Ask a thoughtful Bossman your most pressing life questions. This Q&A world isn't a place to complain about bugs or specific site issues, but is instead a forum to get objective, rational advice and perspective on your troubles.

To ask a question, either comment on any question here or send me a PM or email!

Why is Shenanigans Such a Beautiful Word?

On a superficial level, any four-syllable word that flows well sounds beautiful to the ear.

See: Diarrhea. It's a beautiful word superficially but the contents leave much to be desired.

But there's more:

When I pronounce "Shenanigans" out loud I hear "She Nags Again"

Nagging (again) is sadly is one of the top complaints husbands have about their wives. It's a cause of divorce. What can be beautiful about that?

Quite a bit. By turning "She Nags Again" into a funny word like "Shenanigans" you're making light of it. You're turning it from something harsh to something that's not a big deal. "I might be nagged at but I'm not taking that nagging personally."

Making light of otherwise dour situations, not taking things personally, putting poetry to language.

That's shenanigans and that's beautiful.

Q: If you are trapped inside a box...

If you are trapped inside of a box, inside of another box, which was surrounded by thousands of other boxes, and every time you tried to escape, more boxes would form and you would get trapped even deeper in the sea of boxes, how would you get out? - LMAO

A few ways:

Prevention:
I'd make sure not to get caught in the first box in the first place

Reverse Approach:
You said that every time I tried to escape more boxes would form, but that would be me working from inside-out. I'd sit still and have call someone on the outside break through the boxes from the outside-in.

Shovel:
I'd dig underneath the boxes and tunnel to safety. The ignorant boxes would think I was still inside them. Once a safe distance away I'd commission a helicopter, fly above the boxes, and firebomb them all.

Philosophical Approach:
If you consider my apartment to be a box, Earth to be another box, the solar system to be another box, etc. then I could live my entire life in the scenario you described, so it would be fine by me not even to try to escape.

Self-Destruct:
Since I wouldn't have long to live anyway, I'd set myself on fire. It'd be painful but at least I'd take all those boxes with me.

Space
I'd make a call and ask that me and all the boxes be launched into space. While floating in space, I'd keep trying to escape, causing more and more boxes to form around me. Eventually the box would grow so large that we'd reach a black hole and me and all the boxes would get sucked inside. In the black hole's parallel universe there'd be one box inside me and everytime it tried to escape another Adam would form to contain it. @_@

Q: The word "obsessed" is thrown around in the otaku community, but when's it too much?

If you look at the definition of "obsessed" it's something along the lines of excessive preoccupation in your mind.

Anime and fandom is a hobby. This means that you should only be preoccupied with it during your hobby-time.

If you're in school and if you can't concentrate on what the teacher's saying because you're thinking about your Yu Gi Oh card collection, then that's "too" obsessed

If you have a date with someone you're interested in and you cancel it because you'd rather watch a new DVD you just got in the mail, that's "too" obsessed

If you forget to eat meals, forget to exercise, or forget to groom yourself because you're too busy in theO chat talking to n00blets, then that's "too" obsessed

HOWEVER...

If your work/homework/social obligations/etc. are all finished and you find your mind preoccupied with watching an anime, then that's a healthy and happy obsession.

You should always try to balance:

Hobbies/Play/Relaxation
Exercise
Social
Work
Intellectual

There are ways to do many of these at once. For example, if you're still in school, work and intellectual are both about the same thing. Also if you play sports with friends, then you're doing exercise and social simultaneously.

Just remember that even if you're a super-otaku, that doesn't mean you should neglect the other parts of your life.

Q: Why do I lust over fictional men?

I think that everyone has kind of an "ideal" partner in their head, though most will end up with someone they absolutely love who doesn't fit that initial ideal image.

You probably lust over fictional men because the ideal partner you have in your head doesn't correspond to any man in your social circle (and no man in your social circle interests you romantically to the point of changing your ideal image to correspond to them). Characteristics of this ideal partner happen to match a fictional character and so you become obsessed with him.

Don't worry, once you meet the right boy, I think your lust will switch over to him, though you might always give the fictional character a special place in your heart. The important thing is to not let your fictional character lust interfere with your pursuit of Mr. Right. He might get turned off if one day he sees that your college dorm room is like an alter to an anime or video game character. (Though maybe, if he's an otaku, he could cosplay as him for you.)

End