So, after a runaround that included visiting a music store that apparently has no affiliation but the exact same as the music store for which I had a gift certificate for, visiting a mall during a power outage, cashing in said gift certificate for a nice new condenser mic, and finally going to another music store and buying a new mixer with phantom power for said condenser, I made some dramatic changes to my studio setup today. Not really the changes I was planning on making (I was hoping to get a USB condenser, but oh well,) but changes that are very favorable nonetheless (wow, for a mic that effectively only cost me 50 bucks, it’s night and day.) Expect the next album I make to sound another level better than OpenSource Lyricist. Seriously, it will be pro-grade sound with pro-grade content. What I recorded just today sounds awesome, and I think if I’m smart about things, I should be able to get a whole CD done before going back to school (finally.)
Meanwhile, I’ve also upgraded my blog software to the latest Wordpress, so hopefully crossposting between it and my livejournal still works.
So it’s my last day working at Computer Stop (I figure that since I’ll no longer be employed here, it’s cool to mention the place by name,) and what should I find but a giant cheesecake (one of those ones with 8 different flavors of cheesecake,) and a gift that’ll help me snag some new studio gear (watch out for a blog post on that.) Very awesome of them.
I mean, can’t say I’m terribly broken up about having to leave, but for a retail job, it’s probably the best one could ever hope for, atleast if you’re a nerd like me, and it definitely honed my computer tech skills. The employee discount was sweet too.
Still, time for the Computer Stop arc of my life to end, and the College arc to start.
So, the video quality on my STIFF after party performance was a shade mediocre (thanks to my cheap refurb digital camera;) however Betheny Lee (aka Bethzilla, friend of Beefy,) actually had a decent camcorder and shot the same performance, which is viewable here. There are also performances from Beefy, Beefy featuring Bethzilla and YT Cracker from the same evening, as well other cool business like Q&A’s and other nerdcore antics viewable here, though you’ll have to scroll down a bit.
On the comedy side of the headline, turns out my local anime store of choice, Anime Raku (formerly Anime Kingdom,) has been buying google ads. I know this because they’ve run on my page. If you see there ad on the sidebar, click though so I get some money back 
Hey look, I have an imdb page now. I can hardly believe it. Still probably not known enough to get a wikipedia page though.
So, I spent time today (when not selling monitors at work, chatting on the phone to Danielle, dropping Mathew off at a friend’s place nor napping as part of recovering from the ear/throat infection that requires huge Augmentin pills to fight it,) looking over old blogs and newsgroup entries, initially Danielle’s (she’s gone through my blogs and such, and I find that really sweet actually - she’s probably one of a handful of people, if not the only person by besides myself, who has) with her blessing/at her request. However, that kind of got me looking back at my own old entries in this blog, and it’s really well, sort of surprised me how much everything’s changed.
My old circles of friends have radically rearranged themselves, people have left, people have split off - sometimes under happy circumstances, sometimes under somewhat more dramatic ones. Many people who I thought would be key friends on into my old age have disappeared into the ether (ok, I’m sure I could e-stalk them and shoot ‘em an email, but well, I don’t.) Shoot, even the places where I hang out have changed - my favorite arcade is long gone, the anime store I shop at has new owners and I stopped going to the anime club before I even had my AA done. I’ve gone from being a community college student cranking out his first nerdcore album and working on anime reviews to a community college graduate looking for a school to transfer to finish a 4-year-degree because he knows music is not as likely to pay the bills at the end of the day as a CS degree. I barely write for Toon Zone anymore - pretty much only doing con coverage because well, I do still go to cons, though even there, I’m not sure if the passion is there in the same way anymore. I went from being obscenely prolific as a musician to somewhat more constrained and picky to needing a break from it to sort of playing with it again, but as much more personal, hobby-like endeavor. I went from being a guy who kind of attempted dating a few times (and who failed hard at it,) to someone who has, barely, managed to maintain a very rewarding long-distance relationship with a wonderful, beautiful woman. In short, I’ve grown up a up a bit, but I still feel a bit like this Weezer refrain:
“The world has turned, and left me here.”
And well, some of things that have stayed stationary aren’t the things I would have wanted to stay still. I’ve certainly taken longer with school than I should have, and than I wanted to have - I’ll be lucky to finish my degree before the middle of 2010 - that’s 8 years for a 4-year-degree. Shows I blogged about over three years ago are still unlicensed, and well, I know by this point, in this industry where one major company is dead (Geneon) and another maybe on the brink (ADV,) they will probably never turn up legally in the US.
Of course, on the flipside, maybe not all that much has changed either. I may have a 90 something DVD backlog, but the fact is I drop in any of those discs, and I’m still enraptured by the content. Once I had the antibiotics in my system, I was gradually feeling ok enough to watch some Genshiken (the boxset of which I snagged back in 2007 at Kumoricon,) and well, it still speaks to me. I maybe less Sasahara now, and more Kousaka (except my girlfriend loves anime and games in addition to fashion,) but the emotional connection is still there. Additionally, between being laid up and reading those old blog posts, I can honestly say that while my circles of friends of have changed, what we do isn’t a whole lot different - we go to arcades (RIP Illusionz, Gameworks needs a Para Para machine,) we go to restaurants afterwords, we go to movies and we hang out. I may no longer be otaku or nerdcore TO THE EXTREME - I think 8 cons last year did some long term damage to all that, but the fact is that’s still a part of me.
And well, as I look to the future I know more will change. Before the end of 2008 I should be at or atleast accepted to a university to finish my degree, I’ll likely be out of my parents’ house, my parents might very well be in a new house, and well, as such, most every tie I have right now will probably be gone in the next year, atleast in a day to day sense. I’ll probably be in a new city, on my own, in a new school, making new friends, eating at new places, discovering new things. It’s sort of emotionally exhausting past a certain point as well, or atleast is to reflect on it. However, while it’s overwhelming, it’s because I know that by the time all is said and done, I’ll be a man with a degree, a real job (hopefully,) and well, that era of even relating to something like Genshiken or Honey and Clover or as anything more than “I can remember being that guy - that sucked/rocked” will be gone. At that point, as long as I can dodge relating to Koshiro from Koi Kaze, I’ve got it made.
Well, I’ll have it made if somethings don’t change, like Danielle. I doubt I’ll ever find another person who can jump between Aqua Teens, Loveless, Velvet Underground, xxxHolic, Harry Potter, Atlus games, Kanye West, Tim and Eric, hexidecimal HTML color jokes, internet memes and more. I’d venture that’s a pretty unique taste/interest set. And I hope for once, I keep in touch with atleast some of my current friends - I’ve known some of them for closing on 8 years now. That’s pretty much the longest I’ve known people. Maybe that’s a sign they’re worth knowing in the long term, even if they aren’t local to me anymore. I mean, it’s not like it’s hard to keep in touch in an era of constant connection to communication.
To future me, who will inevitably come back and read this blog post in a few years, you better have gotten off your can and done what you’ve gotta do. If you’re still working computer retail and living with your folks, you’re doing it wrong. Don’t “become an hero”, but recognize that you failed. FLUNKED, even. And yeah, I know those memes and references are dated future me, but don’t act like you didn’t laugh at it at the time.
PS: Oh, technology’s gotten awesome since I’ve started writing a blog though, so that’s one change I’m all about no matter what. Yay for having a laptop with more power than the computer I wrote all of my pre-nerdcore music on (yet uses vastly less energy,) and then owning a desktop that’s several times more powerful than that, with the knowledge that by the time I’ll need to do an upgrade to my computer, I’ll probably be replacing it with something that uses half the wattage, yet provides me with about 16 times more processing capacity (if the program is multithreaded.) Oh, and multi-gigabyte flash media. 16 gigabytes for 50 dollars? Ah yeah…
I bet future me will be laughing at this point, as he reads this post on a solar-powered quantum computer with a holographic display and terabytes of hybrid flash/DNA storage.
Two updates, in one day? Impossible! But yet, here we are as now Nerdcore For Life (aka the documentary about various nerdcore rappers than mostly about nerdcore godfather, MC Frontalot,) has premiered to the world, in the heart of America, Wisconsin. Here is a link to the relevant data and some reviews. Note the scans of print articles with my face in them. Yeah, it’s humbling. Maybe even unsettling. Mostly awesome though.
Edit/PS: The wordpress has been updated again. Hopefully I can make use of the gallery function sometime soon.
a. A fantastic film by Makoto Shinkai.
b. The speed at which snow falls.
c. The speed at which I felt the train to Vancouver was going at some points.
d. All of the above.
If you answered d, you’re right. The train was slow. I mean, ridiculously slow. About double the time of driving by my estimate, even including my usual border wait (about 5 minutes at the time of day I drive,) and any stops I make along the way. Atleast I should have a functioning automobile of my own when I get back - the ignition system’s already fixed (ignition computer bit the dust) and the clutch is being replaced for good measure (it was getting a bit soft.)
*emo materials start here*
Meanwhile, I’m just chillin in BC in what will likely be the last time I hang out in Vancouver with Danielle for a long while. She might come down before she heads out to Montreal (I really hope she can make that work at least,) but this brings this arc to a close. I suppose it’ll only get more bittersweet from here too. I really love her, and I’ll miss her accordingly. Maybe I should aim for a school out East.
So, life has been crazy lately. Given the college rejection, people hacking the website, a bird defecating on my shirt on the way into work, and another car in my care breaking down (my dad’s ‘88 escort - seems the electronic ignition system is shot,) one might think I’m approaching Job territory (ok, nothing that melodramatic, but I like the metaphor.)
However, Danielle came down for a few days and then I took her home and hung out for a day, and that was very nice. We went to Gameworks and nosed around downtown Seattle while she was here, and her dad took us to dinner at the best Thai place in Vancouver, Sawadee, while I was up there, and in general, we just spent some Quality Control together. Makes the fact that she’s moving out East perhaps that much more difficult, but for the moment it’s good. I’ll even be back up in Vancouver later this week…
…assuming I have a car. Maybe the Greyhound is in order? Or will it catch on fire and shoot bees out of the tail pipe at me?
Guess… who’s… baaaack?
So, for all the great stuff wordpress can back up, it figures that my links aren’t one of those things. Thus, I’m running with minimal linkage for the moment. Maybe I’ll add stuff back, maybe I won’t - depends on my laziness. Anyways, for the moment I’m back. BTW, the new redirect structure (.com -> blog) is intentional, as I might build something akin to a front page at some point in the future. Maybe.
So, I was basically rejected by the university I wanted to get into. So, looks like I’m an epic fail guy. They’ll apparently forward my app to the state university of my choice (for $50,) so if anyone has any good ideas in regards to 4 year schools with good Comp Sci programs I should apply to in the state of Washington, or really anywhere at this point, that’d be great. I’d really like to finish my degree. I mean, if I’m not going to eat off of music, I’d atleast like to support myself somehow, and I know selling computer parts for 10 bucks an hour isn’t going to cut it.