Bakugan...Zoids...etc...

For some reason... the art for Bakugan New Vestroia is really good. It makes me feel all comfy when I watch it. I don't even try to follow the thin dull plot or listen to the awful American dub...I just look at them and go - 'Oooh! Wonderful colours! Excellent hair and clothing design, even if clique!' This must be what Konata calls 'Moe' or my friend calls, 'Igokochi de ii'.
Sorry if I spelt anything wrong in this post. Too lazy to check spelling of some words.

And you know what else? I liked Gundam W best. My fave Gundam would be... (besides the Wing Zero) the RX-78 Gundam. I enjoyed the SD Gundam game I have played so many times. Lol so cute and fun! Nothing like mini robots beating each other up, right?

And I liked Zoids. I LIKED IT! And the game was COOL! Fun to get your collection of Zoids and upgrade them etc. I think I liked the Command Wolf best (or the Saber Fang), and the final version of Liger Zero. My fave season of Zoids was Chaotic Century. I seem to prefer feline or canine styled mecha. This is probably due to watching Voltron and Samurai Pizza Cats when I was younger. I know Voltron is actually not a bunch of lions, and that Americans mixed two diff mecha shows together but to me Voltron is lions. Sorry Japan.

And also...I liked Yugi-oh for a while until it got too confusing. The art sucked mostly though.

And one more thing! I enjoyed all the seasons of Digimon but the 3rd season was my fave (with Henry Wong and Takato and so on)! I always loved Gatomon the most with Terriermon coming a close second. Or was it Palmon...
Well there are a lot of Digimon I like. And to lay this to rest: POKEMON AND DIGIMON ARE NOT ALIKE!!!! They are far different.

Having said that, I love Pokemon. I prefer the games to the anime though. I have a couple of the manga, by diff artists. I like Mato's art best. I'm going to buy Pokemon White as soon as I can so I can get Victini. Not that I'm obsessed...T.T
Ok enough. I'm such a geek...I didn't know that I followed so many anime... and I haven't yet named all of them... I wonder if I will ever do so. :)

This is quite funny. A study of Facebook.

Facebook users 'narcissistic, extroverted'25/03/2011 1:19:00 PM, HEALTH HUB STAFF

Regular Facebook users tend to be more narcissistic and extroverted, an Australian study has found.
Tracii Ryan and Sophia Xenos from Melbourne's RMIT University found a significant link between the amount of time spent on Facebook per day and two of the personality variables surveyed — neuroticism and total loneliness.
"Facebook users tend to be more extroverted and narcissistic, but less conscientious and socially lonely, than non-users," the researchers report.
"One of the most noteworthy findings was the tendency for neurotic and lonely individuals to spend greater amounts of time on Facebook per day than non-lonely individuals.
"For lonely people in particular, it appears they are mainly using Facebook to partake in passive activities, instead of providing active social contributions."
The results, published in the journal Computers in Human Behavior, involved 1324 participants between the ages of 18 to 44, with only 166 of participants not having a Facebook account.
The participants completed an online questionnaire, which measured their big five personality traits — neuroticism, extroversion, conscientiousness, agreeableness and openness to experience.
Those surveyed were also asked about their narcissistic tendencies, loneliness, shyness and the level of their Facebook usage.
The study found that Facebook satisfies its users in different ways depending on their personal characteristics, leading researchers to conclude that Facebook is particularly appealing for narcissistic and exhibitionistic people.
"Firstly, Facebook users have higher levels of total narcissism, exhibitionism and leadership than Facebook non-users," they report.
"Secondly, individuals with higher scores on exhibitionism also have higher preferences for photos and status updates [than the site's other features]."
Sydney woman Rei Lee, 24, agrees the addictive nature of Facebook can make people more self-absorbed.
"I have friends who get stressed if they can't check Facebook every 15 minutes. I guess it can become a bit of an obsession... checking it regularly definitely makes you more self aware of your public image. You subconsciously keep checking up on yourself and it can get out of hand for some people," Ms Lee told MSN NZ.
However Lee suggested that perhaps those who regularly use it were already narcissistic to begin with.
"I disagree that regular Facebooking makes people more narcissistic. Sure, it is an outlet and makes their vanity much more visible, but I think those people were narcissistic to begin with."
Nadia Clancy, a 24-year-old woman who lives in Canberra, disagreed with the view that regular users are all extroverts.
"I think extroverted people like myself are comfortable [with] using Facebook because we always want to communicate what we think or believe," Ms Clancy said.
"[But] it is also a tool used by introverted people. Introverted people who are less comfortable expressing themselves in face to face interactions are able to say everything that they want without fear of a negative response."
"On Facebook they can remove any negative responses to their views from their wall; but in real life and in face-to-face interactions, they would have to deal directly with negative responses, challenges, conflicting views etcetera."
Overall, Ryan and Xenos' study concludes that Facebook's purpose and usage "gratifies the narcissistic individual's need to engage in self-promoting and superficial behavior".
http://health.msn.co.nz/blog.aspx?blogentryid=804621&showcomments=true
Hahahahaha!!! This is not necessarily true though because almost everyone uses Facebook, socially active people and others. It does make it easier for people to pretend they have a social life though.

Ponderisms. Thanks, Diana!

PONDERISMS

I used to eat a lot of natural foods until I learned that most people die of natural causes.

Gardening Rule: When weeding, the best way to make sure you are removing a weed and not a valuable plant is to pull on it. If it comes out of the ground easily, it is a valuable plant.

The easiest way to find something lost around the house is to buy a replacement.

Never take life seriously. Nobody gets out alive anyway.

There are two kinds of pedestrians: the quick and the dead.

Life is sexually transmitted.

Health is merely the slowest possible rate at which one can die.


The only difference between a groove and a grave is the depth.


Health nuts are going to feel stupid someday, lying in hospitals dying of
nothing.


Have you noticed since everyone has a camcorder these days no one talks about seeing UFOs like they used to?


Whenever I feel blue, I start breathing again

All of us could take a lesson from the weather. It pays no attention to criticism.

In the 60's, people took acid to make the world weird. Now the world is weird and people take Prozac to make it normal.


How is it one careless match can start a forest fire, but it takes a whole box to start a campfire?


Who was the first person to look at a cow and say, 'I think I'll squeeze these dangly things here, and drink whatever comes out?'

Who was the first person to say, 'See that chicken there? I'm going to eat the next thing that comes out of its butt.'

Why is there a light in the fridge and not in the freezer?

If Jimmy cracks corn and no one cares, why is there a song about him?

If quizzes are quizzical, what are tests?

Did you ever notice that when you blow in a dog's face, he gets mad at you, but when you take him on a car ride; he sticks his head out the window?

Why doesn't glue stick to the inside of the bottle?
:)

Man Built a Sanctuary for Homeless Cats

Man Built a Sanctuary for Homeless Cats

This is so cute. You have to click on this link! He even got houses for the cats... and there are so many of them! It would be wonderful to be surrounded by that many cats.
Here is a quote from the article.
'...Craig found a tree farm and settled down there for his fur babies.
Over the next several months, he rescued more and more homeless and abandoned cats. The number of new residents kept going up, so Craig expanded the sanctuary to make more room for the animals.
The farm was named Caboodle Ranch and is now a permanent home for all the homeless, rescued cats. Each of them has a sad story of their past, but now they are living in heaven.'

The pictures are wonderfully heart-warming. I don't know if I have seen this many cats in one place before.
X3!

Japan and the earthquake

Items for prayer

Lord God, this is pointless death and destruction, so hard to even understand one tenth of it because I am not there and it seems so far away. But I am horrified by what I hear or see about the earthquake in Japan and the subsequent consequences of it. Japan is crying, and you are crying with her. We cry too.

1) Though thousands have been evacuated, 3 people have been confirmed to have been exposed to the leaking radioactive steam while 90 are suspected to have been exposed. Please pray that the radiation will be contained or the consequences will be devastating. (source from TVBS)

Please God, help them to get medical assistance and to also be able to contain the radiation. Japan has been through so much already. Help those who were exposed to be able to get medicine in time to recover, if possible. Cool the radiation, bring help from other countries as quickly as possible please.


2) Shirakawa has over 900 dead and 700 missing. In the town of Minami sanriku, over 9500 are unaccounted for.

God, those who lost their loved ones will be grieving but those who do not know where their loved ones are will be torn between mourning and fear. Please give them rest and comfort in each other, and help those around them to support them. In this situation, let people lean on each other.


3) After shocks continue with 2 major at 6.1 and 6.4 magnitude. 6 million households without electricity.

Lord, people can panic in such situations and often this can lead to so much more trouble, help everyone to stay calm and to be able to get the food and water they need. Also to have toilets and also whatever they need for healthcare and first aid. Christchurch had a lot of trouble with keeping conditions sanitary and still need more toilets. This leads to illness very quickly. Protect Japan from this.


4) For the safety and well-being of rescue workers who are working non-stop to save many believed to be still buried under rubble but alive.

God, protect the rescue workers, keep them safe and make sure they look out for each other. I pray that they will also make sure they remember to eat and drink properly so that they can keep working. Help them to also get enough rest, Lord. And Lord please guide them so that they may find everyone, and as many alive as possible. And also, please Lord, help them not to feel guilty if they are too late or can't find everyone. This task is so massive, and so dangerous even now with the aftershocks. Help the workers not to blame themselves if they can't get everyone out.


5) For the anxious and distraught families and friends of those who died and those who are still missing and those who are anxious waiting for the rescue of those buried.

God, give everyone endurance for this is a terrible trial for everyone involved; parents, children, friends and lovers. Give them rest when they need it, and courage to face whatever will happen. Times like these remind us that we are very human and that despite the strength of our technology, we are not immortal and technology is not of much use when nature strikes. Please comfort the people, Lord, Japan are your people too. You are sorrowing over the loss of your children Lord, I know you are.


6) That God will come and comfort His people and His creation and draw all into His bosom of love and comfort.

Dear God the compassionate Father, those trapped must be in terror and exhausted. Please ease their suffering. If they are not found in time, help them and comfort them in their last moments. Ease their souls, Lord God. Make things easier for them please, they should not have to suffer. Look after your lambs, and protect them from the enemy of the spirit.
This is the hardest part of being human. It is so hard to be helpless, and so hard to accept the deaths of our loved ones. Please comfort the ones who have been left behind, those who must continue to live without the ones they were close to. Give them your peace, Holy Spirit, give them your strength. Jesus, thank you for your intercession on our behalf and that because of you, death is not the end. We will see the ones we love again. God, help the people of Japan to take some small comfort in this knowledge. Help the believers to rally together to support everyone, in spiritual and physical ways. Cooking a meal, helping to clean the house, bringing water, letting them use the car, any way that they can. Open the people's hearts to each other Lord God, and to you. God help Japan please, your beloved country.


One more thing Lord; there will be many examples of nastiness in this type of situation as well as goodness. Tragedy and trouble bring out the darker side of human nature too. Please give everyone graciousness in dealing with each other in this very stressful time. Protect children and the weak from looters or dangerous people who could try to take advantage of a crisis situation. Bring the good in people out, and do not tolerate the bad. Please God, help everyone to accept each other and not to quarrel often. Give them patience and kindness in crowds and other stressful situations. Please help Japan to recover with everyone's help. Financially this will be very hard also. Help us all to give to each other whatever we can and so be able to help each other in emergencies like this.

Lord God, there is not much more I can say. Amen, let it be so.
Just help please, help.

Done.

Well, I clocked Soulsilver at last. Just beat Red. Now I got me a Charmander from Oak and that about wraps that up, I guess. I already traded to get all three Johto and Kanto starters... so it was pointless but still wanted to do it.
I'm kinda sad it's over. But that's how it goes. Guess I need to go get a life now.
Too bad I tried for two jobs today and didn't get them. But the good news is that I have a 90% chance of having gotten into art school. Wahoo!

Bees! How do they make that honey?

Regarding bees... here is a link. I have always been curious about bees and where most commercial honey comes from. http://www.vegetus.org/honey/honey.htm
This goes some way to explaining it.
Thanks, vegetus.org.

Oh and btw... bees make honey by regurgitating nectar.
It doesn't really bother me but some people (in fact most people in charge of marketing honey), would put it like this:
How do bees make honey?
'They transform the floral nectar that they collect by adding enzymes to it and reducing the moisture.' This is a slight paraphrase, btw.

I got this from a certain website... as I had hoped they would actually explain how the bees make honey but they did not really explain at all.
Never mind. The point is, it's like when cows chew the cud, as far as I can tell. They swallow and then spit it back up and so on. They refine it with their stomachs. I have consumed plenty of honey in my life and this doesn't bother me.

But if I were vegan... I would probably count this as an animal product since they actually start with nectar and reduce it to honey.
Don't be grossed out, ok? Because milk is kinda weird too , and eggs, if you think about where they come from. So just don't think about it! The end.
:)

Here's 10 important questions to ask yourself as an artist. Thanks to Imaginism on deviantart.

'Here's 10 important questions to ask yourself. Read them constantly as a checklist to make sure your are heading in the right direction and using your artistic potential.

1. What motivates you to create art? Write down your answer and think about how you can use this very important information.

2. What kinds of information have you been putting on the internet? The internet is the new resume. If I can find dumb pics or comments from you then other people can too...

3. Does your art express something interesting? Great art means something to its viewers, not just its creator.

4. Does failure push you forward? How you deal with failure will determine how skillfull you will become.

5. Do you enjoy arguing or flaming people's work? If you are the type of person to hate on others, it will come back to you. Especially with the internet and all the social networking.

6. Do you try out new methods/materials/subjects that might be unconfortable at first? Success is inevitable if you always choose to believe "It is my obligation to try."

7. Do you have a strong purpose or goal? When you have a purpose, you stand by it. Something special happens when you show an undying drive to achieve a goal.

8. Are you open to meeting new people and hearing others opinions with an open mind? Your heart & mind are the gates to success & happiness. Keep them open or miss out on great opportunities.

9. You can either let your environment shape you or choose YOURSELF to be who you want to be. The body & mind can be shaped into almost any type of person you wish to be. You just have to train it through persistence & constant search for knowledge. (*I started to be "good" in art when I decided to be extremely serious about it.) What kind of person do you want to be?

10.Do you constantly think about your goals? The best way to accomplish a goal is to have it on your mind all the time. Keep thinking about it until you obtain your goal. I'm not the first to say this one but I can't emphasize it enough.

I think it's important to mention that I don't believe I been given any natural talent when it comes to art, I believe I'm PERSISTENT. Anyone can be persistent.'

Thanks, Imaginism! I am not so motivated atm, and failure makes me stop. I need to work on that. I agree with your last aside, I also believe that skill in art can be gained through persistence.

Anyone who wants to be more creative, try things out. Paint eggs, make a potato stamp, do watercolours. Do whatever makes you feel satisfied. Even if it is only small.
If you want to do more serious stuff, take a class or look up on youtube (so many how-tos on there) and try it out. You haven't much to lose. And many people refuse to try to let out their artistic side because they think it's a waste of time.

But it is part of your humanity to like creative things. And also to like doing them. I find my paintings are more alive to me when I am in the act of painting them. Once dry, it feels as if they are asleep or dead. I get the most satisfaction out of the act of being creative.

I don't agree that art is for the viewer as much as it is for the creator. To me, a piece of artwork is the creator's and final say on its interpretation belongs to the creator. But enough about that. Gotta go. Might draw something...

Have a good day. :)

Earthquake victims

My cellphone provider gave us a chance to donate money to Christchurch for help for the earthquake victims. So I did.
And then today there was a bake-sale to raise money to send down to the quake victims also, so my friend and I went and bought some stuff. Then I ate a lot and felt sick, but it was worth it to know that the people down there are getting money. Please hang in there, everyone. I wanted to go and help them somehow, but I have nowhere to stay and would only be another mouth to feed etc, so in the end, I had to stay here. I will pray for them. Please God, help everyone, it's very hard for them. There is not much normality atm. Please be with those who have lost the people they love. Please heal the injured, in body or heart. Please help us to find everyone. Please look after the tourists. Help them not to think only of this terrible time, but to know that New Zealand is still a nice place. God, please heal the land.

The end of xxxHolic? Spoiler alert.

At last I think I have read the ending of xxxHolic.
I really enjoyed it a lot, as a whole. The ending was a bit too subtle for me to understand at first. I didn't even realise that the guy Watanuki was talking to was Doumeki's grandson. Or great-grandson... hard to keep up. I always found Doumeki and his relatives to look too much alike for me to realise who was whom.
If this is the end, it's fine. Some things don't have a dramatic conclusion, they just sort of fade out. That's more like reality. So if this is the end, then I am not going to bash CLAMP like so many fans have. They complain that CLAMP start out enthusiastic and then get 'half-assed'.
Well, if so, that's ok. CLAMP teach me a lot about Japanese culture, even if they tweak it to suit themselves, I can follow their themes and do my own research, mostly to do with old legends and youkai. Japanese culture was so rich.
Too bad modern Japan is forgetting its roots. I don't even know about my own roots, they are so far back and have been so thinned out by my mixed blood. I must look into my own past culture as well, as much as I can.
Anyway CLAMP, I have always loved MKR the most... Thank you all. I also love xxxHolic, and CCS. Didn't follow Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles tho. Probably should have, but maybe I will read it now that I have finished xxxHolic.
Fans were saying, why did Watanuki become this lonely hermit etc, but in fact he didn't. He was still talking to Doumeki, and no doubt Mokona and the twins were around somewhere. He still helped customers. And he was slowly realising he had to let Yuuko go. He wasn't ready yet but perhaps someday he would be. They would most likely meet again sometime, just perhaps not until he died. At least, I think he was slowly realising it. At first I also though that he would see her again, that she was in the egg and so on but probably not, from what the dream seemed to be saying.
Well, I really liked this manga. I give it 7 stars.******* Good art, good story, good characters, etc. I liked the pipe-fox spirit best, and the Only down side was the somewhat vague ending but it was still not a bad ending. MKR had a crap ending... the first one did anyway. Sequel was kinda lame but also 'well, that's all alright then' in feel.
I wonder what they will do next.
Probably some damn yaoi or yuri stuff. They seem to run that way.
Have a good day, everyone.