Yes, I haven't updated in two months and after I post this, I probably won't post again for two months because I'm ever-so-wonderful at maintaining a blog. What can I say? Even amongst friends I usually can't be bothered with long-winded explanations and justifications of my opinions, so why should I care enough to tell the ever apathetic Internet? But this entry is spur-of-the-moment and prompted by a bit of indignation after a conversation with one of my professors.
He told me that Wikipedia is crap [sic].
Well, I can agree well enough that it's pretty inappropriate and lazy to cite for research papers, or even just papers in general. But crap all around? I would have to disagree, sir. Wikipedia is our generation's mine field of information. Many people use it as their only news source, ahead of newspapers, blogs, and televised media. It's usefulness cannot be denied. Now it's accuracy?
Certainly there will be inconsistencies and bias now and again, but I firmly believe in the power of psychotic Wikipedians to correct things that are amazingly wrong and blatantly slanted. Most of the time, anyway. That's why articles are locked. Of course, lesser known and less important articles will be vandalized for the hell of it and maybe sniplets of falsities will be taken as truth by the unsuspecting browser, but the most important things are, for the most part, kept straight.
Wikipedia should probably never be your only source of information. But isn't that why all articles include at least one citation to another source so you can follow up on it? Isn't it useful for at least that? I'm getting tired of discussing this already... My opinion is obviously biased anyway, just like my professor's is. I grew up on the Internet and have great respect for it while simultaneously knowing all of its incredibly faults. I love that information is at the tip of my fingers and amazingly easy to access while knowing that the people giving me this information may not always be credible. It's a risk that comes with the rewards, I guess. But sometimes I think people like to point out all the errors and forget the amazingness of the people that are honestly working hard to make Wikipedia the best that it can be.
I dunno. In my own defense, I was only using Wiki to verify what I already knew. Who the hell's going to vandalize an article on Sadako Sasaki and the Thousand Paper Cranes anyway?
And now back to your regularly scheduled silence.
Monday, April 21, 2008
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Naive Infatuation. Maybe.
I was hunting for summer jobs in New York, ran over a few blogs that touched on the subject of the city a bit, then decided to re-read some material from blogs I'm familiar with about it. There seems to be a general consensus between older bloggers that too many people, especially younger people, hold the city up on a pedestal and that there really isn't much need to clamor over its grandeur. I can understand that viewpoint well enough; after all, what is there in New York that isn't anywhere else? With the amazing pervasiveness of the Internet, there is a diminishing need to be physically close to where the action is and the cost of living there is so damn high, it pretty much offsets a ton of the advantages, right? So what's so great about this place?
Maybe it really is just my age, but two summers working in Manhattan has yet to disillusion me from its magnificence. The aesthetic appeal never seems to diminish. I love the 50-story buildings and the sea of taxis streaming down Fifth Avenue. I love the rush hour foot traffic swarming 7th Avenue towards the transit lines. Even when it's raining cats and dogs and there are a dozen peddlers trying to sell you umbrellas for five bucks (and they will probably break by the third or fourth use). I love the ignorant tourists and the fact that most people are perfectly happy to disregard traffic laws. I love the incredible diversity. Every little thing is just so incredibly artistic and I find that feeling hard to escape. Just being there in the city always seems to inspire me somehow. I want to write; I want to draw; I want to work. I want to live.
And that's all just the feeling I get from standing there. Job hunting reveals the amazing proximity of everything. It's one of those facts that you sort of know, but don't really realize until you really look into it. I had worked in the second and third floors of an office building on Broadway and 35th. Five blocks away is an animation studio I was looking at. Five blocks in the other direction is a small gallery also offering internships. Viacom is five blocks away. The Times building is five blocks away. National Geographic is closer. This is amazing to me, that such a motley crew should be stationed so close to one another. But as illustration can be applied to many a different fields and companies, it's amazingly convenient that I could take the same commute into the city for a hundred different jobs.
Obviously, the offset of all of this is the cost. I don't delude myself into thinking that I could afford a Manhattan flat on an intern's salary (if it's even a paid internship). For now, I'm lucky enough to have an uncle who lives in Jersey and also commutes into the city, but I would still love to live in the city itself some day. Would it be worth it to scrape by just to live there though? I don't know. Probably not in the long term, but even the other boroughs offer a proximity that I would love and with any luck, I'd be able to round up some awesome roommates to share space with. That would be worth it to me - good friends, good city, good inspiration. Hopefully good job? Haha.
It's almost like the urban fairytale land. It's where so many great things have started and ended. Wouldn't you love to be a part of it? Even for a little while? Many people seem to grow out of it and years later, after they've moved away, they reflect on it in a more cynical light. I'm a cynic too. But also sometimes a romantic. It's a weird combination, I suppose, but the city definitely brings out the hopeless romantic in me. I love New York and don't really see myself outgrowing that. Maybe I'll have to eat those words in a few years, but.
Maybe not.
Maybe it really is just my age, but two summers working in Manhattan has yet to disillusion me from its magnificence. The aesthetic appeal never seems to diminish. I love the 50-story buildings and the sea of taxis streaming down Fifth Avenue. I love the rush hour foot traffic swarming 7th Avenue towards the transit lines. Even when it's raining cats and dogs and there are a dozen peddlers trying to sell you umbrellas for five bucks (and they will probably break by the third or fourth use). I love the ignorant tourists and the fact that most people are perfectly happy to disregard traffic laws. I love the incredible diversity. Every little thing is just so incredibly artistic and I find that feeling hard to escape. Just being there in the city always seems to inspire me somehow. I want to write; I want to draw; I want to work. I want to live.
And that's all just the feeling I get from standing there. Job hunting reveals the amazing proximity of everything. It's one of those facts that you sort of know, but don't really realize until you really look into it. I had worked in the second and third floors of an office building on Broadway and 35th. Five blocks away is an animation studio I was looking at. Five blocks in the other direction is a small gallery also offering internships. Viacom is five blocks away. The Times building is five blocks away. National Geographic is closer. This is amazing to me, that such a motley crew should be stationed so close to one another. But as illustration can be applied to many a different fields and companies, it's amazingly convenient that I could take the same commute into the city for a hundred different jobs.
Obviously, the offset of all of this is the cost. I don't delude myself into thinking that I could afford a Manhattan flat on an intern's salary (if it's even a paid internship). For now, I'm lucky enough to have an uncle who lives in Jersey and also commutes into the city, but I would still love to live in the city itself some day. Would it be worth it to scrape by just to live there though? I don't know. Probably not in the long term, but even the other boroughs offer a proximity that I would love and with any luck, I'd be able to round up some awesome roommates to share space with. That would be worth it to me - good friends, good city, good inspiration. Hopefully good job? Haha.
It's almost like the urban fairytale land. It's where so many great things have started and ended. Wouldn't you love to be a part of it? Even for a little while? Many people seem to grow out of it and years later, after they've moved away, they reflect on it in a more cynical light. I'm a cynic too. But also sometimes a romantic. It's a weird combination, I suppose, but the city definitely brings out the hopeless romantic in me. I love New York and don't really see myself outgrowing that. Maybe I'll have to eat those words in a few years, but.
Maybe not.
Friday, February 15, 2008
shut up and love
This has become my place to rant about all of the opinions I usually don't share with people because someone's going to get offended. Go me for not bothering to advertise this blog much.
Anyway, I'm really tired of people ragging on Valentine's Day. Much like Black Friday, I find it pretty ridiculous that people should rail on it because it's a highly commercialized holiday. Realize that it's only so highly commercialized because people buy into. Obviously, if no one wanted to buy things, no one would bother decking out the pink, red, and white decorations and going crazy. If you hate it so much, don't buy things. It isn't that hard, is it? And maybe the people complaining about it really don't buy into it (although I severely doubt that they'd turn away chocolate hearts on principle alone if they were offered some) and are just using it as another excuse to go on a tirade about how humanity is deteriorating and how people care about the most trivial of things.
I think people's perception of the holiday (yeah, so some people refuse to even call it a holiday; power to you, guys, but I'm rolling my eyes) change in stages based on age. In elementary school, V-Day was cool because you got nifty cards and candy. In middle school, it was exciting because lots of people were experimenting with and just starting out with relationships. In high school, if you were in a relationship, it was great fun, but if you were single, you were probably anti-the-holiday. And beyond that, I think most people either came to embrace it as a celebration of love or continued to scorn it as another commercialized holiday. Or there are a few people who genuinely don't care, though a I find that a lot of people that claim this will still talk/complain/act bitter about it.
I think the whole Single's Awareness Day thing is kind of hilarious too. I guess a majority of our society likes to label it a day for romantic love, but come on, I'm sure the number of platonic love relationships in the world far outnumber the former. When you were a kid, you gave those Valentine's Day cards to everyone in your class and couldn't leave anyone out. If you don't have a significant others but still want to celebrate, go hang out with your other single friends. Now was that so hard? Stop being so damn bitter about it. Or you know, how about use it as an excuse to finally ask the guy or girl out? It's an excuse. May as well use it.
People say that we don't need a holiday to express love, that we should every day and appreciate it every day. And sure, that's true, but is it really so bad to have a day dedicated to it? It's like Mother's Day and Father's Day. I sure hope you appreciate your parents for more days than that, but isn't it nice to have a special day set aside for them? I see Valentine's Day the same way. It's an excuse to sit back and think about and appreciate all the awesome people in your life, whether or not you're romantically involved. Why is this bad? And if you just happen to be buying lots of flowers and candy and glittery, heart-shaped balloons for the day, so what? Our economy's in a slump and needs the help anyway.
And that's my tirade. Shut up, stop whining, and go tell someone they're awesome.
Anyway, I'm really tired of people ragging on Valentine's Day. Much like Black Friday, I find it pretty ridiculous that people should rail on it because it's a highly commercialized holiday. Realize that it's only so highly commercialized because people buy into. Obviously, if no one wanted to buy things, no one would bother decking out the pink, red, and white decorations and going crazy. If you hate it so much, don't buy things. It isn't that hard, is it? And maybe the people complaining about it really don't buy into it (although I severely doubt that they'd turn away chocolate hearts on principle alone if they were offered some) and are just using it as another excuse to go on a tirade about how humanity is deteriorating and how people care about the most trivial of things.
I think people's perception of the holiday (yeah, so some people refuse to even call it a holiday; power to you, guys, but I'm rolling my eyes) change in stages based on age. In elementary school, V-Day was cool because you got nifty cards and candy. In middle school, it was exciting because lots of people were experimenting with and just starting out with relationships. In high school, if you were in a relationship, it was great fun, but if you were single, you were probably anti-the-holiday. And beyond that, I think most people either came to embrace it as a celebration of love or continued to scorn it as another commercialized holiday. Or there are a few people who genuinely don't care, though a I find that a lot of people that claim this will still talk/complain/act bitter about it.
I think the whole Single's Awareness Day thing is kind of hilarious too. I guess a majority of our society likes to label it a day for romantic love, but come on, I'm sure the number of platonic love relationships in the world far outnumber the former. When you were a kid, you gave those Valentine's Day cards to everyone in your class and couldn't leave anyone out. If you don't have a significant others but still want to celebrate, go hang out with your other single friends. Now was that so hard? Stop being so damn bitter about it. Or you know, how about use it as an excuse to finally ask the guy or girl out? It's an excuse. May as well use it.
People say that we don't need a holiday to express love, that we should every day and appreciate it every day. And sure, that's true, but is it really so bad to have a day dedicated to it? It's like Mother's Day and Father's Day. I sure hope you appreciate your parents for more days than that, but isn't it nice to have a special day set aside for them? I see Valentine's Day the same way. It's an excuse to sit back and think about and appreciate all the awesome people in your life, whether or not you're romantically involved. Why is this bad? And if you just happen to be buying lots of flowers and candy and glittery, heart-shaped balloons for the day, so what? Our economy's in a slump and needs the help anyway.
And that's my tirade. Shut up, stop whining, and go tell someone they're awesome.
Monday, January 28, 2008
I think it'd be too ironic to call it irony
I've been very busy and decidedly ill, but I wanted to get this out before I forgot about it (however temporarily, as these are very persistent issues).
There's been a lot of drama on deviantART lately (oh snap, not another entry about that darn place, but hey, it's a site I visit on a very regular basis; I can't help but have some opinions about it, right?). There seems to be a growing uprising against things being posted that aren't "art." As usual, this is a very contentious topic because of the very subjective definitions of the word. I will agree vehemently with those hoping to purge the site of "mySpace photos" and artthefted things, because, after all, deviantART was never meant to be Photobucket. But what's all this nonsense rallying for prosecution against those who post "ships of MORTAL ENEMIES and characters who have never even met each other or have had existing relationships with the opposite sex"?
I can understand the dislike, trust me. I consider myself quite a bit of a fantard in various fandoms, but my main complaint against almost every fandom I find myself a part of is the other fans. The overzealous, "psychotic" fangirls (and boys) that parade their fandom and most annoyingly, their fanpairings, all over the place. I've always been for the idea that everyone has their own ideas and they can do whatever it is that floats their boat. Therefore, it's their own business if they want to slash every character from every series they've seen with each other, or if they want to introduce a thousand Mary Sues to fulfill their own fantasies. "I may not like what you say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it." That was Voltaire, right? Well, in the same vein:
I MAY NOT LIKE WHAT YOU DRAW, BUT I'LL DEFEND TO THE DEATH YOUR RIGHT TO DRAW IT.
I think the main problem with all of this is devianART's "today's popular" system that displays some of the days' most favorite'd or commented pieces on the front page. Because some fandoms have grown to outrageous sizes, it's not surprising to see artwork that represent these series over and over (and over) again on the front page, often with ideas and pairings that disturb or offend others within and outside of the fandom. (Specifically, I've seen a lot of people hating on Akuroku for Kingdom Hearts and Sasunaru for Naruto because they appear so often, although I'm pretty sure I've seen a lot more Sasusaku action on the front page).
Personally, this doesn't really bother me that much. I used to vehemently disapprove of Akuroku, but as long as the artwork featured on the front page was well-rendered and executed, I was fine with it. I absolutely hate LxLight, but once again, if it showed up on the front page and was pretty, then fine, whatever -- whatever floats people's boats. But I know a lot of people would still prefer not to see that kind of stuff if they could help it.
The general solution would be "if you don't like it, don't look" right? But with how deviantART currently handles their front page, it can't be avoided. So my idea would be to have some sort of filtering system for the front page. If you don't like anime, filter out all the anime-related categories. Find furries offensive? Filter out the anthropomorphic stuff. Maybe that'll stop some of the crazy hate-journals and stamps going around. Of course, this isn't a catch-all solution. Naturally, a big portion of the people that hate on some of the targeted artwork consider themselves part of the fandom itself and it would be unreasonable to expect them to filter away such broad categories, but really... for those people, I think the only solution would be to suck it up and grow some tolerance. There's already too little of it in the world.
Anyway, yeah. Those are my two cents on that drama. But once again just to clarify, my moral protection only extends to people shipping unpopular ships, not all the teeny boppers posting their webcam pictures with no real thought or artistic value or the silly folk who think it's all right to post official artwork and think that no one will notice. That's one of those "come on guys, have a little common sense" kind of things. All the same though, I severely doubt that deviantART will be taking any action against any of these people any time soon. After all, having a high number of "deviations" is something for them to boast, nevermind that many of them shouldn't be counted as legitimate pieces of art.
Oh well.
There's been a lot of drama on deviantART lately (oh snap, not another entry about that darn place, but hey, it's a site I visit on a very regular basis; I can't help but have some opinions about it, right?). There seems to be a growing uprising against things being posted that aren't "art." As usual, this is a very contentious topic because of the very subjective definitions of the word. I will agree vehemently with those hoping to purge the site of "mySpace photos" and artthefted things, because, after all, deviantART was never meant to be Photobucket. But what's all this nonsense rallying for prosecution against those who post "ships of MORTAL ENEMIES and characters who have never even met each other or have had existing relationships with the opposite sex"?
I can understand the dislike, trust me. I consider myself quite a bit of a fantard in various fandoms, but my main complaint against almost every fandom I find myself a part of is the other fans. The overzealous, "psychotic" fangirls (and boys) that parade their fandom and most annoyingly, their fanpairings, all over the place. I've always been for the idea that everyone has their own ideas and they can do whatever it is that floats their boat. Therefore, it's their own business if they want to slash every character from every series they've seen with each other, or if they want to introduce a thousand Mary Sues to fulfill their own fantasies. "I may not like what you say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it." That was Voltaire, right? Well, in the same vein:
I MAY NOT LIKE WHAT YOU DRAW, BUT I'LL DEFEND TO THE DEATH YOUR RIGHT TO DRAW IT.
I think the main problem with all of this is devianART's "today's popular" system that displays some of the days' most favorite'd or commented pieces on the front page. Because some fandoms have grown to outrageous sizes, it's not surprising to see artwork that represent these series over and over (and over) again on the front page, often with ideas and pairings that disturb or offend others within and outside of the fandom. (Specifically, I've seen a lot of people hating on Akuroku for Kingdom Hearts and Sasunaru for Naruto because they appear so often, although I'm pretty sure I've seen a lot more Sasusaku action on the front page).
Personally, this doesn't really bother me that much. I used to vehemently disapprove of Akuroku, but as long as the artwork featured on the front page was well-rendered and executed, I was fine with it. I absolutely hate LxLight, but once again, if it showed up on the front page and was pretty, then fine, whatever -- whatever floats people's boats. But I know a lot of people would still prefer not to see that kind of stuff if they could help it.
The general solution would be "if you don't like it, don't look" right? But with how deviantART currently handles their front page, it can't be avoided. So my idea would be to have some sort of filtering system for the front page. If you don't like anime, filter out all the anime-related categories. Find furries offensive? Filter out the anthropomorphic stuff. Maybe that'll stop some of the crazy hate-journals and stamps going around. Of course, this isn't a catch-all solution. Naturally, a big portion of the people that hate on some of the targeted artwork consider themselves part of the fandom itself and it would be unreasonable to expect them to filter away such broad categories, but really... for those people, I think the only solution would be to suck it up and grow some tolerance. There's already too little of it in the world.
Anyway, yeah. Those are my two cents on that drama. But once again just to clarify, my moral protection only extends to people shipping unpopular ships, not all the teeny boppers posting their webcam pictures with no real thought or artistic value or the silly folk who think it's all right to post official artwork and think that no one will notice. That's one of those "come on guys, have a little common sense" kind of things. All the same though, I severely doubt that deviantART will be taking any action against any of these people any time soon. After all, having a high number of "deviations" is something for them to boast, nevermind that many of them shouldn't be counted as legitimate pieces of art.
Oh well.
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Maybe I'm Also Arrogant For Writing This
I hate it when people profess their intolerance for people who do certain things. This entire entry will probably come off as rather hypocritical then and maybe this statement of self-defense means absolutely nothing, but here goes anyway. I wouldn't say I'm "intolerant" of these people, as I've never said a word against them until now and because I probably won't think too much less of a person if they do it, but it just irks me. ...Anyway.
This is a growing trend on sites that garner a significant population from various subcultures. Example one: deviantART. I have lost count of the number of journal entries, stamps, clubs, and deviation descriptions that will right out write off anyone who uses (or attempts to use) Japanese (or Wapanese -- but the first Urban Dictionary definition offends me, by the by). I can understand why so many people would be annoyed, especially with the anime subculture having grown (and still growing) so rapidly, thus population all corners of the Internet with crazy fangirls and boys who entertain and amuse themselves with uses of words like "kawaii," "sugoi," "baka," "gomen," "-chan," "-kun," "-sama," and "ne." I understand this would be even more annoying for people that do not consider themselves members of the subculture and have been forced to learn the meaning of these words through mass overusage. And even though I do consider myself part of this subculture, I'd be lying if I told you it didn't annoy me sometimes. I will probably punch you in the face if you call me "Kiri-chan."
But is there really a reason to rally against them as harshly as so many people have? Most of the kids using the terms are 12-15 and feel a little special for knowing what they are. It's like a (not-so) secret language they can use amongst friends and other people that "understand" them (I think a recent installment of ANN's Hey Answerman! used this analogy). It's just that the "in-group" is so ridiculously large now that there's lots of overspill. However, most of these kids outgrow it by the time they hit 16 or 17. I would also be lying to you if I said that I've never been guilty of using some of those words (more on this later) -- I'm sure hunting down archives of forum posts I made five or six years ago would harvest a decent crop of silly Japanese terms, but come on. Let kids have their fun.
Really, I think it's a little arrogant and elitist to come down so hard on them. I don't think any of the people using the words are "trying to be Japanese" or "rejecting their actual heritage." There's no need to be so offended by the use of harmless words, especially if you already know what they mean. As the subculture expands, the words have become such a normal occurrence that they might as well be up there with other subculture-spawned terms like "lol," "iawtc," or "n00b." Some people will also rag on the l337 subculture's butchering of various English words, but despite the fact that I just wrote an entry ranting about the general disregarding of our language, I don't think that the usage of 1337 terms correlates directly to not knowing spelling and grammar worth a shit. Likewise, usage of miscellaneous Japanese terms does not mean they don't know the English equivalents or are trying to be Japanese. I don't even think they're trying to be "cool" or "cute." They're just having fun.
I like the Japanese language a lot. I think it flows very well and would love to actually sit down and learn it some day. I generally believe that I've picked up a decent slice of vocabulary and while I've outgrown using random terms online, I've begun weaving some words into my everyday verbal speech along with Spanish, which I've come to appreciate a lot more now that I've stopping taking classes for it. So frequently, I find myself responding "¿qué?" or "nanda?" instead of "what?" using "¿quien es?" and "¿qué es eso?" instead of "who is it?" and "what's that?" and "doko desu ka?" for "where is it?" I also seem to use "sou" and "sou desu" a lot for simple agreement and both "shirimasen" and "yo no sé" for "I don't know."
And I wonder, would people also consider this pretentious of me? Am I trying to be Japanese or Spanish? I don't really think so. I just enjoy using the languages, even if I'm not very proficient in either. It makes me smile when my brother and I can converse in Spanish, even if they're just little phrases that we banter back and forth ("No sé!" "¿Por qué no sé?" "No sé porque no sé! D:"). And yes, there is a little bit of enjoyment that comes when people around us don't understand what we're saying. It's like an in-joke and everyone loves being a part of something like that, right? But yeah, one of these days, I half expect some asshole to come up to me and tell me I'm not Japanese and therefore should not be using random bits and pieces of phrases.
The only thing I can sort of understand confronting someone about is incorrect usage of grammar. By all means, if I am killing the poor language's grammar, please inform me of this. Preferably in a civil and polite manner. But maybe that's just me and my I-love-grammar nonsense.
I wanted to extend the general concept of this entry (railing against certain people for doing certain things that really shouldn't be that big of a deal) to something else in the advanced text-based roleplaying community, but I'm all tired of writing now. Maybe later. In the meantime, people, really. Stop giving the kids such a hard time. Why do you think they're so many emokids these days anyway?
This is a growing trend on sites that garner a significant population from various subcultures. Example one: deviantART. I have lost count of the number of journal entries, stamps, clubs, and deviation descriptions that will right out write off anyone who uses (or attempts to use) Japanese (or Wapanese -- but the first Urban Dictionary definition offends me, by the by). I can understand why so many people would be annoyed, especially with the anime subculture having grown (and still growing) so rapidly, thus population all corners of the Internet with crazy fangirls and boys who entertain and amuse themselves with uses of words like "kawaii," "sugoi," "baka," "gomen," "-chan," "-kun," "-sama," and "ne." I understand this would be even more annoying for people that do not consider themselves members of the subculture and have been forced to learn the meaning of these words through mass overusage. And even though I do consider myself part of this subculture, I'd be lying if I told you it didn't annoy me sometimes. I will probably punch you in the face if you call me "Kiri-chan."
But is there really a reason to rally against them as harshly as so many people have? Most of the kids using the terms are 12-15 and feel a little special for knowing what they are. It's like a (not-so) secret language they can use amongst friends and other people that "understand" them (I think a recent installment of ANN's Hey Answerman! used this analogy). It's just that the "in-group" is so ridiculously large now that there's lots of overspill. However, most of these kids outgrow it by the time they hit 16 or 17. I would also be lying to you if I said that I've never been guilty of using some of those words (more on this later) -- I'm sure hunting down archives of forum posts I made five or six years ago would harvest a decent crop of silly Japanese terms, but come on. Let kids have their fun.
Really, I think it's a little arrogant and elitist to come down so hard on them. I don't think any of the people using the words are "trying to be Japanese" or "rejecting their actual heritage." There's no need to be so offended by the use of harmless words, especially if you already know what they mean. As the subculture expands, the words have become such a normal occurrence that they might as well be up there with other subculture-spawned terms like "lol," "iawtc," or "n00b." Some people will also rag on the l337 subculture's butchering of various English words, but despite the fact that I just wrote an entry ranting about the general disregarding of our language, I don't think that the usage of 1337 terms correlates directly to not knowing spelling and grammar worth a shit. Likewise, usage of miscellaneous Japanese terms does not mean they don't know the English equivalents or are trying to be Japanese. I don't even think they're trying to be "cool" or "cute." They're just having fun.
I like the Japanese language a lot. I think it flows very well and would love to actually sit down and learn it some day. I generally believe that I've picked up a decent slice of vocabulary and while I've outgrown using random terms online, I've begun weaving some words into my everyday verbal speech along with Spanish, which I've come to appreciate a lot more now that I've stopping taking classes for it. So frequently, I find myself responding "¿qué?" or "nanda?" instead of "what?" using "¿quien es?" and "¿qué es eso?" instead of "who is it?" and "what's that?" and "doko desu ka?" for "where is it?" I also seem to use "sou" and "sou desu" a lot for simple agreement and both "shirimasen" and "yo no sé" for "I don't know."
And I wonder, would people also consider this pretentious of me? Am I trying to be Japanese or Spanish? I don't really think so. I just enjoy using the languages, even if I'm not very proficient in either. It makes me smile when my brother and I can converse in Spanish, even if they're just little phrases that we banter back and forth ("No sé!" "¿Por qué no sé?" "No sé porque no sé! D:"). And yes, there is a little bit of enjoyment that comes when people around us don't understand what we're saying. It's like an in-joke and everyone loves being a part of something like that, right? But yeah, one of these days, I half expect some asshole to come up to me and tell me I'm not Japanese and therefore should not be using random bits and pieces of phrases.
The only thing I can sort of understand confronting someone about is incorrect usage of grammar. By all means, if I am killing the poor language's grammar, please inform me of this. Preferably in a civil and polite manner. But maybe that's just me and my I-love-grammar nonsense.
I wanted to extend the general concept of this entry (railing against certain people for doing certain things that really shouldn't be that big of a deal) to something else in the advanced text-based roleplaying community, but I'm all tired of writing now. Maybe later. In the meantime, people, really. Stop giving the kids such a hard time. Why do you think they're so many emokids these days anyway?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
