Meanwhile... Rant Ahoy!

Today I had to miss an important 501st Legion trooping event (so I heard, Fiona Xie was there too. Not that it matters). Not only that, I had to miss an exciting time watching the Volvo In-port race off the East Coast today too (I'm a sailor). Why?, you might ask. What could possibly happen on a carefree Saturday afternoon, so important to me that I had to forgo two seemingly once-in-a-lifetime events so as to attend to it?

Being a school team sailor for Meridian Junior College means having to train three times a week. Not gym training, sea training. That means having to go out to sea three times a week. Take an MRT Train to Tanah Merah three times a week. Ride the shuttle bus to SAF Yacht Club three times a week. If you missed the bus, take a cab to SAFYC three times a week. Pay an average of $10 to the guy three times a week. Haul up your heavy sail ttaw. Fix up the complexity of ropes and knots to your boat ttaw. Ride your heavy boat on its useless trolley down the ramp into the water ttaw. Bob up and down the waves ttaw. Struggle against the strong winds ttaw. If not, space out in your boat with nothing else to do during light winds or when there's no wind at all, ttaw. Capsize your boat ttaw. Shout at your less-experienced teammates for not doing it right ttaw. Strain your fingers pulling the ropes ttaw. Bruise your legs and feet against the boat while jostling for position ttaw. Hit your head with the sail as it swings across your boat ttaw. Lug your heavy boat on its useless trolley up the ramp out of the waters ttaw. Wash every part of your boat ttaw. De-rig whatever you fixed onto your boat ttaw. Change out of your wet clothes ttaw. Find out later on that the plastic bag carrying your wet clothes had leaked and that your bag is dripping with water ttaw. Go home feeling very tired, and as though you've wasted your whole day, ttaw.

I skipped today's events for sailing training.

A three-times-a-week occurrence. A part of everyday life. A part of school. Something I have come to dread very much.

Why then, did I still attend today's training session? Better still, why don't I just quit sailing altogether since i hate it so much? Why am I so stupid? Why can't I just get a girlfriend? Why am I still making rant posts on this blog? When's my birthday?

These must be the questions flooding your mind I presume. Firstly, I like being single and ogling at pretty girls, and secondly, I'll be starting another anime blog soon. In the meantime, this blog is back to its original general-purpose state. Thirdly, it's two days from now.

I am the vice-captain of my sailing team. That means I ought to have some position over the rest of my sailing peers, and to be able to get them to listen to me. I also ought to have something nice on my testimonial at the end of the schooling term. Additionally, I ought to be able to just leave the brunt of a leader's work to the captain, and only take on whatever she cannot handle. Therefore, being the vice-captain ought to be the best position for an under-achiever like me who still wants to have some sort of authority.

That's not what the teachers think. As a vice-captain, I was supposed to collaborate together with the captain to make things happen. I accept whatever responsibilities from beside the captain and not from behind. I play an active role in supporting the team. And more stuff you're really not interested in reading.

I even had a dressing down from one of the teachers-in-charge the other day. Apparently, I've been missing too many training sessions for unacceptable reasons. I can't deny that; sometimes there are one-a-year anime conventions or other events that I wish to attend. And sometimes, I just want to get away from it all, the mundane and dreadful sailing routines. After all, what's missing one session when there's always gonna be another one two or three days later?

No, said my teacher. As an executive committee member, I'm supposed to be keeping a near-impeccable attendance record. I'm supposed to be there all the time when my subordinates are, to show my presence, to wrestle me some authority and power, to act like a responsible model for them to follow, and just go through whatever they have to go through as well. They made the effort to attend for the day, why can't I?

I can't really accept why they don't really accept (lol) stuff like conventions, related events etc. as viable excuses. It's as though I have no life besides sailing. But no, it's because I am a vice-captain. Looking back at the time I eagerly rallied for a leadership position in my team, and jubilantly securing it, I come to the conclusion that it was that very moment that had enslaved me to my CCA. Yes, 'enslaved' is the best word to describe it. Because this situation is not that easy to get out of either.

Said teacher has given me the choice of relinquishing my position for this year, for what's left of my training stint (5 months) with the school team. Thinking about it, I realized that letting go of your position is not as easy as it sounds. The repercussions are great. Others' perspectives of me would change. My pride would be tarnished. There is a pictureboard outside the general office displaying the various student leaders of the school, and I am among that group. What would happen to my image there were I to drop my role?

That is why I told him that I would stay on as a vice-captain. I will weather the last 5 months of this grueling training, taking on whatever responsibilities I am required to see to. I will continue to go through the routine three times a week until everything is over. I will do it together with the rest of the team, and I will make them admire me for what I've contributed (yes, I'm vain that way). I will fulfill my role as the vice-captain of the school sailing team to the maximum.

That is why I went for sailing training today. I now look forward to Gordon's report on the trooping event, and somewhere hopeful for the results of today's in-port race.

TL;DR ecchi Tamaki for you.

Pic related. She's wearing a seifuku. This is a sailor's rant if you hadn't noticed.

Good Smile Company's English Website Release!

*Clears the dust*

After yet another long period of absence (again, mostly due to Facebook, studying, and my most recent return to AnimeB.com), I come back to blogging with this great announcement. Great only if you're an avid collector of good Smile merch (figures and the like).

As you might've read from my contemporary blogs, the English Version of the Good Smile Company has finally been set up, thanks to the translators at dannychoo.com who offered to help (I did chip in, but only very little due to my insignificant command of the language) and Danny Choo himself, a loyal friend to the people at Good Smile, who set up the site. Learn about all your latest Revoltech and figma releases (I intend to get Figma Tsuruya and Ryouko end of this year btw) and drop by at Danny's corner where he will be reviewing his own Good Smile figures (given too him for free, damn). Do drop by to visit whenever you're free, yeah?

...

For lack of anything else better to say today in this post, apart from my concerns that I'm absolutely not ready for the final exams, I'll just be posting all the random pix I draw over MSN Messenger.





And a certain hand I happened to start a game of Hearts with:



You can tell. I'm bored as hell. Although, I did find plenty to do in my spare time, stuff which I can actually talk about on my blog. When I have the time. And when I'm not feeling lazy. Stuff like Touhou Hisouten (Scarlet Weather Rhapsody). Or all those Japanese-themed events I so happen to miss just because I don't even know of their existences. Or my lack of funds. Or the Stormtrooper outfit I intend to build one day. Or the Star Wars Expanded Universe story I'm writing (when I have the time, and when I'm not feeling lazy). But whatever. Nothing else for now.

Captioned!

Follow Danny Choo's awesome stormtrooper life in Tokyo at dannychoo.com as he talks about daily living, hobbies and a bit of life lessons, with his masterful and upbeat photography and his vivid storytelling. Follow the feeds to your left.

MOAR pix?

Feedburner tells me that I received 38 clicks mostly from otaku.fm to my previous pix post.

Something tells me I should post more pix to draw more traffic to my site.

This post is officially dedicated to Hatsune Miku.


Nosebleed!

wow. That was random.

One of my faves.


Nice boat.

Seifuku is fine too.

a Yuki is fine too.

A Nodoka too, is fine too.

Perfect for a bumper sticker.

Because you can't get enough pantsu.

WANT TO SEE MOAR? Don't tell anyone I'm sharing these pics, chances are the illustrators wouldn't want to hear of it. Read more about it here.

(Pictures galore!)
Because my AB.net site is still awaiting help (WTF still?!), all my Otaku rants will have to be sharing space with my personal life posts here in this blog. This is bad, because my IRL life is not that Otaku after all. The fact that my blog is listed under 'Otaku' ay dannychoo.com (yes, my blog showing up in dc.com and otaku.fm is probably the biggest thing on my mind right now), I kinda feel awkward. Whatever it is, just to spice up my boring-looking blog a little bit, every posts from here on shall contain an anime pic from my ever-expanding anime pix folder. (Currently at 1 GB+. I'm so proud ay my collection!)

Here's one I found at 4chan, which reminded me just much of Houjou Reika from Ninomiya-kun!:


I put this pix up at kawaiiheavens.net once and the members there tell me they get nosebleeds out of it. I don't understand the concept of nose-bleeding at ecchi pix. It apprently does not work on me. Anybody care to explain?

If I'm in the mood I'll share more pix. I'm in the mood right now. ^_^


Sayuri-rin!

My fave Sayuri-rin quote, of course. DO WANT MOAR?

I HAEV THEES PIX. I WINZ.

I can die happy after seeing this.

All that Kanon goodness...

Top it all off with an ED-style motivational poster. My favourite, of course. Very accurate, of course. (It's from ED, duh!)

Thank Blogger for the 1GB upload capacity. I'd dump my whole pix folder here to garner as much attention as possible, if I had the time.

Speaking of garnering attention, I do aspire to, one day, using my m4dsk!11z blogging skillz, become well-known around TEH INTARWEBS, or at least among my community. That's why I try to do something new every yime, though it hardly actually seems that way. Of course, what I'd hope to do as a first step would be to join the ranks of Tsubaki, TJ Han, Lian YL and Darkmirage. You've been given a tip-off, now watch this space.