New Name for Blog?

Pretty soon I won't be in Japan so it won't make any sense to call this blog "In Japan." In short, I'll have to start a new one! I wonder what I should call it...I want to be witty but all the witty names are already taken, or they sound silly.

If I try to come up with something really creative, it will just end up being pretentious. So maybe I'd better just call my blog "Stephanie's Random Thoughts" and go with the super literal title.

I don't know if anyone would be interested in reading "Stephanie's Random Thoughts," but at least I'll know that my readers are getting an accurate title. They won't be tricked into reading mediocre blog posts by hearing a title like "Incredibly Well-Thought-Out Insights by a Really Smart Person."

Clothes Donated!

I'm slowing getting closer to having all my stuff packed up. On Saturday I got rid of two bags of clothes! My closet is already emptier. The Pastor's family at my church has two teenage daughters, so they agreed to look through my old stuff and then they'll take whatever they don't like to a thrift store. They asked if I wanted anything back after they looked through my clothes, and I was like...nah. I don't want to deal with it.

So on Saturday I packed everything into my brown suitcase (luckily I didn't have to expand it) and rolled the suitcase over to church. It felt kind of dumb to have this big suitcase on the train when I wasn't even traveling, and even dumber on the way back when it was empty. At church I repackaged everything into plastic bags and the Murray family could take the stuff in their car.

However, depending on how packing goes I might have to get rid of more stuff in a few weeks! Bleh.

I was surprised that the suitcase felt so light on the way over. Because I stuffed it full, and there were some boots in there too in addition to clothes. I have to walk a few blocks to the station and then for about 10 minute to church after I get off the train in Asaminami. But it really wasn't too difficult. And I could stuff anything I didn't want to carry in my purse into the suitcase so for once I wasn't worried about bringing too much stuff. I win!

Temples Aren't Scary

Living in a foreign country for two years has changed me a lot. I think I've changed more over the last two years in Japan than I changed all four years of college. And college changed me a lot! There's too many things to list, but one thing that Japan changed about me is I'm no longer uncomfortable around temples, shrines, or religious works of art.

Sure, I've seen paintings of saints before. You can't throw a brick in most of Europe without hitting some centuries-old cathedral. And all art museums are pretty much divided into art depicting Greek mythology and paintings of the Virgin Mary.

But it's all Christian, of course. (And Greek pagan, but we don't count those as idols because ART. Also white people did them.)

"As it should be!" a lot of my friends could counteract. Yeah, I suppose. When I was a kid I felt really weird looking at any depictions of deities or religious figures that weren't Christian. Those were weird idols and maybe they were evil too.

I guess if anyone had asked me I would have said that 90% of the world religions were worshiping thin air. But it was always possible that demons might muck things up just because.

Coming to Japan was the first time I'd been in a country were all the cool cultural stuff was part of a non-Christian religion. Everything's either Shinto and Buddhist. Luckily, by this point was I was adult enough to appreciate temples and shrines for their aesthetic appeal and not be put off by the fact I didn't share that culture.

Still, at the beginning I felt a little awkward. I went to a shrine on new year's and wondered if it would be sacrilegious to throw a 5 yen coin into a little box because that was a pagan ceremony. I still did it but felt weird at the same time.

Then after about a year, I realized that I had stopped feeling weird. The atmosphere of the little shrines was simply a part of what I loved about Japan. Seeing them tucked away into the city, going there for festivals and getting a paper fortune. There was absolutely nothing to be afraid of. The only power was the power of tradition--which for real can be powerful and scary--and I could appreciate it without guilt.

Honestly, even though I felt uncomfortable around religious symbols in the past, that wasn't limited to non-Christian ones. I felt so awkward seeing a blue-eyed Jesus staring soulfully at me from someone's wall. And seeing an artfully draped near-nude emaciated corpse held up for veneration in a cathedral. Gives me the creeps.

So now my opinion on religious places is they have exactly as much power as people give them. If your faith is strong, I don't think appreciating a different religion will really affect you. (And if you're a skeptic to start with, you won't be jumping at shadows.)

I don't think Japan is a "dark" country or a "spiritually oppressed" country. It is a strongly secular country. Which means that most people value religion as part of their culture and not as something that tells them exactly how to live their life. Which honestly I like. No one's raised an eyebrow when I say I go to church. (They usually just ask me "Are you protestant or catholic?" which is hard to answer....There's a lot more than just two, guys!) The important thing is getting along with your friends and coworkers.

There's lots of different folks in the world, but that's what makes it interesting. Honestly I feel much more out of place when talking to people who hail from the Bible Belt portion of America. "You believe....What?" But this is a culture too. It's not my culture, but that's why I have to learn about it respectfully and not go in with a perspective of fear.

So this is how my view of religion changed in Japan. I'm really glad I got this chance to live in a foreign country!

Adulting Skill Unlocked: Eyedrops!

It seems like every year I learn to do something random that most people seem to do easily but I've always hated. Last year I learned how to have pierced ears and not be afraid of sticking in earrings. This week I learned how to use eye drops.

Generally, I HATE HATE HATE putting stuff in my eyes. Or near my eyes. My one experience with false lashes was painful and tedious. And I wasn't even the person putting them on. I can tolerate mascara. But you'll never see me putting eyeliner above my lower lashes--ewwwwww. That looks like a recipe for PAIN. Luckily, my eyesight is pretty good so I can get by without wearing contacts. That's how I've managed to live 26 years without getting good at sticking things in my eyeballs.

The only time I've ever had eye drops was at the eye doctor, and it was the best I could do to not jerk out of the way when someone else was putting them in. Using eye drops voluntarily was a whole bunch of NOPE.

The only reason I'm using them now is because my eyes have been really hurting lately, and it seems like some of my coworkers use some kind of eye drops. (And in one case rub their fists all over their eyes in a really weird way, but you won't catch me doing that in public.) I didn't even know what kind to get, really, so I just ended up browsing through the pharmacy and buying the brand that was the cheapest and had some English in the title.

At first the eye drop just ran down my cheek because I kept missing. But guess what? After two or three times, I got the hang of it. I can now do eye drops.  It was surprisingly easy.

I didn't know how they were supposed to work, so the first time I used the eye drops the pupil of my eye dilated to three times its usual size. I was thinking, "Hmmm that looks pretty weird. It will go away, though, right?" The next morning, my eyes were still really dilated! I went into work thinking, "Nope, I didn't do any drugs this morning....Definitely not stoned, people. Just don't look too close, okay?" But luckily no one noticed.

My Japanese teacher told me that contracted pupils are a sign of tiredness that the eye drops were supposed to help with.

After a few days I noticed, "Hey, that skin around my eyes that I thought was supposed to be red, actually it's pale pink! Who knew?" I'm hoping my eyes look less tired now in the evenings after work. But I might switch to a different brand now that I know eye drops work for me.

Recovering from a cold...

Tonight my cold feels slightly better. Today and yesterday I had bouts of violent sneezing and tears and snot running down my face. Bleh. I think the office is dusty, which is aggravating my symptoms.

I just bought eye drops, but they made my pupils dilate a ton! Are they supposed to do that? I'm not sure I can use them at work because you shouldn't be on the computer when your eyes are dilated. Bleh. My coworker's always using eyedrops or rubbing his hands all over his face. Which makes me go Argh. I'd rub my face too cuz my eyes hurt, but FOUNDATION. Seriously. Ladies learn that we can't touch our faces unless it's in the early morning before we get made up or in the evening after we've washed our faces.

Meh. I don't think it's good to always be touching your face anyway.

In other news, I am also ready to be moving on to the next step in my career path. Whatever it is.

Good news for this week is I saw American Sniper on Sunday! I'm not sure how I feel about the movie. I was more interested in the sniper part than the America part. It certainly did feel rather whitewashed. The Chris Kyle character for the movie was strictly a self-sacrificing hero. However, the person I was with enjoyed the movie and thought it was the most badass story ever, so I also had a good time.

There was a scene in a bar, and I couldn't help thinking about Fifty Shades of Grey. In American Sniper the hero holds a girls hair back while she throws up and then cheerfully accepts her rejection. He does not carry her unconscious body back to a hotel and creepily watch her sleep. A movie that mostly takes place in a war zone is still 100 times more romantic than 50 Shades of Grey!

Chocolate and so on...

It's a little late but I finally put some pictures of the chocolate I made on Facebook. I melded down the chocolate as usual and used the heart, star, and butterfly molds.

This year I also did something a little different and used these squares of white chocolate. I melted the tops a bit by holding them in hot water and then put this sticker thing on top that looks like a check pattern. Finally, I stuck a heart decoration on top with a bit of icing as glue. The stickers didn't all come out cleanly, but they look pretty cute!

Also, my chocolate stayed unmelted pretty well this year and didn't lose its shape once it got to room temperature. I think my melting technique is getting better. 

Exposition! It will kill your fantasy stories.

I hate exposition. dialog. I know it's unavoidable, but it just sucks the reality out of any story.

For example, I like the setting of Girl Genius, a popular webcomic. It's this weird steampunk world (which is hard to pull off) set in something that bears a vague resemblance to western Europe.

However, I find the pacing grating and its made worse by the fact that almost every single page is full of characters narrating and explaining what's going on. I.E. instead of interacting with each other or creating the illusion of fully fleshed out characters just going about their lives, they EXPLAIN EVERYTHING.

Every panel is "What's this thing do?" "It stops the effects of that thing!" "I thought that thing was unstoppable!" "No, because of this other thing!"

Or, "Why is that character doing X? I thought he always did Y!" "Yes, but he's probably doing X now to accomplish Z, which will keep the plot stalled for another fifty pages." "Should we worry about him?" "Maybe!"

I just want to scream SHOW DON'T TELL! a zillion times. And then cut out half the dialog on every page. Because comics = visual medium.

Now, people will tell me "The world is so complex and the characters are so multifaceted that we'll never know what's going on if they don't explain it to us at every turn!" I say Nope. Needing to explain in great detail why characters are doing what they are doing is a sign that the characters aren't detailed enough. We should just be able to see them react and make choices and think, "Of course she would do that. That's so her."

Imagine if in Star Wars the duel between Darth Vader and Obi-Wan Kenobi were narrated by the other characters.

"Why's he staying behind?"
"To buy us time, I guess."
"Who is that? Wait, how do they know each other?"
"Darth Vader was once his apprentice, who went to the dark side of the Force. He apparently wants revenge."
"This doesn't look good. He can't win!"

Imagine how this would totally kill the tension. Just because it's information doesn't mean you have to put it in the scene.

Take this page from Girl Genius

Essentially, all we're getting is exposition dialog from a sentient monster train. Every villain in the series is like this because every conflict consists of an over-the-top villain explaining everything in detail, the heroes arguing back, and plans and counter plans being put into motion while the cast explains everything in detail. The train doesn't monologue because of its character; the style of the comic doesn't allow for any other types of characters.

How much cooler would the first panel be if instead of explaining how it gets more powerful, the train actually ate some metal and then got bigger? Or if we could see the net breaking? The next two panels do absolutely nothing. The train literally says that its not going to say anything to the monks. Um, so why show it?

The bottom panels are all more exposition from the train, and an invitation to get some exposition in return from Agatha. At least we get to see Agatha's reaction a bit. I think the only line that sounds like a genuine character moment is Krosp the cat's request "Drop him again." It's just a thowaway joke, but at least it sounds like a real person reacting in the moment and not someone narrating or explaining what just happened.

Fantasy writers: Exposition does not make your world more real. It make it less real. In the real world, I don't understand squat about how things work. How often do my friends and I sit around debating how a microwave makes food hot?

NEVER. We just roll with it.

By all means work out the minor details of your world and how all your character arcs fit together, but there is absolutely no reason to tell us all or even most of the background details. When you shift the focus off of what the characters are doing and feeling onto how the world works or what exactly the plan is, all you're doing is reminding us that this stuff doesn't really make sense or that its weird for the characters to be acting the way they are.

As the Nostalgia Critic said, all stories have some plot holes. But a good story will work so well on an emotional level that we just don't focus on the minor details. We're totally absorbed in the what the characters are going through.

For this reason, I by far prefer fantasies that just throw you into the deep end with their world and expect you to learn to swim. Even if half the time they make no sense. When that's done well, it really pays off and makes the world and the characters feel so much more real. Like you're only seeing one part of a much larger whole, and you want to take in all you can.

Hmm, now I want to work some more on my own projects...

Takoyaki!

On Saturday I got to have lunch with one of my English students and his family. They were all really cute. we made takoyaki together! Also they decorated the windows with the "menu" and wrote "Welcome, Stephanie." This is the first time I've ever been to their apartment.

Movies I Like: The Book of Life

On the plane back to Japan I was searching for movies of passable interest. I ended up selecting a cartoon called The Book of Life because even though it looked overwhelmingly goofy it had Guillermo del Toro's name attached to it. I figured at least the design would be interesting and I could turn it off if the characters got too annoying.


Actually I ended up enjoying it a lot. I don't think it's a great movie, but it's pretty good overall. If weird Mexican supernatural stuff doesn't turn you off, you can enjoy likeable characters fighting for honor, family, true love, and friendship.

The plot does get bogged down a little during the midpoint of the movie when I started wondering, "How exactly does this supernatural world work again? How did they know that thing was there exactly when they needed it? And no one did this before ever?" Also there's one character who's accent does not match at all with the accents of the other characters, but luckily he's not in the movie that much.

Some people on IMDB complained that there's too much time spent with the child characters before they grow up, but time overspent isn't necessarily time wasted. I think the kids are actually more enjoyable to watch than their adult counterparts. Also, all the important character traits are developed when you see the three main characters as kids so when you see them as adults their choices all feel very natural.

Another criticism is it's too fast paced. It did seem very lively to me, but I think it slows down enough in the dramatic moments that you can take it seriously. But that's just my opinion. Other people might find it annoying or feel like you don't get to enjoy the sets enough.

The main plot is that two gods make a bet concerning a group of three children, as to which of two young boys will end up marrying the girl, their childhood friend. And the story follows the choices they make as adults, with some added trickery on the part of the less scrupulous god.

La Muerte and Xibalba. I don't know why he looks like Discord from My Little Pony.

That setup alone feels very mythic to me because it's an eternal question. What makes us attracted to someone? (By the way La Muerte totally calls it in the first 30 seconds. Girls do tend to go for the sensitive musician.) Also, the three humans maintain their friendship all through the movie, showing respect and honesty in what's frankly an awkward situation. All the main characters are very likeable, and the side characters are pretty funny and memorable as well.

The movie makes a point of subverting any potentially inappropriate themes from Spanish/Mexican culture. For example, even though one character is a bull fighter he is much too kind-hearted to actually kill any bulls. Also, though much of the plot concerns a love triangle, the woman obviously chooses according to her own preferences and not because one of the suitors happened to do the right combination of heroic feats. Neither man is interested in anything less than her free and sincere affection.

Props.

So I guess I would recommend this movie to anyone who's a del Toro fan, and if you're not turned off by a weird supernatural stuff (i.e. if you like Coraline). Friendship! Swordfights! Characters that look like bizarre wooden dolls! What's not to enjoy?

Makeup Review: Somehow I Actually Like CC Cream

So I didn’t do a lot of sightseeing or anything actually interesting over winter break. Most of my time was spent going to the doctor, dentist, and orthodontist. 

(Luckily, the only major health problem they found was a vitamin D deficiency. Other than that, I have the option of doing some surgery in the future to correct my jaw/profile. Same me, better face?)

Other than that I spent my time shopping and generally going, “Hmmm no one’s going to be pissed if I just goof off, so tell me again why I should do anything productive?”

I found some nice clothes at Macy’s, but I also spent some time looking at the makeup selections in America (Ulta is a great store for makeup) and ended up finding something really good, totally by accident.

The product I’m excited about right now is JuiceBeaty’s Stem Cellular Repair CC Cream. I wasn’t looking for CC cream at the time; I was browsing the moisturizers. I’ve never even used CC cream or BB cream before.

I only found out about CC and BB cream this year when I started researching moisturizers and serums. And my reaction was pretty much “Meh…” Essentially, these creams are supposed to do some moisturizing and also double as foundation and sunscreen (among other things). Which sounded good to me at first, but I just kept wondering, “Does one cream really do any of those things as well as the products especially designed for them? Is skipping a few steps really worth using a less effective version of sunscreen and moisturizer?”

Also, unlike foundations CC and BB creams usually come in too colors: Awful Doesn’t Match At All and Even Awfuller. Yeah. I already can’t find a foundation that matches when I’ve got 30 tints in each brand to choose from. The chances a One Shade Fits Most actually working seemed pretty nil.

There are CC creams that are sheer, but that’s just not worth the effort to me. Why slap on something that kinda moisturizes and kinda hides flaws but doesn’t actually give you a base, but might make your base look better? No thanks. I already have enough layers of gunk to put on my skin.

However…

As I was browsing through the various moisturizing products I noticed this sort of organic-y looking brand called JuiceBeauty, which I hadn’t seen before. They use a lot plant and citrus ingredients. I wasn’t too impressed with their ingredients for the moisturizers, since I was looking for stuff with hyalonic acid, collagen, and royal jelly. (Which I didn’t find. Boo.) But their CC cream interested me.

This is the bottle. I took the cap off so you could see what the dispenser looks like. Pretty easy to use. I apply it with my fingers because I'm lazy.

First off, anything with “repair” in the label seemed promising to me. Also, the lighter of their two tints (it’s always two) seemed like it might match my skin. So I tried the sample on the inside of my wrist. And lo and behold—it blended in and disappeared!!!! I couldn’t even really find the place where I had tested it. That never happens when I try foundation.

So I decided, “Eh, it’s expensive, but I like this enough to give it a go. Maybe it will be less cakey than a regular liquid foundation.” And now I’m really glad I tried it because it feels so much better than the foundation I was using. Foundation, even powder foundation, always gets in the lines in my face and makes them stand out more—as if the point of makeup isn’t to cover up signs of aging. But when I apply the CC cream—even with some sheer powder over it, my lines don’t stand out any more than when I’m not wearing a base at all. And yet it still improves my skin tone. I didn’t know that was possible.

Maybe someday I’ll find a foundation that gives really good coverage but don’t look like I’ve painted my face and won’t get stuck in my wrinkles. But for now there’s not many occasions where I can’t get by with the natural look, so I’m sticking to using the CC cream as my base, sometimes with powder foundation over it. My method right now is to spend a ton of time on skin care prep and then only do a little bit of actually makeup. Instead of trying to cover up and distract from tired skin, the idea is to improve the skin’s overall condition so there’s less to distract from.

So overall I give JuiceBeauty a thumbs-up because their product worked for me, and maybe I’ll try something else from them in the future. A quick rundown of pros and cons:

Cons

1.     You get what you pay for. $40.00 for 50 ml is pretty steep. It might be better not to use it every day and switch off with something cheaper. Recently I’ve been more willing to spend money on higher quality makeup. Life is too short to spend smearing crappy stuff on your face.

2.     When I first opened the tube my nostrils got a shock. DO NOT buy this if you hate citrus. The smell does wear off, but I always feel like my hands and face smell like lime for several minutes.

3.     Not a foundation. Not a concealer. If you need heavy-duty correction, like to cover acne or discoloration, or scars, this is not for you.  (At least, not by itself. I don’t know how it works with other products on top.) When it’s on, you’ll barely even notice it. Which can be disappointing when you’ve paid that much.

4.     It’s not cakey in general, but it does stick a little bit on my eyelids. Also, it is liquid so it does have a shine if you don't put powder on top.

 

Pros

1.     Really does conceal fine lines.

2.     I don’t know if it’s actually repairing any cells, but it certainly is gentle on my skin.

3.     I don’t look like a pancake! Or a…powdered donut?

4.     Easy to apply with my fingers.

5.     30 SPF isn’t bad.

6.     Actually freakin’ matches my skin. My face is the same color as the rest of me.

7.     Lasts all day. And if it does wear off a bit, you can’t really tell.

8.     Even though it’s not specifically for dry skin, it is moisturizing and seems to work well with the moisturizers I’m using.

9.     Did I mention that it gives me an even skin tone but I don’t look like there’s gunk on my face?

This is me trying to do a selfie like I'm advertizing a product. It took me like five tries.

So this is my try doing a makeup review. Maybe later I’ll write about some other products I use and would recommend.

2015

This isn't exactly In Japan because I'm in America but anyway it's my first post for the new year.

Best thing about my trip home: Shopping!

Worst thing about my trip home: Getting killer allergic reaction to antibiotics which has resulted in a rash all over my body. I came home to get medication for a rash on my legs, and the medication resulted in a more serious condition.

Why does something always happen before I have to take a 10 hour overseas plane flight?

Having an Elsa Moment

Maybe a month ago I was flipping through sermon notes from last year. My sermon notes resemble the ramblings of Mystery Science Theater 3000. And I came across this quote that I heard in a sermon.

"God hates sin so much that he saw my sin on his son and he killed his son."

Then my face did this.

Even a year ago, I thought that was pretty stupid. Now it's just another thought that crystallizes like an icy blast.

I still go to church events because I know some sweet, genuine Christians. But there's a certain kind of arrogance that I would have accepted unquestioningly in college--and that's what I'm never going back to.

Things about being in your 20s....

Every year since my late teens, I've found new wrinkles. First it was my eyelids, because I started using eyeshadow and had no idea how to apply it gently or wash it off properly.

Yeah....I can't believe how lax I was about washing my face in college. I didn't even know there were special soaps for removing makeup. No one ever freakin' told me, so I kept wondering why hot water wasn't doing it. Seriously, are girl things like some Mason's Guild-esque secret???? I think the rule is as soon as you find out something girly, you have to pretend you knew it all along. Or admit you didn't in a voice that says, "Silly me! I can't believe I didn't shave my arms until last year. What a cavewoman, amirite?"

Anyway, first it was the eyelids. Then...probably either the lines on my wrists (I have extremely bony hands and thin wrists) and on my forehead. That was all during college.

Then last year I got a desk job and lines appeared UNDER my eyes because I was using a computer all day. Wearing PC glasses did not make them disappear.

This year it's smile lines!!!!!!!!

And seriously, they are the WORST. They're always just waiting at the corners of your mouth, ready to spring into action the next time you find something funny, making you look sad and pouty until they fade again. Why did they appear? Probably genetics. I've been getting new wrinkles for the last five years, and I'm sure the crows feet will be next. Also there's not much fat on my face and I haven't been moisturizing worth shit.

I realize it's inevitable and even really young-looking people have flaws, but seeing laugh lines on my face was a moment of panic. I kept thinking Quinn Morgendorfer-style "My laugh lines are cute, my laugh lines are tiny, I DO NOT HAVE LAUGH LINES!"

But I had to face reality. And I resolved that even though I was stuck with signs of aging, I would not go gentle into that good night, and have consequently fortified myself with a wide variety of skin care products to postpone the inevitable. I may do another post about just how many different goops you can buy for skin in Japan. (Some over $100 dollars.)

The lines are still there, but as soon as I started moisturizing my skin looked a lot happier. Lines I thought I couldn't do anything about suddenly got much less noticeable. Actually, I barely use concealer now because it always looked gloppy and didn't cover up dark circles anyway, and only made the lines more obvious. Huh. Moisturizer clears that up before I even put any base makeup on.

My goal is that even if I'm doomed to be lined by thirty, at least I can do my best to have soft, clear skin.

It's been a long time...

I've been either coding or memorizing Japanese in almost every spare moment, so haven't had as much time for blogging recently.

The most interesting thing I've done this month is do some modeling for a friend to show off a dress she designed. I'm supposed to be a lost doll looking for my owner, or so the story goes. This was my first experience modeling, so I can see why people say it's a lot of work. No kidding!

Yes, technically it's all other people doing your hair and makeup and deciding how you should pose. But sitting still for an hour while someone else does stuff to your face (which you obviously can't see), and puts fake eyelashes on you--not easy!

And then when you're posing you have to stand one way for 10 seconds, and then look the other way, and never move too fast because it will mess up the photos. And have the right expression. It gets tiring. Not to mention I was outside in November in a flimsy doll dress and pumps. Between all the shots I was huddled into my jacket.

Not to mention I dripped hot wax on my leg and couldn't get it out of my tights.

We also got harassed by a bunch of drunk Japanese guys who thought it was totally okay just to stand around and watch and shout encouragement to us. It's hard enough pose right without a group of strangers treating you like you're some animal in a zoo.

However, I like trying something weird and new and I'm interested to see how the pictures turned out. The goth makeup isn't really my thing (it doesn't even match the dress imo) but I think they'll look really otherwordly.

Programming--No Syntax Errors!

Yesterday I tried to write my own program and it ran the first time I tried it with no syntax errors! This is a with any program I've tried, even when I'm following directions. Of course, the program still didn't do what I wanted...

This week's topic was functions and I don't understand them that well so on Saturday I tried making my own program that included a function. A very simple function. In fact, I just used one of the chapter examples. I wrote down some code in a notebook and then tried it on my computer, making sure all the colons were in the right places.

The program was just to take your birth month and birth day and add them together for a "secret number." The function was adding two numbers together.

Surprisingly, it started running no problem. The prompts came up. But when the answer showed up it was "716" which meant it was adding the numbers as strings instead of integers. So I went back and changed the line int(month) to month = (int)month, ran the program again, and got the answer I wanted, which was 23.

However, the program still didn't work the way I wanted it to because of the error messages. I had put in a try/except clause, but the program just kept going when I entered weird information, so it gave something like "Julyquit" as the final result. So I added quit() to the except clause and that stopped the program every time I entered something that couldn't be converted into an integer.

Overall, it was a good feeling to be able to use a function correctly. And even though I still had to do some debugging, I felt very knowledgeable to be able to think, "Ohhhh it didn't actually convert to an integer," or "I need an extra line of code here," instead of "OH NO HOW DID I SCREW IT UP?????"

Next week is loops, which I also know nothing about but hopefully I'll get the hang of it eventually.

This week's project--pick-up lines! Well, sorta...

Email from my boss be like:

I'm want to show how you have to use informal language if you want to be successful picking up women. Can you check the dialog?

Me:

As the woman I don't care how bad some guy's English is, if he's cute enough I'll speak Japanese!

(Actually thinking "WTF it's not like if your English is good enough people will be obligated to go out with you...this is so sexist.)

Boss:

Then I don't need to worry about my English.

(Pretty sure he's joking because it sounds like his humor.)

Me:

But some guys aren't so handsome and socially skilled so they might need some tips.

Later my coworker says to me:

"I read your very interesting exchange the boss, and he says he wants you to write some natural scenes for at a bar when you want to..."

Me: "Pick up women? Ehhh..."

Coworker: Hahaha, not exactly like that.

Me: And what about women? They need tips too!

Coworker: Like, at a bar, how to meet someone and say hi and ask for a date. A lot of Japanese are interested in this kind of English.

Me: Um...I don't have a lot of experience, but I'll try something.

Later, reading a bunch of articles on Dr. Nerdlove, writing several dialogs. Send them to boss and coworker.

Coworker: The boss read your dialogs and thinks they're good! They're very natural and not at all creepy! Can you write some more?

Me: OK....

(I'm thinking, "How did I become the expert???")

Earring Skills

When it comes to doing new things to my body, I only have two modes. "OMG I can't figure this out," and "This is so incredibly easy."

Six months ago I got my ears pierced for the first time and it felt so weird. The idea of actually touching the holes was like "Ick no!" Then the openings got infected and I had to take the stud out (which was not fun when the skin was swelling up around the metal). When I tried to put new earrings in a day later the holes had closed up and getting anything through was impossible. There was blood and puss. I had to go back to the pierce shop and have the holes widened so overall I felt like a failure.

So I wore the same studs for a while, and when the skin started getting red last month I took them out BEFORE things got really bad. After the last incident I had bought plastic earrings as backup and I decided I might as well try putting those in by myself. This time I tried right after removing the studs so that the holes would have ABSOLUTELY NO TIME to close on me.

Surprisingly it worked! Putting the back on was a bit touch and go because I couldn't see it, but pretty soon I got the hang of it. As my ear condition got better I tried other regular earrings and was able to use them with no problem.

However, I couldn't get the studs back in because you have to insert them from the back. I couldn't find the hole, and also the shaft of the stud was not rounded so it was much harder to slip in. Imagine trying to use a supersize tampon with no applicator. Yeah...

Essentially, the kind you buy at Claire's looks like a thin rod with a holder you stick on the back. The kind I got originally is like a thin metal tube and you stick a thinner rod (with the jewel) into that. 

I was a bit worried that the holes might close with either thinner piercings or just plastic, so I went back to the pierce shop today. The guy said not to worry because the plain plastic ones I had been using were the same width as the original studs. He also showed me how to insert the studs by first using a regular thinner earring and then sticking the open part of the stud onto the end of that and drawing the whole thing back through the ear. I don't know why I couldn't figure that out before.

Although the guy had special tools for it at the shop, he seemed to think I would be able to do it at home, so I gave it a try. Amazingly, it worked! With just a little bit of guidance, the stud went smoothly through my ear even from the back. Now I can put them on any time as long as I have a thinner earring to use to start with.

That's how I became an expert in putting on earrings. Now I have confidence that I can take care of my piercing in most situations whether it's changing the earrings or caring for redness and swelling. The next mission is to learn how to wear dangly earrings!

Even though it's only recently that I've been able to actually change the style, I've had a lot of fun trying different accessories. It's so much more comfortable that then clip-on kind. I never liked the feeling of something pinching my ear. It's like the difference between using a tampon and using a pad. One seems more icky but you don't notice it at all, while the other you're always aware of.

Looking forward to more adventures in the future!

My First Live Show in Hiroshima (or like ever...)

On Saturday I did something pretty unusual for me and went to a Japanese metal show. Here are some pictures I took:




 

 Mostly, I remember it being pretty LOUD. It was a pretty small venue as you can see from the pictures. We just had to pay 1,000 yen to get in and another 500 yen for a drink ticket. The guests ranged from high school age to 40s. Some people were punked out in leather jackets and a lot of camouflage and other people were dressed in normal clothes. (Like me. I had no idea what to wear so just decided not to bother.)

The most amusing was to see these 15-17 year old high school boys hanging out. (Usually up at the railing.) I just kept imagining that this place must seem so rebellious and cool to them and they were so cute and dorky. There's smoking and drinking! People in weird costumes screeching!

Never having been to a concert before, much less death metal, I was kind of taken aback when people started running around in the center of the floor pushing each other. (Including the person I came with.) Some of the younger boys took their shirts off. There was also one punk teenage girl who ran around, although she kept all her clothes. I think that's a circle pit? They seemed to be having fun, though. I just didn't get it.

After about two hours my ears were hurting so I waited a bit in the entryway where the music was just a dull roar instead of an earsplitting one. Overall it was pretty unique but I felt unexpectedly tired afterward. Still I got to see people in weird masks and guys with really long hair swinging it around as they played guitar.

Programming

This week I started a programming class! My book even came on time, which was a surprise. I haven't done any assignments yet, but I managed to install everything and play all the videos so that's at least a relief. The class focuses on Python which seems to be very basic. So far I've only used the command "print" and "x = 2."

The class starts at the most basic level, but even the easy textbook assumes things about how computers work that I don't actually know what they're talking about...Hopefully everything will become clear bit by bit.

Unfortunately this week I also caught a cold so that doesn't increase study motivation. "Learning Python is a lot like learning a human language..." And I'm like NO! I'm already learning a human language--that's trouble enough, thank you!

7 Ways to Title Your Blog Post

Want to write something for your personal blog but are stuck on the title? Use these time-honored ways to clue your readers in as to what will come next.

1. In Which...

Followed by a sentence. The goofier the sentence, the more it contrasts with the Victorianesque tone and therefore the greater humor. Best for recent life events but fine for discussions too. ("In which I discuss...")

2. An Open Letter to...

To someone who would never give me the time of day in real life so I have to blast them through cyberspace where everyone else can see. This is the equivalent of Marnie writing "Why do I even bother, she'll never read this," in the infamous Thanksgiving email.

3. ...A Response

Someone else said something stupid on the internet, but it's technically my area of expertise so I've got to mention it or people will go nuts in the comments section. Sections of text will be quoted, but you only have to read the bold parts. The general tone should be, "Here are the big obvious important issues you missed when writing your original post."

4. Why I...

People have been giving me flak about this thing since forever so once and for all I HAVE A GOOD REASON. Now leave me alone.

5. When...

Followed by sentence describing a current issue in the most click-baity terms possible. If the rest of the sentence couldn't be in a movie trailer after the words "In A World" then it needs to be more dramatic.

6. Is...? (any yes/no question)

If you don't know the answer to the question without reading the actual post, then...No, actually there is never a situation when you don't have at least an inkling of how this will go down. Even if you've never read the blog before.

7. Two to Three Apparently Random Words

But the secret is they're all actually related! Muwhahahaha! But you have to do it in a certain order. Word #1 is be a current event or famous person. #2 must be a catchphrase of some kind. #3 will either be "me" or a gerund.

But the real question is, what on earth should I call this post? Here are my ideas:

In Which I Blog About Blogging
An Open Letter To My Fellow Bloggers
Everyone Else's Blog Titles: A response
Why I Can Never Think of an Original Title
When All Blogs Are Equal
Are We Running Out of Blog Post Titles?
The Blogosphere, "Genre," and Me

Wait!!!!!!

I forgot the classic "X Ways To Do Something!" Now I'll have to start all over again...