Oh. Hello, August.

I�ve been in Japan for over a year now. I�m thinking one more year and I�ll call it good for this trip.

It seems that what is necessary psychologically to be good at currency trading is to be a Zen master.

It�s summer vacation. I still have to show up to school. It�s not that much different from when classes are in session; I just mess around on the computer all day instead of messing around on the computer most of the day.

I�ve been swimming a lot lately. In fact, the last several weeks I think I�ve been swimming more regularly than at any time in the last ten years. It feels good. I�ve gotten back in the swing of it a little bit.

Someone sued NASA for �ruining the natural balance of forces in the universe� by slamming a probe into a comet. Just remember, next time you get it into your head to ruin the natural balance of forces in the universe, remember that that might screw up horoscopes. You know how ornery people get when their horoscopes get jacked. Think about it.

A suggested English dialogue, which I have found to be effective for elementary school age Japanese children:

�You�re annoying.�

�No, you�re annoying!�

�No, you�re annoying!�

�No, YOU�RE annoying!�

Repeat as desired.

I�ve been dreaming about acting a lot recently.

I�m starting to enjoy badminton.

I�ve gained a bit of a reputation on the island for doing a rousing rendition of �YMCA� at karaoke. When they request it of me, though, they always call it �Young Man.� �Greyarea, do �Young Man!��

I love frickin� karaoke, man. It�s been months since the last time I did it.

I�ve been reading a lot of poetry lately. Especially Baudelaire. The other day I even tried my hand at translating him.

WTF is in Kyushu now, about one hundred miles away from here. She�ll be here for the next two months. I�m going out to see her in a couple of weeks.

I really like her hair. Have I mentioned that? It�s like in La Chevelure. �Je la veux agiter dans l�air comme un mouchoir!�

I finished the first draft of a new short story last night. It�s about 14,000 words long, so I suppose if I wanted to get technical I could call it a �novelette.� I�ve got another one in mind, as well, which in some ways will be a companion piece to the one I just pooped out.

My latest use of pop music in the classroom is what I call �The Musical Rorsach Test.� But I don�t feel like going into that right now. Maybe later, maybe at the other place. It was cool, though. It was cool.

I�ll be twenty-six before too long here. On a rapid downhill slope to thirty. I think I can confidently say, for perhaps the first time, that I am now officially in No Hurry to get older.

How�s it going to end?

Something I was reading somewhere, a while back:

�Around the turn of the century, entrepreneurs began to recognize the huge potential market for hand-held vibrators for home use. Vibrator innovation was in fact a driving force behind the creation of the small electric motor. Hamilton Beach of Racine, Wis., patented its first take-home vibrator in 1902, making the vibrator the fifth electrical appliance to be introduced into the home, after the sewing machine and long before the electric iron. By 1917, there were more vibrators than toasters in American homes.�

This weekend I watched some of the pirated Jesus movies (The Passion and The Last Temptation of Christ) I picked up in China last year. The discs were of terrible quality, though, and I had to keep skipping ahead when they froze. In the case of The Passion, halfway through the subtitles started repeating themselves from the beginning. Frustrating. I tossed the discs when I was done. Based on my experience I can�t quite give you real opinions on the films, but they did get me interested in reading through the Gospels again. It really is a fascinating story and a compelling philosophy, when you can divest yourself of all the cultural baggage it carries and judge it on its own merits.

Oh, do you remember that Charity Hitchhike Competition I did back in May? We (Shi-chan and I) had to hitchhike to all seven prefectures in Kyushu, completing three primary challenges in each prefecture, and some other minor ones along the way. Mostly it was great fun, though by the end I was getting really tired of being around people all the time. Anyway, we won! By a huge margin. Because once I make the decision to compete, I play to win. I am a psycho.

Well, I�m going to go� do something else.

le gouffre a toujours soif,

greyarea

Diaryland