A note to the Students I TA for

I'm sure a good number of you resent me. I know I seem harsh when I say you can't come into lab because you're not prepared or I can't accept some work which is overdue. Externally, the reasons are all the same: the rules are the rules, you and I both have to play by them. Internally, though, the reason I believe in those rules is this: I want to have a positive impact on your lives.

This is one college course: this is one grade that won't even matter in the long run. But I want to teach you stuff I had to learn during college. I seem just a couple of years older than you; in fact, I am about 5 years older, and to someone who has been through college, those 5 years seem like a lot.

I could be a schoolteacher and let it slide when you don't complete something in time, or neglect to wear your safety glasses. I could ignore the fact that you are unprepared for lab. But the truth is, I'm never going to. I want you to learn that you can't do stuff like that anymore. You're going to have to start setting alarms, start working on the homework early, start being responsible.

"But what does it matter if it's ACS format?" You complain. Of course it does. You are given instructions, and you need to know how to follow them. But it's not as simple as a brainwashing indocrination into being a humanoid robot for the good of society. The underlying rules, which I tried to explain to you, are that progress needs human beings to work together, and you can't work together until you speak each others' language. It doesn't matter where you're from in the world, or how much(or little) experience you have in the field; the minute you learn the language you're able to communicate results and opinions, you're able to contribute in a way only you can.

"Stop snooping on my paper, of course I'm not going to cheat!" I believe you. I don't believe you. It doesn't matter what I think, I'm going to keep hovering just to remove the temptation of sneaking a quick peek. I've never cheated; but believe me when I say I've felt the temptation more than once. To those of you who have worked hard and come into this exam, I'm trying to protect you and your hard work. I'm trying not to let the unfairness of the world into our little space. I'm trying to give you your best chance.

I don't want or expect thanks for this maybe high-handed but certainly well-intentioned thought process. I just want you to learn something.

Gintama

...current obsession.

Well, at least it's most definitely worth it.

I do feel that every anime fan must watch Gintama at some point. Watching Gintama is the ultimate fanservice, and no greater pleasure than understanding the(hilarious) actual Japanese.

I disagree that there is no character development exactly in Gintama, especially in Gin-san. The openings and endings, when watched all together, make you really see how Gin-san has changed from the beginning of the series. In "Pray", he seems to be chased by actual demons, and is just beginning to wake from his nightmares. By contrast, a lot of the later openings hit hopeful notes as we start out, growing stronger and happier, for example, "Let's go out" begins with a bunch of pictures of him enjoying himself with everyone. Maybe it isn't the life-lesson-learning we're used to in our Hero's Quest-style anime, but it is definitely a change.

I haven't watched any serious amounts of the big 3 anime, about 50 episodes of One Piece, 15 of Naruto and about 100 of Bleach, but none of them has kept me hooked, with the pure rewatch value of Gintama. I daresay that after a few rewatches, I might actually get bored of Gintama too.

Somehow I doubt it though. As long as it keeps me in splits throughout an episode, and then pulls out all the stops to make me cry in the next one.