LiveMynd

According to my profile stats, I got 1420 views last 2013-Jul-12.

One thousand four hundred and twenty views. In one day. WTF.

I know that's normal for some, and even far below the average for the big names here on dA, but it is so abnormal for me that it is driving me nuts. What the heck happened on that day that drove up my views so much? I haven't received any comments whatsoever on any of my works, which is very unlikely if I indeed got that many views.

It makes me think that it was just a bug in the system...

Is there anyone who can shed some light on this matter?

On another note, I am almost done with my first semester as a Master's student here in Tokyo. It's was tough at times, but not unmanageable because I strategized my subject selection.

EDIT: I started up a thread on the forums and got some feedback that it seems to be a bug. 14 replies in, and the forum keepers decided to bring the hummer down on us. Thread closed, some closure achieved.

I have to take an entrance exam to get into grad school, and it's next Monday. That means I'm going to be busy reviewing this week.

But that's not the main point of this journal entry. I want to share a bizarre experience I just had.

I cook a lot of my meals so I have a fairly large pantry of ingredients (for a student living alone anyway). One such ingredient is bottled yakiniku sauce. I use it for both cooking and dipping, sometimes I pour it straight onto rice for a cheap no-effort, no-frills meal.

So I'm feeling peckish. I have a slice of bread in one hand, and a bottle of yakiniku sauce in the other. I place my thumb under the lip of the cap to open it, and... BANG! It bursts open, sending droplets of sauce and sesame seeds flying into my face and all over the room! A strange white smoke also comes out of the bottle!

For a second or two, I sit there stunned. Then I realize that I was lucky that it wasn't worse. If the bottle was fuller, it might have spread more sauce all over my clothes and the room. As it was, it was just one small drop on my white shirt, a fine smattering on my glasses, and invisible spray on the surrounding walls. I have some theories as to why it exploded, but that's not so relevant.

In any case, it was still yakiniku sauce in the bottle, not some magically-created champagne. The room smells like garlic, sesame, and soy sauce.

...I don't think I will ever look at a bottle of yakiniku sauce the same way again.

So it seems like I passed a kiriban today -- 3333 pageviews! I wasn't around to watch for it though.

Sure it's not a very big number in terms of pageviews, but it features the number 3, which happens to be my favorite number.

Three stands for decision, as it is the lowest number you need to have a discussion that can be resolved, assuming no one abstains and there no one has undue influence on the other members. The simplest polygon is the triangle, with three corners, three angles, and three sides. The triangle is also very useful in 3-d modeling, as it can be used to build pretty much all other shapes.

I'm sure a numerologist can tell you much more about the number three. However, I'm just happy that I reached this milestone. Thanks for the pageviews, and more importantly, your time and appreciation.

That's it for now. I have to go back to reviewing and preparing papers (the Japanese love red tape -__-'') .

So it's been a month since I landed in Japan. In that short time, I have accomplished... well, nothing really. The first week was spent out and about completing various requirements, finding an apartment, and so on. The week after that was mostly orientations and meet-and-greet events. I made a few new friends, met a nice girl, introduced myself to my labmates, and little else.

The third week was spent lazing about in my apartment, when I wasn't out buying stuff for my apartment. Geez, I burned through so much money in the past month. But I don't regret taking this wonderful apartment despite it being so expensive.

The fourth week... Well, I planned to start reviewing my lessons to prepare for the entrance exam in August. Yeah I know it's a long way away, but I have a lot of ground to cover. That's what happens when you are out of practice for 4 years.  Anyway, those plans are pretty much scrap, because it's Golden Week here! Hey, if I'm gonna stay here, I gotta celebrate the holidays they observe here, right?

One thing though -- it's pretty damn lonely here, but it's partly my fault. I'm on a pretty tight daily budget, so I avoid going out whenever possible. That means I rarely get to meet people. Worse, I'm the only tenant on this floor of the apartment block. No neighbors means it's always quiet here. Almost too quiet. (Ominous foreshadowing here! XD)

Well we all have to deal with loneliness. For me, this is one way of doing it. Thank goodness for Facebook and deviantArt that give me something new everyday. Otherwise, I'd go cabin-crazy.

I do enjoy cooking my own food though. Hell, the results are rarely pretty, but they taste good. Or maybe that's because I cooked them -- you know how it is. I won't be cooking for anyone else soon, but for now I can prepare my own meals. Saves a lot of my already-meager budget, and gives me a life skill too.

Anyway, drop a comment if you've got questions or whatever. Sorry for not posting any new material lately (Not that I have a lot of fans who care...).

Nothing profound in this entry. Just a short overview of my emotions these past few days.

It's been 6 days since I arrived here in Tokyo. In that time, I have experienced a lot of pain, difficulty, and also satisfaction and hope.

I have woken up 1 morning to the sound of sirens outside my hotel. I feared that the end was coming -- that what might very well be a nuclear warhead was on its way to impacting Tokyo. However, within the second it took for the siren to change its pitch, I cleared my sleep-addled head and realized it was simply a fire truck. That still means trouble for someone out there, but at least it wasn't what I feared.

I've also gone to bed on 2 nights feeling that I wanted nothing more than to be back home. But that's just my spoiled, selfish self making itself heard. After a prayer each time, I overcame the feelings and went to sleep.

I'm not at all used to being in a carpeted environment all the time. As proof, I've gotten 3 shocks from static electricity -- twice from my room's door knob, and once from the elevator button. I must be holding charge like a battery. At least my hair isn't standing on end... yet.

It's also 4 days left until I can move into my apartment. Staying in a hotel is convenient and all, what with someone to clean up after me (not that I make much of a mess), but it is too expensive. I end up spending most of my daily budget on food, since I can't cook in my hotel room, but after moving to my apartment, it will be different... It would also be nice to be able to control the air conditioning a little better and be able to sleep without needing a too-warm duvet.

I've also noticed 5 quakes since I got here. I'm pretty sure there were more than just 5, but I noticed just those 5. They were super short, often just a single "shake". Of course, any seismological record will say otherwise, but I'm talking from personal experience, not as someone who has a bank of sensitive measuring devices and other devices.

I'm rambling. I've spent pretty much the whole weekend in my hotel room, recovering from all the walking (which actually slightly sprained my right foot). And yet, I am still tired. Or perhaps just bored. I really want to be able to move to my apartment and be able to act more freely...

On the other hand, I met and talked to a beautiful and nice girl. That's something to smile about.