Oh my

Has it really been three years since I stopped posting?  Jesus…

A strange thing just happened

I’m updating my blog.

Its been a while since I updated last.  A lot of things have happened since my last post.  Some have been great, some have been crushing, and some have been crushing-but-really-good-to-have-happened.

Ah well.

I’ve got quite a bit of nonse to sort out with my archives, etc – as well as working on the overall look, feel, and function of this site.  One of my first tasks will be to go through and retag/recategorize everything…

Sunset during a rain storm

Absolutely amazing picture.

Memory Lane

I knew this guy – he went to my old school, and was an incredibly decent chap. I’m also fairly certain I was the first person who published his poetry:

Nick Laird

Funny world, eh?

Leslie giving me her sexy look

The 2005 “Special” Games Commence!

Transmission Transition

I have about fifteen minutes of free time just now, so I’m making the most of it.

Thursday was a farewell party where the kyoto sensei came and said some pretty heartfelt things about my tenure here. To top it off he bought me a bottle of whiskey, which I drank all of.

Friday was a bit of a broken day for me, not only because of the announcement to the kids, but also because I had nearly killed myself with a bottle of wikky. The only way I could top this was to have a karaoke session that meant I didn’t get to be till about 4am…

That said, we sang the theme tune to Gatchaman, Cutie Honey, and Rip Slyme’s Sharp Shooter (used for Gantz).

Saturday was waking up at 9am to travel to Morioka for my dental appointment. As the dentist is about 15km outside of the city, the bus I took didn’t go where I thought it did, which left me jumping into a taxi and running around the countryside for an hour as the driver marvelled at how much he didn’t know about where he was going.

Saturday evening was spent with Jake and Claire, playing Rez and generally hurting our thumbs.

Sunday was a chance for me to meet up with Brock, the guy who I’m taking over from. He gave me a tour of the apartment buildings where I will hopefully be staying. I’m quite impressed – its smaller than my current apartment, but it does have a certain something to it. That said, the hill up to the building is nothing short of suicidal. I fear greatly for myself come the high of summer and winter.

Spent Sunday night in a hotel.

After a late night return to Kuzumaki, yesterday was a blur of teaching, helping out prior JETs, getting info for a weeklong conference I’m putting together, canceling my rent direct debit, trying to arrange shipping of my belongings, having meetings about teaching, as well as doing correction/translation work for the town mayor.

Here’s hoping that today is quieter (ignores the fact that I am now staying late to interview students for a trip to Germany…)

Of Goose and Gosling

Walking to work this morning I saw a goose in a rice paddy, almost stationary, with its beak wide open. A tiny gosling was by her side, and the air was filled with countless tiny chirping voices. Next to the rice fields is an irrigation channel, deep and fast flowing. Looking down I saw about seven goslings paddling for all they were worth against the current, but with there being no means of getting out of it, it would only be a matter of time until their only option would be to be swept away.

Cue me standing over the channel, scooping each gosling up one by one, and depositing them in the rice field.

It was kinda nice to see them all paddling off together, their panicked squals a thing of the past.

Slightly Fey, Slightly Whistful

Top Tips

There is a right way to drink a cup of water, and a wrong way. The right way involves the tried and tested mouth/cup interface, while the wrong way involves missing your mouth altogether and pouring water on your crotch.

The seeping cold sensation I am now feeling is means I must be working outside of my comfort zone.