Me

"Lacy"

Me

"Lacy"

Me

"Lacy"

 Since I'm fairly new to the West Coast and acquainted with only a handful of people here, I figured I'd give dating websites a chance since everyone's been ranting and raving about them. I joined okcupid.com because it was free, and there was no way in hell I'd dish out money for this kind of service. I tried going on one date, and to be honest, it was probably one of the most awful experiences I've ever endured. The girl never asked about me, kept talking about her "sketch comedies" and how she was into Improv and all that fun jazz, but never really asked what I did or where I was from. 2 hours into the date (after ONE drink), while she rambled on about some online comedy, which I couldn't give two shits about, all I could think about was going home, chilling hard, and playing some Halo, haha. So at the end, I simply asked, "Alright, are you ready to leave?" and when she waited with me to pay for our check at the bar, I told her she didn't have to stay, an offer she promptly took and peaced out.
 
After this experience, I have to say, I'm really not a fan of "blind dating." The whole idea of setting yourself up to a complete stranger and relying on only simple facts that he/she decides to put on a website (whether or not they are accurate) just feels so fake and annoying to me. Everyone basically describes themselves as "open-minded" and "easy-going", because obviously no one wants to date someone who describes themselves as stubborn or self-centered. You really have summarize yourself within a couple of hours during the date, and figure out whether or not you're going to like this person sitting across the table for me. To be honest, for me, I've never had to really go "out of my way" to find a girlfriend, I've kinda just taken whatever falls onto my lap (haaaa!). So this whole idea of trying to explain myself to someone just seems painful and obnoxious. 
 
So what are your guys' thoughts about this whole notion? Have you had similar experiences or much better ones than mine?

As we all know, DBZ has a HUGE influence over many of the comic vine users. You can see this in the battle forums, with constant threads of SSJ4 Goku versus Kal Kent or Perfect Cell versus Thor. However, when I browse through these threads, I notice the same pattern among them. Lets face it, the scope of power for the DBZ characters is absolutely ridiculous. I think when Goku fought Piccolo, they were already shaking the Earth from "powering" up (which is always my favorite time filler for this show). Considering how powerful they get in each arch, I'm not going to debate who'd win in a Comic versus Manga battle. Instead, I want to protest against the sincerity and quality. Frankly, DBZ is just awful, and simply a kids' show. And I know, many DBZ fans state that there is a lot of sexuality with characters like Bulma and Master Roshi, but honestly, that is just from the creepiness of Japanese writers and their strange sense of sexuality. If we really dissect the show, the combination of its linear, repetitive story arcs and simplistic heroes really makes for a terrible 22 minutes (without considering all the fun time fillers).
 
Don't get me wrong, I loved Dragon Ball Z growing up. The character art, action sequences, and progression of characters' power levels has always been appealing to me. Although I could criticized the reuse of fight sequences and animations (which is blatant at times), I honestly didn't mind watching repeated frames of Goku and Vegeta throwing punches and kicks. What irked me at first was the time wasted on nothing. The amount of time it took Namek to actually blow up when Freiza and Goku fought was simply painful. And did everyone forget when Krillin, Gohan, and Bulma land on a "Namek" the first time, only to find out it was fake and run by aliens who could create illusions. How many episodes were wasted on these clowns trying to find fake Dragon Balls? I'm sorry, but to me that is the epitome of time wasting. But writers can get away with that, because after all, their target audience are 9-12 year old boys. And this is only based on the Namek arc; I could go on about each one. 
 
Now something I really appreciated in this Dragon Ball Kai series (haha, which they market as a "brand new" show...get real), they actually recognized those fake Namek episodes as superfluous and completely removed them. However, nothing can save the show from its absolutely repetitious storyline. Let me break the show down for you: threat comes down to Earth (or Namek), Goku (often interchangeable with Gohan, Vegeta, or Trunks)  is either on his way or healing or training, the "Z Warriors" fight the threat off until the villain "upgrades" himself miraculously and demolishes them, and then the awaited hero arrives. After a brutal fight  (for both the characters and viewers) and hundreds of thousands of power levels later, the hero wins (jumping himself to an even more powerful level). And what if the bad guy is too strong? A classic deus ex machina in its purest form: the spirit bomb, which is another brilliant use of wasting time without children suspecting the slightest thing. Also, death is never a big deal in the show. When someone dies, no one seemed to be too concerned since they would able to wish them back to life. This makes out to be a trait for kids' shows, since we don't want to scare kids into thinking death is inevitable, at least not yet.
 
To add to these blatantly linear story lines, lets look at the main character. Son Goku. The saiyan destined to destory Earth who, instead, bumped his head and forgot his violent nature. So we get a happy-go-lucky dude ("Hi! I'm Goku!" ) who always fights for good and always looks for a bigger challenge to face. BORING. For all the asinine development in his power levels, you'd think his character would evolve somewhat as well. Nope, Goku always stays the same (okay, so he changes into a kid in GT), never struggling with emotional vices and simply looking to beat the bad guy and eat a giant bowl of noodles. While that might sell for kids, as an adult, I like see a character who has layers to him/herself, with internal issues like an alcoholic dad that used to put out cigarettes on Goku's chest. Okay, maybe not that harsh, but still, something that would draw my interest. See, if they made Vegeta the main character and focused on his life, we would see so much more character development. I remember when Vegeta gets shot by Freiza, and he actually cries as he lays there dying, reflecting on his life (even though he'd be resurrected shortly after :P). That by far was the most emotionally genuine moments of the show. Vegeta becomes the classic anti-hero (bad guy turned good), and although cliche, he made out to be one of the most interesting characters, always determined to outpower Kakarrot. 
 
I could go on and further dissect the show, but I don't think its necessary. I just keep seeing these threads and people valiantly defending DBZ and all its greatness, yet all I remember is recycled fight sequences and people screaming for 10 minutes while Goku tries to draw energy from everyone on the planet.