, I do it on my own. I have to say, it makes for a better experience. I know enough Japanese to get around, but a lot of the signs are in English. I've been practicing my Japanese with my host family, though. But going back to what I was saying, being on my own means that I can do more exploring at my own pace.

So let's talk about what I did on Saturday. I woke up somewhat early for a Saturday, sometime around 8 am. Since it was the weekend, I took a shower first thing in the morning. I had breakfast, checked some stuff on my computer, and walked out of the door sometime around 10 am. I took the train to Hakata and then took the subway to Ohorikoen. It was my third time being there. I was there a little over a week ago and was there this past Friday. I was planning on taking a brief walk that day, but bad weather kept me from doing that. Thankfully, the weather was great on Saturday. It was sunny outside and there was no overcast to speak of. I walked around the main park last week, so I decided to go to the Fukuoka Castle ruins. I swear, I'll never get tired of visiting castles here in Japan, even if I visit the remains of what used to be a castle. I walked around for an hour and got to see many sakura trees begin to bloom. I got some really nice pictures that morning. Near the Fukuoka Castle runs was a playing field. I got to see some junior high school kids play rugby, so I watched that for a bit. It was pretty awesome.

So after, that I looked around for a bit more, got some more nice pictures, and then went back to Tenjin to find something to eat. I ended up getting a sandwich and an onigiri from a convenience store for lunch. The onigiri was good, the sandwich wasn't. So I was feeling hungry for a bit afterwards. I then took a subway from Tenjin to Meinohama, the furthest I could go on the subway line. I had been there not last Thursday, but the Thursday before. You see, last time I was there, it was really rainy and it didn't make for a good day. So I did what I wasn't able to do before: go to the shopping plaza near the coast and go on the Ferris Wheel in that shopping plaza. I planned on going on the bigger of the two wheels, but it was closed, so I went on the smaller one. It was good enough. All I had to pay was about 500 yen to go on the Ferris Wheel. I would later find out that it was going to close soon for good, so I consider myself lucky. Since I was feeling pretty exhausted from all the walking, I took a break by going into a nearby arcade and played some Rambo. I ended up finishing the game and ranked 5th on the high score list. After that, I made the long walk back to the Meinohama subway station and took the subway back to Tenjin.

At that moment, I had accomplished everything that I wanted to do around Fukuoka City for the rest of the time I'm here. I feel proud of myself for that. It was the afternoon when I went back to Tenjin, so I sat somewhere outside a Starbucks and rested again, this time pulling out my Nintendo DS to play Pokemon Platinum. After about 40 minutes, I decided to go to the ACROS building to see if I could go to the top of the building. It was only open from 10 am to 4 pm, so I guess I was a little too late. Anyway, I made my way to Canal City, another shopping center, this time in the center of Canal City. I had to do quite a bit of walking to get to Canal City, though. Once I was there, I decided to go to yet another arcade. This one arcade had some more machines than the last place I was at. Some machines I found were a Typing of the Dead and a Time Crisis 2 machine. Time Crisis 2, which is commonly found in American arcades to this day, are surprisingly hard to find in Japanese arcades. In fact, I've hardly found any old arcade machines in Japanese arcades. I hanged out there for a bit and then realized it was getting late. So I walked out of Canal City and ate at a curry restaurant. Even though the food was good, I was constantly reminded why I'm not a fan of spicy food. Man, I felt like a dragon breathing fire when I walked out after my dinner.

I ended up getting back home sometime around 8:30 pm that night. I was so exhausted and worn out from my day out, I took another shower that night. It was good. I then stayed in my room for the rest of the night and decided to play some more Pokemon Platinum. I ended up pulling a no sleep until clear on Platinum and finished around 2:30 am. Hard to believe I finished the game a week after I beat Diamond. Details for Platinum can be found here.

I slept in today and got up later than I did on Saturday. I stayed in and didn't go out until around 1 pm. I skipped out on lunch since I wasn't feeling hungry at the time, although it should have been a good idea to get something to eat anyway. Oh well. The first thing I did that afternoon was to climb to the top of the ACROS building. It was a 14 or so story climb, but I got to the top and I had a really nice view of the city. After that, I walked down and went to a nearby Apple store. There, I used one of the computers to drop by AlucardsFate's stream for a while to say hi to some of my good forum friends.

After that, I walked to Canal City and went into the arcade yet again. This time, I played some Time Crisis 2. I swear, I'm a beast at that game. I beat the game on only a few continues and did well until near the end, when I lost a bunch of points for shooting the wrong person over and over. Despite that, I ranked 6th on the high score list and now my initials are on that machine along with that Rambo cabinet from yesterday. I also played some Typing of the Dead, up until a certain point in the game where I had to do any sort of reading comprehension. The game asked me some questions and when I had to pick the right answers...in Japanese, I stopped playing and left the arcade. My Japanese isn't that good and that's as far as I made it in the game. So afterwards, I went to a sushi shop and had some sushi. It ended up being expensive, so it looks like that's going to be the last time I'm going there. I went back home after dinner. Here I am, taking it easy for the rest of tonight.

And that's the end of the best weekend I've had here in Fukuoka.

Until next time, this is Wandering, signing off. Good night, and hope you all have a good day.

February 22, 2009

So after the awesome weekend I had, I had a pretty terrible day today? Why? Because I went to the doctor this afternoon and found out I have hemorrhoids. That's why I had been in so much pain since Saturday. Looks like I'll have to watch what I'm eating until it gets better, which means having to give up a lot of food I would normally eat. Great. It took me an hour and a half to get back home from the doctor's office. Also, I found out that I have two more days left on my rail pass. From the 24th until the time I leave, I will have to buy tickets for both the train and subway to and from school. Great.

I wish I had an external hard drive on me so I could catch up on some anime I was making progress on before I lost my old computer back in November. Guess I'll wait until I come back to the States for 10 days before I pick up a new external and then load as much anime into it as possible. Some shows that take priority right now are Toaru Kagaku no Railgun, Digimon Adventure, Durarara!, CANAAN, and Soul Eater. I would stream them from a site, but it takes up bandwith on a connection I'm sharing with my host family, so yeah.

Guess I'll do more gaming in the meantime. Now that I'm done with Pokemon Platinum, I've moved onto Star Ocean: Second Evolution. I picked Claude if only because Spike Spencer (Shinji Ikari from Evangelion) did the voice for him in the PSP version.

February 25, 2009

So I have about 2 more weeks until I go back home to the States to pick up my student visa. I'm done with classes at my language school on the 5th and don't leave until the 10th. So I got my trip to Hokkaido booked. Since I didn't do things as ahead of time as I should have, I'm only going to spend 3 days there rather than the 4 days I was planning to spend there. I'm going to spend the 6th, when I should have flown to Hokkaido like planned, to Beppu and go to some of the famous hot springs there.

So I've been looking into stuff to do for the short time I'm in Hokkaido. I've looked up some stuff online, but the one thing I want to do before I go back to Fukuoka on the 14th is to go to the Sapporo Beer Factory. Aw yeah. The flight from Fukuoka to Hokkaido should only take an hour and a half and the train ride to Sapporo should only take about 30 minutes. Since I'll check in the hotel that afternoon, I'll at least have time to do stuff that afternoon in addition to the day after.

Thanks to my parents who reminded me by email today, I have to start signing up for my spring classes. I really need to get on that and hope to god I don't procrastinate on this. One class includes a trip to Okinawa, so I'm going to sign up for that one.

Some stuff I've bought so far this week include:

Ouedan 2 (Eff yeah!)
Final Fantasy VIII OST (Remind me to finish the actual game)
Tales of Vesperia artbook (all I need now is a PS3 copy of the game)

I haven't had much time to game lately, but it doesn't bother me because I'm too busy doing stuff around here. That being said, I may put Star Ocean: Second Evolution on the backburner to start Ouedan 2. It's been almost two months since I've last worked on a game that was not an RPG. That game was Call of Duty 2, which I downloaded off XBLA last year and finished right before I left home at the end of winter break.

KomodoAce

02-28-2010, 02:27 PM

Sounds like you'll have enough interesting stories to tell for a lifetime in the future. Are you anxious to get back to the US at all?

Fedaykin

02-28-2010, 03:25 PM

Holy hell, epic post. I'll read those tonight...

SnakeEyez

02-28-2010, 08:44 PM

Sounds like you're really enjoying yourself for the most part. That's good to hear.

WanderingMind

03-01-2010, 11:05 PM

March 1, 2010

Holy crap, it is March. It came by so fast, it hit me in the head and I didn't know it was March 10 until this evening. Sorry if that sentence didn't make any sense.

It feels weird to have accomplished all the exploring that I wanted to do around Fukuoka City well before I have to leave to go back to the States. I would figure that it would have to do with the city being fairly small compared to Kyoto and Tokyo. Though, that doesn't explain everything. I could have been lazy and not do anything, but no. I hauled all sorts of ass, visiting as many places as I could on the weekends. I walked as long as I wanted to and returned home when I wanted to.

I realized that I had other things I wanted to do after doing all the exploring. First, I wanted to visit Japanese arcades. The selection of games is a step above what I see in American arcades, although I wish I see more old-school games here. I'm talking about games from the late 80s / early 90s. Guess I can't have everything. Another thing is that it's more expensive to play games. 100 yen gives you 1 credit on average for all games, which means that you can burn through money fast on certain games. Though, I'll never get tired of playing Time Crisis 2. I would like to get my hands on the PS2 version of that game plus the Light Gun controller someday.

I've also done some shopping and stuff. I've held off from it for so long because I only have so much money that I can withdraw from the bank while I'm here and I would like to watch my spending. That's why I only made my second visit to Manadarake about three weeks after my first visit. I knew that since it was probably going to be my last time going to this store in Fukuoka. That is, unless I make another trip. The gaming soundtrack shelves changed a lot since I last visited, so I bought whatever OSTs I wanted. I ended up getting one of the Xenogears OSTs and the Vandal Hearts OSTs. I returned to the doujinshi section of Mandarake and bought even moure doujins than before. I found volumes 2 and 3 of Eva Retake along with a bunch of others. I ended up spending $65-70 on my most recent visit. I really like how I got my doujins in a black bag that was taped shut. It makes me feel a lot better about buying them.

There was also the one time I went into a Book Off, a used book store that sells used books, music, games, and manga. I found Ouedan 2 for around 850 yen, which made me happy. I also found the OST for Final Fantasy VIII, even though I haven't beaten the actual game yet. Had I known that Millenial Fair by Yatsunori Mitsuda was the second Xenogears OST, I would have bought that. Now I have to go back there and see if they still have it.

So what did I do this weekend? Well, I went to Nagasaki on Saturday with my host family to see the Lantern Festival since it's around the Chinese New Year. I have to say, traffic was a clusterfuck in the city, but walking around it was a lot of fun. I got to see Nagasaki's Chinatown, which was a lot nicer than the one I have been to in New York. I'm reminded of the one time I was talking to my host mom on the way to class, and we were talking about Chinatowns. I brought up that I had been to the one in New York, and then she said that it reminded her too much of Beijing. I got a good laugh out of that one. So I walked around Nagasaki all day, going into a Chinese restaurant for lunch. A few hours after lunch, I was sitting in a coffee shop when I got to see a parade pass by us. I got some pictures of the parade, so that was neat. I also got to see some of the lanterns light up at night, so I took pictures of them. The drive back to Fukuoka took about two hours, so I didn't get back home until 8 pm that night.

Sunday was when I made my second trip to Mandarake. It was also when I took my host family out to dinner at a Mexican restaurant on Sunday since my parents insisted that I do so before I leave Fukuoka City later this month. It was some of the best damn Mexican food I've ever had, although the bill ended up being a little expensive.

So I have four more days left of classes here in Fukuoka.

I haven't caught up with a lot of anime, although I plan on rewatching Excel Saga when I go home. Hail Ilpalazzo!

Not much to report on gaming progress. I hit the 10 hour mark in Star Ocean: Second Departure and from the looks of things, I'm about halfway through the game.

It's been about two months since I've been in Japan.

WanderingMind

03-23-2010, 03:12 PM

March 24, 2010

I'm back in Japan. This time, I'm in Tokyo. I'm pretty tired right now and it's midnight, so that's all I'm going to write for now.

Scion_of_Life

03-24-2010, 12:40 AM

March 24, 2010

I'm back in Japan. This time, I'm in Tokyo. I'm pretty tired right now and it's midnight, so that's all I'm going to write for now.

I'm glad to here that you made it back to Japan safely! When you get the chance, you should post some pics of the city!

WanderingMind

03-24-2010, 02:24 PM

March 25, 2010

Remind me to charge my camera. Well, I had the first day of orientation, so once that was over, I decided to go explore Tokyo. I got lost trying to navigate the subway system, got off at the wrong station, and ended up walking a long distance to Tokyo Tower. I realized that my camera was dead, so I took some pics from on top of the tower with my cell phone. I couldn't get any good pictures of the tower from outside because it was raining.

I did find my way back to Makuhari, where I will be taking my classes starting next week, and found my way back to the dorm room, so all is good.

SnakeEyez

03-24-2010, 11:30 PM

Man, for all your aimless wandering, you sure do seem capable of getting back to your destination without too much trouble. You must have a really good sense of direction.

WanderingMind

04-09-2010, 01:57 AM

Why I No Longer Talk To My Dad

I thought that this would be a good time as any time to do a post about this. I mentioned it in an earlier post, but here it is. In this post, I'm going to talk about why I haven't talked to my dad anymore. In this post, I'll talk about the events leading up to the fallout and everything that came afterward.

Even though I try to put memories of my father and everything about him behind me as I move on with my life, traces of it show up. Sometimes, they show up in the most unlikely of places. There was the time last year when I passed out in the middle of a Barnes and Noble bookstore. I fell to the ground near the magazine section and woke up feeling pale. Apparently, someone who knew my dad happened to be at the store. I told her over and over that I didn't talk to her and then I had to tell the ambulance people who arrived at the scene the same thing. I told them to call my mom and stepdad instead. When I was in the emergency room, I got news that my dad was in the waiting room. Somehow, he found out where I was and wanted to see me. Of course, I said no.

So where do I start? One of the earliest memories I have from my childhood is my mom and dad arguing with each other. I don't remember what exactly they would argue about, since this was when I was pretty young, but it was pretty bad and it happened often.

It Happened

When I was about 11-12 years old, my mom and dad divorced. We're talking 1999-2000 My world was turned upside down. My mom disappeared for a week or so because of court, and so it was pretty much me, my two brothers, my sister, and my dad and his mom. My life went spiraling down and my school life was almost ruined. Eventually, my mom came back and dad was kicked out of the house I lived in for the first 11-12 years of my life.

For the next 5 or so years, I would see both of my parents under a visitation schedule. I lived with my mom as my primary residence, but I would see my dad during certain times. That meant every other weekend, and one weekday every two weeks. Winter break, Thanksgiving break, and spring break would alternate every year. Summer break would be broken up in half, although I never dealt with it since I used to go to sleep away summer camp for two months. There was the one year in which he pulled me out of summer camp along with everyone else, but that was the last time he pulled something like that ever.

I was already dealing with puberty and middle school, so dealing with the divorce and its aftereffects was very tough on me. There was absolutely no one to help me when I was over at my dad's place for most of the time. It got to the point where teachers actually gave me extensions on homework assignments if I was at his place for the weekend. That's how bad it was. I tried to make the best of the situation as I could, and it seemed to work for a while. When I was 14-15 years old, my older sister stopped talking to my dad. That was 2004. I would later find out why she stopped talking to him and fully understand her reasons.

The Events Leading Up To The Fallout

Then came my senior year of high school, in 2006. I came back home after being away for about two or so months. It so happened that I was going to spend the rest of the time with my dad. I was looking at colleges to apply for and had already visited a whole bunch with my mom. Of course, my dad didn't want to feel left out and wanted to help me out. Unfortunately, he didn't have a clue about the process and pretended he did. What made things pretty bad was that he dragged me to schools that I didn't want to see, but he still took me there anyway. There was this one school that I liked out of the entire trip. That school was Haverford.

When I went back to my mom's place, I told her about the trip and what she thought about Haverford. She told me that it was a high pressure school and she told me that I wouldn't have a very good chance of getting in. So I lost interest in that school. I would later tell my dad this, and he seemed to be pretty surprised. Rather than try to take things in, he had the idea that my mom was trying to mind control me and turn me against him. At the time, I was working on applications for Lafayette College, Gettysburg College, Hamilton College, and a few other schools. My dad didn't seem to be to reliable about the whole college process.

It was around this time that I noticed a whole bunch of things about my dad. He was very secretive about the whole thing. He absolutely refused to talk to me about the college process over the phone because he was paranoid that my mom would listen in. He insisted on talking about that sort of stuff in person. He would show up at my high school out of the blue to give me a good talking to. Every once in a while, he would pull me out of school without any advance warning to take me on college tours to Haverford and other places I wasn't too interested about. He would also take me to schools that I had visited with my mom, only to badmouth every single one of them. I am not kidding.

Somehow, my dad started to get ideas from other people. For example, he suggested that I work on the college applications for certain schools in secret and not to tell anyone about it. He even suggested that I set up a separate mailbox for this reason. He also got the idea that I should file for emancipation. This meant that I would have become a legal adult well before I was 18.

I did not have to put up with this crap, and I should have spoken up about it earlier than I should have. Though, at the time, I didn't know what to do, so I waited a bit before I told my mom and stepdad about all the stuff that was going on. I spilled out everything in full detail. It was then that I realized to the fullest extent how much shit was happening and how wrong my dad was.

Sometime in October of 2006, my dad pulled me out of school to take me to Haverford one last time. When I got back, he made me stay up to work on the application until it was finished. By this time, he had gotten the idea that I should apply there early decision and not tell anyone about it. Of course, I faked it and went to bed early. On the way to school, he told me that I could apply there early decision and be glad I did it, or not apply and regret it for the rest of my life.

That was the last time I really saw my dad for a while

Around the same time period, I had decided on my own that I was going to apply to Lafayette College early decision. I could have sent in my application in early November, had it not been for the fact that my dad tried everything he could to block the application. He tried to have talks with me and refused to sign the forms allowing my high school to send my transcripts to the schools of my choice. The way it worked at my school was that I needed signatures from both of my parents. In fact, it was so bad, it took a court order to get my dad's permission to send them out.

Eventually, the transcripts were sent out and I was able to send in my early application to Lafayette for real in late November. Once I found out that I got in sometime in late December, I stopped talking to my dad for a while.

The Aftermath

I wouldn't speak to my dad for about a few months. Eventually, I decided it would be a good idea to start talking to him again and visiting his house once again. Things wouldn't be the same. I used to sleep over at my dad's place. Then, I would never stay overnight, always driving back to my mom's place when it got late. By that time, I had my driver's license, meaning that visitation no longer applied to me, even though I wasn't 18.

I really tried my hardest to get along with my dad. I really tried. Though, there were things that popped up every now and then. There were differences between what I wanted to do and what my dad wanted to, and he couldn't understand why I wanted to do things the way I wanted.

Like there was my 18th birthday in 2007. That was around the time I graduated from high school. I really had to compromise with my dad on that one. I was going to drop by his place some day during the weekend to see him and some family, but he expected me to stay for the whole weekend. I told him my plans, yet he didn't seem to listen. At least I got to see my grandpa from my dad's side for the last time before he died later that year.

That brings me to my grandpa's funeral. I was already on bad terms with my dad because of disagreements over not seeing him over Parent's Weekend at Lafayette. I saw my dad sometime before that weekend so I could spend time with my mom and stepdad that weekend. I told him straight up about this, yet he still insisted on seeing me. I refused to talk to my dad at the funeral. I ended up staying with my stepgrandma, who my grandpa Marvin married after divorcing Ruth, the grandma from my dad's side. She and her family served as bodyguards for me and my sister during the funeral.

When I Stopped Speaking To Him

The breaking point for me was when I made the trip to St. Louis to go to a cousin's bar mitzvah in the summer of 2008. My dad, my younger brother, and my dad's girlfriend he was seeing at the time stayed at a hotel while me, my brother, and the girlfriend's son were dumped at my grandma Ruth's place for the weekend. I couldn't stand being at my grandma's place, the bar mitzvah was a pretty miserable affair, and I wished that I was at home

So I flew back to Florida at the end and sat with my dad as we drove back to his house. We had a conversation and we went onto the subject of how I was doing at school. I was telling him that I was doing great and that I was happy with the way things were going. He said something along the lines of him still wishing things went his way. I had already put up with a lot of bullshit that weekend, and what he said was uncalled for. It would turn out to be the last straw.

A week or so after the trip, I would go back to my dad's place and take everything I had at that place back to my mom's place. That was the last time I've been to his house.

Things As They Are Now

It is now 2010. It's been about 4 years since the falling out and about 2 years since I stopped talking to him for good. I've moved on with my life and it feels like I'm no longer carrying a lot of weight on my shoulders. The way I see things, I did as much as I could and there was only so much I could do before I hit my limit.

I don't think I'm going to be talking to him anytime soon. Ever since my mom married my stepdad, I've had little motivation to talk to my dad again.

I'm really for the long post. I wanted to get this out of my system. If you read through all of this, congratulations. If not, I don't blame you.

Writing this has to be one of the toughest things I've done in a while.

ReverendHobo

04-09-2010, 02:49 AM

That sucks man, but I can definitely see where you're coming from.

Good to know that it's helped take some stress off you.

Fedaykin

04-09-2010, 03:09 AM

I commend you for sharing that Devon. Always sad when a father son relationship ends in such a way. Good to see you're moving on though, you handled all that pretty well actually, you tried to make things work, sometimes it's just not enough.

WanderingMind

04-11-2010, 12:10 PM

April 7, 2010

So it's been about two weeks since I've been in Tokyo. To think that I went to Tokyo Tower on my own the first full day is pretty amazing.

So far, I've had nothing but orientation here in the IES program. Like any orientation, it's going by pretty slow. Though, I'm getting near the end, so time should speed up. That's how it was for me when I went to Lafayette College. Going back to Tokyo, seeing how this is my second time in Japan, a lot of the info I got was pretty redundant. Even though I was only home for two days, it's long enough that I can call it my second time in Japan. I've had three of the four classes I'm taking this semester, and it looks like they're going to be easy. I have to wait and see about Japanese.

I moved in to my host family's place about a week and a half ago. My host dad is a retired college professor who looks after the house and cooks on the weekdays. My host mom is a junior high school teacher. She's pretty busy and the only time I get to see her is in the evening and weekdays. My host brother, who is 16 years old, goes to high school and runs for his school's track and field team. The house is fairly big and my room on the third floor is pretty spacey. Internet access is going to be limited for the next three months. I have internet at my host family's place, but I'm going to save most of my internet time for the student center. I usually get up around 7 am every morning, eat, brush my teeth, and get out of the door by 7:40. I usually get home sometime around 6-7 pm. So far, my host family is really nice and I'm enjoying my homestay so far.

The first weekend I moved into my host family's place, I went to Akihabara on Sunday. I bought a shitton of stuff and had to restrain myself because I needed money to get back home.

This past weekend, I got to see my parents since they were on vacation here in Japan. I met them early in the morning on Saturday. We went to a temple near Harujuku. Thank goodness the weather was good that day. From there, we went to the Tokyo Metropolitan Building. I got a nice view of the city, and unlike the Tokyo Tower, it was free to go to the observation deck. From there, we walked in the East Gardens of the Imperial Palace. The weather held up that afternoon and got to take some really good pictures.

After lunch, we went to a sword shop and then to Akihabara because my parents wanted to look at a camera shop. You know what I did? I went back to Electric Town, where I bought some stuff and looked at places I missed on my first time through. For dinner, we went to the Hard Rock Cafe in Roppongi. Thank you to [info]meepalicious for the recommendation.

I stayed at a hotel that night and spent most of the next day at Nikko. A volunteer tour guide took us around the area, which was pretty neat. I got some nice pictures, which I put in an album on Facebook.

I introduced my parents to my host family that night and we had dinner together. After dinner, I saw them off at the nearby train station.

Overall, it was a pretty good weekend.

It is now Wednesday. The weather has been meh. I wasn't planning on going to hanami because I never received any notifications on Facebook and partly because I knew the weather wouldn't be too good today. I've been holed up in the student center uploading photos, checking Foxkei, the Backloggery, Facebook, and this place. I could have spent my day a lot better, but understanding the weather, it's not too bad.

April 9, 2010

As of the end of today, orientation is pretty much over. It's pretty hard to believe that I'll have been in Tokyo for three weeks. Not much has really happened since the last post I made. It's a sign that life has been going normal for me and there isn't much for me to complain about this week.

I had my interview at GoFA yesterday. I was introduced to where I will be working for my field placement program for the rest of the time that I'm here in Japan. It looks like I'm going to really enjoy it there. I also found out that I'm going to take Japanese Level 2. I thought I would end up in 1 or 1.5, so I'm kind of surprised because I've only done one semester in school. I take it that going to language school during break really helped me.

I beat my first game of the month. That was Pokemon SoulSIlver. It was very easy compared to Diamond and Platinum. It wasn't just because I imported my Dialga from Diamond. No, it was because Victory Road, the Elite Four, and the Champion were easy this time compared to the ones in Sinnoh. I'm doing some postgame stuff, but in the meantime, I need to decide on the next game I want to focus on.

Anime progress so far....watching Durarara!! when I have time and working on finishing RE: Cutie Honey. Magical girl show with a lot of ecchi, so I'm enjoying it so far. It's pretty short, so I can easily finish it tonight or tomorrow. Honey Flash!

Tomorrow, I head off for the Narita Drum Festival. Should be fun.

April 10, 2010

So today, I went to the Narita Taiko Matsuri with a whole bunch of people from IES. It was pretty awesome and got to see lots of cool stuff. Narita is a nice place as long as you ignore the airplanes, which I apparently did a good job at. I passed by a bunch of shops on the way to the temple, so I had to resist the urge to buy stuff. I'm trying to save up a lot of my money for Golden Week since I spent so much during the first two weeks. I had eel for lunch, which I enjoyed.

The highlight of today was the evening taiko show. I was introduced to taiko drumming when I took Intro to World Music back at Lafayette, so it was great to see and hear taiko drums.

Pictures and videos will come later.

I went back home later that evening.

I don't have any plans for tomorrow, so I should decide what I'm going to do.

Guess that's all for today.

RedWizard

04-11-2010, 05:32 PM

Sounds like a hoot. You should visit a Sumo match or something. bet some yen and have a good ol' time.

WanderingMind

04-12-2010, 01:15 AM

Sounds like a hoot. You should visit a Sumo match or something. bet some yen and have a good ol' time.

I'm going to try my best to watch one. I always see them on TV and they look amazing.

Fun fact: the top sumo wrestlers in recent times have not been Japanese. They have either been Hawaiian or Mongolian, like the most recent one.

April 11, 2010

This morning, I boarded a train from Inage with no particular destination in mind. I ended up spending the day in Ikebukuro.

What happened was that I took a train from Inage Station to Akihabara on the JR Sobu Line. (I always read that as Sobou for some reason). I thought about going to Shibuya or making yet another trip to Akihabara, but it didn't seem to fly with me. Instead, I took the train to Ikebukuro.

I walked down Otome Road (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otome_Road) because some friends told me about it a while ago and I walked down the road because I was curious. I went into a few stores and managed to walk into the one store that sold stuff aimed at guys. I wasn't planning on spending a lot of money that day because it wasn't like I was in Akihabara. Because of this one store, I spent almost 10,000 yen on doujinshi. I may call it spending a lot of money when I should be saving it for Golden Week, but on the other hand, I call it having a successful day because of all the stuff I nabbed.

For lunch, I ate a Double Whopper with cheese at a Burger King. I went into the Sunshine shopping center and ran into a convention that reminded me of Comic City back in Fukuoka City. I didn't really go inside the shopping center because there was other stuff I wanted to see. I walked into a few more stores and then left the area around Otome Road to go explore other parts of Ikebukuro. One thing I can say is that Otome Road was a lot smaller than I made it out to be.

I walked into a building that was pretty much a Toyota showroom. So many nice cars. I tried a driving simulator, which was the highlight of that place for me. I had to wait in line a bit, but it was worth it. Managed to rank 8th place, so that was good.

On the way back to the station, I walked into an arcade. Played Metal Slug 3, Street Fighter II, and Arcana Heart 3.

That's all I have for today.

WanderingMind

04-13-2010, 09:16 AM

April 12, 2010

So today, I had my first full day of classes. I had Japanese in the morning. It wasn`t too bad, but I wish I brought my electronic dictionary with me. I need to get mine working or get a small pocket dictionary sometime soon. It`s really going to come in handy.

In the afternoon, I had History of Japanese International Relations. Class went by quickly.

I`ve signed up at an internet cafe in wake of house rules at my homestay. I cannot use the internet for not only past 9:30 pm, but also cannot use it for more than an hour per day. The only place I can use the internet in the house is in the living room. I can use the internet when I`m at the student center, but only when it is open. It`s for this reason that I`m going to use the cafe from now on for most of my internet needs.

Video game progress has been good. Right now,I`ve been playing Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions for the PSP. I figure that I`m getting close to the end of the second chapter. Right now, I`ve been working on getting some good abilities for some of my characters so I`m prepared to storm Lionel Castle.

WanderingMind

04-19-2010, 07:27 AM

Because I didn't have time to post it yesterday:

April 17, 2010

It is Saturday evening. I spent all day in the internet cafe finishing up Kurogane by Kei Toume (and doing my homework for next week) since I'm going in to work at GoFa (Gallery of Fantastic Art) in Harujuku tomorrow. I read through all 5 volumes over the course of this week so I could be familiar with one of her works by the time I go in for my first day at field placement tomorrow. I could have picked a shorter manga, but this one was the first one I saw. Because of my internet situation, I spent the majority of my time at the internet cafe this week reading through the manga.

I've been through the first full week of classes. It was pretty rough because of the weather and being in a slump. Wednesday ended up being the most productive day of this week, but that meant I didn't really have any free time later that evening. I struggled with my plans for Golden Week, and I ended up having my mom suggest places for me to go during that week. She even booked the hotels and made a sample itenerary for me, which got rid of a lot of worrying.

My plans for tonight is to catch up on some anime. As it stands right now, I'm going to watch Eden of the East. I'm not in the mood to play video games right now. I decided earlier this week that I would work on a Completion run for Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions, but I've hit RPG burnout. I can't wait to finish up the available errands so I can go on and advance the plot. I`m overleveled as it is right now.

Last night, I got a package from my mom with a travel guide for Japan and some money.

On Monday, I'm going to go in early to Makuhari to set up a Japanese Citibank account so I won't get charged every time I take money out of the ATM.

I think I'm going to pack up and go back home. I've spent all day in the internet cafe and should get back before it`s too late.

WanderingMind

04-28-2010, 12:42 PM

April 25, 2010

It`s Sunday. I spent most of today in the internet cafe since I was asked to get out of the house for today. I was planning on staying in and doing as much homework as possible before I go on vacation, but I had to go to the internet cafe. I went on a class trip to Yokohama for my History of Japanese International Relations class yesterday, and that was fun. We stopped by a museum, the old customs house, and a customs museum. I didn`t expect it, but there was a cosplay photo shoot at the old customs house. I should have taken pictures, but I didn`t because I wanted to be polite.

The class trip ended in Chinatown, and from there, the class broke off. I went on a train back home with a group of people since I wanted to get back to my host family`s place in time for dinner.

My plans for Golden Week are pretty much laid out, and with the help of my parents, managed to work up an itenerary and booked some hotels. All I need to do now is to get a good deal on train tickets.

Classes for the most part have been incredibly easy. The only challenging course so far is Japanese, not surprisingly.

I was in a bit of a slump this week, but I`m feeling a lot better now.

I beat Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions last night. It was tough for the first 3/4 of the way through, and then got easy once I got Orlandeu. That guy breaks the game.

I`m going to start Mario and Luigi: Bowser`s Inside Story when I`m back home later tonight.

As far as anime progress goes, I finished Eden of the East. Good stuff.

WanderingMind

04-28-2010, 01:41 PM

April 28, 2010

Two days ago, I managed to nab the two Shinkansen tickets I need for Golden W eek. I managed to get one ticket during a good time. That's the one from Kyoto to Osaka. However, I managed to get one of the last Shinkansen tickets from Osaka to Tokyo. It was the last non-smoking seat of that day, and I won't be going back home until very late next Wednesday. At least I have my tickets.

So today was pretty uneventful. Having done as much homework as possible before today, I slept in a little bit today and gave myself time to get to Harujuku, where my field placement is. Since I got there early, I pulled out my PSP and played Hatsune Miku: Project Diva and Jeanne D'Arc. I went to a burger place and ate a pineapple burger for lunch. It was good and I think I will be going to that place every Wednesday for lunch.

Today, at GoFa, I helped put up stuff for the latest exhibit, which will be showing art of Range Murata (Blue Submarine No. 6, Last Exile, Shangri-La).

From there, I took the train to Ofuna, near Kamakura.

Here is my plan for Golden Week:

April 29: Spend a day in Kamakura
April 30: Travel to Osaka by Shinkansen
May 1: Go to Mount Koya, spend the night there
May 2: Spend another day in Mount Koya, go back to Osaka
May 3: Day trip to Kobe
May 4: Day trip in Osaka
May 5: Last day in Osaka, return to Inage by night

Route traveled today:

http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh18/egmmer/Photos/TravelRouteApril282010.png

WanderingMind

05-10-2010, 08:07 AM

May 10, 2010

Golden Week came and went. Had a great time. Will probably do a writeup on it when I have the time.

So this past weekend, I went to Nakano, a ward of Tokyo. It's where many of the more hardcore otaku moved from Akihabara and now hang out. I mainly went to Nakano Broadway, a shopping mall filled with otaku-related stores, including Mandarake. I shouldn't have gone there a few days after Golden Week ended, knowing that I was going to be hard-pressed for money, but I went there anyway.

I bought some doujinshi and an Alicia (Valkyria Chronicles) figurine. I also spent some money at the arcade in Nakano Broadway.

In all, it was a fairly good day.

I spent all of Sunday at my host family's place doing homework.

Hopefully, this week will go by quickly.

WanderingMind

05-16-2010, 05:55 AM

May 16, 2010

So my birthday is on the 19th. Needless to say, it`s coming up really soon.

Unfortunately, this is the one week where I actually have a lot of work piled on me. First off, there`s Japanese.

-vocab quiz on Tuesday
-a unit test on Thursday
-a kanji quiz on Friday
-performance activity also on Friday.

For Anime and Manga

-4-6 page paper due on Friday
(more time consuming than difficult, really)

Social Organization of Japan

-paper proposal due on Thursday(done)

History of International Relations

-weekly writeup (done)
-5 page paper due next week

I should try to get as much done as possible so I won`t have to deal with stress during my birthday. I really want this week to go by as smoothly as possible.

In other news, I finished Mario and Luigi: Bowser`s Inside Story (DS) on Friday and The World Ends With You (DS) on Saturday.

WanderingMind

05-20-2010, 12:14 PM

May 20, 2010

So yesterday was pretty chill. Slept in on Wednesday morning after staying up until 2:30 on Tuesday finishing a paper. Went to the IES center to study for a quiz for earlier today.

I went to the movie theater to see if anything was good out. Didn't find anything that interested me (not even Alice in Wonderland) and didn't really like the times. I ended up spending a few hours in the arcade and then went back to the student center, where I hanged out until 6 pm. I met up with some people and went to baseball game to see the Chiba Marines play off against some other team. I'm not much of a drinker, but I made an exception for last night. Had some beer at the baseball game. Life was good.

I got back home late at night and ended the night by starting Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. Good times.

You know, being 21 would have been more of a big deal if I was back at home, but like I've said, I'm not much of a drinker. Still, it was a chill day.

Not much happened today. Finished up a paper for tomorrow, started Final Fantasy VII once it finished downloading on my PSP. Will watch more FMA: Brotherhood tonight.

WanderingMind

05-24-2010, 06:52 AM

May 24, 2010

Had an awesome weekend. I went to a picnic with some friends from IES on Saturday at Shin-Urayasu, but had to leave pretty early to go to my field placement at GoFa. I got to the gallery pretty early, so I worked behind the desk for about an hour and a half before going over to another building to set up a workshop run by Range Murata. I got to sit in one of the front row seats afterward and saw him draw stuff on a tablet in front of a bunch of people. I then went to a burger place in Harajuku since I didn't have anything to eat until 9 pm.

On Sunday, I managed to write up a paper that's due next week and spent the rest of the evening catching up with Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood and playing Lunar: Silver Star Harmony.

Today hasn't been going that great. I got through my one class of the day and tried to get as much homework done as possible. I checked my email to find out that I got another email from my dad. It shouldn't be putting me in a bad mood since I haven't talked to him in about two years, but it's getting to me this time. I also found out that he tried to set up a Twitter account just to follow me. I know he's my dad, but I'm starting to think that he's stalking me.

This past weekend, I decided that I'm going to move out of my homestay and into a dorm. I felt like I wasn't that great of a match with my host family. That's why I feel like why I haven't been getting along with my host family as well as I could be. I'll have to wait until after I return from Okinawa on Sunday.

Speaking of which, I'm going to Okinawa on a class trip from Wednesday to Sunday. Should be a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to that.

WanderingMind

05-13-2011, 03:26 AM

I can't believe it's been a year since I updated this thread. Time sure flies.

A lot has been going on with me for the last few months, which could explain a lot of me not being active here for a good part of this year so far.

Last month, I went through the worst online drama I had ever experienced. It's a long story, and I think it will take some time to tell. I may have to break it up into separate parts because it's still fresh in my mind and I'm still trying to make sense of it.

But yeah, here I am again.

Heiae

05-13-2011, 04:07 AM

Wandering.. did you get... Internet pregnant?