Location (場所)

The mantra in real estate is: Location, location, location, or "basho" in Japanese. Having become obsessed with Zillow over the last few weeks in an effort to find an affordable home in Los Angeles to buy in LA, I've realized that that is indeed the case. No other factor (how new the house is, whether there is an attached garage, the school district the house belongs to (although, I guess this is part of the "location" criteria) matters as much as location. In San Francisco and LA, houses/ condos are murderously expensive and have been on the rise consistently for as long as I can remember (save for a short blip during the Great Recession/ mortgage crisis). Back in surburban Chicago where my family used to live, housing prices really haven't gone up that much. It's really pretty unfair, actually. 

Beyond just the general country-scale differences, though, LA definitely has different neighborhoods that are pricier than others. Don't even dream about living in Malibu or Beverly Hills, there's a reason visitors pick up "Star Maps" and take tours around those areas looking for celebrities' homes: they're owned by rich people. Also for one's own safety don't live in Compton, Southeast of downtown, etc. And then everything in between is kind of a free-for-all, from how close one wants to live to the beach (the ocean breeze keeps it cool as opposed to inland!) to if you want a mountain view from one's window (I don't care) to how far one wants to drive as part of one's commute (a HUGE deciding factor for me and should be for most people given rush hour conditions in LA). Downtown housing sales are nearly non-existent, they pop up and disappear very quickly, or are overpriced ($550,000 for a 1-bedroom, 1-bath, 900 sq. ft. cubicle?) That's more than half a million dollars! That's sort of what hits me about the real estate process in LA: we start talking about "million dollars", or at least the word comes into the conversation. There ARE certainly houses listed at more than a million dollars on the market, and they don't buy as much as one would think. 

For me, it's a real balancing act: I'm in my late-20s with a semi-consistent job but like anyone else, not guaranteed to last for a few years much less for a lifetime, but I should be able to get work in LA. Am I sure I'd be working in downtown LA? No. Am I sure I want to get committed to a 30-year mortgage where I'm shackled into paying utnil I'm 59 years old theoretically? No. Doesn't sound great, but housing is an investment of a lifetime, plus I'm in need of a home (kind of a "double utility" in buying a home, living in it and investing in it at the same time.) My long term goals also come into play in terms of location: do I go more for the family-oriented area with good school districts and lots of parks, playgrounds, open areas (basically suburbs) or do I go for the short-term view of buying in downtown (the scarce properties that are available) and save myself the commute time (a 5-minute walk commute! Woo-hoo!) It's really a tough decision, and one that's gonna require a thorough pro-con evaluation and assessment of all the factors. But none more important than.......location, location, location. 

Much like in real estate, location is HUGE in dodgeball and baseball, my 2 favorite sports right now (It is summer, prime time for baseball season). More than velocity although most people think it's velocity, more than deception, more than movement of the ball, the number one factor for both those sports is location, location, location. Where the ball ends up when it hits an opposing dodgeball player (anywhere where the hands can't touch it and catch the ball! preferably down, down, down) and where it passes the strike zone (down, down, down!) in baseball is so very important. It's why pitchers like Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine were so effective, they could literally throw to a spot 60 feet away in the exact spot that they intended to throw it to, to pin-needle accuracy. I don't have the fastest ball or the most movement when I throw a dodgeball, but those aren't what I'm trying to perfect: it's accuracy. I'm trying to find ways to throw harder or to get more movement on my throws, but neither of those as much as I'm trying to get the perfect location. 

Fantasze on, 

Robert Yan 

Crowd (人込み =hitogomi)

A few years I decided one of my life goals would be to go to each baseball stadium in the whole country, and one in Canada (Toronto, check). Is this goal helpful to society in any way? No. Does it greatly enhance my earning potential? Not really. But a live baseball game has qualities that few things in this world can draw (well, actually rock concerts, Donald Trump rallies, and other sports game also has these qualities, but it's the ability to draw a large crowd). Here's what's so great about baseball crowds: 

1.) The cheering of the crowd: spontaneous, visceral, and enthusiastic. The fans really mean it. The closest to a war scene in a movie where people fighting for the same cause, wanting the same thing badly and being happy at the same time.

2.) Live possiblity of a game, anything could happen and you're seeing it live. Not a big thing for me actually, maybe cuz I grew up in the TV and live information era.

3.) The quiet buzz of chatter, of 40,000 to 50,000 talking at the same time.

4.) Human beings are social animals after all. We want to be near other humans.I like hearing myself talk, probably excessively, but eventually I like to hear another human being's voice. 

5.) Baseball crowds also allow for the cultivation of an important, under-rated and secretly enjoyable skill: people-watching. The art of people watching. Never make direct contact, under no circumstances should one get caught people watching. It's a recluse activity, and carries quite a bit of risk and social stigma. Some might even call it "creepy" or "stalking."

6.) People are actually happy (similar to when people watch Game of Thrones at 9PM EST every Sunday, except with less gory scenes and gratuitous rape scenes). It's one of the few things Americans at least (and from what I hear, to some extent in some Asian and Latin American countries, where people can enjoy themselves, do something they enjoy doing. As opposed to family life or work, things people are forced into doing. That idea of "I'm here by my own free will and am having fun just being here" is a powerful thing. Others feed off of it, and it revolves in a powerful cycle.

I love baseball crowds! (but not as much as my great girlfriend!) = cheesy comment. 

Fantasize on, 

Robert Yan 

Sunset (ゆうやけ= yuuyake)

Yuuyake is sunset in Japanese.

Currently sitting at Nationals Park in Washington DC watching Mets v Nationals, Matt Harvey v Stephen Strasburg. After an absolutely brilliant day (a little on the hot side if sunscreen was not applied) it's cool and breezy now, with the sun going down behind the stadium, the walls blocking its descent. Sunset here is at 825pm and it's only May, leading me to believe that summers here are very very beautiful and very very long.

Possibly due to my (sloths) lifestyle, I've seen a lot more sunsets than sunrises in my life. One reason is just that sunrises are so darn early, whereas sunsets usually occur right smack dab in the waking hours. The only times I can really think of where I actively stayed up for the sunrise were : after a "lock in" at our local community center where everyone pulled an all nighter and everyone might as well stay up, and a few times at Grand Canyon and utah national parks, and I don't really remember those experiences that well. I also remember a few times in vegas gambling all night and see the sun come up on the night's exploits, being the final alarm (of many alarms that were overriden ill-advisedly) to quit, end the debauchery, and go home.

Makes me think about the best sunsets I've ever seen. I reserve the right to incorporate recency bias, cognitive dissonance, just being really happy that day, or any other sort! 

Sunsets, in another sense, are more significant than sunrises. Sunrises are important to satisfy the phrase "its ok. The sun will still come up tomorrow." There's more daytime most of the year, so for some (especially nocturnal animals) it's a welcome respite from the sun. It also is a symbol of a long day of work. A sense of possibilities for the night to come.

Without further ado, the best sunsets I've ever witnessed:

5.) Griffith Park sunsets, several times, especially from Griffith Observatory. I've done this sunset quite a few times, once to end the 2008 year (really beautiful to see the end year that way). Can see most of LA, from downtown to Century City to the faraway San Gabriel Mountains and on a clear day, even the Pacific Ocean.

4.) One of the best days of my life, the tail end of a volunteer trip in Eustis, FL spent with fellow volunteers during my college years at the University of Illinois. Something about watching the sunset after a long day of work and pondering the possibilities of life really got to me. That was when I wasn't even 20 years old yet, I had my whole life in front of me! Haha. But I do think sunsets our especially meaningful when they're unique experiences, and symbolic of bigger things, like the end of an era or the beginning of a new one.

3.) Sometimes the same sunset can be spread out over a long timespan. There's a particular one that I find myself in all the time, driving west from downtown Los Angeles going home on the 10 highway. Symbolic of a long day of work that's finally over, as well as actually good traffic (west on the 10 is like one of the few bright spots in LA). I consistently took that drive to the point of making it a pattern developed over the whole summer, and brings back memories of a consistent block of good times.

2.) Playing sports with friends back in the good ol' days of surburban Chicago back in my childhood, squeezing in the last few minutes of daylight on the baseball diamond, the basketball court, or the swimming pool before it got too dark to see the ball/ make our parents worry, just a carefree lifestyle of playing without limitations or anxiety about the future, and tons more energy than I have even nowadays....I was a pretty spirited young guy, even though I was overweight. I liked to "go extreme!" as my girlfriend says, and have as much fun as possible. The sunsets also marked the end of the day of sweat, possibly blood (minor scrapes) but mostly fun, of a wonderful day of frolicking well spent.

1.) Santorini Island- happened just last year, something about the island feature, the sun dropping off into the ocean and reflecting on the waves, and the sun slowly crawling along the cliffs, makes it world-renowned as one of the best sunsets in the world. So magnificent, in fact, observers who were dining on the island clapped after its conclusion, thoroughly enthralled at the feat during its entire length. It's like a classical musical performance where the audience doesn't even make a sound, and only claps when it's over.

But most importantly, the best sunsets are those that one can enjoy with a special person in one's life! Very romantic! Here's to more excellent sunsets in the years to come!

Fantasize on,

Robert Yan

Puzzle (なぞ)

Nazo means puzzle in Japanese. In a weird phase of my life, I used to enjoy jigsaw puzzles. From 2006 to 2009, I worked a summer job that allowed me to come home and watch Big Brother, a very mindless show that I regret having wasted hours of my life on (same as LOST, survivor, and eventually probably, Game of Thrones). What I did to mix with this boredom (I've always been a multitasker) was solve 1000-piece (or was it just 500 pieces) crossword puzzles. I know, not the most strenuous exercise, even a 5th grader could do it! But I always enjoyed these weeks of starting on a puzzle, finding the edges, applying the artwork, and then finally joyously placing that last piece. It's similar to the accomplished feeling of finishing an endeavor, reaching a destination, getting closure, winning a championship, etc., that I haven't really enjoyed that much in my life (my graduations were usually tarnished by fears of the job market/ the next step), and sports and fantasy baseball championships have come few and far between, unfortunately.

That's why I think it's a great idea that the Los Angeles public Library provides free jigsaw puzzles for patrons to solve, and then frames the completed puzzles along their walls. Great free activity that the bottom levels of society (unfortunately like most urban libraries, the LA library is populated by vagrants and vagabonds from the nearby Skid Row area) that at least keeps people occupied and provides a departure from their otherwise joyless lives. Hopefully no one steals the pieces (that would truly be a meaningless, wasteful tragedy), but I do hope for others to experience the same sense of accomplishment upon completing a puzzle.

Sometimes life feels like a puzzle, a lot of pieces floating around with that one piece you can't find (not just talking about when I can't find my car keys) where you have to fit things together into a schedule and balance them all at once. It's a delicate balancing act, but just like finally completing a puzzle, once in a while you finish something and feel a nice tingling, briefly give a sigh of relief, or like after running my marathon, just going home and taking a long nap. And then you're on to the next puzzle.

Sent from my iPhone

Mortgage (住宅 ローン)

There's a word in the English language that makes people more afraid than horror movies; children check under their beds at night to make sure it's not there, grown men shudder when even the mention of the word appears in a conversation, entire countries have fallen under its overwhelming presence: it's the mortgage, or "Juutaku roun" in Japanese. And I may be crazy, but I just might be getting one for myself soon. 

When I was a child, I thought a million dollars was a lot of money: it's the equivalent of making one's dreams happen, to hitting the jackpot, a life-is-good card for the rest of one's life. Well that might have been the case back in the 1990's when I was a kid, but it's not the case now; a million dollars is practically the median price for a single family home in the Los Angeles area; talk anything over 3 bedrooms 3 baths and more than 2,000 sq. ft. and you're talking seven figures. (Gosh, there was a time when I thought six figures was pretty awesome). Hence the idea of a mortgage: pretty simple, you take out a loan to buy a house, you pay the loan back over a number of years. With interest rates now at a historically low rate (although, the Fed just mentioned in its past meeting that they might raise rates soon) at around 3.5%, it doesn't sound that ominous, like a drop in the bucket compared to the principal amount of a house. But the awesome thing about a mortgage is that it compounds itself, where the interest compounds every year so that by the end of paying off the mortgage one usually has paid DOUBLE the original loan amount (the only benefit being not having to pay it off all at once, spreading it out over 30 years). 

The whole concept of a 30-year fixed mortgage scares me. The fixed doesn't actually mean "locked into debt" or "imprisoned" more than just "the rate is set a specific rate," but it certain sounds intimidating, and the 30-year part doesn't help matters. How am I supposed to know if I can make all those payments for 30 years? I haven't even lived 30 years on this earth, and for 20 of those 29 I was just screwing around! Not only that, but the banks make getting a mortgage seem like a privilege, like I have to apply and qualify to be locked into debt for 30 years, they have to check my financials and credit report to see if I'm trustworthy enough. 

I do appreciate the process of getting a mortgage, though: I finally understand what adults more mature than I mean when they explain why they can't allot too much money to discretionary spending: "I've got a mortgage man." I'm looking at $2000/ month for mortgage and already balking. That'd be the highest rent I've ever had to pay! And that's not all if I get a condo or apartment: this new idea of a "HOA" seems like the mortgage's evil little cousin: not as big, but just as "fixed" and just as needy, to require attention every month for 30 years. Why am I trying to buy a house again? 

I'm a pretty risk averse person and never have liked being in debt to people: I've tried to return money I borrowed from others for lunch really soon afterwards, and the whole idea of "interest" makes me anxious due to it just being an extra cost, simply for the ability to get money. I cut spending for awhile after law school and lived with my parents to pay off my law school loans as soon as possible. Not my cup of tea, debt; I'd rather just live within my means and pay off everything with the money I have, live a dignified life owing nothing to no one. Alas, that's not how the American housing system works, and fortunately a house is probably the biggest purchase I'll have to make in my life (other than having a child, which is a different kid of payment). As much as I lay awake at night worrying about it and have nightmares of a big bad ogre named Mortgage scooping me up and dropping me from a high place, I reluctantly will probably attain a mortgage to get that dream house for my future. Goodbye freedom, hello debt! 

Fantasize on, 

Robert Yan 

Concussion (脳震とう)

Over the weekend I participated in a dodgeball tournament, not the first time I'd engaged in that sort of endeavor, but this time was different: it was a tournament with 8.5 rubber balls, also known as "hard rubber," as opposed to the ones I'm more familiar with and used primarily throughout the Los Angeles recreational dodgeball scene, the soft no-sting ball, aka "soft rubber."

I and many others prefer soft rubber. Putting aside I am more adept at the no-sting ball including being able to grip it, throw it, control it, how it bounces off walls, etc., hard rubber is also much more PAINFUL, as in, it STINGS (as opposed to no-sting). Get hit almost anywhere in your body and one's body will hurt, but it also matters how direct the hit is on one's body: skimming shots (barely touching and going by) are fine, glancing blows (hit and go off to the side) are tolerable, but direct shots (hit and bounce straight off someone's body) are painful, no matter how "tough" one is. I have bruises in several parts of my body to prove that they leave a mark. Especially since some some professional dodgeball players can throw a baseball 90 MPH + and a hard rubber dodgeball not much slower, it can really cause some damage to the body.

All that wouldn't be a major concern, of course, except for the issue of concussions (noushinto in Japanese). I don't think I've ever gotten a concussion, but I think I was close one time in 2nd grade when my head bounced off the floor and I felt dizzy and nauseous for a few hours, and then this past weekend when I received a direct head shot from a hard thrower from about 15 feet away. I saw (too late) that the ball was coming towards my head, turned to dodge, and the ball collided straight into the right side of my face, missing the eyes and mouth and any essentials but leaving the side of my face numb for a few seconds and enough to make me swear and fall to the ground in pain, while others told me to "walk it off." Btw, another pet peeve of mine that I commit too, asking someone who's obviously in a lot of pain "are you all right?" over and over again. It's the most natural question to ask during an injury/ crisis situation, but it's not that helpful, what if someone says "NO?" Especially if it's asked over and over again by different people who are around, it becomes repetitive and annoying to the person deeply in pain, in this case, me. I haven't been able to sleep very well these last couple days and felt a little lightheaded at times the last few days and was really hangry (hungry and angry) yesterday, but probably avoided a concussion.

Still, I think all sports need to be careful about concussions nowadays given the research and litigation that has gone into concussions and the scientific health risks associated with getting concussions. Football, the most popular sport in America, has an uncertain future now with all the ex-players filing lawsuits and data coming out, and Antwan Randle el, former NFL player, saying publicly he regrets ever playing football, it is very scary. Certainly dodgeball is not as contact-laden as football where helmets collide into helmets almost on a constant basis, but it's still something that should be monitored, like any sport that has any object coming into contact with players' head areas. The dodgeball community does a great job of policing each other not to throw in the head area and fostering an honor system, but just like baseball some balls can get away, some players are smaller in stature than others and their head is where others' chests normally are, and just like in other sports there are some dirty players carrying a vendetta who purposely throw at people's heads, unfortunately.

Personally, with my head being my main moneymaker (it's not like I'm acting or playing professional sports as a career, I need a fully functioning brain to do what I do), I need to avoid concussions at all costs, and any memory loss (a main symptom associated with concussions) would be devastating for me, especially with all the memories of my great girlfriend that I have stored over the last several months! (that was cheesy!) In summary, I think dodgeball should transition to a no-sting, soft rubber ball type of system (not perfect in avoiding pain when striking one's head, but almost impossible to cause a concussion with that ball) in order to keep it as safe a sport as possible, and I personally am not sure I'll ever play with the hard rubber balls again, being the risk-averse person I am.


Next order of business: go watch "Concussion" the movie starring Will Smith.

Fantasize on,

Robert Yan

Band-aid (包帯)

I've been watching a Japanese show recently called Nobunaga Concerto that describes the life of one of Japan's finest samurai warriors, Oda Nobunaga. Not only does the show feature a scene where a futuristic stand-in for Nobunaga teaches people back in the day how to use a band-aid, (I know, a stretch of a lead-in), it made me realize the interest I have in history of all different cultures, how a people's historical cultures shape who he is. The theme of Nobunaga was that he was indecisive and reckless and would wait until the final moment, but when the ultimate battle came to prove his worth, Nobunaga was always up to the task. All humankind would be wise to heed that lesson, but it especially rings true I think in Japan, where there are parables including "3 years on a stone" (need 3 years of practice to become good), etc.

I grew up as a child with a lot of cuts and scrapes, so band-aids were often used, especially Fred Flinstones or X-men (or some other cartoon characters) type of band-aids, but as I grew older I didn't suffer many cuts anymore, and I also realized I heal very quickly; cuts seem to stitch themselves up without use of disinfectants or band-aids. Band-aids are also symbolic of a temporary solution to a long-term problem, that of being too clumsy to get into falls, etc., but less literally, trying to cover up a flaw but not fixing it permanently. That's always been acne and earwax for me: I've done what I can to stop the problem for now: clear the skin, extract the earwax, etc., but I haven't figured out the root cause: why my skin breaks out so easily, why my ears produce so much earwax, etc. A band-aid will not solve that, and in fact might prolong and worsen the problem by not giving it the proper attention it deserves.


My 2nd base/ shortstop position in fantasy baseball (tune out now!) is the epitome of a band-aid. Cursed with Dee Gordon's 80-game suspension a couple weeks ago, I now have a big gaping hole at 2nd base, and a slow start by Brandon Crawford compelled me to cut him prematurely and now the spots are being filled by a tandem of Chris Owings, Brock Holt, and Danny Santana. The definition of short-term solutions that won't be able to hold up over the course of a season. My desperate search for help in this area has so far come up fruitless, and it'll only be so long until these problems infect the whole team. At least I have Chris Sale. 7-0 with a 1.79 ERA and 0.77 WHIP.

Fantasize on,

Robert Yan

It's a Trap! 罠 (Wana)

Like the famous Admiral Ackbar scene form Star Wars, I fell into the overhyped, overcommercialized, overpriced, overcrowded, and overrated trap of going to Universal Studios: Hollywood today. The warning signs were easy to see: I had been hearing all these good things about the new Harry Potter Village attraction there, seen friends' photos on facebook indicating their attendance, gotten a little jealous, wanted somewhere to go on an off day from work....and I caved. I went. 

I grew up (like most kids I imagine) liking Disney World, other theme parks. I thought it was a treat to go, so many rides. I'm not sure when the disenchantment came in, but once I saw the money part of it, the brutal reality of a place like Disneyland or Universal Studios, where they're capitalizing on the fandom of kids and addictive nature to force parents to reach into their wallets, where I saw amusement parks as not a "magical place" but a place where money magically gets sucked into a.....you guessed it, pyramid scheme. I don't mean to rag on Universal Studios, and I didn't have a bad time, but....here goes, really bad review time! 

The number one thing I dislike is....it's really a trap. It is a place (similar to Vegas, whom I broke up with last time) where its soul purpose of existence is to make money. It's not really to make kids happy, it's not really to give park guests a great experience, it's not really to test the latest innovations in technology. It's a business ploy, pure and simple, whatever they can do to get you to spend the $100+ (maybe a little discounted on non-summer, non-weekends) to come in and then continue to charge you for memorabilia, etc. We went into the Harry Potter "wand selection store" where the purported purpose was to have the "Wandkeeper" pick out a wand for an unsuspecting victim much like in the Harry Potter movies, and the bookstore with the secret door and the sound effects when the wand was revealed and the atmosphere was all pretty nice, but then they picked out my gf from the crowd and gave her a wand in front of the audience, only to ask her to pay for that wand at a BARGAIN $47.00. I haven't seen harder sells at timeshare shakedowns where they offer free Disneyworld passes if you can sit through the whole presentation (but you feel guilted into buying something eventually). Pretty unbelievable. 

The new Harry Potter attraction is crawling with employees. One of the few theme parks where I think the customers inside the store were greatly outnumbered by the shop clerks. The whole time I'm thinking, "I'm just looking," but damn that's a big chunk of the ticket I just bought going to these unneeded workers. They must have thought the new Harry Potter thing was going to be a HUGE hit, but (granted, on a Thursday) there was practically no line for Harry Potter attractions and the small roller coaster they had going. 

The best attraction is still the Backstage Tour, but it's a little tainted by the fact the tour guide (and everyone else in the park) HAS to mention as many Universal movies in their sentences as possible, just drop them along the way. Classics like "Hotels for Dogs" (never heard of it) are named matter-of-fact as if everyone's seen them. 

The Harry Potter main 3D attraction is a death trap for people with motion sickness. It states it pretty clearly on the entrance sign, but I mean you came all the way and paid all that money, as a customer you're gonna want to ride it to try it. And yes, it was vomit-inducingly bumpy and motion sickness-causing, the 3-D effects  didn't really help and I had to close my eyes from throwing up. It really ruined the whole rest of my day, really. 

The problem is, too, most of the other rides are exactly like that! 3-D rides where they put you in a seat and show a 3-D movie and rock the seat back and forth, with gravity involved. Not the Disney-ride theme rides like Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan's Adventure, etc. So if you suffer from even mild motion sickness (OK, based on experience in boats and some cars I'd think my motion sickness is above average severe), but if you don't know you had motion sickness, you're trapped for a day in a place in which all the rides cause a little motion sickness! 

Parking is $18 per car. Period. No other way into the park if you're driving, it's just what it is. And the amusement park is not the first thing you see, the parking lot leads into a commerical shopping area with restaurants, shops, etc. (overpriced I'm sure though I've never had the financial audacity to go into one) before getting to the main gate. Food is passable, but obviously they're gonna hit you there since you've fallen into the trap already and lunch is required, and no iconic food choices like the Disneyland turkey leg. 

Fantasize on (or don't because that's how you fall into the trap!), 

Robert Yan 

What do you mean? どういう意味ですか？

Sometimes there are songs out there that if I hear on the radio, I instantly change the dial to something else. That song recently has been Justin Bieber's "What do you mean?" I'm just tired of the beat, tired of the lyrics, tired of his voice. To be fair, any song can get old if played too many times (my sister taught me the meaning of "overplayed" ), but most of the time I need to react to figure out, oh, nah, I don't really like this song. For "What do you mean?" I don't need any hesitation, decisionmaking, or time, I just hit the button, right away.

Coincidentally, "What do you mean" is also one of my pet peeves in language, where I cringe every time somebody asks me, followed closely by "hey buddy/ boss," and "I had a bunch of fries.......and shit." Buddy/ boss is just disrespectful, especially used by a stranger or an employee addressing me as a customer, I should be addressed as "sir," or "Mr.," or just get to know my name. "Boss" would actually be reasonable given that I am essentially the boss as the customer paying money for the services if not for the negative/ cheeky connotation that it carries, like if someone uses it they're defying "the man" or the established system. Maybe it's all in my head, but I just don't like to be addressed like that, it's rather "flip." "...and shit" is just a complete unnecessary bastardization of the English language" all in the name of saving a few syllables (maybe not even, you're just replacing "stuff" with "shit") or just plain laziness of not want to describe the other things in the list of things that one did.

"What do you mean" is probably a less obvious pet peeve, but to me if I've described something to the best of my ability or at least to the level I think is reasonable for someone else to understand, then that person should accept that explanation, or at least ask for a more specific term, or just say "I don't know" or "I don't understand what you mean by that," or "pleased define that specific word that you said that I don't really get." All acceptable responses, but "what do you mean" just throws the entire burden back on the speaker to have to completely change the phrasing or maybe even the entire fabric of the sentence that he/she just said to fit the listener's whim, while providing no hints or clues as to what particular part needs to be clarified. The person saying "what do you mean?" might think that the other party (the "what-do-you-mean"-ee was lazy/ unclear in what they're saying, but in fact it's the "what do you mean"-er that's being obtuse about what part they need clarified. If the orginiator of the statement had thought they needed to be more specific or phrase it in a different way, they would have done so unprompted, but they asked a legitimate question that now it's up to the listener to accept or raise objections, seek clarifications. (It's like a lawsuit and the statement is the complaint, and the respondee has to either answer or deny, or raise objections, they CAN'T just raise a motion to dismiss to make the complaint invalid. Actually this is exactly what happens in a lawsuit almost all the time, a complaint is almost always followed by a motion to dismiss, but anyway in real life it doesn't work that way!) I'm not totally innocent of my own pet peeve neither, and I've definitely said "what do you mean?" after a question once or twice, but I try to phrase the question/ statement my own way if I don't understand, like "Oh so do you mean so and so?" or "wait I don't get what you're saying, could you repeat that?" What do you mean just does not suffice, and I think there should be a revolution against such insufficient, inconsiderate, incredibly insolent responses.

Fantasize on,

Robert Yan

Rolling Around (盥回し) - Taraimawashi

One of my favorite things about learning Japanese has been all the proverbs I've accumulated, on top of all the Chinese proverbs that I've had in my head since a young age. Things like even a monkey falls out of a tree, like monkeys and dogs fighting (never thought monkeys and dogs were natural enemies, but it actually originated from the Chinese story Journey to the West, where a monkey is one of the main characters and helps fend off various enemies including dogs apparently. Side note- When I'm asked who is my favorite superhero, I automatically think of Spiderman, various X-men, and Batman, all of whom I watched in animated TV shows as a kid, but an underrated answer might be Song Wu Kong, the monkey hero from Jounrey to the West that could travel thousands of miles in one leap, shapeshift into many different characters, turn his battle stick (not sure what you'd call that in English) into a huge weapon or the tiniest of needles. That was cool, and he was my first superhero ever. Apparently most Asian cultures know the story of Journey to the West in its many phases (I've heard it referenced in Japanese and Korean), but it really hasn't carried over into Western cultures.

Anyway, the newest Japanese proverb I've been fascinated by is Taraimawashi, or acrobatic barrel rolling. That's the literal translation, as one can imagine barrel rolling quickly on the ground in a feat of athletic prowess, something that I could use in trampoline dodgeball if I was ever that nimble or light on my feet (I'm not). Trampoline dodgeball allows for plenty of movement both horizontally and vertically, and many players use that to their advantage: they're constantly rolling around the trampolines, bouncing off the sides, jumping really high to the top, even doing backflips. I just basically stand in place and place ground dodgeball on a trampoline, which is a very boring but effective way to play. Acrobatic barrell-rolling, however, sounds really cool and get ahh's and ooh's from those watching, which really might be what the people want and what athletes should strive for.

Anyway, much like many Japanese proverbs (and proverbs around the world) this one has a deeper meaning (or two). One is to pass around in a pre-arranged order, and lately that seems to be presidential power. Clinton transitioning to Clinton and Bush to Bush. It's like the kings use to do it back in medieval society so that they never really relinquished power. I actually don't think that there's a purposeful invasion of certain families in America to gain power, but I think there's some of that pervading attitude in America that they don't want the same politicians, and not just in the families, but the established political groups in America running the country and catering to the same corporations and special interests. People don't like politicans anymore, and it's not just because this year's candidates aren't that appealing (although I guess Bernie Sanders is everyone's favorite uncle, partly because he makes the political superPacs and big corporations his mortal enemy). That might be why Donald Trump garners so much support this year.....tired of the same old politicans. And as much as President Obama makes fun of the Donald and declares his "faith in the people of America not to make Trump president" and Hilary denouncing the Donald's woman attacks, and as much as the Donald is a punchline in conversations I have with a lot of my co-workers, there's still a chance that he becomes President of the United States because of the anti-taraimawashi nature of the presidential election process.

The final meaning of taraimawashi ( I know, are you keeping up?) is handing a problem to someone else in order to evade responsibility Huge in Japan, and also many corporate companies....don't take on any unnecessary risks that might drag you down, get rid of liabilities (I've seen it used for passing off foster children too, moving them from different foster home to foster home). I'll admit that I do that somewhat too, thinking "Oh we don't have a cure for cancer yet? O let the scientists handle it, they'll find a cure) or "there's an energy crises in America with using too much fuel, but I'm going to keep using a lot of gas, it's just a drop in the bucket" or the biggest thing that I should probably change: bystander effect: when I see someone on the side of road, I figure, "I'll let someone else handle that, there's bound to be someone who can help them better than I can." Taraimawashi. If I were a better person, I'd try to get rid of the "see no evil" blinders of "I'm doing well myself" but then pay no heed to other people who are suffering or don't have as good of conditions as I do.

Fantasize on,

Robert Yan