We is Revolution

I just heard about this on G4. Nintendo's Revolution console has been officially named "We." Like the plural of "Me." With the long "E" sound. Not pronounced "Way," but "Wi." Perhaps it will be spelled "Oui" in France.

Their explanation is something along the lines of "'We' suggests that games are for everybody. 'We' will put people in touch with games."

At the moment, I don't quite like the name "We." I think it suggests "Small," or even "Urine." But while I think it sounds ridiculous now, I get the feeling that soon enough "We" will sound like a perfectly natural name for it. Or not. But if there's anything that I think is cool about that name, it's that the commercials can use that "We will rock you" song.

Kinda makes me think of Mick Foley's "Mankind" character, since he could use all sorts of "all mankind" puns with it.


In other news, I've been thinking that you can't really have a nation without a god. That's the difference between having an empire and having a loose association of tribes. I'll probably sound like an uneducated twit for saying it, but as far a I can tell most tribes don't worship an omnipotent force of will. They worship nature, which while it may be personified in some way, doesn't really feel the need to tell people what to do. Their life lessons come from stories about people and animals, and maybe a few dieties, none of which really demands a strict moral code or absolute obedience.

Then comes God. Maybe he's your emperor, maybe he speaks to your emperor, or maybe he speaks to your religious leaders who then relays the messages to your emperor, but chances are that if you're in an empire you're following the will of God. This God is a unifying force. This God knows everything. This God has some sort of plan. This God offers you an eternal afterlife of either bliss or torture, so you better listen to him. Otherwise, everyone else is against you.

This God is the omnipotent force of will. Its uses it powers for your benefit. If it isn't, you're doing something that displeases it. Sure, you could follow a man, but he is only a man. If you want to be on the winning side of things, you better be on the side of God.

That's how empires are formed. At their core, there is a single, unifying concept. There are a lot of people in an empire, and people want lots of different things. On a basic level, they want power. They want their nation to be powerful. Being a willing member of a powerful empire can be a great source of pride. It's like having a favorite sports team. You want them to be the best, just because you like them so damn much. Thus, you want them to have as much power as possible. And what gives just about anything great amounts of power? God, that's who. God is the most powerful thing there is, was, and ever will be. Your God gives you the resources your empire needs to conquer all others. Not flippant nature, not talking animals, not people.


Kyo... go ahead and introduce your family to Kyo.
They'll probably be a little frightened, and
that's most likely the reaction he's going for.
Even if they don't like him, you still will.
They'll have to get used to him.


Which member of Dir en Grey should you want to bring home to meet your family?
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Vocational Anxiety

My dad showed me an article in the newspaper yesterday and suggested I read it. The article was about how there were thousands of job openings in Silicon Valley. The article went on to say that the numbers were deceptive because there were still a significant amount of worthy applicants being turned down, and this was all skilled workers.

I'm not sure what my dad's intentions were in handing me the article, but I've no doubt they were noble. Unfortunately, I felt an uncomfortable amount of anxiety reading the article and didn't get through the whole thing. The first stressor was the very idea of working in an office, but not so much the actual work as the environment. Pictures and captions in the article mentioned the benefits being offered, including expresso bars and rec rooms. In many office-related shows, mainly sitcoms, co-workers are shown as a close-knit group of friends. So why am I stressing? I dunno. I just see myself silently slinking in, trying not to get noticed, while everyone else is enjoying themselves all around me. It would seem to me that the idea of going somewhere and not being part of the crowd... frightens me, like I'd slowly die of some suffocating disease. But I can't socialize because I don't know how. Then the idea occurs that I don't know how to do the kind of work I suspect I'll be asked to do, and that bothers me even more. I can't work, and I can't play, and my life becomes a choking miasma that threatens to rip my heart in half.

Then there's the idea that I might not even get the job. For some reason, compared to actually getting this job, this is an unfathomable horror. I can't even picture what rejection will do to me. In the end, my life is no different than what it is now, living at home with no job and no skills that I'm aware of. Granted, that's not so bad, even comforting, but it's only transitory. At some point, what is supposed to be a mere safety net in this point in my life is going to dissolve and I'm going to fall into the bottomless cavern of personal responsibility. With no means of supporting myself, I'll wind up living under an overpass and eating out of a dumpster. It's not what I want at all, yet I can't bring myself to face the terror of corporate or social life.

I don't know what I'm going to do. I need help, clearly, but I'm too afraid to ask. I'm not even sure what the right questions are. What do I do? Someone, please tell me what I'm supposed to do!

Perhaps I should try to find something a little more positive about this. Judging by the article, people with far better skills than me are being turned down for this cherry positions. All that means is that I'm in good company. These people aren't giving up and they aren't dying. This sort of thing happens to all sorts of people, and it doesn't inflict any sort of greivous injury upon them. They simply do the only thing they can do: Move on.

I need to move on, yet I just don't know how. One of these days, I'm going to have to learn to pull myself out of the quicksand. I just wish someone would help me. And I may need help overcoming myself.