18 posts tagged “qotd”
Ringtones: What's yours and how often do you change it?
Submitted by enrico.
Right now, I am using the Metal Gear AC!D 2 Codec sound as my ringer as a tribute to my love of Konami's great Metal Gear franchise. Metal Gear almost duels another one of my favorite Konami franchises (Castlevania) for the top spot with how dynamic the story is. With ringtones, I like to use electronic or video game influenced ringtones as they show my love of mixed music or games. I don't change ringtones too often and when I do, it is not without good reason. Personally, I have been fond of Motorola's ringtones as they have brilliant artists to mix their default ringtones. I have found early on that using pop music is a bit cheeky for a ringer as a song can quickly fall out of style and you may get sick of it. With good default ringers, there's not much chance of it going out of style anytime soon.
Over a million iPhones have been sold. Have you: bought one, considered it, or decided it's not for you?
Wow... I am shocked that Vox even posed this as a "Question of the Day"! I'll go over the 90 day "evaluation" of the state of iPhone related affairs as well as answer the "Question of the Day".
With the 90 day time frame basically upon us, there has been lots of hot-button issues with regard to the iPhone. Things like hackers unlocking the iPhone for free, lawsuits over a "defective battery design" or "diminished resale value of the 4GB model being discontinued", to even the latest one on bans of cash sales of the iPhone... The device has stirred up the market and, dare I say, in an impactful way. You have makers who've basically taken apart their ideas of what a user interface should be and then revamped it to much more promising things. Notable manufacturer on this forefront being HTC with their new TouchFLO interface for the Windows Mobile 6 operating system. But at the same right, there are also manufacturers competing on a beautifully crafted shell. Noteworthy names being LG's Prada phone or Motorola's complete revamp of a mainstream sensation, the RAZR2. There were naysayers saying "No one will ever buy up into the gimmicky touch only bit!" But when you have to note that millions of the iPhone have been purchased, the numbers don't lie... If Apple makes it, people will come.
On the technological side of issues... AT&T has their panties in a wad all from the whole unlocking of the iPhone away from their network due to the minuscule profit margin they earn, unlike the one Apple gains from the sale of the device. AT&T pays Apple $18 per iPhone on their network, so to "recoup" their losses. They profit money from the sign-up of contracts and subscribers locked into their plans. But they do have a right to get their selves in a "tizzy" over it, because they can't subsidize the cost of the iPhone unlike like say... a RAZR V3. Here's an example of subsidizing phones:
Phone: Motorola RAZR V3
AT&T Store's List Price: $250
2 Year Contract Price: $100
After Diccounts and Rebates: FREE!
(AT&T's possible invoice price on the phone $5 - $20)
Zero's Note - I don't know the exact number, my figure of AT&T's invoice is an estimate. Take my number with a grain of salt.
Prices from the AT&T Wireless site
The iPhone, because it is made by Apple does not give AT&T this luxury to slash the price of the device as they please because Apple makes the device at a much higher cost than ordinary cell phones or smart phones. I would estimate that the iPhone's "cost" is about $150 - $180, invoice probably at $250 (AT&T's "buy-in price") while retailing at $400. Talk about getting the short end of the stick for AT&T. It's rather a steep deal and I can see why AT&T is mad as hell. The same right though, people saw it coming... Because Apple fans will stop at damn near nothing to get their hot hands on one of their new devices. The fact of the matter that the iPhone had few exclusive technologies specifically to AT&T had almost made it a target of hackers, unlocking chop-shops, and various retailers... If there were tons of things that required AT&T, I could see it being a better cash cow. But with the news that Orange France will be releasing an unlocked model for the European market... It may just serve to enrage AT&T even further when you have unlocked phone shops importing these unlocked models to the American market place.
As far as the iPhone, It's not for me because I need a robust and powerful device. With the iPhone for my friends, my opinion is more in favor of telling ones who have not jumped on board with it... I would recommend that they wait before buying in. Apple submitted their patents for an iPhone "Nano" to the US Patent Office and some analysts say that it could be about November for a second generation iPhone. Europe's Vodafone has advocated that the iPhone must have 3G or it is useless for their advanced network. So much new possible innovations for the iPhone as a platform, but just time is the factor of all things.
What's your cure for the common cold?
Curing the common cold... This takes me back to when I lived the apartment life alone with no health insurance. I opted out of health insurance mainly because I just couldn't afford it. I remember catching the worst cold one year and had to literally fend for myself to get better. I remembered some of the old remedies to attempt to heal up, because it would quickly become a "now or never" issue. My sinus drainage was terrible to the point that basically I got a sore throat from the mucus basically drying out my throat. I had to devise a plan to attack to fight off my viral assailant and slay it quickly! Here was my battle plan:
- Chicken soup or chicken porridge ("Chicken soup cures all!" being the old saying)
- Orange juice or a 1,000 mg dose of Vitamin C (Immunity booster)
- Supplement a diet of clean grains and carbs to support the "energy drain" from fighting illness
- Removing sugar from my diet (Soda, candy, junk food)
- Hot lemon tea with a shot of honey to act as a sore throat and to aid in expectorating the mucus
- LOTS of BED REST (a huge key to victory)
This battle plan would be grueling as depending on how much sleep you get... you can recover in either 2-3 days or as long as a week. It is grueling because if you're suffering from the mucus drainage... you quickly loose the ability to taste anything. So chicken soup, orange juice, or even the lemon tea soon "taste the same". Lay off on the late night TV, movies, porn, internet and even video games and watch your recovery quickly speed up.
What do you have, what do you need and what do you want?
Submitted by Miss Scotch.
Have: Treo 680 (Cellphone and PDA), Franklin Covey Planner, Kenneth Cole Reaction series wallet, Dell XPS m140 with Ubuntu Linux, 160GB USB hard drive, HP F380 all-in-one printer/scanner/copier, executive desk, standard issue "cubicle rat" chair, Nintendo DS Lite (Onyx), 1999 MX-5 Miata
Need: Money, pay off IRS debt, pay off old electricity bill, pay off old apartment lease breakage, text books for school, oil change, 60,000 mile service on my car, food, new GSM cell phone provider, vacation
Want: Custom dogtag from military surplus store, R4DS card, Pokemon Pearl, Pokemon Leaf Green, Windows powered gaming laptop, Guild Wars: Eye of the North, LCD monitor, executive office chair, supercharger upgrade for car, suspension upgrade for car, light weight and flat black racing wheels, hard top for car, new stereo for car, Pioneer Elite plasma TV, Nintendo Wii, PlayStation 3, XBOX 360, games for corresponding systems, G35 Sport sedan, newer backpack, dragon and phoenix ring set.
If you knew you had one week to live, what would you do, where would you go, who would you see?
Submitted by normatheartist
If I were terminally ill and given a prognosis of one week... It'd be one hell of a week due to something pretty grave. I'll say that my "prognosis" hits on a Thursday at an Emergency Room at a hospital. That way I can run down my entire week of productivity for the sake of this exercise in writing.
Disclaimer: This is just an exercise in narrative writing, do not take it as real and literal fact. I am not dying.
To set the scene, my family has decided to take my little sister to Japan for a month for vacation as a reward for graduating college nursing school. I am on medical leave from work just to recuperate from a bout of medical problems for a few months paid time off. I have requested for my girlfriend (to her family) to stay over with me to help care and nurse me under doctor's orders while logging my changes in health. The doctor has asked me to keep logs on my health, as they have not gotten comprehensive results on my labs to find what I am afflicted with. Lately things become complicating to my health and things drastically become complicated with the last few days.
Thursday
At about 5am in the morning from what started off as a nightmare to a very real and serious migraine that had me screaming in agony. My girlfriend would quickly wake from her sleep and rummage my desk for my migraine injection pen medication to administer an emergency dose to subdue my suffering. On finding my injection pen, she would hold my arm down and just jam the pen onto my arm and load the needle to inject me with the medication. I would feel the medication rushing through my blood stream and begin mellowing me out. I had not experienced this intense sort of pain for nearly 3 years so out of concern my girlfriend drove me to the hospital to take a look at me in the ER.
At around 6am, I was admitted into ER. I was given an anti-anxiety drug and they had wanted to have a neuro-surgeon to do a CAT scan to check for any unusual growths in my brain. I took my tablet and was then instructed to change into a sterile gown about one hour after dosing myself with the medication. Being laid onto the "table" and then being slid into a tube was somewhat of a claustrophobic experience... like being sealed up in a morgue, except you get to escape alive after your CAT scan. The anti-anxiety drug kicked in and I finally felt the effects of mellowing me out from my claustrophobia. The scan took what felt like forever, but that was the least of my suspense.
After the scan, I changed back out and I was told to wait for the neuro-surgeon as he needed to speak to me after reviewing my scans. Under the ER doctor's orders, they had wanted me in a wheelchair in case I had another random spike in pain. Every minute seemed like it became a tick towards eternity. After what felt like purgatory, the neuro-surgeon asked me to come to his office. After I was wheeled in and my girlfriend sat down. The doctor opened up my chart and showed me images of my CAT scan. He had said the trigger of my migraines was due to an increase in inflammation of my brain and there was an unusual growth close to my brain stem. On closer inspection with his staff... It was determined that the growth was cancer and due to its location, my spinal column is a very easy target and surgery was not an option. The doctor gave me a prognosis finally, "I'm sorry... but you only have until possibly a week to live. The cancer is spreading fast..." The surgeon would go on and on... My girlfriend sobbed and I just couldn't go on to listen to what the surgeon was saying. I never expected to die from brain cancer and that's all my mind was centric over. The doctor would say that by Thursday, the pains would be so intense due to the cancer's progress that even taking medications like Vicodin or Oxycontin would not be able to control the pain. At that point, I would have to be on IV drips just for therapeutic pain control. I would heed the surgeon's warning and pay up for my time there just to learn the bad news. It would be almost 10:30am before finally finished my paperwork and payment for receiving medical services.
My girlfriend drove me home and from there, I asked her to let me drive. I would take my reliable and tough as nails Miata to the Infiniti dealership for my final driving evolution... At the dealership, I would work quick to tag a salesman. I found a black G35 Sport sedan with every option available and just wanted to eat the negative equity from my Miata just to take the car home today. I would make haste just to get my car traded in and then get the contract signed off for my new car. I sniffled a little when I saw my Miata being taken in... but I knew that better things were ahead for my last days alive. After all the paperwork and expedited checks just to get me in my new car and out... I had nearly lost the day. It was already 4pm. I rushed home to change into to a comfortable set of clothes and drove to my girlfriend's home.
On arriving to her family's home, she ran inside to change clothes. Her father saw my new car and asked what happened to the Miata. I told him about my prognosis and my intentions on trying to spend the last days on Earth as happy as possible. He gave me a very reassuring hug. One that just melted my heart. After my girlfriend changed out and saw her father giving me a reassuring hug, I asked her father if he would honor my request for me to take the family out to dinner. He was surprised but did not mind honoring my wish. My girlfriend would hurry to rally up her mother and younger sister to get dressed. I would wait around in the living room to gaze at the paintings on the wall while everyone else got dressed.
Once everyone was dressed, I would take everyone to a Chinese dumpling house that I had made many fond "family" memories of meals with them. I would call some of my closest friends to join me for a "last meal". After everyone got settled in and ordered their drinks, I went ahead and ordered some of my stable favorites as well as honoring the requests of anyone who wanted something off of the menu. Once all the food was there... I wanted to make my announcement to the table and even a "eulogy" with regard to my declining health. My guests were filled with a silent respect for me. I didn't want everyone to eat with a somber mood, so I made an announcement that was one I wanted to shoot for the moon. I proposed to my girlfriend to get married at the courthouse right at 9am tomorrow morning. The guests were in shock and happiness that I was just in anticipation for my girlfriend's response. I looked into her eyes and just hoped she would accept. "Let's live a good life together, I would be honored to be your wife". Everyone was in excited with joy from her reply and we finally ate at around 7pm. Everyone shared stories and laughed. That was what I wanted to see for one last time... My friends and my girlfriend's family smiling and being happy. By about 9pm, we all left and I took my girlfriend's family home to retire to sleep. I would return home with my girlfriend and we would just head to sleep by about 10pm for our "wedding day".
Friday
My alarm clock would ring at 7am and I would rouse my soon-to be wife up to watch the morning sun with me as well as help me administer my medical cocktail of pills. After I was finished with my medicine, she would find me my nicest suit and dress me up for our wedding at the courthouse. I was just expecting it to be a "boring wedding" but I was about to be surprised... On arriving in the parking lot, everyone from last night's party surprised me and my girlfriend! Her family brought her a simple dress to change into and we would walk into fill our paper work to file before our wedding. After our paperwork was done, we waited our turn to stand before the county judge who would pronounce us "man and wife". After almost an hour passed and we were to stand before the judge and recite the vows. After we exchanged "I do's", we walked out and everyone cheered.
For the wedding meal, I just wanted to go to my favorite Japanese restaurant just to eat great and thank everyone for coming out to a very special day. (1:30pm) My wife's family wanted me to stay with them under their care so that my wife would not be strained on the complete care of me. I agreed completely on the decision and came home to their house after gathering all of my comfort items for my last days. I wanted to spend my wedding day with my wife, so we went to the local jeweler to have him craft a custom ring for her as a memento of my fatally short marriage to her. After her consulted with us on her visions for the design, he told her that it would not be until Thursday until the ring would be ready for her. After that, we spent the rest of the day playing video games with her family to bring a simple close to the day. I would once again take them out to eat again to their favorite Korean restaurant and have no qualms with paying for their dinner. I was glad that my pains were not causing me any agony. By the time dinner was done, we went home to play more games and I had to take my medical cocktail again. Everyone went soon went to sleep except myself, because my insomnia struck me. My wife just couldn't sleep because of her concern for me, so she suggested we do something that has been a "ritual" for a very long time: Take a trip to Wal-Mart at 1am in the morning. I had put a close to my final will I was working on and then we went.
On our late night trip out to Wal-Mart, we were ourselves again... That same mindset when we were dating and just going to Wal-Mart on a whim "just because". We goofed off and even did our usual gazing at deals and such. I got a few more family oriented games to play with her family tomorrow and we both ended up picking up a late night snack to eat when we got home. It was like old times... Just we were living together and with her family. I would be like the child just breaking the seals to the games while snacking on the food we bought. The time had crept up to 3am and sleep was finally hitting me like a ton of bricks. We both slept on the couch with a fuzzy throw blanket to keep us warm.
Saturday
I woke myself up at around 7am and I find everyone already awake. I could feel my head hurt as my last dose was starting to bottom out. I took all of my medications and joined everyone for breakfast. After eating, I ask if anyone wanted to go to the zoo that is two cities out. I just wanted to spend time there to look at the animals as well as spend time with my girlfriend and her family. Everyone liked the idea and we took my car out there. I found the drive to be a fun experience. I had never been able to take others along with me in any of my cars since my first car, so to drive "the family" around and hear them laugh and discuss things was interesting. I just lost myself in the driving experience as a form of self-hypnosis to aid in taking the pain sensitivity a notch.
We would get to the zoo at about 9am and proceed to wait in line for entry. I planned on fronting cash for the excursion as it was my idea and I did intend for a great day. After we were in, we wandered through all the exhibits and checked out all of the animals. Time passed by so quickly and before we all knew it, it was already close to 5pm. We all were famished from the trip and the afternoon lunch didn't do much for us. I would take them out to their favorite Chinese restaurant for dinner and just end the night simple. The zoo may not have seemed like much, but to me, it was plenty of fun.
After dinner and going back home to their house, I would continue finalizing my last will to be reviewed by legal professionals tomorrow. I wanted to ensure that no organization got too greedy with taking my items away for their own auction. I felt a slight aura of a migraine coming on, but I took a oral dissolving migraine tab and finally called it a night and went to sleep.
Sunday
I woke with severe pain that I have to reach for my break through pain medications before my morning's lot of pills to take to sustain reasonable life. I found that my motor skills were starting to deteriorate from my brain cancer's metastasis. Brushing my teeth or even changing clothes was a struggle... at this point, I knew that this would seal my fate as an unsafe hazard to even consider driving. I asked my wife to drive me to a few law offices that morning to make sure my last will was locked tight with no loopholes. After that, I had to do a few things to pass ownership of my car to her as my days of driving were over. After the law offices, title transfer and etc were completed, I wanted to visit my job to say goodbye to my superiors for one last time. The time was already 2pm after all was said and done... This day, I wanted to spend with her as my beloved wife and just spend time with her.
We went to the park where we had our first date, just to remember that our beginnings were small and humble in addition to the fact that we've come so far. The parks renovations put the reality into perspective as the city finally spent money to bring it up to scale with the times. We sat and talked about the early days while watching the hustle and bustle of the city. We would stroll around the path a bit and then go to a nice sit-down restaurant just to talk about the future we wished and how my time to life is just unfair. We sat by the window and watched the sun set while dining. I had champagne with my meal to just remember that life is the sweetest gift of all, but the greatest gift being the love shared with a man and his wife. After the dinner, we would return home and just step out to the backyard to gaze at the stars... After taking my final daily dose of medications, I knew things were about to get worse... as I was nearing the end.
Monday
The pains were unbearable and I would just have to seek the care of a home infusion pharmacy for doses of IV morphine. I would call the neuro-surgeon to forward my chart to an IV pharmacy and have them contact me with their plan of care. My motor skills vastly deteriorated and I couldn't possibly even brush my teeth. I had to ask my wife to help me brush my teeth... A wheelchair was requested for delivery so that I could go places. She would try to call and get a handicapped exemption tag so in case we went to any establishments we would be able to have some room to maneuver me in and out of my wheelchair. She would run out to the Department of Public Safety office to get the tag while her family would wait for the infusion pharmacy to get my medications delivered to me.
The wait was long for both my wife's return and my medications... The auras from my migraines became increasingly strong. My current pill medications would just take the edge off of the pain. I took a migraine tab just to subdue the pain and the family would open the door for the medication delivery and the skilled nurse to prep my injection port for the medication infusion. The nurse was quick to action to minimize any chance of me experiencing pain. Once the port was in, her family was instructed to gather around to learn how to administer my medications as well as clean the injection port. My wife came at a good time as they were just starting... After the cleaning procedure was reviewed, they would dose me with the IV morphine. I was not swimming in opiates but the pain was easing up on me. My wife remembered one of my favorite foods was pizza, so today was just a stay home day with her family.
They made a home made pizza, but the wife decided to just cut up my pieces so she could feed me my food if I couldn't use my fork. For some reason, the pizza I just had was the best tasting for some reason. The soda I drank was extra crisp for some reason as well. Her family stepped out for a moment and I just spent some alone time with my wife playing games. She tried to help me with the games because I couldn't quite properly play from my failing motor skills. After about 2 hours, I just wanted to write my final letter to my blood family as I didn't want them to grieve and suffer when they were having a great vacation. I asked my wife to take a dictation from me so that I can be at peace when I pass away. After taking my dictation, she sealed my letter and we drove to my parent's house to put it on the coffee table and took one final look at their house and then we returned to her home. My heart became sullen as I never would see my parents again, but I was glad they didn't see me in my dying days. To end the day, we drove back to her home and she would wheel me out to the park and bike trails close to there. I would load another infusion pack of the morphine and we would continue with our trip. The trip was fun, but was special to me. I came home to find a nice and fluffy Asian white cake topped with fruits from the bakery after the park journey. It was a simple cake, but today it just seemed like so much more... After the cake and family time, bedtime finally came. I would load my last dose after my wife cleaned up the injection site and got everything prepped so I could sleep peacefully. I knew my final 48 hours were going to pass by like I had never existed soon enough.
Tuesday
I had lost over 95% of my motor skills except for basic speech and living functions (breathing, blinking, digestives). I was sad that I couldn't even move my own body to bathe myself... It was one of the toughest mornings for my wife to take care of me. I would have to have her assist with bathing me as well as dress me. I wanted to dress in my nicest street clothes as I just wanted to be looking my personal best when I could pass at any moment. After my morning rituals with medicine, my day could finally begin. Today's meal was a simple rice porridge so I could eat it with out straining myself to chew. Every action exhausted me due to both the rapidly spreading cancer and also the chemo drugs. I just wanted to stay home with my wife and just watch movies with her.
My wife went the distance and decided to make my final days very sweet... She pulled up my collection of Family Guy and we would just watch that through the entire day. We shared lots of laughs and had a great time. Sure, it wasn't anything great, but the thoughtful idea was all that counted. My pains would spike every now and then, so I was infusing more and more... I knew that my end was soon. I had another round of rice porridge for dinner and went to sleep early. I was just so exhausted...
Wednesday
I couldn't even move, but it didn't matter, today was my last day. I wanted a secluded death to be with my wife's very supportive family. My wife would log on to my blogs and announce my passing in addition to closing out all of my e-mail accounts. She would also log on to IRC and my other internet messengers to announce my death to my friends online. After all that had done... I just wanted to be with my wife at my side. I tried my best to make my peace with her as she has come a long way through everything we've suffered. With her, I felt at ease...
We just talked and laughed to try to make the best of my day... Her family decided to step-out to get a traditional Chinese dim-sum take-out brunch for me as they remembered I had liked it very much. After they got back, it was one of the last meals with family. Her family would then step out to give my wife alone time with me... We just resumed talking and laughing about the memories we had shared... I noticed I was bolusing more and more morphine, so I knew my day was short... I asked my wife to pop in her DVD of "My Sassy Girl" to watch with her. I watched while hugging her. Through out the movie we laughed and all... close to the end... I noticed I was fading away. I saw a halo of light and my hand stroked her cheek for one last time as I finally passed away in peace.
People do many different things to cope with stress, loss, and "bumps in the road". How do you handle stress and hard times?
Submitted by RedlyGal.
Stress is a deadly thing, no matter what industry you're in. If you're in "burned-out" mode, be it from job frustration, death in the family, or just a proverbial land mine that miffed your life... It can only lead to mistakes and oversights. Those things in any field can range from something as minor as a warning on messing up to even possible termination or the death of another. The old saying "Stress Kills" is a very applicable one and it really does apply.
How should you attack stress and the bitter times? There's many ways... But from all the ones out there, the best method is the "Baby Steps" method. Break down all the vectors that are causing you to run on "panic mode" and then prioritize them from biggest to smallest. From there... Break down your targets from smallest to largest. This way, you can concentrate on the small things that are really just thorns in your side... and then work your way to the things that bother you the most.
But what if the big stuff is too big to handle? Like a significant death in the family or something that cannot be done alone? No one should not feel afraid to ask others for help. We all need help sometimes to get past things, so we cannot be afraid to ask. After all, no one is superhuman and can challenge the world all the time. (It's one lesson I have had to learn the hard way.) With help, the burdens can be spread over and even more so... the stress lessens as it becomes less straining on the taxed mind.
Do you consider yourself a patriotic person? Why or why not?
Patriotism is a value of mine that I hold in high regard. I was born in Dallas and it's been a great home to me. But what encompasses my home city... My nation that I was cradled in. I may not know much about my nation like someone who is, say... 35 or older and witnessed our nation's greatest feats or even watching our nation break out of hard times. America has been a great place to live in and still continues to be a good place, but there are those who exploit the system to make their means benefit them to their wills. What examples of exploitation?
- The Roy L. Pearson case of where he tried to sue a small little Korean owned dry cleaner for 54 million dollars over a lost pair of pants. Lucky for the dry cleaners under the judgment of Superior Court Judge Judith Bartnoff just threw the case out and has made Mr. Pearson pay for court costs incurred with future rulings on his reparations to come later.
- The infamous case of the McDonald's hot coffee lady that has forced every business to cover their ass with a silly warning for the most common sensible things. (Ex: "Warning, do not touch tea kettle when filled with boiling water!")
- More frivolous lawsuits that have come up in the ages from people lacking moderation or control to the point that they want to sue the creator of what has supposedly "messed up" their lives. (Ex: Suing McDonald's because someone who consumed a diet of two Big Mac Extra Value Meals has lead to irreversable heart disease.)
It almost shames me that people try to abuse a system that the founding fathers of America fought the colonial British with blood, sweat, tears, or... ultimately, their own lives. I love that this nation has given me a second chance to live on the few times I have had to correct my life or perish. If the new generation can rise up, take office, and use their common sense to protect the freedoms our forefathers fought for, then my flame of patriotism will only grow stronger. If the nation festers like a puss oozing wound with exploitation after exploitation, then it will cause my flames of faith to weaken and suffocate. America can be far greater, but when we have people trying to making a mockery of our country... It really doesn't surprise me that others look down on us for our lack of rational control.
What movie cliché would you most like to live out in real life?
Submitted by Wes.
I could easily see myself living up to the lone wolf solitary hero moment where they realize that they do have friends and mentors who can help out. I could see how it would play out.
I would be probably be using my favorite weapon, a sword of some sort that shoots out a concentrated mass of gravity shaped into the form of an arcing blade (a force blade). My enemy continually blocking every single shot. I would be in desperation and try to get up close to duel with the sword in my hand. Every hit just firing sparks all over from the clashing of metal swords, with the force blade's sparks trying to attack my rival with beams of bone crushing gravity. The moment where things would go bad would be when the nemesis would push the my force blade into me, biting into my shoulder. Slowly edging me to the side of a building to push me off... I would fall to my peril, landing on the ground. Shattering the pavement and narrowly avoiding my sword piercing itself into the ground. I would spit up the blood suffocating me to try to resume fighting. On reaching for my sword... I would see my nemesis trying to make the final blow. At this point, I would see my impending death was imminent. Suddenly, a dear friend would make a counter strike with a very powerful sword in their hands while their own was sheathed. The blow being so intense with power that it radiates almost a force field blocking out the damage. With my nemesis being forced back, my friend lends me a hand up and they passes me the sword saying "We all have done bad things, but with forgiveness, we can move forward."
I would dual wield both swords and then just prepare for the longest fight ever...
What set you apart from the rest of the kids at school?
Submitted by jks.
In school, I remember being the "Shadow". People knew of me, but could care less about the fact that I existed. I was some what a loner from my knowledge isolating me as a "stepping stone" to others. I could be found delving into a game, reading a very high level book, or simply sketching prototypes of things I wish I could design. This would come as a result of me entering 6th grade after moving to a new school. I lost all my friends and my parents were focused on molding me into the image of perfection. (Zero's note: The "image of perfection" is the typical straight-A Asian student who is the study-holic)
The contrary was... I was a wise child, but I was in no way perfect to my parents wish. I had a human side that my family felt was flawed. The funny part was my "fame" was high school, oddly. People realized that my bright mind could be exploited for their gain, but to their dismay, they would receive nothing but empty answers. My teachers would recognize my unique flair as well as my odd hair. Life was interesting as I was not noteworthy to many but the odd turn of things is now my name rings a bell to many.
If you had a CD or album coming out, who would you thank in the liner notes?
I want to make a hypothetical liner note for the posed question.
ZeroXR's Thanks: I'd like to thank a few special people who helped me with this album. Sol, you're my dear cousin and you have always been one to push me to the limit. Thanks man for being there in my tough times with family. Alice, my sister, you're always one to put a stupid grin on my face. Thanks for the laughs when things looked glum to me, I appreciate it a lot. Schpenke, thanks for being a mentor to me for the times I couldn't sort out my own mind. It's such a simple thing, but my thanks probably don't do it justice. I'd like to thank my pharmacist Ken for being a great teacher in helping me chisel and develop myself as a human being. Greg, I cannot even begin to thank you for inspiring me to push my best and even more... Giving me the power to believe in myself again even when life just completely tore me apart. Then there's that one special person... You know who you are... Thanks for being a great person.
Of all the people I would thank, those are the few I deem as the best folks in my life. My sister and cousin are probably the only direct blood relations that I have the most sympathy for. They are my blood and blood is thicker than wine. My teachers and mentors I appreciate as they have helped push me harder to evolving. Without them, I wouldn't know how to progress forward. To that special someone, they have been there for a while... We have had our differences, but eventually we knew that compromise is the great thing that helps us move forward.
