BLOG -- Recap of September

So, September was another crazy busy month -- so not that much happened. I'm looking forward to October for Thanksgiving -- haha, I want my 4-day weekend. As usual, if you are curious about my thoughts on anything, as always, please go ahead and ask. :)

Outings/Events in September:

- Went karaoking at least once every week this month; three times with somebody; once by myself.

- Celebrated a friend's birthday; I met a lot of unfamiliar and new people.

- Attended the Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses music concert.

- Attended Canada's Baking and Sweets Show.

- Had a drink with my team-mates after work.

Exposures:

- (cocktail?) Cosmos -- really smooth and thick, but a little sour...

- (bubble tea place) Chatime -- there's a lot of selection. I really enjoyed my drink (forgot what it was)

- (restaurant) Five Guys Burger and Fries -- delicious burger and fries.

Finished...

Watching:

- (Movie): Step Up 3 -- The story in this is decent, and I'm happy to see more of Adam G. Sevani (Moose). Tons better than Step Up 2 (though the last dance in Step Up 2 was cooler).

- (Movie): Step Up Revolution -- This and Step Up 1 are my favourites so far. I really liked the showcasing of different dancing styles. And the music was pretty decent as well.

Playing:

- (DS): Professor Layton and the Last Spector -- Some of the puzzles are starting to drag for me, but the story is still really good and tearjerking.

Reading:

- Nothing right now.

Currently... 

Playing (not all at once):

- (PS3): Record of Agarest War Zero 
- (PS3): Persona 4: Arena (stopped 'cuz I've got to finish Persona 3 and Persona 4 first)
- (PS3): Folklore
- (PS3): Borderlands 2
- (DS): Izuna: Legend of the Unemployed Ninja 
- (DS): Mazes of Fate
- (DS): Steal Princess (stopped 'cuz of clunky/nonresponsive controls)
- (PSP): Persona
- (PSP): Hatsune Miku 2nd Diva  
- (Wii): Fortune Street 
- (PS2): Persona 3  
- (PS2): Ape Escape 3
- (PS2): Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Watching:

- (Anime): Samurai Champloo (for the 2nd time).
 

Reading:

- (Novel): JPod by Douglas Coupland
- (Novel): Shakugan no Shana by Yashichiro Takahashi


That's it for September! Sooo busy... Here are some random photos:

A grill slightly going on fire at the friend's birthday meetup (we had Korean BBQ)

One of the best sushi pizzas I have ever tasted (from WOW! Sushi)

My Cosmos.

 A random funny screenshot from Persona 3.

Thanks for reading! :)

BLOG -- Canada's Baking and Sweets Show 2012

So yesterday (Saturday September 29), I did not check out Nuit Blanche. One reason was that I kept forgetting that was the day. Another reason was that I already was attending something. And by the time I was done, I was sooo tired and achy! 

Yesterday, my sister and I attended Canada's Baking and Sweets Show. At first, we were reluctant to go because of the location. It took place at the International Centre -- really far west of downtown Toronto. But then, after participating in a giveaway event, I was lucky to get free tickets to the show (thanks, Monkey Butter!).

So yesterday, my sister and I woke up around 8:00 AM, left the house at 10:00 AM, and made the 2-hour TTC commute to the International Centre. It was our first time attending.

THE BEGINNING (12:15-ish PM)

Before entering the exhibitor room, we received a welcome bag that had some flyers and a free tube of icing. How sweet!

Stepping inside, I already knew two booths I wanted to hit: Monkey Butter and Mad Batter Bakers (when I'm a fan, I tend to be a loyal fan). Like when we attended the One of a Kind Show, my sister and I started at the nearest corner and snaked around the aisles, trying samples and taking mental notes of which places to go back to. 

Thankfully, the exhibitor room wasn't massively large. It wasn't too small either. I think it was the right size. If it was any larger, I probably wouldn't be able to try out all the samples, and that would make me sad. Outside of the exhibitor's room, there was a room for hands-on demo classes. We didn't get to check it out, but I remember seeing somebody walk out of that room, holding a plain white cake (looks like it was waiting to be decorated). 

When my sister and I reached the Monkey Butter booth, I bought some jars immediately. I didn't want to risk the same thing that happened at the One of a Kind Show where I would wait till the end and come back to see that they're all sold out. I gotta get my Monkey Butter fix! :3

On one end of the exhibitor room, there were cake displays from one of their cake competitions. The theme was Christmas.

A shot of some of the cakes.

I like how Santa Claus looks stuck in the chimney (I'm sure he's supposed to look like he's climbing up or out of the chimney, but that's what it looks like to me)

This is the contest winner. It does look really elaborate.

Another cake.

I really like this cake. I love the idea of it.

Just look at the detail. It's so neat!

Sponsor cake.

After walking some more, my sister and I found another cake competition display. We're not completely sure what the theme was for this one:

I was hoping this would be the winning cake. It looks so cool.

The green cakes look elegant.

I really like the simplicity of the cake. And the detail of the purple flowers.

Look at those flowers!

This is the winning cake. It's elaborate, but somehow it doesn't wow me.

One neat booth that we checked out was this company that specialized in making custom cakes. They had some on display and they were really cool.

Sandwich cake!

This cake is just unique. It looks like magic.

This cake is cute.

I would have loved to see this cake in real life.

THE END + PURCHASES (2:30-ish PM)

When we finally reached the end, it was around 2:30 PM. We took next to no bench breaks, so we were super tired by then. That didn't stop us from going back to some booths and buying stuff. 

We finished and left the show around 3:15 PM. I think if we weren't lugging around tons of... well, yummy purchases... we would have stuck around for much longer.

Here are my purchases (I did not take any photos of what my sister got):

Monkey Butter!

Gluten-free chocolate cookies and a couple of rugelach.

Some baking gear.

Deliciously cute gingerbread.

 More deliciously cute gingerbread.

Total spendings:
Mine:
Monkey Butter -- $55 ($30 for two sampler jars; $25 for the rest)
Cupcake filling supplies -- $36.44
Mad Batter soft gingerbread cookies -- $42.68
Macaroon -- $1
TOTAL: $135.15

My sister:
Gluten-free chocolate cookies + rugelach -- $16.50
Sour gummies -- $3.00
Girl Scout cookies -- $5
Beef Empanada -- $6.00 
TOTAL: 30.50

TOTAL TOTAL: $165.65

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS

Overall, Canada's Baking and Sweet show was pretty neat. I know that if I had more time (and if I wasn't carrying so many goodies), I would have checked out the demos, panels, etc. 

Next year, my sister and I will most likely go back. Hopefully it won't coincide with Nuit Blanche again, so I can check that out as well.

Thanks for reading! As always, if you have any questions or comments, please comment away! :)

EXPOSURES (VIDEO GAME) -- Borderlands 2

So this past Friday, I picked up Borderlands 2 and have been hooked on it since. Since I'm itching to get back to it, I figure I might as well blog about it briefly.

Borderlands 2

Playtime Length (so far): 15-ish hours
Platform Played on: PS3
Language: English
Type of Game: FPS, RPG, Stat/Class-building, Free-roaming-ish
Game-specific Details: Currently playing as the Siren (by myself), and as the Assassin (with my sister and her fiance)

Brief Impression

This game, just like Borderlands, is very fun and addictive. If you've played the first one, then you've pretty much played the second one -- which isn't a bad thing since the first one was so good.

Differences in Borderlands 2 that I've seen so far are the skill trees for the classes, the way to upgrade ammo, some of the enemies, the badass/token system, and of course, the story (which I imagine would be on par with the first game -- there in small chunks, but not so important).

For those who haven't played Borderlands (the first game), here's a quick breakdown of the gameplay: When you start, you select a class. Then you go around, defeating baddies, looting their stuff, getting better weapons, gaining experience, gaining levels, assigning skill points to your class-specific skill tree, taking on optional side quests -- elements of a free-roaming, action-RPG. And you're doing all of this in first person, mainly with a bunch of guns at your disposal -- elements of an FPS.

This kind of gameplay is very enjoyable and fun for me for these reasons:

1. I enjoy playing RPGs like this.
2. I like using guns in video games, but I generally suck at FPS (something about it just gets me all tense).

There aren't too many console video games that focus on guns and has RPG aspects. So I don't get much of a chance to "geek out" to reading gun "specs". I can do that with Borderlands games.

I might as well mention that in Borderlands games, the guns are not at all realistic. There are tons of variations of the gun types available. Some of them do elemental damage (like setting something on fire). And that just adds to the fun factor with me -- finding guns with ridiculous stats. And then trying them out. ;)

I personally enjoy guns with super-high accuracy and a scope.

One of the best things about Borderlands games is that there is co-op play. The nicer thing about Borderlands 2 is that you can do local co-op play and then also do co-op play with somebody online. I don't think this feature was available in Borderlands.

The humour in Borderlands 2 is still the same as it was in Borderlands -- snarky and sarcastic. It's great. The voice-acting is great as well.

Okay, I've geeked out enough. Borderlands 2 is very fun so far. If you want to try it out, but are unsure if you would enjoy it, I believe Borderlands is available on the US PSN for $20. Borderlands 2 is so similar to Borderlands, it'd be a good enough gauge.

Time for me to go back and play (squee!!).

Thanks for reading! As always, feel free to comment about anything. :)

BLOG: The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses @ Sony Centre (September 15, 2012)

This blog will be about my thoughts and experience at The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses concert. It's a concert featuring The Legend of Zelda music, performed by an orchestra and choir (when needed). The Legend of Zelda is a video game series (though I will refer to it as simply "Zelda" for the rest of this blog). I have to say right now, it was a pretty cool concert!! XD

Me and The Legend of Zelda

To my own disappointment, I'm not that much of a Zelda fan. Or rather, I haven't played many Zelda games, so I can't say anything more than that I'm not much of a fan. Growing up, I never owned an N64 or a Gamecube, so I missed out on a lot of the franchise. My only exposures to Legend of Zelda long ago was A Link to the Past for the SNES, and the North American cartoon series where Link kept saying, "Well, excuuuuuuuuse me".

The only other game I've played was Phantom Hourglass for the DS. Both A Link to the Past and Phantom Hourglass were fun, but for some reason (I blame it on that North American cartoon version of Link -- he was pretty annoying), I just wasn't drawn to the series. I never got excited whenever a new Zelda game was announced and released.

So... attending this concert that featured only Zelda music, I had no idea what to expect. But... I had a slight doubt in the back of my head that I would fully enjoy it (Zelda fans, please don't get offended!). Whenever I think of music for almost any first-party Nintendo game, I think of tracks that have a quirky, bouncy, light, bright sound to them -- not particularly moving and emotion-evoking. It's great music for when you're playing a game -- don't know for when you're just sitting and listening to it. Zelda being a first-party Nintendo game, I figured it would fall under that same kind of style.

The Little Details

Date of Concert: Saturday September 15, 2012
Venue: Sony Centre (Toronto, Ontario)
Time: 8:00 PM
Ticket Price Total: $72.22
Seating: Orchestra Aisle 2, Row NNN, Seat 11
Went with: Sister and her fiance

7:15-ish PM -- @ Sony Centre

When we got there, there was a long line up outside the Sony Centre. The doors haven't opened yet. I was a little surprised at the crowd. I kinda thought we were early. The person in front of us was wearing this really cool green jacket.

Really cool green jacket.

Once we got inside, we checked out the souvenir stand. I was set on buying a programme and an ocarina (if the price was reasonable). I figured that selling ocarinas would make a ton of sense at a Zelda concert. But... the stand was only selling a T-shirt and poster.

I was surprised. Where's all the cool stuff like there was at the Final Fantasy concert? Not even a programme? To say bluntly, I was a little let down. My sister's fiance was hoping to get some kind of soundtrack.

One thing that I found really interesting about this crowd were all the 3DSes floating around. Almost everywhere I turned, I saw somebody or a small group of attendees with their 3DSes out -- very different from the crowd at the Final Fantasy concert, where I didn't see any.

Many attendees were also dressed in green and carried / wore trinkets and such to express their fandom. It was really neat. I saw somebody wearing a necklace with the Zelda symbol. I saw somebody wearing a green hat with a pom pom Navi stuck to it. I saw somebody wearing a stylish green suit and a stylish green tie. And I saw a bunch of cosplayers:

 Link. Notice the chainmail?

 Another Link.

 From Skyward Sword.

 I don't know where these two are from. I love that little chicken plushie.

 Link and somebody from Ocarina of Time. I love that master key thing on Link.

 Zelda.

When the auditorium doors opened, my sister, her fiance, and I went downstairs to the Orchestra level and we saw a small station with two Wiis set up and an area where you could take a picture with a Link cosplayer.

 Wii station.

 Taking a pic with Link. That is not me, by the way. It's a random attendee.

I didn't get his permission to put this pic up, so I covered his identity.

Inside the auditorium, it was packed. Strangely, two seats beside me were empty -- maybe I should have invited more people to come along. 

Just like at every other video game music concert I've attended, there was a huge screen above the stage to show accompanying video game footage.

Programme

Since there wasn't a programme available, this is a rough guess for some of the pieces. If anybody was there and sees something that needs correcting, please let me know. The name of each piece is most likely off, but almost all of them were medleys.

Zelda series: Overture
Zelda series: Dungeon Themes
Zelda series (?): Kakariko Village
Ocarina of Time: Ocarina Medley
Zelda series: Prelude
Ocarina of Time: 1st Movement
Wind Waker: 2nd Movement

-- INTERMISSION --

Zelda series: ??? (some harp and string piece)
Twilight Princess: 3rd Movement
A Link to the Past: 4th Movement

Encore
You'll find out later.

8:00 PM-ish -- Music Start!

Once the conductor appeared, everybody clapped. As she raised her baton, the crowd went silent. Then the Overture began. It started with the familiar, nostalgic, heroic melody of the main theme -- then working its way to an intense, suspenseful sound with intense choral voices. It was a great start.

After the Overture (and after a massive round of applause and cheering), a guy in a suit appeared onstage (let's call him the emcee). He spoke a bit about Zelda and his own fandom to it, saying that it all started with "this", pulling out the gold NES cartridge of The Legend of Zelda. Then he went on to introduce the next few pieces. Unfortunately,I couldn't hear everything that he said.

Dungeon Themes made my skin crawl. They showed a lot of footage from the various dungeons in A Link to the Past. Yes, that game was fun, but it brought a lot of memories of me going through each dungeon (especially the long ones) with this worry that I would die before beating the boss (and would have to start the dungeon over). 'Cuz, you know, back in the SNES days, before you could save just about anywhere -- if you died (and had no fairies or potions to help you), you died.

Kakariko Village was nice and soothing. Everybody laughed when they showed footage of Link being attacked / chased by all those chickens in A Link to the Past and in the other games. Doing that was always a bit of a guilty pleasure for me -- and I always found it funny that they would even think of adding that bit of retaliation to the games.

Everything else up to the Intermission was more or less unfamiliar to me. Unfortunately, I couldn't connect the music to anything and the pieces were just okay to me. Even the video footage didn't help me all that much (though I must say -- those clips of Ganon being defeated were more graphic than I could imagine for a Nintendo game). I also found some parts a little too brassy.

Before the 2nd Movement featuring music from Wind Waker, the conductor brought out a Wind Waker baton, saying "[It would only be appropriate] that we conduct the Wind Waker movement, with the Wind Waker."

9:00-ish PM -- Intermission

I did absolutely nothing during the Intermission. I just stayed in my seat and spoke with my sister and her fiance about the concert so far. My sister's fiance was enjoying it immensely so far. My sister and I both enjoyed the pieces that we could connect to. Out of us three, I was the one with the least amount of exposure to Zelda games. My sister's fiance had the most, having played all the console games of Zelda, except for Majora's Mask. My sister played the two NES Zelda games and A Link to the Past. I tried playing the NES games, but stopped after getting lost and frustrated.

9:20-ish PM -- Second Half

The first piece after the intermission was some harp and string piece with some choral voices. It sounded really nice and ethereal.

The 3rd Movement featuring music from Twilight Princess was great. I've never played Twilight Princess, but the music -- it was very nice. Dark, grim, intense. Great stuff.

The 4th Movement featuring music from A Link to the Past was great. The video began -- with the very beginning of the game, with Link in his house, awoken by Zelda's plea for help. The music was the orchestrated piece of that beginning. Right away, I was taken back to my memories of starting the game, trekking through the dark and rainy night, and rescuing Zelda with that suspenseful track playing -- it sent shivers down my spine. Then the video went on to tell the story of A Link to the Past, right to the battle with Ganon, the music accompanying the footage perfectly through every scene.

Once the 4th Movement was over, everybody clapped and cheered, giving a standing ovation. The conductor left the stage. A few minutes later, the conductor and the emcee appeared.

9:50-ish PM -- Encores

This is a little funny just to say, the audience ended up giving a standing ovation for this concert four times. After each one (except for the last one), the emcee would appear and announce they would do one more encore. Everybody would cheer and clap afterwards and sit back down.

So we had three encore pieces.

Encores:
Link's Awakening: Medley
Ocarina of Time: Gerudo Valley
Majora's Mask: Medley

The encores were great. I loved the build up and the intensity of the first one. Majora's Mask was okay.

My most favourite one (and most favourite piece from the concert) was Gerudo Valley. Even though I've never played Ocarina of Time, upon hearing it, I was... FULL of... elation. It's a little hard to describe. I have no concrete word to express what it does to me. I want to swoon. I want to crave it. Oh my... I just want to...

Like what I did at the Final Fantasy concert, I recorded the Zelda concert with my cell phone. Below are the first two encores (I hope I didn't just overhype Gerudo Valley). Just the sounds, no video. So just click play and do other things if you want to listen to it. The volume may be a little low and the quality may be crap (my cell phone is crappy).

The show ended around 10:15 PM.

 Encore 1: Medley from Link's Awakening

Encore 2: Gerudo Valley from Ocarina of Time

(I love how the emcee says "Hey, listen!")

Overall Experience

Overall, I enjoyed Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses. The first half was okay... but the second half was amazing. Now I want to play more Zelda games. I'm almost certain that I would have greater appreciation and connection to the pieces I heard today.

Thanks for reading! As always, feel free to comment. :)

BLOG (PERSONAL) -- Me and My Taste in Music -- Intro

Even before starting this blog, I called it "Me and My Taste in Music -- Intro". I already knew that this entry would be way too long if I wrote about everything relating to my taste in music. 

These entries will probably be broken up by genres. I'll probably write briefly about my first exposures / impressions -- maybe mention any "favourite" artists from that genre -- and then link to some Youtube videos. The structure may change when I actually get to it.

Just a note: these entries may not be very interesting to you. Like my Movie-watching blogs, these entries will be more like a record of my taste in music. You may disagree. You may think I have horrible taste in music. As always, feel free to comment. :)

General, Overall Taste in Music

Across all music genres, I tend to lean towards extremely sad songs -- often about heartache. I don't know why. They just grab me more. I like positive songs, too, but I'm much more particular about them.

Regarding slow songs or fast songs, I like both, but songs that are really, really slow usually do nothing for me. Super fast songs are okay. 

If there are lyrics, they gotta catch me in some way -- or the melody has to work with the music. If the lyrics are in English, I want to be able to hear the words. If the lyrics aren't in English and I don't understand them, then the music and melody has to successfully convey the emotions.

I really like instrumentals as well.

My Music Mottos

I have two mottos for music (they also apply to just about everything else). They are: 

1."Reserve judgement until I've experienced it."
2."Do not generalize."

I find it unfair to dislike a song before even listening to it (for whatever reasons). I also find it unfair to dislike a song just because it falls under a genre I generally dislike or am indifferent to. I mean, would you ever say you like a song just because it falls under a genre you like? 

This would also apply to the artist. I'll listen to a new song from an artist I dislike or am indifferent to. I probably won't search for their stuff... but I won't turn away from it either.

My Affinities with Music Genres

If anybody ever asks me, "What kind of music do you listen to?", my answer will be, "I listen to everything." What I really mean when I say that is: "If you want to recommend anything to me, go ahead and recommend it." I may not actively search for music in every genre, but I'm open to the exposure, and I don't want somebody NOT recommending something to me just because I say, "I listen to this and this", and "this" doesn't coincide with what they listen to.

Now that you've read that bit and know that I'm open to anything, I can go into more detail of what I generally like / dislike.

I listen heavily to anime and video game music. It makes the most sense since I play video games now and I was heavily in the anime scene years ago (there's still a backlog of anime series on my "to-watch" list). I also listen heavily to Japanese pop and rock, though I haven't listened to much new stuff these days.

On the "other" side of the world (the "Western" world -- aka where I live), I tend to listen to pop and rock -- often to boy bands (where are they now?!). I often like the music in hip hop and rap -- not always the lyrics. I also have a huge affinity with songs from Musicals.

For instrumentals, I often enjoy Celtic stuff and Baroque stuff. I also really like string pieces and piano solos. They can be long and drawn out or with tons of 8th / 16th notes -- if it works, I'll love it.

I tend to be indifferent to: metal, country, classical, punk, jazz, and whatever else I didn't mention above.

But, as always: if I like it, I'll like it.


Thanks for reading! As mentioned earlier, feel free to comment or anything. Feel free to recommend stuff to me as well. No promises that I'll like it, but I'll most certainly check it out sometime.

Now I'll share some Youtube videos of some songs that I like. I tried selecting stuff from different genres (to show that I do like stuff from kind of all over), but I'm sure there's some overlap. To stress again, this does not represent all that I like or listen to.

And one more thing:

Listen at your own risk ;)

Eluveitie -- Isara

ESTi -- Oblivion (From the DJ Max Portable games)

Wowaka -- Two-Faced Lovers (From Hatsune Miku Project DIVA Extended game)

Shoji Meguro -- Backside of the TV (From Persona 4 game)

Shoji Meguro -- Subete no Hito no Tamashii no Shi (From Persona 3 game)

Alan Menken / Stephen Schwartz -- That's How You Know (From Enchanted movie)

J. Cole -- God's Gift

B.O.B feat. Bruno Mars -- Nothin' on You

Epik High -- Love Love Love

Mell -- Red Fraction (From Black Lagoon anime series)

BLOG -- Me and My New Year's Resolution (Progress Update)

I'm still taking it easy this week from Fan Expo, so I'm blogging about something simple to me: my progress with my New Year's Resolution.

In my blog on New Year's, I listed my New Year's Resolutions for 2012. Well, here they are again:

New Year's Resolution
Here are some things I'm hoping to achieve/do in 2012:
- Get more in shape
- Clean my room (it was cleaner at some point -- then it got messy again ><)
- Mature more, but without losing ideals and beliefs that are important to me
- Save money (ideally to take a trip to Japan and see the cherry blossoms fall -- man, I so want to see that!)
- Save money/work out some monthly budget
- Balance the amount of stuff I have (I have too much stuff right now)
- Learn more Python (programming language)
- Create a game with my newly learned knowledge of Python
- Learn more Japanese
- Continue going to life-drawing sessions regularly (when the Winter season is over)
- Watch a play (if there's anything good playing)
- Watch a musical (if there's anything good playing)
- Write a story (script, short story, novel, whatever)
- Read a book (manga doesn't count, lol)
- Stay connected with my friends in one form or another
- Beat at least 12 video games that I physically own (is that too much? I wonder)

Yeah... it's a long list. I tend to be over-ambitious when it comes to what I want to do. I just want to do everything! If I could, I'd be a "Jill of all trades" -- learning everything I want to learn; mastering everything I want to master.

And here's where I am with my New Year's Resolutions:

- Get more in shape -- NOPE
I haven't really done anything here. I tend to walk more and that's it. I'd love to free up some space in my room -- I don't really want to work out in a place where people can see me.

- Clean my room (it was cleaner at some point -- then it got messy again ><) -- NOPE
 I did once, but it got messy again ><

- Mature more, but without losing ideals and beliefs that are important to me -- DROPPED
I've scratched this off my list at some point. I've realized it's not necessary to me (because I generally like the way I am, weirdness and all).

- Save money (ideally to take a trip to Japan and see the cherry blossoms fall -- man, I so want to see that!) -- YES
That trip to Japan will come, but not this year -- I don't even have a passport yet. I have been saving some money, though. Yay! (This is a big achievement for me, since I'm such a spendthrift)

- Save money/work out some monthly budget -- YES
Yes, I've been keeping a budget each month and I haven't gone over at any point (though I was very close for a few months).

- Balance the amount of stuff I have (I have too much stuff right now) -- YES
I'm still buying new things, but not as much. And things are leaving my house, so it's all good.

- Learn more Python (programming language) -- NOPE
This is something I've been wanting to do since I bought my Python book... T.T Somehow I gotta slot myself an hour of this each week.

- Create a game with my newly learned knowledge of Python -- NOPE
This relates to the resolution above, so I can't make progress here until I've made progress there.

- Learn more Japanese -- NOPE
I think I'm able to read katakana and hiragana a little faster now, and I'm hearing a few more words when watching anime, but that's it... T.T I gotta do something about this as well.

- Continue going to life-drawing sessions regularly (when the Winter season is over) -- NOPE
I gotta go back and do this...

- Watch a play (if there's anything good playing) -- DONE
The Neverending Story

- Watch a musical (if there's anything good playing) -- NOPE
Something good needs to come to Toronto.

- Write a story (script, short story, novel, whatever) -- NOPE
Haha... I better write something. So many ideas, scenes, scenarios, and stuff play in my head while I'm commuting.

- Read a book (manga doesn't count, lol) -- DONE
No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai

- Stay connected with my friends in one form or another -- YES
I don't think I need to elaborate on this.

- Beat at least 12 video games that I physically own (is that too much? I wonder) -- CLOSE
I only need to finish two more games. This was a horrible Resolution. The reason I made this resolution was to encourage myself to play more of my current video game collection so I can determine whether or not it stays in my collection. A better resolution would have been: "Expose myself to at least 12 video games that I physically own".


So I'm on track with almost half of my resolutions. I just need to pick up the pace with the other half... ><''

I know what I'm lacking right now is time, and space. To get more time, I may have to give up something... and I don't want to do that. I guess we'll see how things will be with my Resolutions progress around December.


Thanks for reading! Next week, I'll try to do a more fleshed out blog or review. I just need to rest this week.