First off, i wish to explain how i've been spending my time recently. Last week i transcribed a guide to the dialect of Miyagi-ken into HTML. The guide was written by a man named Ben Rosenthal, who was a JET here until 1997, apparently. It's an excellent resource for any students of Japanese, and as such i highly recommend at least skimming through it. Also, i've made minor updates and structural changes to my web page (no more frames), and drastically altered my links page to reflect my current web-surfing habits. There's also an intro page up now as well. I'm rather pleased with the result, and think it more tasteful than my previous designs "efforts".
Moving on...i've accepted the editorship of the Drum, the Miyagi-ken mini-zine for the JET community. Which means i will now be able to disseminate my views to an even greater audience. bwa. bwahaha. bwahahahaha! bwahahahahahahahahahahaaa!!1! ..ahem. It also means that every so often, my free time will be drastically cut in a frantic scramble to mail about 50 or so copies to unsuspecting weakl^W^Wsubscribers in my prefecture. bwa etc.
Today the transfers to and from Sanbongi Junior High were announced. The whole process is very hush-hush, with teachers being sworn to secrecy until the the transfers are announced in the local paper (about 20 minutes before the principal announced the transfers, i asked one of the teachers sitting near me if she was changing schools, and she mouthed "no"). Although it is in fact a Big Deal, the whole secrecy thing struck me as a little childish. More on the work tip: because i'm saving my paid leave for my mother and sister's visit in May, i won't be able to take off for spring vacation. I'm glad that the Sanbongi Board of Ed. needs me to sit around the teacher's rooms of various schools playing videogames everyday. Guh. I think I may just bring some DVDs to the Junior High and watch those. I ordered the entire first season of the Sopranos from Amazon last week, as well as the Decalogue by Krzysztof Kieslowski (director of the _Three Colours_ trilogy), but i don't think they'll get here in time. Luckily, the school basketball team is practicing three times a week, so at least i'll get some exercise.
(Added Saturday, March 24th)
Yesterday was such a clear day...i could see the mountains surrounding my town extremely well. I wish i had brought my camera. Yesterday i also witnessed my school's class promotion ceremony, which was quite the thrill ride. *stifles a yawn* I should be test-driving a used car tomorrow, and i sure hope there's nothing seriously wrong with it. It sure will be nice to be able to drive around instead of relying on the bus.Anyway, from an e-mail to Mel dated March 7th: "apparently the weather here doesn't believe in lost causes, as it's currently snowing pretty hard despite relatively balmy temperatures in the 30s (i call it balmy because i don't have to wear thermals anymore). it snowed all day monday as well, but the streets were completely clear tuesday night. the lack of freezing temperatures assures that melted precipitation won't turn into ice, so it's pretty much snow without Consequences. even so, i'm sick of it, and wish i could ride my bike consistently.
one of the reason i enjoy life so much is the ability to find out new things about myself. as an example, i discovered within the past few months that my sleep cycle consists of the initial dream phrase (one of the signs i'm gonna conk out right away is my ability to close my lids and bring vast imaginary vistas to my mind's eye virtually unbidden), which lasts for five to ten minutes, maybe more. then darkness. then the rem dreams that delve into my subconscious, and which i usually can't remember. [...] anyway, returning to my original point, i've discovered my limits the past couple of weeks, due to "civilization," which in video game-ese translates to "herion". i've found that getting three hours sleep is much much better than two, and that the world on very little sleep seems more spare. there's an emotional and physical buffer that i seem to possess with regular amounts of sleep. that buffer doesn't exist when i stay up too late.
"i go forwards, and you go backwards. somewhere we will meet..." for some strange reasons i've been flooded with memories lately, and i've come to realize that memory and music are inseparable to me. in part, when i evaluate an album, i'm evaluating the memories that come with it. for example, i remember picking up wilco's _summer teeth_ at a used cd place in nashville during a weekend in which i saw vigilantes of love and over the rhine concerts with jerry. [...] we stayed at the visitor's house at trevecca that weekend, and i recall hearing some not-so-charitable remarks being made about the relatively long hair jerry and i were sporting from the more enlightened denizens of the tnu cafeteria. elisa went with us to vol, and it was a really good show. i got bill to sign a poster of mine after the show."
been listening to: the pixies, the prayer chain, poor old lu, squarepusher, midnight oil, fear factory