BBC: "people who are good at stuff are gay"

I took this test.

And it tells me that my brain is gender neutral. I scored horribly low on the empathizing scale (a puportedly masculine thing), and showed a preference for female faces (also masculine).

But! I did pretty well on all the ability tests, and half of them are supposed to be men's forte, half women's. Evidently being skilled with words, and being good at "spot the difference" puzzles gets you labeled a chick(-like thinker), regardless of how unempathetic you are.

also, my ring finger seems to be unmasculine in length...

So here's my plan. I'm going to start failing to notice changes in the world around me, I start to not writng very goodly, and get my ring finger removed. That'll drive the ladies up a tree... of LUST!
Also, it can never hurt to be less empathetic. (Your problems are your fault! and you smell)

10 things of 2008

These are more for me than you, dear reader.

1: Run like hell:
I'm shooting for a 10k time of 40:00, a mile time of 5:10, and I hope to just plain run the distance of a marathon without stopping.
2: Push/Pull weight:
I kind of accomplished my goal of bench pressing my own body weight ten times, this year, I'm gonna shoot for 90kg x10. And 10 pull-ups.
3: Write right:
Pass pre level 2 of the Kanji Kentei.
4: I like tests:
I haven't yet decided whether to shoot for a high score on the JTest or the Japanese Business Tests. Will change this when I have decided.
5: Search for Truth, in wine:
Yeah, I can't stand wine. I managed to learn to drink beer and coffee in the last year, now to slay the last of those demons.
6: Reading books, like on paper (english version)
I'm too old to read as little as I do. I'm working on a list of 10 english language books to read this year. So far, I have: Mason Dixon and Against the Day from Pynchon; The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money from Keynes; Demons and Dogs; The Odysee and the Illiad; Ulysees from Joyce; a book on japanese laws I happen to own, entitled "Japanese Law"; and three additional books: one major work of a living philosopher, one more serious book on Japan, and one self improvement/management book of reasonable repute.
7: Reading books, like on paper (Japanese version)
This is probably my the gap in my studies thus far. I've chosen three of the books already, Tsugaru from Dazai, Kokka no Hinkaku (from that math prof guy), and something something Nearly Transparent Blue from Murakami Ryu. For the remainder, I've chosen what kind of stuff to read moreso than what specific books to read: 1 more by dazai, 1 by murakami haruki, 2 by mishima, a non-fiction book on the economic stratification of japan, something with a bunch of slang, and something dirty.
8,9,10: workmoneyfun
The last three relate to private stuff.

dear god

dear god I'm exhausted.

year of the drowned rat.

Hi. It's 2008 here, and pretty much everywhere else now too.

I made an arbitrary run down of things from two007 in the last entry, so I figure I should make an arbitrary run up of 2008 here.

I turn 29 in April, so I can spend 8 months of 2008 wondering what happened to my 20's... something I've been doing as long as I can remember. It also means it just about the last chance to get my books in order before I'm just plain old (30).

So what books are there to get in order? Well,
1. learn to speak the damned language of the country I live in.
I've spent the last half year saving a little too aggressively for my own good. I finally got it through my thick thick skull that busting my ass at saving and wearing my clothes until I'm embarrassed by them is not the most effective way to ensure my future. No amount of investing in a stock market I still don't understand too well is going to make me filthy unbearably rich.
"Investing in myself" as trite as it sounds, has an enormous upside. If I can boost my Japanese language ability another couple of notches, a lot of things change. My job gets easier, and I can begin making myself much more useful. Life outside work, including the social aspect gets that much easier too. And most importantly, it puts me in much better stead for whatever's coming down the pipe over the next 40+ years in this country.
I'm setting aside a whole mess of money to study this year.

2. be a man. on my terms.
I may have made a blog entry to this effect, but I really resent that women are allowed to blithely announce what becomes and doesn't become a man. However, I do have my own ideas about what a "man" is, does, can do.
I'm pretty good about most of the things on my list. There is however on big nasty omission from that list. I'm horrible at even the most mundane encounters with people, personally or professionally. Being conscious of the fact doesn't help. I'm not sure how to explain it so that my solution makes the least bit of sense, but:
I'm gonna go into the lion's den, and learn to go toe to toe with people in the literal and figurative sense at a boxing gym.

3. be a rat (or a pig, or a dog). on my terms.
Everyone hates a nice guy. EVERYONE.
So rather than failing at being nice all the time, I'm going to succeed at being nice sometimes, and a right selfish prick at other times. I'm gonna presume that other people know what they're getting into, and look out for number one. I'm gonna be 50% more of an asshole, and forgive myself 90% more.
However, I'm not so callous as to have a concrete plan for becoming an asshole. (Step 1: push over an old lady)

4. stick to the program.
Last year, I made a list of several goals, and managed to accomplish just about all of them. There were many more that weren't on the public list. Some of those got accomplished, some not. Enough were accomplsished, and the benefit of those goals was good enough that I'm gonna make another list. In the next entry.

5. Almost never write in my blog.
Just like anyone else who has something worth doing with their time, I don't plan on writing here very often.