Psycho-Pass

WARNING

THIS POST CONTAINS MASSIVE SPOILERS FOR THE ANIME PSYCHO-PASS. DO NOT READ IF YOU WANT TO WATCH IT FOR YOURSELF.

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

***

I don’t watch a lot of shows on Hulu, but in college I had watched the first season of Psycho-Pass, and now Hulu is offering (or starting to offer) the second season! I had started watching it but decided to go back and re-watch the first season because it had been so long. Although Hulu didn’t have all of the first season, Netflix did, which I am extremely grateful for.

Honestly, I forgot how awesome this show was. I love the dynamic between the characters, their banter and thought processes. I am thoroughly entertained by it’s cyclical plot. Ginoza-san falls right into the pattern of behavior and situation both his partner, Kogami-san, and his father Masaoka-san, did that all three of them tried to prevent Ginoza-san falling into. I love how the second season is Tsunemori-san’s test, to see if she will continue the cycle of obsession and eventually falling to the rank of Enforcer, or if she is strong enough to eventually let everything go. Historically, her Psycho-Pass doesn’t cloud easily and her Crime Coefficient is almost unusually stable; that’s part of what makes her so good at her job. She also understands the Sybil System better than anyone alive, due to the instances of the first season, which allows her to do her job better and not rule out various possibilities, regardless of the System’s decision in that moment. She adds the human element in detective work in a technological age. At the same time, it could be that human element that leads her to her downfall. Somehow, I doubt the Sybil System will let that happen completely, because it/they values her too much as an asset.

I love how the series started with Tsunemori-san running in the rain her first night to her first crime scene, Ginoza-san’s speech etc. and how the season ended with Tsunemori-san essentially doing the same thing to new inspector Shimotsuki-san (whom, I just learned from Wikipedia, that she was actually seen earlier in season 1 as a student at Ouryo Academy…I just never made the connection). The scene entertained me as much the second time as it did the first time.

The crux of the second season is, that because she understands the Sybil System, she knows there are people who are criminally asymptomatic, even if their few and far between. If new enemy, Kamui-san, is indeed criminally asymptomatic, we encounter the same issues regarding the Sybil System’s stability and flaws as we did before. But if he’s not, does his Psycho-Pass stay clear because he doesn’t think he’s doing anything wrong? He think he’s setting everyone free, that he’s doing good, regardless of anyone else’s opinion of him. Therefore, his Psycho-Pass would stay clear as long as he doesn’t worry about what others think of him, wouldn’t it? But this is all operating under the pretense that he can even be sensed/identified by Sybil System. Is he genetically formed differently so that Sybil can’t identify him, or recognize that someone is there, even if they don’t need enforcement? Is he a foreigner, and can’t be identified in the system because of that? Or is it something completely different? I can’t wait to see how it’s explored in the rest of season 2.

I’m glad the professor was brought back in season 2 too, as his insight is incredible.

I hope Kogami-san returns somehow in this second season (or in later seasons in general). I don’t know how, because he is a wanted criminal after all, but his character was so epic in a human sense that it’s a shame to lose him. At the same time, he can’t become a crutch for Tsunemori-san (or Ginoza-san truthfully). And although part of me wishes for romance between the two of them, I’m glad there isn’t, but the tension is there, which makes their relationship phenomenal.

Man I forgot how I loved this show, and damn I’m glad it’s back.

Plus EGOIST does all the ending music, which I love almost as much as the show itself. I’m wicked happy they producers stuck with EGOIST for both season, those songs are damn perfect for the show.

I don’t know about you, but I certainly can’t wait for more episodes!

Allergies, cleaning, and work, oh my!

Sorry everyone, my allergies have been killing me and I haven’t updated properly because I couldn’t think straight, let alone type. I think it was brought it by the cold front that came through these parts. I loved the temps but hated the allergens.

Stayed home on Sunday (my day off) to clean and relax for the first time in six weeks. So productive! I mean I’ve had days off in between there but between the Jewish Holidays, festivals, and Disney I haven’t been able to properly relax with my boyfriend in weeks. He cleaned the kitchen and living room a bit, while I tackled [most of the] laundry and the master bed/bath. Afterwards we spent the day relaxing and watching Holmes Inspection on Netflix. Instead of cleaning, we got take out from a new Chinese place that opened up near the supermarket. Conclusion: it was okay. The dumplings were good, but only because they had a good sauce. The wonton soup was alright, just very bland. I had chicken lo mein, which wasn’t anything special. Kass got General Gaos, which was okay at first, but terrible as leftovers apparently. Oh well, it was worth a shot. I didn’t like how we couldn’t use our coupon “on our next order” when we hadn’t ordered from there before. We needed a receipt from a previous transaction with them to use it. First of all- bad customer service. That’s not how coupons phrased that way are typically used. If you need your old receipt to use it, usually something like “15% off with this coupon when you bring in your last receipt” is explicitly stated. I doubt we’ll go there again, especially when we’ve made “take out Chinese food” at home better than what we’ve bought in recent years. Might supplement it with soup and dumplings from a local place though next time we do it.

Our new store manager stared this past week. I really like him so far, and can’t wait for the changes that will come! Even though I’m still actively job hunting. If he gets everyone on the same page, that’ll really help everyone move forward. It’s been almost chaos at our store without a proper manager….seriously I’m tired of it.

I did have my first official coffee tasting though (finally!!!!). We got to try our Thanksgiving Blend and Mary paired it with a pumpkin scone. I’ve determined the coffee is dark, earthy (almost to a point of tasting like mud), and pretty acidic. My palette is initially overwhelmed by the acidity in coffee usually so it’s hard at first to taste the different notes in it. The coffee’s subtle notes were brought out when eat with the scone and/or paired with anything with cinnamon or nutmeg. When eaten that way I actually enjoyed it. Otherwise I was fine not having it.

I caught up with my college roommate finally. Hopefully I’ll see her next week, but it all depends if Kass and I can set up a day trip the Saturday she and Loy will be in Orlando. I also sent postcards to two of my old DCP roommates, to brighten their days, and the care package to my sister/best friend. They should be getting them tomorrow I think.

Yesterday was election day. Part of me wanted to vote, but a couple things stopped me: I’m relatively new to my state and don’t really know the candidates who were running, their platforms, or their histories. I know that could have been solved with research but my other problem is that I feel like I can’t trust most politicians anymore. I’m very torn in my political beliefs because I’m socially liberal for the most part, but I’m disgusted with the US’ foreign policy and their treatment of Israel. I don’t think there are any politicians (at least the ones I can vote for here in Florida) who I can put my faith in to do right by this state, this country, and Israel. By voting, I’d be stating that I support these candidates in their ideas, actions, and political behavior, even if it’s in the lesser of two evils sense. But how can I do that when I’d be compromising on a topic that I care too strongly about? My approach for the time being, I guess, will be to sit back and see how thing play out so that next election, I’ll have a better foundation and more knowledge and can vote more responsibly; I hate it when people vote arbitrarily or ignorantly. I guess I’ll get off my soap box for now.

If you did vote, I hope you’re happy with who you voted for if they won. If your candidate(s) didn’t win, thank you for at least trying to put someone you agree with into power, sticking to your guns, regardless of the opinions of others.\

Later all!

Gilmore Girls!!

Yesterday all seven seasons of Gilmore Girls went live on Netflix, and guess who started her binge!! This one.

As I sat here on my couch rewatching all the episodes in order, I laughed. I cringed. I sang. I smiled. I freaked out. I began to relive the whole series. As of this post I’ve only gotten through about 9 episodes of the first season, but still. I remember how my mom and I used to watch it every week when a new episode came out, curled up on her bed, back when the CW was still the WB.

And I’m grateful.

I never realized how much this show shaped my identity as a kid and teen. Rory and I lived vastly different lives but we were similar in many ways. We both loved school, and learning. Both only had a small knit group of friends that they could rely on no matter what. Understand and revel in small-town New England (although Stars Hollow is much smaller than my home town). Both have strong mothers that helped, supported, and encouraged them through everything.

Our circumstances were different. I grew up in a family with both parents still lovingly married to each other, with a younger brother, not living near either set of grandparents (unfortunately).

But my mom and I watched Gilmore Girls every week. Laughing and crying together. Building a similar relationship to Rory and Lorelei. I forgot how much Rory inspired me, how she was my role model in many ways.

And now I realize why I don’t relate to many kids of my generation. I didn’t watch How I Met Your Mother, or Friends. They weren’t on my radar. I didn’t grow up watching Simpsons, except on Thanksgiving at my Aunt and Uncle’s house (which my mom has since regretted not letting me watch). I grew up with Gilmore Girls. My mom would even call me Rory sometimes because of how similar I could be to her, how academically driven I was (if less successful comparatively).

And so I thank you Netflix and Gilmore Girls, giving me a piece of myself back, that I had lost. I only hope that I can be as strong of a woman as Emily, Lorelei, Rory, and my mom. I hope that my [future] daughter(s) can follow in their positive example and that we can have just as strong a mother-daughter relationship.

To rewatching Gilmore Girls, and making new memories: l’chayim.

My Birthday continued

So yesterday was my birthday and it was wonderful and adorable.

My boss brought in a cake and balloon for me, and everyone (including our customers) sang happy birthday to me. It was so cute. Thanks everyone!

Then my boyfriend came home and gave me a bunch of stuff for my birthday! He got me this crazy awesome glue gun, not the little crafting one I had been eyeing, but a powerful one that I can use wood glue on too! And he got me an cute origami book, tons of origami paper, and some really pretty alphabet stencils. Now I can do ALL THE CRAFTING!!! SO EXCITED!!!

Finally he made me the most wonderful dinner (complete with a chocolate ganache cake from Publix): Sesame chicken!

The recipe we use came from this blog called serious eats and it’s amazing.

Here’s the link to the full recipe

We’ve made a few small changes, to the recipe, substituting things like rum for vodka when we’re out, using dry sherry instead of Shaoxing wine, some fresh ingredients for dried (only because we just didn’t have them…I’m talking about you minced ginger).

The recipe calls for a lot of prep-work, so if you’re prepared for that, it’s totally worth it. We also just threw some rice in our rice cooker to complement it. We get short grained rice at a local Asian supermarket instead of long grain because it’s easier for us to cook and, personally, we like the taste better. Our rice cooker we bought on Amazon for like $25-$35 I believe. It can make white or brown rice, and has a removable trey above it to steam vegetables in. If you eat a lot of rice (or want to) but aren’t sure how to cook it: invest in a good rice cooker, and it’ll solve a lot of you’re problems (as long as you follow the directions).

Now armed and ready with new crafting tools and some amazing left overs, onto my next task: GILMORE GIRLS ON NETFLIX!

Apartment Decorating!

My boyfriend and I have a bulkhead over our kitchen that really needed some pizzazz. Originally he wanted to paint above it, but I was worried about having to paint it when we move out. It’s also really high up so painting safely was a huge concern for me. I was also worried we wouldn’t have enough paint to do all the walls we wanted too (we were planning on using some leftover paint he had from his old apartment).

Our dilemma was solved, however, when we were inspired by a set of art that Thom Filicia did on Bravo’s Queer Eye for the Straight Guy (currently being watched on Netflix). He took a series of canvases and painted them a solid color (red I believe) and lined up vertically to give the room lots of color without painting the space. So we kind of did a similar thing. Instead of red, we used a blue/aqua/teal color that match a set of throw pillows we bought at Ikea. That, and we lined them up horizontally on the bulk head, bookended by a set of lanterns also from Ikea.

Michaels had an end of season sale on a bunch of Artist’sLoft brand materials, including canvases, paint, and brushes, which allowed us to be able to afford to do the project. We bought 3 24″x36″ level 1 canvases, 3 bottles of their Metalic Cobalt Blue (which ended up being too much but that just means we can use it for future projects), and some larger synthetic brushes, so we could paint more quickly.

Then after dinner (did take-out pizza as a treat), we sat down in our living room and began painting! And we managed to get all three done in a couple hours (if even that long).

Our final product, including the pillows that inspired us to begin with:

Hope you too can find new ways of adding color without permanently painting walls, especially in a rental space.

And All Good Things Must Come to an End…Sort of.

Hi everyone, long time no see.

Lots of things have happened the last four months but these are the two most important ones:

1. After 11 months and 6 days since moving to Florida, my Disney College Program has officially ended. My friends who aren’t/can’t extend have either moved back home or found an apartment. Thus ends a major chapter. I, personally, have gone seasonal (which should go into effect today or tomorrow according to someone I talked to at scheduling) so I can pick up shifts whenever I want/can and still receive the benefits of working for the Walt Disney Company. I’m still at ODF so Magic Kingdom is still my home 🙂

2. My boyfriend and I have officially decided to move in together! We have been approved for an apartment in the Ft Lauderdale area and we’re taking possession of it in like 2 weeks. He’s going to move in over the course of that week and then fly up here the 23rd and we’re driving my stuff down the following week. This means I can work up until then with whatever hours I pick up at work while still having a flexible schedule to pack, play, and hangout with some visiting family. I’ve been applying for a few jobs but haven’t heard back much (I did get two polite emails saying “thank you but we’ve found someone else.” Even though I didn’t get the jobs, I’m glad they let me know). My plan A is to get an administrative job at someplace like local college or university so I can work full time, with the possibility (in future semesters) of taking classes towards either a second BA or prerequisites for my Masters. I’ve come to accept that I probably won’t move with a job secured, but it will be easier to get a job once I’m already down there. Hopefully I’ll have one within a couple of weeks. Obviously I’m open to working outside a of higher education, but that would be ideal.

With this move, it means Sydney, Karlie and I are looking for someone to take over my name on the lease, which we’re running out of time. Karlie is also possibly moving back home so we’re searching for someone to take her name too (just in case). I’m tired of Sydney’s ridiculousness anyways and it’ll be nice not having roommates, but rather living with my boyfriend. Our toilet just broke here anyways (none of us have any idea how it happened) and maintenance still hasn’t come (almost 3 days later) to fix it yet. It’s been interesting living here to say the least, but it’s time for me to move on. What sucks about the move is I just changed my license and plates etc. to Florida and now I have to redo it. Plus my dad lost is job recently so now I have to hunt for a job/health insurance that much harder (because I was covered by his health insurance). We’ll both make it work.

Now that my boyfriend and I are moving in together, we’re trying to figure out ways to save money. We’ve decided against getting cable (for now) because we have HULU Plus, Netflix, and Amazon Prime, and plan on getting Crunchyroll. Basically between all of those we have 90% of our TV needs met and won’t need cable. We’re also planning on getting furniture from City Furniture’s sale/discount/resale section. We don’t need a lot because we have some stuff already but this way we can get a higher quality piece that’ll last longer. Nothing against IKEA but we don’t want to live in an IKEA ad. My parents are shipping some stuff down to us (mostly just cook wear) so we won’t need to furnish an entire kitchen which will be awesome.

Still, does anyone have any ideas on how to save money in general? I want to start couponing but it’s a little daunting (especially because I always forget my coupons when I have them) and depending on what’s nearby we want to get a membership to Costco or BJs to buy in bulk and save money there. But, we’re also dealing with some credit card debt, a lot of student loan debt, normal bills like rent and utilities, renter’s insurance (which we’re working out with my parents, in addition to my car insurance and phone). My boyfriend also has his starter business that he puts money towards, and both of us will have general commuting expenses like gas. We’ll be buying food out a lot less frequently now that we’ll be living together which will be huge savings (because my boyfriend buys out constantly because he can’t really utilize his parent’s kitchen). Still, anyone have ideas how we can save money on things from groceries to decorating etc? Any help would be appreciated, especially because I won’t have consistent income initially.

So it’s a crazy transition time and I’ve been putting all my pent up anxiety and energy into Pinterest. Literally have been sitting on my computer, on Pinterest, while watching HGTV, basically all day. No regrets. I need a time to relax/defrag especially because yesterday I took care of some things like dropping off the last of my costuming items and buying some cast merch.

So, now that I’ve taken a break from Pinterest to update you all a bit on my life, I’m going to go back to it. Have fun everyone, stay safe.
Let’s make magic.

Work in Progress

I’m starting to get my life back together, I think. I’ve had a lot of long days at work and have finally been able to get some chores done today that have desperately needed to happen. We found two cockroaches within the past couple of days so massive cleaning had to happen. I think some people have done “massive” cleaning but almost no one is home. Jade and Victoria are away right now (with their families/friends respectively out of state) and Cassie has some of her friends visiting so she’s in the parks or at work all day. Julie doesn’t feel safe at home right now. She’s severely allergic to coconut and Nicole decided to by coconut malibu rum and not tell anyone. They’re having a huge conflict over it (basically Nicole wants people to stop moving her rum around regardless if it kills Julie or not). A report was filed yesterday I think but I haven’t found out anything else so far. Nicole’s psychotic immaturity needs to end. I really wish she didn’t live here.

My red TOMS came in! Love them. Need to stretch out a bit but I like them so far.

Found this new anime that I’m loving: Kaze No Stigma. Go check it out, it’s on Netflix. 

I miss exercising. Need to figure out how to rework it into my schedule. I was following these calendars from shrinkingjeans.net (which are pretty awesome, you should check them out). However, for me they’re not working out well. It focuses on one target area (arms, legs, abs, etc) per month, which is a really good technique for a lot of people. However, for me I rather work on multiple areas at once. Looking for something similar but with more variety. Let me know if you see something like this. 

The boyfriend is coming next week!! So excited!! I’ve missed him so much.

Going to continue watching Kaze No Stigma and cook some pasta. Peace out girl scouts.

Damn am I exhausted

So tired. I have had to close several wagons over the past several days. Therefore I have have been working very late and not getting enough sleep. Ended up working/earning double-back the other day because I got out so late after extra magic hours and had to come back early. So tiring.

I had to go to Hollywood Studios the other day for class- so much fun! I finally got to do some stuff that I haven’t done yet like: The Great Movie Ride, One Man’s Dream, the Pirates of the Caribbean show thing, the Little Mermaid show, and the Beauty and the Beast show. Did some other things that I normally get to do too. 

Yesterday Victoria, Cassie, and I went to the Cheesecake Factory for National Cheesecake Day. So much fooooood. So good but too much food. We then went shopping after and I finally got my Vera Bradley “Weekender” bag that I have been eyeing for a while! Got it in Ellie Blue or something like that.
http://www.verabradley.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=1001684&productVariantId=175937&defaultSku=12479119

I also ordered these Red trim TOMS I fell in love with. Should be here next week I think.
http://shop.nordstrom.com/s/toms-classic-trim-slip-on-women/3381969?cm_ven=pinterest&cm_cat=pinit&cm_pla=site&cm_ite=612329

There’s still one more pair of TOMS I want but I’m going to wait on them:
http://shop.nordstrom.com/s/toms-classic-herringbone-slip-on-women/3200398?cm_ven=pinterest&cm_cat=pinit&cm_pla=site&cm_ite=375436

I forgot that costuming closed at 6. Didn’t leave for my shift until 6. Security let me in but I almost majorly screwed up and almost got to work late. Goal: NEVER AGAIN

On my way home, left my phone at the shuttle stop. Drove back at 2:30 to see if it was still there, but it had already been handed in to lost and found by the bus driver. So I had to go to lost and found this morning. Thankfully it was there and everything but it was just too stressful for me to deal with at 3am. Too much stress for one day. Was so pissed and tired to deal with it properly.

So tired. I’m slowly getting some energy back but I haven’t finished my homework due tomorrow. Was having trouble with the website, but I got that working. Now I jsut need to actually do it. LOL it’ll happen at some point tonight.

After finishing it, I found out that Netflix only has the first season of the Magic School Bus. NOT OKAY WITH THIS!! I WANT THE REST OF IT BACK! K? K. thanks 🙂

I started watching Boria on Netflix today too. If this is even a remotely accurate portrayal of Rome during the late 15th century, I am so glad I didn’t actually exist then. Absolutely crazy then. So much for pious celibacy within the Catholic Church… Still there are some (okay, like 2) cast members who are also in Game of Thrones. AWESOME!

I guess I’ll leave it at that for now. Gonna hang out, do homework, eat dinner (at some point) and watch Borgia. Maybe if I finish my homework I’ll go swimming or order Epic Mickey 2 finally! We’ll see.

Night all!