Nostalgia Battles: “OK, so my dog did not eat my homework. I watched Death Note and SpongeBob all night. Bite me.” (Cartoons VS. Anime)

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As with most people who grew up in the 90s, I was raised mostly by my television. Even though I was a child, I watched pretty much everything. Dramas. Sitcoms. Talk Shows. Game Shows. And, of course, cartoons and anime.

Doug. Gargoyles. X-men. Animaniacs. Recess. I watched quite a few of them back then, and this was back when we didn’t have cable. Any cable shows we watched were watched at a cousin’s house. Needless to say, we visited quite often. On top of this, I also watched cartoons on those Saturday morning blocks they used to have on basic networks. They have all now disappeared and now in order to watch cartoons, you either have to have cable, at the minimum, hope that it’s on YouTube or stream your heart out.

It’s to no one’s surprise that when we finally did get cable in the early 2000s, my cartoon watching skyrocketed. At this point, I was 15. Because we didn’t get cable until I was a teenager, most of my cartoon watching happened when I was well into my teens and 20s. I watched a little bit of Dragon Ball Z and Sailor Moon when I was a child but I didn’t get into watching Anime until I started watching Toonami on Cartoon Network.

I wasn’t into anime as much as I was into cartoons. I’m only familiar with a small handful of anime shows, and it’s mostly because of Cartoon Network. Zoids. Death Note. Tenchi Muyo. I wouldn’t have heard of any of these if it weren’t for Cartoon Network. I’ve been meaning to watch more anime, but I just haven’t gotten around to it. I really need to watch more anime. I’m tired of only being familiar with five anime shows. Seriously, every time I see someone talk about anime, it’s like they’re speaking a different language. Oh, well. I will get around to it. Meanwhile, I will cry. Figuratively, of course.

If you had asked me five to ten years ago, if I preferred cartoons or anime, my answer would be cartoons simply because that is what I’ve been the most familiar with. Now, though, I would say I’ve pretty much lost all interest in cartoons and while I do miss Saturday mornings as a kid watching cartoons, I am more intrigued by anime. In fact, I’ve been more nostalgic for them than cartoons. I’m interested in both, but I feel I should watch more anime because I’m not as familiar with them and, honestly, the cartoons I’m interested in watching are the ones from my youth. This time, I’m going to go a little outside my comfort zone into the unknown and say anime wins over cartoons.

Oh, don’t mind me. I’m just ripping the pages off these books to use them as toilet paper.

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I recently finished reading a book after over two years of trying. Even though it’s a very minor accomplishment, I honestly considered it to be a miracle. I guess all I needed was a little faith.

After some mild success from doing the Book Riot 2015 Read Harder Challenge, I decided to do the Book Riot 2016 Read Harder Challenge. Needless to say, I failed miserably.

I decided to do a reading challenge again, but this time it would be choosing 24 different types of books from all four of the Book Riot Challenges. Some might consider this cheating, but my goal of doing the reading challenge was never to diversify my reading. It was to actually start reading and actually finish books. So, yes, I’m making it easier on myself because I would rather not torture myself with Jane Eyre.

Now, because I attempted to do two of the Read Harder challenges, I already have a number of books that I bought for the challenges. On top of this, I happened to have books that I did not specifically choose for the challenges that happened to fit a category or two. Actually, of the 24 books I chose, I only need to get seven of them. I don’t know whether I should be happy that I don’t have to buy as much or ashamed that I have so many unread books. I think I’d go with a little of both.

While I was deciding which books I wanted to read, I knew I wanted to go a little outside of my comfort zone and pink as many fiction books as possible, as my comfort zone is with memoirs. That is largely because I do not like reading in third person narration, and memoirs are always going to be in first person narration. At some point, I will start reading third person narration, but I decided to stick with first person narration for now, and go from there. Of the 24 books I chose, 15 are either novels or collections of short stories. That’s pretty good for me.

As you can see in the list below, I did not choose any of the more complicated categories. Again, the whole point of me doing this is to start reading again and not take two-and-a-half years to finish one book. So I, more or less, stuck with my comfort zone, although I did take a few risks. It’s nothing I can’t handle though. I am Superwoman.

To make it easier for me, I ordered the list in the order I’m planning to read each book. I have already started on the first two and, although, right now, I’m not close to finishing either, I’m way ahead compared to previous attempts. Ugh. I seriously need to hire someone to slap me every time I procrastinate.

Read a book of social science – Confessions of a Bad Teacher by John Owens (Memoir)
Read a romance novel – The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion (Novel)
Read a book that was adapted into a movie, then watch the movie. Debate which is better – The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky (YA Novel)
Read a book you’ve read before – Chase Us by Sean Ennis (Collection of Stories)
Read a book about war – Redeployment by Phil Clay (Collection of Stories)
Read a nonfiction book about science – Working Stiff by Judy Melinek and T.J. Mitchell (Memoir)
Read a book about books – Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan (Novel)
Read a collection of essays – Let’s Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson (Collection of Essays)
Read a book that is by or about someone from an indigenous culture (Native Americans, Aboriginals, etc.) – The Round House by Louise Eldrich (Novel)
Read a travel memoir – Love With a Chance of Drowning by Torre DeRoche (Memoir)
Read a food memoir – The $64 Tomato by William Alexander (Memoir)
Read a book that is a retelling of a classic story (fairytale, Shakespearian play, classic novel, etc.) – Lamb by Christopher Moore (Novel)
Read a book about nature – The Lost Art of Reading Nature’s Signs by Tristan Gooley (How-to/Instructional)
Read a horror book – Forever Odd by Dean Koontz (Novel in a Series)
Read a book that someone else has recommended to you – Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn (Novel)
Read an essay anthology – Goodbye to All That: Writers on loving and leaving New York by various and edited by Sari Bottom (Collection of Essays)
Read a microhistory – The Revolution Was Televised: The Cops, Crooks, Slingers, and Slayers Who Changed TV Drama Forever by Alan Sepinwall (Critical Analysis)
Read a debut novel – Don’t Get Caught by Kurt Dinan (YA Novel)
Read the first book in a series by someone of color – Half-Resurrection Blues by Daniel Jose Older (Novel in a Series)
Read a book by an immigrant or with a central immigration narrative – Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt (Memoir)
Read a book with a cover you hate – This is How You Lose Her by Junot Diaz (Collection of Stories)
Read a collection of stories by a woman – The Frangipani Hotel by Violet Kupersmith (Collection of Stories)
Read a fantasy novel – A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas (Novel in a Series)
Read a nonfiction book about technology – Rise of the Robots: Technology and the Threat of a Jobless Future by Martin Ford (Nonfiction)

Nostalgia Battles: No, this is not your parents’ traditional Chinese music. (Cold War Kids VS. Florence + The Machine)

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I have the tendency to not finish tasks that I’ve started and, well, I’ve decided not to do any more Born in 1986 posts. I am still fascinated with people born in the same year as me, I just don’t think other people are going to be fascinated enough to read the posts. I tried writing a post a week ago, and I just had a feeling no one is going to be interested in reading about posts about random people born in a specific year. Seriously, I kept having this image of all of you going to my blog and quickly exiting my blog. As a result, I had to shift gears, but I still wanted to do a series of some kind. Because no one wants to see me posting about wearing the same t-shirt and athletic shorts day after day after day, I opted not to do Fashion Fridays. If you listen very carefully, you can hear the subtle sound of a girl cheering uncontrollably that she doesn’t endure any fashion posts from an Asian man.

So here is my new series: Nostalgia Battles. I will put two similar things against each other and choose a winner. How original, I know. To me, it’s better than doing a “Born in 1986” post because it would at least cover a variety of topics instead of one. Plus, I don’t have to write about something that has no interest to me anymore, which is always a bonus.

Of all pop culture categories, I am probably the least knowledgeable in music. Music wasn’t really nostalgic to me up until like ten years ago. I listened to mostly country music when I was a teenager and didn’t start listening to other genres until I was well into my 20s. I have since developed my music taste, but I still have a long ways to go compared to the average person. So now that I can finally name more than five bands, let’s compare two of my favorites: Cold War Kids and Florence + The Machine.

I’ve been listening to both bands for several years now. I, of course, don’t remember which band I heard first or when I first heard of either of them’ My whole relationship has been one big blur. I’m surprised when I can even name one song by a well-known artist.

Cold War Kids is a mixture of rock, blues and soul. They have a down-to-earth sound to them that takes me back to a simpler time. It’s a similar feeling I get whenever I listen to Michelle Branch. It makes me forget about life for a moment.

A lot of their songs can be intense, but they’re still easy to listen to. You can’t help but be drawn in.

Florence + The Machine is a pop band that has a diverse sound. They range from the simple to the intense. You can see how completely different these two songs are. One is a cute song about the dynamics of a relationship. The other one is an intense spiritual journey.

You can also see how much they have changed over the years. It’s like they’re two completely different bands.

Oddly enough, I found out Florence + The Machine did a cover of a Cold War Kids song. My first reaction was “Huh. That’s interesting.” Cold War Kids isn’t a bad that gets covered a lot, so it was refreshing to see.

I, myself, prefer the original version because I like how the extra instrumentals and lyrics add to the depth and character of the song. It just doesn’t have the same feeling to me as an acoustic song. Plus, I much prefer the piano over the guitar.

It’s difficult to say which artist is better because they’re of different genres and they each have their own style and identity. There is no question in my mind which, to me, is the most nostalgic, and that’s Cold War Kids. Hey, when something reminds you of Michelle Branch, it’s difficult not to go with it.

Currently Hiring: Someone to silently and not-so-silently judge me when I’m sitting in front of my computer not doing anything. Some slapping required.

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This is the moment all of you have been waiting for. The moment I’ve finally accomplished something so amazing, so time-consuming, so mind-blowing that it would impress even the strictest of traditional immigrant Asian parents. I’ve finished a book.

Yes, it’s been a long, long journey when it comes to me and reading books. I’ve always considered myself as a reader and lover of books. Unfortunately, if you looked into my reading history, you can’t really classify me as a reader. It’s very similar to me and writing. I consider myself as a writer. Too bad I haven’t written as much as I would like. I might as well smear some eyeshadow on some girl’s face and call myself a makeup artist.

After a decade or so of struggling to read books, I finally made progress in the end of 2014, when I finished the memoir We Hope You Like This Song by Bree Housley. By May of 2015, I had finished over 20 books. A big part of this major accomplishment was the 2016 Book Riot Read Harder Challenge and, surprise, I ended up reading nothing. As 2017 was getting closer and closer to an end, I had one goal for myself: to finish at least one book by the end of the year. There were a few books I started, but I wasn’t really making progress with any of them. Except for one: Loud in the House of Myself By Stacey Pershall, a book I had chosen for the 2016 Read Harder Challenge. What’s funny is that the reason why I managed to finish the book before the new year was because of this blog post. Gasp.

I wanted to do a “Born in 1986” post, but I just wasn’t feeling it. I was planning on doing a post about finally finishing a book before the end of the new year, then I realized that I had less than two weeks to finish the book AND write the blog post. Needless to say, it was a good motivator, and it only took me two years to read one book.

Originally, I was just planning to read random books and hope for the best that I can finish a book before I turn 70. Now, I’m planning on doing a modified version of the BookRiot Read Harder challenge. Seriously, I need to hire someone to assign me books to read and give me looks of disappointment when they’re not satisfied of my progress. Anyone want to apply for the job?

A movie about a blogger having an existential crisis about which shampoo to use

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I have a fondness for damaged and emotionally tortured characters who are dealing with internal conflicts. You get a lot of these characters more in books and TV shows than you do in movies because it’s kind of difficult to show internal conflicts on screen when there’s only an hour and a half.

Most of these movies are going to be dramas where there’s really not that much going on. There’s going to be a lot of pauses, a lot of blank stares and a lot of sadness. I do like movies that represent real life but at the same time, I’m not always in the mood for an hour-and-a-half drama of people dealing with everyday life. A comedy-drama, however, I always have time for. I like to have my sadness with a scoop of dry humor.

Demolition
After his wife suddenly dies, a man sends complaint letters to a vending machine company in order to cope with her death.

We all know everyone grieves differently. Some aren’t as sad as others. Some grieve more quickly than others. It goes without saying, but this movie is not about a man who grieves normally and moves on with his life. But how entertaining would that be?

It can be quite disturbing watching a character go in a downward spiral, especially if it involves destroying a nicely renovated kitchen, but I like watching character go through a transformation. As the saying goes, it gets worse before it gets better. Enjoy your popcorn though.

Other People
After a breakup, a man moves back home to take care of his dying mother

This is the quintessential family comedy drama. It focuses on the family both as a single entity and individuals. They have to live their individuals lives knowing that someone they love can pass away at any time. This isn’t the type of storyline you would inject comedy to but like they say, laughter is the best medicine. Or do people just say that as an excuse to make an inappropriate comment during a time of sadness? Either way works for me.

Numb
After an incident with a bong, a man finds out he has depersonalization disorder.

Of the three, this is the only movie I’ve seen, but only because Matthew Perry is in it. I like Matthew Perry. Sue me. OK, it’s not only because of Matthew Perry. I also liked that it was about mental illness. I quite enjoy movies about characters with mental illness. It makes them more relatable, more real. Now all we need is a movie about a blogger going through an existential crisis of some kind. Maybe involving Chinese takeout.

A lovely banquet hall, 50 tables with silk pink tablecloths and a human skull with pink tulips on each table

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I enjoy watching interior decorating shows, but due to my living situation at the moment, I don’t get a lot of opportunities to decorate my space. Not to mention, I don’t prioritize my time well. Right now, I’m taking things very slowly, doing a little at a time. I started with hanging photos on the walls. Then, I displayed my books and various collectibles. I then added lighting to a display cabinet because every time I looked at the black hole that is darkness, it made me sad.

For a while now, I wanted to add a touch of greenery to my space, but I was hesitant about putting live plants in my space because I wanted something that required absolutely no maintenance. I know. I know. Plants don’t require much. Knowing myself though, one day, I will walk in and find the planter tipped over, soil and dead leaves all over the table and floor and, somehow, a suicide note will be left next to the planter.

I had a rough idea that I wanted something along the lines of a bowl with rocks and water, but I didn’t really have a solid idea. So I browsed the crafts and garden sections of my local Wal-Mart and, let’s just say, I was disappointed. I then had an epiphany. “Hmmm. I wonder if I can find anything in the aquarium section.” After I was a little traumatized seeing fish in little sealed containers sitting on the shelf waiting to be put on someone’s caught and subsequently flushed in their toilet a few weeks later, I found what I was looking for. I picked up a package of fake aquarium plants and a package of rocks.

I tried to find a suitable bowl at Wal-Mart, but I wanted one that was clear and had a flat surface. None of the clear bowels had a flat surface that was large enough for me. I then remembered I had this bowl that I bought years ago at a thrift store that was just colleting dust. I hope it enjoys its new life as a fake plant holder.

I ended up using two of the three fake plants because the third one was a bit, um…

Yeah… I have no words.

I generally do not like DIYs because I know I will mess up at some point, and end up not liking the end result. This time, it was just me pretty much putting things in a bowl, so there was no chance of me accidentally setting my place on fire.

First, I washed the plants and rocks, as advised on the packaging. I know I’m not actually going to put fish in the bowl, but I might as well rinse them beforehand. I then place the two aquarium plants on the bowl, threw random rocks in a random arrangement and pour some water until I was satisfied. And this is what I ended up with.

I might add some color to it by adding beads or gems of some sort but for now, it does its job. If you want to hire me as your interior decorator or wedding planner, have your people contact my people, and I will start ordering paper lanterns and stuffed squirrels.

Born in 1986: Politely smiling and watching the confused faces when you tell people you make a living making videos on YouTube

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Call me odd, but I’ve always been fascinated by people born in the same year as me. Perhaps it’s because of the simple reason that I have something in common with another person, but I don’t get the same feeling with anything else. When I see another Asian, I don’t go, “Hmm. I feel connected to that person on an emotional level,” like I do with someone else born in 1986. I guess it’s just the novelty of being born in the same year as someone. We’ve been more or less exposed to the same things. Pop Culture. Current Events. The rise and fall of Shia Lebouf, Lindsay Lohan and Amanda Bynes. OK, maybe I was the only person who followed that.

I have been wanting to start a series for a while, but like with many, many things, I had put it to one side with the intention of eventually doing something within the next 15 years. Well, here it is. I know that all of you are disappointed that I’m not doing Fashion Fridays but I don’t think any of you would be interested in seeing photo after photo of me wearing a t-shirt, shorts and flip flops.

I often talk about how much society has changed due to the technological advances. Even just 10 years ago, we were still using Myspace, and YouTube was just starting out. Now, I can’t imagine not having YouTube. I don’t know how I survived all those years on the Internet without having one Web site to view videos and having to go from site to site. For my first installment, I will be talking about people who make a living uploading videos on YouTube. I attempted to find three people born in 1986 who write obituaries, but I gave up after seven years of searching.

Ana Kasparian (News/Politics)

I know many of you are going to be like. “Um, who the hell is this person? I’ve never heard of her. She must make sewing videos or something.” Well, no, but I am sure there are many, many well-loved sewing ladies on YouTube.

Ana Kasparian is one of the hosts of the news show The Young Turks. I don’t often watch the show because it’s a tad, too, um, intense for me. I’ve mentioned in the past, how I was trying to keep up with the news. Well, I failed horribly. Although, to my credit, I have finally come up with a system that has worked for me for a while. I just casually browse the Yahoo homepage for a few minutes at a time until something catches my eye. Ana, I know. You’re shaking your head at me and silently judging me, and I’m OK with that.

As I was trying to find a video with Ana, I knew I wanted something light-hearted and recent. Well, I stumbled across this from almost nine years ago, and I thought, “Yeah. I’m going to use this.” Oh well. One out of two isn’t bad.

Michael Stevens (Science/Tech)

Michael Stevens is the creator of VSauce, which focuses on science and technology. It started out as a video game channel but when he uploaded science videos, people were like, “Wow, this science video is great but what is up with all of these Call of Duty videos?”, so it morphed into a science channel. He mostly focuses on answering scientific questions we all wonder about. Why is yawning contagious? Why are things creepy? Why do Asian men cry ten times more than White men? OK, maybe not that last one, but I’m sure it’s something you want to know.

Jenna Marbles (Comedy)

OK. This is the person almost everyone is going to know. She’s blond. She’s loud. And she doesn’t care about what you think of her. She’s pretty much the opposite of me.

Her content has varied over the years. They range from her just talking to having conversations with copies of herself to reacting to videos to her doing a specific task. Guess which one I like the most?

Yes. If you want my attention, attach balloons to your dog. Actually, no. Use your ferret. That will get you more views.

Oh, and there’s a wax statue of her.

Please don’t tell me you love me. Or our car will break down in the middle of a country road.

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I am often self-conscious when it comes to my likes and interests. I collect Kawaii stationery. I like romantic comedies. I’m fond of interior decorating shows and blogs. I watch Project Runway. It goes without saying I’m in touch with my feminine side.

I do have the tendency to avoid female pop music. It just feels like an area that is reserved for young girls and, well, I am neither. I am fond of Michelle Branch, Kelly Clarkson, Pink and a few others. I have to clarify something. I’m not as big of a fan as I often portray in my blog. I like her, but I’m not like an obsessed fan who has every CD, posters all over the world and a life-size cut out of her in my bedroom.

I still don’t have a 100% grasp on my music taste because, well, it’s all over the place. Here’s a quick sampling.

No, I’m not a White guy. I don’t even know how to classify my music taste. If someone were to ask me, “What kind of music do you listen to?” I’d just stare at them for a few moments and say, “Oh, a little bit of everything,” and if they ask for specifics, I stumble for like five minutes until I say a random mainstream artist that I kind of, sort of like. I wonder if other Asians do this. If you happen to be Asian, let me know.

IAlthough I am a little embarrassed about liking female pop music, I would not hesitate telling someone I like Michelle Branch. I do have a few guilty pleasures when it comes to female pop music. I like how all of these music videos tell a story.

A girl is having commitment issues, along with car issues.

Demi Lovato looks like she actually wants to kill herself in a bathtub. And she’s apparently having hallucinations that she’s climbing Mount Everest.

And, oh look, Adele is having a nice stroll at a park, and she’s trying really, really hard not to cry.

All kidding aside, the songs are all quite emotional and the music videos capture the raw emotion of each song. I see more videos of crying girls in bathtubs in our near future.

I know I have to stop thinking what others think of my personal taste. That’s hard to do when I’m listening to Lady Gaga and imagining a crowd of 100 people shaking their heads and giving me looks of disappointment and disgust.

A teacher, a priest and a blogger walk into a bar and… everyone’s on their phone looking at cat videos.

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It’s difficult not to say our society is ruled by technology. When you walk into a room, you are surrounded by people being glued by their phones. Me, I’m the guy staring into space while eating a sandwich, thinking whether or not he should have chicken or pork for dinner.

When you’re not seeing someone on their phone, they’re in front of a computer. Seriously, if you go to your local library, walk around and you’ll see rows upon rows of people sitting in front of computers, a few people sitting, most likely on their phones and aisles and aisles of books with no one browsing them. OF course, people still use libraries to borrows books and other things. They just do it online. Seriously, they should just turn libraries into government-sanctioned Internet cafes and become the book borrowing equivalent to Amazon. If you happen to be a government official who has the power to turn public libraries into Internet cafes, you are welcome to steal my brilliant idea.

In the past, with TV shows, I had always felt that there was a disconnect between the real world and the fictional world when it came to technology. People were depicted talking with their friends right before work instead of the reality of sitting in front of a computer for hours doing nothing. I guess that wouldn’t translate well on screen.

Of course in more recent years, technology has more of a presence on TV shows. Social media mentioned more often. People are always using their phones. People are in front of their computer more. And on top of all of this, there are a handful of TV shows that focus on technology. I’m still waiting for a three hours scene of a guy in front of a computer doing nothing though.

Person of Interest
A man who created a government program that predicts pre-meditated terrorist attacks and other crimes enlists the help of an ex-CIA operative to help with non-terrorist attacks that the machine deems “irrelevant.”

As previously mentioned, I am not a big fan of crime dramas. Person of Interest is not your ordinary crime drama though. For one, the victim of the week is usually not dead. And for another, the victim of the week is not necessarily a victim. The “person of interest” can either be the victim or the perpetrator. Of course, it’s not always black and white. A lot of the cases have gray areas, which is refreshing.

There is, of course, a bigger picture here. Is the government really watching us? Do they have a specific agenda? Why do they want to know what we’re having for dinner? OK, fine. It’s chicken and rice. I’m Asian. You know I’m having rice for dinner.

Eye Candy
A hacker, who has been looking for her missing sister for years, stumbles across a serial killer who targets his victims on a dating ap.

It’s not enough that the protagonist is trying to find her sister who was kidnapped years earlier, but that she’s also a genius hacker who is tracking down a serial killer whose sexual orientation is ambiguous. And, on top of that, her best friend is close friends with your arch nemesis. God, talk about torturing your characters.

Now, this is clearly a TV show that attracts someone much, much younger than me, but I like the urban grittiness of it and, yes, I just invented a new term. I have mixed feelings about shows with characters who are trying to find the identity of someone. I’m always trying to figure out who it is, and it’s almost always one of two scenarios: it’s obvious who it is, or the person turns out to be a character who isn’t introduced until much later and usually only appears in one or two episodes. It distracts me from the show., and that’s the last thing I need with a show that’s essentially a combination of Mr. Robot and Criminal Minds.

Mr. Robot
A mysterious man approaches a hacker about joining his anarchist group that is targeting the largest corporation in the world.

I was immediately drawn to Mr. Robot due to the voiceover and the tone of never-ending pessimism. I guess that’s one thing that it has in common with Dexter, heh. It is clear that this isn’t a show about rainbows and unicorns and cute cats. No, it’s about corruption, chaos and burning hard drives in a puppy-burning furnace.

Eli, the protagonist, has a me vs. the world mentality. Although he has friends and people who care about him, he feels alone in the world and wants to make a difference. He goes down into a rabbit hole and doesn’t know where it leads to. I hope my rabbit hole leads to cake.

I’m nervous, but on the surface I look like a normal Asian man

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If you have followed my blog for a while, you would notice that I’m quite an eclectic person. I collect, well, pretty much everything. I’ve watched sitcoms. I’ve watched crime procedurals. I’ve watched family dramas. I’ve listened to country music. I’ve listen to rock. And, yes, I’ve listened to sad French songs.

I am a human being though, so there are obviously things I am not fond of. Heavy metal scares me. Doctor Who seems like a foreign language to me. And for the life of me, I can’t get into watching a sports game. Literally, I’m like, “Ugh. I’d rather watch some two women yelling at each other because she looked at her the wrong way than watch guys tackle each other in a football game.”

I do try to go a little outside of my comfort zone from time to time, and there are a few things that I’m fond of that I wouldn’t normally be interested in.

Lose Yourself – Eminem

I am open to pretty much every genre of music except for rap and heavy metal. It is largely because I just can’t enjoy myself listening to either genre. This is a rap song that’s easier for me to listen to and, of course, there’s the nostalgic factor because I consider this the most iconic rap song from when I was a teenager. I had always thought it was from The Green Mile. It turns out that it was from 8 mile. Yeah, a rap song would have been inappropriate for a supernatural drama about a man on death row. Also, The Green Mile came out two years before Lose Yourself did. Oops.

Scream

There are basically two forms of horror movies: there’s a killer on the loose and is killing off characters one by one or there’s a spirit in a mysterious, old house and it’s killing off characters one by one. There are a few exceptions, of course, but everyone dies. I don’t mind horror so much but they do tend to get boring if you already know everyone is going to die at some point of the movie. It would be a nice change if there were a horror movie where everyone survives. Perhaps one person loses a leg. Another person might gain an intense phobia of frogs. There are a lot of ways to torture characters other than just killing them. Killing people is boring.

I haven’t watched that many horror movies. The only one that I’ve watched and liked was Scream. I couldn’t really get into the sequels for some reason. Like with Lose Yourself, I like it, but I remember more because of the nostalgia factor. I honestly can’t remember a lot from the movie other than a lot of people getting killed and David Arquette. Yes, I remember David Arquette. He’s one of a handful of celebrities from Dancing with the Stars that I actually knew before they appeared on the show.

Stargate Atlantis

Likewise with horror, I don’t watch much sci-fi. In fact, I had trouble coming up with anything sci-fi from my youth. The closest I came up with was Stargate Atlantis, which is a spin-off of Stargate SG-1. Stargate Atlantis was a lot easier for me to get into and understand. I do remember watching Stargate SG-1 when I was a child but alas, I was a child and I don’t remember most of it nor being a big fan of it. I watched ER as a child. Does that count?