Guess which county premieres Spider-Man 3 on May 1st, as in tomorrow. Oh, that’s right. That would be Japan!
That was just for you, Larry. 
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Archive for April, 2007
It was a beautiful day on Sunday so Fight Club, or more appropriately Mike, decided we should take advantage of the pre-rainy season weather and have an impromptu picnic in the Courtyard. Mike even brought his Frisbee. When the weather stays like this, we’ll be more likely to have proper picnics.
As the sun went down, it became noticeably chilly. Naturally, we went back to Mike’s place to catch up on Heroes. I’m still trying to understand how and why this show is so popular among the non-Geek folk. What about it intrigues the non-Geek? Why is so successful? I mean, I know what it appeals to me, but this is my element. This kind of thing is in my blood.
Rob has a problem with the current story line. He thinks it’s too much like Alan Moore’sWatchmen and that the non-Geek will remark upon the new movie, “Oh, this is just like Heroes” when it was the comic that was out first. Personally, I need to read my copy (er, I mean Nardiello’s copy) of it before I can understand his perspective. Hmm, I think it’s still at the Halfway House. Maybe someone can send it to me. *looks pointedly at VoW and Yoss*
I didn’t really have any intention of having a roommate again if I could help it. I admit, I had been really apprehensive about living alone at first, but as I started becoming accustomed to it, I found I was actually enjoying it. Living alone meant I could have guests come and go as needed and I could do things without worrying about whether it would be okay with my roommate.
But when Rob told me he was coming back to Japan and that he wanted to live with me, I was okay with that. I mean, come on, it’s Rob. Rob’s good people.
And a bad influence to boot. Like promoting The Daily Show and Drive and pretty much a lot of American TV. So far, he’s also handy. He took the house bike in for me and got it fixed and he cleans! Woot!
Boys are still dumb, but maybe this won’t suck. Incidentally, we’re going to have some creative sleeping arrangements come the end of May — not to be confused with Come What May, that delightful duet between Ewan McGregor’s Christian and Nicole Kidman’s Satine from the surprisingly smashing musical-film Moulin Rouge!
Welup. If all else fails, at least I’ll save some money again.
We’ve decided to start watching Buffy on Sundays. This will probably take us quite a while.
Tonight’s menu: spicy ramen
I just went to put a dish in the sink and guess who I ran into.
*insert irate expletives here*
It’s not even freaking summer yet!
*more colorful sailor language would be here*
Nope. Still pissed.
I was so proud of Tomoya today. He came to the later class, and strangely there was only one other student in that one, too. So I had them talk to each other, and I was so happy for them for holding a five minute conversation all in English. Tomoya did fantastic job of getting Yuki to say more. It was pretty shiny. Look at them, all kinds of trying and retaining stuff. 
Yeah, wow, it’s been like a whole freaking week since I’ve written anything really. Well, I’ve actually been kinda busy.
I signed up for a Japanese class at this place called ARC Academy and it meets five days a week for three hours a day. It’s pretty fun so far. I hadda laugh the first day when we were going over pronunciation. All I could think about as we regurgitated the phrases was “Shinbashi” (see Pepsi’s Pile of Fun) — I mean, seriously, Kawasaki-sensei could have been feeding us crazy stuff and we woulda just parroted it back like it was perfectly acceptable! (Incidentally, this past Firefly Sunday, Mike had us listen to some other tracks akin to “Shinbashi” — our particular favorite is KyoNara.)
We’re using the same book that I used in my private lessons, and so right now we’re going over stuff I’ve already learned, but this time around, I’m grasping the grammar a little more. I really am a perpetual student…
Speaking of which, I’ve had a pretty full week of private lessons. The high school students seem to be enjoying their classes well enough, and I had the ladies today (the class I inherited from Rob). I gotta admit, the extra cash isn’t too bad. And I sincerely enjoy it.
I’m glad that I’m filling my time. It was getting pretty disgusting for a while there where I was just so damn lazy even I was annoyed with myself.
I’m wickedly bummed ‘cuz I finished A Song of Ice and Fire and now I’m at a loss at what to read. I started up with The Heidi Chronicles but it just couldn’t hold my attention; same thing with Neverwhere at present. I think my mind is set on academia so maybe I’ll just focus on studying for now.
So the George R.R. Martin’s is simply genius. While I confess to enjoying Harry Potter and looking forward to the final installment debuting this year, I’ll sooner take ASoIaF for its gritty reality and the fact that it works out a lot like it could in real life. So. Good. That reminds me, I gotta e-mail Joe Holtzman and pick his brain about some theories…
Last Wednesday, Anna and I had a kind of sleepover. It was Game’s Night at Matt’s place, so Mike wanted to stay out in this neck of the woods. Thus, Anna and I ordered a pizza, watched Chicago, and had us a fine time; she even made rice crispie treats to completely make it a “movie night” comparable of something that would happen back home. I ain’t sayin’ it even compared to anything Lorelai Gilmore would come up with, but considering the location and the lack of easily accessible junk food, we somehow managed. Steve came over, too, since he preferred a quieter company than what was going on at this house.
Ok. That’s about it for now. My mind is kinda scattered (a little more than usual) so I’m gonna go and try to organize my Japanese notes. I’m not sure about the wisdom of this logic considering I just said my mind’s all over the place…
Oh yeah, we had another tremor on Sunday.
This Easter Sunday was Mike’s real birthday, so Anna planned a surprise for him. She managed to track down many of his old friends and had them wait for the rest of us at the all-you-can-eat yakiniku place It was pretty shiny ‘cuz Mike had no freaking clue what was going on. Anna planned it out like months in advance, in fact, I’m pretty sure she was talking about it as far back as February. The American breakfast had been a ruse to throw him off the trail of celebrations.
He was really happy to see these people. I didn’t know many of them, but recognized a few faces as people we work with. There was even cake. Afterwards, a few of us continued the celebration at karaoke. It was a great night, and a great way to commemorate the first Sunday dinner, as it was one year ago on Easter Sunday that we began the tradition of Sunday night dinners. We plan to go to Kinryuu this Sunday for old times sake.
Good dinner.
It’s cherry blossom season again. This year, I went to Arashiyama in Kyoto to take a gander at them instead of Osakajo-koen. I woke up that morning with a familiar feeling, in fact, I daresay it was the same feeling I got the last time I went to the Arashiyama area.
“This had better be the best place ever,” I said to Steve, as we packed ourselves into the impossibly crowded car on the Hankyuu Line. You’d be amazed at how long you can stand with your body all askew for fear of toppling some old lady. The wonders of this country never cease.
Arashiyama is a pretty popular place for Hanami. Despite all the people, it wasn’t terrible. We didn’t really stick around in one place too long; mostly moving through the crowds of people, snapping pictures here and there, and enjoying the culture.
The area is seriously beautiful, and there were actually a lot of different places to see. Mike and Anna came with us for part of the trip, but had to turn back early due to a swap. Steve and I continued up one of the trails and found some nice and quiet picnic spots. We found a “viewing place” and took some pictures of the cherry blossom trees that lined the mountain side, and even went to a temple. It reminded me of something out of a Japanese movie. We were walking up the stairs and the wind was blowing cherry blossom petals around us. It was quite pretty.
It would seem that Kyoto City and I do not get along, as it tends to rain when I go there, but Arashiyama and I are pretty five by five since I’ve now gone to the area twice and both times have been really nice days. I think next time I hit up Arashiyama, I’ll try hiking along the Oi River.