I was so extatic I transformed into a Super Saiyan.

Warning: my newfound power may cause massive blackouts, heart failure, and widespread political upheavals in Australia

Wow! Yesterday was awesome! I went to a convention in NYC with my Mom (she was in a movie and went to sign things, so I tagged along) and what else do I find but a Newgrounds booth?!? I was extactic to say the least, like a kid in a cabdy store! I got to meet dome of my flash role models. It really pushed me to want to make new flashes, so I'm resuming my work on a little flash which alludes to Dr. Pepper.

Anywayz, i was awesome to meet Tom and April Fulp, The Swank, Afroninja, and all the people you always watch stuff by, but never see. TY for putting up with me while I was there, I know I can be annoying and awkward!

--Shinpachi222

Lol, wazup playz? I wanna make flash again...!!!!! I feel like it would totally rock socks. GIMMIE IDEAS!!!!!

I'm sorry for the utter lack of flashes and posts, but college is more time-cinsuming than I thought it would be (and that's saying something). I have several projects I have started, but they may have to wait for breaks.

If you can, within the week after Friday the 14th, look up www.adultswim.com's video section and watch the "Moral Orel" episode shown this week. Moral Orel is usually a great way to see how steriotypical fundamentalist hristianity makes life generally bad and ignorant. Being a Catholic, which is less "fundmental" in terms of good things outside our faith, this show makes me shake my head and frown. However, the Episode "Holy Visage" actually held a bit of sympathytoward other peoples on rel's part. I suggest you watch it and reflect on it. Ignorance is never the answer, accepting the truth of the matter is.

Anyone else here play World of Warcraft (WOW)? I dunno, I think it's great. A few people here at my college play it, and we're making a guild. If any1 wants to chill with me in a more interactive non face-to-face setting then, say, MySpace or Facebook, leave me a message and I'll get back to you.

For those who don't play, I highly reccomend it. It's a great way to waste some time when there's nothing else to do.

BTW: I'm usually on the "Forgotten Coast" Server with a (currently) level 26 Warrior named "Syaoran." Drop me some silver, please! (/cry) I'm not just poor in real life!! (/laugh)

I can't post on the front page! what's going on, it's been more than a week since the last post!

>>>>>>>Hey there everyone. Thi week, I have been EXTREMELY BUSY. I have a massive Italian test to study for (and I am not so good at Italian) atop two essays, so this week I will be putting up the OUTLINE for my next discussion. Please Bear with me and enjoy. The next one will likely be the longest and best quality to date, even if it's a little late in the making.<<<<<<<a HERO is best left UNSUNG, otherwise their HERO status could be compromised.

- What makes a hero a hero?

- A hero does not need to wield a sword of steel.

- Selflessness and humility are the two main characteristics of the true hero.

- If one does not contain these virtues, they cannot be a true hero.

- When someone does something just for glory or riches, they are a mercenary.

- If you raise a hero up too high, they may become a mercenary, or at least.

- A great example is Odysseus from Homer's Iliad and Odyssey.

- Odysseus became obsessed with his own wittiness, and so did not offer sacrifice to the
gods, believing him above such things.

- He was punished with a quite lengthy trip home.

- When a person gets that taste of glory, they want more. It is a supremacy/alpha-male
issue.

- The hero must be kept humble, and praised out of earshot.

- The person who contains the quintessence of heroic virtues is not affected by praise.

- Like Hector from the Iliad, who is highly praised in Aristotle's Nichomachean Ethics, the
true hero contains all virtue and no selfish desire.

- Of course, being born into power gives you an immediate crash-course in handling high
praise.

- One who is born lower that royalty and not given such power can certainly be thought of
as being even stronger in their values.

- Because of the average hero's tendency to grab power when it is so willingly offered so
often, we should keep records of their bravery and pass on their stories to future generations as an untainted example of selfless heroism.

>>>>>>>Once again, major apologies<<<<<<<

The next discussion will be a little late due tomy time being eaten up by a trip back home. It will be out sometime between Wednesday and Saturday.

Sorry for the delay! :[

UPDATE 11/14/07: And oh no... MY FLASH PEOGRAM IS GLITCHING!!!!

>>>>>>Hello, once again, my dear readers. Another week, another discussion! I do hope you all have been looking for ways to serve others, no matter how highly you may think of yourself. This week's discussion has to do with caring. Please, read. I spent the whole week thinking about and writing this one.<<<<<<<

Caring about something means everything. A person wishes to be cared for, it means that people appreciate their existence. Any amount of or type of caring will yield positive results. Within a community, caring is what keeps everything together. Now, caring comes in both positive and negative contexts. From gratitude to utter hate even, caring will always be better than not having any feeling towards someone. Unfortunately, "I don't care" is becoming a common phrase. Most unfortunately, some people mean it.

The greatest form of caring is, of course, love. You can love an object, of course, but love of people is more substantial. I can certainly love my computer, bur I receive no love back from it. Even the most advanced artificial intelligence will never feel love, for it contains no living spirit (it is called science FICTION for a reason). So really, loving the inanimate is not really fruitful. Yes, loving another human is the greatest love of all (Those of you who are religious, it is even more substantial to love God, for He always loves everyone). Now, there is no set standard for when love becomes love. Loving even the tiniest bit still contains that bright fire which most warms our hearts. Every person is called to love their friends, their family, and everyone around them. The first two seem easy enough. While you may feel awkward telling a friend you love them, you still feel that way. True friendship is a sign of mutual love. Saying you love your family is only natural. Whether it is your brother, sister, parent, grandparent, cousin, aunt or uncle, love always runs between family members. Therefore, the unloving family is a most sad one.

Now, this last one is the most unusual one. One would be right to say that their neighbor has done great wrong against them, and so deserves no love from said offended person. However, this is where a great amount of humility comes into play (so read my former discussion if you haven't already!). It is so much easier to hold a grudge than to love the one whom the grudge is directed towards. When you are humble enough to say "I will love all even those who offend me," you will have shown the greatest love of all. This "Omni love" is Godly; very few people will ever attain it in their lives. When you have the strength to turn even to someone who has done a great evil to you and truly say you love them, I will bow and try to get you canonized a saint!

Another great form of love is love in marriage. When one looks at a married couple that truly is filled with love for one another, it gives that person a feeling of calm. That love is the best there can be. Out of love for one another, the married couple brings forth children, and in turn loves the fruit of their loving. Marriage is the love that brings forth more love. When parents love their children, it is loving a part of themselves. When you love your child, therefore, you love yourself. What makes the married love even more amazing is that they aren't a part of each other when they meet. The two people meet, "hit it off," and begin a deeper relationship. When you are committed to staying in a relationship for the rest of your life, the truest love possible blooms, for you have taken a person outside yourself and made them a part of your life, your being, and your soul.

The converse must be observed. Hate is a truly dreadful emotion. I have had the displeasure of experiencing it on only one or two occasions, but those were enough. It fills your being with a certain haze, blocking out all good feelings and good will. One can only imagine the anguish that the one who hates without end feels. Always depressed by their displeasure with mankind, they can do nothing but ponder furiously on how to exact vengeance. Some have turned to war to try and settle their hate with another nation, group of people, or even individual. And the worst part about it is that hate breeds more hate! Unfortunately, there are those who take pleasure in their hate. With a strange satisfaction, they watch those they despise, creating more reasons to hate, some of which are unfounded. It is an endless cycle. Most depressing it is, for hate never rests. Love is clearly the better emotion.

Now, what is the worst condition of caring? It is neither love nor hate. Love is all that is good, while hate is nothing but evil. One is much better than the other. Love breeds pleasure, hate breeds violence. SO what is the worst of all, if not one of these two? The worst is the lack of either. When you stop caring for someone or something, you are attempting to cut yourself off from the subject of your displeasure. With a lack of love or hate for the uncared for something or someone, there is no chance for making the relationship better. The worst-case scenario of apathy, for this is what we are speaking of, is suicide. Consider the following poem, "To Santa Claus and Little Sisters." I invite you to read the whole thing carefully:
______________________________________
______________________________________
_________

Once
on yellow paper, with green lines, he wrote a
poem and called it "Chops"
because that was the name of his dog and
that's what it was all about,
and the teacher gave him an "A"
and a gold star
and his mother hung it on the kitchen door and
read it to all his aunts.

That was the year his little sister was born
with tiny toenails and no hair, and Father
Tracey took them to the zoo
and let them sing on the bus,
and his father and mother kissed a lot
and the girl around the corner sent him a
Christmas card signed with a
row of kisses
and his father always tucked him in at night
and he was always there to do it.

Once
on white paper, with blue lines, he wrote
another poem
and he called it "Autumn"
because that was the name of the season
and that's what it was about
and the teacher gave him an "A"
and told him to write more clearly
and his mother didn't hang it on the kitchen
door because the door had
just been painted.

That was the year that his sister got glasses
with black frames and thick lenses
and the kids told him why his mother and
father kissed a lot
and that Father Tracy smoked cigars and left
the butts on the pews
and the girl round the corner laughed when he
went to see Santa Claus
at Woolworths
and his father stopped tucking him in at bed
at night and got mad when he
cried for him to.

Once
on paper torn from his notebook, he wrote
another poem
and he called it "Question Marked Innocence"
because that was the name of his grief and
that's what it was all about
and the professor gave him an "A"
and a strange and steady look
and his mother never hung it in the kitchen
door because he never let her see it.

That was the year he found his sister necking
in the back room
and his parents never kissed or even smiled
and he forgot the end of the Apostles Creed
and Father Tracey
died
and the girl around the corner wore too much
make up
and made him cough
when he kissed her, but he kissed her anyway

Once
at 3am he tucked himself in bed, his father
snoring loudly
he tried another poem on the back of a pack
of matches
and called it absolutely nothing, because that's
what it was all about
and he gave himself an "A"
and a slash on each damp wrist
and hung it on the bathroom door because
he couldn't reach the kitchen.

--Anonymous--

______________________________________
______________________________________
_________
This poem by an anonymous teenager about a year before his suicide clearly proves the point. What is the trend? What do we see happening as the boy in this poem gets older? Distancing occurs, things are forgotten, people die, and innocence is lost. The mother and father lose interest in each other, and never even smile. The connection that the boy had with his sister declines as she becomes more and more free spirited and rebellious. He disconnects, and even does not care about himself, looking for anything to make him feel wanted. Eventually, when there is nothing he truly cares for anymore, the young man commits suicide, taking his life and future and throwing it into the mysterious unknown of zero possibility. Even if he hated the things around him, he would have tried to make them better and kept on living.

Therefore, I urge two things of you this week. Love all. Loving is the ultimate cure-all. If the whole world loved one another, we would have no troubles. If you find yourself unable to love something, at least keep some sense of feeling for it. Apathy is the worst policy. It leads down a road darker than hate.

>>>>>>Well, that ends number four! This came out later than I wanted, but work was piling up (along with stress) here at college. I hope you enjoyed this, and see you next week!<<<<<<<