Brothers

Naaaaaaaaaaantz ingonyama bagithi baba
Sithi uhm ingonyama

Naaaaaaaaaantz ingonyama bagithi baba
Sithi uhhmm ingonyama
Ingonyama

Siyo Nqoba
Ingonyama

Ingonyama nengw' enamabala
Ingonyama nengw' enamabala
Ingonyama nengw' enamabala
Ingonyama nengw' enamabala
Ingonyama nengw' enamabala
Ingonyama nengw' enamabala

This is what I'll be waking up to each morning for the next semester.  That's right, I put THE CIRCLE OF LIFE on my phone as my alarm for the morning.

I made a post a while back about how I was going to be getting a vehicle and new phone.  Well, I didn't get the phone for Christmas.  Actually, it took about 4 months to actually get the phone because my father was dragging his feet even though he promised the phone as a Christmas present.  Which, beggars can't be choosers, nor should I look a gift horse in the mouth.  But still, he promised. -_-  And the car is basically mine, an old-ish van that we call Charlotte.  BY FAR not the coolest ride, but still, it goes from place to place.  These first two paragraphs had nothing to do with the post, I just felt like sharing.

The reason I am posting tonight is because my older brother stopped by the house for dinner tonight, and he legitimately spent an hour or so saying that he couldn't decide whether or not to try for a big Atlanta internship or to take a sure spot in a local internship.  Can't he make up his mind?

Anyway, ever since he left home, my relationship with my brother has been... minimal, I guess?  We hardly talk anymore unless we want something from the other (which is more him, most of the time) or we are simultaneously picking on our younger brother.  I was the sensitive child; I didn't like to watch American football or basketball, I did gymnastics, and I was picked on.  Basically the word that sums up my young life in regard to my brother is TORTURE though more of a Chinese water torture kind of thing than tie up and whip.  Just everyday he would hit me or mess with me or something which was apparently his way of showing affection.  I didn't like it because it didn't feel all that good to be hit or messed with all the time.  Several times, he would make me lose my temper and it sucked.  At one point, we were at the beach, and I told him that I wished him dead.  That is one of those moments that I now regret.  However, I am getting past it by slowly siphoning myself off from my family.  When college comes in a month, I'm going to cut the cord as much as possible.

How much would you expect to be like your siblings?  How similar does your upbringing make you to them?  For me, there is a major difference between myself and my older brother though both of my brothers are also somewhat more quiet than the average person, with my older brother being the loudest and me being the quietest.  I don't know whether to like, dislike, or feel apathetic toward my brothers.  They are both conservatives, whereas I am a liberal (really, I don't like the political system at all and would rather see something other than partisan politics, but I identify more with the left than the right).  They both are religious, whereas I am not.  They both hate gay people, whereas I love them.  They both support the NRA and war, whereas I think diplomacy is cheaper and kinder (though I really can't say that I value life).  I actually became somewhat psychotic for a day after reading Fight Club.  Darn just broke two rules.  Oh well

Anyway, I just want distance now.  I need to get away.

Naruto

You guys, go read Naruto.  Like, for real.  GO READ NARUTO.  It is incredibly good.  Don't believe me? Go read it.  Here's a link to the very first chapter: http://www.mangastream.to/naruto-chapter-1-page-1.html (read RIGHT TO LEFT)

The plot focuses on this ninja named Naruto--who is a boss.  Don't believe me? Go read it.  It is a typical shounen manga in that it's about a young-ish boy who has to beat all the odds against him.  This one really focuses on the proving oneself part, though.  As well as friends.  Like, you need good friends.  Go read it, and tell your friends about its awesomeness.

As a LGBTQ youth, it helped me through a lot.  At one point, I remember saying that it was the one thing that gave me hope to continue on.  It's actually one of the reasons I still continue on.  If the mangaka behind Naruto--Masashi Kishimoto--died, I would also die.  We are intertwined.



At the beginning, it is a bit slow because the main character IS moderately innocent and ignorant.  But the first chapter itself is powerful. Like, it gives me chills to reread it.  It is legitimately THE BEST manga out there.  Nothing compares.

I honestly can't wait for every Wednesday update and it kills me if Kishimoto-san takes a week off.  I have been reading/watching (I started out watching the anime) Naruto since 6th grade (2005/2006), and it is one of the best things in my life.

Saying that, I am not a very extensive manga reader.  The only manga I have read completely (partly because many manga comics are ongoing things.  Like, this one called Detective Conan--interesting mystery comic--has over 900 chapters and is still going) is called M.A.R. and it was also rather good but still not as good as Naruto.

Anyway, if you are an active Naruto reader, I would love to be a co-fan with you.  If you have not tried Naruto before, try it.  If you have tried Naruto before but dropped it for a while, I implore you to take it back up.  It's super legit.  Get to the current chapter and then we can talk about whether or not it is good.  (btw, japanese names put the surname first; so where Westerners call Naruto "Naruto Uzumaki," the Japanese call Naruto "Uzumaki Naruto")



GOSH NARUTO AND SASUKE AND KAKASHI AND ITACHI AND TSUNADE AND NARUTO AND SASUKE AND ITACHI AND ROCK LEE.  OMFG GO READ IT!!