Nothing has prepared me for what had sneaked its way into my very own home. It enshrouded my senses with despair. It availed itself in my darkest nightmares. It penetrated my soul and robbed me of all the hope I held so dear of this plane on which I tread.

No man deserves to be in the presence of this wretched spawn of monstrosity that so sinisterly emerged from the very depths of hell itself. Never had I encountered something so devillish, so vile, so fiendish, so infernal, so everything else the thesaurus can dish out. What am I speaking of in a manner so flamboyantly sullen is nothing but the abomination that is:

The smell of rotten potatoes.

One can only imagine the horrific stench of rotten potatoes I unknowingly purchased at SuperFresh if one has not smelled anything fouler than one’s own excretion. The very ooze it leaks is sufficient to render a small creature lifeless. The bag in which I carried them back to my home had to be exorcised with the holiest detergents known to man. Night after night it haunts my dreams, taunting me with its vicious whispers, ‘Where is your god now?’.

I believe I made my point.

In every generation, there have been those who exceed their peers in their craft. They are capable of conceiving and implementing their work with incomparable integrity in its time. In 2008, the creators and stars of The Dark Knight has triumphed in the craft of story telling.

I endured the bad commercials as I awaited the movie to start, I have seen every teaser and trailer the studios dished out. It is one thing to watch a movie you know will be good, it is another when it tops your expectations. By the time the ending credits roll in, my view of superhero movies has seen the dawn.

One CGI-riddled flick after another, Hollywood has churned out a generous array of comic book (graphic novels, if you will) and video game adaptations. But most of them can only evoke so much as a few thrills and some laughs from fans and critics alike. The Dark Knight explores the “what-if” of life and human nature, the mind of a fictional psychopath, and the definition of a hero.

The Joker embodies a twisted outlook on humanity, how insane a thoughtful man can be. Aesthetics aside, he can really put together an organized plot to wreak some true havoc. With the more than remarkable performance of the late Heath Ledger, the Joker of the Dark Knight is one of the more frightening villains to grace the silver screen. Rest in peace, Mr. Ledger, you shall be honored as long as time will allow.

The very talented writers have brought us what being a hero is really about. Is it the abilities that one possesses? Is it the number of lives one can save? Or is it about the number of criminals put to justice? After the Dark Knight, I have set a rule of thumb, a measuring rod, a benchmark to determine the worth of what passes as superhero movies. How much is the so-called hero willing to sacrifice?

Other movies of its kind claim to tell stories of heroes. But most of them risk only their health or their costumes in order to win at the end. Batman has sacrificed something an ordinary man would not, resulting in an effect only some one of his unbreakable sense of justice would deem as victory. With this, most his fellow superheroes of both Marvel and DC fall to shame.

I can only hope that this movie will leave audiences asking themselves the things that matter. What would I have done in his stead? Could mankind stoop so low as to weigh the value of lives? Will I always be a bystander?

I can only hope.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you: me.

That’s right. I’m only young once and I have nothing to lose. I have now joined the ranks of the young white-haired people of TV. Here are my some of my kin.

Kakashi Hatake of Naruto

Roland Cox the paladin of Jumper

Sephiroth of Final Fantasy VII

Anderson Cooper of CNN

Hitsugaya Toushirou of Bleach

Aurora Monroe AKA Storm of X-Men

Batou of Ghost in the Shell

Taylor Hicks of American Idol (Random enough?)

Abel Nightroad of Trinity Blood

Riku of Kingdom Hearts

Who the heck is Inuyasha?

Ask me two months ago what I was planning to do this summer. I would say: I don’t know.

Ask me now what I am doing this summer. I would say: I don’t know anymore.

I started out with a two-hour a day part time job at my uni, at the International Student and Scholar office. I would screen phone calls while everyone else at the office have lunch. Fabulous.

I revamped my portfolio and found a few client referrals. Two of them did not get back to me until yesterday, the others are completely silent. Awesome.

I embarked on an ambitious bid to write a space-fantasy novel, knowing how it starts and how it begins. 4000 words in, I felt I needed to read more books. Fantastic.

I effortlessly made an video for the Klondike Bar contest. Its currently rated 1.5/5. Dignifying.

*On a side note, I made these two videos*

For the last two weeks my two-hour per day job became six, the other dude went for a vacation. I passed the time reading The Four Hour Workweek and made origami for my coworkers. The book is incredible and they love my origami, plus I’m getting paid three times as much. Things are looking up.

The brakes on my bicycle are giving way due to low pressure on the tires. I need to buy a pump, but the only way to get one is to cycle a mile to Walmart. Ironic.

Then my roommate went back to Japan for a couple of months, leaving the whole apartment to myself. However, he didn’t leave behind his key. Yes, I do not have a key to my own apartment since I moved in. Also, my other roommate forgot to pay the Comcast bill; there is now lack of internet ad cable tv. Dumb is an understatement.

I eventually became ambitious with my summer. With intentions to improve my resume, I planned to start up a student-run advertising agency in my uni. I gleamed to myself when I thought it up. Approaching a professor, things are starting to stir up as ideas are thrown around; she would have to approach the chairperson of the Mass Communications department so we can actually start things. Though the professor wants the idea materialize, she is very busy and all I can do is wait. Nice.

But that ambition was swiftly overshadowed by another. I am currently working on something else, something big. One day, I will reveal what it is.

One day, my friends.