AMA Ask Bui (almost) anything!
- Thread starter Bui
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What kinds of music do you prefer to listen to? (If any at all).
Do you have any interest or belief in things such as the paranormal/supernatural?
Out of all the original 150 Pokémons, which are your favourites?
Do you have any interest or belief in things such as the paranormal/supernatural?
Out of all the original 150 Pokémons, which are your favourites?
1. I don't really listen to music all that often, but when I do I almost exclusively prefer instrumental over lyrical. And out of those, my preference lies mostly toward video game and movie soundtracks.
2. I can't exactly say either way, but that's probably because I personally have next to no real interest in the subject so I don't exactly spend much of my time thinking about it or looking into it.
3. From the original 150, as cliched as it might seem my favorite has to be Pikachu who currently sits in second place in my list of favorites overall (I'm sure you can guess my number one favorite). His stats might not be that great compared to other options, but to me his overall cuteness and awesomeness are more than enough to offset that and earn him a spot among the top of my list. But gen 1 had a lot of other great Pokemon as well, and I'd say my other favorites include Eevee, Zapdos, the Charmander line, and Lapras.
Since we were talking about The Simpsons the other time, it seems as if you might watch and enjoy them. If so, do you have any favourite seasons and episodes?
Are there any other cartoons from the 1990s that you enjoy?
What are some of your favourite game consoles from before 2005?
Most difficult videogames that you've ever played?
Without searching the word up right now, do you know what "pulchritude" means?
I'm thinking of a number between 1-10. What do you think it is?
Are there any other cartoons from the 1990s that you enjoy?
What are some of your favourite game consoles from before 2005?
Most difficult videogames that you've ever played?
Without searching the word up right now, do you know what "pulchritude" means?
I'm thinking of a number between 1-10. What do you think it is?
Thanks for the questions!
1. I've watched a fair amount of the Simpsons and enjoyed most of what I've seen, especially the earlier seasons. I can't say I have a favorite season in particular, but some episodes I really enjoyed were when Homer filled in for Smithers as Mr. Burns's assistant, the monorail episode (the song is a classic!), and the hurricane episode which shows a completely different side of Flanders than we normally see. I also thought the movie was pretty great too.
2. There are quite a bit of them I enjoyed back in the day (and even now, though I don't really go back to them all that often), including Powerpuff Girls, Recess, Dexter's Laboratory, Courage, and especially Rugrats. I don't know if this one counts since it started at the very end of the 90s (1999), but I also loved Ed, Edd, & Eddy. And an honorable mention to the Magic School Bus!
3. My favorite would have to be the N64, I have a lot of great memories from the games I had on that system (mainly Majora's Mask, Super Smash Bros, Dr Mario 64, and Mario Kart 64). I also had a Game Boy which I liked, and the PlayStation is another great one too.
4. I tend to avoid games with high difficulty, especially if they use their difficulty as a selling point. That being said, I've played my fair share of difficult games in the past. The main 3 that come to mind are Call of Duty: World at War on Veteran (made it to the final couple of missions but was never able to complete them), Top Gun on GameCube (the difficulty spiked from easy to ridiculous over a single level and I gave up on trying to beat it), and Zelda 2. I've actually beaten Zelda 2 a few times now and I consider it one of my favorite Zelda games, but that first run of the game was absolutely brutal.
5. I don't think I've ever heard or seen that word in my life! I can't put anything together to try and find a possible definition of the word either.
6. I'll guess 6!
Kind of late, but you were close! (The number that I had in mind was 4).
What was the very first TBT collectible that you got?
What are your thoughts on the following US states: California, Oregon and Washington?
Do you listen more to your mind or your heart?
What is one of your most prized possessions in real life?
Preferred method of transportation?
What's one thing you like about yourself?
And how about one thing that you feel that you can improve on?
To what generation do you belong to?
Any countries that you're interested in traveling to one day?
What are your thoughts on the following US states: California, Oregon and Washington?
Do you listen more to your mind or your heart?
What is one of your most prized possessions in real life?
Preferred method of transportation?
What's one thing you like about yourself?
And how about one thing that you feel that you can improve on?
To what generation do you belong to?
Any countries that you're interested in traveling to one day?
1. According to my inventory page, the first one I had was the cake collectible (the old one, not the current tasty cake). I may have had collectibles from before then that I have since gotten rid of, but it's been so long that I can't remember anymore.
2. California? It's too hot here during the summer, and a lot of places are on the expensive side. There are a lot of great places to visit here though and a lot of things to do if you have the time and money. Oregon and Washington are beautiful states as far as scenery goes, and in general the temperatures tend to be a bit more tolerable. I haven't spent a whole lot of time in those states though so I can't form a fully informed opinion on them. I've been to Washington a few times to visit family there, as well as going through there on my most recent vacation (with an overnight stop in Seattle), but Oregon has always been a pass-through state. Maybe one day I'll actually visit Oregon.
3. My mind mostly, but that's because it never shuts up! As a result, I tend to do a lot of things on impulse, especially impulse buying. I do try to listen to my heart as well, but my mind makes it difficult to focus on that and tends to drag me away from it. I'm fairly certain I know what the cause is, but I haven't been able to push myself to actually get it taken care of.
4. It's really tough to pick just one, there are a few I'd say fit the bill but I'll narrow it down to just two. The first is a proof US quarter from 1873 with a mintage of just 600 pieces. "Proof" in this case refers to a coin that was made by the US mint specifically for collectors, typically using specially prepared and polished blanks and dies to produce a coin with sharp detail and a mirrored surface. These types of coins from the early 1900s and earlier are usually rather expensive, but ever since I first started collecting coins all the way back in 2005 I've wanted to add one like that to my collection. I was finally able to do that last year when I found that piece which was surprisingly affordable, relatively speaking. It's like a childhood dream of sorts was finally achieved, and as such I'd consider this my favorite coin in my whole collection.
The second item would be an old sombrero-style hat my Grandma left me when she passed away years ago. She knew how much I liked the movie "Three Amigos" (it's my favorite movie of all time), and we watched the movie together several times. This hat bears some resemblance to the kind the Three Amigos wore in the movie and I love it, and really appreciate the gift as well as the meaning and memories behind it.
5. My preferred method of travel has to be rail by far. My recent rail vacation helped to cement its position on the list. Here in the US it isn't the fastest way to get around by any means unless you're riding one of the corridor type routes (and even then it probably leaves a bit to be desired), but if you aren't in a hurry it's hard to beat traveling by rail in my opinion. To me, the slow nature of the trains is kind of a bonus, as when it comes to traveling I tend to enjoy the journey as much as the destination, if not more in some cases, so having the journey last a little longer than it would've otherwise been by other modes of transportation (within reason, of course) is a huge plus. Rail travel is incredibly relaxing to me, plus you have the ability to just get up and move around at any time, you can get food, use the restroom, or just rest up for a bit and you'll still be moving toward your destination. You also get to see a lot of sights you wouldn't see from 35,000 feet up, or from the roads as the rails diverge from the roadways. Now, all of that being said I do like all modes of transportation, it's just that rail beats them all by a good margin.
6/7a. Asking the hard-hitting questions! I guess one thing I'd say I like about myself is that I have a very active imagination, owed strongly in part to my mind constantly moving along as mentioned earlier. I've always said that I'm not a creative person, but I realized over the years that it isn't the creativity that's the issue, it's that I don't have a whole lot of ways of expressing said creativity. I guess that kind of bleeds into question 7 as well, working on creative outlets to be able to better express myself and not let those creative thoughts go to waste.
7b. I really think it's about time I start trying to take better care of myself mentally. I'm a bit of a pessimist (okay, that's kind of underselling it, there's nothing "a bit" about it) which naturally has led to an overall negative tone surrounding my life. I do have moments of positivity and it feels so much better than the constant negativity I'm usually surrounding myself with. It's been difficult to maintain such positivity though, so I'd really like to work on that.
8. I haven't the slightest idea. There are so many generational labels being thrown around for such a narrow period of time that I've long since given up trying to find the one that fits me. Besides, I don't particularly care for all of the stereotypes and generalizations that get attached to each one, or x generation blaming y for its problems while y does the same to x or z or whatever. I'd prefer to avoid that kind of stuff.
9. I'd love to be able to visit Japan one day. While my parents were in the military they were stationed there for a short time, but unfortunately I was too young at the time to really be able to form any memories of my time there. Going back to Japan is a bucket list item of mine and I hope to be able to get there within the next couple of years (and while I'm at it I'll try to knock two more bucket list items off the list, which are flying on an Airbus A380 (the largest passenger aircraft in service) and flying on a 747, specifically the upper level). It would be nice to be able to go back and be able to more fully experience the country, the culture and history, the food, and more. I don't just want to visit the large cities either, I'd like to be able to get around to some of the smaller communities as well.
First off, thank you for the reminder to update the countdown again! My upcoming vacation is actually going to be essentially the same as my last vacation, a rail vacation from Los Angeles > Seattle > Chicago > Emeryville (Oakland/San Francisco area). I know it might seem like a bit of a waste to do the same vacation twice in a row less than a year apart, but I've got a few reasons for wanting to do that. First, my last vacation was the least stressed I can ever remember being, since I had no obligations whatsoever: nowhere I had to be, nothing I had to do, it was just me and the scenery. Plus I had my own room, and all meals on board were included in my fare so food was taken care of too. It was so calm and relaxing that even an 8 hour delay from flooded tracks on the Seattle to Chicago segment didn't phase me at all, if anything I just saw it as 8 bonus hours on board. I guess I'm just trying to recapture that feeling once again. I know from experience elsewhere that I probably won't get the same feeling from the second time seeing as the novelty of being my first ever long-distance rail trip won't be a factor anymore, but even if it goes half as well as my previous trip it will be well worth it. Second, I received a major deal on this trip compared to last year, so the opportunity to experience it again at such a massive discount was difficult to pass up. Finally, I'm hoping to catch the scenery in the snow this time, since so many people I've talked to have said that doing the trip in the winter is a must-have experience. Scheduling issues kept me from being able to book mid-winter (though if everything works out I'll be able to do a part of it in December for work since they offer work travel opportunities in winter), so I set it for the end of winter/beginning of spring, where there should hopefully still be a good amount of snow in the mountains (especially Glacier National Park and the Colorado Rocky Mountains which are the main parts I'm hoping to see in snow) while also having a decent amount of daylight so I don't miss too much of the scenery.
The reason I have "possible" in my signature though is that I still have to see if my vacation time gets approved, which I won't know until the beginning of next year.
.: Meri :.
-love brought me some eternal petals-
What are your thoughts on Buizel's shiny form? Is there anything you would change about it?
I actually really like Buizel's shiny form! It has a kind of color scheme that would just scream "shiny Pokemon" even if you've never seen a Buizel before and missed the shiny animation. In my opinion, Buizel's shiny coloration actually works very well with him. It's a brighter color scheme, but it isn't obnoxiously bright (if anything, it actually seems slightly dulled). I also think that the white neck ring fits the rest of the coloration extremely well. I feel that his shiny is one of the better designed ones (but not the best). But perhaps I'm a bit biased here considering how obsessive I am over Buizel!
It's really difficult for me to think of something I'd change about the shiny form. Not to say that it's perfect though, but everything just kind of works the way it is already and there isn't any one thing that really sticks out as needing to be changed.
Despite collecting for over 15 years now, my collection is still admittedly rather small. Most of my collection is random old US coins that aren't particularly valuable, with a significant portion being whatever I've pulled from loose change or coin rolls and many of the others being "bargain bin" purchases. I'm still proud of my collection nonetheless, since I buy the coins mostly for the designs and the history anyway rather than rarity or value.
I've been collecting since 2005. That year, my dad brought out a box of old coins he had found in circulation, including the old wheat ear reverse cents (pre 1959), buffalo nickels (pre 1939), and even a steel cent from 1943. I did a bit of research on some of them which led me down a rabbit hole of history, old coin designs, and coin types that no longer existed today such as 2 and 3 cent coins. Seeing that I was taking an interest in old coins, my dad took me to a coin show that year to kick start my own collection, and I've been a collector ever since.
