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(Note: I have misplaced the source of this prompt. I did not create the prompt, but I did feel like responding to it enough to save it.)

Imagine that since the first day of college, you’ve had a serious crush on someone who has just begun to reciprocate your romantic interest. After class last week, she invited you to a party and you finally felt confident enough to ask her out on a date. You decided to go to the party and had a blast…at least at first. After spending the entire night casually brushing up against one another and exchanging flirty glances, you snuck outside with her to talk. Just as you were about to ask her to join you for dinner next weekend, another man whispered something in her ear. When you asked her what he said, she disclosed that he said you were a player. Soon after, she started giving you the cold shoulder so you decided to leave. On your way to your car, you walked past the guy who called you a player. What would your response have been if this actually happened to you? Would you have taken revenge? If so, how?

My first reaction would be “wow, after all that, after my long crush or her, she believed this guy, despite the evidence to the contrary.” After that shock, I’d remind myself that since I’m not a player, that he probably is, and that if he’s got to resort to this tactic, and it worked, he’s worse off than I am. I’d also be sad that my crush got the very type of guy she thinks she’s avoiding.

I believe that if it was meant to be, it was meant to be. My crush would have ignored that guy because I would have already, by this point, demonstrated, through clear action and attitude, that my feelings were sincere, and more that the calculated approach of a “player”, which is not something I know how to be. Either she’s got the confidence to believe in me and give me a chance, or not.

If I also believed this other guy was a player himself, then the best revenge, if any, would be to move on, eventually get over the sting of that sudden setback, and find another person that will not be so easily manipulated and ultimately to be happy when that works out. There’s not a good reason to directly work to get revenge on the guy and that would only reflect badly on my part, so I just could not stoop to such a level.

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It's a Saturday, so there's no work for me today. This Saturday does, however, require some travel away from my warm bed, in order to celebrate my brother's birthday.

Worst case for the day would be a combination of factors, such as a car breakdown on the way home plus inability to pay for a tow. Basically, it's tough for today to go too badly. A car breakdown would mostly be a big inconvenience and mostly due to the cold after dark (desert areas get really cold winter nights!)

Best case would be that the food at the restaurant chosen is really good and that the nieces and nephew are relatively calm (love them, but they can get really excited sometimes.)

Here's to a good day!

Worst Case Scenario

Of all the awful possibilities, what’s the worst possible thing that could happen to you today? Now, what about the best?

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That’s my word for 2016. I just realized it within the past couple weeks. The only way some long term goals, like fitness and learning a new language (Japanese, in my case) are going to stick, is if they become integrated in my everyday routine.

Successful people are simply those with successful habits. –Brian Tracy
they certainly have lots of practice!

I’m lucky to have pretty good resources to motivate myself, make myself accountable(but, I’ll enlist friends and family as we’ll), and to track progress, so I’m optimistic, and realistic. Continue reading →

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Back when I was a teenager, I had no chance keeping up with the latest fashions of my peers. There was no financial means to. It was far less expensive to wear clothes that looked like they were decades old instead of new, and not in the “what’s-old-is-new” cyclical style of the times.

Until I could really afford to get closer in sync by choosing, and paying for, many pieces of my own clothes, did I finally shake that feeling of not doing the best to be presentable. Some of that stuff, I truly don’t think even came around again to being a thing again, like corduroys, except in very careful combinations.

The combinations never appealed to me, so why should I expect it to attract positive attention from those I wished to attract. The funny thing is, it wasn’t so much that they were particularly loud. There was no clashing colors or flooding pants, or out-of-place loafers. It was the blandness of it all. I felt like I wore an invisibility suit during high school. Only those who shared my geeky interests, those similarly cloaked, my small group of fellow geeks, ever noticed me or were friendly. I suppose I was luckier than I felt at the time.

I’m not ungrateful, despite the above. I still struggle a bit with that feeling of never being quite sure about my look each day, but I am able to mitigate it a bit by, partly, leaving the recommendation decisions in the hands of somebody with a bit more creativity in that area than myself. Only in wild dreams did I think a stylist would be something I’d use, but there has been results, better than my own failed attempts. Yeah, a balanced wardrobe isn’t 99% t-shirts. I was so disappointed, until I got compliments instead of silence.

Fashion’s still a puzzle to me, but I’m more hopeful now that I don’t feel so invisible these days. I can also be a bit more focused on making intellectual connections, with a bit of the ice broken. I’m far less worried about it all now, decades later.

Was this a bit of a ramble? I’m sure it’s a bit shallow.

New Sensation

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Photo credit: NASA – https://unsplash.com/photos/NuE8Nu3otjo

I am under the warm comforter of my bed. My amazingly thin laptop accepts the words coming out of my mind. I think about the day so far, where the first Zeldathon of the ends with over $250 thousand going to charity. I look forward to spending tomorrow with some fellow Star Wars and Disney fans, watching The Force Awakens for the sixth time and my first Disneyland visit of 2016.

There’s clean laundry to hang and fold.

I’m definitely a fan of the Magicians now and I can’t wait to see what a live action TV interpretation will bring.

Write Here, Write Now

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Photo Credit: vicjuan via Compfight cc

I was, as of 12am Pacific Time, sitting downstairs at home, scrolling through Facebook posts of friends and family, liking and commenting on ones that my attention (i.e. ones the FB algorithm deemed worthy. After having been to various events over the years on New Years, from camping at the Rose Parade route, to midnight at Disneyland, I feel like I was at the place of my own choosing this time.

I might do something different at the end of this year, but that depends a bit on if there’s anyone I know doing something I can join in on (and am welcome to do.

Where were you last night at midnight? Would you have wanted to be somewhere else?

Source: Stroke of Midnight | The Daily Post

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Image by Greg Rakozy. Download it here at unsplash.

Tomorrow’s 2016. 2015 certainly has been interesting. Despite the link below’s prompting, I know, realistically, that I’ll be the same person tomorrow, but, unlike earlier years, I think that’s OK. This won’t be a terribly detailed retrospective, but I do hope it’s a peek into what I’m thinking about and will be thinking about in 2016.

This year has had its ups and a few downs, but, thankfully, the ups were way up, and I think I’ve grown as a result of the downs. Late in the year I decided to be more mindful of all I’ve got to be grateful for, besides the obvious things like family and health.

It may sound strange, but sometimes I feel like good things have slowly started to increase in frequency around me. That might not be right. Maybe I’m just better able to notice what’s going on.

That’s not to say that the world has been all good things and happiness. I’ve just decided that my reaction to events, if any, and even direct actions taken continue as I’m able to sometimes step out of my comfort zone to help. I may not be loud, but I am aware of many things.

I’m thinking that, in the coming year, that I’ll share a bit more of the people and events that I see doing good, in ways I like. Next up is an event I’ve been following and supporting for the past couple years, Awesome Games Done Quick, which is a charity marathon, raising funds for Doctors Without Borders via their Summer event. Doctors Without Borders is a very important organization, especially in these days of conflict in various countries. How the money gets raised is what drew my attention. They play games. Not only that, but they play them as quickly as possible; they’re speedrunners. This takes place at hotel ballroom and is broadcast live, around the clock, online.

There are donation incentives, such as entertainment and even physical goods, given away during the event, and cool things, like commentary during runs,sometimes involving the very developers of the games being run in some cases (as their games break due to the skill of the  runners…)

Some of the runners and commentators are as entertaining as, or even more than the games they run. It begins this Sunday, January 3, which is why I’m mentioning it now. I’ll be watching as much of it as I’m able while it’s live during this coming week, and I’m already following a similar marathon that’s focused on a single universe of games, the Zeldathon Hope, which ends its current event this Saturday.

In case it isn’t clear, I do like to watch gaming streams, whether it’s speed running or not, and if it’s for a good cause, that’s definitely of interest to me. I’ll try to bring attention to the marathons I follow as they approach during the year. That these event can raise pretty hefty funds for their chosen causes is very important to keep in mind. Passionate fans can do good things, and even if a person can’t give, just spreading the word can help.

I do hope to see more of the above types of events, even as I work on my own fan-supported activities; there was a new Star Wars movie unleashed on movie theaters, and already, things are in the planning stages for a fan group I’m in, Saber Guild, that are related to it. We’ll see how that works out once our own active seasons approach, and there’s an upcoming convention in London this summer that I’m sure will be pretty exciting as well.

Last, but certainly not least, let me wrap this up by saying that I’ve met, and spent much time with friends, old and new. Sometimes, it feels like not enough, but every time, I felt lucky to share the company of others, even being an introvert and all. If you’re ever wondering why I’m sometimes quiet, it’s just my time to recharge as best I can. This year, I attended my first Foo Fighters concert (certainly hope it’s not the last), but I was not alone; some excellent luck allowed me to move to a spot near some good friends. Of all the concerts I’ve been to, this one sets a high bar for energy.

This year, I’ll be attending a few more cons, and some which cover more of my interests, such as anime and gaming. Star Wars Celebration, WonderCon, and even San Diego Comic-Con were all fun, but a bit more relaxed for me this year.

Here’s to a good 2015, and to what will surely be a fun 2016 as well!

inspired by A Brand New You, Effective Tomorrow

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“It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” – Confucius

I think I’ve already started doing it a bit, but, in order to not run out of ideas of things to post o my blog on a daily basis, I’m going to get serious about making a note of anything I find interesting.

Normally, I let random ideas just kind of float away, shortly after they spark my attention. No more, I say! I will retain more, by being more mindful. That way, I can’t kick myself for not remembering even small, inconsequential things.

Hopefully, that also means that things I’m working on learning (like Japanese) will not seem so daunting in their vastness of information.

This was inspired by a post I stumbled upon when searching for prompts, but has been on my mind for a while.

I’m posting, this, in a bunch of places, in the hopes that somebody will nudge me if they see me lapsing. No promises of high quality, but I’ll try my best not to write about every little mundane thing.

Allons-y!

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Hello!

That’s how I would greet you if I were standing close enough to do so. The probe, named Voyager, was sent by the people of the planet Earth, but this message was composed by a single person, individually.

I make a note of this because the Voyager probe was built by a team, a large group of humans. That’s what we call ourselves.

I, and many other humans, are very curious about the world we love in and the wider universe. That’s why the probe was launched. It’s been sending information back to us during its long trip.

Before it grew too distant for a message to be sent to it, I was asked to write this note. I was not given a topic, so I apologize if much of this has been self-evident by the remaining co tents of the probe. It did contain items meant to convey information about the human species in general.

I’m nearly out of space in this, so I’ll wrap up by saying that I truly hope to see a return message during my lifetime, but even if it arrives after, it’s worth sending, so please do, and tell me about who you are.

Until then,

Ryan

Voyager’s Last Message
inspired by a prompt at Writing Prompts on tumblr. Image credit: NASA Science News