Yet another stream-of-consciousness: Introversion

A state of being, but not being too much or near much.

I get to stay home and play games and read books and watch movies guilt free? Sweet!

                If we are talking in extremes then it is time for us to talk in bubbles. People exist in bubbles, and these bubbles vary in size and the general volume of things they encompass. An extrovert’s bubble is a rather large thing, encompassing quite a bit of space and possibly even encompassing other human beings within it, making it the extrovert’s state of being, but when the time comes for the extrovert to take a step back, clear her/his mind or just be refreshed, he/she will generally step out of the large bubble and go into the vast nothingness for a breather. An introvert’s bubble is rather small, you could call it a personal size, generally encompassing little beyond themselves and their core activities/passions and when the time comes for the introvert to take a step back, clear her/his mind or just be refreshed, he/she will generally step out of their personal bubble and go where things are voluminous.

I just watched... Ghost in the Shell

 Existential Breasts.

                I have existential issues. I found that out when I was having a pretty good time one day and then suddenly the words “THIS TOO WILL PASS” resounded in my mind. Now, of course, that is a line to get out of those times when you’re feeling overly angst-y and melancholic about something that isn’t really even something to be melancholic because you have to just walk it off like a human being and not whine about it and feel that every sad song is about you, you self-absorbed miserable prick, but it’s also a line that you can apply to anything in life. Got a Dog? That too will pass. Thoroughly enjoying a new book, game or whatever? That too will pass. Finally whitened your teeth? That too will pass. I suppose an inevitable reality of our life is that everything ‘passes’, which is probably why we say that someone ‘passes away’ though I tend to prefer the more eloquent ‘existence terminated’ and when I’m feeling brash and rebellious I tend to prefer ‘died’.

I just watched... Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind

 And I’m writing this after a long, drawn-out battle with a cockroach… which the cockroach won.

                Like a high school girl at her prom I have a confession to make: Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, which I don’t have a proper short-form for since just calling it ‘Nausicaa’ is going to lead to all kinds of confusion that isn’t going to end well for you, is the second Ghibli and Miyazaki movie I have watched, with the other one being Princess Mononoke. And if I were to summarise my opinion of Princess Mononoke in a single frenzied word it’d be ‘wowzers’. Yes, I enjoyed the movie that much that I had to go beyond the reach of English language and draw out a word from the shadowy nether-reaches to summarise how much I loved it. Needless to say that my expectations rose as quickly as a man leaping to his death from atop the Eiffel tower, in reverse, and sped up 5x times. And thus I went to see the studio and Miyazaki’s first movie with lofty expectations: and spoiler-alert, I now have a man-crush on two Miyazakis.

I just watched... Baccano!

Yavar Ahmad enjoys talking a lot and writing a lot, without really using his mind.

Italian for 'ruckus' or 'chaos' 

                All in all, I’d have to say that Baccano! is the single most enjoyable thing I have ever experienced, and this enjoyment is boosted even further by the fact that it’s pretty damn re-watchable. It might not be the most incredibly dramatic and hair-in-your-pants-erect suspenseful, but it’s a ridiculously good watch worthy of the time of anyone ready to stomach the violence and capable of not taking an all-scouring eyeglass of extreme seriousness over everything in existence.

I just watched... Mushishi

How often have you seen human creativity blossom?

                Episodic series are always an oddity when it comes to your personal motivation to watch it. Your mind has a tendency to frolic between extreme motivation to watch another episode and nil motivation to watch anything at all, like a frog hopping around on a pogo stick while overdosing on sugary treats. See, episodic series are akin to movies in the fact that they tend to start off and stop, just like a movie, but in every episode. This leads to a curiously strong dosage of excessive start and stop, as it occurs in every single episode owing to each one holding its own independent story.

I just watched... Grave of the Fireflies

Home Sweet Home

                Now I’m not a very metaphysical man, but if I were to get down and biblical I’d say that I really like the concept of the Seven Sins. Not because of what they are, but because of what they represent in mankind. You see, the catch of the Sins, is that yes, they are sins, but an inescapable truth is that all humans bear the Sins in some shape or form, which places our existence into a somewhat paradoxical plane as we try to avoid the Sins while being unable to change the fact that the Sins exist within us, that we are the Sins.

I just watched... Kino's Journey

Have you ever wanted to just take your sentient motorbike and go on a journey?

                Kino’s Journey is definitely an odd show, but what’s not odd about it is that it can easily, truly be defined as a ‘philosophical’ series. And the issue with anything ‘philosophical’ is that it immediately falls into one of two categories: pretentious or non-pretentious. It’s very easy for a story to swing a big question around itself, like a briefcase filled with smaller briefcases filled with dead whales, to the extent that the story begins to, like a briefcase filled with smaller briefcases filled with dead whales, repel you.

I just watched... Le Chevalier D'eon

Cross-dressing, zombies and weird magic – can the French get any more Japanese than this?

                If I were to make a list of TV series I want to see in the foreseeable future before the dolphins decide to take over, one of the things I’d put in the list alongside ‘Requiems for Sean Bean’ would be a full-blown production-values-high-as-hell adaptation of Le Chevalier D’eon. One with luscious sets, monumental locations, great actors, great CG, multiple languages and an ironed out plot.