Miyazaki part one

I have decided to talk about one of my favorite director's movies and his studio that released several well made movies. My favorite director/producer is named Hayao Miyazaki, and he has been compared to Walt Disney in greatness of animated classics. I would go as far as to say he is Japan's Walt Disney, because all of Hayao Miyazaki's work are masterpieces, at least in my opinion. Now I know that some people don't like what people call, "anime" or japanese animation/cartoons, but I recommend watching these cartoons because they are not your typical "anime". Unlike typical "anime", Films from Hayao Miyazaki's studio, Studio Ghibli (ghi-bly), are full of depth, plot, realistic characters one can relate to, and wonderful artistic drawings. I said it before, but I believe that Miyazaki can be compared to Walt Disney in the way of creating timeless classics. I believe one can really fall in love with his movies if you just give them a chance.

Cold Days

Today was one of the first cold days I have experienced in a long time, and I loved it. It reminded me of when I lived in Maryland. I am weird in many ways, but one of my weird ways is I am comfortable in cold weather, I have been known to walk outside when it is snowing, bare foot, wearing no shirt, and wearing shorts. Obviously I like the cold and if I had my way, would live in a colder climate. My mother used to call me arctic boy, which originates from when I ran outside in the middle of winter wearing nothing but a dipper, at least thats what my mother tells me. I especially love camping in cold weather, because that means a good fire is mandatory. I have actually slept with a minimum of three fans on me at once before, unfortunately in my opinion, two of the fans have since broken, and thats not good. I still walk outside in cold weather with no shoes or a shirt on, I actually did just that just a couple of weeks ago. I wonder what other people think about cold weather?

Rain

I have a love hate relationship with rain and what accompanies it. Believe it or not, I loved listening to the rain hitting the canvas tents and other materials. If done right, you don't have to worry about water seeping in and making your canteen float away. I unfortunately also hate the rain when I am driving and it is coming down hard and there are other people around me, if I was alone on the road, I wouldn't mind a thunderstorm as much, but I don't know what will happen with the other drivers. I like listening to thunder if I am in a safe spot to listen, even under a rocky outcropping is alright with me. However, if I am in a position that I feel is unsafe, I hate thunder and lightning. I remember times when I was in the boy scouts, I would stay up late in the tent, listening to the rain, and eventually fall asleep listening to it, as well as hearing the thunder off in the distance.

Survived

When I picked my brother and father up a couple of weeks ago after their second MS 150 bike ride, they had ridden through wind, rain, lightening, and more rain. When finished and we were talking in the car, my brother made an interesting comment on finishing the race. When asked how he felt about finishing the race, he said one thing, "we survived."  I will admit, I was scared driving in the storm, but to ride their bikes all morning through it, nothing could compare for me with what they experienced. I would like to think it was especially troubling riding their bikes up a very steep, wet bridge with traffic whipping past you on the other side of a flimsy barrier. So I agree with his statement about surviving this bike race, and I am impressed that they persevered and finished the race.

Im Tired

too tired to do one, check in tommorrow

Gaia part 2

My dog is pretty funny and a little stupid. Today while we were playing with a tennis ball, I hit the ball in one direction and she ran in the complete opposite direction. This is not the first time she has done something that makes me question her intelligence. Other times she runs into doors and walls, we believe she is trying to open said doors because sometimes, if we leave the door cracked, she will barge right in with out a care of what is going on in the room at the time, like someone taking a shower... I love my dog dearly, but sometimes she is such a dumb dog.
There are also times when she can be smart, we can say "Go get your leash" and she will walk or run over to it and nudge it, sit down and wag her tail waiting for us to put her leash on her. Another example is when we say "Where is you such and such" usually a ball or a stuffed human figure with a squeaker in it that we call "little man", similar to what my sister does with her dog. When we ask her that question, she will run off and a few moments later will return with the item in question, eager to play.

Germany Part 2

My next memory of my visit to Germany was going to a cheese makers shop in the afternoon of the first day in Germany. This shop is located in the valley of several mountains, surrounded by fields of flowers. Also at the cheese makers was a goat, a few rabbits, and many other animals, like cows. Cows are all over Germany, I would venture to say Germany may have more cows than all of Texas. Later after the cheese makers, before dinner, we explored more of Bad Bayersoien, and saw a memorial to soldiers who died in World War Two. The next day we when to two castles, Schloss Hohenschwangau and Schloss Neushwanstein. The first is a beautiful castle that over looks the Alpsee Lake, and is a beautiful canary yellow. The second castle was built on a cliff overlooking Schloss Hohenschwangau, and is the castle that Walt Disney based his castle after. In both castles, we were shown many historical things from King Ludwig II life, in the first castle, which actually was his fathers, King Maximillian, we walked through a servants entrance and exit and we learned about Ludwig's childhood. In The second castle, we learned that Ludwig was fascinated by myths and legands, so much so that he has dozens of murals all over his castles.  All in all, it was a wonderful second day