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Small Talk:
[Mini update: 11th July] I’ll be at the Bon Odori festival in Shah Alam tomorrow. Stop by the EMiNA picnic camp [near the huge Panasonic clock] and say hi! Hopefully I’ll be able to shoot more pictars this time around XD

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Osaka’s yawn is my new desktop of the month. Wai.

A lot of times people have confronted and voiced their doubts about my tastes in entertainment. The usual conversations would involve a typical, almost predictable set of accusing remarks and questions. This concerns a broad scope of media, actually.

Games, music, movies, books and of course, the biggest fish in my pond, anime. Allow me to explain my habits for entertainment a little bit. Given that a person would spend about 2-3 hours consuming different types of media daily, let’s do some math.

Let’s say I spend about 8-10 hours per day occupying myself with let’s say an average of 4 different types of entertainment. Think of it as reaching into a black bag filled with lots of coloured balls.

I listen to music.
I watch movies.
I watch anime.
I play games.
I read books. Mostly fantasy and sci-fi, in case you’re wondering.
I get my news feed online.
I occasionally go on a photography walkabout.

I don’t watch TV.
I don’t read magazines.
I don’t read the papers. [Not as much as I used to, at least]
I don’t go clubbing.
I don’t hang out in obligatory cliques.
I don’t take joy rides. [Unless they start selling CPO-based fuel or electric cars to us]
I don’t spend too much time at the mamak.
I don’t do sports, or follow up with sports news.
I don’t loiter around shopping malls ogling at chicks or trying to look hot.
I don’t go bowling.
I don’t go karaoke.
I don’t play pool.

Out of the seven things I do for fun, only two of them does NOT involve sitting in front of a PC. I should also perhaps mention that my studies require that I spend good amounts of hours WORKING in front of a PC.

Now, pick any four of my pastimes I listed. On top of the 3-4 hours I spend in front of the PC for my studies, chances are you’re going to see me spending an additional 4-6 hours enjoying myself without ever taking a single step away from the table.

This is apparently where they start pestering me. They’d tell me to go get a life, go get a girlfriend, go get wasted, go get laid, that sort of thing. If I were to put myself in their shoes [this is something I'm quite good at, actually :p], it would make perfect sense.

I’ve already spent hours sitting in front of the PC working, why the hell would I wanna spend an additional 4-6 hours of my free time, STILL facing the monitor? It’s one thing they don’t understand, and unless they try it themselves, they probably never will.

I’ve been accused of being addicted to the Internet, of being obsessive about my PC. I’m not going to deny those remarks, for two reasons: The Internet is where I source the material I work, study, and enjoy. I’m obsessive about my PC, because it’s the platform where I work, study and enjoy myself.

Yes, perhaps I do spend too much time in front of the PC, but really, it’s not like I’m socially withdrawn. I have like, what, less a 100 friends on Friendster? [I never bothered to check] That’s never kept me from making new friends, and it’s especially never kept me from discovering the greatest of friends.

I am quite capable of comfortably living my life without measuring up to your standards. I have no qualms sharing my passion and knowledge to those who wish to understand. I can easily take a seat in your chair, and I can as easily accept your way of life as a statement for who you are.

Next time, before you start questioning people about their way of life and how it’s so weird, give yourself a long hard look in the mirror. Whose standards are you measuring yourself up to?

Come talk to me again the moment you can give yourself an honest answer in less than 10 seconds.