Assorted thoughts update #4

[fitia]

There's a mass strike going on at the moment which is interrupting a lot of business and public services -- including transport, unfortunately. As a result, I'm not making it to class in any way, so! Why not live up to my promise of more frequently posting on here.

You know when I first thought-up the idea of making these posts, they were meant to be a quick way to evacuate some actual thoughts that have been spinning around in my head incessantly during the week, but they kind of serve as halfway life updates, don't they?

• I finally finished reading Benedict Anderson's Imagined Communities, so that's one thing to check off on the personal study on nationalism list! You know, when I'd first gotten it, I don't think I properly checked which edition I'd chosen to read. It was really lucky, then, that I ended up with the one published in 2006, where the 1991 preface and revisions are included, as well as an extra chapter at the end where Anderson reflects on the book's trajectory since its original publication: there he talks about the book's original aim, the state of research on nationalism at the time he'd gone about writing it, before then going on to trace all of its various translations, how they've stuck to or even improved upon his original intent (he mentions that the French translation, among those in which he happened to be particularly involved, managed to articulate a lot of his points in a way he admits he couldn't quite manage in English!), and the circumstances of their publication. I thought that was all pretty neat! 

Now I'm faced with my second challenge, after the first of actually finishing a book this month, which is: taking the notes that I probably should've taken while in the actual process of reading. Kind of cruel that the task of effectively processing new information takes so mcuh effort. Unfortunately, I have a poor memory to begin with, so there's no getting around writing down everything new that I learn, especially when it comes to reading non-fiction. Sad.

• I'm slowly but surely developing a habit of doing grammar and syntax exercises every day, so that my presently ineffectual and meandering way of communicating eventually gets fixed by reacquainting myself with the basics of the English language. Learning a lesson here about taking a lot of things that are actually skills you can hone for granted. Anyways, I've learned how to diagram sentences for the first time, which actually isn't something I was personally taught to do in school (which might also have to do with the fact that I'd gone to school in French my whole life), and it really does make practicing a lot more fun! Eventually, I'm going to have to find intuitive exercises to do on strengthening my vocabulary and word association, because those are also things I have trouble with. If anyone comes across this and has any suggestions on that end, I'd love to hear them!
   
• I'm also over 2000+ words into this Ace Attorney and politics essay I've made a project out of, one where I am, admittedly, constantly pausing and asking myself: does anything I'm writing actually matter? Which I usually get over by reminding myself that, well, if your average popular YouTube video essayist can spend 4 passionate hours ripping into a TV show they dislike because they simply needed to put those opinions somewhere, then I can use my free time to discuss a topic I am genuinely interested in within my present favourite game series. As always, you can do whatever you want forever!

• Been obsessed fairly recently with listening to covers and performances by Takenaka Yudai, lead singer for the group Novelbright. He has such a powerful voice and a very pleasant colour (is that the term?) to it. Recently, he's been on a Korean show in which singers from Korea and Japan compete with each other (from what I've gathered, at least: I speak neither language, nor do I watch the show itself outside of the clips that make it onto my YouTube recommendations), and as of now I'm particularly obsessed with his cover of Endless Rain by X Japan that he performed on it:

Watch on YouTube

(Side note: I really wish I cared for Novelbright's actual music... it's not bad, obviously, but too generic for anything to make a lasting impression. I like Walking With You well enough, but only with the support of an excellent Yudai live performance.)


 

I think that's all I have in mind, for now. I really feel that choosing to use this website more frequently has been a really good thing for me! I really feel like it's lessened the pressure I always feel on other social media to write perfectly, and has encouraged me to write and express myself more frequently. It helps to have less eyes on you, meaning you aren't imagining that everything you say is more high stakes than it actually is.

Comments

[kiramori]

That's a cool cover, also I did an Ace Attourney essay and presentation in High School on my Sociology class, it wasn't everything i wanted it to be and it didn't change my life but it was something I remember doing fondly to this day, so I guess what does matter is to actually make something you like regardless of what you expect of it.

[fitia]

Thank you! And omg that sounds really fun, do you mind me asking what you talked about specifically regarding the series in your HS presentation?

[kiramori]

As much as id love to tell you what it was about exactly, I could not find the finished power point presentation in my files :(

I searched my archive but I think it was with one of my friends, will try to reach them sometime to see if they still have it (we made that in 2019).

The gist of the presentation is that in the end of each of the 3 years we had in high school we would make a presentation in our sociology and philosophy classes about the concepts we studied over that year and would have to relate it to some popular medium like a movie, series or a particular game.

I do not have the Ace Attorney one but I still have all the assets I used and I also have the full presentation for the Evangelion one I did the next year. I think the other presentations I did were also lost to time.

[fitia]

That all sounds really fun! I lost the opportunity to do fun presentations of the sort in HS, so I always love hearing about other people's.

[kiramori]

Never too late if you are in college, I still try to make fun presentations but I know HS was my peak.