Author: Heather Meadows

Arab News: Japanese Animation a Growing Sensation Among Youngsters

The programs provide new-found cultural, historical and other information about Japan. The animations when displayed in the market are rated and organized to suit different ages with different interests. Beginners often start watching with friends and then download them or order them from the Internet.

However, for those who are hooked, it may mean travel to the Far East to a veritable animation paradise of programs unavailable in the Middle East. They can start a life-changing experience.

“Once you start watching these animations, you’ll never stop,” said Waleed Khaled, pilot with Saudia. “From watching them I have learned about their impressive culture and went to study there for while, where I learned the language and married my Japanese wife. Now am looking forward to have a baby or two and raise them with a mixture of both cultures – Saudi and Japanese.”

Via Saudi Jeans, via Global Voices Online.

Due to events completely beyond my control, I will not be starting work at the place where I assumed I was a shoo-in. It’s nothing about me or my qualifications. Something happened at the business that causes them to be unable to hire anyone at this time.

Maybe the universe is keeping me from being hired so I will see some other avenue, something I’d like better, something I’m destined to do.

Or maybe the universe is trying to teach me humility.

Either way, I’m getting pretty tired of it.

I’m also getting tired of the temp agency refusing to ever call me back or respond to my emails. If I’m unemployable, just tell me so I can stop wasting my time.

Look, world-at-large: I am extremely intelligent. I can figure out how to do whatever jobs you have available. I’m also nice! One of the people at my internship says that I’m a nice person, that it’s rare to find someone nice like me. See?! Nice! And I’m a hard worker, too. I hate leaving jobs unfinished and I hate being idle, so you can usually find me hard at work whenever I have a task.

I just want to do something, in an office environment. Design, write, file, data entry, whatever.

WOULD SOMEBODY PLEASE JUST HIRE ME?!?!?

MSN-Mainichi: Volunteers clean up 1 ton of trash from bottom of Hakodate Port

Local taxi driver Toshiyuki Nagahira ironically said that Japan’s economy was stable as he saw 1 ton of garbage at the bottom of the port.

“The garbage shows that the economy is brisk,” Nagahira said.

This is a very unsatisfying article. I’d like to know, for example, if this cleanup effort is performed regularly, or if this was the first time. In other words, how long did it take for one ton of garbage to accumulate?

I’m glad they did some cleaning, though; Hakodate is beautiful.

I seem to have lost a pound and a half ;D

Check out this church that pieman of noodlepie saw the other day in Saigon! Is that awesome, or what? :D

I meant to do a lot of chores this weekend.

On Saturday while I was waiting for Harry Potter to arrive, I sorted my pants. I went through every pair of pants I own, tried them on, and sorted them into the following categories: too big, nice pants that fit and need to be cleaned, nice pants that fit and need buttons sewn on, casual pants and shorts, workout pants, and what I like to call “house pants” which I will never wear in front of people.

Most of my jeans are too big now. There are also several pairs of slacks in the “too big” pile. I’ve ended up with extra room in my dresser, where I may end up putting some of the nice pants, instead of hanging them up. Hanging up pants is nice, but they seem to end up getting a line of dust at the point where they drape over the hanger…

At any rate, I was hoping to get the dust cleaned off the nice pants (there are like 6 pairs of pants that I couldn’t wear before that fit now and look great), and to get the buttons sewn on the two pair that needed it, but I didn’t.

The kitchen has stayed clean this weekend, which is good. I did not do any laundry.

We are in dire need of groceries. The toilet paper reserve is practically empty. However, I did not go to the store.

I did clean Sean’s bathroom, to an extent. I washed out the tub and sink and toilet. I did not sweep or mop.

Speaking of floors, the whole apartment could use a good vacuuming, and the kitchen needs to be mopped.

You know what, I think I’ll just go to Wal-Mart. I had a nap earlier, because I was feeling drained, and now I’m wide awake but with nothing to do. I think I’ll go get some of this shopping out of the way.

Via Miss Em.

“What Kind of Soul Do You Retain?”

Loving
You have a very warm and loving aura about your soul and believe in the virtues of Love. To you, there is a bright side to everything! You are the polar opposite of the Dark soul.

All of the possible quiz results for this quiz:

• Free (You scored 2)
• Dark (You scored 1)
• Tortured (You scored 0)
• Forgotten (You scored 2)
• Loving (You scored 5)

Right now, I seriously need comfort food.

So I’m going to eat.

Maybe brownies.

I was cleaning Sean’s bathroom, and I inhaled a lot of chlorine fumes…not very smart, Heather.

Check it.

The Chronicle has an article about the proposed shopping center on Riverwatch at I-20. It goes into some interesting details, including the following:

Developers are also on the precipice of an approval from the Augusta Canal Authority, a group whose master plan includes protecting the canal and its surrounding area while fostering economic growth.

Although the authority has in the past opposed various developments proposed for the area, it sees eye to eye, for the most part, with the Riverwatch development group.

“I can’t say enough about their attitude and sensitivity toward what the canal is in terms of making their development compatible,” authority executive director Dayton Sherrouse said.

Developers and authority members have worked through most concerns during the past year.

“Thus far we’re in agreement with them; they’ve been cooperative with us,” Mr. Sherrouse said.

The authority has even loosely agreed to add a new trail network along the canal and build a small docking facility at an inlet near the retail center.

Mr. Sherrouse said approving the shopping center project could occur in as little as 30 days.

Wouldn’t it be interesting if we could take a side path off the Augusta Canal Trail, and go shopping? I hope the center has plenty of bike racks.

Given what I realized this morning, I have to say that this book is horribly, brilliantly tragic.

He had to do it, didn’t he? He’d made an Unbreakable Vow.

Dumbledore must have sensed it.

They’ll never trust him again…

It was too normal, it was like all the bad stuff was happening vaguely in the distance, like the main characters lived in a safe little vacuum bubble and all they had to do was take their classes and speculate every now and then and worry about trifles like love lives and Quidditch. They weren’t really involved…

…and then suddenly, violently, at the very end, they were.

And Harry turned out to be wrong in a way that was somewhat surprising, but not particularly unwelcome…but right in a way I fervently did not want him to be.

Because it means that Dumbledore was wrong.

I do not want Dumbledore to be wrong.

It scares me to think what else he might have been wrong about.

All I can do is cling numbly to Dumbledore’s idealism and try to imagine some way, any way, for the betrayal to be untrue. And make no mistake, I imagined a way–but the book seemed bound and determined to beat that way out of me, make it impossible.

It’s over, the book said. This is the way it is, sorry.

I can’t stand it.

And now I just feel…numb. I finished, lying on my stomach on the bed, and I just laid my head in my arms and stared at the comforter. I closed the book, and put it away.

Numb. Just…I don’t know. I had an inkling of what was going to happen. But as events unfolded I convinced myself that maybe it would be someone else, that the rumors had been false. And then it happened, and of course it fits. It’s the prototypical legend; it had to happen that way. But it’s just…like Harry, I feel like something in my chest has been flattened.

There’s something that just isn’t right, about what happened, about Dumbledore pleading, “Severus…” There’s something that isn’t right about what Snape did.

I just…can’t believe it.