However, because my inbox is starting to get spammed with nastiness, I won't be updating on xanga while I'm gone. If you want to hear about my trip, there are two things you can do:
1. E-mail me at: hickman_22@hotmail.com. I'd love to talk to you.
2. Add me on facebook: The name is Matthew Hickman (Baker). I go to Missouri Southern. My profile picture is one of me wearing a popped out collar looking weird, haha!
Praying for healing and having the fever break the night that I pray: check
Having the mission organization I'm going through call me the day before I leave to discuss some concerns on my application: check
Being convinced that I, in no way, deserve to go: check
Going anyway despite all of my insecurities: check
Ahhh, it seems as though all of this is going down in true, Hickman fashion. See you tomorrow, Santiago, Chile. Have a good summer, United States. I'll be seeing you the first week in August.
I signed up for Google Wave updates so I can jump on that junk when they finally release it. At the end of the signing up majigger, they ask you to write a message to the Google Wave team. They said that haiku, sonnet, or some type of code was fine.
So...I decided to write a haiku to the Google Wave team. Here it is, for your enjoyment: I saw a preview For Google Wave and my my very impressive
But I have a fear That when Google Wave is launched Bad things will happen
I say this because it will gain self-consciousness a lot like Sky-Net.
So just be careful I do not want Judgment Day But GW looks sweet
There are a lot of reasons why I enjoy anime, and for every one of those reasons there are 30 people that give me flack because I watch it. I would like to share with the world some pretty substantive reasons as to why I enjoy anime. Keep in mind, as alluded to before, that these reasons will bleed into "why I like Bleach."
1. The fighting style of anime is the fighting style that I envisioned in my mind. I also never say anime when I was a little kid, so when I did first see anime...I mean really sit down and watch it...I saw with my eyes what I had been seeing with my mind most of my childhood. It's nostalgic to my imagination.
2. I enjoy seeing villains that are strong enough that sometimes the good guys actually lose. It adds depth to the story.
3. I enjoy seeing anti-heros and anti-villains. How I define it, an anti-hero is one who does good but lacks either integrity or character (The Ninja Turtle Raphael, at times Batman, Shadow the Hedgehog; these are all good examples of an anti-hero). An anti-villain is a villain who does villanous things but seems to have an air of morality or goodness when doing them (anti-villains often turn heroes moments before their death, or they draw the line of villainy that even they will not cross). There's always a variation from the clear cut "good guy" and "bad guy."
Now...why I like Bleach specifically:
There's a subplot in Bleach that is constantly going throughout the entire series. There's a lot of terminology that I don't want to explain, so I'm going to dumb it down for those of you who don't watch the show*
*will someday know the love/touch of a woman
The main character (Ichigo) is using borrowed powers from a Shenigami (the good guys) he saved. A couple of powerful Shenigamis show up, beat him up, and he loses his powers. Then, another outcasted Shenigami shows up, and shows Ichigo the route he must take to regain his powers. This requires Ichigo coming to the brink of death.
So, he gets his powers back, but at a cost: because he almost died, he almost became a Hollow (bad spirit). Instead of becoming a Hollow (like most untamed spirits), he simply has one living inside of him.
As the series progresses, he actually sees the "inner Hollow" (at times, Ichigo is rendered into a trance-like state where he sees the personification of his inner-Hollow, which is represented as a color-negative of Ichigo).
However, that sub-plot comes to a point towards the end of the 3rd Season, where Ichigo is battling Captain Kuchiki in order to save Rukia. They battle for a long time (I think nearly three episodes), and it ends with this:
This type of transformation happens a couple of more times throughout the series: Ichigo comes to a point where he is weak, incapacitated, and unable to fight. He's about to die, with no where to turn, and so he allows the inner-Hollow to manifest himself. This gives him unparalleled power with which to fight, but at a cost: He begins to lose control of his soul. Each time he manifests himself, Ichigo has to fight and struggle to tear the mask off. It's a hard, difficult process.
Each time it happens, even though he is able to peel the mask off, the inner-Hollow becomes stronger and harder to subdue. It comes to a point where even if Ichigo doesn't allow the inner-Hollow to manifest, it has the ability to paralyze him so he can't fight. Eventually, Ichigo has to do the weird trance thing again and actually fight the inner-Hollow in order to subdue it. However, he needs the help of some other allies in order to get into the trance state where he is able to directly face the inner-Hollow. Once he faces him directly, he is able to subdue him, and in doing so unlocks a new type of power that he can use without fear.
An interesting metaphor for the human condition, especially when coming from a Christian perspective. Being born a new, but still having the old flesh tempt you, and if it's left unchecked it will overtake you. You can resist the flesh at times, but if it's not subdued it will only grow stronger, and soon it will be so powerful you'll be incapable of doing anything. In order to subdue it, you need the assistance of outside help (Jesus). When you allow Jesus to work through you, you become more powerful...in a sense that when you acknowledge your own weakness then Christ can work through you.
True