Mare’s Soul

Edit: I did it! I have successfully added 34 smilies to my blog. You can even use them when you post a comment too. I didn’t have so many when I first started making them (maybe around 10-15  ) I got on a roll after my brother came home from our grandparents and he even helped make some for me!!  Enjoy them as much I do!!  

I may be an American, but I did grow up with one of my parents being Asian. That being the case, I’m familiar with most American superstitions such as the number 13 is unlucky and if you step on a crack, you’ll break your mother’s back. I’m also familiar with a few Korean superstitions and thanks to anime, Japanese superstitions as well. However, what I wasn’t expecting to find on the internet when I was making my not-so-daily blog rounds was this question posed on a website:

Is it just me or does the whole “being out in the cold makes you sick” myth seem unusually common and serious in anime? Colds are caused by a virus. Being chilled or wet has very little to do with catching a cold. In America we have old wives tales like chocolate causing zits, gum takes weeks to digest in your stomach, etc. But these are told in a rather tongue-in-cheek fashion and are said to children who don’t know any better.

However, in anime it seems that people take the “cold giving you a cold” myth very seriously. If a character is a little bit wet or a little bit cold it’s always “we must get you warmed up and dry or you will get a fever!” Characters are even depicted as actually getting sick because they didn’t warm up! Perhaps it is being said in a tongue-in-cheek fashion. They don’t really believe it to be true, do they?

Personally for me, I never really gave those scenes much thought. I never thought they were silly and in fact, I just accepted it. Why? Ever since I was a little girl, my mother always told me that if I stayed outside too long in the cold, I would, in fact, end up with a cold. My father always reassured my mother that both my brother and I would be fine and that the cold has nothing to do with making us ill. Although I know this to be true, I still can’t help but come quickly inside during the winter. I’ve been programmed with that thought and since reading that question, it kind of made me realize that there are a lot of those scenes in anime. I was surprised that I just overlooked something like that but I can’t help it because that’s how I was brought up.

The answer to the question did mention a few other popular superstitions the Japanese believe, and I must admit that one of them was yet another one I was brought up to believe: If you give a cold to someone else, you’ll be cured of it. Now that it was brought to my attention, it is kind of silly to believe in it, but it was an “unconscious part of” my everyday life. However, I will go on and believe them, and then laugh at myself when I do catch myself hurrying inside when it’s cold or trying to give my cold to someone else.

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Oh Christmas time! Tis the season to be jolly and also to eat as much as possible and then make the New Year’s resolution to lose all the pounds you gained. The home should smell of freshly baked cookies, the tree should be all a glitter, and of course you should be panicking because you’re looking for that special present on Christmas Eve.

I can say that the holidays weren’t that chaotic for me. In fact, I was lucky enough to have all my shopping done before Christmas Eve. I was the one who trimmed the tree perfectly, and I was the one who baked cookies. I think my mom was on some sort of holiday strike or something…

I didn’t bake gobs of various sugar cookies, chocolate chip, gingerbread men, or even oatmeal. Actually, I’m a bit domestically challenged, so I’m just happy that I didn’t burn the house down. It was the first time I ever baked cookies by myself, but I somehow managed with the help of my best friend: the mixer! Or whatever it’s called. We have a ton of organic goodies to play with, so the cookies I made were like 80-90% organic. I made a small batch of peanut butter honey cookies and a large batch of chocolate chip cookies!

Ironically enough, my cookies were a smash hit! I only managed to eat about 2 of the peanut butter honey cookies. I think my brother ate most of them. We didn’t have enough to send off to my grandmother, but we did send off some of my chocolate chip cookies. To my great surprise, she asked for my recipe! I honestly didn’t (and still don’t) understand what was so great about my cookies. The chocolate chip recipe came off the back of the chocolate chip bag. Perhaps it’s because I had so few?? Or it’s the organic ingredients??? My dad’s theory is that it’s the organic ingredients, which I’m going to lean toward.I had a wonderful non-white Christmas. The weather these past couple of weeks has been unusually warm. We’ve hardly had any snow, but I just saw the weather report and we’re going to have a small snow storm for the new year. I managed to get the limited edition Pirates 3 DVD as well as Paprika. I even got a brand new aquarium set and 3 new fish! So, I didn’t do too bad this Christmas.

Yesterday my dad took me to see Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. I knew it was based off of a musical which was based off of a book which was based off of a true story. My former highschool did a production of it a couple of years ago, so I was familiar with the story and I knew how it was going to end. Even with that in mind, Tim Burton transformed it into something dark, exciting, and surprisingly…fresh. I absolutely loved how dark and dreary London was versus how bright and cheery the flashbacks and fantasies were. It was like London was looking and feeling how Sweeney Todd was feeling inside (except for Mrs. Lovette’s fantasy).

Not only that, but I also caught that Mrs. Lovette’s hair got brighter as soon as her business and personal life was doing better versus when you first met her. But let’s turn the rest of this toward Johnny Depp. He created the character as someone who you almost want to get caught and yet at the same time, you also want him to almost get away with it. So, sure you’re a bit torn at what you want done to Sweeney, but by the time the film ends, you’re satisfied with what happens to him. I could go through and nit-pick through the entire film, but I’m too lazy to do it today. When I have the time and energy to, I’ll write a better review of the film. But for now, I urge you all to go watch it! I did, even though I had go out of town and suddenly realize that the theater in my city just doesn’t cut it anymore. That shows dedication, and you should be dedicated too.

The Golden Globes are coming! They may not be as prestigious as the Academy Awards, but they usually suggest who will be getting one. I think about half the nominees get nominated for the Academy anyway, or at least it seems that way. My wonderful local newspaper published the nominees in the Friday, December 14, 2007 edition. I’m willing to list the nominees for you and give you my pick. Mind you, I’m only out the motion picture nominations because I’m not that interested in the television nominations. So, wrap up in your blanket, grab your cup of coffee and prepare for some heavy (or maybe not so heavy) rantings!

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