How to Deal with Annoying People (What to Do When You Can't Avoid Them)

How to Deal with Annoying People (What to Do When You Can't Avoid Them)
By: Bob Phillips and Kimberly Alyn

Don't you ever wish that some people could just go away and disappear? Well, you're certainly not alone. Psst... Everyone has moments like these, if you didn't realize that by now. How to Deal with Annoying People (or HTDWAP, as I will be referring to it) helps you realize how different people are, and makes the very old and generally accepted saying "Do onto other, as you would like others to do onto you." not as wise as it sounds.

The book explains why people act and react differently, so treating people how you want to be treated does not always garner the desired result. So, it identifies the general strengths and weakness of each one of the four social styles, and helps you determine the styles of others as well. The purpose? So you can adapt to them and reduce conflict.

That's what the book, this very enjoyable book, is all about. Reducing conflict. Though... HTDWAP does mention the point that conflict isn't all bad. It can build... stuff, stuff you have to read the book to find out about.

- by A Conspiracy Toss

Baby Cars and Barkadas

Well, today was the third day of driving school, A1, my sixth hour, though I wasn't driving for the entirety of the lessons. Either way, it's an exciting experience, getting in a car and going wherever. Wherever the instructor says anyway.

It gives me a chance to go to the mall as well. Today was... not particularly eventful.

I did buy three news car, baby cars!

Well, not baby cars, technically. They're just smaller than most of my die-cast models, so the appropriate term is mini, but when I'm left to decide which one I prefer, I'd take "baby" any day.

My new baby FC! My WRC Evo6! My yellow S2000! (And dang, now I realize how good the S2K looks in that color.)

The FC... *sigh* When I wandered around Toy Kingdom, I headed for the toy car section, as I always do, with the intention of searching for a nice Evo die-cast of some sort. And I did, as is apparent in the paragraph above. My FC, my new FC. It's a Ryousuke FC, not the big one I already have, but a baby (mini) version for my chibi Trueno to race (and the Evo6, and the S2000, and the RX8, and the 350Z, and the D1 FD) *sigh*

Anyway, what's the deal with barkadas, you may ask, as it seems to be a big deal of some sort in my title. Well, it's just that I find them annoying when it comes to IDAS. They flock to a machine, just for the heck of it. Of course, I can't say that they shouldn't be on a machine, it's just I find them vexing. Grr!

So instead of a flock of guys challenging me on ID, I got a trio of girls instead. Myogi. *falls asleep* Usually, I love racing these guys. More point to battle Bunta with, but then I had to go. Like, had to go. Not to the comfort room to seek comfort with Mr. Toilet, but back to SM. So I had to purposely lost against the 3rd girl, just so I could get out of there. *sigh* What a waste of load. I could've squeezed 10k points from them. And there was the bunch of guys. And that little boy who was stomping on the pedal. (Nooo... Don't kill the machine!!!)

Well, that was the rant, now the rave.

It is coming!

IDAS4 to G4 Timezone!

It was posted on the IDW forums, an e-mail from Timezone saying that IDAS4 and WMMT3 will be coming! And it is confirmed! IDAS4 is coming! The attendant said that the machines are being delivered this month! This month!

Which means... Which means... *passes out* I will probably be playing AS4 after the UPCAT! What a way to celebrate! :D

I don't care what the guys out there are saying. "The physics are out of whack" and shit, but I don't care. I want to play it. I don't care if it costs P29, I'm so playing it. Staring at the graphics make me practically drool. XD

Ok, out of hyper mode.... Now.

Frankie, you may take my picture. In front of the machine. Yay!

Old Journals and Ancient Script

I know, I said that I don't post inane stuff when I'm supposed to be busy, but I don't want to occupy myself with those charcters right now. And even if it does make me feel a bit bad, I'll live with it tomorrow.

The other day, probably two days ago, I was arranging my bookshelf, in anticipation of The Balikbayan box with all my books (>.< and shoes, and stuff... XD), when I saw a strange and utterly foreign-looking notebook. At first I dismissed it as my old autograph book, but when curiousity brought me to examine the old pad, I realized that it wasn't my autograph slambook, but an ancient journal.

Technically, not that ancient. It was written in my hand four years ago. When I was reading it, it made my eyes water. I was that stupid?!

The horrid topics, I shall never touch again, the horrid script, it had me screaming (mentally, as I hardly ever actually scream) in an outrage.

My god...

To be honest, Danilicious, and I mean no offence by this, I sounded like you... *shudder*

April 30

Ok, screw everything I wrote on my yellow pad, I don't want to have to type everything up again. So just screw it.


But at the same time, I don't want to leave this topic alone. I want to leave a bit of detail on what happened in America on paper, and since I lose my papers like I lose my pens, Blogger should suffice.


Stops:

1. New York city

Highlights: (1) Touring Manhattan, (2) Going north to Niagara falls, apparently that's how it's spelled, (3) Visiting my family there! Duh, purpose of visit. Not to mentioned we were their guests althroughout.


2. Maryland

Highlights: (1) Touring Washington D.C., (2) More family visitations! Ok... that sounded so wrong. We stayed there for most part of the week we were in Silver Springs, but we then moved to a hotel because we didn't want to feel like parasites.

3. Los Angeles, California

Highlights: (1) Disneyland!, (2) Universal City, (3) RX8s!!!

Talk about a summary.

First Survey Ever

[ Name ] Patricia
[ Nicknames ] Pat, Pato-chan, Patty, Trish, Yuzuki, Yu-chan, Kam, Yuz, Kamy, etc...
[ Screen name ] Kamaji Yuzuki, Yuzuki, Kamyuz, Kayu, obssdgb, dialinfita (luvs anagrams), Ashphodel*insert number here*, Ash
[ Birthday ] May 11
[ Age ] 16, but not sweet
[ Weight ] 120+ last time I checked
[ Astrological sign? ] Taurus...
[Chinese zodiac sign? ] Sheep...
[ Marital Status ] Single, but hardly available.
[ Eye color ] Black-Brown/Brown-black, I can no longer recall the difference.
[ Height ] 5'2+
[ Shoe size ] 7+
[ Parents still together? ] No.
[ Siblings? ] Brother.
[ Nieces/Nephews? ] Hm... I lost count, 2+
[ Kids of your own? ] None that I know of...
[ Grandkids? ] Am I that old?!
[ Pets? ] My dead turtle, my several dead hamsters, my several dead goldfish, my several dead lovebirds, my several dead stuff toys
[Education? ] What about it?
[ Rent, lease, or own your home? ] Still at home with mom.
[ Have any credit cards? ] Two, Bankard and MyDream.
[ What do you drive? ] Hmm... Mazda RX-7 FC, Mazda RX-8, Mitsubishi Evo III, Subaru Impreza STi (GC8V), Nissan 180SX... Oh, you do know that these are all in Initial D Arcade Stage Ver. 3, right?

Favorites
[ Color ] Black, White, Silver, Red, Pink (only in small amounts and when paired with either white or black, or both)
[ Number ] Random number generator: 785
[ Animal ] Dog, Bat...
[ Vehicle ] Current car: Nissan 180SX
[ Flower ] Lavender
[ Scent ] Lavender
[ Shape ] 104-sided polygon
[ Drinks ] Water, Iced Tea, Mango smoothie, Hot Chocolate, Cold Chocolate, anything else with chocolate
[ Soda ] None, don't drink soft drinks...
[ Book ] Helen of Troy
[ Band ] None at the moment, singer though... Melissa White
[ Song ] Switch! by Melissa White and Ace
[ Food ] Starbucks Tiramisu cake - I miss you!

Do you...
[ Color your hair? ] No, never... Although I might consider highlighting it one day...
[ Have tattoos? ] Unless you call the things I draw on my skin tatoos, no.
[ Piercing? ] One in each ear, don't want any more.
[ Cheat on tests/homework? ] Always a concern, so I hide...
[ Drink/Smoke? ] I tried to drink a bit of wine before (like for a toast)... Eew...
[ Like roller coasters? ] Anything except the ones with loops...
[ Wish you could live somewhere else] Yes, anywhere nicer and bigger.
[ Want more piercings? ] Read above.
[ Like cleaning? ] I like disorder...
[Write in cursive or print? ] Cursive with some print letters.
[ Carry a donor card? ] Maybe, haven't thought about it.
[ Swear a lot? ] When I'm pissed...
[Own a web cam?] No.
[ Know how to drive?] I will be learning soon.
[ Diet? ] Technically...
[ Own a cell phone? ] Yup.
[ Ever get off the damn computer? ] When I'm not home, and when I am home, I'm only off when I'm supposed to be studying or when I'm asleep.
[ Habla Espanol? ] Pardon?

Have you ever...
[ Gotten a speeding ticket?] Not yet.
[ DUI? ] Excuse me?
[ Been in a wreck? ] Not a severe one. Just a karting accident, where nothing was broken except some skin.
[ Been arrested? ] I'm used to evading the fuzz.
[ Been in a fist fight? ] I find other ways to get revenge or vent my anger.
[ Kicked someone in the nuts? ] Not of yet. If someone pushes me enough, I just might.
[ Stolen anything? ] Not anything I can remember... Oh! Music off the Internet!
[ Held a gun? ] A bunch of toy guns (i.e. water guns, pellet guns)
[ Drank? ] Water, juice...
[ Been so drunk you couldn't remember your name?] Never.
[Considered a life of crime?] Uh, no.
[ Considered being a hooker? ] Eew, no.
[ Cried over a girl?] Because I felt insulted.
[ Cried over a boy? ] Kinda.
[ Lied to someone? ] About what and who?
[ Been in love? ] Not really.
[ Fallen for your best friend? ] Me = straight
[ Made out with JUST a friend? ] Never even kissed someone before.
[Been rejected? ] Never asked, how can I be rejected?
[ Used someone? ] Yes, but who...
[ Been used? ] Yes.
[ Been kissed? ] No.
[Current mood] Bored, and slightly miffed.
[Current music] Eurobeat.
[Current taste] Sweet.
[Current hair] Past shoulder... My normal messy hair.
[Current annoyance] Our moderator, our school and the schedule.
[Current smell] Air?
[Current thing I ought to be doing] Typing up a fic, doing some defenition research
[Current windows open?] Yahoo! Mail, Blogger, Yahoo! Messenger
[Current desktop picture] Plain black.
[Current book] MSA Math Reviewer
[Current cds in stereo] None. iTunes eliminated the use of stereos.
[Current crush] Q-chan.
[Current favorite celeb] Err... None.
[Current hate] None.
[Current job] Student, driving student, writer-by-hobby...
[Last book you read] Helen of Troy
[Last movie you saw] Mr. Bean Goes on Vacation
[Last thing you had to drink] Water
[Last thing you ate] Instant Cook Nissin Noodles.
[Last person you talked to on the phone] Mom.

Do you...
[Do drugs?] Never wanted to.
[Have a dream that keeps coming back?] Never.
[Play an instrument?] Guitar, piano, bamboo flute... Only I suck...
[Believe there is life on other planets?] Not really...
[Remember your first love?] Who? I'ved been in love?!
[Still love him/her?] Since when?!
[Read the newspaper?] Occasionally, when I see something that interests me.
[Have any gay or lesbian friends?] I can never be sure.
[Believe in miracles?] Yeah, but one's never happened to me, I think.
[Believe it's possible to remain faithful forever?] Yes.
[Consider yourself tolerant of others?] Generally, unless I'm in a pissed off mood.
[Consider love a mistake?] Not as of yet.
[Have a favorite candy?] Do chocolates count?
[Do well in school?] Usually, except for Chinese and Math
[Go to or plan to go to college] Yes, Ateneo.
[Wear hats?] No.
[Hate yourself?] No, why would I? I have a pretty good life. I have a bed, I have a roof over my bed, and I have food when I venture out of my bed.
[Have an obsession?] Current one is Initial D, and the perfect line for IDAS.
[Have a secret crush?] It's not a secret.
[Do they know yet?] They who?
[Collect anything?] Die-cast models of cars I like... (i.e. RX-7s, RX-8s, 86s, Roadsters...), books, stuffed toys, pillows...
[Have a best friend?] Three.
[Close friends?] Not that many... No, right out few.
[Like your handwriting?] Yes, although it could be nicer.
[Care about looks?] Not most of the time...

=Love life=
[First crush] It's been a long time since I've thought of him...
[First kiss] Never.
[Single or attached?] Single.
[Ever been in love?] No.
[Do you believe in love at first sight?] No.
[Do you believe in "the one?"] Yes.
[Describe your ideal significant other] No.

First Day of School

"Today will be your last June 6 as a Makati Hope student." - Dr. Tiu

Kinda duh, but it does make you think. At least I did. After the entire program, which was as always, boring. Same old, same old. Except, it won't be happening anymore. That was our last first day orientation.

Wow... I'm a fourth year student with an application form for UP tucked into my clearbook. Although, I am veritably terrified of the entrance exam of UP... Filipino... Noooo... I can still remember my first day as a first year student pretty clearly, and here I am, only ten months away from graduation. It's scary how time flies.

You think you can still redeem yourself by studying hard for the next test, and the next thing you know, a new school year has already begun. It makes second-chances pass quickly that you have to learn to remember the you should do things right the first time around, prevent making mistakes you'll regret and forget to correct. It sucks really.

But enough with the pondering angst, our school looked so different this year! It was like a weirdly color-schemed office building. They extended the front of it, and made the first floor pretty and the front half of the second floor, but they forgot that the majority of their students aren't in grades 1 to 3.

The rest of the 2nd floor and the 3rd and 4th floors remained unchanged, unless you count the rebuffing of our floors a change. I get the feeling that they just want to draw the kids in, and hope that they stay for the rest of their primary and secondary education since they've been there since they were little kids. That was my case, and it's likely that there'd be many other parents around thinking the same as my mom probably did.

Something else... We have a bunch of new teachers this school year, as always, and it just happens that we have a new debate moderator. Yay, right? This time, I didn't bother to keep my hopes high. And rightly so. Even if the guy was from Ateneo, that doesn't mean that he'd attend to us.

Even if our "moderator" isn't brilliant, I'd rather have a moderately skilled one around, rather than have a brilliant one, who I hardly see. Though, in any case, I can't say that he's brilliant either. He seemed to have pretty good Engligh, but all he seemed interested in during his introductory speech was the "drama" club, or whatever he's calling it now.

Stupid shameless "High School Musical"-ish plug. What about the Debate Society?

The Drift-Grip Experiment

Being the insane teenagers we are, Neko-chan and I made an RPG blog. Yup, of our fanfic team, the D-GX.

We have some stuff planned for it, some weird stuff, funny stuff mostly. An RPG for fun!

Books this May

Well, well, well… Apparently three weeks time is a long enough time for things to change drastically.

For one, though this totally goes without saying, traveling through the International Date Line really does screw you up. I’m so confused right now, consciously and unconsciously. Consciously, I have no idea what day it is anymore and have to rely on my watch for that. Thank God for Digital watches. Subconsciously, two words: jet lag.

Argh!

Yep, that was both of frustration and excitement.

Excitement, because I have plans for the pirate movie of the year, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End. Is that the title? Correct me if I’m wrong.

Anyway, for those who don’t know or remember, take your pick, that empty interval in my blog was caused my escape from the heat of summer in the Philippines to the cold (in my opinion) of the States. Yes, the States that were united under the name of America. What about your opinion, was a temperature of 10-15 cold? In Celsius of course, in Fahrenheit I wouldn’t be even typing this. Hell, my fingers would’ve probably have fallen off from frostbite.

So should move on to the recap? Maybe later.

I can barely believe the number of books I consumed in those 20+ days… I think the number would be 15? Including the manga.

Not the Wallflower and xxxHolic manga I purchased from PowerBooks, but the ones I bought over yonder in Borders. Man, I love that place, Books, Music, Movies, and Coffee (well, chocolate for me) in one place, still I got volumes 9 and 11, I think, and am not sure about it ‘cause they’re still in a balikbayan box around somewhere, so are my other books. My mountain of books!!! TxT

Let me count what I’ve read throughout the summer… Not counting the manga since I can’t remember the volumes, which I read…

1. Consent to Kill by Vince Flynn – I just picked this up from National Bookstore since I thought the title was intriguing, but merely that it was a lovely book. A political thriller, I believe it was called. And indeed it was, a battle of politicians their little power struggles to have their way. Although a mere battle between those guys wouldn’t be too interesting, actually, the main character wasn’t in any way interested in the politics of his job, I forget how they call it so I’ll put it simply, assassin. The tale of an assassination attempt targeted at him and the venture for revenge had me folding the book in half. Gah… Currently I’m collecting Flynn’s other books because of this.

2. Shopaholic and Baby by Sophie Kinsella – The continuation is here!!! Whee~ Now we know about the first four books of Becky Bloomwood Brandon, don’t we? Well, her baby’s here to join the party now. When I first saw this on the net, I immediately scourged the bookstores for it, and when I didn’t find it in the Phil, I went abroad for it. Obviously you know that a mere book isn’t the reason for my vacation. The plot has basically the same structure as the rest of Kinsella’s books, but still, what can I say? I still love it.

3. The Memory Keeper’s Daughter by (someone) – Oh, I swear, I have to get the name of this author, although I’m quite sure that’s the author’s female. This simply does not do her honor… How can I explain how touching this book was? And I’m not one to get touched by something so easily. But it was… It proves that nothing in life and really be planned and go how you expect to occur. Something you intend for the good of others may end up becoming the worst decision of your life and ruining not only yours, but the lives of the ones you love as well. God, this was a great book the only downside was that it was so descriptive… You know, so descriptive that it became boring in some parts? Yeah…

4. Something Borrowed by Emily Griffin – At least that’s what I think her last name was… Damn my forgetfulness. How can you fall in my fiancée?! Imagine that. The twist is, we are seeing it from the point of view of the bitch fiancée stealer, except that she wasn’t the bitch, the engaged “best friend” was. Interesting twists and turns and a lovely ending. Gotta get my own copy of this.

5. Something Blue by Emily Griffin – Same author, same plot. The sequel, get into the mind of Darcy, who constantly gets her way. She actually sounds like someone we’d hate in real life, the way she’s portrayed in the first part anyway. Watch her change along with the development going on within her.

6. Empress Orchid by (someone) – Not the same someone from before, but another one. It actually reminds me of Memoirs of a Geisha. Except that it’s Chinese. And Orchid was one of the main concubines. And a lot of other stuff. But there was enough in common to draw an association between the two. Personally, I enjoyed it pretty much as much the Memoirs, except for this peeve of mine for the book. It translates many of the names into English, like Orchid, I don’t even remember her real name as it was only mentioned in passive. The descriptions she applied though were amazing that I could practically imagine it.

7. The Last Empress by (someone) – Same someone as above, same description applies, except there’s a delightful development of plot here. Did I mention that Orchid was based on the actual last Empress of China?

8. Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by (someone) – You can tell that this is a different person right? I admit that I haven’t finished reading this yet, but I will. It’s just the old English gave me a headache. I hate old English.

9. Helen of Troy by Margaret George – Ah, Greek Mythology… It’s been a while. Really, great book. It portrays Helen, from her eyes instead of from someone else’s, you can read how she may have felt when this or that happens. You get some wonderful insight on the woman she may have been. The research she put into this thing really impresses me, it add so much more color to her story. I remember when I first saw this book in PowerBooks when I was browsing, I loved the cover then, but in this hardcover version, I really don’t appreciate it as much as I did the previous one. It’s amazingly long, 600+ pages… At least I’m already halfway though.

Aaand… I believe that there’s another book in between Confessions and Helen, but I cannot recall it. Not too impressive for one month… Well, two actually as I started Consent in April but read it irregularly… That sucks, but oh well… Books… $280+ For everything else there’s MasterCard.




I know it’s Visa, but I don’t use Visa, but MasterCard.


The recap, cars, and all the other things I bought will come in another post.

Summer Life, About to Begin

"Whee~"

We-ell... I've been going around and around squealing that very word there over and over and over again on IMs and forums... So, Frankie's right about me having gone insane. No wait... That seemed to be a (very) delayed diagnosis... I've been insane for about... Hmm... three, maybe four, years now...

And as a reply to Frankie's, ahem, comment on my previous post...

"I'm not in the States... Yet. I'll be leaving this weekend. Yehay!!! *goes on another hyper streak* And, you kinda are the meaner seed, I'm just the weirdo one. XD"

Ah... The joys of summer time... The sun, the sea, and the shit.

For the past, like probably four years, I've sworn allegiance to the moon and it's cool darkness. After the sunburns I've gotten from spending all day swimming in the sun, during summer, on my birthday, at the party, I've started to hate it and it's gradual plot to cook me into... Well, something cooked! Hopefully not letchon!

And since I hate the sun, I've grown to hate the sea as well... Not the sea in itself, per se, but what you do when you're within a 50 meter radius of it. In other words, the beach. The horrid air seems even hotter than usual, and I think it actually is. I believe we had a Science lesson on how it's hotter by the water than away from it, take note, this was from a Grade 4/5 class.

Damn. I remember stuff from elementary and I can't even retain what we learned from 1st year Biology?!

Oh, wait... I never learned those things in 1st year to even recall them... (I hope you're not reading this, Mrs. Peralta... *whistles innocently*

Well, that brings me to the shit. Not the dog shit you find on the street, or even the shit you find in the toilet, real shit. I want to elaborate on that, since for the past few months my figures of speach have been taken seriously, very much so that it really ticks me off. T.T Grrr... So, I'm an incoming senior in MHCS, big deal... Exactly, big deal. No metaphor, no simile, and definitely no irony there.

Big, BIG deal!

In the 1st quarter of our school year, we'll be sending in our application forms to the various universities and colleges (I'm not actually too clear on what the difference is...) we are interested in, and even some of those we aren't, just to be on the anxious, frantic safe side. And even right now, months from it, I feel a distinct pressure building up. I want to get into Ateneo, but I'm worried about my grades and my adversity for studying. It's gotten me here so far, but how long can I maintain this carefree attitute to studying? How long can my retention save me from failing?

That's why I'm taking this review class up. So everyday, I have to wake up before seven in the morning and rush around preparing myself for class. Since we can wear anything we like, I'm much faster than usual. There's even more incentive since my brother's bringing me there... Argh!!!

So, regardless of how much sleep I've had the previous night, ahem, day, I have to sit in a class of fifty or so mainly noisy male student and listen to a teacher. Sucks right? Actually, surprisingly not. At least apart from today.

The first day was a simple pre-diagnostic exam, "to test how much you know so far..." blah, blah... So, no more details on that, for now, so onto the second day, which was more or less easy enough as well... "Test taking strategies..."

The third and fifth days were English. I actually expected English to be relatively easy for me... 'Fraid not... For the most part, how do I put it, it was... Challenging. The vocabulary was much more advanced than I expected, but surprisingly, the logic part was quite fun. I enjoyed the games and arguments... We got an assignment from our teacher, a certain professor from UP, Ms. Edlyn Jimenez, we have to take note of 20-30 words per day to sufficiently raise our vocabulary level to what is required to get into UP.

Well, yeah, that UP, and I want to get into Ateneo. So... I'd have to work even harder, because I figure it, there'd be a tougher English regimen there. In addition to that, I'm horribly weak at Filipino, so when we had a practice test on Filipino, I was totally freaked out when I saw that I could only answer 4/40 of the vocabulary questions... T.T

Anyway, the 4th and 6th days were dedicated to the persuit of enlightenment in mathematics... ^^'' Right... Told you I was insane... Either way, the first day was spend reviewing our Albegraic knowledge. This surprised me a lot, since usually I have something that involves numbers and equations, but I enjoyed class, yes, indeed, I had fun... The world gets weirder everyday... Although, the Geometry class really gave me the much needed stability after all the confusion... Wahahaha! Geometry was all right, since I could remember part of what we studied in our sophomore year, but I enjoyed it much less than the Algebra class, which is opposite of what happens in school.

Aaand... Today was... dun-dun-dun! Totally boring! Biology... I was so bored that I almost fell asleep! >.<'' It was so embarassing as well, see, I'm seated in the center of the class, and am certain that our teacher can see me dozing off, eyes dropping from 2 meters away...

*sigh*

I hope Chemistry tomorrow is more fun. Learning is nice, that's for certain, but I wish it were fun.

IniD Freak, Ahoy Matey!

Well, yeah, I feel like a total weirdo right now. If you've read Solan's blog today, you've seen her side of the story (Ahem, dragging me around Greenbelt, Landmark, and Glorietta, I think not.) but hey, it's her side, it can be perceived any way she wants it to be. So, I'll just go on and nod at it, day dreaming about my intensing (is that really a word...?) addiction. And if you've seen the title, you know what I'm talking about.

Fujiwara, the man I have never defeated, advised a young and hopeful Iketani to keep thinking and trying out techniques, it's the only way he'd get better.

I've been thinking, and I've been trying out a portion of what I've thought of. My arms don't want to move, damnit! Also, I've been reading through the forum I recently joined, Initial D World (http://idforums.net/index.php) and it does help. A lot. Although, I'd have to say that regardless of all the frustration of not being able to turn as I want (note the keyword) to be able too (equals more trying to figure out the turns) my times are improving, even by a couple of (milli) seconds.

But enough of that, I'm actually in a happy mood now. Why?
1. I finally got 990+ points on the RX8 I've been playing for ages.
2. I tried the old Impreza (GC8V) I bought ages ago (as well) and totally fell in love with it's performance!

It was really amazing how it performed. At first, I didn't realize it, really. I had already finished Myogi, did it right after I bought it, so I tried the next few course this late afternoon. It was pretty good at Usui and Akagi (although Keisuke was able to pass me at one point), but it's performance on Akina really shocked me. It was totally, well, amazing. It took turns easily enough, much better than my RX8. After all the "it's", my conclusion is... I love it. XP

Really. A car that can beat the first four stages without any loss is one that I will love and treasure forEVAH! (Yeah, that's insanity right there.) Takumi, I'm coming for you!

And so, at the day's end, the blogger went insane and jumped on a pirate's ship and hijacked it, leaving all the scurvies writhing on the planks, waiting to be fed to the sharks awaiting their meal.