Why Do I Love Anime?
September 16, 2006

So, I found myself addicted to and forced to finish the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzimaya today. I felt like commenting on my love of Anime. I don't mean the art-form and the "style" of drawing. I mean the plotlines and culture surrounding it.

There seem to be two running themes in Anime. Shyness and Love. These are the two traits that I love most in a person. Shyness indicats a sort of reverance. It is an indication that you do not believe that you are the most perfect entity to enter the world. With this, you believe that other people have value greater than that of your own life. There is a certain vulnerability that comes with shyness; you accept that you cannot take the world on by yourself and that you need help to accomplish what you desire.

Meanwhile love indicates that there is a vested interest. You believe that there is something greater than yourself; something worth sacrificing for. You think that perhaps there is some greater reason to live. There is always some sort of sacrifice or special place associated in most anime. It is often that a bond is necessary to overcome some terrible situation; and it is this that interests me.

Most American and Mexican television focuses on the aspects of individuals alone. It says that through one person you can achievee your goals. I don't believe this to be true. I believe that you need many differnt people to get what you need; and that is what is so amazing and interesting about the homosapien species. We cannot continue our lives alone. We must network and build out relationships. We must have others to support us, even if it is but one soul - we cannot exist alone. Imagine the man in the twilight zone who loses his glasses - he will never encounter another being (in his imagination or not) again... he may as well die, as his anguished scream indicates.

Even if all but one nation disappeared, we would not be able to continue as we do now. We need each other. We require others in order to continue.

Getting back to the original point; anime is typically about the love of a male and female. To wit, it is love. It is rarely "sex" as most American media portrays love. It is not about individuals fulfiling some needed roles to get sex or some physical feeling. It is about sadness and happiness. Dependenance and hatred. It's about all of the interesting things that happen in a human relationshop. It's about longing and the portrayal of the true human spirit; not some consumerist ideal that discards their loved ones whenever it is fit or follows the latest fashion trends to a T fearing the laugh track.

So, next time that you hear someone talking about their latest anime infatuation... check it out; or better yet watch it with them. If you can get over the stereotype that non-humorous animatio0s are only for children; you may just find something interesting and enlightening.

Hotdog Maki!
September 15, 2006

So, I was off browsing My Lunch Can Beat Up Your Lunch and I came across an interesting new maki. Hotdog Maki, and I thought that it sounded terrible! Well, I came home tonight and rummaged through my fridge and found but one viable option... hotdogs. Well, hot on the heels of discovering the hotdog maki, I figured... "What the hell. I'll do it.". Then began the journey. I photographed each step, and surprisingly they turned out well. I've never been good at the "inside-out maki" (with the rice on the outside) but they came out decently. The biggest factor though was that they are actually quite tasty. I will actually be making these again.

I warn you, don't click the enlarge button. I don't have time to photoshop them down. On the plus side; I uploaded the whole process to my Flickr account. Joy!