I want to keep improving.  Like the gym is on my way home.  And previously I never thought to stop and work out before going home.  But these days I made a habit of stopping off and working out before I go home.  So i’m a creature of habit.  I don’t like to change the habit, but once it’s set it just keeps going without thinking.  Why do I like habit so much.  I guess it’s not about like or dislike it’s just about what we’re programed to do.  Like it’s an automatic thing.  I wonder how far and deep these preprogramed habits go. 

Probably very deep.

But even though we are creatures of habit even our habits are driven by desires.  It’s not as if these habits were chosen at random, these habits develop out of our character, our drives, our motivations.  So it’s good to set up positive habits and it’s bad to get sucked into negative or destructive habits.  I would venture to say that bad habits are much easier to set up and good ones.

Do I really treat people that badly, do I care that little.  I treat people pretty badly.  I don’t care that much.  It’s a vicious cycle, I treat people the way I want to be treated.  I treat people exactly how they treat me.  The golden rule shouldn’t be applied to friendship.  You should treat your friends the way you think they want to be treated. 

I have lost too many friends.  They just don’t want to contact me.  I think that makes me sad only if I think about it.  If I don’t think about it it doesn’t make me sad. 

Middle School
Nate
Steven
JJ
Ben

High School
Daniel
Daniel

College
Steven
Peter

Is that how it’s supposed to be?  I should pick my friends more carefully in the future.  Is a good friend less likely to betray you in the end.  Won’t that just mean that your betrayal will be bigger and more hurtful? 

I think a while back I made a definition of a friend.  In fact I remember stuggling with the same concept.

Characteristics of a Friend

Loyalty
Honesty
Sympathy
Compatibility
Non-Judgemental

I think that is a pretty good list.  If I would have to sum it up in a couple of sentences.  A friend is a person who will celebrate with you when you are happy, mourn with you when you are sad, and help you when you are in need, AND you will do the same for them.  So it is a two way street.  Maybe you really like a person and want to be there for them, but they won’t do the same for you.  Then you two are not friends.  When I view it that way it’s really hard to say who broke off the friendship.  But in a sense it really just takes one person to end it. 

And the thing with friendship is that it’s created out of nothing.  There is no rules, no contracts, no agreements, no insurance of longevity.  It begins by two people meeting and enjoying each other’s company and it continues out of that same vein.  But doesn’t one party get sick or angry with the other?  How does it last through that?  Why keep going after all those years?  What makes a friendship last through some hardship or separation that makes it want to continue through that.

I really haven’t had something like that that lasted. 

I really do think girls are better at this than guys are.  Maybe because they talk more or because they hold each others secrets.  Maybe because girls rely on trust more than guys do.  Maybe girls keep in touch better or have better memories or adapt better to new social circumstances.  Or maybe girls are so unique that it’s not possible to change one friend for another.  It probably just depends on the person.  I think girls in general are less trusting than guys because they are more cautious.

1) Cowboy Bebop

2) Naruto

3) Trigun

4) Ghost in a Shell: Stand Alone Complex

5) Hunter X Hunter

6) Outlaw Star

7) Evangelion

8) Flame of Recca

9) Dragonball Z

10) Love Hina

So this is the tenative list.  There hasn’t been any anime in the last 4 years that I’ve enjoyed as much as these.  So I’m currently dregging up those animes in the past that have supposedly been better to see how they fair.  I might have to rewatch some of these series to determine the rankings.

What makes a good anime:

1) Good Characters- Characters in good anime series have depth, personality, come alive.  They often have unique views of the world, or have interesting reactions to their surroundings.  Examples of good characters – Spike Speigel, Naruto, Vash the Stampede.  Basically all the main characters of the top ten are good.

2) Good Plot Lines- What is happening to the character.  Is every episode the same or is there good variety.  The way the story unfolds, do the characters develop does it feel like a journey.  Does the plot bring surprises and turns or is it predictable.

3) Animation- How well is the animation drawn, how do the characters move, are the backgrounds interesting and deep.  Does the action pop out of the screen and give you chills or does it feel like it’s 2 dimentional.

I think that’s about it.  If you have these three things you have a great anime.

myanimelist.com cool site check it out.

With anime watching it takes a little patience and imagination to really enjoy a series.  I think the concept of Death Note will be a little shallow, but hopefully they put in some nice twists to make it more fun.

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann

Dennō Coil

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

Death Note

Mushishi

Black Jack

SGT Frog

When I type out the story it makes very little sense, but in print it makes for a fun read.  A lot of fan service.  100 more eps to go.  Nice!