Japanese sure is a difficult language to learn. Verbally, the vocabulary is quite easy. In terms of writing however, it takes on a whole new meaning of "difficult" to say the least. I have a real-life friend (not naming any names here) that supposedly speaks the language fluently. He can't read or write it though. I am finding more people that can speak it; far less can read or write it. I am making attempts to do both simultaneously. My aunt is considering purchasing Rosetta Stone and learn the language at my side. It would be nice to have a "study buddy" to tackle this opponent with .

You may or may not know this, but the Japanese language consists of four alphabets. Hiragana is the first one, it is made up of 92 different characters. Katakana also has 92 different characters but it is used primarily in foreign words (names, for instance). Roumanji uses the Latin character system (the character system that is used in English) to verbalize words. The final, and by far the most difficult, system to learn is Kanji. The kanji are those oh-so-complex characters that you see in the Chinese alphabet. As a matter of fact, that is where the kanji came from. To be "fluent", one must know over 1,900 kanji .

Needless to say, I will have my plate full with this one for quite some time. After a year or two of hacking at it myself and with my aunt, I plan on taking college courses over the language. If you can offer me any help with the language, please send me an e-mail or post a comment. I have a book and a few CDs to help with speech. I am going to try to learn verbs alongside hiragana and katakana. That should teach me some kanji on top of the whole shabang!

TIME TO PLAY MORE GAMES! I dug out my N64 out a few days back. My mom and I have been playing Super Mario 64 and Animal Crossing on the Gamecube. I have also been going after it on Banjo-Kazooie on the N64. They may be cartoony games, but they are fun . I'll post again later!

I am going to purchase Final Fantasy X-2 for my PS2 tomorrow . I loved the storyline in Final Fantasy X so much that I thought this would be a good buy. The ending of Final Fantasy X is so sad and it leaves so many gaps that I not only want to buy the sequel, but I need to buy it. What with the inconclusive death at the ending and all, after I cried a bit (quite a tearjerker), I said to myself, "I just have to go and buy X-2!" I will talk all about it once I get into the game a bit. It could be awhile... what with my workout schedule and all. That's okay, I will get into it in due time .

I have been playing Animal Crossing on the Gamecube. It gets very boring very quickly. It is fun for about twenty minutes, then it gets rather repetitive. Harvest Moon can also get boring, but it has a few hooks that keep your interest for more than the allotted twenty minutes that Animal Crossing offers. Either way, I will post tomorrow after I get back from the mall and I have my copy of Final Fantasy X-2. Some people say that it is a disappointment; others say that it is worth the buy. I will offer my opinion after I make some progress. I will post again tomorrow or Wednesday.

Today I am going to talk about the anime series known as Air. It is a short, 13 episode series that has quite a few hooks to the story. Most of the characters seem to have a longing to get high into the clouds. Misuzu espically does. I am 62% through with the series (8/13 episodes). It starts out featuring a guy who is poor and down on his luck, Kunisaki Yukito. He performs puppet shows for yen. He is met up with this odd young woman known as Kamio Misuzu. She has a mental illness; she cries and can't make any new friends. Her illness isn't specifically mentioned at the time of my viewing, but it might later on down the road. She loves to dream about flying high into the sky.

There is another young girl by the name of Kano Kirishima. She has a cute and intelligent dog named "Potato". Instead of barking, he just yelps "Piko! Piko!" The series, 8 episodes into it, is best summarized by the quote in the beginning, "It was the beginning of a summer that was as short as a star's twinkle...and as long as an eternity..." Kano tends to sleepwalk and get into all sorts of trouble. She tends to go to the local shrine and mess with a sacred cursed feather. She tries to "fly" to be with her mother whom died many years ago. I am only a tad of the way through the series, but it looks promising. I need to get my paws on the Air movie as well. I can't find a copy on the internet, so I might have to buy one. It seems that all of the females in this series have a mental illness in some form or another. Here are three screenshots of the series.





I am still waiting for Galefore to get online so I can get my account back. I would steal it, but his wife changed the password on it . The problem is that he never gets on. He's busy with work and the naval life though, so I can't put too much pressure on to him. Speaking of military friends. My friend, Kyle, talked to me this morning. He is stationed in Japan. To that I say, "LUCKY!" I am going swimming all day tomorrow, so I won't have much to write about. Sunday after Church, I plan on finishing Air. If I don't, I will come very close to it. Bye!

Today I did something that I rarely do. I prayed not for others, but for myself. I usually include loved ones or those less fortunate, but I was feeling needy and somewhat greedy this morning. I prayed to the lord for help with my relationships;; I am way too shy with both girls and boys. It is not just boyfriend or girlfriend relationships, but just plain old friendships. The lord gave me quite a bit of advise and lots of wisdom to add to my arsenal. I felt pretty bad after I prayed, but the Lord said to me, "Do not punish yourself for your prayer, my son, every one prays for themselves." I still felt bad, but my parents reassured me and I feel much better now. I think that the Lord helped me because I was trying as hard as I could to make friends, both male and female.

He said to me, "Do not fear introductions; the other one is just as, if not more, as nervous as you. He also told me not to fear people in groups. He said that one reason people travel in groups is because they are nervous just like you." He also told me to be observant. One example is the movie display in the Vintage Stock at the mall. If there is someone, especially alone, sitting and watching it, join them and share interest! So thanks to Him, my shyness is pretty much null and void. The only thing that will deter me from someone is a ring on their finger. My goal is to have a "friend" by September at the latest.

I might do something that I might regret later. I am thinking of getting my old account back from World of Warcraft. I am starting to miss it...hte PVP, the bigass dungeons like Blackwing Lair, ganking, ahhh the list goes on. Galefore has my account now, but he said that he'd be willing to give it back if I wanted it. I can go back to my priest and get her to the new max level, whatever it is; I can get my warrior up as well. If Blizzard keeps up their name bullshit, I might not go back to the game after all. Then again, is crack this good really going to be deterred by anonymity? This former war crack addict says maybe. I'll have to go out on a limb and check it out to see if it's worth having some stalker having my name. Then again, Facebook has my full name. WoW is supposed to be a fantasy RPG; you don't use "Bob Dole" as your name, you use "Frodo Baggins" or something. Oh well, I'll have to see what goes on. Some of my friends have agreed to pay my account fees if I get on, so that's a plus. I'll post more on it later.

Today I would like to introduce you, the reader, to an old time favorite game of mine. As you may guess, the game is Lufia & the Fortress of Doom. The game is about four villains called the Sinstrals that are made with pure evil. At the start of the game, you are on the island known as Doom Island. This is where the Sinstrals reside. Your character's levels are the mid to high 70s, so all of the enemies are defeated quite easily. The objective here is to defeat the Sinstrals using the Dual Blade that is bestowed upon Maxim (the hero). This is literally foolproof; once you do this, Doom Island falls into the sea. Now, 99 years later, the game really begins.

The battle system is like that of Final Fantasy is as because it is turn-based. Leveling in the game is very easy. Don't go overboard though! You will want to get by on bare bones leveling until you get your last party member or else your party's level range will be a bloody mess. The controls are very easy: control pad to move, and the A & B buttons to select/deselect. X & Y to check status on items. So we can see that the controls and battle system are easy. I see no need to go any further into the game mechanics.

Yesterday I checked out a book at the library (yes, ): Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury. I read one of his more famed novels, Fahrenheit 451 and figured that I should give his other books a chance. I have gotten into chapter IV and am hooked on it. I read one or two chapters at a time, then I take a break. I am not a power reader, so I read very slowly. I have three weeks to read it before I have to return it. I think I'll have it knocked out in one--like I said, I am a slow reader! After I read this, I am probably going to read Lés Miserables (sp?). I loved that book, Jean Valjean (sp?) was perhaps best character in any book that I have read.

On another note, I am feeling much better. Not suicidal, not depressed, not crazy, just feeling gooooooooooooooooooooood. That's all for this post: bye~

Not much to write about to cover up these past few days. In a month or so, apparently I am going up to Kansas City to visit some family. I am looking forward to it; the family I have up north in KC is always kind to me. Believe it or not I am surprised about this. Then again I should not be. I know that they love me unconditional because I am family; at the same time though, I can be a real, total asshat. I guess that they can see beyond that. My aunt in Kansas City is actually the one that purchased the Japanese elementary textbook that I have, and have gotten great usage out of. I am looking forward to going up there as I only see that side of my family about once or twice a year unless something comes up, like my seizure. I will blog daily while I am up there; I will also try to take some pictures! There also have been reports of "paranormal activity" at my aunt and uncle's house (that they are wanting to sell). It is so bad that people are not wanting to go over even for a few hours, let alone spend the night. When I go up for a weekend, mom says it might be in August, my folks are going to take their ghost hunting gear and give the house a once over; yes, my parents are amateur ghost hunters.

I went to the mall today. I walked it four times (one time == one mile). Then I went into the local Vintage Stock and bought a game for the PS2 called Manhunt. I looked for Steam games and / or any games, but I couldn't find any. I spent about 40 minutes looking thru the bargain game bin before I came across Manhunt. It looks like a badass game, but I can't review it because I haven't played it yet. Speaking of the mall, I was heartbroken today. I saw quite a few friends from my high school back in the day. We all got caught up and shot the shit for about ten minutes, and I went on my merry way. Then I ran across Christina, the only girl that I actually had feeling for in HS. I came up and said, "Hi."
"Hello....do I know you?"
"It's me, Alex, from Joplin High School?" I said, "how have you been?"
She quietly replied, "I don't remember you."
That tore me up on the inside. The only thing I can think of was that the guy she was working with was her boyfriend, and she didn't want to make a scene. Whatever the case may be, I was utterly. Oh well, I guess that I just move on...sic vita est (such is life).

I am making great strides in my waffles account. I am proud of my ratio. I am almost at 1!

I am getting pretty good at Team Fortress II. On the simulators I score average on the highest difficulty. I remember two weeks ago I was on easy and normal difficulty was bossing me around. I love the heavy class. He's slow but he packs one hell of a punch! Many thanks to Kesha, a good friend of mine, for sending me Deus X: Game of the Year Edition, for Steam, as a gift. I don't know exactly why he sent it to me, but I sure do thank him: it is fun as hell! I want to get Counter Strike: Source and play around with that again. I played the original Counter Strike in my programming class in high school. I was pretty good at it; Team Fortress II is totally different. It is hard as hell for me to aim. As I said earlier, I am getting better. That is all I can ask for--improvement .

Some of you may be aware that I have changed my name in certain places on the internet. My name will remain a constant on this blog. That name is "nerd". I am not giving up the name Nerblog. The name I switched to on all the forms I visit is "Ayanami" (os in Rei Ayanami off of Neon Genesis Evangelion). I go by "Ayanami" on forums and all IRC rooms that I am in. So if you are looking for me on IRC, look for "Ayanami" instead of "nerd/neRd". You can still call me "nerd" in chat rooms, e-mails, and forums if you like, I just might be slow to reply. Plus if I changed my name on my blog, I'd have to think of a whole new name; Ayablog? (ew). Nerblog will always be there!

Yesterday was a free-for-all on waffles. Someone spent 643,772 points to grant every one on the website got a free leech for 24 whole hours! Everyone downloaded their asses off. Personally, I recieved about 22 torrents. My ratio is now up to 0.88 with 155 points. How did that guy get 643,772 points to get everyone a free leech day? I mean, how can one individual get that much music? Oh well, I guess that I'll never know!

Today was the birthday of my late Granny, she would have been 87 years old. I miss her with all my heart and just know that she, along with the grandfather I never knew, are both in heaven. Granny, I will always remember you for your sweet personality and ability to never say no to a beer . I love you, granny~

First of all I want to wish all fatherly figures a great, happy Father's Day! Don't forget to treat your fathers with the utmost respect that they deserve. For my dad's present, my mom got him an mp4 player. Of course being the poor man that I am, I could not pitch in; I said that the gift was from me as well . Hurray for people who have only $30.00 / month for spending money! I do odd chores / jobs for extra cash, but those are hard to find. I would give my grandpa something, but Dirty Grandpa deserves nothing but a fat cock in the ass.

Guess what I did last night?? I finally beat Lufia & the Fortress of Doom! I got my characters in the 70 to 75 range, so the sinstrals were very, very, easy for me to beat. The ending was a shocker. I am not going to say anything just in case a reader decides to pick up the game. You can probably get by at level 55, but as I mentioned eariler, I love to grind [monsters]. Tonight I am going to start on Lufia II: Rise of the Sinstrals. I just hope that this sequel is just as fun and mind-numbing as the first game! Here is an image of the final screen of the game.

I would like to extend a wish to Mary C. who attends the church I go to. She is on her last leg and may be leaving our world soon. Please extend your prayers to her and her family. Pray for her, her family, and her loved ones to get everyone through these difficult times. Pray for her husband, Steve, as well.

That's all for now; I'll post again on Wednesday or Thursday.

I've been grinding for quite a bit in Lufia over the past few days. Three days ago, I was in the level 24-27 range. Now with about one and a half to two hours of grinding per day, I am in the 36-42 range. My Jerin is lagging behind rather badly in levels and I don't know why. I hear that level 50 is what you really need to beat the Sinstrals at the end of the game. I am however, shooting for 60 just to make things fun. I just love to grind in RPGs; it gives me a feeling of POWER! It is also fun to just sit there for hours mindlessly killing the same enemies over and over. I don't know why, it's just what gets my jolly off. I am currently at the Elba and Ulupp islands. The enemies are so easy for me...of course they are far below me in levels...ahh how I love RPGs.



Speaking of RPGs, I just got a copy of Super Mario RPG! It is like a baby version of Paper Mario. I am playing that when I get tired of levelling in Lufia. I hope it's a challenging game. The only challenging game I have played was World of Warcraft on a PVP server. I chose this simply because members of the opposite faction are constantly teaming up on you! I first rolled alliance and thought the horde faction was bad at this, but once I went to the horde side...well let me just say that the alliance are like wolves: you see one and there is bound to be at least 4 more with them.

Thanks to a good friend of mine, I am now stocked up on games. I have ZSNES and Nesticle. This guy gives me every snes game ever made, and he tops it off with every nes game ever made. I don't know where to start! I'm just taking them on one at a time. I am not playing Earthbound again, that's for sure! I find it boring and pointless. Just my two pennies .

I am almost done with Neon Genesis Evangelion for the umpth time. I am also watching End of Evangelion (again) and Death and Rebirth (again). For the first time, however, I will be watching the "new" movie, Evangelion 2.22: You Can (Not) Advance. This is all I feel like posting for today. I am getting a haircut on Friday...might post then. See you all later!

Nothing much has happened since my last post. I have been playing SNES almost non stop. I have mainly been playing Lufia & the Fortress of Doom. I have Earthbound too, but I don't really much care for it. I think that Lufia dominates the RPG circuit on the SNES .

I also have a copy of Harvest Moon. I haven't played it much, but it's kind of fun. Let us not forget Super Bomberman! There's also The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. There are lots of games I want but don't have. One of these is Super Mario: Legend of the Seven Stars.

People have been asking me to go back to World of Warcraft; I keep telling them no, but the little fuckers are persistent! I used to love that game. I had about 150 days of pure playtime. That's not hours, that's days; almost half a year of solid playtime! I had a human priest (Ceil) and a gnome mage (Bath). I had Ceil to level 60, which was the max of the time, and Bath was around 57-58 ish. I also had a night elf warrior that I got to 60. She was also named Ceil. I have not played WoW ever since they raised the level cap to 70, then again to 80! I would like to check out the new raid dungeons...and own people with Bath's frostbolt . Bath had 2000 hit frostbolts, and she had no raid gear (being below 60). In fact, the reason I quit was because of the level cap increasing. That and it was eating my life alive! I would rather waste my time playing console RPGs instead of MMOs.

Well, readers, I have to go back to Lufia for now. I'm getting the gamers itch...the itch to spend 2-3 hours levelling . Also to those who celebrate, happy Flag Day!