Today is Sunday. I managed to attend the afternoon church service and listen to my pastor preach. One of the things he said was you can choose to sin, but you cannot chose the consequences. I took that as a proclamation of agreement because I know some of what the Bible states about sin and I was hearing my pastor say that which I agree with, but he was the one saying it in his own words. Besides Christianity, I think that statement is true for Hinduism and Buddhism, too, because the cause and effect idea of karma is known, but not exactly what led to one's current state. Basically, every life contains thoughts, decisions, and actions. Every one of those accumulates into a spiritual record. At death, the souls of life forms lose their memories with their former bodies and start a new life with the past life's spiritual record determining the good and bad things life forms experience. The cycle then repeats itself. I heard that some Tibetan monks claim to know everything about their past lives, so their are exceptions to that belief system.

Besides religious meditation, I bought some headphones today. They are not fancy. When I get my new job, I will get save up and buy some professional headphones near Christmas if I have money left after getting gifts for others. I am considering getting some testosterone booster. I would like the lowest row of my abdominals to finally show and a manager at a local GNC said it helps. Using steroids would be going too far because they damage natural testosterone in the human body. I would really like to develop my muscles without unnatural testosterone sources, anyway.

I saw a copy of the PlayStation 3 version of Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn at Walmart. I think this is noteworthy because I heard it is sold out everywhere. I did not get it because if I am going to play it, it will be on computer. It is just a decision I made a little while ago.

Japanese for the Day

Nichi youbi (Ne-chi yoobe): Sunday

Inu (e-nu): Dog

The interview process for the job I applied to is over. I took a authorized a drug screen and background check for the business to review. The drug screening is in review right now as well as the background check. After those two things comes an orientation which I read is technically my first day of work there. Basically, I was not told, but I have been considered favorably and might start work this Friday. The background check might take a week to complete, so that is not a certainty.

About the job, I will be working in a retail company stocking the store floor during the day to night. I think the referral by one manager and welcoming words by two others really helped me secure this job. I am grateful for their confidence in me. It is physical labor, so I will thankfully be doing more than sitting around all day. Once I enroll in my new school, I will probably continue to think this.

My laptop and tablet work well, but I need to do something about their battery lives. When I start working, there are going to be days in which I am going to be waiting for my shift to start at the store. There is a Starbucks I can lounge at with a good wi-fi connection in reasonable walking distance from my work after being transported. Until I get vehicle of my own again, that is the best I can hope for. I gave my last two cars to a relative of mine because he needed them for work and I was in high school for the first, then got the second as a graduation present. The first car was pawned by an ex-girlfriend of his. He has a questionable preference for trucks which use gas inefficiently, so I gave him my second car to alleviate the any further consequences of that for the past years and the near future. If there is anything to say from this experience, it is that I am grateful for having a supportive family.

Okay, Japanese for the day

Japanese

My plan to continue studying particles this week continues to be enacted.

Particles:

1. made ("mah-deh"): Up to, until

2. kara ("ka-ra"): from, After, because

In a sentence, I think these particles would be placed like so:

Yoru kara asa made suimin shi  masu.

Translation:

Yoru (night) kara (until) asa (morning) made (to) suimin (sleep) shi (next) masu (measure).

As I understand it:

Night until morning to sleep next which one.

English translation:

I sleep from night until the next morning.

Also, one non-particle word

Neko: Cat

Oy. Nani shi te neko.

That is it for today.

Today, I went to my second interview at a job I was told I could get two weeks ago. I got there late and had trouble completing an applicant questionnaire because of store errors, but I was still allowed an interview. Thank God for forgiveness. With those out of the way, the biggest issue is my transportation. If hired, I will be getting a ride to and from work from family until I purchase my own car. Once I get my own car, this big issue will be resolved. Until then, my word to come to work each day I am assigned is both a promise and act of faith. I am going in tomorrow for a drug test and background check authorization. Also, I will attempt to get hours I can come to work which will most likely be in the late morning to afternoon and evening to night.

I got a referral from a manager to initially apply and two others are friendly with me. One of them offered to refer me to the hiring manager after we talked about bikes for twenty minutes or so. I think I will enjoy working with them. The manager I spoke with during my second interview said I would actually be better suited to management than the position I applied for based on my personality, but that business is not hiring management right now. If a management position becomes available, I might apply to test that recommendation.

Other than that, a storm suddenly appeared while I was at my volunteer job. There was some thunder that sounded like laughter to me. I know it is weird, but that is what came to mind when hearing it.

I downloaded Star Trek Online, but did not like it, so I deleted it after ten minutes of gameplay. I also downloaded Star Wars: The Old Republic. Supposedly, that game cost five hundred million (US) to make, so I expect an enjoyable experience with it. If not, I will feel sorry for the Bioware and the now-closed LucasArts. I think Electronic Arts would survive without any major damage. I gave Team Fortress 2 one final chance to impress me and I enjoyed it. I had to move to another room to do so, though. My room (Where I was playing the other day)is so far away from the router that there is not a good enough connection to play online in favorable conditions. It is the same with my PlayStation 3 and tablet, but my laptop has the best wireless connection out of the three at that distance. Because I like the comfort of my own room, I may invest in a wifi extender.

Japanese

I learned some Japanese yesterday. For the rest of the week, I will be focus on them for memorization purposes starting with two. 

The structure of Japanese sentences differs from English sentences. English sentences are structured subject-verb-object. Japanese sentences are subject-object-verb. Object-subject-verb is also okay. As long as the verb is at the end of the sentence, the sentence is okay.

Example:

English: Luke invited MacLeod.

Japanese: MacLeod Luke invited. Luke MacLeod invited.

The way to know who invited who here is by placing particles after each noun phrase. The particle for the action performer is "ga" and the particle for the action reciever is "o." Both of the following Romaji sentences mean Luke invited MacLeod.

1. Ruuku ga Makuraudo o sasotta.

Taking a look at the structure of the sentence:

Ruuku (Luke) (topic) ga (subject-identifier/action performer) Makuraudo (MacLeod) o (action reciever) sasotta (past-tense of sasou=invited).

2. Makuraudo o Ruuku ga sasotta.

Taking a look at this sentence's structure, too:

Makuraudo (MacLeod) o (action reciever) Ruuku (Luke) ga (subject-identifier/action performer) sasotta (past-tense of sasou=invited).

Just so this is clear, I will say it again.

1. ga: subject-marking particle

2. o: direct object-marking particle

"Ga" and "o" are Japanese grammar. They have no English translation.

That is all for now.

My Japanese studies are going well. The Japanese language has three writing systems. There is Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji. You have to learn all three in order to be fluent and literate because most sentences use a combination of the three systems.

For example, while English has the Latin-Roman characters to form the sentence "How are you?," Japanese uses the three writing systems to say the same thing. It looks like this: EDIT: Gamespot does not allow Japanese characters. Here is a link to some phrases in Japanese with their English translation.

http://www.linguanaut.com/english_japanese.htm

Note: "How are you?" is the fifth phrase on the list for those who are looking to find it fast.

As long as I am writing this blog about the Japanese language, I might as well say some of what I know about it.

Kanji is actually based on Chinese characters because the Japanese people and the Ainu, the natives who lived in Japan before the people we know today migrated to the islands, had no written language. Even though Kanji and Chinese characters may be the same, they have different meanings depending on the language. Next, Hirigana is not an alphabet. It is a phonetic system based on five vowels with consonants used before the vowels. Katakana is the writing system used for non-Chinese foreign words and they are distinguishable because of that. Also, Katakana is used for formal writing like upper-case letters in English.

More information on Katakana: http://www.guidetojapanese.org/learn/grammar/katakana

I memorized most of the kana, so now I can learn words without romaji versions. I still need to learn the meaning of the words, so I use definitions in english to understand. I also started learning kanji. A typical Japanese high school student knows about two-thousand kanji and scholars know about seven-thousand, so I have many to memorize.

In order to become aquainted with the Japanese language in use, I watch and listen to Japanese lessons I find on the internet. They help show how to move the mouth when speaking because the language is unique and not based on Latin like English which happens to be my native language. I also watch anime and listen to Japanese music. So far, it is going well and I hope my studies will continue to be fruitful.

A couple days ago, I watched all of the episodes of Hunter x Hunter 2011 with english subtitles. There were ninety-four, in case you were wondering. Anyway, I started searching around the internet for that anime's soundtrack and I came across some character songs.

Here are a few:

Gon's character song

Killua's character song

Kurapika's character song

Hisoka's character song

The diversity of feelings I experience from each song is a testament to the number of unique personalities in Hunter x Hunter 2011. I think the character songs express each respective character's personality shown in the anime well. I admit I do not understand everything the singers are saying because I am not yet fluent in Japanese (I just started studying seriously two months ago), but I can feel the emotions of the singers which is what I am basing my thoughts about those songs on. Readers, listen to these songs if you like. You might have an experience relatable to mine if you watch the anime first.

Ever since I stopped playing video games, I have been focusing on my studies and have made progress in the subjects I am focused on. However, there are gaps in time when I am not studying and instead I am not doing anything. I decided that for the time being and at least until I start school again, I will play games a little. It will not be like before where I was spending too many hours playing each day. I am thinking of games as a way to refresh my mind during the hours I am awake and not doing my normal daily routine. If playing video games does not refresh my mind then I will not play them anymore. Whether or not I play them is as simple as that.

Last night, I went to a Mexican restaurant with my family members and got the first margarita, or the oldest known margarita mix. It is not bad. Earlier in the day, I helped family friends move house appliances, furniture, and more instead of attending church and my new member orientation. I wanted to attend, but they needed my help and it feels good to lend a hand to others.

Update:

I played some Team Fortress 2 and it was more frustrating than fun, so I will give some other games I own a copy of a chance in the future and if the experience with them is similar, I will put my gaming habit to rest.

With my new computer, I got Windows 8. This is the first computer I have owned with Windows 8. At first, I wanted to download an application which can make the Windows 8 start screen a start menu like previous versions of Windows, but after some use, I recognize its ease of use. Rather than searching through a start menu, I can go to the start screen, type what I am looking for, and then Windows will search for it. I like that aspect of Windows 8. I also like the way the start screen looks in general. If I want to use Windows more like previous versions, I can go to my desktop at the push of a button.

On Friday, I spoke with a manager of the business I applied to work for about a week ago. That was an interview and I was recommended for a second interview, so things are going well.

Two days ago, I got a new computer and my first tablet. Both are Acer tech. Yesterday, I got a call from a business I applied to about a week ago explaining I have a phone interview on Friday (tomorrow). I talked with a manager before I applied and got a referral from her, so this seems good. Today, I went to work and helped out a family expecting a baby. I felt good for doing them a favor.

P.S. I think I will post blog entries more often instead of posting in the forums. That way I can stay focused on my interests and talk with other users in these forums interested in them.

Over the past month, I have become a member of a church I regularly attended from 2002 to 2010 and then more seriously from November of last year to present. The church is non-denominational, so those who attend are of any denomination as long as it is a part of Christianity. It is Protestant because we do not follow the pope and Catholic church. For example, we do not have priests, but we do have pastors, ministers, and those who prophesy for the people on behalf of YHWH and Jesus Christ. My path to becoming a member of a church started with the goal of being baptized by my own personal choice. I did so and met a pastor who I knew when I attended the youth ministry of this same church years ago. When I requested to be baptized, I was offered membership, so I accepted. It seems like a good decision because I am meeting positive people who believe in God and actively recruit disciples all over the world from NFL players to doctors and orphans from Uganda to glorify God. It is an interesting experience with many things to come.

Besides that, I watched part of Man of Steel in a two dollar theatre yesterday. About an hour and thirty minutes into the film, the speakers stopped working and the film burned while many of the film viewers watched in disbelief. I was disappointed, but not distraught. I will watch Man of Steel in its entirety someday.

While recovering from an illness which caused me to stop attending college last fall, I am preparing for my Spring 2014 semester. I am planning to attend college full time like before to realize my goals.

Over the past couple years in college, I have been searching for something to do as a career. I came to a decision a couple months ago and have been using my time to learn more about it and study the things I need to live productively in my future lifestyle. If you are wondering what exactly I am going to do then keep wondering. It is a secret.

In order to acheive my goals, I need to not waste any time. For the foreseeable future, I will not be playing any more video games because even though gaming has been an entertaining part of my life, I do not actually gain anything by playing most of the games I do. You could argue that each genre allows players to safely hone certain skills, I am prioritizing goals other than what the video games I play promote, so I am not going to play anymore. For the sake of an argument, I will list a few things players practice by video game genre.

Genres:

Role Playing (ex. Final Fantasy): analytics, imagination

Strategy: analytics primarily,

Fighting (ex. Street Fighter/Tekken): anaylitics, distancing, memory, timing

Shooters (Call of Duty): Twitch reflexes

The games I am listing as examples of video game genres are not comprehensive examples of those genres listed, but they are examples nonetheless. I can do other things to put those things into practice without video games.

Also, I may come to Gamespot every once in a while, but given what two places I used to frequently participate have turned into (Off-Topic and General Games Discussion), I am distancing myself from those communities. I used to enjoy conversing with many members there, but I have priorities I need to attend to and I cannot allow myself to be distracted from what is important to me anymore. We might talk sometimes, but it will not be like before unless the majority of the community changes to my interests.

That is all for now. Bye.