Tan Superman

Welcome to the discount version of my PechaKucha. The reason I say this is because when I was designing the presentation, it was intended to be presented. Not displayed on a website with static, boring text describing the pictures; no, it was supposed to be shown live with a vibrant speaker and a responsive audience.

But this will do for now. And, if you’re wondering, the ‘Tan Superman’ is me. Although it may seem surprising, I am indeed tan. The ‘Superman’ part was always obvious.

Image result for deep fried memes

This first image represents humor. Humor is incredibly important to me, and although I’m definitely not the funniest person I know, I still find being able to appreciate good jokes to be a great waste of my time. This image specifically shows my sense of humor, or what I find amusing. The photo is a high-contrast image with seemingly random text. The joke here isn’t apparent; it’s simply immature, stupid, and confusing.

Just like me.

Image result for sparkler

I am much like a sparkler—I have sudden bursts of brilliance where I feel energized and motivated to accomplish my goals, but shortly after go back to doing absolutely nothing. I also make a huge show of my ten seconds of inspiration. This is true in my writing, academics, and artistic projects as well. I lose interest very quickly and find no reason to go back and force myself to do something that holds no value in my life.

Image result for video games

The once exception to what I just said is my love for video games. Although I lack the patience to learn an instrument or write a story, I can spend hours playing a game and not get bored. This is especially true for my passion for puzzle and role-playing games. I love spending hours on a particular level or puzzle, having to think methodically about everything at once, whilst resisting the temptation to search up the answer online. The feeling of beating a puzzle is exhilarating; like you’re the first person to ever discover the joy of feeling smart for a few seconds.

Image result for masculine

This image shows my sense of masculinity. No, I don’t actually struggle with what it really means to be a man. Instead, I feel like I have very ‘traditionally’ masculine reading traits. The types of novels I normally enjoy are espionage, science fiction, and realistic fiction. Something with a heavy emphasis on plot, and not characters’ emotions, and something that doesn’t have an extremely deep meaning to it. Most girls I know really dislike the type of books I love, which is too bad, but at the end of the day as long as I’m having fun reading, I don’t care.

Image result for memoirs of a geisha

That was until I read Memoirs of a Geisha this summer. This novel is about the lives of female entertainers before World War II and provides an amazing view of imperial Japan mixed with Western influence. This novel was so feminine; yet, one of my favourite novels ever, and I recommend all to read it. In fact, it was so feminine, it —–

Yeah, I’m not going to say what goes in the blank. Those who were present and my spiel will know exactly why I’m not writing that on a website.

Image result for samurai

I am very fascinated with imperial Japanese culture. Specifically, the times between the late 1800s and right before World War II. To be in Japan’s larger cities (Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka) at these times was to experience the harmonious blend of Western and historical Japanese cultures. Although samurai were not actively fighting wars during this time period, I find them, their philosophies, and way of life to be very interesting. In books, Japan is a beautiful setting that takes center stage; rather than the characters. It is almost as if Japan is a character within itself that has historically struggled with the idea of losing its unique culture but has gradually accepted acculturation into today’s world.

Image result for legos

I might be just a little obsessed with creation. Not in a Victor Frankenstein kind of way, but I relish the idea of creating something tangible to show off the fruits of my labour. Building knowledge is great, but I long to bring that into the real world. Unfortunately, I’m not the most visually artistic person I know, or the most creative, or the most anything. So, I try to show off my knowledge by writing, although I’m not too great at that either. But since every single person who attends school can write at least very basically, I feel as though I have some starting ground to move up from.

Image result for art

Let me explain. I’m not a painter. Or a sketcher, or anything physically artistic, really. In fact, I really suck at everything that has to do with a paintbrush, pencil, or colour. However, this image represents that I like to try to do things I’m not good at, even if I know I’ll be disappointed by them. The fact of the matter is: when you’re as cool as I am, you need to do something you suck at just to remind yourself that you’re not completely perfect. And I’m absolutely not perfect, but I don’t practice things to become perfect. I practice them to gain appreciation for the dedication and talent that goes into learning or doing anything.

Image result for discussion

I love discussion and debate. In fact, I can’t stand people who don’t try to bring a strong point to debates and discussions. I think everyone has an opinion, and there isn’t a reason to hide that from everyone else, especially in a welcoming environment like a classroom. Being the way I am, I usually start debates and will keep arguing even if I don’t believe in what I’m talking about. Even though about 80% of what I say is unnecessary, we learn from understanding the perspectives of others. This is what I’m trying to accomplish.

Image result for space

Finally, a picture reminding us how lonely and tiny we are. We look at our position on some random branch of the galaxy, floating around in a universe of unimaginable size, and can’t help but think that we’re worth nothing. Nihilists will say that this means that life is essentially purposeless and there is no point in trying to change anything, but I see it in another way.

What we have—advanced life that allows us to be aware of the sheer magnitude of our world—is still special to us. So far, we’re the only ones who love each other, and laugh, and make jokes, and thrive. In this vastly empty universe, there’s only one tiny rock, on which only a handful of people really care about you. So why would you break that when it’s all you have?

Thank you.

 

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

8 thoughts on “Tan Superman

  1. Dear Zaid,

    I loved the humour in your pechakucha. You made me laugh out loud several times reading this. (something that is surprisingly hard to do considering I have already seen you present this.) You made this pechakucha very true to yourself, and I could tell through your writing. There were times when I literally can hear your voice saying the things that I was reading. This made your project even more interesting and you never had anything less than my full attention for one second. There were somethings that you shared that I had no idea about you, like your passion for video games, or your interest in Japanese culture. I loved that you shared this because it got me to see a whole other side of one of my gamily froup members. I loved the analogies you made in your presentation such as comparing you to a sparkler. Your writing somehow has the power to let me see how you think and experience life. The structure of your presentation was very smooth as it never felt choppy from one slide to the next.

    One thing I would say as feedback would be to include specific experiences from your life to a couple of your slides. I think that this would help some of the audience or readers to get to know you even better. Other than that, I think this was incredible.

    Sincerely,
    – Petrina

    1. Dear Petrina,

      Thank you for taking a look at my blog post! It’s great to know that I have someone actively looking at my stuff with the intention to help me grow. I’m glad you found it humourous, as that was the intention all along. I completely agree with your suggestion of including specfic experiences of my life. I feel like that would make it more personal to me, and give the reader a real idea of who I am. I never would’ve thought of that by myself, so thank you so much for letting me know.
      Please come back and leave your insight on my other writing in the future. I look forward to it.

      Sincerely,
      Zaid

  2. *Zaid:

    This presentation captured the duality of you so effectively. It bounces back and forth between hysterical and profound, and reading it again makes me feel like I either need to have an existential crisis or watch a vine compilation. Your voice rings loud and clear in this piece, though I do miss the iconic words spoken in the in-person presentation. I hope that you keep that balance between extremes in your other writing in some way, because it makes your pieces so enjoyable.

    My only suggestion is to give yourself more credit. You made a lot of self-depreciating jokes in the presentation, and I feel like you aren’t giving yourself the recognition you deserve. Recognize your strengths where they are. You are an incredibly intelligent and well-spoken person, and I have truly enjoyed getting to talk with you so much in this class. Sorry to sound like a motivational poster, but be kinder to yourself.

    Thank you for your humor and your constant insights. Fingers crossed for a speedy recovery after what Memoirs of a Geisha did.

    Love,
    Maria

    1. Dear Maria,

      My most sincere apologies that I lacked the strength to type the forbidden words spoken on that fateful day. However, I hope you can understand my reasoning as to why I decided not to: I couldn’t figure out the best way to spell it. In honesty though, it probably would have been a good idea to include it, so thanks for bringing that up.
      I’m glad you enjoyed my piece and left your expertise here as well. I am only now noticing the nature of my self-depricating humour; and it’s something I’m trying to work on, especially in writing. I sometimes feel as though I need to have some sort of personal comedy in my work, and it’s refreshing to know that someone else can see the other side of me.
      Thanks for visiting, and I hope to see your comments here more often. Also, don’t hold your breath for that recovery (if you know what I mean).

      See you soon,

      Zaid

  3. Dear Tan Superman,

    Wow I’m such a fan of your work – not to mention your beard. I enjoyed reading the part where you left a blank because it reminded me back to your presentation. Furthermore, your writing is so similar to the way you truly talk because I could feel as if I was having a conversation with you. This style of writing is something I have tried before and it truly is very difficult to do.

    Finding something to work on is the hardest part of this comment because what could superman possibly be lacking in. Anyway, perhaps adding some more personal experiences would be helpful – especially in the disappointment part (pianos) – because it would make your points more accurate.

    Overall, your piece has again raised my already never-ending admiration of you, superman. I’m excited to see your greatness evolve further as well as see your immensely magnificent beard grow.

    Yours in admiration,
    Zain

  4. Dear 🅱️ain:

    Thanks for taking a look at my blog post, and leaving your commentary here! Since you know me really well, I’m glad that you were able to find that my writing stayed true to me, as that was my intention. I agree with your suggestion of adding in some more personal experiences of my life to make it more accurate. It seems like that’s a common thing, so I should probably fix that.
    Come back again here sometime and leave your expertise.

    With lots of 🅱️ove,

    Zaid

  5. Dear Zaid:

    I loved this blog post. You voice is so evident and entertaining throughout the entire piece. I really appreciate that about you, really. I love how with everything you do; may it be an introductory blog to the most intellectual presentation in class, you are still able to add elements of your personality. I feel like I could read your writing all day and find amusement for literally 24 hours straight. At times when we talk about ourselves, it is often difficult to keep our entire life story concise, and may become convoluted. You’re really skilled when it comes to collecting your thoughts in this way. I really loved how smooth and clear both the presentation and this blog was/ is. I can’t wait to read your creative pieces and your essays!

    For improvement, I would like to suggest to have more confidence in your abilities. Although I am a huge fan of self deprecating humour, I will definitely support you throughout the year with gaining confidence in your writing, presenting, and ideas, because you are actually brilliant. I have so much to learn from you.

    Thank you for making my day with this piece. You’re becoming one of my favourite people. I greatly respect you.

    With lots of love,
    mia 🙂

    1. Dear Mia,

      I’m glad you loved this blog post, because I loved writing it, too. Thank you for putting your impeccable eye to it and taking the time to read what it has to offer. I’m happy to know that you find me and my writing amusing, and enjoyed my injection of personality in this piece. I tried to keep it concise, soI’m glad you noticed I did that.
      I agree with your suggestion of being more confident. I always feel like my work is mediocre, but I know that being around amazing and supportive people such as yourself will help me out.

      With lots of chocolate-granola bars,

      Zaid

Leave a Reply to petrinav Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *