January 29, 2009
Complexity
It makes me indescribably happy to know that there is more than one other person in the world who thinks about things like this.
January 25, 2009
J-TV
There's a half-hour animal special on every Sunday night after NHK's news. It features a little mini-bio of one animal or another, with interjections from a character called Hige-ji, or "Uncle Beard." As you might imagine, this guy is a squat, talking beard with a little green feathered hat.
Anyway, like many Japanese TV programs, this show is fond of using random American songs as background to the narration / featured events.
And tonight the nest-building background music for Australia's Great Bowerbird was the orchestral background track of "That's How You Know" from Disney's "Enchanted." Of course. Naturally.
Anyway, like many Japanese TV programs, this show is fond of using random American songs as background to the narration / featured events.
And tonight the nest-building background music for Australia's Great Bowerbird was the orchestral background track of "That's How You Know" from Disney's "Enchanted." Of course. Naturally.
January 21, 2009
I don't particularly like the word "serendipity," but it fits
On my way home from work today, I stopped by a little school supplies shop. It's run by an older woman, and sits on the corner where I turn off the main road and down a narrow back way that takes me to the Ise road by my apartment.
I gave the lady who owns the place 660 yen for two pens and a couple packs of stationary, and she gave me a good 15 minutes out of her day, a little jingly cow charm, and her sincere wishes for my dreams to come true. Every time I answered a question she would exclaim that I'm exactly like her own daughter - early 20's, only child, working in a foreign country before going to graduate school - and that even though my mother lives far away in America, she knows exactly how she must be feeling. She frequently patted my arm in a quite maternal fashion. It was like we had known each other for years, but we never even exchanged names.
Today was chilly, dreary, and really dragged towards the end since I'd only had 4 hours of sleep & the office was nearly deserted. But it's days like today that make me feel a bit better about living in the inaka for another year.
I gave the lady who owns the place 660 yen for two pens and a couple packs of stationary, and she gave me a good 15 minutes out of her day, a little jingly cow charm, and her sincere wishes for my dreams to come true. Every time I answered a question she would exclaim that I'm exactly like her own daughter - early 20's, only child, working in a foreign country before going to graduate school - and that even though my mother lives far away in America, she knows exactly how she must be feeling. She frequently patted my arm in a quite maternal fashion. It was like we had known each other for years, but we never even exchanged names.
Today was chilly, dreary, and really dragged towards the end since I'd only had 4 hours of sleep & the office was nearly deserted. But it's days like today that make me feel a bit better about living in the inaka for another year.
January 20, 2009
Miscellany
Oh, the world is full of words that I love ♥
Such as "vertiginous," 「ときどき」(tokidoki), and "recherche"
I played a word-game with my second-years today that's like a cross between hot potato and musical chairs, only English words are the potatoes and the music is from the original "Batman" TV series. The penalty for being the one caught out is they have to answer a conversational question in English. I have questions of varying levels, from "What is your name? What is your quest? What is your favorite color?" etc. to "Do you think there are aliens on other planets?" Can't wait to get to that one.
Also can't wait to get to Ise this weekend - LaLa Park, woooo! Just like all the other hojillion Aeon shopping complexes in J-pan, except I've actually bought stuff at this one and it's called "LaLa Park" XD
Unfortunately I have not watched it yet, as my laptop has just run out of DVD region changeovers, but I'll bet it's CRAZY AWESOME FUN TIMES WITH PENGUINS.
Speaking of crazy awesome animals, meet the newest addition to my menagerie (another good word, but I just can't love it like I love mélange):
Who's a sciatic little Tamandua? Yes you are! (somehow the seaming on his back made him curve a little to the right...I like to think it gives him character, though)
I sent the pattern to Ku to be all digitechnofunkisized, thus why I am not able to share it at the mo', but fear not, soon all y'all crafts-inclined type persons can make your very own army of southern / lesser / vested anteaters.
Sorry for springing that on ya, Ku, but many thanks for the postcard. And yes, you can start building that joint USPS - JPS shrine now, because your Vegasoid-monstrosity-card DID get through them both and here's proof:
And now it is HIGH time I started making dinner, 'cause there's gonna be a busy day of inaugural events taking place around midnight my time. GUESS WHO'S STAYING UP TIL 2 AM ON A WORK NIGHT I'll give you three chances and the first two don't count (.__.)a
Such as "vertiginous," 「ときどき」(tokidoki), and "recherche"
I played a word-game with my second-years today that's like a cross between hot potato and musical chairs, only English words are the potatoes and the music is from the original "Batman" TV series. The penalty for being the one caught out is they have to answer a conversational question in English. I have questions of varying levels, from "What is your name? What is your quest? What is your favorite color?" etc. to "Do you think there are aliens on other planets?" Can't wait to get to that one.
Also can't wait to get to Ise this weekend - LaLa Park, woooo! Just like all the other hojillion Aeon shopping complexes in J-pan, except I've actually bought stuff at this one and it's called "LaLa Park" XD
This is either another instance of "Japan is weird," or "goddamn I'm getting old already" - remember when you used to sometimes find Cracker Jacks or little plastic toys in the cereal box? Guess what I found in mine. Go on, guess.
ok i'll tell you, jeez
ok i'll tell you, jeezUnfortunately I have not watched it yet, as my laptop has just run out of DVD region changeovers, but I'll bet it's CRAZY AWESOME FUN TIMES WITH PENGUINS.
Speaking of crazy awesome animals, meet the newest addition to my menagerie (another good word, but I just can't love it like I love mélange):
Who's a sciatic little Tamandua? Yes you are! (somehow the seaming on his back made him curve a little to the right...I like to think it gives him character, though)I sent the pattern to Ku to be all digitechnofunkisized, thus why I am not able to share it at the mo', but fear not, soon all y'all crafts-inclined type persons can make your very own army of southern / lesser / vested anteaters.
Sorry for springing that on ya, Ku, but many thanks for the postcard. And yes, you can start building that joint USPS - JPS shrine now, because your Vegasoid-monstrosity-card DID get through them both and here's proof:
And now it is HIGH time I started making dinner, 'cause there's gonna be a busy day of inaugural events taking place around midnight my time. GUESS WHO'S STAYING UP TIL 2 AM ON A WORK NIGHT I'll give you three chances and the first two don't count (.__.)aJanuary 10, 2009
Mooooon!
Up until tonight, I don't think I've ever realized just how amazing a full moon is.
I've just now gotten back from spending the day up in Yokkaichi with the Stitch'n'Bitch folk. Many a night I have made the walk back from my local, unmanned train station, through the rice fields, down the Ise Road a bit to my apartment building. But never once have I actually been able to see anything without the aid of my cell phone's glow.
Tonight as I was walking down the narrow road through the rice fields, it was like I had my own personal street lamp dangling mere feet about my head, except it somehow lit up the WHOLE WORLD. There was a thin, fluffy scattering of clouds overhead shaped much like an Imperial Star Destroyer, but that hardly muted the shine at all. I could see across the width of the fields to the tree-line. I could make out in stark, steely relief the tire-tracks from farmers' trucks in the fields themselves. When I got to the other side of the small road, I could see ALL THE WAY BACK. All the buildings around me, even some of the distant mountain sides, I could clearly make out.
It was a lot like this, except there was no perturbed woman or jubilant crowd there, just me and the wind and a night-bird or two.
I've just now gotten back from spending the day up in Yokkaichi with the Stitch'n'Bitch folk. Many a night I have made the walk back from my local, unmanned train station, through the rice fields, down the Ise Road a bit to my apartment building. But never once have I actually been able to see anything without the aid of my cell phone's glow.
Tonight as I was walking down the narrow road through the rice fields, it was like I had my own personal street lamp dangling mere feet about my head, except it somehow lit up the WHOLE WORLD. There was a thin, fluffy scattering of clouds overhead shaped much like an Imperial Star Destroyer, but that hardly muted the shine at all. I could see across the width of the fields to the tree-line. I could make out in stark, steely relief the tire-tracks from farmers' trucks in the fields themselves. When I got to the other side of the small road, I could see ALL THE WAY BACK. All the buildings around me, even some of the distant mountain sides, I could clearly make out.
It was a lot like this, except there was no perturbed woman or jubilant crowd there, just me and the wind and a night-bird or two.
January 6, 2009
Happy Moo Year
Yes, we are neck-deep into week 1 of the Year of the Cow (or "ox" if you wanna be all old-school, but cows are moar cute yuh-huh). It's supposed to be my year. Thus far it's been a mixture of awesome and failure. Awesome mostly coming from my winter vacation in the FROZEN NORTHLANDS Oh My God Snow!!!! :D And chocolate, and REAL cheese, and sloppy joes for dinner & waffles for breakfast, and fireplaces, and homey Midwestern-Americans who pronounce their o's kinda funny but at least they don't need to keep giving me verbal cues to constantly reassure me that our social relationship is A-OK.
Not that I didn't miss Japan. I totally missed out on New Year's Eve + sunrise at Ise's sun-goddess shrine, and that only happens once a year :c Also I missed the national transportation system that actually works. Most of the time. When I don't bork my timing. That was the failure I mentioned way up there ^
After a day of risking pulmonary embolisms in planes, (for some reason I never think "ohmygod what if the plane crashes????" - it's always "ohmygod what if the blood in my legs clots because I can't goddamn move and it gets into my lungs or my brain and I DIE????" I'm getting aisle seats from now on, because apparently nobody in the world has properly functioning kidneys anymore so they NEVER PEE or get up to do anything EVER and I'm stuck feeling like a jerk 'cause I made the 6'8" guy who just found the one comfy position in his undersized seat move to let me out again) I was finally in familiar territory in Nagoya. Express train from airport to main city station, express train from main city station home. Easy.
Except I took the wrong express train home. Not really the WRONG one, just the one that left for Toba 13 minutes too late to catch a local train back to my town. And by "left for Toba" I actually mean "left for Ujiyamada and you have to take the local Toba train to actually get to Toba." In my defense, I hadn't eaten for about 4 hours and used those 13 extra minutes to find food.
Totally against my defense, though, I'm already well-versed in the weasely bait-and-switches Kintetsu likes to pull with their train service, so I really should have just hopped the first train back to be safe. I knew better. In my defense again, though, 15 hours of airline travel. Brain not working at full capacity.
Oh well. All the craptacular travel experiences Japan can throw at me (and really that's been the only one thus far, and not nearly as harrowing as being stranded somewhere in the States or, yanno, any other country that's not Japan. Both of which have happened before) won't take away from the awesome winter break I had. Movies and music and hanging out and sleeping in, and even though I am contractually obligated as a former Chicagoan to forever grudge Macy's their blackhearted takeover of Marshall Field's, I DID find an awesome fitted shirt there, and a jacket as well, both on sale thank you shopping mojo <3
So, to wrap up, things the new year holds:
shopping mojo (always)
little ceramic cows that go "dingle-dingle-dingle!"
enough Americana to last for the next 18 months
books, books, all kinds of books! (thanks, Mom & Dad!)
grad school apps
new first-year students
at least 3 new babies (lots of young married teachers in my office)
at least 1 new prime minister (lolz j/k...or AM I???)
AT LAST a new president
adventure, alliteration, serial commas, and onomatopoeia
Not that I didn't miss Japan. I totally missed out on New Year's Eve + sunrise at Ise's sun-goddess shrine, and that only happens once a year :c Also I missed the national transportation system that actually works. Most of the time. When I don't bork my timing. That was the failure I mentioned way up there ^
After a day of risking pulmonary embolisms in planes, (for some reason I never think "ohmygod what if the plane crashes????" - it's always "ohmygod what if the blood in my legs clots because I can't goddamn move and it gets into my lungs or my brain and I DIE????" I'm getting aisle seats from now on, because apparently nobody in the world has properly functioning kidneys anymore so they NEVER PEE or get up to do anything EVER and I'm stuck feeling like a jerk 'cause I made the 6'8" guy who just found the one comfy position in his undersized seat move to let me out again) I was finally in familiar territory in Nagoya. Express train from airport to main city station, express train from main city station home. Easy.
Except I took the wrong express train home. Not really the WRONG one, just the one that left for Toba 13 minutes too late to catch a local train back to my town. And by "left for Toba" I actually mean "left for Ujiyamada and you have to take the local Toba train to actually get to Toba." In my defense, I hadn't eaten for about 4 hours and used those 13 extra minutes to find food.
Totally against my defense, though, I'm already well-versed in the weasely bait-and-switches Kintetsu likes to pull with their train service, so I really should have just hopped the first train back to be safe. I knew better. In my defense again, though, 15 hours of airline travel. Brain not working at full capacity.
Oh well. All the craptacular travel experiences Japan can throw at me (and really that's been the only one thus far, and not nearly as harrowing as being stranded somewhere in the States or, yanno, any other country that's not Japan. Both of which have happened before) won't take away from the awesome winter break I had. Movies and music and hanging out and sleeping in, and even though I am contractually obligated as a former Chicagoan to forever grudge Macy's their blackhearted takeover of Marshall Field's, I DID find an awesome fitted shirt there, and a jacket as well, both on sale thank you shopping mojo <3
So, to wrap up, things the new year holds:
shopping mojo (always)
little ceramic cows that go "dingle-dingle-dingle!"
enough Americana to last for the next 18 months
books, books, all kinds of books! (thanks, Mom & Dad!)
grad school apps
new first-year students
at least 3 new babies (lots of young married teachers in my office)
at least 1 new prime minister (lolz j/k...or AM I???)
AT LAST a new president
adventure, alliteration, serial commas, and onomatopoeia
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