Kill All Your Friends

As I near my 25^th birthday, I look back on everything I have experienced, and the people that have been in my lives. Some people like to say that every person enters our life for a reason. It sounds like a nice theory, but I feel like I'm still trying to find those reasons out. I am by nature an introvert, and probably an extreme one compared to others. I never feel like I represent who I really am in the first couple of months of meeting new people. I come off too quiet, painfully shy, and in my head, kind of ditsy. Still I know, to my real friends, I am none of these things, but in this world, my real friends are very few, and there are so many other people who see the person I am not.

So I just feel like I am out of place in society. The older I get, the more I start to hate people and everything they do. Making friends was so much easier when we were younger, we never had to worry about trust. Now, I feel like I am constantly losing friends. They either move away, which is not really their fault, or I learn that they can't be my friend. We think that just because we've been friends with someone for a long period of time, that we can't stop being their friend. A friendship is just like any other relationship, and it can be broken. We either grow a part, or betray one another.

Again, we are all suppose to be a part of each others life for a reason, so I guess most of us are to teach us lessons. So now with 25 years of experience, I thank every person I have ever met. You have taught me that most of the world is filled with horrible people who probably shouldn't have been born in the first place. Here is to the Hitler worshipers, the Frat boys, the wannabe Oprahs, and the fake bitches all across the world. And to the people who really love me, I thank you for still making me hope that there are more of you out there.

Nostalgia Toy Blast: Mighty Morphin Power Rangers

The year was 1993, I was 7 years old and my new favorite after school show to watch was called Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Five teenagers who were just randomly chosen to be crime fighters by a giant floating head and an annoying helper robot. Man, that was my show! As a kid I don't think I could explain why, and of course now I don't think I can give that answer because with time, now everything just looks silly. What I do remember was that my favorite Power Ranger wasn't Kimberley, the Pink Ranger, which automatically made her the favorite for most girls. My favorite color wasn't pink, it was red, and that's why my favorite Power Ranger was Jason the Red Ranger. He was also my official first crush, because come on! Did you see what he looked like?

Of course being one of the hottest show for kids, they were also the hottest toys that I had to have. I remember for Easter I found in my Easter basket all six PVC figures of the Power Rangers. It was a very happy Easter for me for sure.

Sadly I remember three of my Power Rangers being stolen by an unknown culprit when I brought them to school and I never got those three back. However, these wouldn't be the last Power Ranger toys I would get. As the rest of the gift giving holidays came around, my Power Ranger collection grew, and soon I had all six of the Auto Morphin figures. Thankfully those figures were never stolen or lost, and I still have these figures in my collection today.

Bandai even went one step further to capitalize on the show's success by coming out with the Trini and Kimberley dolls. That was a hot item for Christmas that I remember getting that year under the tree. Though it's no surprise that Bandai never made that many dolls, because playing wise, Trini and Kimberley weren't good dolls. They were about 5 inches shorter than an average Barbie, and also two times thinner than her. Can you imagine that? A doll that makes Barbie look fat!
Of course I did have many other Power Rangers toys, like the bigger action figures with fighting action, that odd battle spinner thing, the weird beeper that made sounds, and of course all the Mcdonald Happy Meal toys when the first movie came out. When something is popular they'll just put their pictures on anything!

Now 18 years later I'm finally able to watch the whole series all over again thanks to Netflix. Of course now when I watch, I finally notice which scenes are from Japan and which is American. That actually makes the show much more of a comedy now than an action. Sure the series still lives on, but it can't ever be as fun and popular as it once was in the beginning.

Feeling Flush: Tad's Steaks

Tad's Steaks
152 W 34th St, New York, NY 10001-2102

Tad's Steaks is a place that borders between a fast food joint and a restaurant. I guess I should just call it a fast food place because you wait on a line and get your food on a plastic tray. With this in mind, it's no wonder that their bathroom wasn't the best bathroom to use. Still, it was disappointing to see that the women's room was a complete mess. The floor was wet and toilet paper and paper towels were all over the floor. I had two stalls to choose from and I obviously made the wrong choice because I ended up with a toilet that had bloody toilet paper unflushed from the last person's visit.
Not only did I have a disgusting surprise waiting for me in the toilet, but the trash can inside the stall was filled way over it's limit with paper. Then my next disappointment was with the stall door. There was no way I could secure the door because there was no hole for the lock to go in. Who's idea was it to make a door with a lock, and then not put a hole to hold the lock in place? I had to hold the door close the whole time because if anyone came in, all they had to do was push the door and it would open.

The best I can say is that at least the sink worked and had soap in the dispenser.

Rating:
Cleanliness: 2
Function: 1
Design: 1

Feeling Flush

When you go out, you want to go to a place that has a nice design, is clean, and makes you feel comfortable. Well in my opinion, the restroom of a place is just as important, if not more, so it should be just as presentable as the rest of the place. Just by looking at a restroom, you can really tell a lot about a place. That's why I want to make it my duty to rate the restrooms I come across in the New Jersey/New York area. Ratings will be based on cleanliness, function, and design on a number scale from 1-10. So now I get to take my odd fascination and put it to work!

What a Wonderful World: Toilets

One of the most important things I appreciate when I go out that many might not is a good bathroom. Call it weird, quirky, dysfunctional...whatever, but you can tell a lot about a place by looking at their bathroom. For this reason alone, I loved being in Japan. No matter where I was, every bathroom I went to was absolutely spotless. This experience was almost liberating, because using a public restroom where I come from is usually a nightmare. I mean I really don't understand what people are thinking when they use a public restroom in the United States. Sometimes I think these people are one step away from taking their crap and smearing it all over the walls! I mean it looks like these women come in and think “Oh no it's so disgusting to sit on the seat, so I'm just going to pee all around the seat cover and leave my piss right there for the next person!” Yeah, that is far less disgusting (sarcasm).

In fact, I have a funny story that happened to me this weekend that highlights my point on this issue. I was at a local beer garden with some friends and was very impressed at how nice the place looked. They really did a good job sticking to the German Oktoberfest theme. Then I used their bathroom and my impression quickly changed. Besides the usual splatter of urine on the seat which I am now very use to, my bathroom came with a complimentary mug of beer left on top of the toilet. Then my friend goes into her stall and she sees a large stain of menstrual blood on the floor! I don't even know what kind of woman you have to be to have your blood running onto the floor and you just walk out without cleaning it up!

That's why when I think about the bathrooms in Japan, I can't help but feel wistful. Even the restroom in a 7 eleven was more clean than any restroom in a American public place. It has to do with the type of people who use the restrooms, and the type of workers who clean the restrooms. To me it looks like Japanese people just have more respect and dignity in this area.

Not only are their bathrooms spotless, but their toilets are surprisingly very high tech. The first time I came across their toilet, I was confused and awed. There were so many different buttons, what could they possibly do? A couple buttons make water shoot up your butt at different speeds, then another one dries it, others send out different pleasing smells, and the most useful one, a button that plays sounds so other people can't hear you pee. Yep, it's like they went out of their way to give you the best bathroom experience next to going in your own home.

The only time I was troubled when using their restrooms was when I came across their traditional toilets. The only places I came across these were at old places like shrines, and some modern places that gave you the option to use this toilet or the modern one. A traditional toilet is a toilet thats placed on the ground that's to be used as a squatting toilet. When I first saw it, I thought I had to sit on the toilet on the ground, and that would have been very uncomfortable. I couldn't use these types at all, I have horrible balance and just don't feel comfortable squatting.

Every now and then when I have to use a public restroom I sigh and think back to my fond memories of the cleanest bathrooms I ever used. One day I hope I'm using those bathrooms again.

What a Wonderful World: Closets

My first night staying in Japan I was welcomed with my first cultural shock. I was already well aware that you had to take off your shoes when entering homes, and that you sleep on mats on the floor. My shock came when I entered the room I would be sleeping in and saw...the closet. In Japan, the closets are traditionally two sided sliding doors that are usually white. The inside is very roomy, so it's easy to store a lot, a very convenient closet! So what's my problem? Well when I think about Japanese styled sliding closets, I don't see a closet, I see a death trap!

Since this was my first time visiting Japan, I had certain things associated with what I've seen them from. Unfortunately, I've watched way too many Japanese horror movies! I happen to be a fan of the Ju-on: The Grudge series and when I saw that sliding closet all I could think of was a dead body crawling out of it. It was hard to get this creepy imagery out of my head, and suddenly it felt like I was a kid again afraid of the unknown evils in my room. As embarrassing as it was, I even rearranged the furniture in the room so it could block off the closet...you know, just in case anything wanted to crawl out.

Needless to say, my first night sleeping in this room was very challenging. Even though I was very tired from traveling, I found it very hard to sleep knowing that this closet was next to me. It took me a couple of days to get use to it.

What a Wonderful World Intro

There once was a girl from Jersey who dreamed of nothing more than going to Japan...

That would be how my story would start off if this was a fairy tale. Since as young as I can remember, the Japanese culture has fascinated and amazed me. From the Power Rangers, to Sailor Moon, to Pokemon, the most enjoyable shows that I got into obsessively were Japanese.

As I got older, I added Japanese rock to my list of things about Japan I love. It didn't matter if I couldn't understand what they were saying, the music was enjoyable, new, and comforting. When you're a teenager you either try to desperately fit in with everyone else, or desperately try to be different. So since music has a huge impact on a teen's life, it was nice to listen to something that no one else was.

Later on I got into Japanese horror, because they had a unique gift for making a horror movie grotesque and beautiful at the same time. With so much that I loved about Japan, when I got to college I was excited that I could take Japanese as a language. It was such an exhilarating experience learning a new language I was really looking forward to learn. The more I learned the language, the more I learned the culture, and the more I fell in love.

When I finally got the chance to go, I was excited and scared at what I was getting myself into. Then when I was there, it was the greatest feeling of my life. Even though I was only there for ten days, I had the best 10 days ever experiencing Japan as they do. I love Japan because I love that it's a place filled with vibrant colors and cuteness. From the smallest things that go overlooked, they make it unique and new. They also think of ways to make every day happenings more convenient for everyone. This is why I love Japan, even in the littlest ways.