Categories
Review Time Thought of the Moment

The Ambiguity of Ratings and Numbers.

When it comes to rating systems, it seems like they almost always are accompanied by the 5-star system: 1 being the worst, 5 being the best. However, after realizing how often I use these 5-star systems….I realize in the end, they’re way too ambiguous to be taken seriously.

Take for instance, my iTunes library versus my reviews on Yelp.com.

Both use 5-star systems, yet, as I have noticed, I base my ratings quite differently at each place. On Yelp, my reviews generally fall down the middle, from 2 to 3 stars for most ratings. To me, these two generally describe how I feel about restaurants, services, etc.–“A-OK”. I am hesitant to rate too many places with “5 stars” with fear that I may come across a place even better than the previous one..and then, what shall I do with the ratings? Plus, nobody likes to read reviews that are constantly positive–they may be fun and/or uplifting to read, but really, how can one person stay so positive about all of the places he or she visits?

However, it seems that the 5-star system differs for me with my iTunes library. Granted, most of my song ratings generally fall within the 2 star category; to me, 2 stars means average on iTunes. If I give a song 3 stars, it means “better than average” to me. I used to give a ton of 4 and 5 stars to songs when I first started using iTunes, but I have come to notice that I have been stingy with the 4 and 5 stars since I want to reserve those ratings for those songs that simply cannot be compared to other songs.

Still, with the talk of these two different applications, I am sure others continue to interpret and rate their songs/restaurants/etc. a lot differently than I do. For instance, some people may think of most restaurants as “4 stars” because, to them, “4 stars” means average/really good. Some people may end up giving many places “1 star” because, to them, “1 star” means “average/so-so/meh”. The system is imperfect, since people are different in their interpretations all the time.

So, how do you interpret those rating systems?

Categories
#amwriting NaNoWriMo Novel 3

The Start of NaNoWriMo 2008.

Well, it is now November, and it’s hard to believe that already another NaNoWriMo is upon me. I remember last year, when I stumbled upon a blog entry one of my friends had made about participating in NaNoWriMo. It was late October, and I just suddenly thought, “Well, why not?”

So I proceeded to register for NaNoWriMo and then just jumped right in without even looking. I read the book that founder/creator Chris Baty wrote, and just clicked away on my laptop with whatever thoughts I wanted to fit into my novel. It was my first time actually embarking on writing a novel, and I wasn’t sure how it was going to turn out.

In the end, I did manage to reach that 50K word-count goal, and then some. It felt exhilarating and wonderful to know that I had completed a novel. It was also a much more important victory for me since, at that point in time, I didn’t have much going for me in terms of work/jobs. It was a semi-traumatic time in my life, and I suppose NaNoWriMo saved me at that point.

This year, I am participating in NaNoWriMo again, but of course under different circumstances. Now with a somewhat stable job and a little wiser (I would hope so, anyway), I wonder about how this novel will turn out this time. I had attempted to write a second novel beginning in early January of this year, but I still have not completed that novel. I guess I feel more motivated/set on finishing a novel when I am aware that there are millions of others doing the same task as I am. It’s more comforting in some ways.

Well, onward to 30 days of insanity.

Categories
#foodie

Which is really better? Which is really bad?

After a couple of months of curiosity/speculation, I finally caved in today and tried the taqueria in my neighborhood. I hesitated in trying it earlier due to my friend’s warning that the said taqueria had “very bland burritos”. I was looking around on Yelp! and saw some less-than-stellar reviews on how bland the burritos were, too, so I was trying to avoid trying it.

Still, my friend told me that I should try it, just to have my own opinion about it. So I did, I had a burrito from the taqueria, and…it was okay. It didn’t seem extremely bland to me, yet it also didn’t seem super delicious either. Which got me thinking….

How exactly do people measure what’s “really good” and “really bad”?

It’s probably an easy answer, that people just judge by what they know, what they have tasted beforehand. Still, it’s hard to really measure something when you don’t have anything to measure it against.

Take for instance, my first time trying Burmese food a couple of months ago.

Burmese food is similar to most other Asian cuisines, yet there are some distinct things about it as well, in terms of flavor and local specialties. I went to one of the super-popular Burmese restaurants in the city and tried one of their “specialty dishes”. I walked out, feeling “Oh, it was okay.” It didn’t make me cringe, nor did it make me feel like “Gee whiz, I LOVE Burmese food!” It’s probably because, I didn’t have much to measure it against. It would have been unfair for me to compare it to, say, Thai cuisine; even if the two cuisines are similar, there are still some things different about the two where a comparison would not be fair at all.

So how do I go about deciding whether one restaurant is better than the other?

In many ways, I guess I am still rather sheltered in terms of what foods I consume. I’m open to any type of food and am always willing to try anything new. However, I guess when it comes to deciding which place has the “best” food, it’s hard for me to say.

Which brings me back to the origin…I have only tried three taquerias in San Francisco so far. All three have been decent for me: nothing stood out as being blatantly horrible, but nothing stood out as being really great, either. I have trouble figuring out what I should be looking for in terms of greatness. Any suggestions?

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Categories
dir en grey Japanese music

Glass Skin

This is the new song from Dir en grey; again, they never cease to amaze me. “Glass Skin” is another sad, mellow song following the single “DOZING GREEN”; my favorite part of “Glass Skin” is the guitar part in the chorus. It’s so eerily painful yet beautiful to listen to.

Here are the translated lyrics (courtesy of the official translation, and of Dir en grey LJ Community):

My vision begins to blur
The glass sky, the color of the wind
The merry-go-round playing alone
I wave
My somehow faded voice is more important to me than my guilty conscience
Tomorrow I sleep, leaving myself behind
Emptier still than any tears of comedy
Left to be just taken
Left to be just damaged
Here…

In the dark morning, I pretend the window to be a picture frame
I wake my sleeping skin and press my hand against this wet piece of picture
Spring blossoms and the petals fall, giving life to the river
Swaying from side to side, where will you go?
I put my hand on the heavy and closed door
The remains of the parade
The silence laughs along with the fact that I won’t be sleeping again tonight
Emptier still than any tears of comedy
Left to be just taken
Left to be just damaged
Here, let there be love…
The joking-dancing seasons endlessy hurt
Left to be just taken
Left to be just damaged
And to be melted by the dreams I hold out

I bleed as my way fo compensating everything to you
How heavy is blood?
Happiness and sadness lies to close
The hand that will be born tomorrow, will be simply pure and nothing else
I can barely see you now with all these tears

Emptier still than any tears of comedy
Left to be just tken
Left to be just damaged
Here, let there be love…
This is a ferris weel, where I can look down and see you from
The melody that just comes crumbling down is also so sweet and beautiful, it’s frightning
The shadow exposed by the sun is branded into my memory
and it touches my heart than any shallow words combined

Categories
Busride Observations observation rant transportation

To the woman on the bus, talking loudly on her cell phone–

I don’t understand why people feel the need to talk on their cell phones on the bus.

Look, I don’t care that your cats have fleas or that you’re wanting a job at some radio station but they can’t offer it to you–do you think other people on the bus care? No, they could care less.

Please save your private conversations for home. Crowded public transportation is not the place to be talking about some things.

That’s my rant for the day.