tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63537242011-09-05T08:39:12.208-07:00Like watermelons. Or a Sunday morning when you wake up and it's raining.Lothenoreply@blogger.comBlogger12341100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-19048233555796265372007-07-01T05:50:00.000-07:002007-07-01T06:44:37.726-07:00

Well, it's that season--time again for the local library's summer reading club (the theme this year is "Discover a Galaxy of Books"). Adults (i.e., college students & up) who finish six books can get a library and tote bag, which I thought would be handy for the volume of books I tend to ferry to and from the library. So I've managed to finish six books. (A couple of them are books I finished

Lothenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-76634873810505179282007-06-27T12:21:00.000-07:002007-06-27T12:22:46.831-07:00

Tried to get back here while in Japan...but Japanese Blogger wouldn't play nice with me for some reason. Seems to be working fine now that I'm back in the States. I'm not promising I'm actually coming back to blogging or anything, I'm just testing it out...storing it up against future potentials, one might say.~

Lothenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1155332507583795322006-08-11T14:36:00.000-07:002006-08-11T14:41:47.623-07:00

It's now eight days (!) until I get on a plane to Beijing. Z. got us tickets to see a performance of Peking Opera on August 27th. I'm really excited--it looks so interesting.I've been making lists--lists of necessities, books I'd prospectively like to take along, and the e-mail addresses of people I want to send e-mail updates to. (My prospects for seriously keeping up this blog while in Japan

Lothenoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1155079945996379152006-08-08T16:27:00.000-07:002006-08-09T07:16:40.843-07:00

Today I downloaded (legally! on iTunes) The Fray's new "official bootleg," Live at the Electric Factory. It's your average live disc, and, unfortunately, doesn't shine as much as I was hoping it would.The primary problem is that most of the songs sound about like they do on the album. The Fray only have one CD to date ("How to Save a Life"), which limits their song selection. I'm a little

Lothenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1154891641114444862006-08-06T12:08:00.000-07:002006-08-06T12:14:01.573-07:00

I know, it's been a long time since I blogged. I just haven't felt like it, and haven't had much to say. Here's a story to tide you over. (It's my telling, but the tale itself is traditional.)--Long ago in Japan, it was the practice that an itinerant monk, of which there were many, could stay a night at a temple if he could defeat the master of the temple, or his chosen proxy, in a theological

Lothenoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1153679973759611832006-07-23T11:34:00.000-07:002006-07-23T11:39:57.203-07:00

A little bit about my last six books.1. Julius Caesar (by William Shakespeare). A story of conspiracy and the murder of a great ruler, and what happens after. Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar" is reputedly one of his most disliked plays, because for quite some time it was taught alongside Caesar's own "De Bello Gallico" (The Gallic Wars) back when everyone had to learn Latin in high school. It's

Lothenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1153581772310898492006-07-22T08:18:00.000-07:002006-07-22T08:22:52.360-07:00

Six more books. Meanwhile, I'm in the middle of, like, a thousand.1. Julius Caesar (William Shakespeare)2. The Poem Behind the Poem (Frank Stewart, ed.)3. The Things They Carried (Tim O'Brien)4. The Joy-Luck Club (Amy Tan)5. The Truth (with jokes) (Al Franken)6. Naked Pictures of Famous People (Jon Stewart)~

Lothenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1153359428013571402006-07-19T18:32:00.000-07:002006-07-19T18:37:08.050-07:00

Exactly one month from today, I'll be leaving for China.Somehow, it still seems so far away...and yet, in four weeks, I bet I'll be wondering where the time went.~

Lothenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1152634434576540412006-07-11T09:09:00.000-07:002006-07-11T09:13:54.646-07:00

奥山に　紅葉踏み分け　鳴く鹿の声きく時ぞ　秋は悲しき　　　　（猿丸大夫）When I hear the cryOf the stagWho treads the maple leavesIn the mountain depths,Ah, I feel the autumn's sorrow!Stag cries in the mountains--Hooves on fallen leaves--And I hear him--How sad, autumn!The stag cries out in the mountain depthsAs he treads the fallen leaves,And when I hear his lusty breath,How sad the autumn seems!~

Lothenoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1152570170675962172006-07-10T15:18:00.000-07:002006-07-10T15:22:50.706-07:00

Today I made a happy discovery. A site called LibriVox, dedicated to providing audiobook versions of books in the public domain, has an audiobook of Basho's Oku no Hosomichi, read in Japanese. You can reach the page here. You can download it via BitTorrent or as a zip file. It's in mp3 format which, by the way, can be imported to an iPod.Just as a note, I want to be clear that this reading *

Lothenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1151875146117785922006-07-02T14:15:00.000-07:002006-07-02T14:19:06.163-07:00

(When the Emperor went hunting on Uchi Plain, a song by Nakatsu Sumeragi Mikoto [MYS 3].)My Lord whorules the eight directions:The morningholds him tenderly,The eveningdraws him near;The string ofhis azusa-wood bowtwangs;In the morninghe is off to hunt,In the eveninghe is off to hunt,The string ofhis azusa-wood bowtwangs.[azusa = catalpa wood]Envoy (No. 4)On Uchi Plainthe horses shall stand side

Lothenoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1150770154206687082006-06-19T19:22:00.000-07:002006-06-19T19:22:34.243-07:00

Precisely two months from today, I'll be leaving...~

Lothenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1150662849567194922006-06-18T15:07:00.000-07:002006-06-19T18:41:49.836-07:00

So, as always, the local public library is doing a Reading Club during the summer. We get entered in a drawing for every six books we read. Here's some thoughts on the last six books I've read: 1. Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places (by Eugene Peterson). Before he wrote The Message, Eugene Peterson wrote quite a few books dealing with pastoral and theological topics. In this, the first in a

Lothenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1150554716598677792006-06-17T07:28:00.000-07:002006-06-17T07:31:56.633-07:00

My first complete page for the library summer reading club.1. Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places (Eugene Peterson)2. The Inferno (Dante Alighieri, trans. John Ciardi)3. God Talk (Ruth A. Tucker)4. Will the Real Jesus Please Stand Up? (Paul Copan, ed.)5. Dave Barry's Money Secrets (Dave Barry)6. Dave Barry's Complete Guide to Guys (Dave Barry)Opinions to follow.~

Lothenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1150401293160704932006-06-15T12:51:00.000-07:002006-06-15T12:54:53.223-07:00

I know I've been sporadic in my blogging. I'm not apologizing for it... I haven't had much to write about. But I've watched some TV lately. Let me comment.I watched The Story of Qiu Ju, directed by Zhang Yimou (Hero, House of Flying Daggers) and starring Gong Li. In it, a young woman (Gong Li) whose husband was kicked in the groin by the local work chief, goes on a quest to obtain an

Lothenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1149857945427232892006-06-09T05:55:00.000-07:002006-06-09T05:59:05.486-07:00

 Dante,"White Shadows" by Coldplay.~

Lothenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1149542208619668692006-06-05T14:13:00.000-07:002006-06-05T14:16:48.653-07:00

ももしきや古き軒端のしのぶにもなほあまりある昔なりけりAncient capital:under the moss onthese old eves I standAnd remember how many glorious days have gone by.(Juntoku-in)~

Lothenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1149517272931960712006-06-05T06:17:00.000-07:002006-06-05T07:21:12.963-07:00

I just held an honest-to-goodness phone conversation in Japanese (me & Mama)--and had almost no trouble.~

Lothenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1149216785013011772006-06-01T19:49:00.000-07:002006-06-01T19:53:05.043-07:00

How lovely is the dog when she’s at play,That silky fur and shadow close at hand,Her lust for life and physical displayAre of her own inimitable brand.How grand the mutt who thinks he is a king,Whose bearing has an air of royalty,And yet who in his heart knows play’s the thingAnd ought be bated only for a pee.How fine these creatures are from head to tail,How strong, and yet incomparably kind,And

Lothenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1149212129519726922006-06-01T18:32:00.000-07:002006-06-01T18:35:29.556-07:00

Tonight I was suddenly seized by an urgent need to play Go.So I resurrected my KGS account and hopped on for a game. I found one in the Japanese Room, with another unrated player, and we went at it. I don't know how strong the guy really was, but he was definitely good.There's a proverb in Go that "your opponent's best move is your best move," and it's remarkably true. It seemed like every

Lothenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1149121274397427872006-05-31T17:18:00.000-07:002006-05-31T17:21:14.430-07:00

Today I watched two movies. (Unusual, I know.) In the early afternoon we watched Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, something I've been wanting to see. It was long-awaited and when it came out, it mostly disappointed critics. So I knew what I was getting into, but it sounded like it was worth seeing for the visuals alone.And that's about how it is. The animation is top-notch (I thought Tifa

Lothenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1148733562573353732006-05-27T05:36:00.000-07:002006-05-29T17:46:06.823-07:00

Miki has had this on her Facebook quotes all year. It's a bit off-color, but I always thought it was pretty funny. I feel like sharing...セックスは数学のようなものだ。つまり、ベットを足し、服を引き、足を割り、子供の数を掛けないように願うものである。Sex is like math. You add a bed, subtract your clothes, divide your legs, and pray that you won't multiply your kids.~

Lothenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1148731799529488862006-05-27T05:06:00.000-07:002006-05-27T05:09:59.560-07:00

If Thomas the Tank Engine has taught me anything, it's: never trust freight cars. Apparantly they're trouble-making bastards, every one.~

Lothenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1148433397521141742006-05-23T18:13:00.000-07:002006-05-23T18:16:37.563-07:00

This morning, Yun left for China. I'm not as sad with her as I was with Zhen. Maybe that's because I'll see Yun again in three months, when I'm in Beijing. It sounds like Jo, however, is really upest. Poor kid.Life is still good...I just haven't had a lot of time to blog anything.~

Lothenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1148082555754599092006-05-19T16:46:00.000-07:002006-05-19T16:49:15.800-07:00

Religion made a funny.~

Lothenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1148072542710491742006-05-19T14:00:00.000-07:002006-05-19T14:02:22.760-07:00

Exactly three months from today, I leave for China. Three months is still a while, and it's not really time to start getting nervous/excited yet, but it won't be that long...~

Lothenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1147548146026559792006-05-13T12:18:00.000-07:002006-05-13T12:22:26.063-07:00

I know I haven't blogged in a relatively long time. I just haven't had time. This is just a quick note to say I'm still alive and lovin' it.~

Lothenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1146951432087165172006-05-06T14:34:00.000-07:002006-05-06T14:37:12.176-07:00

The school year is over.On Thursday and Friday I got things moved out of my room. Some went to Sensei's house, where I'm spending May; some went back to my actual house courtesy of my father. Thusday morning I took my last test.Yesterday, Friday, was tricky because of all the time-juggling. My dad came, I moved stuff out, I checked out, and I was an hour late to the baseball game where I was

Lothenoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1146775147166589412006-05-04T13:36:00.000-07:002006-05-04T13:39:07.223-07:00

Today I read this poem "Satsui" (Murderous Intent), by Tanigawa Shuntarou. (My English translation appears below.)殺意殺されたのがケネディだったから北京の子どもたちは拍手した殺されたのが毛沢東だったら彼らは拍手しなかったろう私にも怒りがある憎しみがある嫉妬がある傲慢がある私にも殺意がある予期できぬ殺意が暗殺とは一人が一人を殺すこと戦争とは万人が万人を殺すこと死刑とは万人が一人を殺すこと未来とは一人が万人を殺すこと--"Murderous Intent"When Kennedy was killed,the Bejingers cheered.If it had been Mao Tse-tung killed,I bet they would not have

Lothenoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1146668260513385882006-05-03T07:55:00.000-07:002006-05-03T07:57:40.550-07:00

I was at Taz's apartment last night; we were having one last international shindig before people started leaving. (As I write this, Yuko's plane has probably just left.)While we were waiting for people to arrive, I tried out Ninja Gaiden for XBox. It's one I've been wanting to try for a while, just not enough to buy it. But it turns out Taz owns it, so I gave it a whirl.In Ninja Gaiden, a

Lothenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1146665241158141932006-05-03T07:07:00.000-07:002006-05-03T07:07:21.206-07:00

About Me: They say that "a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." But the truth is, my journey began with a monkey, a fit of blind rage, and a disembodied floating pig's eye which followed me around for a month and never blinked once.~

Lothenoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1146537913629717992006-05-01T19:42:00.000-07:002006-05-01T19:45:13.666-07:00

The Technos crew got back from Chicago this afternoon. I kind of enjoyed having the room to myself for a couple of days, and also needed it to write my China paper (which is nearly done).In the evening I accompanied as interpreter at the Athletic Trainers' Dinner, a party at Prof. R.'s house for all the athletic training students. It went fine, save one part where he read a poem he had written

Lothenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1146188615370678742006-04-27T18:41:00.000-07:002006-04-27T18:43:35.403-07:00

So the anatomy lab interpretation has been going better than expected. Long stories, all. Sorry the blogging has been kind of sparse--things have been interesting lately, but fast-paced. Haven't really had time to write them down here.Tomorrow's my birthday. Tonight Yun and I spent the afternoon/evening together. Originally I had wanted to get together to do one more something special before

Lothenoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1145820411973949592006-04-23T12:24:00.000-07:002006-04-23T12:26:52.083-07:00

Yesterday I woke up and found that the cold I had felt coming on Friday night had arrived. My head hurt, my nose ran... it wasn't pleasant. All the same, I dragged myself out of bed because I had agreed to interpret during the walking tour of the campus and the downtown area that Prof. R. was doing for the Technos kids today.I guess that went about as well as could be expected. "Daily life"

Lothenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1145676612957590012006-04-21T20:28:00.000-07:002006-04-21T20:30:12.970-07:00

("And I never meant to cause you trouble / And I never meant to do you wrong / And I, well if I ever caused you trouble / Then oh, no, I never meant to do you harm..." -Coldplay, 'Trouble')So, new batch of Technos students came tonight... I don't want to take a long time to write about this... suffice to say that our first evening together went about as well as I could hope, and was also

Lothenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1145581295927644822006-04-20T17:59:00.000-07:002006-04-20T18:01:35.936-07:00

Exactly four months from today, I'll be in Beijing. Wow.Anyway, not a lot of time to think about that (although I have to somewhat--such as making sure I check to see if there are any required vaccinations). Plenty of work to take care of as the semester rockets to a close--as well as trying to squeeze in some last-minute time with my friends, something that's proving much easier said than done

Lothenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1145505115299888552006-04-19T20:50:00.000-07:002006-04-19T20:51:55.310-07:00

A lot of bands release "EP"s (such as The Fray's "Reason EP"). But what is that? The girl who opened for The Fray when they played here even said, "I've just released an EP. But so far, no one's been able to tell me what an EP is." I've just found out, through sheer happenstance, that it stands for "extended play". Make of that what you will.~

Lothenoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1145321174899131802006-04-17T17:44:00.000-07:002006-04-17T17:46:14.913-07:00

Tonight I finished Chen Village Under Mao and Deng, one of the books we've had to read for our Modern China class. (Unlike the other books, however, we actually read every last page of Chen Village.)"Chen Village" is an account of a single small village in the Guandong (Canton) countryside from 1949 (the rise of the Communists) until almost the present day (the new second edition was published

Lothenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1145233879058930752006-04-16T17:29:00.000-07:002006-04-16T17:31:19.163-07:00

Today I finished reading Geisha by Liza Dalby.Geisha are one of the most confusing of the traditional figures of Japan. (Perhaps one of the only murkier are the ninja.) Many misconceptions, if not outright misinformation, circulate about the geisha. In the West, most people associate geisha with prostitutes. I heard over and over throughout my study of Japan that "geisha sell art, not bodies.

Lothenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1145062918685380312006-04-14T18:00:00.000-07:002006-04-14T18:01:58.696-07:00

How many times have I translated this poem?花の色は　うつりにけりな　いたづらにわが身世にふる　ながめせし間にThe flowers' huesare fading now,fruitlesslyI've spent my lifegazing at falling rain.~

Lothenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1144975078269920902006-04-13T17:36:00.000-07:002006-04-13T17:37:58.283-07:00

I worked on the translation... other than that, I basically read all evening. I even went over and sat outside the MMC for a while, enjoying the cool evening. I had heard something about maybe we were supposed to have thunderstorms tonight. That'd be neat. We've had a couple of quick showers (really quick) during the day and again while I was reading, but so far nothing big. So far...~

Lothenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1144956555415801512006-04-13T12:27:00.000-07:002006-04-13T12:29:15.490-07:00

We have Friday off this week (Good Friday), so my weekend effectively began after Chinese History this morning.After lunch, I returned some books to the public library. It feels wonderful outside. Apparently days like this (and so many recently) are the trade-off for the harsh Michigan winters. After the library run, I did a lot of reading. The last few days, I've been reading a lot of "

Lothenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1144800866198417822006-04-11T17:12:00.000-07:002006-04-11T17:14:26.870-07:00

People who know me, probably know I'm not big on "political correctness." I'm all for respect, but not "extreme PC." So this little comment, which I read on the AnimeLyrics.com Japanese forum, made me chuckle/be surprised. (The post was in response to someone asking how to say "I work in a home for individuals with impaired development" in Japanese.)--私は障害者(しょうがいしゃ)の家で働いています。or 私は障害者の家で彼らの手助

Lothenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1144800200394614722006-04-11T17:01:00.000-07:002006-04-11T17:03:20.420-07:00

Last night: as a I mentioned, I don't feel NyQuil is usually that effective for me (so I feel, anyway), but it must have been what I needed to push me over the edge last night. I was already very tired, and after a dose of the green goo I climbed into bed and blacked out for about nine hours. I plan to try it again tonight, hopefully to similar effect.Thanks to the solid night's sleep, I woke

Lothenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1144719927525584772006-04-10T18:43:00.000-07:002006-04-10T18:45:27.543-07:00

So, after mysteriously disappearing at the moment of my baptism, my cold has come back with a vengeance. (Sensei jokes that although my cold was cured, he used so much water that I caught another one...) Although I went to 302 and "Jesus & the Gospels", I actually took off of 202, which tells you how serious this is :PI tried steaming the problem, boiling water and breathing in the steam.

Lothenoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1144458349001912682006-04-07T18:04:00.000-07:002006-04-07T18:05:49.016-07:00

Tonight was the first of several films that we're showing for Asian Heritage month. It was "My Neighbor Totoro", and doubled as a Japan Club Movie Night.I got there a little bit early, to find the Auditorium in which we were holding the movie locked. Amanda had already called Campus Safety to open the room, and it went fine, but...come on. This used to happen when we showed movies in Graves,

Lothenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1144444897800320342006-04-07T14:19:00.000-07:002006-04-07T14:21:37.926-07:00

Today I wore my Yellow shirt. I got it at the Coldplay concert. It's kind of a brownish-orange color, but features the design from the cover of the "Yellow" single. It's made of thermal material. When I first touched the slightly odd pocked weave, I wasn't sure if I would like it or not, but it turns out to be extremely comfortable and remarkably warm. (Almost too warm sometimes, when paired

Lothenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1144356318502834402006-04-06T13:43:00.000-07:002006-04-06T13:45:18.586-07:00

Today I made some copies for the 302's tomorrow. (There's a book in the library that has a short article dealing with the translation of Japanese poetry into English. It includes something like a dozen different transltions of the poem that the students are supposed to do for Friday.)I made the copies using the copy machine in the MMC workroom. The workroom is a narrow, rectangular space

Lothenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1144205583836036642006-04-04T19:51:00.000-07:002006-04-04T19:53:03.853-07:00

At U&S meeting this afternoon we basically finished chapter 6. Now I can do my final reviews and maybe be done with it soon. We reviewed more changes to 7, which may be done fairly soon. We advanced just a little more through chapter 8, but progress is slow enough to be somewhat frustrating.Not much else to say...I tired to read more homework stuff, sort of succeeded. Don't feel like taking

Lothenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1144113275054768112006-04-03T18:12:00.000-07:002006-04-03T18:14:35.136-07:00

Wake up, get breakfast. Run to DeWitt Center: get more money from the ATM, get supplementary breakfast/very early lunch (yogurt) from the Kletz. Run to library: print out some materials for class. Print out essay for scholarship that has to be mailed out today. Copy application form in triplicate (did it by hand because my first try was a little messy and I didn't want to photocopy it). Run

Lothenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1144028350803724762006-04-02T18:37:00.000-07:002006-04-02T18:39:44.156-07:00

Friday:Saturday:Sunday:~

Lothenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1144008583092814762006-04-02T13:08:00.000-07:002006-04-02T13:09:43.133-07:00

This afternoon I went to the library to do some homework. (Bad combination: I'm tired today and most of my homework is reading. I've been self-administering regular doses of Mountain Dew.) I was walking around at one point and wandered into the Education section. There's a special corner of the second floor that's basically for the Education people--it includes everything you'd need to run a

Lothenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1143755476278546682006-03-30T13:49:00.000-08:002006-03-30T13:51:16.443-08:00

("Don't just let your dreams be dreams / You know this livin's not so hard as it seems..." -Jack Johnson, 'Dreams Be Dreams')The weather is incredibly beautiful today. The temperature is perfect, and there's a breeze. No number of positive adjectives would suffice to describe it. I've been trying to think of as many running-around chores and errands as I can to get myself outside. I've gone

Lothenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1143688125280494352006-03-29T20:07:00.000-08:002006-03-29T19:08:45.310-08:00

Before each of our Modern China classes we have a set of short-answer questions to answer. They're not too hard, though sometimes I think they require more writing than is appropriate to a two-point question.Tonight I went to do the questions and just felt burned out on them. Five questions about the relatively straightforward reading we'd done for today. I know the materail, I do. Yet I

Lothenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1143328758894544862006-03-25T15:17:00.000-08:002006-03-25T15:19:18.910-08:00

The 302s' translation assignment for the last two weeks (the week before and the week of Spring Break) was another excerpt from Yotsuba. I chose a distinctly easier passage this time--the pages at the very end where she runs out in the rain. Judging by the few translations that are starting to trickle in, it seems that this selection really was easier than the other one, which I'm glad for.In

Lothenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1143253607238434592006-03-24T18:25:00.000-08:002006-03-24T18:26:47.253-08:00

Insta-review: The Weatherman. Nicolas Cage stars as a weatherman whose life is falling apart before his eyes. It's a dark comedy--emphasis on the dark. The movie does have a few humorous lines, mostly in a sardonic kind of way. My impression is that most of the movie wasn't intended to be really funny, unless you think it's humorous to hear Nicolas Cage say "fuck," in which case it's a laugh

Lothenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1143129764334832622006-03-23T08:01:00.000-08:002006-03-23T08:07:58.780-08:00

("Chuck Norris was the fourth Wiseman. He brought baby Jesus the gift of 'beard'. Jesus wore it proudly until his dying day. The other Wisemen, jealous of Jesus' obvious gift favoritism, used their combined influence to have Chuck omitted from the Bible. Shortly thereafter all three died of roundhouse kick related deaths." From '31 Little-Known Facts About Chuck Norris')Just finished reading The

Lothenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1143123167332501972006-03-23T06:11:00.000-08:002006-03-23T06:12:47.350-08:00

Watched Coldplay's new video, The Hardest Part, today. I disliked their last X&Y music vid, Talk, and was hoping this one would set things right... but not really. I don't know if it's done by the same guy or not, but these videos are just too strange. And it doesn't really do justice to the song; to me, Hardest Part sounds very emotional, much deeper than the novel but basically unrelated

Lothenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1142974435003415692006-03-21T11:52:00.000-08:002006-03-21T12:53:55.100-08:00

Wow--it seems I've somehow gone a full week without a single blog post. Well, the end of last week was very busy, and yet it seemed like not much happened. Lots of getting ready for Spring Break, including the Modern China test which was my last obstacle before my escape. And I think it went pretty well, certainly better than I had been fearing, at any rate. The trip home was smooth, and now

Lothenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1142395705707900422006-03-14T20:07:00.000-08:002006-03-14T20:08:25.816-08:00

Today was pretty packed. Class this morning as usual. Uchi & Soto meeting as well--finished the first review of ch. 7. Now I've basically got two weeks to get ch. 8 ready to go.After that I wrote the brief essay for religion that's due tomorrow. It wasn't hard, and it didn't take long. Then I did some homework-reading. In the midafternoon I went over to another building to catch Yun as she

Lothenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1142212076849452272006-03-12T17:06:00.000-08:002006-03-12T17:07:56.936-08:00

This morning I went to Pillar Church as usual. Our pastor had surgery earlier this week (good news: it seems to have gone fine), so we had a guest pastor this morning. It turns out he's actually a religion professor at my college. He had a good sermon and a terrific voice.I tried to do some homework, but have felt oddly unmotivated today. I did get a bit done, just not as much as I would have

Lothenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1142131212459052142006-03-11T18:39:00.000-08:002006-03-11T18:40:12.473-08:00

I was at Dance Marathon again for the last hour or so. The figure revealed at the end was $112,670 and some cents. Slowly everyone dispersed. Yuu and Akiko and Tomomi and I went back to Yuu's apartment, where he made omuraisu (omlette with rice) for a hungry crew. The egg in particular was tasty.I feel a little bit out of it right now. Kind of the feeling I normally think of as "burned out".

Lothenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1142108367009119832006-03-11T12:18:00.000-08:002006-03-11T12:19:30.486-08:00

Today I've done some homework--a good bit, actually--but really, my eyes were on the clock. Yesterday evening around 11:00 pm (was it?) I went back to the gym, and stayed until nearly midnight. (I never know how long I've been there till I get out, since we're supposed to conceal all time-telling items.) I was in bed by 1:00 am, slept not so well, and got up about 8:45.After breakfast I

Lothenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1142041970224449222006-03-10T17:50:00.000-08:002006-03-10T17:52:50.310-08:00

I haven't really blogged recently--well, it was a mix of not much going on and too much going on. One day I had nothing to say, the next I was too busy to blog.Yesterday was nice in that Thursdays are now one-class days. So I had the whole day after 11:00 to do as I pleased. I read a lot--some homework, some pleasure. (By the way, yesterday and the day before it were the two nicest days this

Lothenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1141787062020460962006-03-07T19:03:00.000-08:002006-03-07T19:04:22.033-08:00

Tonight I went to see "Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress". It's the new movie playing up at the Knick, and our Modern China class met to see it. (It's about Red-era China, albeit slightly later than we're at right now.) First we all went to Prof. T.'s house and had pizza. It was nice to sit around and just shoot the breeze with everybody.The movie started at 7:00. It's based on the

Lothenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1141764659022826012006-03-07T12:50:00.000-08:002006-03-07T12:50:59.106-08:00

This morning was Modern China. We continue to discuss Red China, Mao Tse-Tung, and Edward Snow's biases.Then was Japanese 202--nothing particular. After that was Uchi to Soto meeting. We started going over chapter 7. Got a relatively large amount done, though there's still the better part of the chapter remaining.After U&S, which was around 1:30, I went to the International Students' Lounge

Lothenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1141606517377550732006-03-05T16:54:00.000-08:002006-03-05T16:55:17.410-08:00

Today, I finished reading the Good Book.I don't mean I finished reading the Bible again, I mean I finished Peter J. Gomes' The Good Book: Reading the Bible with Mind and Heart. I started reading this book over Christmas break, put it down for a long time, and then, a few weeks ago, picked it back up again and have now finished it.Some of you may know the immense respect I have for Peter Gomes'

Lothenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1141505005266060192006-03-04T12:42:00.000-08:002006-03-04T12:43:27.220-08:00

A few words on some books of late.Last night I finished reading Halo: The Fall of Reach. It's the first in a trilogy of novels based on the original video game. "The Fall of Reach" is a prequel to the game (the other two books mirror the game and are a sequel, respectively), which explains how the SPARTANs came to be and how humankind first encountered the Covenant.I read the book primarily on

Lothenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1141445339887535312006-03-03T20:08:00.000-08:002006-03-03T20:08:59.923-08:00

The last couple of days, I've gone back to messing with my Basho translation. For a long time now I've been translating "Oku no Hosomichi" (Narrow Road to the Deep North), but it's such slow, slow work that to think of it as anything other than a side project would kill me.Just a bit back, Sensei gifted me with a new book about it--or that is to say, a new one to me; this was a used book that I

Lothenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1141439078366728282006-03-03T18:23:00.000-08:002006-03-03T18:24:38.400-08:00

Today was pretty easy. I did a little reading--some for pleasure, some for next week's classes--in the morning, and went to class in the afternoon. The big thing was that Sarah & I went out for dinner tonight. I have a gift card to a local restaurant, so that was where we went. Since I was eating on a gift card, I decided to have steak. It was very tasty. Then we came back to my dorm room

Lothenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1141345284722680392006-03-02T16:20:00.000-08:002006-03-02T16:21:24.763-08:00

With Chinese Religions now over, my only class on Thursdays is Modern China. So after 11:00 am, I'm free. Even though I only got back 80 minutes of my day, I really felt liberated today... :PSo I was just content and happy today... I worked on Uchi & Soto (done putting the revisions in chapter 9), I took some books back to both libraries. At 5:30 this evening, Sensei, Tasuku and I met to work

Lothenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1141321134751198772006-03-02T09:38:00.000-08:002006-03-02T09:38:54.786-08:00

A bit back, I finished reading Bone, by Jeff Smith. I picked Bone up at the public library early last month.I remember, from early on in my life, when I would go to the comic book store in town, Bone would always be there. I never actually read it, because somehow it just didn't look interesting to me. I think the figure of Bone, semimorphous, colorless humanoid that he was, elicited

Lothenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1141277303332070172006-03-01T21:25:00.000-08:002006-03-01T21:28:23.346-08:00

Somehow I'm feeling rather sublime right now...Ara tautoAoba wakaba nohi no hikariMy, most beautiful!Fresh, young leaves withThe sun shining through.--Basho

Lothenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1141223466508192822006-03-01T06:28:00.000-08:002006-03-01T06:31:06.526-08:00

Poking around on Amazon this morning, I discovered that Disney is going to release its next batch of Miyazaki films on March 7th, in less than a week. I was excited, especially when I found out what they had in store. Howl's Moving Castle is one of the movies. Then there's Whisper of the Heart and My Neighbor Totoro. I've been dying to see "Whisper", and meanwhile, I'm excited to have an R1

Lothenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1141180648008095882006-02-28T18:47:00.000-08:002006-02-28T18:46:23.386-08:00

Tonight was Japan Club's movie night. We showed "Howl's Moving Castle" (Hauru no Ugoku Shiro), the most recent Miyazaki film. We had an unusually good turnout, I'd say eight or ten people.I've heard bits and pieces about Howl. It's reputed to be a nice try, but not up to Miyazaki's standards. So I wasn't sure what to expect from the movie. But I'm glad to say, I enjoyed it.The story begins

Lothenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1141160887882810822006-02-28T13:09:00.000-08:002006-02-28T13:08:07.900-08:00

Took the final exam for Chinese Religions today. (It's a half-semester class.) Went fine, and now we're done with that class. It's nice to have one less thing to worry about.I also got my book review back that I wrote for that class. When I mentioned it here, I think I said something about it being decent writing, but not great. Apparently Prof. Y. thought otherwise, as I received perfect

Lothenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1141091270248503482006-02-27T17:46:00.000-08:002006-02-27T17:47:50.333-08:00

Just back from the Knick. Tonight was the first showing of The Grace Lee Project, and HAPA offered to pay for anyone who wanted to go. The turnout was small, me, Xing, Liz, Shova, and Vidan; although this was better than the last time we tried this--when we saw "Postmen in the Mountains", Xing and I were the only ones who showed up :PThe Grace Lee Project, written and directed by a woman named

Lothenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1141078047496365622006-02-27T14:07:00.000-08:002006-02-27T14:07:27.516-08:00

As of 11:40 today, after a morning full of running around, putting the finishing touches on forms, and so on, I turned in my completed Nanzan application. It sure came down to the wire--even though the papers are just going down to Chicago, we're expediting the shipping just to be safe.This afternoon I also received my acceptance to study abroad from the school. That was kind of a given (it

Lothenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1140927127435245252006-02-25T20:08:00.000-08:002006-02-25T20:12:07.523-08:00

Busy day today...This morning I met with Sensei to figure out some more blanks on the study-abroad forms. Starting to get intermittent flashes of "maybe I'll get this yet..."Around 11:00, I got dressed up and went across the street to the nearby hotel complex, where the clubs' budget meetings were going on. Once a year, each club has to justify its prospective budget to Student Congress. That

Lothenoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1140828565041488872006-02-24T16:50:00.000-08:002006-02-24T16:49:25.056-08:00

For Modern China we have to write a 3-page essay about Family, specifically about the author's vision of a new China and what the novel reflects about the New Cultural Movement "in the context of China's encounter with and search for modernity."The essay is due by tomorrow at midnight (we're submitting electronically), and I sat down to work on it tonight afraid that I was going to have to force

Lothenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1140744868597563532006-02-23T17:32:00.000-08:002006-02-23T17:34:28.620-08:00

Yesterday I finished reading "Family" for Chinese History. It easily ranks as one of the most depressing books I've ever read. It's one of those things where, even though you can clearly see the author manipulating your emotions, you can't help being manipulated.My original questions about the book still stand--in particular, the characters almost always seem pretty flat. Almost any character

Lothenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1140574302096014992006-02-21T18:10:00.000-08:002006-02-21T18:11:42.116-08:00

So it's been warmer the last couple of days. That means in, like, the 20's and 30's, but after the days of three-degree weather, it feels downright warm out there.Not much else to report right now. Or, nothing I feel like taking the time for.~

Lothenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1140400141651955142006-02-19T17:47:00.000-08:002006-02-19T17:49:01.673-08:00

Just now I finished watching "Sen'nen no Koi - Hikaru Genji Monogatari" (A Thousand Years' Love - The Tale of the Shining Prince), which Sensei lent me. It's a movie based on the Tale of Genji that came out a few years ago--in fact, I remember reading about it when it did. It stars a famous actress in the lead role. (Which is Genji, by the way; the novel places such emphasis on his amazing

Lothenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1140381080048621932006-02-19T12:30:00.000-08:002006-02-19T12:31:20.073-08:00

Yesterday night was the Japan Club DDR party. (I think originally we planned to have karaoke too, but that part didn't come through.) I don't want to talk too much about it, because it's not that exciting just to recount. But we did have a whole lot of dancin' goin' on. The room we were in has a huge projector screen that comes down from the ceiling, and our main setup was hooked up to that

Lothenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1140296653521269792006-02-18T13:05:00.000-08:002006-02-18T13:04:18.503-08:00

Sorry for the comparative radio silence the last couple of days. I've been busy. The one thing I haven't mentioned that I'd like to is that on Valentine's Day, International Relations Club sponsored a trip to the Grand King Buffet, a Chinese place. Good food. A lot of my friends from among the international students went with us, so it was a good time all around.Today I was at the library

Lothenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1140118618645829252006-02-16T11:35:00.000-08:002006-02-16T11:36:58.660-08:00

It's raining right now. Really, really hard. It started while I was at the library. I saw it a little bit out of one of the windows, but then I thought it had stopped. A bit later, however, Akiko came in soaking wet. I sat around in the library reading for a whle, but the rain never did let up. Not expecting a storm, I hadn't brought my umbrella, so when I decided to go back to my dorm, I

Lothenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1140067346415895042006-02-15T21:20:00.000-08:002006-02-15T21:23:03.216-08:00

"Since no one aspires to be lower class, and our democratic and anti-elitist principles deny the existence of an upper class, everybody in America of whom account is taken is middle class." -Peter J. Gomes (The Good Book, pp. 177-8)

Lothenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1139868409887510412006-02-13T14:05:00.000-08:002006-02-13T14:06:50.100-08:00

This morning I met with Sensei to clear up some questions I was having about those scary study-abroad forms. Did get a few things straight. (One of the trickiest was the Language Assessment form, which asks about your study of Japanese, but has no room for someone to describe himself who's self-studied for four years and spent two at the highest level at his college.)It was almost exactly noon

Lothenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1139804986913650992006-02-12T20:26:00.000-08:002006-02-12T20:29:46.933-08:00

Today and yesterday I've suddenly got back into playing the Halo 2 campaign again. Partly it was because I finally got past the part I'd been stuck on. But also, it's because I'm realizing more than ever what a deep game Halo is.That may sound strange if you've never played Halo before, or if you're just not a video-gamer in general. And for the most part, "deep" must be taken in terms of "

Lothenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1139791855527790192006-02-12T16:48:00.000-08:002006-02-12T16:50:55.546-08:00

(There's a storm on the way and we're all on the run / We keep up this pace we're gonna miss the kingdom come... -Josh Schicker)Just now I've been looking over the application materials for Nanzan, filling in a spare few blanks whenever I'm certain. I hold back from filling out even relatively simple things out of a deathly fear of filling something out incorrectly. The forms, like all forms,

Lothenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1139777951534806412006-02-12T12:59:00.000-08:002006-02-12T12:59:11.610-08:00

I've been meaning to mention this for a while, and never have, so I guess I'll just talk about it kind of out of the blue.A bit back (a week or two ago), Colin and I watched a disc of Mobile Suit Gundam SEED, one of the newest installments in the long-running franchise. I won't make any bones about my bias; I've never been a fan of Gundam. But I'd heard pretty good things about Seed and hoped

Lothenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1139697011928944642006-02-11T14:29:00.000-08:002006-02-11T14:30:11.953-08:00

A day or two ago, I finished reading H. Jay Harris's translation of The Tales of Ise. The Tales (Ise Monogatari) is a piece of classical Japanese literature (really classical, as in pre-Genji). I remember reading Helen McCullough's translation some time ago, but don't really remember what I thought of it. It was okay, I guess.The Tales of Ise are composed of 125 vignettes often recounting the

Lothenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1139687920885849112006-02-11T11:58:00.000-08:002006-02-11T11:58:43.656-08:00

Little MiraclesOur supply of juice ran out some time ago. We made a Meijer's run and got several bottles of my favorite apple juice, but it was all too quickly consumed. I've gotten down to the point where my choice was either water or soda, and I didn't have anything that had a distinct flavor but wouldn't rot my teeth out.So today I decided to go down to Walgreen's, which is four or five

Lothenoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1139675037202778142006-02-11T08:22:00.000-08:002006-02-11T08:23:57.260-08:00

(by Hoshino Tomihiro -- translated by Lothe)I believe in the rain, I believe in the windI believe in the warmth and the chillI believe in joy, I believe in pain,and I believe that tomorrow will come.If you believe, thenthe rain will be a blessing, and the wind a song;If you believe, thenA branch in winter can still bloom.

Lothenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1139535426220792492006-02-09T17:36:00.000-08:002006-02-09T17:37:06.306-08:00

Some notes...Yesterday was our first test in Jesus and the Gospels. I was a little shaky on some of the terms, but I owned the short-answer questions, so hopefully it'll all even out in the end. We got our Chinese Religion tests back; mine was 55/60 so I'm quite happy with that.We've begun reading Pa Chin (Ba Jin)'s novel Family for Modern China. It's set during the New Cultural Movement, a

Lothenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1139362957979301542006-02-07T17:42:00.000-08:002006-02-07T17:42:38.040-08:00

Today there was our first test in Chinese History. Colin and I spent a long time yesterday night and then this morning studying the names. (One problem we're running into is that Colin and I pronounce the names completely differently; we're hoping Prof T. will teach us correct name pronunciation after this.) It really paid off when a third of the test was about identifying the doings of

Lothenoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1139236077135661802006-02-06T06:29:00.000-08:002006-02-06T06:27:57.210-08:00

So, about yesterday: Went to Pillar Church in the morning. It's not bad--it's never bad, but I keep meaning to try someplace else. In the afternoon was Japanese worship service. Sensei had asked Akiko and me to be the worship leaders. That means we read the Call to Worship, and directed things like "Let's share the peace" or "Please rise for our first hymn...". We would alternate, English

Lothenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1139106986901430702006-02-04T18:36:00.000-08:002006-02-04T18:36:30.716-08:00

Yesterday afternoon Yun came over as usual. We went for a walk into town. We stopped by Yun's bank, because there was some business she needed to take care of there, and from there we decided to go up the block instead of back down the street, because I had never been that way.Apparently, a couple of blocks down that way is the entrance to the waterfront area. It's on a small marshy area that

Lothenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1138936060076144392006-02-02T19:07:00.000-08:002006-02-02T19:07:40.103-08:00

So it's been a couple or three days since I posted anything...partially I haven't had that much to talk about, partially I've been mad, mad busy.Just to let you know I'm still alive, I'll talk about some nifty Halo from tonight: I dropped in on a team sniper game. Team games are unusual with snipers. Granted I came in in the middle, but my average life when we were done was 2:43, which is huge

Lothenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353724.post-1138596305988364802006-01-29T20:44:00.000-08:002006-01-29T20:45:06.066-08:00

I just now (like, two minutes ago) finished read Geisha of Gion, the memoir of Iwasaki Mineko. Mineko is the geisha with whom Arthur Golden spoke at length when preparing to write "Memoirs of a Geisha", and as such (and having just read Memoirs as well) I can't help but compare the two.Mineko, née Tanaka Masako, entered Gion--one of Kyoto's most famous geisha districts--at about three years old.

Lothenoreply@blogger.com0