Incessant Chatterings of Yours Truly

A strange thing happens when I have sushi. An even stranger thing happens when I eat it around my friends. Largely because my friends are...not...normal. How could they be? I think that most of it has to do with the special combination of sleep deprivation, the fact that I tend to go there at about midnight and that generally when you get enough people into a tightly compact space like a tatami table, strange things happen.

I am also convinced that the yumyum sauce has narcotics in it.

This past evening, I had the kind fortune of having a good friend come back to town on a second vacation in a month to Las Vegas and we took her out to our favorite sushi place.

***Pause for shameless plug, here***
Osaka is amazing. Go there.
***Fin***

I honestly cannot even begin to tell you what in the name of creepy precious moments dolls was going on but there was just entirely too much energy, inappropriate racial/gender/gay jokes going on (usually the latter about Toccoto and his unrequited love for the 40-something year old busser who is awesome and half the reason we go there), I don't even know what was happening. At one point Diem pretended to do a line of sugar off a plate and...I don't even know.

After this encounter of madness, a half dozen japanese rhythm games at Gemini and a round of capri suns, we were taking Toccoto home and...well...it started innocently enough.

For those of you not in Vegas, everyone here lives in tiny gated communities. Well, if you're (un)lucky, there's a gate. We're not sure if they're meant to keep people out or keep them in, but that's another topic all together. Not every community has a generic visitor's passcode because they're ghetto. Toccoto's place has such a gate, where I have spent much, much time lurking outside of like a stalker, waiting for someone to drive in. Technically, they're supposed to have each person living there on the list where it calls there phone, but for some really, really obnoxious reason due to procrastination on someone's part, he is not on there and I feel awkward calling his roomate.

Either way, about 2 am we're driving him in.

I apologize ahead of time to the Epic Lexington Alexander, but I'm posting this with you in mind.


Toccoto: The other day I drove home and there were, like, six cars lined up waiting for someone to let them in.
Diem: Is that where you're an asshole and drive just to the other side of the gate, then block it until it shuts?
Toccoto: Are you kidding!? I don't want to get shot.
Diem: True, true. What you didn't know is that they were all robbers.
Toccoto: Whatever, man. They're not stealing my stuff. What would they take!? My beer?
Abel: They'd take your Fu--what's it called? Your contact juggling ball? The really goofy 'cool' name the marketting crew gave it?
Diem: Fushigi ball. I remember because it's like Fushigi Yuugi.
Abel swoons: Oooooooh. That's right.
Toccoto: Still haven't seen that.
Abel: BLASPHEMY! You need to watch it!
Toccoto: Old style anime's just don't do it for me.
Abel: You're watching it.
Toccoto: I can't even watch trigun anymore.
Abel: But it has /rape/!!!!!!!! <---I have to put this many exclamation points due to the sheer zeal that I had when saying that word. Children on Christmas morning aren't this excited.
Toccoto and Diem pause awkwardly. Then burst out laughing.
Toccoto: /That's/ your hook!? 'But it has rape'!? What kind of person do you think I am where that is your final argument to make it more alluring to me!?
Diem: He has a point. It's not that it's a great story or great characters, but because there's /rape/. You're convincing Toccoto, here, not Muse.
Abel bows her head sheepishly and plays with her fingers while the boys continue to laugh: Well, I mean...It's a beautiful love story, too, and--
Toccoto: And there's rape, apparently. Beautiful love story with rape.
Diem: I'm sorry but I need to tell Lexington about this. I have to. 'You'll never guess what she said to someone about Fushigi Yuugi.'
Abel: He'll disown me! You can't!
Diem: Finally! I found a way that you'll love me better! Buahahaha!
Toccoto: All thanks to rape.
Abel: Hey, hey, now! He /had/ to rape her! Because if he didn't rape her then she would have sex with the giant red bird god who wants virgins and then he'd lose and wouldn't get his free wishes...
Toccoto: Are you listening to yourself!?
Diem: Wow...
Abel: It makes complete sense within the context of the story, guys! Besides, you watch animes about naked girls who say 'mew' and pee themselves and then kill people with invisible hands!
Toccoto: Makes sense to me.
Abel: ...It's from japan!
Diem: Fair.


There you go, kids. Watch Fushigi Yuugi; it has rape.

Again, I'm sorry, Lex. I was under the influence of sushi and ddr.

Honestly, now that I think back on it, I think that that came to mind so quickly because it was such a powerful scene wherein the main antagonist is this seriously badass blond, powerful, stony general who relentlessly psychologically tortures and brainwashes the main protagonists' best friend and he meets with the protagonist in his tent. With our protagonist being some 15 year old schoolgirl, naturally, who has to save the world but struggles with her own naivete and kind-heartedness, Nakago (protagonist badass of intensity) is dressed down all casually there's a line about 'A soldier has taken off his armor and is waiting here for you. Now why don't you show him a good time?' And that moment is so incredibly menacing and powerful that it has permanently imprinted itself on me. The guy basically seduces every other woman in the show at some point or another, and is damn good at it.

...I think I've actually subconsciously stolen a few of his lines in the past in rp, now that I think of it. Damn.


Watch anime, kids. It's good for you.

One of the perks to babysitting a ten year old who is obsessed with video games is that I have someone else to talk about pokemon to.

Yes. I love pokemon. But, like most relationships in my life, pokemon and I have a complex love and hate thing going on. For example, pokemon insists on making craptastic and ridiculous new pokemon. And I refuse to acknowledge them. Anything beyond the original 150 (because mewtwo is just a clone, and a jerk), doesn't count. That doesn't stop me from begrudgingly playing the later games, but it doesn't mean that I like it when I send a hippo filled with sand into battle. (Yes, a lizard with a flaming tail is superior to a monkey with a hand on its tail. Don't question it.)

I digress. The point is that I've been listening to one of the kids play Pokemon platinum all weekend, and being the older, wiser and undeniably cool babysitter that I am, I get to teach him new things about a game that I've been playing since before he was born.

Point in case: if you make a pokemon not evolve, it learns moves faster than its evolved counterpart. Of course, the trade off there is in its stats, but sometimes it's worth it. It's more complicated than that, of course, but that was an easy comment to toss out for the kid rather than getting into how it may change its stats around upon evolution and not follow the same course so it changes the pokemon's chemistry in your group and how it may level faster and learn different moves if you delay it, blah blah.

That being said...this is how the conversation went.

Sim: Why does this trainer have a level 26 [insert bullshit post 150 pokemon starter name here]? Mine is level 25 and it's a [insert bullshit evolved form of that pokemon here].
Abel: Well, if you choose not to evolve your pokemon, it learns moves faster. That's why some people do interrupt the evolution instead of just going through with it.
Diem: ... ...I wasn't aware of that.
Abel: That's because I'm cooler than you.
Diem: Obviously. It's kind of funny. Imagine this cute little 'aw' pokemon, pink and fluffy, putting its enemies at ease and then RAWR!
Abel: RAWR! It's true. Deception. Soooo cute. STAB!
Diem: So is that what your mom did? *mimes hitting something with a stick* NO! Don't Evolve!
Abel chuckles: Yes. Exactly. Cute and fierce.
Diem: ABEL wants to learn ADULTHOOD!
Abel: Noooooooes! I'm only a level 5!! That's more like my dad's training.

A good number of our friends have decided to take up running. Something about health and fitness...I don't know, I wasn't paying attention. But there is a set of friends who are doing a lot of races and whatnot, and in order to 'pay' for my going to gather (because I am po' folk and couldn't logically okay paying 100 dollars to hang out at a friend house for a weekend) diem and I are watching their children.

Some of you may not be aware of this, but now, when you pick up a child from school, you must have a placard with their name and teacher name on your car. Its a little like ordering food and having a number on your table.

You ordered the Billy Smith? Okay. Here you are.
Here's how that conversation went.

Diem: we need the plaquard because everyone lines up outside of the school in their cars and the teachers look at the plaquard and bring your kid out.
Abel: ...so...they all line up, like at mcdonalds?
Diem: yep. 'I'd like one small child please?'
Abel: one small child, hold the Y chromosome. Could you make it white meat?
Diem: oh shit...
Abel: hah. Hah. I'd like they girl toy please.
Diem: wow. Hold the homework, please.

So, we're now sitting in the lamb of god drive through, waiting to be served. Its like coat check for kids, really. Drop them off, show your ticket stub and get them back.

Exhausting. Exhilerating. Gather has come and gone for another year and I am beyond tired, but extremely happy to have seen some of my favorite people and spend too much time dressing up and playing pretend.

That being said, this is something I can share with you lot that won't confuse you due to being full of game lingo.

Toccoto sits in Thrus's chair.
Thrus: ...you stole my chair!
Toccoto: well, it -is- columbus day.

Short and sweet. Good night world.

By now, most of the world has accepted this as a great truth of the universe; you can find almost anything on facebook and become a 'fan' of it or somehow 'like', 'follow', 'stalk' or whatever new terminology they're using for creepily being a voyeur of something via the internet.

Really. Almost anything.

I typed in 'rock' the other day and came up with the following pages that you can 'like':

'i kick a rock when walking, and keep on kicking the same one untill i miss' - 41,161 people like this. Even with the lack of capitalization that makes my eyes bleed.

'I go out of my way to kick a rock down the street for as long as i can(:' - 198, 759 people like this. They're also very redundant and do those annoying backwards smiles that creep me out.

'I Go Out Of My Way To Kick A Rock As I'm Walking' - 129,529 people like this. They also abuse capitalization as I do and are probably trying to make up for people who write things like the first example on this list.

'Some people just need a high five. In the face. With a rock' - 169,063 people like this. And should probably seek anger management.

'Spongebob Can't Lift A Couple Teddy Bears, But Can Lift Patrick's Rock?' - 45,227 people like this. They also have trouble suspending disbelief for a children's cartoon that features a talking seasponge in pants. They probably also thought Inception was 'too unrealistic to be good'.

'Pssh!...Bedrock?...You couldnt even make a chair rock let alone MY Bed!' - 63,402 people like this. They also probably thought it was witty and should probably have their sex organs taken away.


So, as this list illustrates, you can 'like' almost anything on facebook these days. Multiple times, as a matter of fact.


This is the thought that came to mind this evening after I finished telling Diem my day and we realized that I haven't really eaten anything except for some amazing fries at Create a Burger.

Seriously. Amazing fries.


Abel: Thank you for making me mac and cheese.
Diem: You're welcome. I am a fan of you eating.
Abel: ... ... ... I wonder if I made a page called '"Abel" eating', how many people would like it.
Diem: Well, I would. So that's one.


Oddly enough, I think that it would get quite a few. I recognize that my name, and the unusual spelling of it (not Abel, but my normal nickname), may limit the numbers a bit, but I really think that it would do pretty well. And not just in my group of people, either.

I may have to do this as a social experiment. Hm.