My last entry was really depressing... I still haven't found the dog, but I am going to write something completely different anyway.

Foreign Films I Like (in no particular order):

"A Funny Thing Called Love" Thai
"Train Man" Japanese
"200 Pound Beauty" South Korean
"Adam's Apples" Dutch
"King of Hearts" French
"The Secret of Roanish" Irish
"Dod Sno" Norwegian
"Let the Right One In" Swedish
"Here Comes the Bride" Filipino
"Amelie" French (contributed by randomjunk)
"Spirited Away" Japanese (contributed by zanzibar)

I will think of more later... what did I miss? You tell me!

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I was walking my dog as usual. I couldn't walk him far on account of his heart. I just had him outside the elevator. I was trying to deal with the dog and the leash and I just dealt with it in the wrong order. I realized it about the same time as the dog and the dog- I made a couple of sudden movements and the dog bolted. I ran after it and he ran faster. Suddenly, he ran into the street and I screamed. Cars screeched to a halt, no one got hurt. The dog just kept running across the street.

I am not sure how I got to the other side of the street either, quite frankly. I just ran and ran until I couldn't see him anymore and then I ran some more.

I went back and I got some treats and my phone and I wandered the streets for hours, first with a friend, then by myself just looking for the dog. I knew that if I called out to him, he would hide even more. The dog hates people. He hates being around them. Everything they do is too noisy, too sudden, too scary.

"It could have been handled better", the shelter said. They were angry that they weren't the first ones to know, but, I lost their number and besides, all I was thinking about was finding that dog. He said that not calling him immediately probably cost the dog his life, because he was used to dealing with the pounds and said that they euthanized the dogs almost immediately after receiving them. It's a pretty dark picture.

The way I had it painted was not much better, but at least the dog was still alive. I knew that he was still attached to his collar and his leash when I last saw him. I also knew that everyone I talked to said Koreans gave dogs to the animals hospitals before they gave them to the pounds and that the animals hospitals were obligated to keep them for up to ten days. I am contacting every animal hospital in the area.

If I know this dog, which I do, he is hiding in some drain or ravine somewhere. He's is somewhere quiet as far away from people as he can while still being able to get water and food. If I know this dog, no one knows where he is. That is why he has not been found.

That is why tomorrow, I am going to dust off my bike and look for him in those places. I am going to look for every little nook and cranny that no one will look in, because that's the only reason I can think of for why he hasn't turned up yet. I will look and I will find him. Or at least... I hope I will.

So... you be the judge. Am I irresponsible or am I just unlucky? Here's another one:

Say you were on a beach filled with dying star fish. You had enough time to throw back and possibly save every star fish on that beach, but you knew there was a chance that 50% of the starfish would die simply because you touched them. The question is, would you try to save the starfish? Or would you leave them to die in the sand?

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So, I keep on hearing "보다" every time I take out my dog. "보다, blah, blah, blah, ka". So I think, "I've got it! I will look it up online!" Well... I guess it means a lot of things, particularly in the context. The best explanation is, "see" or "watch"... which... almost makes sense. My dog does look at people a lot. It's what a lot of foreigners say in the elevator, too. "You're... dog is LOOKing at me."

He does. He just... stares at people... as though he thinks they are going to eat him or something. Which I bet IS what he is thinking, but again, other story. He stares so much, his eyes bug out. I always try to turn him or catch his attention, but he just stares and stares. Oh well.

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So my little tyke, Eric finally figured out the letter C on Friday... It was... one of the most exciting moments of my life. I has spent a lot of time with him on concepts such as "getting in line" and "coloring in colors other that blue", but with the letter "C", it was as if all the crazy English nonsense I threw at them everyday finally made sense. He was like "Ah-ha!" and then wrote, "C" "C" "C" in nice neat little tracing right next to the example C. "GREAT JOB, ERIC!" I cried out.

I realized that right next to him, Mia was also making beautiful "C"s. In fact, her "C"s were probably better than his, but I admit I was not half as excited for her "C"s. She got my smiles for the "A"s and the "B"s and every other page that she brilliant excelled at. But that day, Eric mastered the letter "C" and that was good enough for me.

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I remember when I first tried out DnD. I was in the cafeteria and I was really fascinated by all the dice that were involved in the game. I had never seen a 20 sided die before and I didn't know what it could possibly be used for. I played... for years after that. I had a lot of fun, met a lot of friends that way and I made a lot of great memories. Sadly, the game itself is starting to fall in the back corner of my toy chest of life. I mean... I go to games... and then it just falls flat: nothing. It's not like I'm a n00b and I don't get it, because I still get it... I just don't really care.

I guess I spent a lot of high school playing a lawful good magic user or whatever and occasionally running some games... but now, I'm a lawful good person, traveling the world and writing novels. I guess I'm still doing all the things I did when I played DnD, it's just not roleplaying anymore... it's life.

I really do help orphans. I really do save stray dogs. Maybe it's bland of me, but- I actually am starting to have more fun being myself instead of pretending to be somebody else.

Still, it hurts when I sit in a room with nerds and dice and a DM just starting out and I find myself checking my watch, when I used to wake up from dreams, complaining that it was already over.

I don't know.

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Then that would be why you are unhappy when you have them! I have been reading a lot of articles about this whole parental dissatisfaction thing, and it's starting to get on my nerves. Partially because... well, I like kids. Kids are INRCEDIBLY amusing! Kids do and say all kinds of funny things. A lot of times, kids adore you, follow you around and say things like "I love you teacher!" They spin in circles. They hop. They laugh like hyenas. Kids are so much fun!

Sure, you have to tell them everything that they know: tying their shoes, using a fork, being polite to strangers, coloring inside the lines, cutting without cutting their fingers off, not to push, not to shout, but... to some of us... it's worth it.

Just remember from your own childhood: nobody likes whiner.

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