A Sort of Homecoming

It's 23:23 of December 5th, a Monday night. I'm tweaking out hardcore from drinking my very first Monster energy drink, and it is without doubt the most disgusting thing that has ever putrefied my tongue ever ever. I'm drinking this terrible sludge because I need to pull an all-nighter in order to finish my work on time, which is fine, it's just that I've never done that before.

I realize I haven't written anything in over 3 weeks, which is my longest unannounced hiatus ever. This is bad for a number of reasons.

1. I am going to be a writer for a career. That means I need to write as much as possible.
2. I use writing to unwind and decompress-- I haven't been able to do that for the past 3 weeks.
3. I got my 6,000th view and WASN'T THERE TO SEE IT.
4. You all want to know everything about me! Right? .... Right?

So, I'm treating this post as a sort of return, a reincarnation-- a sort of homecoming. I'm just going to be listing a few things that have been going on with me, and tomorrow (if I get a chance-- if not, later this week) I'll give you the second section to my music suggestion series, Sharing is Caring.

First and foremost, I got a girlfriend. Weird, I know-- I didn't think I had it in me, either. Technically, she started it all and initiated the relationship. She's a short one, with beautiful, long, curly black hair and mad curves with a smile that sneaks up on you and steals your attention away. She asked me out for coffee one night, and after a follow-up date to my favorite Vietnamese restaurant, I knew I needed to stay after her.

Second, my penultimate semester at my community college is slowly (and stressfully) coming to a close.  I had a hold on my student account because some joker who worked in the library missed checking in ONE of my returned DVDs, and so it was counted as late and I was duly penalized. So, I got that figured out. After that, I needed a book for one of my finals, and it only arrived 3 days AFTER THE FINAL WAS DUE. Baaaaahhhhghghgh!!! So, needless to say, I've been kind of Hulking out the past few days.

Third, I'm working a lot. Too much, in fact. I'm beginning to smell like bread all of the time. Delicious, yet distracting. It's getting kind of exhausting, but the people are great, so it's no big deal. I've made two fast friends and I look forward to continuing working with them.

Fourth, I'm starting to return back to my roots in Eastern thought, which is proving to be a welcome comfort as the vice of the end of the year closes around my scrotum. I'm making more time to meditate, drink green tea, and study the Dao as well as learn a bit about Reform Judaism (which is best Judaism in my opinion) and a bit about the freedom (yet social inequalities) of Hinduism, just for funsies.

Fifth and finally, I'm beginning to realize who my true friends really are. I've been going through a handful of hardships, and the ones who have been there to clap their hands on my shoulder have been proving a wonderful source of strength, so to all of those who have seen me at my angriest, my most distraught, my most off-course, my most un-Dao, thank you for sticking with me.

That's all for now-- Time for me to get started on the second half of my all-nighter.

If you like my writing, you can join the site to the right of the page, like Speaking with Storms on Facebook or follow me on Twitter and Google+ . If you have questions or just want to chat, I'm on Formspring too!

Thanks for reading. Stay human, my friends.

42

I am fast approaching the 4200 view mark. That's exciting because it shows me all of the support I've received regarding my writing! I appreciate the support. To kind of commemorate, in a way, I've decided to write 42 things that not everyone may know about me. Sure, it's not the most original idea, but I've received a few suggestions through Formspring and Twitter to do a little something like this.

Feraligatr

1. My favorite Pokémon is Feraligatr.
2. My favorite movie is Zhang YiMou's "Hero".
3. I love Tim Burton movies, most of all Nightmare Before Christmas. Who doesn't like that movie?
4. My main WoW character was a Troll Shaman on Boulderfist (PvP) named Stormtongue.
5. My Greek Zodiac sign is Aries and my Chinese astrological marker is Monkey.
6. I am a Beta tester for Rosetta Stone and make a little bit of cash on the side testing for them. So far I've tested for Spanish, Swedish, and a few others.
7. The specific school of Buddhism I follow is Zen, or Thiền Buddhism.
8. The scar on my face was from a surgery I had to prevent skin cancer. 
9. I pretty much listened to only rock when I was younger, but now I'll listen to a wide, wide spectrum of music. Save for Country, if you play it, I stand a good chance of liking it.
10. My biggest celebrity crush is for either Takeshi Kaneshiro or Felicia Day.
11. I'm not a super huge anime or manga fan, but my favorite manga is Death Note and my favorite anime is probably Samurai Champloo.
12. I have terrible circulation, so my hands and feet are either always hot and swollen or cold and stiff. I rarely have comfortable in-between moments.
13. I'm a total crybaby. A good scene in a film or well-written music can (and will) reduce me to tears.
14. I think Michele Bachmann is one of the most dangerous people we, the people, have allowed into office.
15. My favorite food is phở,
16. But I'll eat anything that tastes good.
17. I love watching films-- I especially love foreign films and dramas, but I can enjoy something as shameless as the Hangover every now and then.
18. My favorite season is Winter. I hate summer. At first, it's really nice, but I get tired of it very quickly.
19. My favorite holiday is Christmas.
20. I am capable of writing raps. I'm not really good, but if I practiced I knew I wouldn't be half bad.
21. My favorite books are many, but my top 5 are Lamb by Christopher Moore, The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami, Moby-Dick by Herman Melville and the Dao De Jing by LaoZi.
22. Although I don't have any yet, I have plans for anywhere from 3 to 6 tattoos planned out, location and everything. When I get a bit more money to my name I'll get them done.
23. I really like Marvel superheroes, especially Wolverine and Spider-Man.
24. I'm planning on a major in Mandarin Chinese and Eastern Asian Literature with a minor in Philosophy if I can.
25. Despite what some of my close friends may or may not think, I've dated more white girls than any other ethnicity-- And no, ethnicity plays no role in what kind of girls I'm interested in. Hahah!
26. I don't always watch TV, but when I do, I prefer the USA channel. Or the Late Late show with Craig Ferguson.
27. I don't trust a lot of the things I hear in media, but I do read the newspaper. Hmm.
28. I want either a pet turtle or a pet potbelly pig.
29. I love storms, blizzards, any extreme weather situation.
30. I'm 6'1"/185 cm and 145 lbs/ 65 kg.
31. If I shaved off my goatee, I would look like a lesbian.
32. I am bad at sports. The only ones I enjoy watching on TV is soccer/football or baseball (when the Twins are doing well).
33. I write down every dream I've had after I wake up.
34. I always carry a notebook on me somewhere.
35. I hate guns and everything about them, but I love fooling around with Nerf guns. Those things are awesome. If you never had one, your parents didn't love you.
36. As uncomfortable as I can be around kids, I suppose I handle them well most of the time.
37. I spell my family name with an Umlaut because that's the way the German word is spelled-- I'm not actually sure the German surname is meant to be spelled that way. Oh well, it sets me apart.
38. I drink almost 100 ounces of water during the average school day.
39. I participate in No-Shave November despite not being a hunter (and not actually being able to grow a full beard yet. But not to worry! My day will come).
40. I think the most attractive part of a woman are her eyes. If I notice she has beautiful eyes, I have trouble making eye contact. Just a bit of awkward-ness.
41. Despite always wanting to eat healthy, I have a bit of a sweet tooth, mainly for chocolate. I try not to eat too much. My father always warns me about diabetes. 
42. I was bullied a lot as a kid, but I learned how to deal with people by not dealing with people.

So that's it, the 42 things that not everyone might know. I hope you might have learned something!

If you like my writing, you can join the site to the right of the page, like Speaking with Storms on Facebook or follow me on Twitter and Google+ . If you have questions or just want to chat, I'm on Formspring too! 

Thanks for reading. Stay human, my friends.

What Am I?

I am done.
I am a man.
I am a student.
I am a teacher.
I am a monk.
I am Green.
I am a writer.
I am a poet.
I am a lover.
I am a Monkey.
I am a lazy butt.
I am a Daoist.
I am simple... Most of the time.
I am in love with Trees.
I am obsessed with Goblins.
I am spiritual.
I am curly-haired.
I am a game player.
I am Chaotic Good.
I am a speaker.
I am a listener.
I am a Living Storm.
I am 18 years old.
I am a musician.
I am an Aries.
I am a martial artist.
I am bored, and therefore writing all these things that you really couldn't care less about.
I am not very stylish.
I am hairy.
I am a bibliophile.
I am an animal.
I am a human.
I am poor.
I am a Troll Shaman.
I am a traveler.
I am an observer.
I am sitting.
I am breathing.
I am a linguist.
I am happy.
I am brown-haired, and brown-green eyed.
I am American, whether I like it or not.
I am apolitical.
I am an ascetic.
I am present.
I am beginning.

Mưa

I had the opportunity to spend a month in Viet Nam this summer. It was the greatest summer of my life! Vietnam is such a fantastic culture to get into. I spent most of my time in Ho Chi Minh City. That city essentially became my home away from home. I have such a long list of positive memories; these are my favorites:

- Phở
- Public Transportation.
- Going to sleep at 4 and waking up at 9.
- Fitting an emasculating helmet over my curls and riding around on an emasculating motorbike behind a girl who threatened me constantly... with emasculating castration.
- Blowing all my cash at the Casbah.
- Covering taxi fare for, or having my taxi fare covered by, my best friends.
- Learning Vietnamese the hard way (Immersion) and the easy way (by parroting funny-sounding phrases) at the same time
- Leaving an American passport in a Vietnamese hotel room and having them drive it to us
- Meeting a German, a handful of French, a handful of Spaniards, a Bosnian, and 4 Americans without being in Germany, France, Spain, Bosnia, or America.
- The bat-shit crazy cleaning lady at the Casbah
- Not traveling to the North because of a storm. Or something.
- The hotel room that smelled like cancer
- Going to that same hotel's pool in the middle of the night, and realizing the next morning that each of us was right in front of the security camera
- Syntactically referring to currency as "Thou".
- Seeing the Vietnam war, finally through the eyes of Vietnam
- Freaking out Dylan by repeating all the Vietnamese words he spits out
- Hearing the Cathedral bells while at the Casbah
- Hearing the words "Of course we fuck up each other's lives. Why else do you think we're friends?"
- Watching Kim get red as a bloody lobster from the sun
- Explaining the mysterious hair found on the bed...
- "Một, hai, ba... dzô!"
- Going to a party for the World Cup championship almost straight away from touching down at the airport.
- While on the return trip, getting stuck in Japan for 12 hours and Hawai'i for 9 hours. Not complaining about either.
- "Hi, I'm Kristin. Do you have any fetishes?"
- "Hey, give me your driver's license." 
... Why? 
"Just do it. We need an ID to give to this lady so we can rent bikes."
"..."
- Realizing the only context I can enjoy pop music is when I'm surrounded by Asian people who love it so much more than I do.
- Instant noodles: Breakfast of champions!
- Waking up to the sound of car horns and Abba's "The Winner Takes it All"... every single morning. <3
- Constantly playing up the danger of being sold to the Shanghai slave trade
- "What is this called? What does that mean? How do I pronounce this?" 
- Being served by waitresses that were quite obviously eight years old... At least, to my eyes.
- Observing locals transport open trayfulls of food at a time... by motorbike.
- Dragon fruit. Enough said.
- Get up, shower, go outside, sweat, sweat some more, sleep, get up, realize how useless it is to shower, shower anyway, go outside...
- Getting pissed on by a merry-go-round. Multiple times.
- Getting my foot torn open by that same merry-go-round.
- 'Surprising' Fishy that I could stay an extra week, and having the surprise go slightly sour. Worth it anyway.
- Engrish! Engrish everywhere!!!
- Meeting the loveliest people in Vietnamese clubs.
- Eating fruit that is, quite seriously, outlawed in America for numerous reasons.
- The horror (and amusement) offered by the Bến Thành market
- Finding ancient-looking, Sino-Vietnamese buildings which are anachronisms compared to the modernistic apartments
- Seeing the genuine anger on my friends' faces when viewing VinCom's expansion plans
- Truc threatening to cut off (and fry) my "cu".
- Drinking at least one cà phê sữa đá a day.
- Vietnamese traffic: Survival of the fittest.
- Almost getting stuck in the Vietnamese airport because I don't know the address I'm staying at, and taking an address from a lovely young American couple on their honeymoon and jotting it down roughly.
- Making Midsummer 2010 the best time of my life.

This one's kind of all over the place. Sorry.

My friend Ann Renner wrote a poem! Well, actually, she wrote several poems. I liked what I read, so I asked her to let me post one of them!
OFFICIAL DISCLAIMER: THE FOLLOWING WORK DOES NOT BELONG TO ME IN ANY PART WHATSOEVER. IT BELONGS TO, AND WAS WRITTEN SOLELY BY, ANN RENNER.

Puppet Master

Raise one hand, now the other
Left foot, right foot, spin around
Paint on your smile
Dance, dance, for your puppet master
Eat, Sleep, and work when told
Sit, stand, as your strings are pulled
Just keep smiling, don’t ask why
Dance, dance, for your puppet master

When not in use you’re locked away
In darkness you sit
You sit and you wait to
Dance, dance for your puppet master
You never questioned your life
You were scared to ask why
You were to be the perfect little puppet so
Dance, dance, for your puppet master

But the dance wasn’t perfect enough!
You made mistakes
You just couldn’t be perfect but still
Dance, dance, for your puppet master
You didn’t always do what they wanted
You clothes didn’t fit
Your strings were all tangled…still
Dance, dance, for your puppet master

When not in use you’re locked away
In darkness you sit
In darkness you wait to
Dance, dance for your puppet master
You begin to question your life
You begin to ask why
You had to be the perfect little puppet to
Dance, dance, for your puppet master.

You are free at last
You are no longer theirs
Another has taken your spot to
Dance, dance for the puppet master
Raise one hand, now the other
Left foot, right foot, spin around
Stand without strings to hold you back
Dance, dance for your self and no one else

Today was a rough day for me, for many reasons than one. But I'm not going to feel sorry for myself, because only assholes do that. That poem was also one of the darker ones that are up here.

Therefore, I will give you 15 reasons to be happy because assholes don't do that.

1. You should live with regrets, but don't hold each one for too long. Remember, at one point, it was exactly what you wanted.
2. Music. Music is a bridge between Heaven and Earth.

3. "A nerd is only one who isn't afraid to embrace what he or she finds enjoyable."
4. If one of your friends betrays you, that simply means they weren't one of your real friends.
5. Of course you keep fucking up your friend's lives! Why else do you think you're all friends, anyway?
6. If you really, truly want to make it happen, no one will ever completely be out of your life. You may be separated by oceans, nations, states, or the mortal coil, but even if you fall out of touch, sharing parts of your life with someone is written in your history.

7. I guarantee that you know someone who is painfully jealous of you.
8. Nutella.

9. It's never shameful to sing along with your favorite song.
10. You are beautiful, no matter what they say. Words can't-- Okay, okay, I'll stop. But, no, seriously, you are one attractive piece of human.
11. When you speak without inhibitions and without fear, and just let the emotion flow like a river, every syllable becomes like that of poetry.
12. Hey, that's a nice shirt. It looks slick on you.
13. High school sucked for everybody, not just you. You all entered as equals, in the middle you were forced into a hierarchy... But believe it or not, you all exited as equals because guess what? First year of college kicks EVERYONE'S ass.
14. Everyone has problems. It's okay to have problems! It's our problems that make us normal.
15. You have that bit of God in you that is unique to ONLY YOU. Your Divine Spark belongs to you.

I hope at least one of those brightened your day. Or night. Or whenever you happen to read this.