Wikipedia madness

You know Wikipedia right? What am I saying… everyone and their mom knows good ol’ Wikipedia: the best source on the net for quick, contextual information. (Use if for research projects and you’re dead though… just a friendly warning ^^)

So anyway, have you ever noticed how when you just idly search for something on Wikipedia, you end up ALL OVER THE PLACE. You initially went to search for “candy” for example. Then you click on the link on the candy page that says “chocolate” [a type of candy] then you click on “South America” because cacao is native to the continent. Then you see that South America is the 4th largest continent, so you click the link to see the list. And it goes on.

I just recently found myself doing that same kind of page-hopping as I like to call it, and here’s how my journey started.

So I was on deviantART looking at *behindinfinity’s profile and randomly came across the fact that he was from/in Manila, Philippines. I had some surface knowledge about the country, but even though I’d heard of Manila, I never really knew anything about. That’s where Google came in. (I knew I was going to go to Wiki over anything else but Wikipedia takes so long to type xD) So I typed in “Manila.” *Enter: Wikipedia*

 

Manila
The capital of the Philippines. So I clicked on “Philippines.”

Philippines

So I’m reading reading reading then I stumble on the fact that the Philippines is listed in the roster of “Next Eleven” economies. Click.

Next Eleven
I didn’t know what they were but apparently they’re 11 countries (duh) with a high potential of becoming the world’s greatest economies.

Developed countries
South Korea is the only member of the Next Eleven that’s a developed country, so I clicked, out of curiosity to see what wiki had to say about developed countries. That’s where I saw the quality-of-life index.

Quality-of-life index
I wanted to see how the full list went and what kind of illustrations they had. I was surprised to see Ireland (click!) at the top. I greatly expected Switzerland.

Republic of Ireland
The #1 country on the quality-of-life index. I should live there shouldn’t I? Nahh… too cold!

 

So I managed to start at Manila (in the Philippines) and end up at Ireland, on the other side of world in Europe. Oh Wikipedia, how do you do it?

Beautiful.

It’s funny how you stumble on things randomly. And how people lead you to things. I was checking out this drawing on deviantART and the artist said she based it off of the video I plugged above. Both are stunning. But the video is just… *relaxed sigh*

The artwork is stunning and the song is dreamy T_T! I have to find out more about this anime for sure. All those things combined made this pretty epic video.

Friends

It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.

Kitsune by *behindinfinity on deviantART

 

This awesome spectacular portrait features one of my favourite artists from deviantART (and I have no shame in calling a portrait of a guy spectacular!) I just had to put it up here because, one: I want to remember it forever! xD, and two: because of the quote below it, which he posted along with it if you check it out at dA.

It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.

That quote comes a book by Antoine de Saint-Exupery called “The Little Prince” that my friend Jin here based this shot off of. (Okay so we’re not really friends, but yea.) He made this photobook for his school based on the book, which he said he loved, and the whole set is amazing. (He doesn’t post the entire book, though.)

But, rambling aside, the quote really struck a chord in my chest. I mean, we see quotes like this all the time, but somehow a lot of them, though saying the same thing, stick out like sore thumbs. It made/makes me think so much about my friends in Jamaica and just reminds me of all the good times we have and will have, and it makes me feel really appreciative of the kind of life I’ve had.

Some people go through life without any friends or good friends, and I consider myself lucky that not only do I have good friends, but a lot of good friends. It sucks that I feel like I’ve left my home where all my memories and experiences are, but I can’t think like that anymore. It’s too painful. I have to hope that, like in Jamaica, I can make good friends here. But good friends are hard to come by. 

It reminds me of another quote I saw on my friend’s hi5 profile: “The best time to make friends is before you need them.” It’s so true.

So, you know, NEVER take your friends for granted, even though we all do it sometimes. Friendships are some of the best things in this world, and it always helps to have a shoulder to lean on.

 

Good times.

Books to read, anime to watch… eventually.

So I’ve been trodding around on the Internet and I’ve come across a few books I’d like to read and re-read. Hopefully I can do this sometime this year… books are fun. Diving head first into a world of imagination can be so refreshing. (That must explain my FanFiction addiction, hmm.)

1. Tuesdays with Morrie
2. Twilight Series: Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn
3. A Series of Unfortunate Events (to finish reading)
4. The Saga of Darren Shan (to finish reading)

I think that’s it… oh, and some anime, too. So I don’t forget.

 

1. Ghost in the Shell
2. Death Note (rewatch)
3. Digimon Season 1 (rewatch — maybe season 2 also)
4. Karin (rewatch)
5. Blood+
6. Rosario + Vampire (to finish)
7. InuYasha (watch in its entirety

I need some new anime to watch… spread my horizons. Suggestions?

Hello

Well, well, well… look who decided to show up. I wouldn’t blame anyone who reads this for thinking that, as I’ve been M.I.A for almost a month. I guess my explanation for that is that I was abducted by aliens…

Okay that won’t work. Here’s what I actually did with my time: I went to Jamaica from July 6 – 13, and it was really fun. Though, so very short-lived. I sucked once I realized that after arriving on a Sunday, I had really only five days to do things with my friends.

I like traveling.

After that, my Dad, Stepmom, two brothers and sister came back to NY with me to visit. They were here from July 13 – 27, and can I say, it was hectic. Imagine having 9-year-old twins running around the house and driving you nuts… nowm multiply that by 2 and add 1 — that’s what I had to deal with. I’m surprised to say that my 2-year-old sister was the easiest to handle.

Still, it was fun and I’m glad I have such a big and good family, even though things may not always be okay.

So other than slacking off and not blogging, I’ve just been bumming around. It’s August 2 and you know what that means… school in exactly one month! I’m atually pretty excited. Something about college just excites me, hmm.

Anyway, I will blog more about things I’ve been up to, like watching the Avatar: The Last Airbender finale (*falls over from pleasure*) and The Dark Knight (same effect), a job I might get *crosses fingers*, and a possible trip to China. (And how hard it is to find a theme)

Ja.