I saw this and thought to post it. Cause it's effing awesome!


Can you read this?:

I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty

uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal

pweor of the hmuan mnid. Aoccdrnig to a

rscheearch sdtuy at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't

mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the

olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer

be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl

mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm.

Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed

ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.

Amzanig huh? Yaeh and I awlyas toghuht slpeling

was ipmorantt! Tahts so aewmose!

So it's been 3 months since I posted. A lot has happened. I'm almost finished up school, 7 classes left. I'm trying to go into publishing. Hopefully I'll find a job what with our crap economy. It's right on time, as I'm running out of money to support myself. As it is, I'll still probably have to take out a loan.

I'm also going to Japan this summer for two weeks. If I can ever get health insurance. I can't wait!

Just yesterday I went to see Jero-san at the National Cherry Blossom Festival in DC. Great stuff! He's so cool! His voice is awesome! He's also my only vindication for learning Japanese through JSL; if he can do it, so can I!

In a few years I hope to be in Japan. It's one of my dreams to live there for 2 years or so.

So I'm going to make a stab at updating regularly again. This is mostly so the feed will go to my Facebook.

I just watched the Pilot for the new Showtime series, "United States of Tara" about a woman with Dissociative Identity Disorder and four distinct personalities; an average mom, a teenager, a housewife, and a biker dude. (That's right, biker DUDE, not biker chick. Meaning the personality is male.) It was very well put together. Of course it helped that Steven Spielberg and the woman who wrote "Juno" are paired up for it. I look forward to seeing where it goes.

I also just got a PS3 and the new game "Mirror's Edge". I just finished beating it. It was a little short for my tastes, but the game play was really cool. I enjoyed the story and the music. The cut scenes were animated like a cartoon. On one hand I liked it cause it was different, but on the other hand I thought they could have fully CG'ed the scenes. I mean this is the PS3, right? If you're going to make a game for this system then utilize all the system can do. It was especially disappointing when considering how short the game was. Since it was so short, why not make up for it with kick-ass cut scenes?

Still, the game was good and I look forward to seeing the sequel. The game is resolved at the end, but there is room for the story to go on.

Wow, it's been too long since I last blogged.

The school semester will be up in two weeks. This was not a good semester. I'm just so burnt out. I don't know how some people do it. I've been in school only 3 1/2 years, and I'm tired already. How can people do this for seven or eight years?! I'm just ready to leave.

I want to start working, but I'm still indecisive about what I want to do. I've an interest in going into Publishing and working in a Publishing house. I also pulled on a Japanese Minor, that I'm hoping to take somewhere. I want to acquire Japanese and be fluent. Unlike Spanish with I took from 8th grade up to College 201 and I still can't speak it. Maybe if I dropped myself off in a Spanish speaking country and said, "Fuck it, you don't learn it, you don't eat!" Maybe I should do this with Japanese, hm?

I guess it's good holidays are coming up. (Although I'm planning on taking a Intersession course.)
This Thanksgiving "break" did not help. It was three days and a weekend, and back to school. Hardly enough time to relax. I guess "thems the breaks" as they say, whoever "they" are.

Well that's it for now. Mata, ne!

So I've done several unprecedented things today...

Most obviously is this post I'm writing now.

Next I have *gasp* uploaded another piece of artwork on my DeviantART page. (I think the last time I did that was two years ago.)

And lastly, but certainly not least, I have started to file my Taxes about a week before they are due instead of the night before.

I feel like I'm on a role.

Also today, I've gotten my hair done, fiddled around on Facebook for three hours, and wandered around the North Campus School of Public Health building for two hours in search of the Kendo Club. After finally locating the room the club meets in, I waited around for an hour, forty minutes of which was spent dozing on a bench in front of the door, only for them to not show up. I was looking for them because my Japanese club wanted to ask the Kendo guys to participate in our Japanese Festival. The whole debacle could have been avoided had another member of the group showed up for more than just the first meeting or even if she'd shot an e-mail out saying she couldn't do the task she volunteered to do. Then we would have had weeks to try to contact the Club instead of the measly days I had to work with.

Ah well, thems the breaks, eh?

Ja ne!

Alright, I've updated the sidebar with some new recommendations. Just because I haven't updated in a while doesn't mean nothing has happened. (Neither does it mean a lot has been happening. It just means I haven't updated.)

Anyway, Spring Break has passed in the freakin' blink of an eye. What happened to Break time? When did it get so minuscule? It used to be that Spring Break was the shining goal that every student struggled toward during the grueling Spring semester; Thanksgiving Break for the Fall. This time around the break barely started before I was back in school. It's supposed to rejuvenate and gear you up for the work ahead. I feel more tired than I did before and generally apathetic to the world around me. I even skipped one of my English classes and Tai 'Chi today because I didn't feel like catching the bus! What the hell is that!? (OK, maybe that bit is something more than just the short break, but it damn sure didn't help!)

Ah well, catch you later.

Hey guys,

I was looking up Primary results on CNN and found this article about
Asian-Americans and Obama. I thought it was interesting enough to
post. I'll save my own opinions for later.

Here's the link: Does Obama Have an Asian Problem?

I think this opinion is a load of garbage.

In this modern world I'd like to think people don't make important
decisions based solely on immediate gut reactions. I'd like to think
we have progressed far enough that we can separate social/cultural
influences from our own opinions effectively enough that we don't vote
with the status quo unless we want to. Do I deny that those gut
reactions exist? Absolutely not. Of course we are effected by our
societies. They are a large part of building who we are and always
will be. But I try very hard to think about what motivates my
decisions before making a decision, and while I don't always do it
successfully, I want to at least give that same benefit of the doubt
to others. What ever happened to innocent 'til proven guilty?

And when did Asian suddenly mean Black people haters? I've never been
prejudiced against by an Asian-American. I can't quite grasp this
idea. Do I deny the existence of Asian racism? Of course not. Just
like there are racist Whites, Blacks, Hispanics, etc. There is no
culture on this Earth that has not prejudiced against somebody else
for some ridiculous and unfounded reason. That doesn't mean one should
blanket stereotype any of them.

Personally I hate being lumped in with a group without my consent. I
personally don't believe in racial traits as a truth. I know that I
don't like all of the things considered "black", and I know other
people who feel the same way. I think it's a little cheap and unworthy
to negate the individual in race-fired decisions. To do so is to limit
humans to nothing more than herd beasts. I think my Individual is
thoughtful enough to know when to follow a status quo and when to
become an outlier. I'd like to extend that consideration to other
people too.

My culture may influence me, but it doesn't control me.

OMG, I'm sitting here laughing because it's been so long since I posted. I'm currently sick as a dog and can't breathe. I thought I'd just post something so I'd have a post for the new year. Yeah, I know it's February, but better late than never, right?

Hisashiburi De!

Well, I'm not gonna say much because frankly, I'm kinda tired. I'm supposed to be moving next month in prep for going to a 4 yr college. I got straight A's last semester and I'm feeling really lazy, so I'm not sure what, if anything I'll get done in my summer courses. I'll be taking Watercolor and Drawing next month to round out my Associates with two electives.

That's all for now.

Ta-Ta!

I'm writing this post to honor my brother. His name was Staff Sergeant Jay Martin. Sunday his unit's Hummer was caught near an exploding IED (Improvised Explosive Device) in Baghdad and he and two other soldiers died. He was 29 years old. He'd been in the Army nearly ten years now and he was proud to be a soldier.

I will not sully his memory and dream by ranting at the Government and debating whether the war should have happened. I am not ashamed that he was a soldier, I love him and I know he was doing what he loved, what he wanted; serving his country to the best of his ability. He was beautiful. He was shorter than me, but he never lacked in authority and grace. I've always wanted to be like him even though I'm a girl. That didn't matter, because he was a father to me like my real one wasn't, and you know how girls are with their fathers.

I'm an e-mail person, so we usually communicated that way. The last time I e-mailed him, I told him about my interest in learning Japanese and, after I gave him a few practice sentences, he replied, "Well it sounds like you are doing very well with Japanese. To be honest I would'nt mind learning Japanese either. I am really intrested in the Japanese culture, specifically he Code of Bushido. (I happen to thing that the Samuri were the worlds most dedicated warriors). It would be nice to study it with a understanding of their language." Typos aside (He was not an English major, but I still love him.), his words struck me the night after the military men came to tell me. Bushido literally translates as "The Way of the Warrior". Bushido "holds justice, benevolence, love, sincerity, honesty, and self-control in utmost respect."

As I think on the meaning of Bushido and the life of my brother, I realize that though he had no formal learning of the "Way of the Warrior", he had already mastered Bushido on instinct. Truly, I do not say this only because he was my brother and a soldier, trust me I understand both his good points and his bad. But these virtues of Bushido he had in abundance. He was truly this country's and my family's Samurai Warrior.


Jay, I love you and I always will. Take care of Mom and Grandma in heaven. We'll party when I get there.

Aishiteru,
Raven

P.S. Articles can be found in the Post and the Sun. Whether these were completely accurate in portraying his life here in Maryland is still up for debate with the family, but the articles are online if you type his name in the search bar.