Panda

In school and college I was well liked by most everyone. At least to my knowledge. I don't think anyone was holding ill feelings towards me. Most of the kids I went to school with I had grown up with so they have known me for years. It really didn't matter what clique you ended up with, you were still friends. As an adult my friends, family and co-workers see nothing wrong with my love of anime. I think they kind of expect it since my hubby was a film and animation major in college. If we didn't like animation they would probably worry! I think another thing that helps me out was that I don't have the "oh you're weird for liking Japanese animation" feelings towards me since I am Japanese and it kind of makes sense I would like it. I guess my love of anime had little to nothing to do with my popularity. People liked me for me and the way I treat others, not by hobbies. Jerks will be jerks no matter what group they hang out with. I never understood how some mean people ended up being the "popular" ones. All in all I would have to say I was popular, and still am with my friends and that is all that really matters to me. :)

Thank you all for sharing. I love hearing about all these urban legends! [quote name='Balinese']i actually can claim to have seen SOMETHING weird when i was in the hospital... the lights kept casting person-shaped shadows, even when no one was in the hallway. creepy.[/quote] When I read that it gave me the chills! I am really glad I didn't read this when I was alone at work. I have a possessed photocopier that likes to turn itself on and make copies. It did it again today. I try not to think about things like ghosts when the copier does that and I think if I had read that, it would have made me run out of the office screaming! :eek: Now, back on topic! To add another story to the thread is one that I heard about when I was in grade school. There is a ghost child that haunts an area of the lake, but only in the winter. Apparently is the ghost of a little girl who fell through the ice and drowned. After a snowfall you can go out to this area of the lake and see her footprints in the snow. Those who have seen them say there are no other footprints up to the lake and the ice is usually too thin for any person to walk on. One of the theories of how the footprints got there is that it is actually geese or ducks that caused the prints. It just looks like a small child might have walked through the snow. The prints could have been altered by the sun melting the snow around the bird footprints or wind could have blown the prints to another shape. Hard to say. I personally haven't seen them, but it does seem a bit strange that this is the only area of the lake that people notice the "bird" prints.

I was watching tv tonight and a Mastercard commercial came on that had a Boston Terrier in it. He was with his family vacationing and was left behind at a National Park. They show the dog out for walkies and then you see the family motorhome start to drive away and the dog goes running after them but can't catch up. The commercial goes on to show the dog with different people driving around in search of his family. It made me really sad for the lost pup! I love animals and his commercial really pulled at my heartstrings. I love my pets and if I ever lost them I would be a wreck! The commercial is apparently one of those "to be continued" ones so I guess I will just have to wait to see what happens to the dog. Another commercial that gives me the same feeling is one by Land Rover with the couple going to the ballet, dressed up and driving in their Land Rover. It is a rainy night and they see this scruffy dog on the side of the road near an off ramp. The couple look at each other in that "you know what we have to do" look. They pull over, in the rain, and pick the dog up. I love that commercial! Even though they are dressed up and have plans, they put that aside to help this poor dog! This finally brings me to my question. Are there commercials that cause a strong emotional response in you? Sad, mad, happy, annoyed or whatever! Let's see what commercials have made an emotional impression to you!

I think the story was great. You really captured the fear/nervous tension well in the story. The only thing I had a problem with was at first I was thinking the person telling the tale was female. I think this comes for all those "stalker" movies I have seen where some guy is chasing a girl. It wasn't until the flashback that I realized it was a guy. Not that gender matters, but it caught me off guard and I had to change my mindset. Excellent job with the writing. Keep up the great work. :)

Depending on the situation. I have arthritis and if I am in alot of pain and feeling depressed about that I usually do things to keep my mind busy. I will watch some cheesy movies like Airplane! or some fun anime like Ranma 1/2, something light-hearted. Definately no dramas! Or read some fun mangas while listening to upbeat music. That always makes me feel better. :) If it isn't physical pain I am depressed about then anything to get my mind off of what is troubling me. Calling my friends and talking about the thing that is bothering me. Going on the message boards and finding a fun post to respond to. Venting on my blog or writing in my journal helps me sort out my feelings. Exercise is great to fight depression. Work out, get all of your tension and frustrations out AND you will physically feel better. If all else fails, a really good crying session. I know sometimes just having a good cry, you know, the kind that makes your eyes all puffy and your nose run, will make you feel better when you are done. After that, since you definately don't want to go out in public, get online and go to a friend's blog who you know will have something interesting and read away the day! You are more than welcome to go read about my gassy dog on myO....truly a no brainer journal entry! :laugh: Keeping busy I find is the best way to beat depression and feeling down. My friend Missy is a great example. Her hubby is in Iraq and she keeps herself so busy I don't know when she gets time to sleep! Full time work, 3 year old son, daughter who is in sports, school functions, stuff with the Army wives and then lots of church stuff to top it off! Keeping busy makes the time go by faster and keeps her mind off of constant worry over her hubby. :) I'll keep you in my thoughts ChibiHorsewoman, PM me if you want to visit!

I think I will continue watching. The series has music by Yoko Kanno and many familiar english voice actors like Crispin Freeman. Both of which I enjoy the work of. It looks pretty interesting to me so I will stick with it. I did notice they did a really good job of animation dealing with the physical motion of the wolves. When Kiba (Fang) [spoiler] is limping down the alleyway they animated him holding his hind leg up just at the ischiatic tuberosity like it should be.[/spoiler] It's little things like that I enjoy about an animation. I really need to see more of the series to decide if it is going to one to add to my anime collection. For now I will watch it on AS. After a couple more episodes I will come back and add more to my post. What did everyone else think of the first episode?

[QUOTE= Baron Samedi]I mean, who ever heard of an ugly vampire? [/QUOTE] Nosferatu by F. W. Murnau that came out in 1922 had a leading male that was far from the good looking actor "vampires" of today. The film was silent and the film maker was actually sued by Bram Stoker's widow when it came out. Definately not the vampire image we have today. Oh what a hottie!

But I do agree with ScirosDarkblade and FirePheonix727 that right now it seems like the vampire theme is getting to be overplayed. I have always enjoyed watching a good vampire story. Interview with a Vampire was one of the better ones in recent history. The storyline wasn't just a generic "Dracula" story. Many time it seems like vampire stories are just variations of that theme. I think the idea of vampires being among us is an interesting one. I remember watching "Lost Boys" back in the 80's when it came out and deciding that if I were given the choice to "join the undead" I wouldn't do it. lol Give me a great vampire story anyday, just not a bunch of crappy ones everyday.

I've tried fooling my parents when I didn't want to go to school when I was little, but it never worked. I guess that is why I am not making millions of dollars as a professional actress today! I could barely get out of school when I really was sick! I can think of 3 times I was told that I was fine and sent on the school bus. Of course those 3 times I got sick on the bus and my mom would have to meet up with the bus on the route and pick me up. I could be on death's doorstep and my parents would say: "Oh you are fine, quit complaining and get ready for school.". I did have a friend who a) was very good at lying. b) had very easy going parents. c) both. She would just say her tummy hurts and she could get out ot school for a couple of days. She would tell me about the things "that work". She would use the thermometer up to a lightbulb trick and/or lock yourself in the bathroom and pour cups of water in the toilet while making gagging noises. It would sound like she was vomitting. She was oh so very tricky. Disclaimer: Do not use any of these methods to get out of school, that is bad, go to school or you will end up REALLY sick when you can't get a job! :devil:

Since the update my Intro has been having "issues". I am not sure if this has something to do with the new 600 character limit. I do agree there needs to be a cap on how big an intro can be (ie the intros that have 3 million quizzes in them) but this has really caused some problems with my site. I can use the area only for text, and when I post it all shows up in one really long thin column. It breaks up my HTML so there is no way I can even put images at all. Is this have something to do with the new update? I would like to be able to at least put all 600 characters all the way across the space available since it won't allow any HTML. The one long thin column looks a bit silly. I do agree with those who say that this puts a cap on the creative outlet we use to have in/on our sites. I really wish I could at least put one picture in my intro. My suggestions: -Put a block or cap on quizes in the intro. Perhaps only one allowed in the intro. This would be similar to the only one banner in signatures on OB. -Fix the margins so intros don't show up in one long thin column. It might just be my site but when I have gone to look at others' myO sites many have taken their intros out. -Make the quiz section and Otaku Life the only areas you can post quiz results. Those are my suggestions, thanks for reading them! :)

I have a little section of my website dedicated to Nadesico! If you pay attention to it you will see it does spoof a lot of different animes (ie NGE, Macross, etc..). I like the humor in the series and it has a great collection of characters. For me the best part of the story is that the crew is pretty much a bunch of misfits and oddballs (or Nutbars if you quote Akito) and they work so well together. You can't help but cheer for the underdogs to prevail! My favorite characters are Jun and Izumi. Jun since he is so sweet and it seems like no one appreciates him. He is such a nice guy, but not the guy the girls pick. I feel bad for him. Izumi I love for her puns. She makes all of these jokes that sometimes she is the only one who gets them. My favorite quote from Nadesico is from Izumi: "I ran out of filters so I ran the tea through a copy of Shakespeare, now I have the Tempest in a Teapot, that's trouble brewing." I thought that was really funny. I got the joke, but apparently the other pilots just figured she had finally lost it. :laugh: I think I am going to watch the series again. My biggest complaint is [spoiler] that Gui only made it to episode 3, and the way he went was so lame. He really should have gone out in a blaze of glory in his Gekiganger during battle. Not the way he did. It made me sad. :( [/spoiler] I enjoyed the series and think it is one of my favorites. Colorful characters and interesting storyline. I recommend it for a bit of fun. :)

How many of you have heard of urban legends in your neck of the woods? Are there scary tales that are told about some house down the road or a certain area of town? I would be interested in hearing about the legends from your area. I have a couple to share with everyone. In my hometown about 10 years ago there were a bunch of German Shepherd dogs that were disappearing from their homes. A rumor started that there was a Satanic group that had moved here from California (apparently California is where Satanist come from :rolleyes: ) and they were using the dogs as sacrifices to the devil! To add fuel to the fire 5 dogs were found out at the old abandoned Air Force Base apartments. Rumor has it they were all decapatated and Satanic symbols were smeared on the walls in the dogs' blood. The apartments burned down about a week after the dogs were found and some people say the devil set it on fire or that a religious group did it to rid the town of Satan. That area of town was mega creepy already and adding that story really didn't help. Supposedly if you go by the place the apartments use to be at night you can hear the dogs whining. I have never gone out there at night but it is one of the places that is popular on Halloween night. The other story has to do with the old military base here. Durning the Cold War we had missle silos that use to have Titan missles. The silos have long been abandoned (except for one security guard who will shoot at you) and there are a bunch of stories surrounding that place. I will tell everyone the best one. The main silo has part of the shaft open and you can crawl down a rusty ladder inside. At the very bottom is where lots of rain water has collected. You can imagine how deep this is if you think about how big a Titan missle is. Legend has it that a runaway was tied to bunch of cinder blocks and tossed into the silo. Since no one was missing her no one bothered to look for her or cared. Apparently you can go into the silo and see her there still. Some people say it is a educational skeleton or overactive imaginations. Just like the dog story, if you go there at night (which is the only time you have a chance to sneak by the guard!) you can hear a crying from the silo. :cue creepy music: So what are the urban legends in your hometown or surrounding area? Let's see who has the scariest story. :eek:

My opinion on sex in advertising is that it makes people remember the product. When you are little it makes you snicker and giggle since it is naughty. When you are older it makes you think of...well, you know. Either way, the image will stick with the viewer. I remember when I was younger seeing a poster for Rigid Tools. Had a woman wearing very short cut off jeans and a flannel top that was tied up under her very large chest. She was holding a very large wrench. The caption under it said: "I like all my tools Rigid." I still remember that after years and years! The commercial with the couple running into the house to take a shower....stupid commercial but we remember it. I bet someone somewhere has the stats as to how well a product sells when the commerical has some sex appeal to it. Do you remember that Diet Coke commerical where all the office women are taking a break to watch the construction guy drinking his soda on his break? That is another example. Sex sells so it will continued to be used in ads and more. Think about food chains like Hooters. I am sure the guys going in there aren't going just to have some chicken wings! :rolleyes:

No one has mentioned any of the characters that they dislike from the series! I know there has to be some that just get under your skin. For me that character would have to be the Ghost Cat. I think it has to do with how desperate he is to find his bride. The VA is really annoying to me. When I hear the Ghost Cat's voice it just bugs me! The VA does an excellent job doing a "cat" voice, but he is just so whiney. Ugh. Crazy stalker cat! Another character I really don't care much for is Picolet Chardin II. It just seems really gross! Thinking about how [SPOILER]pratically eats girl Ramna really grosses me out! He has more than half of Ranma in his mouth! Ranma wakes up and wonders why it is so dark. The long lips and tongue just bother me.[/SPOILER] After I read that manga I didn't feel like eatting anything. Worse was seeing the anime! ewww! What about everyone else, are there characters you can't stand?

I love Rumiko Takahashi style. She has a great way of putting that ackward crush/love tension between couples. Ranma 1/2 has a nice blend of humor and wonderful, colorful characters. I have all the DVD box sets, OVA's and movies. I think the series, due to the length, has a tendency to drag a bit in the middle. It feels like filler episodes. On a side note, if you have the last DVD box set there is a Ranma Farewell Party footage in the extras, I was there! Woo Hoo! I have so many favorites. One of my favorite characters would have to be Ryoga. I think he is very sweet, a bit lost and naive, but sweet. Another favorite would have to be Genma as a panda. I know, shocking isn't it! I love how he uses being a panda as an excuse to get out of doing things. You will see him playing with a tire or a ball. There has been more than one occassion where he has tried to be adopted by different wealthy people so he wouldn't have to do anything but be a pet panda! I love it! But I think the number one favorite character would have to be Kuno, the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High! Every episode with Kuno is a great one. Like the one with the Phoenix! Oh, but let us not forget the Scribbled Panda! She is soooo cute! It is a very bizarre episode and I really don't know what Ranma's hang up about being around her was. Every guys should be so lucky to "date with" a panda! Great series, I recommend it to anyone who like Rumiko Takahashi's work! :)

Unfortunately when I tried to type in the html in one giant run-on sentence with no spaces it didn't even show the "no image" box. Baron suggested I try another host and I am going to do that tonight. I really think it may be a problem with the Intro program itself. If the image is showing up in the Otaku Life part but not the intro, it seems kind of weird. It is just strange the way all the text is in one long column. Even if you were to copy/paste it would do the same thing. It would have taken this exact sentence and written it like this: It would have taken this exact sentence and written it like this: I do agree that it is seeing spaces as breaks even when there isn't one. The breaks that are suppose to be in there for my paragraphs worked fine. Thanks for taking the time to help me CrH, I appreciate it! :) EDIT: My problem with my intro is fixed, thanks! :D

When I try to put an image in my intro it won't work. I can use the exact same html in the Otaku Life part of my site and the image will come up, but won't in the intro. It also looks like anything I type will be posted in a long column instead of going all the way across the space available. Baron Samedi (my hero!) has been trying to help me figure out what to fix but even with copy/paste, I end up with the same result. Please feel free to check out my site and see what I mean. I wish I could explain it better than this, but alas, I am not a web savy gal. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

Many valid points have already been bought up in this thread. People are constantly fighting over land and boundaries, what belongs to them, what doesn't belong to others and so on. Removing boarders will only make those who want more land, to take it and claim it as their own since "there are no boarders". Greed is a driving force in many peoples lives. He who has the most wins kind of mentality. You can see in on the global scale with the civil wars in the former Soviet Union to the not so big scale as in the case of my brother. My brother's backyard neighbor knocked down his fence and that of 3 other neighbors and moved the fence in 4 feet into their yards. She was claiming that it was her property. This has cause all kinds of problems with the neighborhood. Lawsuits and stupid things like she put lawn killer on the next door neighbors lawn! She also plays Richard Marx full blast out her window from 7am to 7pm everyday. Over and over. She is doing this to "get back" at the neighbors she thinks have "stolen her land". Even though the survey crew, court papers and police have all told her it isn't her property. Removing boarders will only result in people setting up new ones in places others will not like. It would cause more problems than solve them.

I am a 3rd degree brown belt in Tae Kwon Do, which is a Korean form of martial arts. I started when I was in the 4th grade and started to slack off in Junior High because of school activities and studies. I wish I would have kept up with it, but at the time I was overwhelmed with school sports, band and studies. I loved competing and did win trophies in hyungs (patters of moves) and free sparring. There were only 2 girls in the class of over 50 guys. I was one of the highest ranking in the class. My brother and one other student were the same rank. We actually got to lead the classes if the instructor was gone. Ah, those were the days. One thing I loved doing was breaking boards. For testing you had to break boards and I loved it! It really impressed my friends. My brother stayed with it and went on to study a few other forms of martial arts and still does. He doesn't let me forget that he is higher ranking now....darn him! I am such a slacker. Best of luck to you in your studies. Stick with it, I wish I did!

Different cultures have different amounts of personal space. In some cultures it is acceptable to be close enought to touch shoulders when standing next to someone when they are speaking to you, even if they are just a stranger. While other cultures it is not acceptable to even touch. This brings me to my question to everyone here. How big is your personal space bubble? When is close too close? Have you ever been in a situation where you felt really uncomfortable because the person you were talking to was just way to close to you? For me it depends on who it is. If it is a close friend or family member I don't mind them touching me. If it is a stranger then about 5 feet away, or a desk/counter away from me is fine. Anything closer to that is uncomfortable to me. I have a fairly big personal bubble. I will go to the opposite side of an elevator when getting in if someone else is in there. I just like my space. The most uncomfortable situation I have been in when someone invaded my personal bubble has to be the time a 75 year old man kissed me...on the lips! I work with lots of senior citizens and many of them are grandparents (or great grandparents) and treat me like a grandchild. I get lots of hugs and candy from them. This one day my little 75 year old man had his arms out like he wanted a hug. So I went over to give him a goodbye hug and then the kissed me! On the lips! Eeeeegah! That has to be the most uncomfortable, and disturbing, invasion of my personal bubble ever! :eek: This is the reason I love the internet so much, no one can invade my personal space! Now that you know my story, tell me your story! How big is your personal space, when is close too close and what is the most uncomfortable situation you have been in?

I think it looks really good now with the boarder on it. It just gives it a bit more of a finished looked to it. It makes it stand out a bit more than without the boarder.I think you did an excellent job for your first banner. Like Chabichou said, if you did this good with Paint who knows how well you would do with Photoshop! Keep up the good work. :D

Don't you just hate it when you spend a bunch of time writing up a post and then have your computer "hicccup" and loose it all! I will try to sum up what I was going to post about manga..... I am currently in the process of reading Saiyuki. The downside is the next volume comes out next month so I have to wait. It makes me wonder if it is better to wait until the entire series is released before starting. Good thing is you don't have to wait for the next one to be released, the bad part is the hit your pocket book takes. I can't imagine trying to buy all of Ranma 1/2 in one purchase! If only I had to the money to do that sort of thing! This past weekend I picked up volumes 1 through 5 of Kare Kano. I have been looking forward to reading this series. I haven't had a chance to start into it yet since I keep forgetting to get it when I leave for work. I love being able to sit down and read manga at lunchtime! On a side note, I am very jealous of those of you who can pick up manga at the library. My hometown library doesn't carry manga. More than likely they don't even know what it is. This thread to me has been a great source of information on what mangas are out there. Thanks everyone!

FLCL is definately not an anime for everyone. I personally really enjoy the series. My biggest complaint about it is the length of the series. I wish it were a bit longer. Otherwise I think the series has some wonderful techincal animation sequences that I enjoy watching over and over. When first viewing it the animation may not catch you as being very techincal, but it is very complex. The soundtrack is excellent and I enjoy listening to the broken english of The Pillows. Interesting characters and lots of inside anime jokes like the Lupin references. I think when you understand some of those references it makes the series that much more enjoyable. :)

[QUOTE=Cyriel]So now I'm asking you: what would happen if you died tonight? Tomorrow? What if you never got another chance to see your friends or family? What would by your greatest regret, and why? And if you had the chance, what would you do to change it? And...what would be your most cherished moment of life? [/QUOTE] Regret is the worst feeling in the world. I always make it a point to tell my friends and family that I love them since you don't know what may happen. I don't want to have the regret of not telling someone I love them and have them pass away. I've had a friend pass awy in a car accident and the last time I saw him I told him I loved him and that gives me some comfort since I know he knew he was loved. If I died tonight/tomorrow my biggest regret would be that I wouldn't be here to take care of my parents. My mom has severe rheumatoid arthritis and my dad is diabetic. They are both getting on in years and I don't want them to be alone. I want to be here for them. I love them so much and I know it would break their hearts to have to bury me. I don't want that pain for them. Definately my number one regret. As for things in the past that I regret there are so many things it is hard to choose. If I could go back and change them, I am not sure. I asked this question in another thread about going back in time and after further thought I don't think I would change anything. All the events in our past make up who we are today. The good, the bad, it all is apart of what makes us who we are. I don't think I would change anything. At this point I would have to say my most cherised moment was my wedding day. I got to marry the man of my dreams. He is my best friend and I love him so much. It really is one of my most cherished memories.

I feel the character that represents me the best would be Subaru in .hack/sign. The reason I say this is because the first message board I was a member of I had these great ideals of how everyone should get along and be respectful of other members. I ended up becoming a moderator for that site and continue to do so today. I understand Subaru and what she wanted for The World. There are many members who respect and appreciate what you do in "the world" but others who just see your actions as a "power trip". The other character I feel I relate to is non-anime. Lloyd Dobler in the movie "Say Anything". He is a person who everyone likes, but is not one of the "popular" kids. He loves martial arts and has true friends that love him for who he is. I can relate to that. Other than those two I really can't think of any other characters I relate too. I might have to ask some of my friends. I am sure they have some interesting characters they think represent me! :eek: