Godelsensei

[COLOR=Gray][FONT=Courier New]That's right: an update. : O *every one recoils in shock and horror* I'm sorry it took so long, but first I had writer's block, and then my monitor broke, and oh, it was awful. Anyway, I give you the newest installment of How to Learn Engrish. Enjoy![/FONT][/COLOR] ?And she just fell asleep. And started snoring.? Nobuhiro poked at the contents of his plate with a pair of wooden chopsticks. The teriyaki looked up at him apologetically, as though it really wished it could have done something. ?Oh, come on, you know Junko would say that was totally cute.? His brother jammed a piece of tofu, along with noodles and vegetables, into his mouth. He swallowed a second and a half after, then immediately reached for his drink. Once he?d gotten it down in several large gulps and had wiped the back of his hand across his lips, he continued. ?So, who is she, anyway? Like, what does she do?? ?Didn?t I tell you?? ?No.? His brother raised his hands and glanced out the window. ?You?ve just been going on about some girl you?re currently obsessing over, without even mentioning her name or anything.? He looked back at Nobuhiro and smirked. ?You said she drinks though. Drinks a lot.? ?She can drink more than the two of us combined and walk home in an almost-straight line,? he boasted, in response, helping himself to more of his noodles. They tasted suddenly better than he remembered from his last bite, thirty seconds ago. He let the strong taste of the teriyaki rest on his tongue for a second or two before beginning to speak again. ?And she can play DDR better than any white kid I?ve ever seen.? ?DDR, huh?? Toru raised an eyebrow in what must have been amusement. ?She sounds?interesting. Speaks English, right?? ?Yeah. She?s teaching me for my trip next week.? ?I find it hilarious that you?re going all the way to America so you can attend an anime convention.? ?It?s not like I have a choice,? he pointed out, defensively. ?Besides, it?s different when you?re not there to buy anything.? ?Whatever you say.? His brother glanced at the clock on the far wall of the small restaurant. ?I have to go in a couple of minutes, niisan. That?s for lunch.? ?I never said I was paying.? ?It was implied when you suggested we eat something.? His brother gave him a smug look, and Toue Nobuhiro knew he had been outdone. ?Hey, where are you going, anyway?? His brother was neither employed, nor in school. Where he might have to go that he couldn?t risk being late for was a mystery. ?French class.? He pursed his lips and shifted his gaze, as though embarrassed. ?French class?? Nobuhiro burst out laughing, then finished off the last two or three bites of his lunch. ?Two questions: where are you getting the money, and what the hell?? Then, he thought for a moment and asked, also, ?And why not just get Junko to teach you?? Toru sighed and pulled on his jacket. ?Junko?s paying for me to go, because she says I should become more cultured?it?s not that expensive, anyway. I wanted to learn another language, because I, well?I can do that. Can?t do basic arithmetic, but I can learn a language. I always got good grades in English, remember?? ?Also in lunch, if I remember.? ?Hai. So, I thought I?d try and make myself useful. I can speak English well enough, so French is pretty easy. And Junko said she didn?t have time to teach me, but knew place where I could learn.? He scratched the end of his nose and looked around, as though worried as to whether any one was listening in on their conversation. He was obviously embarrassed, though his older brother could not clearly see why. ?And where?s that?? ?Elementary school an hour from here. Nobody else uses it on Saturdays or Wednesday nights, so it works out.? Suddenly, he stood up and grinned. ?And the teacher?s nuts. Crazy white chick. You?d like her.? He waved and walked out of the restaurant, leaving Nobuhiro alone with an empty plate. He stared at it for a few minutes before asking for his bill.

[COLOR=Gray][FONT=Courier New]Despite having sto--uh, borrowed volume one from my dear friend, Samm, I haven't watched it yet. I also have a firm hold on her volume eight, however, and I have read that many a time through. One thing I don't like about the manga is how much [spoiler]Shuichi's character changes. He goes from being an independant, though depressed, synth-handler, who's got a vice grip on his fellow students' favour, to a crying, whiney [i]uke[/i]. I mean, he was [i]uke[/i] material to begin with, but not that intensely.[/spoiler] I also agree that Tohma's [spoiler]gone psycho[/spoiler], but what can you do? EDIT: Oh yeah, and before I forget: Samm has the box, too, though she hid it in a drawer somewhere, because Ryuichi's nipples are scary. X_x Kind of ironic, seeing as she was looking around for Remix earlier today. Is Remix really as unwholesome as is said?[/FONT][/COLOR]

[COLOR=Gray][FONT=Courier New]What about MegaTokyo? You don't have to be Japanese to publish comics. That's stupid. Ever heard of Spiderman? Hitchblade? Spawn? None of those guys were Japanese, as far as I'm aware, and neither were the artists behind them.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[COLOR=Gray][FONT=Courier New]If a topic has been going for a long time, coming in not knowing what's already been discussed can be rather frustrating. Also, searching for posts can get difficult, if you're trying to figure out who's been quoted so you can read their entire say. Very long threads typically end up spammier than shorter ones, as well. Things like that.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[COLOR=Gray][FONT=Courier New]"Retaliation" and "consequences" are complete different words. O_o" As I've said before, animals destroy coral reefs, polute the earth's waters, and create floods. If you ever watched Hammie the Hamster, you'd know, seeing as we were provided with a very good example in the episode in which Martha's house flooded, because of a beaver building a dam. (I think GP built a nifty little boat, too, but my memory fails me in that respect.) Have you ever seen the shore of a small fresh-water lake? Deer walk on the ice and eat [i]every[/i]thing they can reach--nothing is left over, come summer, the season in which everything has to grow again. Many voyageurs died because of poisoning in the water, because beavers were rude enough to relieve themselves in it. The Asian Longhorned Beatle is killing giant forests as we speak. Humans have become more powerful, so we're doing things on a larger scale, but we're still doing the same thing animals are doing.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[COLOR=Gray][FONT=Courier New]I think anime has just become its own niche, once you get past the every day fans who watch InuYasha at 10:00pm on Friday night, every week. Being into anything beyond that, or talking about anime that most people haven't even heard of typically just lands you with the label "geek". More Japanese titles are being brought over from Asia, and the fanbase is definately growing, since anime is more readily available, what with digital fansubs and whatnot, but it's not exactly "cool" to be really into it. So, sure, anime is becoming more mainstream, but Dungeons and Dragons is mainstream, too, and it isn't as though the masses spend hours discussing it.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[quote name='Adahn][font=Courier New][size=2][color=#0000ff]It takes more than a couple thousand years to undo a few billion years of nature.[/color][/size'][/font][/quote] [COLOR=Gray][FONT=Courier New] I'm sure the oceans and rainforests beg to differ. Nature is a balance, but it's still chaotic. The ground splitting and volcanoes erupting and grizzly bears tearing helpless weaker creatures to pieces is most certainly chaotic. And human civilization is most certainly a balance. That's why we have Demographic Branches and Urban Planners.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[quote name='Adahn][font=Courier New][size=2][color=#0000ff]The 'chaos' is the excessive amount of rivalry in the larger society. How can those who live in the same country be patriotic, when most countries are split right down the middle in terms of what is right and what is wrong? We have grown too large. Not only must we live with our enemies, we aren't even allowed to fight them. When you aren't allowed to fight your enemies, you know something is wrong. This is very much against nature.[/color][/size'][/font][/quote] [COLOR=Gray] [FONT=Courier New]Like I've already stated, upholding our human values enables us to maintain a structured, productive, advanced society. Animals are not capable of this, and thus, they must remain content to live in holes in the ground, feeding of squirrels and nuts. Maintaining civilization allows us to prosper and kick general ***, in a Darwinian sense, and is therefor perfectly natural. Notice that none of this involves eating our babies? Animals do that all the time, and it makes no sense, as far as prolonging the species goes.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[COLOR=Gray][FONT=Courier New]Another point to do with humans, indeed, living in groups, is the very idea of morality. The concepts of it being wrong to murder, steal, rape, etc... are elements that make it much easier to uphold a functional society. Humans are not inherent Anarchists. All over the world, every society had established a form of leadership, before cultures came together. How can we follow leaders without living together, in groups?[/FONT][/COLOR]

[COLOR=Gray][FONT=Courier New]Being resourceful enough to have the time to work for more than basic survival, we've overcome the other species on this planet. Just because we are not in tune with the Brownie definition of "nature" does not mean we're an evil pack of barbarous, nothing-but-destructive, macro-gluttons. Animals are killing the coral reefs and each other, poisoning our rivers with their excretion and causing them to flood. Animals have no sense of morality--they steal, rape, and eat their babies. Despite the fact that some humans act like animals, most of us are pretty damn okay by [i]homo sapien sapien[/i] standards. Saying that it's somehow wrong for us to have developed as far as we have is saying that it is wrong for us to have learned to surpass creatures that are naturally stronger, claws-and-teeth-wise than we are, for our own survival, which basically negates your argument. Mother Nature played a cruel joke on us when she made us feeble-bodied and hairless. I like to think she got what was coming to her. [/FONT][/COLOR]

[COLOR=Gray][FONT=Courier New][i]Anorexia Nervosa[/i] n. - Continual state of self-starvation, spurred by the irrational desire to be a stick covered in flesh. Because that's what those "beautiful" women are: sticks covered in flesh. It's not healthy and it's [i]most definately[/i] not attractive. Being too skinny not only makes you faint, weak, and unattractive, but can actually make your menstrual period stop, since you don't have enough fat on your bones to preform even the most basic of bodily functions. If your body doesn't receive enough nutrients, it just transforms muscle tissue into fat tissue, which, even then, is too limited to use effectively. I know I'm a kilo or two overweight, but I've never thought of myself as grotesquely fat. On the rare occasion I'm able to motivate myself to exercise, it's because of concern for my health, or a desire to be stronger, not to become thin. I think it's important for girls to have shown to them, at a younger age, that they should take the image celebrities are always trying to pull off with a grain of salt, as oppose to leaving it until they're already teenagers, and too stubborn to listen to good advice. My friend was talking to me about one of [i]her[/i] friends who seems to be developing an eating disorder. Her [my friend] thoughts on the matter were basically along the lines of, "When guys look at porn, what do you think they want to see? Because it isn't [i]nothing[/i]." Perhaps this isn't the greatest way to get the message across, but it's true.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[COLOR=Gray][FONT=Courier New]If you have no opinions, you have no principles. Every one has a view on whether something is right or wrong, may it lie in between, yet closer to one side, or at an extreme. However, the important thing is being able to admit you were wrong, as long as there's reason behind the other opinion that out-does your own. Still, sometimes you have to stick to your gun-katars and go with what you know is right, whatever that may be.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[quote name='Lady_Rin']What of the already existing 5 million unregistered guns in the United States right now.[/quote] [COLOR=Gray][FONT=Courier New]Question marks are very sensitive creatures; leaving them out hurts their feelings. Replacing them with full stops just drives them to blow their own brains out. [i]Your killing question marks as we speak!!![/i] Even if there are already unregistered guns out there, what harm can forcing people to inform the government of the [i]new[/i] killsticks they have hidden in their respective underwear drawers possibly inflict? Another problem with gun control laws is that they simply aren't strict enough. Any crime involving a gun should land you a life sentence, because, face it, if you walk into a room with a handgun, you're aiming to kill somebody. That's the only reason any one would have a gun. To kill somebody or something. It's what they were made for. By having a gun in your home that is not intended for hunting, you're planning to kill some one, simply because [i]you cannot shoot a gun safely.[/i] If some one's inside your house, they're within killing range. And, to, amazingly, agree with Adahn, alot of people eat what they shoot, or miss it entirely. That is, if they manage to spot anything in the first place. My uncle's hunting stories would make you laugh. Besides, deer [i]are[/i] pests. They'll eat the blossoms off of all your flowers, and chew your lawn to nothing. Good thing I live in the city, even though you do see the odd deer standing in the middle of the road now and then. (I swear, there was one nibbling on my neighbor's lawn the other day--they come out of the ravine.) And, to whoever it was who said a handgun would have gotten them out of a sticky situation, I still say Kendo would work more, for shock value, as long as there was a broom or something around. >_> You could, like, [i]broom[/i] them to death...! : O My dad's had a few occasions where his martial arts skills have gotten him out of problematic situations in one or two punches, so a gun really isn't the only way.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[COLOR=Gray][FONT=Courier New]If you want a gun, get a hunting rifle, and use it for hunting. You can still kill a man at ten paces, should he decide to burglarize your home while you're awake enough to deal with the issue, or simply threaten him with it, without needing an AK-47 Assault Rifle. As far as gun control laws go, every gun should be registeredtracked, just as every car is registered and tracked. Should the gun switch owners, be destroyed, stolen, etc..., having the same sort of registration laws in place would make it much easier to track down committers of gun-related crimes. If you want to have fun learning to kill people, take up Kendo--it'd probably be more useful in a tight situation, anyway, since nobody would expect it.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[COLOR=Gray][FONT=Courier New]I'm an atheist, namely because religion never made sense to me. I simply can't [i]believe[/i] in any god, just as I can't [i]believe[/i] in fairies. This probably has alot to do with the negative experiences my family has had regarding religion, however. My grandfather grew up in a Quebecois orphanage, run by crazy, bitter-towards-the-world nuns, [i]that was intact with a mental asylum on the top floor.[/i] They would send the poor kids upstairs to bring the patients their meals, when they weren't making them do farm work or telling him he was going to burn in hell for writing with his left hand. Of course, since he married a devout Catholic, my dad and his two sisters ended up in a Catholic school, where they had a slightly, [i]slightly[/i], less torturous affair, simply because they didn't have to live there. And because of the lack of a mental asylum in the attic. At this school, one of the nuns told my dad that he was going to burn in hell because he was using his left hand to colour the Virgin Mary's robe purple, since my father is both ambidextrous and colour-blind. Go figure. Apparently, they would also line them up to sit in a pitch-dark confessional, so they could admit their "sins" to a drunken priest, who could totally see who they were. Also, a family who was friends with my father's family while he was growing up happened to go along with the Catholic tradition of handing over your first-born child to the Church. When he finally quit, thirty years later, the priest said, in front of the entire church, that they should pray for the salvation of the son's family, even though they were going to hell, anyway. My aunt's friend's mother got divorced, the priest found out, said something along the same lines, resulting in her having to wait around with her children, in a broken-down car, during a heavy snowstorm, while the rest of the church attendees drove away. Apparently, they didn't want to have to suffer eternal damnation, along with her and her children. Neither myself, my sister, nor any of our cousins on my dad's side, have been baptized. But you probably derived that from the rest of the post. So, no, religion doesn't really mean more to my family than the thought of a crazed nun slapping some poor six-year-old's left hand with a ruler and telling him [i]she[/i] wouldn't be praying for his salvation.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[COLOR=Gray][FONT=Courier New]Thanks to my walking in during my younger sister's educational YTV Halloween specials, I have learned much in the way of ouija boards, namely that they're a load of bull. But I already knew that, and I'm sure you do, too. In order to "use" a ouija board, you would hold a spade- or triangle-shaped cut-out with a hole in it over the center of the board, with your eyes closed, not moving, for a few minutes, and, eventually, the piece will "guide" your hand to the correct letters, numbers, or "yes" or "no". This is supposed to be some kind of message from the other side, but, really, it's quite simple. If you don't move your body for a while--five minutes, say--you start to twitch. Since your hands would be twitching, they'd move to display various things within the little hole cut in the spade- or triangle-shaped cut-out. Since this is an involuntary action, people are liable to interpret it in strange, obscure ways. So, no, there was never a dude named K3PFQYESNO, who was murdered by his wife, FYSDJKGH5JKD, in the KDHG8DGH0 room with the HGGEGC3DG. I have no idea who came up with the silly idea, or why, of course, but that's how it works.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[COLOR=Gray][FONT=Courier New]You can't develop trust for some one without being amiable first. Why would you trust some one who was a complete asshole about your saying hello? From what I can take in from the people around me, a friend is more trustworthy than some one you're involved in a romantic relationship with, anyway.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[COLOR=Gray][FONT=Courier New]As [i]both[/i] Sarahs stated, you most definately cease to exist for your own purposes. However, like the second Sarah said, you still "live on", in an abstract sense, in the memories people have of you. If you told them something or did something that influenced them, then they will most likely pass that on to others as well. Even if it isn't attributed to you, you're influence is still there. EDIT: Actually, Buggie, no. It creates the waves that have the potential to become sound, but, in order to be sound, they have to be picked up. But, yeah, I agree with what you're saying.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[COLOR=Gray][FONT=Courier New]I think the real problem is that all that happens to a cop who abuses his or her power is they get suspended for a while, most of the time. If a police officer is clearly abusing their power, or is obviously racist or sexist, he or she should not be allowed to remain part of the police force, plain and simple. If a police officer abuses his or her power in a way that causes a pretty-much innocent civilian a great deal of emotional or physical trauma, they should be subject to penalties more severe than if another person were to commit the same act. The police's job is [i]To Serve and Protect[/i], as the doors of their cars dictate in this area, at least. If they are incapable of as much, or go out of their way to do the opposite, they are not taking care of what society entrusts to them--its safety. This is something that requires a zero-tolerance system of punishment.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[COLOR=Gray][FONT=Courier New]They're redeemable for cash prizes! : D I really loved the opening theme; the lyrics were, as you said, somehow touching. What I really enjoy about this show is how it manages to show such diversity among the characters, even though I haven't quite caught all their names yet. There's the dude with the glasses and mushroom cut who's simply not ashamed of who he his, contrasting from Sasahara, the guy with the stutter, and our friend with the ponytail. Also, there's a strong emphasis on trying to live up to some kind of standard, something people generally don't assosciate with the stereotype that Genshiken revolves around. I, too, am looking forward to the introduction of the cosplaying chick, as female geeks are just that much cooler than our male counterparts, [i]neh[/i], Skippedry?^^ Yeah, seeing [spoiler]Kohsaka walk in singing in English was just priceless.[/spoiler] I laughed my *** off. xD[/FONT][/COLOR]

?What?re all these things for, anyway?? He nodded towards a stack of month- and weekly manga releases, which were stacked not half a meter from what must have been several hundred CD-Rs, all labeled in thick permanent marker, some in Japanese, some in whatever else. Winnie was at her computer, had been when he came in, having been told the door was unlocked. She didn?t respond at first. ?Winnie-san?? ?Hm?? She did not take her eyes from the rapidly-filling-up-with-letters screen, did not blink or lick the lips of her slightly open mouth. He wondered if she had a nearby deadline to meet. ?All these books and things. Why do you have all these comics and CDs?? ?Guess.? She smiled a little this time, selecting a few paragraphs of text and hitting delete. Then, she furrowed her brow and hit control-Z, bringing the words back to life. She highlighted only ten or eleven words the second time around, now malcontent only with them, and continued to type. ?You said something about your friends, right? Or does Watanabe-sensei ask you to read things for him?? ?He usually shows me some of his plans before they?re published. I follow them once they?re put out, anyway. My friends will probably try and steal those from me if they ever come by to visit, anyway,? she said, allowing her aquamarine lips to form a smirk. Nobuhiro thought it was an odd shade of lipstick, but, then again, so was orange. He cocked his head to one side, acutely aware of a piece of plaster that had flaked off the inside of his cast, tickling the skin of his currently useless left wrist. It was driving him crazy, but there really wasn?t anything to be done about it. ?Your friends read Japanese comics, Winnie-san?? ?Mm. Hai. Yes, they do. So do you, Toue-san, no?? ?I draw them. It?s kind of different.? He bit his bottom lip, somehow embarrassed. ?Yeah, but you still read some other ones, right? Takashi-san told me you want to draw your own comics, but you keep getting rejected.? Her words formed a question and a half, but her vocal chords formed a pair of statements. Winnie?s voice was vague, as though she were somewhere else, only half aware of his presence. ?He told you that?? Nobuhiro winced involuntarily. He felt his back turning red. ?Well, I?m not very good at drawing.? ?Yes you are?or else they wouldn?t have hired you, right?? ?I just draw backgrounds, Winnie-san. They?re not that?important.? ?Yes they are. You can?t have a proper duel in a dojo hall without the dojo hall, you know.? She took her hands from the keyboard and let them rest in her lap, her eyes scanning the words she had produced. He wondered if she liked how they flowed into one another, if she even cared any more. She had said she did, but that didn?t really mean anything, as long as she was getting any amount of revenue from those words. ?I could never draw backgrounds. Buildings, trees, you name it. They?re too hard.? ?They?re not hard. It?s just that most people find them?boring.? He scratched the tip of his nose, though it was still his wrist that was bothering him. ?Do you think buildings and trees are boring, Toue-san?? She spun her computer chair about to face him, her eyes genuinely curious. He thought about this for a moment. ??No. I like drawing buildings and trees. Most people think they?re boring, but, really, they?re the opposite. You can convey so much information about a place by the style and number of its buildings, by how tall they are, by how they?re laid out. It?s amazing how few people realize how important they are. Trees, too. Different kinds of trees grow in different places, and things like that. But I really like drawing buildings, especially. ?If some one lives in an old house, as opposed to, say, a building like this?? he looked around the room ??you can tell they?re a different sort of person. Maybe an artist or?? ?Do you think an artist would live in an old house, Toue-san?? She looked almost sad as she asked it, the bags under her eyes emphasizing something he couldn?t quite place. Was she tired of living in Japan already? Was she just tired of living in general? Or just tired? ?An artist who does paintings and things just because they love it and because their work has meaning, not an artist like Watanabe-sensei. You know, some one who doesn?t really have much money, and has to buy an old house that?s falling apart?? ?When an artist begins to sell their art, do you think they just lose any sense of sincerity they once had?? She leaned back in her chair, to look at the ceiling. ?Um. I guess not. I mean, Watanabe-sensei?s work still has meaning it?s just?? ?Different?? ?Yeah. Different.? He shifted his weight from one foot to the other, feeling as though he had offended her somehow, though she wasn?t showing it. Or maybe not so much offended her as simply hurt her feelings, without making her angry. But this was Winnie-san, and he didn?t really think that was possible. ?Do you want something to drink, Toue-san?? Winnie stood up and stretched. ?Only if you?re having something.? ?That?s a yes, then.? She told him to sit down and not to stand around awkwardly, like some kind of intruder, or like he was afraid she?d catch him looking at her *** or something. ?Ah?? He looked out the window without turning his head, then inched over to the chesterfield, wondering if she would eventually catch him looking at her *** and if she?d be made angry by it. He couldn?t help but notice she sounded tired, rather than amused, however. The words escaped her mouth as though forced and her purple hair managed to appear less vivid than it usually did. Her nail polish was chipped and it occurred to him that she was only wearing one earring, a contrast from her usual four, accompanied by nose- and eyebrow-studs. ?Here.? She handed him a can of pop. He had been, out of habit, expecting tea, but didn?t think he let it show. Winnie plopped down next to him, releasing a sigh. ?Toue-san, your sister is getting divorced, isn?t she?? ?What?? He shot her a funny look. ?Why?? ?No reason. I could just tell. You can tell that kind of thing most of the time, I find.? ?Really?? She nodded and took a sip from her drink, then, amazingly, let her head rest on his shoulder. ?Yeah,? she said, ?Really.? [COLOR=Gray][FONT=Courier New] I like this chapter.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[COLOR=Gray][FONT=Courier New]Wouldn't you have to believe in fate and/or true love, to begin with? If you barely knew each other, I don't see the point of beating yourself up over the fact that maybe he thought you were pretty. Besides, every one has an e-mail adress these days. Or at least a phone.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[COLOR=Gray][FONT=Courier New]I find it interesting that humans and these creatures would have coinhabited the area. If we look at what happened to our buddies the neandert(h)als, I'll bet you we did these poor little hairy-footed guys in, too. I always enjoy hearing about new discoveries when it comes to things like this. It's just cool, really, to learn more about the evolution of a certain genus and why one particular species came out on top. Oh, and what alot of people don't seem to take into consideration is that the differences between an adult skeleton and a child's skeleton are very easy to notice, based solely on proportions, and that they can tell whether you were Asian or not by the bone-structure of your face. Determining whether or not a specimen was human wouldn't be too difficult.[/FONT][/COLOR]

?Kyaa! Anata no kami!? Nobuhiro watched as his sister took a tress of Winnie?s vibrant hair between her thumb and forefinger. ?I love this colour!? She sighed. ?I wish I wasn?t so old?I can?t do fun things with my hair any more, or people would think I?m a disaffected ex-hippy-wannabe or something.? She sighed, letting his friend?s hair fall. Winnie shook her head, smiling. ?No, no, you?re not old!? It was one-thirty in the afternoon. Nobuhiro stood, awkwardly, not aware of what he ought to do or say, by the still-open front door, as Keiko and Yukari played videogames in the basement. Every so often, he would hear one of them cry out in excitement or disappointment, but took little notice. His mind?s most prevalent occupation, at the moment, was finding a plausible segue, in order to say something in greeting to his sister, aside from, ?Hey, Neesan, this is Winnie-san. She?s teaching me to speak English?? The two women giggled and complimented each other?s clothing and hair and shade of lipstick. They just stood there, in the short hallway, Junko in a light designer jacket, becoming closer and closer friends as the minutes shuffled by. Eventually, the slightest of gaps opened within their string of conversation, and Nobuhiro butt in with a simple, ?Is any one thirsty?? The two women looked at him as though they had forgotten he was there for a few seconds before his sister reached out and hugged him about the shoulders, laughing. ?Yes, yes, we are very thirsty, Hiro; you shouldn?t be so rude. Thank you so much for taking care of the girls all today!? ?Yeah, well, it?s nothing. Here, if you?ll let me go, I?ll go put some tea on, or something?? ?Domo, Toue-san,? Winnie called out behind him as he made his way to the kitchen. It was only a few meters away, but he was strangely glad of the distance it provided him from his sister and friend/teacher. He briefly remembered something his younger brother had said yesterday, but quickly forced himself to forget about it. He could hear the two women talking, more quietly now, from their new location of the living room. Junko was asking his friend why she had decided to move to Japan. ?It must be lonely for you here, if you?re all alone.? He wondered if his sister expected her to reveal that she was married or engaged already. ?Not really. Not more than at home.? Winnie paused for a few seconds, and he did too, letting his hand rest on the cups, as they remained stationary on a top shelf, before taking them down, until she spoke again. ?Besides, I have friends to bother at early hours of the morning by getting drunk and almost throwing up all over their carpets.? Nobuhiro, taking the teacups down from the top shelf, said, ?No, no, Winnie-san, the front hall is tiled,? and surprised himself immensely. His sister and friend giggled from the next room, as he continued. ?Honestly, you?d think you two were still in middle-school, laughing like that. It?s creepy.? He watched the kettle as though doing so might speed up the process of boiling water. Their three-way conversation drifted from here to there, back and forth between topics, until, just as he was passing Winnie her tea, warning her, mostly out of habit of taking care of Keiko and Yukari, that it was hot, when Junko said, simply, ?So, Winnie, you speak English?? ?Hai.? ?Where are you from, then?? ?Canada.? ?Canada? Parlez-vous francais, aussi?? It then became a two-way conversation, which Nobuhiro could not have deciphered for the life of him. [COLOR=Gray][FONT=Courier New] *runs and hides* Please don't throw things--I know it's incredibly forced and dull, but it's the best I could do. I promise the next chapter will be much better--I would make this one much better, but it, at present, does not seem within my ability. I wouldn't even have bothered with it if it weren't as necessary as it is. Gomen. (At least it's short, right?)[/FONT][/COLOR]

[COLOR=Gray][FONT=Courier New]I find it easy to tell if an actor is generally too much of a whiney, high-pitched chipmunk or an over-manic psychopath, but I'm sure I miss alot of poor acting jobs. However, I find that being unable to tell whether or not some one is acting well in another language is better than knowing they sound utterly intolerable in English. If they sound good to my Anglophone ears, I'd rather hear them then something completely different. There are certain things, like overplaying the flowerly words or slang a character uses, that it would be basically impossible for some one who didn't speak Japanese to pick up on, when it comes to basically crappy dialogue met by even the best of [i]seiyuu[/i], also. You have to admit, though, that certain voices just pop out and scream, "I'm frigging AWESOME!!!" when you hear them for the first time. My favourite Taishi's voice is simply hilarious to listen to because, despite the language barrier, you can tell that he's an incredible uber-geek who uses flowery and often silly expressions and words just by hearing that incredible "look at me, I'm a complete embarrassment to my friends, simply because of my overzealous nature!" voice of his. Another character whose voice you can just tell works perfectly is Gai-sensei from Naruto. Both of these characters are meant to be very overplayed to begin with (this is made obvious by their roles in the story), but you can still get that shot of personality from hearing their lines, even without translation.[/FONT][/COLOR]