Tomorrow morning is a health screening.... I am eagerly anticipating being poked, prodded, and questioned about relatives I have never known. (Why was the father half left blank? Because I do not know the answers, although you can go ahead and check off "substance abuse"...)

The prescreening questions are rather peculiar and ambiguous. For instance, take "Have you ever been exposed to any of the following... how long, if yes?"

Among the answers are:
1. Dust (Yeah, that would be particles that fly around in the air in any indoor location)
2. Noise (Nope, I dwell in a world of silence.)
3. Heat (That would be called summer)
4. Cold (Winter...)
5. Microwaves ("WTF" would be an appropriate abbreviation.)
6. Unusual stress (This absurd packet... how long? However long it takes to fill out this thing.)

I've definitely made a lot of acquaintances/associates here, and there's a few with potential to be called friends. There's unfortunately a plethora of people who seem mainly interested in vapid topics... I'm hoping they genuinely joined for change and not the benefits or some other selfish reason. =/


Also, the other day I posted a few contemplations about the character Light Yagami from Death Note on a site called gaiaonline over a discussion as to whether he's good, bad, or misled.

I believe that at first, Light was an intelligent teenager who is frustrated with all of the corruption and crime he perceives around him in the world. Prior to his initial finding of the Death Note, our wonderful anti-hero was in a very melancholy state because he has completely lost faith in society's judicial system. He sees many hardened, violent criminals evading capture, and many others released on trumped conditions. A lot of criminals are given second chances only to repeat their previous offenses. Light is an avid viewer of the news, and he sees very little altruism and selflessness around him. Meanwhile, his peers seem to care for nothing but their own wants and whims. If one wants to psychoanalyze Light, it can be very easily argued that he was suffering from depression, especially from his later on talking about how he had not been happy until he got the Death Note. Rather than abusing substances like many who have depression, he uses the Death Note. It's his addiction, and it ultimately takes over his own mind.

Enter the Death Note. Here's a chance to change things and an opportunity to bring the justice to the world that he deems lacking! At first, Light is naturally skeptical about the notebook he finds on the ground, comparing it to those spam messages that plague everyone's email and text messages saying things like "Pass this forward, or you will be eaten alive by rabid hamsters" and things to that effect. However, due to the inquisitive nature that often accompanies high levels of intellect, he decides it cannot hurt to experiment by writing the name of a criminal who clearly deserves capital punishment (due to indiscriminately killing a large number of people). He rationalizes, "Well, if the criminal does NOT die then this is clearly a hoax, and if he does, then that's one less monster in the world." The criminal succumbs to the power of the Death Note, but Light still wants to make sure, thinking that the criminal's collapse may have been coincidential. He thus kills that biker who clearly showed intentions of forcing himself on the girl that he saw when he was leaving his test prep course- not worth the death sentence, as the horrorstruck Light himself says after the biker dies.

I think the resolve to clean up the world of criminals was part of justifying the first two slayings. Guilt and depression are not a good combination, and Light is looking for a way out of both. The Death Note offers an opportunity for power in a world in which Light feels powerless. What a chance, Light thinks! He suffers physically as he grapples with his conscience over the matter, and ultimately decides to play a "martyr" who has to cope with guilt and the marring of his soul.

In a conversation with Ryuk, when Light learns there is no heaven or hell for sure (He was probably an agnostic or atheist anyway), he knows he will not go through eternal damnation after his own death. He'll just rot and decompose in the ground. Therefore, he is even more determined to ensure others remember him and immortalize himself.

However... as you witness unfolding through the series, absolute power corrupts absolutely, and Light shifts from good to vile and evil. There are hints of love for his family, but otherwise Light is a ruined person. His one chance at redemption comes when Light gives up the Death Note, but unfortunately he comes in contact with it again as planned- he is a little too intelligent for his own good in that sense. Had something gone wrong with his plan, then he would have lived his life in a different way. We saw, while Light had no memory of being Kira, that from the perspective of an outsider he absolutely HATES everything about Kira and his seeming ideals. Furthermore, he thinks Kira was some outsider who specially chose him to frame.

Any thoughts?