i've raved about this to a couple of friends over icq, but "rocket" by the smashing pumpkins is the one of most kick-ass songs i know. that ending riff is destined to be used in commercials and radio promos years from now, the way led zep riffs are used now. anyway, i d/l-ed the new pumpkins album, and it's pretty good, but nothing that you can really crank the way that you can "rocket".
today was "labor thanksgiving day", which is basically just another national holiday that no one really cares much about. their loss, i guess. i went to the supaa in cowboy and found cheese and skim milk. i was happy. monday, a bakery delivery service came to the elementary school, and i ruthlessly snatched a loaf of bread from one of the other teachers, thus inching closer to being able to construct a real sandwich. the skim milk means cereal is also possible. bwahahahahah!!!!
yesterday i did my time at the junior high while chatting with alison over im, which was cool. i'm looking forward to hanging out with her in osaka. clark too. this week has been test week at the junior high, so i've been left with absolutely nothing to do. fine by me. even so, i'm itching to go into sendai and get my re-entry visa. when i got back to my apartment, i saw i had received a workbook with a cd included. my japanese lesson had arrived. yay! so far i've worked through the first two days, and it's pretty difficult. lots of kanji! but, fortunately, it's not *impossible*. i've actually missed formal study...i feel like i've been drifting listlessly from this to that without really acquiring any permanent knowledge. anyway, last night i headed over the eikaiwa's thanksgiving dinner, which was more than a little disappointing...i guess most native japanese people don't truly understand the gluttony (in nihongo, "kuishinbou") that accompanies an american thanksgiving dinner. the main course was a rather small (but delicious) roast chicken. there were also mashed potatoes (no gravy), which i'm sure were a lot of trouble to make, as their existence was repeatedly pointed out to me. i'm kind of venting, i guess, and i should've known better than expect an analogue to an real home turkey day dinner, but some things are so sacred that you really should either do 'em right or not do 'em at all. the aggravating factor, though, was definitely the fact that i had had two glasses of sparkling wine on an empty stomach. i spent the rest of the dinner either irritated at the rest of the people there for using absolutely no english or falling asleep. time certainly seemed to slow down that hour.
not much else has happened the past couple of weeks...friday i went into sendai to buy music, and ate a delicious dinner at royal host. the kids in this town seem to think i'm some sort of magical creature from another planet who brings fun and excitement into their lives. "things are fun when grenn-sensei is around" seems to be the idea floating in their heads. i can't help but think i'm disappointing them somehow when all i manage is a perfunctory "hello" or "good morning" and ride away on my bike. oh, and the miyagi-ken jet mailing list has erupted with a brutal, america vs. the world flamewar. the horror...
okay, i'm exaggerating a bit, but it's injected color into my dull life.
been listening to: smashing pumpkins, the smiths, godspeed you black emperor, emmylou harris, johnny cash, and david holmes.