brains are pretty weird (especially on irregular sleep schedules)

[alexr_rwx]

So I was pretty sick, starting on Tuesday night. I slept through almost all of Wednesday and into Thursday afternoon, in fact. But as of today, I'm most of the way recovered.

But last night, I got weirded out and angry about how much medical care costs, and our insurance system (recalling 2006, when I got smacked with a car and it broke my arm), and then, as I was trying to sleep I couldn't stop envisioning mutant animal heads making faces at me, or people wearing strange masks jumping out. None of this was frightening, just irritating.

So when I did wake up this morning, faced with having to go out into the world and teach lab again, I just cried. I was sure it was going to be miserably cold and rainy (it was actually quite nice!), and I just didn't want to get up. I don't cry a lot! (the rest of the day was very functional and OK, and I like teaching, and it went quite well.)

I cried again this evening, and what set it off... well, would you share with me, if this sort of thing has ever happened to you? I found out about Science Ninja Team Gatchaman, which was this anime from the 70s. (apparently it was pretty influential, and turns out to have predated the live-action Super Sentai shows.)

It's so perfect. They're a Science Ninja Team. They work for the (fictional) International Science Organization to solve sudden environmental crises, which often involve alien invasions and the need for ethically unambiguous semi-cartoony martial-arts violence. They move in that beautiful acrobatic anime-ninja way that you (I) wanted to move when you were a child. You fantasized about it all the time. You practiced your flips underwater, at the bottom of the neighborhood swimming pool. That's what this cartoon is about.

Also, sometimes, they call in for air strikes support. (quoting wikipedia) "The Science Ninja Team is often aided by a mysterious squadron of combat pilots lead by the enigmatic Red Impulse, who is later revealed to be Ken's father."

Here's the intro song.

... my body might just be in a strange state right now. But this pushes past "ha, awesome!" into something more deep-seated. For me at least.

Comments

[lindseykuper]

Alex also quoted an article to me which I wish I could find, in which someone had written, and I'm paraphrasing heavily, "I'm a white guy who grew up in a secular household in suburban middle-class America. The closest thing I had to a religious worship experience was G.I. Joe." I think that's relevant. I'm also curious what Michael jonatthebar might have to say about it.