December Anime Favorites

Hello everyone! I'm starting a new segment here on Ragamuffin talking about one of my favorite hobbies: watching anime. I've been watching anime ever since I was first introduced to it by LittlePlum in high school. The first anime I ever watched was Ouran High School Host Club, a very funny and heart-warming show about a group of guys at a prestigious private high school who create a host club (think: male geisha). Haruhi, the new scholarship student accidently breaks an expensive vase the host club owns and must work off the debt first by being an errand-boy and then working as a host. But when the disheveled looking new student, who everyone thought was a boy, ends up being a cute girl all the guys in host club seem to fall for her! It's seriously the cutest show ever.

Today I am going to share the anime's that I have been watching over the past few weeks of December. Most of the anime I watch I get off of Crunchyroll.com, a website that operates much like hulu. I feel that the short commercials are worth it since the site is safer than others such as megavideo or truveo.

Ragamuffin's December Favorites

Chihayafuru is a compelling and interesting slice-of-life, high school romantic anime which centers around three childhood friends: Chihaya, Arata, and Taichi. The trio first become friends through a Japanese card game called Karuta, in which players must listen and quickly determine which card is being called and then grab it before the opponent does. There are 100 cards and on each card is a poem from the Edo period. The show focuses mainly on the three friends goal of becoming Karuta champions, while at the same time showcasing a love triangle between the two guys and Chihaya. The show is currently on-going and there have been 12 episodes subtitled in English so far. 

The second anime that I've been in love with this past month is Gosick. This anime is based in a fictional country in Europe during the year 1924, the story follows Victorique and Kujo as they solve the crimes Victorique's detective brother fails to do. The show has an almost Sherlock Holmes feel to it because Victorique, like Holmes has a brilliant mind and can solve any case put in front of her, while Kujo is her faithful sidekick and friend, like Watson. The only problem I have with the show is that I usually solve the mysteries before the big reveal, and that's no fun. But overall, I really enjoy the show and I'm super sad that it only has one season and that I'm coming up on the last few episodes!

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Well, I hope you enjoyed my picks for this month and check them out! So, what's your take on anime? Do you have any favorites, have you not seen any yet, or do you think it's silly and a waste of time?

-E

I've Fallen and I Can't Get Up!

OK. I am only twenty years old, but today I felt like an old, old woman. My younger dog, Baxter, woke me up this morning with kisses on my face. So in my early morning haze I tried to jerk back so that he wouldn't be able to get any french kisses in, as he is prone to try in the morning. As I was jerking away, something in my neck snapped. It sounded almost like the special effect movies use when someone's neck is supposed to have been broken so, yeah. Immediately, I experienced some of the worst pain I have ever felt in my life! I'm no stranger to pain, since I was diagnosed with Juvenile Arthritis at 14 and have had slight to severe pain in my hip because of it. But this was like nothing I've ever felt before, I wasn't able to move my head or my right arm without crying out from the pain. I was super lucky that my sister and my best friend were still at the house and could take me to the urgent care center. When we got there we waited for what felt like hours before I was able to go in. I don't think I would have been able to handle the process if my two favorite girls hadn't been there for me. They kept me smiling and laughing with jokes about the hot technician who took me to get x-rays of my neck.

It turned out that I had managed to slip a couple of discs in my neck and that caused the muscles near my neck and shoulder to seize up. Luckily, the doctor I was assigned specializes in Sports Medicine and was able to pop them back in to place, for the most part. Who knew you could cause such severe trauma to yourself just by waking up? It really made me feel like one of those elderly people in the Life Alert commercials. You know those tag lines they always say: "I've fallen and I can't get up" or "Every senior citizen should have Life Alert"? Well maybe not only senior citizens should have it, with the way my lucks been these past few weeks maybe I should add one to my Christmas list!

My girls are pretty disappointed though, for a few reasons:

1. I didn't get the Tech's number. 
2. Even though I'm loaded up on medication right now I have not engaged in any blackmail worthy stunts. 
3. I was the reason we never worked out this morning. (Darn.)

-E

Hello World!

Emily here! Thank you for coming to check out my blog! I am so excited (and a bit scared!) to be starting this blog and sharing my life with the world. I am hoping to use this blog as a tool to step out of my comfort zone and push myself to experience all there is in life. I chose the name Ragamuffin for my blog because it has always been one of those feel good words for me,  ever since being dubbed one as a child. After looking the word up in the dictionary, I'm not quite sure why my family thought it fit me so well. Ragamuffin as defined by Merriam-Webster is: a poorly clothed, often dirty child. I also found out that Ragamuffin is a breed of domesticated cats. Hmm.. I think I might have to create a new definition for this word, since I am not a cat and can no longer be described as a child.

At least it's a cute breed!

I've been on break from college for the past year, mostly because I realized I had no idea what I wanted to declare as my major. I'll admit, I had a bit of a breakdown from the stress of it all and simply gave up. But I'm going back in January and I finally decided to major in Biology. I chose Biology because I have had a love for the great apes ever since I saw Animal Planet's "Growing Up: Gorilla", when I  was around 14. The only problem is that I have struggled with Math and Science courses my whole life. I think I've been holding myself back from believing I could ever achieve my dream of working with apes because of it. During the past year away from school I've realized this, and now I'm actively working on not allowing myself to hold me back. 

Surprisingly, since figuring out what I want to do I can't wait to go back to school! I'm most excited about designing my new dorm room and I plan on showing a "before and after" picture here later in January when it will hopefully be completely finished. I also plan on posting about dorm life/college life,  specifically on topics such as fashion, organization, and safety. For the upcoming week look out for pictures on what I wore for orientation! I'm a firm believer in dress for success, so I'm slightly afraid I'll be a bit overdressed. But it's better to be overdressed and confident than under-dressed and not sure of yourself, I think.


Well, there it is. My first blog post! Thank you for taking the time out of your day to stop by, and I hope to see you again. 

-E