Anime Thermos News

Not ready to post another blog just yet. I'll keep going as long as I can but I want to have the best stuff possible.


Thanks!

Anime Thermos Mission Part 2

 Well things have been going well I'd say. Though I still have a long way to go. I've made a few changes to my attitude and made a few decisions about what I'm going to do with my life. First I'll address the objectives I laid out last time in this blog.


As far as acquiring a kimono I did some searching around and determined that there is a severe lack of good looking men's kimono's available. It seems to me that the market focuses on making gorgeous feminine kimono's for the ladies and gets a bit stingy when it comes to making the men look good. So, I've decided to resolve this problem by going back to the old project of just making my own Japanese style clothing.

I'm shooting for an image like this guy...yea.

 On the next point I've found a very good way of introducing the spirit of anime inspiration by way of tried and true Japanese philosophy. I've advertised to family and friends recently about the high respectability of the Japanese culture. I cited to them a documentary I watched on the making of the Katana which was really great. The discipline and meticulous pursuit of perfection and reliability in everything they pursue. It takes half a year for a team of highly experienced experts to produce one single katana blade.


 I also like to alert people to the legacies of the Japanese. There is actually a Japanese inn that has been run by the same family for 1300 years! Not only that but while there were five sword schools in Japan in the 14th century, there are still only those five standing today! The discipline, the legacy, and the dedication are astounding. By points like these I can truly make a case that the inspirations I've gotten from Japanese made entertainment in manga and anime are not simply childish fantasies.

Anime features Katana wielders so much because of the greatness they are and the greatness that gives birth to them!

Also, I've made a decision about myself that is of the utmost importance. I have to train myself to be a far better human being if I am going to have any hope of success in rising above this world...

By my calculations the man I am now is only one one billionth of the man I need to be. The problem is that there are serious obstacles and opponents to overcome in order for any subculture to rise to prominence and be at least tolerated and hopefully respected. Unfortunately there is no hope of this unless strong men and women rise to the challenge and can manage to hold confidence in the face of adversity. This can only be accomplished if said men and women can build enough strength to bear the burden. I intend to be the first of these fighters. The dream life can't be lived unless the nightmare battle is fought and won first and foremost.

 Recently I have been inspired with some heroic visions that make me feel that I can do it after all.

Ultear

Ul from Fairy Tail has become on of my favorite anime characters in spite of the fact that I'm only on episode 18 of that anime. She earned my respect so quickly because of the few short flashbacks in which I saw her raise two kids and seal the darkness of the traumatized Gray along with the great monster Deliora by making a badass and epic sacrifice of turning herself into an Iced Shell and doing it with a missing leg replaced by a prosthetic Ice one. I love this character immensely. It says a hell of a lot when a character can give so much quality with such a short amount of screen time.

Such quality... ;)

 I'm also rapidly coming to identify with and love Rikuo from Nurarihyon no Mago in both his incarnations...

Mostly the badass demon incarnation but I do like both...

 Great strength, rationality, and gentleness with a concern for his allies even though they are subordinate to him. Actually, because of the bad taste authority has left in my mouth through my life I tend to like any character in authority who is kind and caring to his/her subordinates.

 I am now engaging on a mission with three main parts to it. Number one is that I must build my strength in body and spirit and intellect to the highest caliber that I can achieve as long as I am living. Number two is that I will seek out true friends who will be my trusted and beloved allies in the adventure of life who will be by my side and I at their side as we build ourselves up to greatness. Finally, number three is that this group once formed is to embark on a life long quest to liberate the world from stingy outdated rules and regulations and advance the world on a creative, fun, and meaningful path with friendship, love, and family.

The goal is actually quite simple, but it's challenging because it requires a courageous step into unknown worlds. 

 I have written out carefully thought out principles that I hope will serve as a personal guide for me. Hopefully if they are good enough they will serve others as well. I have them laid out here:

Values (Operationalization)

Honesty, Integrity, and Trust: It is necessary for people to formally agree in direct, clear, and personal communication upon the standards and demands of one's relationships to others and responsibilities for ones position(s) in the community.

Discipline: We believe in decisiveness. we live by the decisions we make or fail to make and all decisions and promises must be followed through with maximum energy and effort.

Humility: We are all vulnerable to both failure and misfortune, to proclaim otherwise either publicly or within ones heart is to embrace a self-comforting yet ultimately unhealthy illusion which spawns arrogance and instills in people contemptuous and rude attitudes towards one another.

Compassion: Humility is understanding our own weakness' and vulnerabilities, while compassion is understanding weakness' and vulnerabilities in others. We must confess recognition of the challenges that our fellow humans must face, and help and forgive them insofar as it is reasonable to do so.

Zeal and Zest: We must decide to spend all of our time in healthy, productive, and fulfilling pursuits which promote happiness and love. We must always look for a way do survive and thrive especially after having failed at something!

Simplicity: We must maintain our health and the positive mindset needed to be the best we can be and so we must never push ourselves too hard or too fast with excessive complexity and overly numerous or strenuous tasks. If stress is a part of your life that is normal, but if stress defines your life it is too much. Success achieved by losing more than what is to be gained is simply a waste.

Unity:Individuals are of great importance, this is true of all individuals and so we must care deeply both for ourselves and those whose lives we connect with. People shall speak and act for the most positive possible outcomes for everyone including themselves.

Legacy: Whatever we know and learn will be passed down to newer/younger members of our family to carry on after we are no longer able to.

Spirituality: A reverence for the Universe and a belief in power within the soul. We assert that life must have meaning and value and that some higher power is at work in our lives. For who can account for the meaning of life without invoking some supreme universal force? The universe has a soul!

Statement of Purpose

We will work hard to learn as much as we can and build the highest quality things that make life of the greatest achievable quality. Furthermore, we will bond with one another through mutually beneficial speech and action that creates shared memories. Finally, we confess recognition that every reward demands a sacrifice and that this is an inescapable dilemma of life that serves to give our lives meaning. We will sacrifice what we must to reap the rewards that are of greater worth!

I've begun with the summer class I'm taking now, the CLEP test I'm taking in Spanish at the end of this month, and the surge in ebay selling I've begun doing. All of this developed within the past two weeks in accordance with my claim on this blog back then!!!

I'm going to learn Spanish and I'm going to do serious research and writing in my class. On top of that I'm starting to rekindle my profit making ability with my salesmanship. On top of this I am additionally going to restart my martial arts practice. I've got five years of formal training but then fell out of it for economic reasons. But now I'm taking it up again as a hobby on my own time with my own creative training methods. 

I am so very proud and excited that I've managed to work up the nerve to set forth on this endeavor to rise above my usual mediocrity. I pray that in time I will have a life that grows brighter and brighter with each passing day, with my happiness and power seeping into all who are around me!

Let's see this become reality!

Wish me well everyone!

Anime Thermos On A Mission!!

Oh my GOD...I have no idea what to talk about this time around.

 You see I'm feeling the tug of real life dragging me into stuff that I really need to take care of but really wish I didn't have to. Somehow it seems my favorite anime heroes have the most convenient possible circumstances for their insane ambitions. For example, there is this really nice unclaimed wooded area right in my neighborhood. For years now I've fantasized about setting up some kind of clubhouse or something right in there. I could just chop down a bunch of the trees there and use them to build. I'm sure with a bit of digging I could have a nice foundation or even a basement...a giant basement where I can have combat training sessions and barbecues!

And read shonen jump magazine!

 The only problem is that I really couldn't keep it a secret for very long. And when people found out they would be sure to give me a lot of grief over it. Building without a permit, probably building code violations even though I'm sure it would be a safe structure even if it doesn't follow the normal rules, and guess what... my town is managed by an association which is really stingy about how clean and nice everything looks and how it all affects the prices of the houses. The construction of a golf course a couple miles away shot the price up by thousands and we don't even use the damn thing! On the flip side, my clubhouse of dreams would probably drive house values down and piss a lot of people off...they're such sticks in the mud!

Come on Suzaku the rules aren't that important!!!

 I feel like I live in a world filled with Suzaku's...no really everyone has this love affair with following the status quo and many of them will even make themselves out to be heroes for defending those damned rules.
Unfortunately, I tend to go around acting like Suzaku too. It's too easy, to just fall into the narrative that the world likes to tell you. All about working hard and studying hard and sacrificing yourself for the good of society and if you do all that you'll be a hero rewarded with wealth and popularity and beautiful mates for the choosing.

 Here's a list of some of my favorite anime characters: Haruhi Suzumiya, Haruka Morishima, Lelouch vi Brittania, Saito the familiar of zero, Kisuke Urahara, Ichigo Kurosaki, Yoruichi Shihouin, Naruto Uzumaki, Hashirama Senju, Shunsui Kyoraku, and I could go on and on.

Not only would I like to be one of these characters but I would really love to have a dream team that is full of them. Really the only reason why I can't live the dream life of anime is because instead of being surrounded by brilliant weirdos I have to cope with a community of excessively sensible and average intellects...

Yea...I wish.

 Imagine now if I went to the local government and gave a rousing speech about the importance of anime and the sensibility of insanity. I would be laughed out of the town hall or where ever we would be for that!
I wonder now if maybe there might be a way to ease into it. You can't really shove crazy into people's faces too much or you'll traumatize them and make them turn on you.

Suzaku got mad about my inappropriate blog post about liking girls body parts but no worries, Lelouch won't give me up because he's a cool anti-hero. ;)

Sooooo, here's what I'm thinking. I'm going to start with some building blocks of anime crazy. In order to pull this off though I can't be bashful or shy about it. I have to confess that I usually hide my love for anime from people in my life. I've also been trying the geta and kimono projects in secret. I do this to avoid the ridicule. But maybe I can tap into my psychology knowledge and experience here. I'm going to try to give people ever increasing exposure to anime and on top of that I can sell it to them with the best advertising of all; the promise of happiness

 Ads today play on your desire for love and family and friendship to sell you things that won't get you even close to any of that. But I'm confident that anime inspired living can achieve that happiness. I'm sure of it because that is the underlying theme of many of the best anime's to have ever been made!

Love :)

Friendship :)

Family :)

 To make certain I succeed I'm going to define my first objective right here and now and I'm going to give myself until July 14th, 2013 to post a blog reporting on some manner of progress/adventure I have had with regard to the overall mission of bringing anime spirit into the general world.


Here's my definition of success for objective number one:

 Acquire a kimono and openly wear it for anyone to see.

 Meet people new and familiar with an open communication of my love for Japanese things.

 Refrain from being too crazy until comfortable rapport can be built.



Unfortunately by necessity I find I will have to be on fairly good behavior while I try to convince people that it's okay to be brilliant weirdos. I'll outsmart these normal folks with their own normal boring chatter and confuse them by infusing just a tinge of anime silliness at a time.

These fools will never know what hit them...hahahahahahahahahahahahahha!

Just sitting here at the computer looking normal while I slowly make the world more exciting. I even have a black rock with Japanese inscriptions I painted on it. Haruhi's pyramid thing there inspired it.

So there you have it. In roughly two weeks I'll be reporting to you guys with some manner of progress I've made with this undercover mission to save the world from dullness and anime from suffocation under the weight of that dullness.

I hope I'll make you guys proud!