Kitsune Santa

To commemorate the season, I've decided to post one of my early, hormone fueled, very Japan-o-phile-centric works. If you like it, let me know in the comments!

 On a blustery winter night, a young woman walked down Japan's paradise for the 1%, the Ginza, as she juggled the armful of dolls and electronics. Her breaths like smoker's puffs, she thought to herself "Wow, I got lucky today. I know the kids'll love the WiiU, but if my hubby can't be happy about the new Camera I got him, I swear I'll slap the taste out of his mouth" The sound of boots crushing the powdery snow approached from all around, a cocky voice calling out, "Yo, that's some nice stuff you got there, gook. Why don't you let the natives have it?"

"I might, if you know what the square root of 484 is." Stopped in their tracks for a moment, the young punks scratched their heads, with the spiky, green haired leader finally saying, "That doesn't matter! The only math that does matter is that there's 5 of us, one of you, and a lot of goodies to be gained..." As those behind her rushed headlong, a cane decked in white and spiraling red hooked their reaching hands away. A mighty blow sent the hoodlums flying and both the remaining kids, and the mother looked, to see a Santa suit clad woman standing before them, her silver mane flowing in the breeze, as she addled towards the group's lead. Her ember eyes peered at him, as she said, "Stealing from a mom on a Christmas shopping run? That's is l-o-w, low."

"So? You do what you gotta do, when you don't got nothing." Her fox tail swaying underneath her skirt, the girl brushed snow from her porcelain face.

"Nothing? What of your family, your friends, your cherished ones? Are they meaningless to you, as well? Is their love less valuable than that WiiU, in her bag?"

"Anyone ever told you, you talk too much, freak?" With a sneer, she glanced over at her handcuffed and underwear dressed companion beside her, and said, "Miki! Take the mom away from here. I'd hate to damage the goods, after all." The short haired girl took the mother by the hand, and lead her out of danger. Seeing this, the foxgirl held the cane half way with one hand and extended the other.

Passion and Profits

“Do what you love, and the money will follow,” a saying often repeated in mantra-like repetition by those who want to make what they love doing and what keeps the essentials taken care of coincide. The reality of that saying, however, is that the ability of having what you love to do pay the bills is connected to how easily others can do it, whether they're willing to fund it, and the amount of talent it takes to do it at a high level. This reality is something all of us face at least once in our lives, and is often what drives many to take the “safe” jobs, while their true ambitions are left on the back burner. For some, their loves become their off work hobbies, while others leave it to gather dust, both of them left to wonder what could be, if they ever summon the needed guts to risk it all. It's a cruel abstract, and to help clarify it, I'd like to tell the stories of the girl who loves Basketball, the boy who wants to help others heal their hearts, and the girl who wanted to run her own arcade, who, for simplicity sake, I'll refer to as Danni, Shannon and Alex.

The Importance of Professionalism

As I grow my capabilities and expand my methods of refining my knowledge, one of the things I've focused on more is professional behavior, whether it's for a 9-5 grind or for my personal projects that few might ever see. I knew this became more important to me when a consultant I worked with did nearly nothing to help me gain insight on the project I picked them, personally, for, and eventually gave me nothing but silence, even after repeated efforts to understand their situation. That month and similar instances that came afterward, felt like one of the biggest wastes of potential I've ever experienced, and in time consumed me in how utterly that person failed me in even the basic aspects I outlined for them. After it was all said and done, and I moved on to search for more voices for the project, something came to form the more I saw similar things in both myself and people around me:

No matter how talented, experienced or pretty you are, you won't get a lot done if you aren't professional about what you want to get done.

In my past, I've also been rather unprofessional in my commitments, and because of that, many projects I started on stalled out and never grew into what they could and should have become. Those experiences have let me realize what can happen if one doesn't fully commit, and over time I've worked towards becoming the kind of man that can commit to something, no matter how hard it is, how long it goes on or how little assistance I have on it. In the long run, I know this will let be far more than I can currently imagine, just as I couldn't imagine being as knowledgeable as I am today back in my high school days, when my understanding of Japan was a mile wide and an inch deep. In the same respect, I know better that as this will benefit my personal projects, I know it will benefit me, personally, and raise me far above my current station.

I mean hell, if being an unfocused, lazy punk got me this knowledge, imagine how much my finances will jump when I get my focus on.

That said, I know that I can't let people's tendencies and broken promises throw me off and make me drop whatever I'm doing to sit there and pout, for that would be the ultimate in unprofessional-ism. No matter how they may act with me, or treat our transactions, or straight up brush off our commitments, I have to maintain my stride and press onwards, because I know that if I act a fool, even if I'm not a Twitter, facebook or whatever social media is the new hotness, the eyes around me will always be on me consuming everything I do and say; if I want to create the kind of product I know I can make, I always have to put my best foot forward, no matter how that may make me feel while I'm doing it.

I mean unless your career is built around being unprofessional, then it will do nothing but come back to bite you in the ass over, and over, and over, and over.

If they reach a milestone, I will congratulate them, if they need someone to talk to, I always offer a listening ear, if they need my counsel on various matters, I always offer what my wisdom will allow; just because they sucked at working with me doesn't put them beyond receiving such basic kindness and consideration, and never will. The moment that becomes a part of my mindset, I'll know a crucial part of who I choose to be has failed and will soon lead me down a downward spiral if I don't ship up and shape up damn soon. In my estimation, the consummate professional always gives those who work with them their absolute best and make sure the end product is of the highest quality to be delivered precisely when it was promised, no matter what emotional turmoil they may be going through at the time.

This is why doctors stay those long nights at the hospital to ensure patients get the best care, even if they're practically coughing up blood when they're on the job.

Accepting Reliable Unreliability

I'd like to think I'm a pretty patient guy who does everything possible to understand why people do what they do, and because of that, I've been able to gain insights and knowledge I never would've found if I kept flipped my lid at the drop of a hat; when it comes to working with people on projects and otherwise relying on them for something I need, however, that patience is immediately and constantly put through the ringer. If I'm waiting for a ride somewhere and they say they'll be there at 4PM, I expect them to be there at 4PM, not 4:01, not 4:10, not 4:30, and most certainly not 5PM; the later they are on their promise, the more my anger bubbles under the surface, more so when they altogether fail to deliver on their promise.

I can't really say I can get down with people who can't or won't deliver, no matter who they are.

In all honesty, though, I'm not exactly Mr. All Clutch All The Time, and if it isn't immediately pressing, it doesn't become that much of an issue, sometimes even slipping my mind completely and leading me to move on with my day. I imagine that those expecting me to deliver get as pissed off as I do when it doesn't happen, so whenever I'm counted on to, I do whatever my resources allow to ensure that it either happens or goes above and beyond what they asked, as I ask of those I work with. Admittedly, I have rather high standards for the people I work with and befriend, and as they've lead me to come upon quality people and craft quality products, so have they lead me to massive disappointment when they're not met.

In fact, many I've approached about the subject suggest that I'll lead a happier and less stressful life if I just lower the bar.

I can certainly see the validity behind that notion, but I have trouble with considering lowering the standards that've gotten me so much in my life and have brought so much richness to how I do things everyday. They do say that if ain't broke, don't fix it, but I know that I can do so much more and be so much more than what I am today if I'm willing to tinker with my routine and let uncertainty and potential failure become a greater part of my everyday life, as even the safest existence can be ended by one slip or one misfortune. Does that mean I must accept not hearing from people I work with for days at a time, though? Does that mean I must accept people being gravely late for an appointment or not showing up at all? Does that mean I must accept that things could be far from what I expect them to be, whether that's for worse or for better?

I guess that means I must accept that people aren't robots, but people, with their own lives, foibles and ways of doing things

I suspect that, even if my current perception deems it asinine, the more I accept this fact, the more I'll find success and friendship, no matter how long I must live on the edge of a knife to make it happen. I know I wouldn't want to work with someone to treated me like shit every time I didn't meet some vaguely defined mark, and going easier on the throttle will probably make me a better overall workmate, which in turn will produce a better end product. If nothing else, I'll probably have a few more years with my hair and youthful features the more I let the little stuff go and let people do as they do, only cracking the whip when there's something crucial on the line. That doesn't mean I won't get pissed off when aren't as timely in their responses or don't live up to their end of the bargain-I've got more than enough rage for everybody who does that, but it does mean that I'll be able to pick up the slack whenever they do drop the ball and get things done.

Just because they fail to do something doesn't mean the whole damn thing should fail because of it, and come hell or high water, I'll make sure it doesn't

On the Endless Cycle of Creation

Creativity is one of the most subjective things in the world, always dynamic and always changing according to the context it's created in, used in and evaluated by; because of this, one man's wrong may be another's right, and vice versa. Those who think there's only one value system on which to fit something into are those who've yet to understand the diversity and depth out in the world beyond their circle of comfort, nor do they know of the two aspects of it which create this diversity and allow it to thrive to this day: the science and the art.

Even there's only one way to skin a cat, there are endless ways for people to determine how, when and why that cat is skinned.

Take, for example, the oft misunderstood style of Cubism. People who look upon it often hold it to the ability of art to render the human form and nature through the the understanding of shape, color and light and scoff at its apparent failure to do so. They see a work portraying the suffering incurred at Guernica and think “What the hell's with these faces? Where's the color? What the hell is this even saying? My 5 year old can do better than this crap” They only see the science of art creation, they do not see the art of questioning why there has to color, why it has to perfectly depict the forms or why it has to be easy to digest.

In asking those questions, their thoughts go towards “Why does it have to be that way? This way seems much more interesting and fun to do”

So goes the continual cycle of rebellion, innovation and establishment, Pollack making things that would make Van Gogh wretch and Slayer making music that Elvis would snap in half while he proclaims it to be trash. Really, when people say “Down with the establishment!” they mean “Up with ours!”, a cycle that will go on after the grandchildren of our grandchildren draw their final breath in the presence of their grandchildren. Because of all that, people will continue to enjoy tastier foods, more thought provoking art and better machinery for generations to come.

No one may know where the envelope is being pushed to, but we progress knowing that it is being pushed.

Whether one learns about the principles set by noted creatives of times long past or creates their own, once they have a science and system to work with, they can then work with it to see where it can be strengthened, where it can be enhanced, where it can be nurtured to the next level. Once they get there? Then they do it all over again and push their craft to places unknown, with the results and their future on about the same footing. It may seem like needless busywork, but it's because of that process that people go from the glider to the propeller plane, and from the propeller plane to the jumbo jet, and from the jumbo jet to Apollo 13, and with each sky high achievement, the results tickle down to the everyday person and make their lives that much easier and nifty.

It wasn't that long ago that having just a library in your pocket was considered on the same level as Cold Fusion.

To those who cannot see the world as you do, your new fangled ideas are a bunch of nonsense, because to them, all those things just don't add up, but how times has that been said of the telephone, the internet, the very idea that gravity exists? If it succeeds, then it'll shift the way things are done and the world will be that richer for the contribution; it if fails, then it was a way to flex your creative muscle, encourage you to go beyond your limits and become that better, so then really, aside from your shame and reputation, what do you have to lose?

Taking Control

There are times when you'll work towards a goal that takes many steps, lots of attention and much patience in order to do well, and sometimes, when you think you have everything in hand, external circumstances come along and throw it all out of alignment, even when you only take your eyes off the prize for a second. It's a highly frustrating experience, more so when it undoes all the blood, sweat and tears you've poured into it, but that's just how life can be. It's not a matter of if it happens, but when, and what you do then defines you'll become as time goes on.

In my case, I tend to throw a mini shit fit, then pick myself up and push ahead with what's left

As for why, I wasn't a generally expressive kid, and that allowed a lot of the emotions people tend to express in tiny puffs to build into a big head of steam ready to emerge at the worst possible opportunity.  Only now, after all the strides I've made to become something greater than who I am now, have I been able to put that energy in a positive direction(although I'm still quite susceptible to moments of inopportune rage). The more I come upon these less than ideal situations, the more I realize both how much I don't control and how much I do, the latter growing more and more apparent as my abilities become more crystallized.

Now that I now what I do control, I've grown a lot more pissed at people trying to take that away, especially when I know damn well what I'm doing.

“Why fight so hard, though?” you may be wondering. “You know that the best way to get things done is to ride the flow and let things resolve themselves, so what's the point?” I admit to thinking like this more than once in my life, and more than once have I thrown my hands up in frustration and felt like nothing I did worked, thinking that maybe the best choice would be to just give up and let the winds take me wherever they may. I mean, why should anyone work so hard to achieve a goal that may not even be all it's cracked up to be and take away more than it give to you?

Because, if all the things I've gained over the years have taught me anything, it's that the effort pays off, and will always pay off if you don't let it get away. 

It's easy to just take the easy way out of things and lead a fairly normal life, things such as not allowing yourself to get to close to other people after a heartbreak in order to avoid further heartbreak, doing just enough to keep whatever job you have and hate so you can keep the essentials in order and eating that apple a day to keep the doctor away, even if it's the only healthy thing you eat all day. Comfort is much easier to attain if you let yourself be content with what, who and where you are now, but I certainly can't remember the last time someone broke through and became something more from a place of comfort.

It's only natural that growth and comfort cannot co-exist, especially within the human spirit.

Had people been comfortable where they were centuries ago, we would never have the net, we would never have modern medicine, we would never have the ability to easily travel the world, the country or even 20 miles outside of where we were born. Growth can be painful and awkward, sometime agonizingly so, but the human heart, mind and body are some of the resilient things this world has to offer, able to patch itself up and grow even stronger more knowledgeable and more awake after each encounter, even as children still developing their conception of the world. Only when we embrace those inevitabilities can we understand how to best use them to help us grow and shape the course our lives take, knowing that, even if it's precisely what we envisioned, it will always come to be more than we ever imagined possible.

The Importance of an Impression

While it's always a good thing to look beyond how someone looks, the truth is that how they look and act the first time we see them is often the only impression we ever get about them, which is the impression we carry with us when we meet someone new that somewhat resembles them; I am no different and readily admit to this kind of shallowness in my daily life. I'm certainly no prime catch myself, in terms of my overall physical fitness and the way I groom and dress myself, and for years have never even bothered to give those things more than a passing thought, because for all that time I thought that unless I was trying to create a positive first and start a relationship, that stuff didn't really matter.

Hell, sometimes I can go a solid week or more without taking a shower because I just plain forget.

Recently, though, I've began to pay more and more attention to the way I talk, look, smell and so on, wondering what kind of impression I was leaving with people who meet me for the first time. In my youth, I know that impression was somewhere between intelligent, awkward, understanding and creepy, based on how weak my grasp was who I wanted to be; these days, it's leaning more towards arrogant, loud, fun loving and quite frankly angry about the way people treat other like concepts to be analyzed like a painting hung up in a gallery for everyone to scrutinize. An upgrade, to be sure, but I'm still not sure if who I am is who people would wanna work with.

It's not like people are chomping at the bit for the loud mouthed braggart to join their team, after all.

Trying to improve yourself solely on what others want is, of course, naturally the fast ticket to stretching yourself thin and leaving yourself as hollow as a empty soda bottle, but on the same token, if you're not willing to be a team player in some capacity, it's gonna be much harder to get in where you fit in and create the sense of stability people need to take risks and grow beyond who they are now. For those entering the real world, this is one of the defining conflicts they go through as they establish themselves and come across those who think they need to fit a certain mold in order to take the next step up the ladder.

Makes me wonder what I need to revise, concerning how I sell myself to folks with my mode of behavior, dress and so on.

It's given that I need to enunciate more and slow the pace on how I talk(which is currently a mile minute) and that my overall level of dress has gotta be higher than rolling out of bed, slapping on shorts and shirts and heading right out everyday, yet part of me feels there's another aspect I need to work on, which my ego might be keeping just out of view. The more I find it tough to keep up a conversation flowing, the more I think about whether I'm letting the folks I chat with tell their side or just looking for a place to insert my 2 cents. I know well how valuable a listening ear is, and I don't want to alienate people just because there's something I want to say; I seek to relate to them as much as my skills will allow and help them get through whatever they're trying to manage.

The last kind of person folks wanna get to know is a self centered bum who makes everything they talk about revolve around them and their needs.

With time and effort, I'm sure this improvement will come natural and seep into the stuff I do everyday, but something tells me that every time I initiate a chat with someone I just met, somewhere in the back of my mind I'll be thinking “Man I hope I didn't stick my damn foot in my mouth.” Guess that's part of the dance we do in order to leave folks with a relatively positive image of who we are, so if they ever see us again, they think “Hey, it's that one person. It's been a while, so I should have a chat with them”