So, looking at my usage statistics for this blog, I see riiight at the very top:

#1. http://www.disney.com/

Now… someone, please explain to me why Disney is linking to my blog? *tilts*

ググる /(v5r) to Google (i.e. to search for on the WWW using the Google search engine)/

(the left part reads “guguru”)

What’s funny? Japanese frequently adopt foreign words, but as the grammar of Japanese is so completely different from that of e.g. Germanic, they can’t use a foreign word like they use a Japanese one. Hence (among other things) why Katakana exists, the alphabet dedicated to foreign words. But in this case a foreign word (google) became an actual verb — a godan-verb of the Iku/Yuku special class, to be exact (source) — and I can only presume it can be used accordingly. E.g.
“ググりませんか？” (gugurimasenka?), “Shan’t we google it?”,
“ググれない！” (gugurenai!), “I can’t google it!”,
“ググった！” (gugutta!), “I googled it!”,
“ググって見付けた！” (gugutte mitsuketa!), “I googled it, and found it!”
“ググれ！” (gugure!), “Google it! (commanding)”
“ググって下さい！” (gugutte kudasai), “Please google it.”
“ググらないで下さい！” (guguranaide kudasai), “Please don’t google it.”

[etc]

Update: Native Japanese has now confirmed that this verb actually isn’t really used a lot. If I step up the geek ladder a few steps I’ll find some who use it though, no doubt.

A movie made completely using Open Source software, that was definitely worth watching. The mood on this thing is spectacular, but the download is rather big.

Gonna buy the DVD.

http://orange.blender.org/

Her mere presence was like a gently lain, dulling paralysis upon me. Not by authority, for she had none, but by the mere power of her words, a power that dictated my future. A prophecy, rather than a sentence.

And in a way, a prophecy is all the worse. You cannot argue prophecy. You cannot change prophecy. It is inevitable, unchanging, a truth.

But it was the first time in my life that I recognized that paralysis. It was not the first time I felt it, and I likened myself for a playful moment to an immigrant, fighting for his right to live and breathe in a place without torture and war. An immigrant being handed prophecy, not sentence, with rational reasoning and rational people behind it. But rational and compassionate are not at all synonymous or compatible, at times.

But of course it is much worse for the immigrant. Such as yesterday’s event, where a family (a mother, father, and their two young children) poured gasoline over themselves and threatened to put themselves on fire due to the decision to deport them back to their native country (noone was hurt).

In my case, it was merely a matter of whether my current plans were going to happen or not. It looks like I will have a rough time ahead of me during the next half year, but that’s about it. I hate breaking a promise, especially one made to myself, and I do not intend to break this one.