On the Way Down

Last night a manga I have been reading for nearly a year came to a very abrupt end. It ended on chapter 162 and I didn't see it coming for one minute, I thought it still could go about another 50 chapters or so. The manga is called to-LOVE-ru (this is the actual title of the manga. If you spell out the title in japanese it means "trouble") and is the story about a boy who finds an alien in his home named Lala (she comes from the planet of Deviluke and they have a human appearance, the only difference is that they have a black tail and are stronger than humans) She is being pursued by people of her home planet because she is a runaway princess. Well...The story entails the adventures of the boy (Rito), Lala, and a bunch of other characters. When I first read it I thought it was hilarious. It was still very funny except the last few chapters. 162 leaves the story at somewhat of a cliffhanger. Rito tells his two main love interests that he loves both of them (idiot) -_-...And the last two pages basically say "Well, this is where the story ends, but it goes on..." And I just kind of sat there and was like...ARE YOU SERIOUS?! I hate endings like that. Oh well, off to find new stories and better endings. I've been waiting to do a blog on this song so long but I told myself I would only do it when to-LOVE-ru ended.

"And on the way down I saw you and you saved me from myself"-On the Way Down by Ryan Cabrera

Everything You Want

Finished a manga today called Akuma Jiten. It had an alright ending, better than what I've read recently except for the last manga I read called Mayu Ayu in which I really enjoyed the ending. The story is basically about a girl demon named Milky Way who one day comes into the human world and meets a boy named Hiroyuki and wants to make him her servant. After some stuff he agrees to it. Comedy Romance junk, you know how it goes. Near the end there is like an ultimate showdown between Hiroyuki and the Demon Lord who both, yup you guessed it, love Milky Way. Which ends in Hiroyuki getting thrown off a cliff, I started laughing because that has to really stink. But Milky Way saves him and the Demon Lord decides to go away, marching off back to the "Netherworld." Well I wasn't very happy with that part I wanted blood and guts, ya know fight to the death so I was already bummed out about that. Then there was an ending that ok, I could have lived with it. But after that there was an epilogue which gave no hint at which way their relationship had gone...So I'm gonna be moping around for a while about that. I need to find another good manga but I've been reading one called Onidere which has shown much promise. For every manga I usually "assign" a song that I play when I start reading that manga. This started with either To-Love-ru or Ai Kora. I usually let the song just fall into place and I just think, wow this is great. Then I went through a short stint where I actually just picked out a song and was like, Ok this is this manga's song...That didn't go to well so I went back to the first style. I was on the last chapter and the song wasn't playing but yet I heard it in my head. I really like this song and I've been waiting for the perfect manga to put it to, guess I found it. The song is about a guy that does all the right things by this girl but she doesn't even notice him, GREAT song.

"He's everything you want He's everything you need He's everything inside of you that you wish you could be He says all the right things at exactly the right time but he means nothing to you and you don't know why"-Everything You Want by Vertical Horizon

Pork and Beans

Today I went to the Bishop's storehouse and helped give food to people who need it. The Bishop's storehouse is like the foodbank. People fill out orders and then come to pick up their food. The shelves are lined just like a very small grocery store. Theres canned food, milk, eggs, fruits, vegetables, etc. My job most of the time was to stock the shelves when the food ran low. I stayed there from 8AM-2PM. Its tiring but you always feel like you've made a difference when you leave. One food that comes in a can are pork and beans. Whenever I see that this song always comes to mind. To me the song is about people doing what they want to do and not what others want them to do, or the world's standard of things. I seriously need to get back in the habit of doing this.

"Ima do the things that I wanna do I ain't got a thing to prove to you I'll eat my candy with the pork and beans excuse my manners if I make a scene"-Pork and Beans by Weezer

Fine

Hey, its been a month jeez. Alright I'm just really posting this so I can get back into the habit of blogging. A lot to say but I don't think it will be good for this post, I'll put it in an upcoming one. Alright I'm a little nervous about some stuff thats coming up, Scouts and School mostly. I have to start reading soon or basically im stuck between a rock and a hard place. Uh, found a new manga. I been wanting to yell at it since I resumed reading it today. Just really not going in the right direction. The band that sings this song is Lemon Demon. Lemon Demon is kinda special because on Myspace I looked up their space and found out that one of their influences was They Might Be Giants. (One of Three of my current favorite bands) And when I really got to thinking about it, Lemon Demon is really just a fresher They Might Be Giants so its all good. I'm worried about stuff but its alright I'll just sit back and have a nice afternoon, it'll be fine. There can't be good without the bad. (Below is the link to a video that contains the song. Its a really good song that I enjoy and this is how I first heard it. If you look at the comments mine is 2nd from the top and was made at least a YEAR ago.)

"I know that every bomb has a silver lining I know, I know it won't be long until everything works out nice in the end the sun will marry the moon Why don't we sit back mellow again and have a nice afternoon"-Fine by Lemon Demon

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUVre6JaVl0

D-Day

On this day 65 years ago, one of dozens of defining moments took place in World War II. On June 6, 1944 Allied soldiers took part in the invasion of Normandy, a strip of coast in France. 160,000 soldier participated in the landings, over 195,000 navy personnel and at least 5000 ships supported these soldiers in their landings. Landings took place on 5 different stretches of beach, each designated with a code name. American, British, and Canadian forces were designated for these beaches. The Americans landed at Omaha and Utah. The British landed at Gold and Sword. The Canadians landed at Juno. The most heavily defended beach was Omaha, 5000 soldiers gave their life there. 50% of total losses from the Normandy Invasion. Many objectives set to be done on D-Day were not achieved, so progress was slow getting out of Normandy but the invasion of France continued and ultimately ended the war. For many this is where the story of D-Day ended, however the story of how it began started many years ago. From the time Russia switched to the Allies side to the time of D-Day Stalin had told the Allies to open a second front. However Allied leaders did not have the proper planning for an invasion of that magnitude. Also the U.S. had just joined the war and did not have the experience that the British had. So while forming the plans for an invasion of France, the U.S. landed in Africa under Operation Torch and later the Allies invaded Italy in Operation Husky. It was hoped that Germany could be captured from Italy however this proved improbable because of the easily defendable Italian Alps. So finally the plans for D-Day were set and put into motion. Large numbers of Allied troops were transferred to the U.K. and begun special beach landing training. At this time paratroopers also began training for landing behind the German lines and taking certain towns and other objectives. Months before this up to D-Day Allied bombings had turned from strategic bombing (the bombing of factories, cities, refineries, and anything else that helps the warmaking industry) to the bombing of sites in France, mostly transportation hubs, such as railroads. All the movement on the ground was easily noticeable so the Allies also took precautions to camoflauge all that was going on. "Dummy" tanks were also created, inflatable devices that look like tanks from the air. The art of deceiving also came into play. Somehow the Allies conveyed to the Germans that any landing at France would occur farther up the beach, not at Normandy. Therefore many German defenses were moved and not present at Normandy. One of the last deciding factors for D-Day was the weather. If there was a storm than the Higgins landing craft wouldn't be able to make it to the beach. If the clouds were too low aircraft wouldn't be able to find their targets, this included not only the fighters and bombers supporting the troops but also the planes carrying paratroopers and commandos. It also had to be done on a night that would have a full moon since paratrooper landings would take place at night and so would the preperations for soldiers getting into landing craft. The original plans for D-Day were for the invasion to take place on June 5. Weather however didn't comply. On June 4 the weather deteriorated and June 5 the weather was no better. In an emergency meeting of the commanders Eisenhower's chief meteorolgist Stagg forecast a brief improvement on June 6. Eisenhower was the supreme commander of all Allied forces. The defining moment of his career took place on this day. Finally Eisenhower gave the go-ahead. Eisenhower was still doubtful though about the invasion and that night he wrote a note for a possible speech of the failure of D-Day. Everyone began to get in their final positions before the invasion. Eisenhower went to go see members of the 101st Airborne. The planes carrying the paratroopers took off and the paratroopers landed in areas that were not their drop zones. Despite this they tried to accomplish their goals and many did. Ships began bombarding the beaches of Normandy. Than at 6:30 A.M. the D-Day landings as we know them today commenced.

"You are about to embark upon the great crusade toward which we have striven these many months"-Dwight D. Eisenhower

Climbing the Walls

Its nearly here, my next big fear...Philmont. Now I'm sure many of you are asking what is Philmont? The answer a place extremely famous among Boy Scouts in New Mexico. You hike up Mt. Baldy to reach the peak, then you come back down. The place is filled with wild animals, your out there for a total of 12 days with a backpack on with everything you need. Ive been told on average it weighs 40-50 lbs. All in all its a total of 80 some odd miles. On a lighter note...I've found a great new manga!!! Although I've been reading it since before school ended. I'm currently on chapter 115 out of 167! Again though its one where the main character can't choose the girl that he likes which really gets on my nerves. It has been really good though, that I will give it credit for. Not much else to say, just been sitting at home playing on the computer, oh, just cuz I didn't get to tell her at church I'll put it in here. Happy Birthday Naomi! Man if I'm not careful I'm gonna get bored and start climbing the walls.

"I can't talk I gotta go Don't call me back I won't get the door Got to focus on the job cause I got a new job climbing the walls"-Climbing the Walls by They Might Be Giants

Jesus He Knows Me

Another great song by the infamous band Genesis. Well today was the last day of 8th grade, which is both frightening and amazing to me. So many friends are leaving, I'm sure many people are coming to Westbury so theres a chance there will be new friends to make. Even some of our most beloved teachers are leaving. I think the most influential of the teachers leaving are Mr. P and Mr. Semanek. With Mr. P we liked the same things and he made me think in ways I never have. Mr. Semanek has been more of a positive aspect in my spiritual life and I hope to be more like him when I get older, but I also consider Mr. Semanek a good friend of mine. Frightening to me because next year I will be in 9th grade which means the work only gets harder! Not to mention I might not even make it to 9th grade considering I'm going to Philmont! I don't know why but to me my life is lived in series of worrying, I'm always in 3 stages of life: Worrying about something, doing that something I'm worried about, Have absolutely no worries. (These are few and far between) However I think I may be changing my ways, I saw a bible verse I think that said "If it is not worth praying about, then it is not worth worrying about" I've already tried applying it to life and I think it works! I'm excited though because next year...FRESHMAN!!! Jeez though, Its amazing that the year is already over, it feels like it just began. Honorable mention, its the 3rd anniversary for one of the best mangas I have ever read, To-Love-Ru (It means trouble in Japanese) Today our last exam for the day was Bible. I've been wondering how I did on all my tests. I don't know about them...but Jesus, he knows me. (Heh I didn't know what this song was even about until I looked up the lyrics)

"Jesus he knows me, you know"-Jesus He Knows Me by Genesis