Item: Edward H. Eng, English Teacher
Description: People always ask me why I made this site. The answer is quite simple and rather childish - One day a student of mine and I were discussing automobiles we've owned. Her answer was a car which her husband owns: a 2007 Mercedes Benz S500. I responded that my first car was a BMW M3, used, purchased for roughly 1 million yen. She immediately replied that I was a "protected youth" which loosely translates to someone who is spoiled. This really irked me, especially coming from a person who should point the finger inward. When someone calls me spoiled, it's basically saying that everything I own, everything I have, everything I believe in - I don't deserve any of it. I work very hard for the things I have. I toil, I'm tired, I have days where I'm so exhausted that I can't even think straight. I do these things because it's my life. I buy the things I buy because I deserve them. I bought my first used car, with cash, because I liked it and I felt I deserved every drop of fuel, every drip of paint, and every panel of metal I drove and every patch of leather I touched. For that student to say that just made me realize that being spoiled is a privilege I don't have and from someone who does to say someone else has it is beyond unforgivable.
So for that student, where ever they are or if they ever read this - this site is dedicated to you. Enjoy your life, because I certainly enjoy mine.
Q: Name, Hometown, Current City
A: Eddie, Starret City Brooklyn/Freeport NY, Toyonaka Osaka
Q: What can you not live without?
A: My friends and the people I've met, the support from the people who give it, my "fans", and the people I haven't met yet but will and never forget.
Q: What is one thing you always carry around with you?
A: The iPhone, Head Porter wallet, red pen, Lumix G1, and a pocket notebook.
Q: What is your perspective on the materialistic youth of today?
A: Materialism is what makes the world go round, and ultimately what makes things go wrong. There will always be someone out there with more, both physically and metaphorically, but if you compare yourself to others than your jealousy is a possession you have over them. I try not to envy others for the things they have, because I'm certain I have things they don't, again both physically and metaphorically. The youth of today are only realizing the potential they have in life and may or may not have a head start on what they may deserve in the future from being "spoiled" or not. So as long as they find their own path, it doesn't matter what they have now. What matters is what they'll have later.
Q: If you could rid the world of one physical item, what would you get rid of?
A: Cigarettes.
Q: What is your New Year's resolution for 2010?
A: To be a better man and make use of myself.