I have friend who is very dear to my heart. I usually only communicate with her via email because of geography, and the bulk of these emails say one thing to me. She does not use email for work.

She sends me the most useless stuff, power point presentations about puppies dancing, Have a Great Thursday notes, an article about how Red Skeleton predicted the controversy regarding prayer in public schools way back in 1954, and so on. Once in a while she will even forward me one of those "send this to ten people or your house will burn down tomorrow" kind of emails, and she just did it again.

I usually just delete them without thinking but upon reading one I did happen to open, I found quite dismal and macabre warnings and even more disturbing examples of people who had failed to fulfill the requirements of the sender. These warnings were so well written, touching so inappropriately close to home that I hesitated before deleting it

I considered what to do.

1. Forward the message per the instructions
2. Delete the message permanently
3. Delete the message but leave it in the trash so I can change my mind later
4. Schmuck! Realize you are being an idiot and delete the message already!

The fact that I reacted this way was simple. The email's author touched me close to home by threatening direct harm to those I care about if I did not follow his instructions. His wording and style were both heartfelt, and readable. It was though I was really reading a threat from a madman. My concern for my loved ones trumped my rational mind as I instinctually became defensive, feeling violated by the harassment.

It is probably the best example of this type of scare tactic that I have ever seen.

Quickly enough I regained my senses and deleted the email, without forwarding it on per the author's instructions. I am still here and none of the warnings have come true, so far.

A few years back it seemed that all anyone could talk about was blogging. Writers were pumping out books on the subject and everyone started their own ego satisfying, self promoting little website and began calling themselves pundits or gurus. By now however the truth has come out as blog posts have ruined reputations, careers, and in some cases even led to murder. It's true, don't laugh.

The negative aspects and risks of blogging have not only become apparent in the world of college dating or video gaming excess however.

No doubt writers everywhere have realized that blogging is essential for not only marketing, but for consumer contact as well. So have real estate agents, doctors, lawyers, truck drivers, or anyone else trying to sell themselves or their services.

That is of course the most negative impact that the popular acceptance of blogging has had on the internet. Blogs have been professionalized as marketing tools that offer no more substance than the 30 second television commercials they have replaced for the broadband demographic.

It's not that marketing is a bad thing, but it can't be the only thing a good blog does. Much like an actor appearing on the Tongiht Show would not use all his air time talking up his new movie, a blogger should not write every post about their new book.

There is a "leave a comment" link for a reason, it is because blogs were intended not only to entertain and provoke thought, but to communicate.

In my professional life I write everyday. Sometimes it is just a bunch of email, other times I find myself fully immersed in the most boring type of business documentation project. In either case there is little time left in the end for the type of writing I enjoy.

So when my mind is active but my hands are too exhausted to put in any more time at the keyboard, I watch a little Anime on the Internet.

Anime is often assumed to be pornographic on one hand, or childish and seizure inducing on the other. The fact is that the good Anime films and TV series cross the lines of genre, appeal to a wide range of audiences, and are liberated from many of the constraints endemic to live action story telling.

What all the acclaimed Anime projects have in common is the quality of their story telling. Their plots take viewers through complex weavings of interpersonal human struggle, motivation, and the full spectrum of emotion to confront many of the social issues plaguing us today, as well as many from the past. Admittedly sometimes over the top from an audio and visual perspective, good titles such as Gungrave, Speedgrapher, and most recently Death Note use both audio, visual, and plot devices to engage the viewer and surprise them.

When viewing these series as student of fiction, any writer should quickly be engaged by not only the culturally different story telling, but also by how this wholly Japanese genre has been influenced by our own culture and contributions.

It is for these reasons that watching Anime has become one of my guilty pleasures, and why some of my favorite Anime series have become invaluable sources of example and inspiration.