Komainu ( Like Koma san and Komajiro from Youkai Watch)

Ok I learned a bit about these little guys while on a tour in Sapporo recently. 

I will tell you what the guide said. 

I am not saying it is 'The Truth' or perfectly correct or whatever but I thought it was interesting.

First, they originally came from China (or Korea, the guide was vague) and that's what the 'Ko' means in their name, something about foreign kanji or something. Inu means dog.

So these guys are supposed to live at temples. They possibly guard them? It was unclear. Some Japanese people I have talked to about Komainu are unsure, they say the Komainu don't actually guard the temples but other people say yes, they do.

A lot of Japanese people take pride in their culture but don't really know anything about backstories or history of anything despite saying proudly that they have no religion (and then saying that  they are both Buddhist and Shinto but still not religious even though these are both religions).

It is not that I am saying this is particularly bad, but I do find it confusing... same as talking to people who say they are Jewish but not religious... I thought Judaism is a religion. 

Apparently certain cultures intertwine religion and culture so deeply that they become unable to separate them, but still insist they are not religious. It is a thing that I don't really understand because I am religious. 

I hate to say it because I dislike organised religion, but I had a very nasty discussion with a non-religious person about this exact topic (ie; that I am religious because I believe in God and go to church and identify as a Christian) because I am a little anti-religion. I began to think that belief and religion are perhaps two separate things. Because I didn't want to be associated with organised, main-stream religion. I don't fit in at church, and never have felt comfortable there. But I believe in God. I agree with the Apostle's Creed wholeheartedly, and follow Jesus' and the Bibles teachings. 

However this is somewhat off-topic, sorry. 

Let's finish by me telling you the end of this anecdote with my apologising to the person I argued with the next day and telling him that yes, I must be religious but since I dislike religion I was upset to be confronted so bluntly about it. I made myself apologise to him because frankly, it was not his fault that I got so defensive, he did not actually attack me or the Christian faith (or any religion) at all. 

ANYWAY!

Back to our little Komainu!

I asked later if they are the same as Shiisa which are lion dog statues in Okinawa, but someone said they are not (even though they look very similar to me).

The Komainu - there should be two, they represent the moments of human birth and death. The one who represents birth has an open mouth like when we are born, we cry (it is saying 'Aaaaaa').

The one who has a closed mouth represents us in death, when we are dying we say 'Mmmmmm'.

That's it.

Sorry, anti-climactic.

I wanted to ask where they are placed, does it have to be in a specific part of the temple grounds, and do they have to be placed in a specific order, eg; death on the left and birth on the right or whatever, but I had no time. And also are they Chinese or Korean in origin? Most likely Chinese, I think, because Chinese culture is the oldest in Asia, I think... Indian is pretty old too... 

(I know almost zero history but even I know that Chinese first, then African combined with Middle Eastern cultures are the two oldest - sorry if what I 'know' is wrong though). Oh whatever, I am not a history buff.

So -

There are Komainu at my local Shinto shrine also. 

I am going to hopefully interview the priest there and I will ask him.

Also, some Komainu carry a ball or a scroll in their mouths so I want to ask that meaning.

Oh btw here's a picture of an offering made to our local Omikoshi (portable shrine) in summer. 

You need to click on it to see the whole picture.

It's interesting because I was told that people don't always offer fish to a kami, yet here is a fresh fish. Apparently it is not the usual type of fish which might be offered to a god. I have no idea. 

All these items have a type of significance, btw our local kami seems to be considered a rain god (so obv a fertility god also). 

I don't know if all local gods are also rain gods or not. So vague! Sorry, I would like to study and learn more about religious practice in Japan but I am not here for that (kinda wish I was). 

The dried foods in the middle there are also used often at weddings, each item has significance because its name can be made into a pun meaning lucky or long-life or something like that. 

Again the Japanese person I was with was surprised that they gave these items to the kami, she said it was unusual. I am not sure if she commented on several things being unusual practice because she herself is proudly non-religious and so does not know much about Shinto or Buddhist ritual except for the usual new year, wedding and funeral stuff everyone knows, or because it really is unusual. 

Apparently shrines and temples each have specific individual ('only made by us, unique items, buy now, maybe it's your only chance!') luck charms or specific ways to pray or behave when on site. Which I find a little confusing but it's not bad because they are willing to gently explain to everyone who comes so it's actually all ok.

Btw did you know many people drive their new car to a shrine to have it blessed by a priest, yes it's true - it's weird seeing people driving their cars onto sacred grounds to have them blessed but I still understand the idea behind it.

Ok ok enough 'Religion time with the foreigner in Japan'.

Have a good day.

:)

ORAS Weird Review from me because too much caffeine

Ok ORAS Review:

Good but I prefer the old music.
It didn't feel as nostalgic as I would have thought, but I enjoyed stuff like the Trick House and Mr Briney and Peeko (aww so cute) etc.
SPOILER ALERT???

I also liked the end stuff with Rayquaza -
Spoiler Alert continues a bit

- in space etc, although that dragony girl whose name I forgot (Azalea? whatever) should have been a bit more able to do what her clan or tribe have been made to do for generations or whatever, like she was working so hard but couldn't do the thing what her whole existence was apparently for. Terribly put there, but I'm over caffeinated rn. The point is, I felt sorry for her.

I hate Steven Stone he's annoying. I have never liked him or Wallace.
WALLACEEEEE argh I hate him so much.
I just don't like either of their personas nor their designs.

I do not know why exactly.

Anyway so yeah cannot be bothered to write a proper review because this is a reboot and frankly I did not enjoy it as much as I had hoped I would, which confuses me.
I enjoyed Fire Red and Leaf Green very much.
So I do not know why I didn't like ORAS as much.
I think it was little things like Archie and Maxie design changes.
And some dialogue lacked ... punch?

I don't know what it was.
Franchise fatigue?
GASP

Anyway overall they were good games.
I enjoyed using my starters and doing stuff I remembered.
I was happy to battle trainers in exactly the same spots as they had been that I remembered.

Catching legends after the main game was actually really great.
I enjoyed a lot about it.
I give it a 5 out of 5 as a game. Especially because diving is so great. Wonderful!

But as a game reboot of my fave gen, I give it 3 out of 5.
The music wasn't quite right. That's a BIG deal for me.
And the after-game quest was too short. I expect more from them now.

Mixed feelings for this one.

Good job, Game Freak, despite my feelings, it was still a good Pokemon game.

I NEVER WOULD HAVE THOUGHT THIS TO BE POSSIBLE!

THEY RELEASED SENTRET AND FURRET PLUSHIES IN THE POKEMON CENTER STORES IN JAPAN!

The Furret one has wire in it's tail so you can bend it like it stands up in the games!

I HAVEN'T SEEN ANOTHER PLUSH THAT DOES THAT IT'S LIKE THEY GAVE FURRET SPECIAL TREATMENT! And it's a big one!!!!

Who loves Furret as much as I do so that they specifically made plushies of these two oft-overlooked Pokemon?

WHO ARE YOU, FURRET FAN from The Pokemon Company or whoever is in charge of the Pokemon Centers????

I need to thank you for this!
Thank you so much!

Now I have a Clefairy, a Furret, an Eevee and of course Pikachu in a duffle coat.

Here they are, with Marill and Wooper and those four Alolan birds that change type according to nectar colours. I forgot their name.

Anyway Furret is so soft. It's so cute. I love it.
I love it so much. It's so huggable.

I really want to get a Nebby and also I hope they make a squeezable, soft, stretchy Pyukumuku like those squishy, rubbery stressballs, and when you squeeze it, it's guts pop out. That would be cool. But I dunno if they will while I'm still in Japan. I hope they consider it one day.

Why I don't like Ariana Grande (and she is only in this post because some of my Japanese students like her music)

I don't like her because her lyrics are boring and some don't seem to make sense.
Unlike for example, Mariah Carey or Whitney Houston's song lyrics which don't use bad grammar except in the case of natural vernacular.
Ariana herself admitted she disliked the bad grammar of one line in 'Break Free'. So even she knows her lyrics are sometimes poorly written.

I don't care whether or not she writes her own lyrics. I mean that would be good but a lot of catchy stuff is written by one person and performed by another.

I do get annoyed at her singing through her nose, it sounds boring and nasal and frankly, others have sounded better than her (and I hope there will be others after her who also do better).

She isn't particularly interesting to look at.
She doesn't have 'it', she's just another young skinny brunette.
And her album cover for Dangerous Woman, I think it was, is RIDICULOUS.
A stupid black rabbit mask. She just looks like a cross-eyed twit, frankly. There's sexy and cute, or a little scary and she is none of those things in that stupid mask.It actually looks like she is a child who has pulled a pair of underwear over her head and is looking out of the leg holes. Is she meant to look like a playboy bunny? Because yes, I want my (future) daughter to emulate that lifestyle.
Anyway most of the problems I have with her 'look' have nothing to do with her as a person, but rather with how she is being marketed as a product because these days that's the most important point, isn't it?
I guess I shouldn't be taking shots at her because it's pointless, it's the industry that is the problem, not her. So I take it back, Ariana, work hard etc go for it reach for your dreams (even if they are rather empty and vacuous like your lyrics and attempts at showing your personality) and let's hope one day the industry will stop. That's all, just stop.
Game industry stop churning out fps games which are all clones.
Music industry stop reducing down and reducing down your supposed 'singers' or 'artists' to image and nothing else.

Everything needs to change.
Getting stale.
Technology improves but ideas aren't allowed to evolve to use what we have in a new way, companies are afraid to change a formula which has been selling their product. But if they don't change soon, people will stop buying.
I hope that they do, and that it's a wake-up call to huge companies.
Small companies need to be given a chance.

Ok sorry Ariana, it wasn't you, it was me after all. Or perhaps everyone else.

Unusual snack I tried in Japan - is it spaghetti? Maybe.

Went to a small festival one train stop away in a neighbouring town.
It's tiny and so was the festival but it's nice to see people having fun.

As usual they had takoyaki (octopus in ball-shaped batter), yakisoba (fried noodles) and kakigori (shave ice) and french fries aka 'chips' (which is what we call them in NZ and Eng and Aus) which are all usual festival foods.
Most festivals that I go to happen in Summer, because I hate the cold, especially wind. So that's why I don't want to say these are Summer foods, they aren't (except the shave ice) and the above picture is also food from a festival. They are deep fried spaghetti noodles covered in a a kind of flavouring. I have tried them before, they are weird but good, very crunchy and more-ish, basically you keep eating just one more. I don't know what they are called. Fried spaghetti? Anyway it's nice to eat them sometimes.

Here's a couple of links to websites that talk about noodles in Japan. There's more than Udon, Soba and Ramen out there, but I tell you right now, most Japanese people like Ramen the best. I have asked A LOT of people of different ages, just out of curiosity. I think some people prefer Ramen over rice.

Noodles in Japan
https://www.washokuexplorer.com/blog/english-5-different-types-of-japanese-noodles-their-tasty-toppings/


Types of spaghetti in Japan
http://www.japan-talk.com/jt/new/japanese-spaghetti

Another list! Pokemon which I didn't like but came to like later.

Haven't done any posts in a while because as I may have mentioned in a previous post, my phone uses the Blogger app but it doesn't seem to update anymore and keeps crashing.

Anyway, I wanted to post another Pokemon post, a list (as usual) of Pokemon that I initially didn't like but I came to like them because of some tiny little detail that endeared them to me, either in the anime or a game. This is not about battle, purely appearance or perception of the Pokemon's character I know all Pokemon are individuals but let's face it, we all stereotype each Pokemon according to what they are, Ekans are sneaky sneks, Meowth are catty, Pikachu are 'cute' and so on.
So my top ten list of Pokemon which I disliked at first but somehow ended up melting over.
Sorry, a messy title.

1) Bidoof
The Pokemon Mystery Dungeon games made me like this little one after all. Kindly, well-meaning and a bit of a country hick. Turns out, all it needed was a voice to make me like it.

2) Sunflora
Same as above, Mystery Dungeon made it funny and cute after all, keeping a diary that you can read, it's so great haha!

3)Passimian
I dislike monkeys very much (Pokemon or not) but Passimian in Pokemon Refresh is SO cute that I ended up liking it. I'm going to use it on my latest Sun playthrough. I do NOT feel that the other ugly purple orangutan thing is cute. I forgot that ugly thing's name. Who cares. Passimian is way cuter anyway.

4)Caterpie
It was kind of boring, never thought much of it. Then in the anime, Ash's Caterpie was so cute that I fell in love. It's shivery squeaky voice and staring at the moon with longing, it melted my heart. Now I like to catch one if I can, and evolve it to Butterfree. Go, FLY! Fly away! You beautiful thing.

5)Heatran
I didn't like the way it looked but then when I encountered it in-game, and I heard it's weird hissy voice, I fell in love. It was surprisingly cute. Now I love it. Crazy, huh? I don't know why but that's all it took.

6)Araidos
At first because it was a giant spider, I disliked it because if I saw a real spider like that, I would have a heart attack or something. But then I looked at it again a couple of games later and I decided actually the colours are very pretty (a bit garish but still striking) and I thought, 'I bet people underestimate you. I want to have you on my team one day.'; so now I have one on my Moon team and we are getting along rather well.

7)Litwick
At first I thought its design was really stupid and lazy (like a few other Pokemon I could name but let's not, we will be here too long), but later I saw the shiny version somewhere and just seeming that changed my mind somehow. So now I don't mind it too much, and it is kind of cute really. I also like Chandelure's design even though you could say it is just as lazy. All three in this line also have cute voices.

8) Bulbasaur
Early on I disliked it's design. Squirtle and Charmander look like opposites, their size and design mirror each other. Bulbasaur looked like the odd one out with it's squat body and big weird eyes. But later I realised it's much cuter than I gave it credit for after all. Perhaps it just became such a familiar sight that eventually I came around. I really don't know the real reason I came to like it.

9) Kyurem
I disliked it at first because compared to Reshiram and Zekrom, it looked weaker and uglier. But I kind of ended up feeling sorry for it and somehow I thought it was cute after that. I even started using it on my team for a while.

10) Furret (probably should be higher on the list but it's not in any real order)
It's actually my favourite Normal type now.
I used to think it was boring or dull or forgot about it altogether, but one day I wanted to look at all those Normal types you always encounter in the first part of the game, you know, the rodent-y types like Rattata, Zigzagoon and Sentret and so on. So I took a look at them and their evolutions and I saw Furret and thought, 'Hey, that thing is the cutest thing I have seen in forever. Much cuter than most other Pokemon... it rivals Clefairy. How did I not notice?' And that mystery will probably never be solved - the changing of a woman's heart. Anyway I love Furret. Furret and Eevee and Rokon (I mean Vulpix) and that love of those three has grown steadily over 20 or so years. I hope I can get a cute plushy or each of them before I leave Japan but the truth is, Furret is not very popular so the odds are low. I have Eevee and Vulpix already. PLEASE POKEMON CENTER, FURRETTTTT!!!!

Btw Furret is a decent HM slave but that's kinda irrelevant now since Alola.
Furret is my fave Pokemon in Refresh too. It's SOOOOO CUTEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!
Ok ok rant over.

:3 sideways Furret face...

Japan post number...whatever. End of my second year here soon...

It was around Spring Equinox and the florist in my little town made these flower arrangements.
Those are rabbits. Snow rabbits. In Japan sometimes people make little rabbits from snow and give them leaves for ears, usually bamboo leaves. I don't know why, but it's cute.
These rabbits are modeled off that idea.
I had to take a picture!

Anyway just to summarise; I have been living in Japan (in Hokkaido, the coldest part - eek!) for almost two years. I stayed because everyone has been so nice and easygoing. It was hard to adjust and I haven't fully adjusted, maybe never would, even if I married some guy and lived here.
But I don't think that will happen.

Anyway people up here in the frozen north are more relaxed and less traditional and formal than people in the warm south; which is funny because you would think in warmer places, people would have a warmer character. But nope. Southern folks are more traditional and serious about do's and don't's and so on (so everyone up here has told me a few times).
Hokkaido-jin are friendly enough I suppose. I like it here, but if you asked me why, I would have to say that it's hard to explain, it's complicated.
My students in junior high are charming for most part. They are more informal than I realised. Japanese school kids are hard working and study more than kids in New Zealand, (I think) but they are also rowdy like normal teens. A lot of them put their heads on their desks and ignore everyone around them if the class is a subject they don't like (such as English, sadly). They have no punishments for students really, just scolding. I can't talk too much about schools while I am on contract for the local Board of Education. One day I might be able to say more. But frankly there isn't any secret info to give or any bad stuff anyway.

Well, I must do my best to really throw myself into life here for my final year.
I fell in love with Japan when I came here years ago. My love remains.
One reason I love this place is because I was lucky to get a clean, tidy house to live in with real tatami mat floors. So happy.
I love my house.

I haven't had a place to myself in years. I missed it.

One more picture:

I LOVEEEE momiji (maple leaves) and finally have been able to take lotsa pics of real Japanese maples in Autumn, I think I took some pics of green leaves too but I love Autumn colour the most.
I will be sure to put up more pictures here and there if I remember. Possibly after I return to NZ and want to wallow in nostalgia.
People here are just nice. They are usually a bit more 'polite' (keigo, tatemae, look these words up on Google) than in NZ where being a straight-up type of person who is open about their feelings and 'honest' makes them kind of an asshole. Yes, kiwis, be honest, but we all need to think of other people's feelings a WEE bit more, that's all.
But you know, there aren't enough rubbish bins on the streets around here. Nobody really litters much though because eating and drinking in public while walking is considered 'weird'. Of course I do it all the time, mostly because that idea of it being 'weird' rankles a fair bit.
Don't stick out.
If you are careful, you will be ok and not upset anyone.
That's it really.
Listen and learn.

I am doing my best.
Ganbarimasu.

God bless
XXX

Fresh X and Y Review *spoilers but really it's so old now* less complainy

Fresh review of X and Y because after playing it more and more since my 'notes on x and y' complainy review, I realised I grew to like it.

Pros:
I liked the new Pokemon, overall.
I liked very much the chateau where you can battle to increase your rank from whatever to duke or duchess etc. A lot of opportunity for fun easy growth and getting money too.
I spent A LOT of time in that place haha!

I liked a lot of the NPC designs, especially the furisode girls and the waiters and waitresses. It just felt cool to battle them for some reason. And battling elderly NPCs always feels cool too, like it's nice to meet someone old who still likes Pokemon. Even though they aren't real people, ok shut up!

I liked the new Fairy type that was introduced, and the fairy gym and it's town.
I liked some of the music eventually, haha.
I liked the overall aesthetic of the game, mostly.

I liked the map, it was easy to get to where I needed to go. I don't think I ever got lost.
The post-game stuff with the suit and Mimi etc was actually great! I liked the characters and the story.

Cons:
Still thought it was a bit too easy, and the plot was rubbish.
Also the ending with AZ and his Pokemon was underwhelming. I tried to care, but just didn't.
3000 years wandering should have driven him completely mad and he should have forgotten everything. It just didn't make sense.

I still don't like the Professor's Frenchiness, waving his hands, his theme music. It's kinda stupid. Like, foreign ppl's idea of what French ppl are like. Let's move away from stereotypes?
Diantha or whatever her name was, didn't like her dress. It was weird. Also she looked too much like the Professor. She didn't have much charisma, I dunno.
And how they treated crazy Team Flare leader, killing him off? First time to actually kill a baddie. Not sure I like it. Didn't have to kill him. How can he learn there are other ways of thinking if he dies? I mean, the Professor and everyone kept laying that idea on thick all the time (everyone is different, think about other ppl).
And I felt that the 5 friends should have had a little more to do with each other post-game. Or at least be shown doing stuff, like dancing kid should be in a dance studio teaching his team to do the moonwalk or something.

Anyway overall, I did like X and Y. Despite all my nit-picking, I ended up buying the next set of games which turned out to be ORAS (yay). And I have bought Sun and Moon too. Reviews of those to come in the future.

Fave Gym Leader: Ramos. Always Ramos. Dunno why - possibly because he is old, and talks like a fortune cookie and has GIANT shears as a walking stick. Also his badge is cool.

Fave member of Elite Four? Siebold. So handsome. And Drasna. She is so sweet.

I'm actually replaying X while I'm here in Japan. I bought it for my Japanese 2DS (impulse buy, it's lavender-coloured which NZ doesn't have) and I got the Mew from Pokemon Yellow - sorry, Japanese games only. I'm using Mew in X and it's fun. :)
I didn't need to waste money on all those things but it is my main hobby now.
Might as well dive in rather than just dipping my toes.

Ok. So first of all, I am not English. Nor am I Australian.

Right. So.
I hate hearing certain words.
New words which sound ugly, or words which are mangled by idiots.
Example: a 'slew' of ~.
I hate that. That word is unpleasant. Just say, 'a range of~' or something!
Next: 'pacifically' instead of 'specifically '. Idiots.
That word doesn't mean what you think it means!

I hate most new slang. 'Sick' was one used a lot, to mean good.
I hate the word sick because I hate getting sick.
New slang like 'what's good' or 'on fleek'.
Frankly, at this point I say, Fuck off. Seriously.
And 'on point' is annoying because it's often used as a stupid compliment.
By a shallow idiot trying to gain favour.

Right enough talking about this, it's making me feel sick.
Urgh. Not in a 'sick' way, either.
Argh English stop changing to become so unpleasant!

Inspiring people

Inspiration. Who inspires me?
Nobody in particular.
Just any person who did some work and lived their life respecting others.
An ordinary person. They are the only people who keep me going.
The lady in the queue who is polite even if someone pushes her.
The guy in the shop who maintains his professional attitude even if I thoughtlessly snap at him.
These people make me pause and think, "I need to be more like you. I'm going to try harder, going to let go of my stress and start again."
Real people that we meet every day are more important than flashy, fake people.

I am so tired of actors, singers, 'personalities' who actually lack true personality being pushed at me on social media and tv and on the radio, in movies, as someone to look up to.
I don't mind watching them, but I don't admire them.
They are fake and very fickle.
I hate that. It makes me sick.

I'm not going to apologise for that either.
Because I am on the Autism Spectrum.
It's not an excuse to be rude.
But it means (in this context) that I can never be 'perfect', like these flashy people are supposed to inspire us to be. I can't ever "reach for the stars" like a Neuro-Typical can.
I will never be like them.
Because my brain developed differently a long time ago.
So the pressure is off, I suppose.
Well, the truth is; theres a lot of pressure to stay as 'normal ' as possible, like a disguise.
But I see good people around me, genuine people who inspire me, every day.
They are worth looking up to.
It makes me happy to say this.

Thank you.

Revelation occurs, well, there were a lot but this one is enough for now.

Revelation!
So I finally started watching youtube videos of both AS (Autism Spectrum) and NT (Neuro-Typical aka non-autistic) people talking about the Autism Spectrum, and I got so many amazing 'wow' moments from the get-go.

Rosie King was talking about being an Autisic person and she said, "What is normal? Imagine if the best compliment you ever got was; 'Wow, you're so normal'. " (paraphrased).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQ95xlZeHo8

And it hit me ; 'This is what I have been trying to achieve for YEARS.' I have literally been waiting for someone to say that to me.  And to feel that it was true, that I am 'normal' or 'look normal, act normal'. That's my goal every morning before I leave the house, that's my goal every day at work, 'Act normal, act normal, they can sense if you aren't, they can sometimes smell it...'

I gave up a LOT of oddness to try to blend in. And I am already considered weird, that is, currently.
I now begin to wonder if that was a mistake. Am I wasting my creativity by letting it dry up and refusing to live in any of the worlds I had in my head? I let go of so many characters, stories, ideas and worlds that I had in my mind, because I knew I had to make room for reality. I felt sorrow sending them away, I consoled myself by saying, 'I can make up new ones, I can remember some stuff and then reinvent them.'
But I knew that mundanity has an insidious way of crushing itself on top of wonder, curiosity and creativity, taking up all the space. We become couch potatoes from the stress of trying to fit in and complete our daily tasks. Joy is gone. We kill ourselves willfully this way.

I might have to start over...
I want to go back to the place where I felt happiness and sadness, and rawness. It was frightening and I felt mucky inside sometimes because I didn't always dress well or go outside the house but I did achieve something that nobody else could. I made my own worlds and I drew them, I wrote them, I lived them.

I want that back.
I want to see my friends again. They meant more to me than anyone because to me they were real. Even if none of them were perfect, I knew them so much better than I could ever know a human.
The animals, the people, the trees and the water, the worlds. I held back from immersing myself too deeply because I knew that if I dived in too far, I might not want to come back.

It was hard for me to correct myself just then, by changing 'dove' to 'dived'. Argh. Anyway yes, going back.
Annnndddd got sidetracked yayyyyyyy...
Man, I want fruit mince tarts so much.
Japan doesn't have them of course.

:(

Anyway that's enough for now.

Take care.

Bex

Long time no blog because I'm lazy and also technical difficulties.

Hey sorry stratosphere, I haven't posted anything in a while and I apologise for that. My iphone (never getting another iphone) decided that the blogger app wasn't going to be compatible with it any more for no reason at all.

Anyway...
I bought a bunch of games
Doom 1 and 2 and special levels
Street Fighter x Tekken
Some other crap like special edition skyrim
You know, pointless crap
Also Pokemon Sun and Moon and a new 3DS XL (in Vermillion orange-reddish and black, can't get  in Japan)to play it on and a Japanese 2DS in Lavender colour (can't get in NZ) with a Japanese Pokemon Sun (set it to English because I'm lazy). Fun fact: In Japan the 3DS XL is called the 3DS LL. So that was a hiccup I had to quickly check up on. I bought an adorable cover with a pokeball design for my new baby.

Basically, life ticks on.

I am getting along with my co-workers and students.
Winter bares its teeth but not with any true killing intent at this time.
It's January.

I hate January, for reasons.

Reasons in general, which shouldn't be explained because they are petty.
I'm petty.

January, I make no genuflection in your general direction. I give you my nakayubi. (middle finger)
:)

Ok bye

Have a good year.
Will post a proper entry another day.