2024 sucks ass man

Hi guys! Sorry for the inactivity, I was really busy with college preparations since I'm graduating HS in 2025. I hope everyone else is doing well because I unfortunately am not. 

Here are the reasons:

1. I got food poisoning after travelling to Kenya for 4 weeks. I thought it was a stomachache until it started to last an entire week and I constantly had to use the bathroom. I luckily found some over-the-counter medicine to treat it, so it should be going away soon.

2. I got rejected from Carleton College's fly-in program, and I was really looking forward to it. I have three other siblings and my parents' income despite it being high can't afford to take all 6 of us to California and visit the college without having to take out $3-5K in tickets, and that's without the hotel prices. I also had a 3.7 GPA, but my school district doesn't release their transcripts until REALLY late (first week of September), so I had to look at my old transcript and submit that instead hoping for the best. Oh well. I still have my CommonApp to finish up anyways.

3. The protests in Kenya were pretty bad, and my family went to Kenya despite it still happening. Our car almost got hit with tear gas on the way to my aunt's guest-home, and I was pretty sure I heard something similar to gunshots. IDK how we managed to survive that hit, but it was really intense (they only happen on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but we didn't stay in Downtown Nairobi, only the suburban areas).

4. My favourite female seiyuu, Atsuko Tanaka, died today. If you don't know already, Ghost in the Shell is my favourite anime franchise, and the main character, Major Motoko Kusanagi, was voiced by Atsuko herself. She also voiced a couple other characters such as Bayonetta, Konan from Naruto, Lisa Lisa from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, etc. Believe it or not, Ghost in the Shell taught me a bit of philosophy, particularly on the nature of consciousness and identity, which is it what I'm currently trying to navigate as I prepare for college. Also, the fact that there's a new GITS TV anime coming up in 2026 and Atsuko's not returning to reprise her role hurts my heart a lot since I grew up with the franchise since the 9th grade. It really sucks how pieces of my childhood keep dying/getting removed as the years go on. Godspeed to an amazing person who changed my perspective of anime. You deserve many flowers. 🕊💐 

A lot has happened in 2024, and it is safe to say that I fucking hate it. You can't stop time though since that would break the laws of physics. I hope that we have some scientists working on modifying the laws of physics to at least halt time for a little bit and undo everything that just happened. 

Maybe I could be a kid again, sitting near the computer with my bag of Cheetos and Caprisun and watching Crunchyroll until I get bored. 

But for now, it's just a dream.