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Multitasking: Give me happiness or give me stress!

Written by GenericWit Friday, 19 February 2010 01:47

As a college student and a person in today’s society, I’m constantly bombarded by tasks I must complete, some more menial than others. Last night, had I not had the skills I’m about to share, I surely would have had somewhat of a mental breakdown because of the sheer number of things I had to do (procrastination playing a large role in that, admittedly). I had a paper due at midnight, two short stories to read, a reading response to write, a quiz to study for, and a project to start. On top of that, I had student organization duties, the dogs needed a walk, and I had two stories I was working on that I couldn’t resist the urge to write. And, of course, I was out of milk.

Internally, I had to struggle between what I had to do, what I wanted to do, and the compromise I have to make with myself on a daily basis about personal growth and academic growth. One could argue that those two go hand-in-hand, but sometimes they don’t. What happens when you sacrifice essential items on your agenda for things of pleasure? Is there room in our daily lives to do both? Is it a smart idea to organize your life, prioritizing certain things that society deems important that you don’t agree with? I don’t care if your name is Jack or not, all work and no play will make you a dull boy or girl. However, all play and no work will surely not bring you happiness – unless your idea of happiness involves a street corner or a rich uncle.

So, where is the balance? How do you succeed in the 21^st century while maintain health, sanity, and happiness? Here are some of my observations:

Risk vs. Reward Analysis TO THE EXTREME!

Imagine this scenario: You’re lazy, and there’s a James Bond marathon on. Taxes are due at midnight. Do you want to go to jail? No. So, you’re going to get your ass out of bed and go get your shit done. That’s an extreme example, and outside of that, the world really isn’t so black-and-white.

If you’d been advising me last night, you probably would have said, “do your paper, skim the readings, write the responses, study for the quiz, and walk your dogs if you have time.” Right, that’s the socially acceptable advice. However, let’s look at where that scenario would have landed me. I would have spent all night working on homework, gone to bed at 1AM, and the dogs would have been bouncing off the walls all night from pent-up energy. And I would have lost all inspiration for my writing. To me, inspiration is fleeting, and when it comes around, I drop everything.

So, here’s what I did, and let me explain why: I wrote the paper, skimmed the parts relevant to writing a decent response, ran with the dogs to recover, and stayed up until 4AM writing stories. I walked into my class with the knowledge that I was probably going to fail the quiz, and I was alright with that. I analyzed how important an A on the quiz was to me vs. everything else I had to do. I wrote a slightly below-par response, but I’ll still get at least a B on it most likely. The dogs shut up and let me do my thing for the rest of the night, and I wrote 4,000 words before getting my lousy three hours of sleep.

Picture: the dogs

Knowing what was going to happen ahead of time, I was prepared for failure. Luckily, the quiz I had was postponed, but were it not, I still would have been comfortable in the choice I made. You have to analyze how important something is. For me, the paper was the most important things because it was a fail/pass drastic effect, so I knocked it out first. The next important thing was writing my story, so I decided to do minimal amount of work on the response paper, as much as I could without losing inspiration. I knew I wouldn’t get work done if the dogs didn’t get their walk.

Is it strange that I didn’t have milk for my cereal or coffee this morning? Yeah. Is it strange that I fed my inner procrastinator? Yeah. Is “I’m not going to procrastinate anymore!” a feasible promise? Probably not. So, when it comes down to it and you have all of these things closing in, you have to pick what’s most important for you because you’re the one who has to live with your decisions and be happy with them.

Don’t procrastinate

“Bu-bu-buh… you just said!” I know, I know! Do as I say, not as I do! …kidding. But in all seriousness, if you can avoid procrastination, do it. I generally do avoid procrastination and do work immediately (such as the fact that I’ve already studied for my quiz on Thursday!). It keeps me saner. The less times I have to do the risk analysis, the happier I am. Of course, I don’t kill myself when I do have to do it, but I try to avoid it.

This goes for life in general. Go shopping before you run out of what you need. Pack up your laptop before you go to bed if you have to take it with you. Just do it! And not later. Now!

Multi-task only if you have to and if you CAN.

If you can pick up your dry cleaning while holding a conference call, do it. If you can’t, then don’t. Be reasonable about it. If you’re painting your nails while reading a book, that’s reasonable. If you’re trying to talk on the phone, organize your iTunes, prepare a powerpoint, and do research for it all at the same time, you’re screwed. And I’ve tried that exact scenario before, and I wound up categorizing Angels & Airwaves as pop (not pop… at all) and including false information from an unreliable source on a project, while telling my friend to stay with her boyfriend who cheated on her three times. Sometimes enough is enough. Just sayin’.

Set goals (YOU CAN DO IT!)

Short term, long term, whatever! If my longterm goal is to be a published author, then I’m going to prioritize writing. If my shorterm goal is to get through school, I’m going to focus on classes. If your short term goal is stick to a schedule, then that’s a fantastic goal to have. Like I said, it’s whatever you want to do and are okay with.

Don’t let people get you down

I’ve said this from beginning to end, but I really think this is the most important thing I’m saying here. Do what you need to do. If you say, “I’d rather focus on getting an A in these two classes and get a C in that one, instead of getting an A in that one and getting Bs in the other two,” then do that. People may try to say “do your best!” or “shoot for the moon!” or “you can get all As!” or whatever. Truthfully, life doesn’t always work that way. I’m not saying “be alright with mediocrity!” I’m saying, if you’re at a point where you’ve tried your best and have to make that choice, do whatever you think is best.

If you’ve already dug yourself into a hole, find a way to get out that doesn’t compromise what you want. If your husband wanted to have kids and your friends were pushing you to have kids, you wouldn’t “give in” and just have a baby because of peer pressure, would you? I hope not. Seriously, guys.

The important thing is to be rational, think things through, and make a decision. Once you’ve made that decision, stick with it and be okay with the consequences. You have to be okay, and you’ll be surprised at how much less stressed out you are. If you can succeed in everything, try for that, definitely, but if life gets in the way, have a backup plan. You’ll be surprised at how happy you are, and sometimes, happiness is the key.

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Picture: Happiness; it’s an important thing. (Demetri Martin promo pic for his show Important Things)

Actually, scratch that. Happiness is always the key. Don’t mean to sound preachy, but I figured I’d share some life experiences which are more realistic than optimistic.

As always, comment below and/or tweet responses!

Author's Note: I actually posted this blog on Tuesday over at my personal blog (clicky), and since then, here's an update: I got a 95 on my response, got an 18/20 on my quiz, and no word yet on the paper. Not condoning procrastination... just sayin' that things aren't always as grim as they seem.

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New Yaoi Anime, YaoiCon, Junjou & More!

Written by AsamisGirl Tuesday, 09 February 2010 05:12

So much new yaoi anime to look forward to! We've got Betrayal Knows My Name and Sekai-Ichi Hasukoi as well! Plus Junjou will be releasing in the states May 4th!

Thinking about YaoiCon yet? Well Digital Manga is! They tweeted recently that they have already booked their guest for YaoiCon but only teased us with the information. No news yet on who they'll be bringing. Who do you think it is or who would you hope it would be? I'm hoping they are going to announce licensing Viewfinder and are bringing Ayano Yamane but I think I may be dreaming too large for this year. XD

BLU Manga recently released Croquis but it appears there were some printing problems with this one. If you purchased Croquis in English and noticed some German mixed in there, here's how you can get a new copy without the German words.

Do you like a little academia with your boys' love? If so, I think you'll like this new book all about boys' love. It includes 14 essays from various contributors on the subject.

I've announced a new contest on my site and this one is a lot of fun. It's a funny dialogue contest and is contest number four of seven. Also, my Valentine's Day themed AMV contest ends THIS WEEK on Friday the 12th at midnight PST. The Starfighter fan art contest also ends this Friday at the same time so if you're hoping to win that signed copy of Starfighter, you need to get your entry in soon!

It seems my inclusion of some hot boys' love in AMV form has been a hit so here's another one for your enjoyment! This is of Hanamichi Monogatari (boys' love game) so again, if you don't want it spoiled, don't watch! :-)

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Hetalia the movie? Updates & Hot AMV!

Written by AsamisGirl Monday, 25 January 2010 19:05

Wow, where to start? This has been a busy week for yaoi news and updates. Let's start with what many would find to be the most exciting, shall we? It appears there will be a Hetalia movie released this coming June of 2010. There aren't a lot of details listed on the source site and none that I can see on the official Hetalia site. Find more details about it here. If you have any more details, feel free to comment in this post but please provide your source information. :-)

Since there is so much to cover, I'm just going to list out what is going on and link to the information:

Australia proposes law that could censor yaoi materials

Go! Comi provides an update

The Christopher Handley sentencing has been delayed

YaoiFest Spring Fling

Publisher Yaoi Generation donates proceeds to Haiti & you can help!

New contest on my site & the prize is a signed copy of chapter 1 of the Starfighter webcomic!

And now for something a little more entertaining. How about some live action boys' love kisses? Enjoy!

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DQ News, Hot BL Action, NEW Contest!

Written by AsamisGirl Saturday, 16 January 2010 05:03

Oh DramaQueen, how you've earned your name. If you haven't heard already, LadyQ posted yet another update over in the DQ forums. This one giving their status for 2010. You can find the post here or if you don't have a login to see it, you can view the post on my site here along with what other fans are saying about it.

Last week I posted about the banner contest I'm hosting for my new site. This week the contests continue with a new Valentine's Day themed AMV contest! All the details can be found here along with a picture of all the prizes yet to be given away. This contest is sponsored by me and Yaoi Prose.

In the spirit of hot yaoi amv's, here's one I found recently. It's for a boys' love game called Kichiku Megane and is VERY hot (and explicit!). If you don't want the game to be spoiled for you then I highly recommend not watching. Enjoy!

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~Jennifer LeBlanc

The Yaoi Review

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So i herd u liek mudkipz

Last Updated on Friday, 15 January 2010 04:39 Written by GenericWit Tuesday, 12 January 2010 01:07

No, AF has not been hacked (this time around, at least). The topic of this month’s article is internet memes and their impact. Before we get to the hard questions people want to know (such as, do you pronounce it me-me or meem), let’s cover what exactly a meme is.

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Picture: In Soviet Russia is another meme. Two memes combined!

I’ve no idea when memes originated, but Wikipedia says it started on the Internet so it must be true. See what I did tharr? I inserted a meme! A meme is anything overly quoted, seen in bulk, or heard about frequently. Usually, memes have a background story that’s interesting or funny. On the 6^th of January, 4chan members launched an attack on YouTube, posting more pornographic videos and spam videos than the administrators could handle, because a kid, who had become a meme, got his channel removed. The kid in question became popular when he challenged 4chan to get him a measly couple of dozen subscribers for his birthday. He instantly became a hit and got thousands, and YouTube banned him because of it. I’m not commenting on the matter (other than the fact that it was funny), just providing its background.

Another popular meme is “Do Not Want” which came from a Star Wars movie, which was subbed from a translation, which was subbed from a translation, which was subbed from a translation. It was translated back to English in the end, and in a scene where the character yells “NO!” the English subtitles read “Do Not Want.”

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Picture: A parody of the meme featuring Hugh Laurie as Dr. House.

Most folks, whether they realize it or not, are subjected to numerous memes a day. For example, Oprah quoted a 4channer’s post about raping “over 900 children.” Of course, pedophile rings are no laughing matter, but “over 9000” is a commonly used meme which Oprah did not know about. Thus, the clip has gotten an absurd amount of hits from people who do use the meme.

Some memes don’t have such elaborate backgrounds and are simply memes because so many people share their love for something. An example of this would be “THIS IS SPARTA!” which is used in and out of context by numerous people around the web. Some of the memes I’m covering are clearly in the English language exclusively, but I’ve seen them translated to other languages so I know that Internet memes have the ability to transcend cultural and language barriers depending on how tech savvy the user is and how popular the meme is. A meme I’ve seen in different languages is success kid.

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Picture: The tamest Success Kid I had. Most are wildly too inappropriate for me to put here.

Success kid stems from a picture of a baby looking… well… successful. However, he soon became a bit of a phenomenon, and he’s one of the most popular forms of picture memes. I’d say that picture memes are one of the most popular kinds. With sites like the Meme generator, it’s easy to take just about anything and turn it into a meme. Doesn’t mean it’ll become popular. It just means that if you manage to have the right people reading at the right time on the right website, it may be seen again.

Speaking of memes like Bachelor Frog and Success Kid, it’s important to realize that there is a difference between Internet memes and just memes. A meme, as far as I understand it, is an idea or concept that has the ability to evolve, kind of like organisms (not to step on any creationism theorists’ toes here). I can see where the Internet meme picked up on that definition from since Internet memes are rapidly passed from user-to-user virally, but they’re still quite different.

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Picture: Bachelor Frog connects both college students and those living harsh, single life.

So, why am I writing about Internet memes? From a sociological perspective, Internet memes connect people. The same way an inside joke between you and your best friend might make you guys closer, memes are a way for people on the Internet to connect. When you’re getting to know someone in real life (IRL), you’re inevitably going to ask questions about each other such as “what’s your favorite band?” or “do you like anime?” or something to that extent. The more knowledge you gain about the person, the closer your bond grows. If you share common interests or just “click,” then you know it’s going to turn into a friendship.

Since the Internet doesn’t allow you to express emotions as well, there are other ways for people to bond. Often times, memes appeal to specific groups of people with individual senses of humor. While some might not find racist, prejudiced, sexist, homophobic, etc. jokes funny, some do. When you post a meme that contains a theme not suitable for everyone, you can better gauge if you and the person responding to it have the same sort of sense of humor. It’s a win-win situation. You get to make a connection, and you get to be in a place where others similar to yourself will post things that fit your sense of humor or likes.

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Picture: Stemming from Kanye's infamous moment where he takes the mic away from Taylor Swift. Pedobear is possibly the most famous meme on 4chan.

The same way people bond over hating Kanye West, people bond through memes. I think that’s probably their most important cultural importance, other than “for the lulz.”

And by the way, “meme” rhymes with “cream” if anyone was wondering. Although, it’s become a bit of a meme to pronounce it “me-me.” The sweet, sweet irony, eh?

And as always, check out my personal blog! New one! www.goodbyegamer.com

Note: Thanks for all the positive feedback on my last article. Everyone’s been responded to in the comments. As always, questions and comments and contacts are appreciated. Article suggestions are welcome. I’m really digging this blog/article hybrid I’m doing here and thank Dai-kun and Aarin for allowing me to communicate with you guys through here. I’ve pretty much got free reign, and it’s pretty cool. If you’d like to have a discussion on anything, PM me through my forum name, and we can set up a way to talk! As always, all comments will be responded to!

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Blog

Multitasking: Give me happiness or give me stress!

Risk vs. Reward Analysis TO THE EXTREME!

Don’t procrastinate

Multi-task only if you have to and if you CAN.

Set goals (YOU CAN DO IT!)

Don’t let people get you down

New Yaoi Anime, YaoiCon, Junjou & More!

Hetalia the movie? Updates & Hot AMV!

DQ News, Hot BL Action, NEW Contest!

So i herd u liek mudkipz

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