Guu kan - a blog of randomness

Got this in an email recently. It's been on the internet for a few years, but still true now. It can be summed up as: Feel-good, politically correct teachings creates a generation of kids with no concept of reality and this concept sets them up for failure in the real world. The rules: Rule 1: Life is not fair - get used to it! Rule 2: The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself. Rule 3: You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both. Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss. Rule 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity. Rule 6: If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them. Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents

Just went into Waterstones one day a while and decided to check out some Manga - mostly due to watching lots of Anime - so wanting to check out the comics. First I tried Ragnarok, which is based on Norse Mythology, but in Manga (or rather, Manwha - Korean comics) style. Found out I liked it, so got all the volumes available - unfortunately it is an unfinished series - up to volume 10 (November 2003, UK). Also have Ghost In the Shell, which was also very good and volume 1 of Black Cat. Wondering whether I should get the rest of Black Cat or check out something else.

I have an interest in the manga style of drawing and as a result am looking at what books are available for learning how to do it. Currently I have a list of a few books on drawing manga. Manga for Dummies - a very comprehensive looking guide (432 pages), covering many aspects of manga creation, from tools to characters, story and scenery The Art of Drawing Manga - a shorter book (144 pages) than the Dummies one, available in full colous Step-By-Step Manga - by the same author of the previous book, very short (64 pages), targeted at younger audience and consists of various characters and how they were designed Draw Your Own Manga: All the Basics - a book apparently used at the Tokyo Animation College. Details the steps made in creating a manga in a manga illustrated format The Monster Book of Manga - a long book (384 pages) with many different styles, not really for an absolute beginner, more for reference