The right washes the left

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Fredric went through a lot of relationships before meeting Theresa. Being who he was, keeping a relationship that won't work out wasn't in the books as he believed that time was short and best spent on what works.

Still, Fred was leery of the possibility that he'd have to tell of the mistakes he made with Valerie and Minerva.

His relationship with Val reached a tipping point where her treatment of him bordered on condescending. It boiled down to what she wanted and his voice was ignored.

It still grates. Knowing it was wrong, he still reached out to Minnie and started a relationship with her while his relationship with Val was faltering. He waffled a lot when it came to breaking up with Val.

He thought it was over when he broke up with Val.

He was wrong. He made another mistake by trying to patch things up with Val when he hit several successive rough patches with Minnie. It didn't help that Minnie's sharp tongue moved to her temper's dictates.

He cheated on Val with Minnie.

He cheated on Minnie with Val.

He clearly remembers those mistakes.

After Minnie broke up with Fred, he steeled himself. He will not repeat the mistakes he made with Val and Minnie. He will not waffle anymore. He will not reach out in weakness, while he's vulnerable.

And Fred remembers that what has happened twice will happen a third time. At least, if there's a grain of truth in Paulo Coelho's words.

It's a good thing Lisa's who she is, too.

He'll make the best there is with Lisa. And hope she doesn't dig too deeply while he's at it.

Perspective

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As one grows into the person he or she is meant to be, a person eventually develops his or her own unique perspective. A perspective determines how a person would probably act given a set of circumstances. How so? A person's peculiar perception dictates what he or she would give importance to or notice. Perception doesn't mean that an object is seen for what it is; it means that a person filters the information presented according to his or her experiences. The filter's holes differ in size and shape; a particular hole may come from an influential person or idea; a hole may exist from the beginning or disappear as time passes by.

 A perspective makes one selectively blind to a certain extent. A racist would refuse to see the benefits from a mixed-race group. A vegetarian wouldn't see how a vegetarian diet is unable to fully provide the nutrition required by the human body. An elitist wouldn't acknowledge the value of those who're of a lower economic class. Various philosophies would emphasize particular perspectives, yet not all of those philosophies would require a holistic approach to perception.

 Perspective, being unique to each person, thus produces subtly different results. A 10 year-old mathematical genius, confronted by a problem requiring the Pythagorean theorem for a solution, would see a commonplace event. A fourth-grade student, faced by the same situation, would marvel at the way the Pythagorean theorem works and, perhaps, be stimulated to learn more. The problem requiring the Pythagorean theorem has been solved, yet the results are different.

 The point stands; perspective colors, influences the results. To produce the most efficacious decision and action, a person must perceive using objective observation. A blank slate, a mind free of preconceived ideas, observes best because it takes everything in without bias. This does not mean that previous experience is discounted. Previous experience is educational; it helps avoid pointless repetition of mistakes. However, immediately filtering information at the get-go denies a person potentially useful information. Utilizing previous experience AFTER taking everything in allows a person to see the big picture, how this present situation connects to the past and future. Much is gained or lost depending on what is perceived.

 There is, however, a down-side to an all-perceiving approach. Such a method consumes much time and energy and there is no guarantee that each result would be less or more effective than a method that filters out data. Experience would be the only reliable judge of when not to use the filters granted by your unique perspective. That one's experience would more often than not contain mistakes than triumphs, if only by a small fraction, is a given. All in all, how a person uses his or her resources and how he or she judges the event, as dictated by a unique perspective, are the clinchers.

Steps, but not the band

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 Bad news first. The amalgam 1/100 model kit made up of Freedom and Strike Rouge parts suffered minor damage to its ankle armor. While I could repair the damage, the damage has given me cause to put aside the kit for later attention. The "later attention" would consist of refitting of the joints, painting of the surfaces and general overhaul. Things have to move forward in the pertinent fields if sufficient and efficient change is to happen; which is why I've to set aside some things.

 As for the pertinent fields, I had to weather a particularly annoying slowdown as I re-introduced a maintenance program. The slowdown was anticipated [tilts head to the right] but it was nonetheless annoying because it DID slow me down. The maintenance program is required if I'm to regularly access the state I need for optimal performance. There's also Freedom and Destiny to consider, because if left ignored, forward progress will be unsatisfactorily limited. Justice has to wait because there's just no object that can satisfactorily emulate its character.[shrugs] That's the 6th Rule for you.

 Tomorrow, or later today, it's going to be a series of quests for the establishment of Phase One. Phase One has to be firmly founded so the subsequent steps can be taken. Yes, that's another situation where the 6th Rule comes into play.

Rules, news and plans

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 It's always fascinating whenever one of the Rules are invoked. This time, it's the 5th Rule. While it's true that there are perhaps other reasons why that particular cluster of people have started acting that way, whenever I've used Ockham's Razor, the simplest one that comes up is that they've chosen to cut ties. Why else would a person disconnect whenever he/she is sent an instant message? That it has happened a lot of times already simply underscores the fact that I've need to go all out on imposing Machiavellian perspective towards those I do not trust. Truly, the situation begs the question why they cut ties. As I've done nothing to them, perhaps it's something I haven't done. That they refuse to reply implies that they'd rather I stay away instead of trying to mend those bonds that connected us.

 While I'm not the most likable person (even though I've been called gregarious, kind and compassionate), I am, in my opinion, staunchly loyal to those who've earned my respect. That I've failed to engender such loyalty except from my closest friends begs the question: What have I done wrong? [tilts head to the left in thought] Mayhaps the answer lies in the people who left, not within.

=-=~=-=

 The first wave of actions to make my dreams reality have been performed. There's the follow-up and monitoring to do, [shrugs] but that's part of it all. Right now, I've realized that the only way I'll make those dreams real is if I act to bring about a particular set of possibilities. All the others would needlessly delay the accomplishment of my goals while I pay a price I've no care to pay. This campaign has gone longer than it should because I've missed a detail (or two).

 I'll have to make sure that everything within my purview is going as I planned. Anything less from me significantly raises the probability of failure. The prime difficulty would be maintaining the system that can bring these goals to fruition. As I'm naturally easy-going by nature and that heightened state of ability is akin to a berserker mode, I'd have need of other tools, tools that may reveal the extent of my plans. [waves right hand dismissively] The plan involves legal actions but they are cutthroat so those acts will be questioned by those ignorant of my situation and the needs that come with it.

 Well, I do think that nothing worthwhile is ever easy. The whole shebang depends on guts, determination and peerless dedication; Talga vassternich.

 [peruses the words] Well, the last set of paragraphs nicely included the plans portion with the news, so I'll leave it at that. I'll be making earrings in a little while since my visiting aunt has said she wants one of the samples I've made. I'll take a picture of it when I'm done. ^_^

Another shot of whimsy

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Yes, I'm having a sort of a cam-whore season. But since I'm not photogenic, I took pictures of my kids.

That one has Galahad (the RX-78 v1.5), the Strike Freedom, Sousuke (Zaku v2.0), Master Asia's Gundam and Kathryn (figma Kanu Uncho) inside the display cabinet.

This one has one of my Rockman units (the better ones that Bandai made for a short while), Alexiel (Revoltech Saber) and the 00 Gundam.

The following are shots of MAGENTA in a standard mobile suit.

Storm's aftermath

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The fist of the Heavens struck down our country's National Capital Region, perhaps for no reason besides bad luck.

 Truly, men and women of every age and status lost something or someone they treasured the past three days. Some stand to lose time as they struggle to remake what was undone. Mementos, persons most precious and achievements were drowned, some to be recovered while others were lost to the deluge.

 After some thought, I wondered: "Perhaps, during all the sadness that the tempest has caused, my enemies have been similarly struck by misfortune..." While the thought gives me some comfort, the harm inflicted by Nature had nothing to do with me. Sure, schadenfreude comes into the show but it just doesn't make me satisfied. Though a perverse happiness for others' misfortune is a human trait (not that it applies to those who lost people; at least, it doesn't apply to me), I just can't make myself feel happy for the misfortune they suffered (if my enemies were hit by Ondoy). What would have made me happy was vengeance that I've delivered. The destruction wrought by Ondoy lacked finesse and involved a lot of innocents (innocent in the sense that they've done me no wrong).

 As it is, I'm most thankful that what I own hasn't been destroyed. After running some simulations, I've figured that the room I've rented wouldn't have been reached by the floods; which simply means that the speculation that the reason I've failed was so that I'd be out of danger doesn't hold water.

 Our family's ... I guess the closest term would be "serf" even if they don't owe us anything except gratitude and goodwill. Anyhow, our family's serfs suffered flooded homes and one's tricycle was submerged. Our parents have decided to route whatever help we'd have given to what was ours, since his livelihood's rise was one that we supported and praised.

 As it stands, I still have to find and establish my means. At the least, our House hasn't suffered from the storm's wrath. For that, I am most thankful to my Liege.


P.S.
 Since I can't find a place to chuck this in, I'm putting this picture of my bookshelf/display cabinet here.

Whimsy

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 It's sad that I'm letting some of my skills stagnate because of circumstances.

 At any rate, here are pictures of some of the dangling earrings I've made. Maybe seeing them will fan the dying flames of inspiration, yes?

 For those who care to ask, that model kit of a mobile suit is a modified amalgam of the 1/100 Bandai Master Grade Strike Rouge and Freedom Gundam. I'm going to paint it with an apt pink color scheme when I get the necessary skills and painting materials.