Talk about life.

[VLordGTZ]

Lum and I got back from our first ever Anime Expo yesterday, and it was a great time!  We got to meet a bunch of people we knew from Twitter as well as attend some awesome panels!  I'll definitely be going again next year, though I'll probably apply for a Press badge because those lines are brutal.   

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I'm envious. I've always wanted to attend, myself, but haven't had the opportunity arise due to my daily schedule.

Feel free to post your guys thoughts on it in more detail if you ever have the time. I'd be eager to learn about what kinds of cool stuff you found down there outside of just the big panels which are uploaded on YouTube.

[LumRanmaYasha]

Took an internet break back in Spring to focus on finishing school and before I realized it my absence from here snowballed into months...even though I keep telling people they can find me on here at the end of every Manga Mavericks.  Will be posting here more regularly again from now on! 

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Lum! It's great to see you back!

I would like to have followed Manga Mavericks more often but my life always gets insanely busy for me to keep up with regular podcasts, so I only got chances to listen to parts of episodes here and there (mainly the portions talking about stuff that I've actually managed to read or am interested in reading). Still, it's nice to have you posting on here even if your visits aren't as frequent as before.

[LumRanmaYasha]

Thank you Dr. E-k! It's great to be back!

And I feel ya on podcasts. I've got a hefty podcast backlog myself, and I keep falling behind on a lot of the shows I follow, especially the ones that regularly put out 2+ hour episodes. Which is ironic, considering we've put out a few 4+ hour-long episodes of Manga Mavericks this year.  But I'm really happy to hear you've kept listening, even if only occasionally! 

[Avaitor]

Welcome back! It's always a pleasure to see your posts on here, and there were some things I've been curious to see your viewpoints on.

[Foggle]

Welcome back!!!

[Daxdiv]

I've been wondering why you haven't been posting here, but still being active on Twitter. Good to have you back.

[LumRanmaYasha]

Thanks guys!

[talonmalon333]

So, this is a message that's a long time coming.

Hey, folks. Long time no see! I'd been thinking about this place recently and decided that I wanted to pay you a visit. Glad so many of you guys are still here, and that the place is just as I remembered it. I even see that some of my old discussions are still active. I wanted to give an update on how I've been, as I know that I just disappeared out of the blue. Basically, life happened. That's the short version. Back in that time (looks like my last post here was in 2015), I'd been through a big transitional era, lingering for a few years after college with loads of debt with a degree I didn't quite know what I was actually doing with, and figuring things out where I actually wanted to go with myself while I worked jobs I didn't care about. Fairly common issues for the our generation, right?

Well, here we are, and a decade has ended. I can safely say 2019 was the best year of the decade, for me. Career-wise, I'm in a stable spot working in Human Resources management at UPS (how I got to that point is another story altogether). It can get chaotic for sure, but I've found that this field really suits my personality type and skills, although I certainly have my personal issues with the company. I can't say for certain if I will stay with it forever. If I leave, it will be to take my HR skills to another equally big company in Philadelphia into a better position.

I've also met the love of my life, over the last few years! Me and her started dating not too long after I stopped frequenting here. We clicked and things took off so quickly. Now, we're in the talks of finding a place to live together in the Philly suburbs. And, if you're curious, yes I'm absolutely planning on popping the question!

Overall, things are just going great for me, and I'm optimistic about everything that is to come.

For the bad news, I have to admit that my interests have changed over the years. For example, I've basically fallen out of touch with video games. That's something that had probably been happening for a while, but it's been a while since I've played anything new, although I've heard good things about the game industry in recent years. But I'm still big on movies and television shows. I wish I could say Game of Thrones is my favorite show ever written, as it had been for seven seasons. But, I have to agree with the common opinion, the final season was bad, and I just don't have the same love for the overall show that I used to. Now, I tend to just marathon shows like You and The Good Place, and I kept up with Mandalorian throughout its run. A few years ago, I also discovered Deadwood which is one of the best things I've ever seen, and I'm especially glad that it got a movie to end the series. Speaking of television movies, El Camino? Loved it.

In terms of other interests, me and my girlfriend are really putting together plans for traveling. This is something that can be so hard to do, because of money and work. But I feel like, if you really want to travel, there comes a point where you just need to do it. Because as cliche as it sounds, when you're on your death bed, you won't regret the time you missed in the office. We'd really like to go to Canada, and it's especially convenient because she has family who lives there. We've also been talking about Spain, and I can't deny that the part of me that's Irish is craving a trip to Ireland, though that's probably farther off.

I could keep going on, but I want to try to pop into some discussions to give some thoughts there, instead, and I don't want this post to become too long. Just being here again brings back a lot of memories, and it's nice seeing all of your usernames again. I never planned on leaving this place. I just set aside my internet leisure time, and then all sorts of things happened. Not sure how long I'll linger around, but I just wanted to check in with you guys and to let you know that I'm doing well. Hope to get to chat with at least some of you for a while!

So, what's up?

[Dr. Insomniac]

It's been a while. Welcome back to the corral.

And, if you're curious, yes I'm absolutely planning on popping the question!

Hope she says yes.

[talonmalon333]

It's been a while. Welcome back to the corral.

And, if you're curious, yes I'm absolutely planning on popping the question!

Hope she says yes.

Thanks for that! Here's hoping. Right now we're both thinking a lot about moving out of the city. I plan on staying in the area (Philly and south Jersey are my home), but we just need to be somewhere where we can be more financially stable. Beyond the cost of living, there's even little things like the cost of parking, paying for gas, even groceries are more.

[Avaitor]

Well hey there, welcome back! It seems like the last couple of years have been going pretty well for you. I'm happy that you have a stable job and a happy relationship. Not everyone gets to be so lucky, so take whatever hold of it that you can!

I also appreciate the need to travel. I made my first solo trip (not counting family visits) last year when I went to Philadelphia for a music festival. I loved everything about it so much that I'm aiming to repeat the experience again this year. I'm even planning an additional day at the new Cartoon Network Hotel. Might as well knock a childhood goal of mine out while I'm there.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Talon!

Great to hear from you again. Sorry to hear that you went through some rough times in the past few years (I think we all have in varying ways, to an extent), but I'm glad that you came out okay and are doing better in you life and career at this point.

Also, good luck on your proposal!

It'd be great to see you around here from time to time. You're always welcome on these boards.

[Foggle]

Missed you pal! Happy to see you around these parts again. I was actually just thinking about you the other day in fact. I knew it had been a while since you last posted, but 2015? Damn, time flies. So glad to hear about you finding love and ending the decade on a positive note; I'm sure she'll say yes!

I echo the sentiment that it would be great to see you posting here like the old days. I know the board isn't super popular and moves even more slowly now, but like you say, the nostalgia is strong. Even though I'm not posting much myself I still get a warm feeling knowing you all are still around.

As for your interests changing, even if you aren't really into video games any more, I highly recommend the recent Resident Evils since I remember you liked that series a lot. REmake 2 and RE7 are incredible experiences, and Revelaitons 2 is a lot better than I gave it credit for back when it released - you could even play that one with your girlfriend!