Yet Another Food Blog

Last night I finally went grocery shopping at the store where I work. We're going to attempt gyudon tonight, which should be easy enough, especially since the rice is already done:



I got some salmon to have for lunch with some nori and whatnot. I call it onigiri, but I probably shouldn't...



What I have known for a long time is that I am pretty much the antithesis of Japanese cooking. Well, not entirely, but at least as far as presentation goes. I really REALLY don't care. I mean, clean dishes are nice when available, but as far as the actual food goes I just want it to taste like it should. If it TASTES like seaweed and grilled salmon with a bit of soy sauce and freshly steamed rice, then that is awesome. That picture is particularly horrid due to the fact that I wrapped it and put it in the fridge. I KNOW that the seaweed will get all soggy and I KNOW that it's poor form to do it that way. I also know that it's not folded or rolled or compacted correctly. Hopefully the soggy seaweed won't change the fact that it's YUMMY. I have had store-bought soggy seaweed ones with no complications, so I imagine it will be fine.

What surPRISES me is that while the grocery store around the corner has canned salmon, the Japanese one does not. Really, it's just as well, because I'm sure I'd be charged an arm and a leg for it. Next time I feel like fakey-onigiri, I'll just get the canned stuff and see how that is, cuz buying grilled every time might be ridiculous. Of course, it is so incredibly cheap for me to have perfect store-bought onigiri that I may as well take advantage of it while it lasts.

Brought home some recently expired yomogi anpan (mugwort...? flavored red bean buns) and they are tasty. Also had some bibimbap prepared veggies, although I was too hungry to wait for the rice and decided to eat the salmon rather than fry an egg to go with it. More like salad that way.

Hopefully my stomach will survive all this stuff :D

In other news, I finally went into the awesome British import store. It is pretty much around the corner give or take a couple blocks.



Fingers and Malteasers remind me of being ill in Northhampton (although I was better by the time we were eating candy :D) I kinda began to miss England a bit : / They had meat pies and Lucozade and all sorts of things. Real live Mars bars, too, although as you can see I didn't get one. That was a distinct oversight. NO JAFFA CAKES. That was almost a personal affront, but I managed to withstand it. The Lion bar and Kinder Bueno almost made up for it by making me nostalgic for France at the same time. Although I ate more Country than Bueno. Note also that I have purchased a pack of the FABLED Jammie Dodgers. Although I've heard of them before, this will be my first time having any.

Breakthrough in Pancake Science

Wheat flour!

*chorus of angels*

Not that regular is bad, or anything, but I experimented with wheat today and it's glorrrrious. So yummy! @_@

Next question is how much sugar? I didn't really measure today, since there was barely left in the box, and I think I must have added more than I usually do (probably closer to what the recipe I sort of follow calls for--1/4 cupish--that's to a cup of flour.) They were very tasty. I had them with apple sauce, although I did splurge on super expensive pure maple syrup...

I'm actually quite proud of myself. Having been up an hour I saved 18 dollars at the grocery store (which means that by buying loads of cheap soup, I effectively got that expensive maple syrup free, plus a bit) AND I took the garbage out AND I made a tasty breakfast. Floor sweeping and videogaming to follow...

Bible Lit

I found a syllabus to a rather demanding sounding Bible Lit class. What interests me MOST, however, is the assigned reading. Presumably this is the important stuff minus the unimportant stuff, i.e. the stuff smart people should read. I'll get to it sometime after the History of the World, probably in the the wake of a couple novels... Pretty excited, though, because the boy is always very impressing with his biblical knowledge. He said it's ok to skip the pointless parts, and I figure this is a good way to do so without giving myself the task of deciding what is skip-worthy.

# 1 - Week 2 - Genesis 1-11 (11 chapters)
# 2 - Week 3 - Genesis 12-19, 21-22, 24-25, 27-33, 37-45, 48-50 (31 chapters)
# 3 - Week 4 - Exodus 1-5, 7-12, 14-20, 32-34; Numbers 11-14, 20-24; Deuteronomy 34 (31 chapters)
# 4 - Week 5 - Joshua 1-10, 23-24; Judges 3, 4, 6-8, 13-16, 19-21; I Samuel 1-7 (31 chapters)
# 5 - Week 6 - I Samuel 8-10, 12-18, 31; II Samuel 5-7, 11-18; I Kings 1-11 (32 chapters)
# 6 - Week 7 - I Kings 12-14, 17-19, 21; II Kings 1-7; Amos 1-9; Hosea 1-3, 11-14; Micah 7 (31 chapters)
# 7 - Week 8 - II Kings 16-25; Isaiah 1,5-9,11,12,35,53,61; Jeremiah 1, 7, 18, 29-31; Zephaniah 1-3 (30 chapters)
# 8 - Week 9 – Daniel 1-6; Ezekiel 1-4, 8, 36, 37; Ezra 1, 3-7; Nehemiah 1-5, 8, 9; Psalms 1,2,22,51,118. 137-138, 150 (34 chapters)
# 9 - Week 10 - Job 1-7, 38, 40-42; Ecclesiastes 1-3, 12; Proverbs 1-8, 15, 31; Song of Sol. 1, 8 (27 chapters)
#10 - Week 11 - Matthew 1-2; Luke 1-2; Mark 1-16 (20 chapters)
#11 - Week 12 - Matthew 5-18; John 1-21 (35 chapters)
#12 - Week 13 - Acts 1-28 (28 chapters)
#13 - Week 14 - I Thess. 1-5; Galatians 1-6; Romans 3-8; I Corinthians 1, 5-15; II Cor. 1-2 (31 chapters)
#14 - Week 15 - Philippians 1-4; Colossians 1-4; Titus 1-3; Hebrews 1, 11, 12; I Peter 1-5; I John 1-5; Revelation 1-5, 21-22 (31 chapters)

1UP Action

Recent previews:

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
Harvest Moon Wii
Heroes of Mana
Kotoba no Pazuru: Mojipittan DS
Mercury Meltdown Revolution

More next week. Aside from that, the localization club has been discussing Ainu folklore a bit, with a new member even busting out some translation! I'm really psyched!

Annnnd this morning I posted the boy's encounter with Calorie Mate on my game blog, complete with photo documentation. Hoo hoo hoo ha ha ha! (For some reason there is a formatting problem in the permalink that doesn't show up on my actual page. Dunno what to do with that, so it's just going to be there, I guess.)

Look forward to more awesome soon :D including...I sure hope, Freeloaders stuff! I really dunno when we're launching this thing, but I'm gonna start writing columns soon to put some pressure on. Really the only person I'd be stressing out would probably be the boy, which is horrible and he doesn't need it, but I hope whoever needs to get their act together will do it when he tells them to!! RAR!!

The Disturbingly Short Life of a Banana Almost-Scone

I'm a little upsetting! All I wanted was to munch a banana not-really-scone with my coffee this morning and a problem I have had before has returned again for this new batch.

They're already old.

For some reason, the banana, which was getting old to begin with, hence the baking with it, likes to ROT inside my scones. Or something. I imagine that's what must be taking place because it doesn't TASTE very good. Last time I blamed the older than a week or so cream cheese, but it turns out that it's probably the bananas.

When my mom used to make banana bread we never refrigerated it, so when the boy suggested my bready biscuity sconey description-defying banana (oatmeal, walnut--for those not keeping tabs, I make these fairly often) bakery items should maybe go there I was caught unawares. I guess it makes sense, though.

Next time I'm doing applesauce ones, anyhow, cuz the boy likes them better, what with all the cinnimininium.

Ok, Ok, I'm working--I promise!!

But first, a story:

I just learned the word 忌まわしい, which means "abominable." What better way to remember this word than attach it to something I can automatically associate with?

忌まわしいsnowman

But I knew there must be a word for snowman, possibly even other than スノーマン, so I looked it up. There it is: 雪だるま. "Yuki" as in snow, "daruma" as in...one of those funky little dolls...



Yeah, those.

Anyhow, so it's more like a "snow founder of Zen" ;D

Interestingly enough (or perhaps, not surprisingly, given Hokkaido o_O), they also have a word for "abominable snowman:" 雪男. This is the one that literally means "snowman," although something about that must be abominable to Japanese sensibilities. Now I'm very intrigued :D

Anyways, uhm, 忌まわしい means "abominable."

Now I'm gonna go accomplish things! That aren't blogging! W00t!

Awesome o_o

Friend Ian just sent this to me since he knew I was writing an essay. Not a research paper by any means, more of an application to teach ESL in Japan (maybe...shhh...) but...

WOW.

Happy +10

Top 5 Eurovisions to Watch

The exciting conclusion! Remember to see the videos here.

5: France - LES FATALS PICARDS - L'Amour à la Française



I took two stills each of 5-2.



France was feeling bilingual. This song is sort of like Romania's, only better. It has character, but it's sort of corny character. I wonder if this is their best song; the music is cool, but...meh. 5 is such a meh place. I'm sort of puzzled why they even got this high up.

4: Switzerland - DJ BOBO - Vampires Are Alive

And they're not kidding about it.



Yes, it's a dance track about vampires, probably in love, living forever.



"And we will be forever young." Just watch this and laugh, because it's so serious.

3: Belgium - THE KGMS - Love Power



Stands for Krazy Mess Groovers--they're funkin' it up.



Yeah, this is one of the songs I actually like. I'm a sucker for a good jam, and I mean, that's what this contest is supposed to be about, right?

2: Israel - TEAPACKS - Push the Button

I know this is silly to say in a European contest, but (screw it, I'm not European) this guy scores points for his accent.



This song is UBER schizo. Language and style all change at a moments whim. Even the video goes animated after a bit.



In any case, it's totally brilliant...and about terrorism. I love this song. Gotta find more stuff by this band. Hey, they have a myspace, how convenient :D

AND NOW...

THE MOMENT...

YOU'VE ALL BEEN...

...

...

WAITING FOR!!!

1: Germany - ROGER CICERO - Frauen Regier'n Die Welt

How...can you not love this guy?



He's got a great voice, a great look, and a great SWING BAND backing him up. Amazing. And he sings in German. It's beautiful.



He's also got a myspace, where you can check out more songs.



I can't wait to see him knock everyone's socks off in May!!

So there you have it. Of course, there are other songs that aren't...terrible. There are other songs that sound interesting, but these and to a lesser extent those in the last entry are the ones that I'm particularly interested in seeing come party time. And I really do want to throw a party this year, as opposed to last year, where I actually FORGOT to even watch it. BWA HA! *cough* :D

It's that time again...

EUROVISION SONG CONTEST 2007 HELSINKI

I always pretend I'm going to sit through all the videos and make my judgements based on this extensive research, but it's all but impossible to not content yourself with the first round of the chorus on some of the more typical (i.e. awful) ballads. This entry will be the start of my TOP TEN WORTH A LOOK picks. Some of them are actually good, some of them are strange. Here we go...

10: Sweden - THE ARK - The Worrying Kind



Yes, those are little black wings. The song is ok. I mean, it's better than a ballad.

9: Romania - TODOMONDO - Liubi, Liubi, I Love You



Has some character, corny as it is.

8: Denmark - DQ - Drama Queen



A) Someone didn't get the memo that being a drama queen is a bad thing. B) Wrong kind of queen. I still semi-approve.

7: Andorra - ANONYMOUS - Salvem El Món



Wholesome lyrics, catchy emo style, teeny boys. Whee. They have a tempo. I'm proud of them for that.

6: Ukraine - VERKA SERDUCHKA - Dancing Lasha Tumbai



WTF.

This will be continued later. I have to pretty literally RUN to work right now. These videos are up at the media center, so go check'em out!

Tuna Melt (and assorted comments)

I will tell you how to make it!

2 slices of wheat bread
1 slice of provolone cheese
4 smallish tomato slices (or maybe two big)
1 individual sized can of tuna (I used StarKist solid white albacore packed in WATER.)
dab to your tastes of mayo (Don't need much more than a tsp. I used Miracle Whip.)
dab to your tastes of mustard (I used lello)
some little celery bits (for crunch!)

Preheat oven arbitrarily to something that will melt cheese. Make the bread into toast. Put the last four things in a bowl and mix well. Scoop mix onto one piece of toast, followed by tomato, followed by cheese, followed by other toast. Bake (for maybe longer than I did because the cheese could've been a little more melty, but I was hungry dammit!)

Serves 1 well with grapes and water.

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Yeah, I cooked a bit yesterday. Finally made chicken and broccoli as well (which is yummy and goes over sketti.) The boy actually liked it, which is a feat. He doesn't generally approve of chicken.

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Go figure! Chanpon updated with a list of what to see in Tokyo. They have also apparently started a series on cyberpunk.

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My localization club finally has posters. It's amazing. I love it. Hopefully we'll keep getting more people and it will be a super groovy sub-community.

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Hi, actual Mother 3 translation with progress happening on it! Nice to meet you! Hope to see your actualized self soon!

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I just had a great weekend, so this week better have something cool up its sleeve to compare.

Oh! Hi, everybody :D

Those are the locations of my readers for the 13-17th--click to enlarge. Wow! Google Analytics is pretty fancy. I had no idea Piipo-kun would be such a driving force for my traffic ;p

FFXII: Revenant Wings, anyone?

See, now I KNOW that you're all here, so you can't hide by not posting comments ;D I mean, c'mon, we could all talk about cool indie games, or something.

Indistinct Ramblings

So, since I'm not allowed to eat anything after breakfast because of my doctor's appt this afternoon, of course even thought I'm not really hungry I'd like to be munching on something. Like a donut. Orrrrr some of the leftover korokke in the fridge, or anything, really. Not being able to just makes everything look that much tastier.

I realized I haven't really been blogging about work. It hasn't been so bad lately, especially since I changed my schedule to MWF. Actually, though, the past couple weeks have just been MW since they mixed up the day I wanted off. Tomorrow I took just because it'll be nice to have a day after this whole doctor thing to relax and play games, turn in a preview, that sort of thing, probably get stuff to make TUNA MELTS with.

Anyhow, yesterday at the store there were two bloggable events. I'm going to start looking for bloggable events to keep my mind off the numbing boredom. The first is that I was viciously attacked by a pointy plastic bag. It left stingy little scratches on my hand, and I'm not sure what I did to provoke that.

SECONDLY, however, was an even better thing. This Chinese family came in with twin boys, about 3 years old, maybe? 4? They both had hi-lighted faux hawks to match their parent's highlights. The mom and one boy had blond, while the dad and the other boy had red. It was...totally adorable. The twins were sitting in the shopping cart sword-fighting with the sticks that indicate where your groceries end and that other guy's begins. They looked so sad when I had to take them away *sniff* but they still blew Erin and I kisses as they were wheeled out the door.

I wonder what age it is that kids don't sort of auto-smile back at you. There was a baby in the other day and babies always always smile at me, unless they're already cranky and crying or something, too busy squirming uncomfortably to notice me. All the babies are my friends :D These kids, though, the two twins, they were just sort of blank. More the, "I don't know you, why are you smiling at me?" face. The kisses were just a demo of their no doubt charming personality programmed by their parents.

SO IT GOES!

Seems like the Freeloaders project will be under way soon. Not sure exactly when, but there is certainly no lack of material to use. All we need is the template and I can write up a storm. Hopefully the video of Pixeljam will get edited somehow. Seems like everyone is too busy, but maybe the boy and I will just do it tomorrow...

New rule

Well, probably not, but let's just say that it is: Always do a google search for a picture, unless of course, you have one.

You may not come up with this:



but the offsides rule image is fun to run anyways.

See also: Star Nose

PS - Does anyone know how to get image links within the blogger html template? I looked up the code, but I wasn't sure how to fit it into the way they make you add images here...

BotanicalGardening.com

So, now that my dad's website, BotanicalGardening.com is starting to shape up, I decided it was time to throw down some links. Obviously it's still a work in progress, but he's got some nifty pictures up and is in the middle of his coverage of the Philadelphia Flower Show, so I figured now is a good time to add him to my Wonderfulity list :D

Basically, my dad is an uber genius at plants. He went to school to be a lawyer, and that's what he was for a while, but his hobby was always plants and he was so obsessed that he taught himself TONS of stuff. He writes books and articles, takes pictures, was a curator at the New York Botanical Garden, and now he's head landscaper at a mansion outside of NYC. The fun stuff can pay off if you work hard enough at it! :D Anyways, his website will keep accumulating super useful info for people into pretty much any kind of gardening, so if you like flowers, seeds, leaves and dirt, it's THE place to watch!

Keeping score at GDC

I wrote a lot of stuff this past week, with more to come post-embargo. Here are the linkzorz:

Gods and Heroes: Rome Rising
Crysis
Hellgate: London
Mario Strikers Charged
Big Brain Academy
Fury
Luxor 2
Tabula Rasa

GDC blogs one and two describe my various adventures through the week, and just for kicks, I'll throw in some links for the two blogs I did today about some wicked free games: Sprout and Guxt.

Ta-da! I know I've been lazy about linking my stuff, but moo. Honestly, if you read and enjoy this blog, you should probably just be reading my videogame blog anyways ;p

A man died last night

So yeah, I was reading about Warhammer when all of the sudden a little before 1 am I heard a lady yelling for help and banging on doors in the hall. I went out to see what was happening and she said she didn't know what happened to him and to call 911, so I did.

I think I did a really good 911 call, started right off with the address, very clearly and calmly. Anyhow, it got a little messy in the next minute because suddenly the neighbor rushed out and dialed them on HER phone. So, while I'm pretty sure the ambulance showed up after my lady dispatched one, the other lady ended up getting CPR instructions out first, so after that I was sort of uselessly on the phone. At least it was co-opted cleanly, that's the important thing.

I never met the guy before, but he was there not moving and we had to move him onto the floor. 47 graying hair in PJs. We hoisted him off the bed and I paid special attention to not bump his head. They were tilting his neck and his eyes rolled open, but he wasn't actually there. I sort of wonder if he was alive at that point or not.

The other neighbor had gone downstairs to let the ambulance people in the front door, so I took up the position I would occupy for the next hour as human door-stop. They brought LOTS of people. All of them went in and for some reason I had the impression they would rush away just as fast as they rushed in (which is really why I was still standing there.) I mean, it's an emergency, right? They bundle the person into an ambulance and zoom away sirens blaring, right? They didn't even bring a backboard at first. Instead they cleared out the living room quickly, throwing an easy chair up on the couch and creating an effective ER right there. I'm not sure what exactly they were doing, mostly trying to get him to breath. They definitely shouted, "Clear!" when they defibbed. They don't make that up for TV...

Eventually a guy went down for a backboard (which, what the difference between that and a stretcher is, I'm not clear on) but he just had it standing against the wall. At one point they were on the phone trying to reach a physician, but got put on hold... Anyways, time sorta melted. The other neighbor who called 911 was actually friends with him, so she was quite upset. The lady who came out of the apartment crying was still inside. I held the door.

After a while they started coming out and when he said it the first time it was almost like I didn't understand it, because I really didn't expect the guy to die. I mean, he wasn't very lifelike when I saw him, but I figured if an ambulance was coming he would be ok. We thought it was a seizure at first. Actually he had had a huge heart-attack, which apparently had been in the works for a couple days, because he had even gone to a doctor for arm pain and been prescribed pills. It's too bad that for whatever reason they didn't decide to run some tests for his heart.

We waited for the police and they were collecting statements. I was strangely ignored and just held the door. The coroner WAS exactly like a media interpretation, at least what I think of one as. Older guy with a gray mustache and an accent (something Eastern.) Held the door. Eventually they sealed off the area as a potential crime scene, which is what they have to do because he died. Before that I did go in to see if anyone needed anything, because I felt pretty useless at the door, and he was all covered up with his feet poking out. I really didn't think that would happen. Once it was sealed off, though, the lady and the neighbor were sitting outside talking, about the complete unreality of the situation, what a joker he had been (she had thought at first that he had been kidding when he fell over clutching his arm), how much liked music, how they had had the whole day planned tomorrow. At first I assumed she must live there, too, but she was actually visiting from two hours south.

That's really the thing that got me the most. She had just arrived that evening and they had been having a great time and now he was dead. You don't really think of your friends dying. I mean, you try not to think of anyone dying, but you realize that grandparents and eventually parents will. Outside of a freak accident, your friends don't just up and die on you, or so you think. But somebody has to go first. This is what I got to thinking after I confirmed the police didn't need a statement from me, I said how sorry I was and went home. I had a boy to hug and that lady didn't anymore, that's what made me cry.

Managed to finish my research, but I didn't get to bed until a little after 3:30. Hopefully I won't be cranky, today. It's going to be quite exciting since I have stuff to cover, and I want to be performing in tip-top. Had ham, eggs, and cereal for breakfast with some coffee, so I'm at least full of calories to burn. Gotta run...

Cliffhanger

It's 3:30 in the morning, I'm very tired, just finished taking notes on the stuff I'm looking at for GDC tomorrow. Took longer than I thought because a man died...I want to blog about it a lot, but it's going to have to wait.

March 1st

Sitting here on the edge of my seat with a stomach full of smoothie (which went much SMOOTHER, har har, this time) and 9-grain French toast. Good breakfast. Lots of food, though. Anyhow: ANTICIPATION.

I found this crazy ESL tutor opportunity where I can make about as much, but possible more (depends on what my schedule at the store would end up being, but honestly happiness is worth more than like 20 bucks...) than I do at my grocery store job for tutoring five hours a week. It's brilliant insanity and I just need that e-mail to come shooting through my inbox that says in flaming glory, "YES, YOU ARE THE ONE." My reply to the ad was pretty powerhouse, so we'll see what happens...

hopefully soon.

I sent it last night...

ARRRGH! Updates forthcoming...I HOPE.

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Oh, and this... Why am I suddenly referencing a song from the '60s? I dunno, ask the editor @_@

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Nothing yet : / I thought for sure I would get something this afternoon while I was at work, but nooooooooooo dice...

Blender mishap! OH NOEZ

Incidentally:



(what you get when you google "oh noes")

Flaming hell, though! (And that right there is the tie-in, I guess...) The blender was all taken apart from the last cleaning, so I'm takin' the receptacle out and putting it on the counter, cheerfully ready to have a tasty smoothie. Adding my half a banana, some frozen blue and raspberries, a little milk. Then to my CREEPING HORROR I see that the milk is forming a little puddle underneath and that of course, the BIT WITH THE BLADES THAT CLOSES THE THING is still in the cupboard. It's not full-on milk chaos yet, but there really isn't much to do besides attempt to slide the whole thing off the counter directly into the bottom. Now it IS milk chaos, with splatters on all surfaces, everywhere, mess mess mess.

One I managed to get everything in there and mixed, it was, of course, delicious, but I'm trying to decide if it was worth all this trouble.

Little more sun, please...

Today I woke up to a clear blue sky, which put me in a pretty good mood. Today marks my return to the store after a couple of melt-downy disaster days which ended with me at home drinking tea and applying for other things, reading books, playing games, grocery shopping, trying to relax. I will make it through work today! I know I will!

Friend and co-worker Mickey has been a big help trying to keep me focused on the fact that I will escape and that it's really NOT such a BIG FREAKIN' DEAL. I don't like feeling trapped by a crummy job, but if I try to remember that I am serving a purpose (feeding those shoppers!) and can somehow just get through it, I are sure to eventually come upon something better.

Anyhow, I'm hoping the weather lasts so I don't have to get wet on my way to work. It's been raining and hailing and even thundering and lightning at times, so I just would like a relatively dry day. Overcast is fine; the clouds have already begun to roll in, just please don't rain on me!! : /

Been blogging and writing on 1Up some more, working on Okami, trying to eat tasty things... I dunno. Life continues! I survive to cashier another day (and eventually to NOT...)

Making a meal out of spinach salad

This...isn't going very well. I've been kinda craving food from home lately, and was thinking about spinach salad the other day. Asked my mom for the recipe and discovered it includes the following:

spinach (drr)
bacon
mushrooms
Italian dressing
hard-boiled egg
green onions

Well, I don't have green onions because I forgot to get them. I don't really like raw mushrooms, so I decided to fry them a bit in what was left in the pan after I poured off the bacon fat. The eggs are finishing hard-boiling now...

Basically what I have so far looks less like a salad than something liable to give me a stomach ache. I was thinking two pieces of bacon, an egg, some mushrooms, a bunch of spinach, and a little bit of dressing. Everything is assembled minus the egg, and it looks horribly unhealthy and...just...not even good.

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Well, hopefully the eggs are cooked. Maybe it is better to refrigerate them a while before using them. I would have pictures, but my camera is out of batteries (as usual) and it's not that exciting.

Tastes good, but I'm worried that may just be because it's bad for me or something : / I mean essentially it tastes like a breakfast scramble, only it's based more on the spinach and less on the egg.

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OH GOD LOOK OUTSIDE...I have to walk to work in that. Damn rain. Damn cashiering.

Alternative Efforts

"Expect to hear back from me within the next couple of weeks. :)"

I think it's the smiley face that makes this look so promising. I've been applying around to some game blogs because I'd rather write more and cashier INFINITELY less. This one, I THINK was for the Wii. As in an "all Wii all the time" blog under the Video Games channel heading...

That would be great, since I'm Emawii, but it would also probably require purchasing a Wii. Which, I don't have a problem with that, but the second PC is sort of taking priority at the moment. Either that or I could just mooch off of Jenn...

HAHAHA I think I almost like that idea better. Plus, it'd be a good excuse to hang out.

Pretty sure that is the third one I applied for. Funny that they should reply first. Oh well. Anything is welcome at this point...

Speaking of which, I did manage to get an app in for the reviews intern spot at 1Up. Very nerve-wracking, that was, but I think I did an ok job. At least it still shows my drive to be actually employed by them instead of freelancing around the edges.

On becoming disillusioned with bento

Yeah, I need to stop or it'll just put me off Japanese food completely. The freeness of it at the end of the day when they're just going to throw it out is tantalizing, yes, but we aren't so poor anymore. Groceries are well within the budget.

I know I've commented on this before, somewhere, but it's all so sweet. Maybe once in a while is ok, but nearly everyday is just a mistake. Lunch today was depressingly unsatisfying. Just made me feel yucky. Wish I would've just gone to the grocery store this morning instead of spending three hours reading the Internet.

I'm gonna lay off it for a while, I think. Of course, that kills the best perk of the job, but if it's free food you don't want and you have the means to get something you do, then it's probably healthier to go buy it. They all look really good, but it seems like once you dig in it all tastes the same. Sweet sweet sweet. I'd rather eat plain vegetables and then enjoy a dessert, thanks.

To ameliorate the current situation I've raided the tea end of the shelf in the pantry (which for some reason is stocked to overflowing. Neither of us knows why it is there.) Plain green tea is wonderful right now.

PS - Rather disappointed with the editing job on this one, but it's up nonetheless.

Shopping

Well, I was going to have pictures, but they weren't working out, sooooo screw it. I bought a Tiger rice cooker/steamer (but not from Amazon, since they're sold out...), David Mitchell's Black Swan Green, and, as expected, Let's Cook Japanese Food!.

Yaaaaay.

The rest of my check is for groceries etc. Plus it's already pay-day again a week from tomorrow ANYWAYS, not to mention all that free money from school I have coming.

I had a shitty morning, but a terrific breakfast of diced ham, eggs, green onions with toast (which I devoured), potatoes (which I picked at a bit) and an espresso milkshake (which was pretty damned awesome.) I deserved all of this.

I have to head out to work soon, but I gotta go to the library in Chinatown to pick up a book I had sent over. It's that New Penguin History of the World which I actually own, but not in San Francisco. I was reading it (at various points in my recent life) but never got very far because school was in the way. I feel like I have more time now. I think I left off somewhere in Ancient..Rome? I'll find my spot somehow...

The 1Upness

Dynasty Warriors DS

QuickSpot

Two on DS, go figure. Should be another on Thursday.

Omidollars!!!

"The National SMART Grant is a new federal grant program for students who are pursuing specific majors in math, science, or technology. Our records show that you qualified for $2,000 from this program for fall semester 2006."

Whaaaaaat? Since when am I a math or science major? Is it because I took ONE intro computer class last semester? Not that I mind being retroactively awarded free money...

Yadda blah blah ahem *cough* "...you will have a credit balance of $476."

O_O

I called and they are sending the check on Thursday. I figure if I get the money as fast as possible, they won't be able to realize their mistake and take it back. That said, I really hope that just because they retroactively awarded it doesn't mean they can retroactively take it back @_@

What I've been up to since Thursday

You will recall that was the day I was very happy and then spent a lonesome and boring afternoon at the store, as seen below in that short post written AFTER I got back, which explains why it lacks the starry-eyed smile-cracking goodness that accompanies such a mood.

Well, Friday wasn't so hot until I got home and then we...well, I don't remember. I imagine we played video games, or something. Or did we watch cartoons?

The weekend was full of games and also of writing about games. I wrote two previews that should go up this week, AND I get to do some exciting work at the OFFICE on Tuesday involving a word that rhymes with "we."

Oh oh oh oh and the whole point of this post was to say (brag?) that I have finished reading every word of Fukubukuro 2006. Now, of this Tim Rogers fellow I know very little, except having read all this I guess I know a bit, huh. Like about some of his previous girlfriends and his homelessness and his translating and his hanging out with famous video game designers. Also that his dislikes Kingdom Hearts II, loves Earthbound, etc. The boy groaned when he noticed me reading this, because he's apparently not so partial to the guy, and in all truth I'm not really sure if I would get along with him either; however, that's beyond the point. The point is that I was pretty amused and learned some things (about video games, which is right up there with Japanese on the top of my "things to learn" list) as well.

My favorite part is the surreal sensation you get when you see the words "GAME OF THE YEAR, 2006." "GAME" is singular, hence you would expect only one, but in each of the sprawling essays--10, not counting the intro-- there is generally at least one. (Do some have two? I'm not going to go back and look...) It's like each link is it's own universe and you are cycling through dimensions. Or a Choose Your Own Adventure novel. The feeling is compounded by the way that in most of the essays you can find at least a hint, if not another explanation, of the context for the games (i.e. the girlfriends, etc), so it really does feel like an alternate reality where everything is the same except the "GAME OF THE YEAR, 2006." It's sort of nostalgic and dreamy, in a way. I can't quite explain it. If you can handle reading through the whole thing (80,000 words, so I hear), I'd say it's definitely worth experiencing.

Today is a national holiday, but our beloved Nijiya (like the best of grocery stores, I guess...I love our 24 hour around the corner) never rests (unless you count the hours between 8 PM and 10 AM.) I leave for work at either 1 or 2, 1 if I choose to eat Okonomiyaki and dawdle at Kinokuniya. Hopefully today will be better than Friday, because Friday, sir, was a drag.

I expect this week to finish up some translations, write more, have lunch with some friends (at least two) via my freshly banked paycheck, and have a great many hours of possible New Yorker, sci-fi, Interweb, RPG reading time sucked away by the store. I'm also having that biospy, FINALLY, on Thursday, which creeps me out a little because (if I haven't reported this already) they will have to take bits of me away if the result matches the result of the original test. Poor little mutated bits. YOU BETRAY ME.

Nice Day

Too bad I had to spend so much time at the store. The weather was brilliant for a while this afternoon. I had a really great morning just chilling and reading. Had some ramen with egg and an ice cream bar for lunch.

None of my friends were at work today. Actually Ivan and Stephen were in San Jose helping out at the new store. They came back later and gave me a ride home. I got lots of food!

Also:

Full Auto 2: Battlelines

Crazy Taxi: Fare Wars

Got more projects coming up next week, w00t ;D

So exhausted...

Crush

Silverfall

That's all I got right now. I'm too tired to blog, but tomorrow, hopefully.

zomg scheduling @_@

So tomorrow, which was to have been my (week)day off, has turned into a whirlwind of activity. Rather than sit at home and translate whatever I want (or not) at my leisure, I planned to attend a PR event with 1Up. This was exciting and fun-sounding. I would have the afternoon to write and translate and relax.

Suddenly, however, I am thrust into being that flexible employee I claimed I would be, when it turns out that the grocery store has to send three cashiers to San Jose to help at the new store. Instead of chilling and intermittently dreading the three day stretch of working afternoons to come, I will actually be...working!! Gah!

It's ok, though. More work = more money. This I must remember!

I also have some dollars from my Mom since she loves me and it's Valentine's Day on Thursday.

I also made a new friend today who is as dissatisfied as I am with his employment situation. We think exactly alike, even down to impaired digestion in the workplace!

Anyhow I should try to keep my chin up.

Puts less stress on all parties involved.

And it's really not that bad. Compared to many gigs I could be working (i.e. a REGULAR grocery store) it's not so bad at all.

Thinking about applying for Reviews Intern at 1Up, but I dunno how I'm going to fit that in. Has to be done by next Friday. It was anxiety-inducing enough the first time around (i.e. back when I applied for previews intern.) It's also too bad that I can't just use my recently published previews as writing samples. They want two reviews of a semi-recent game (two different lengths.) I'm thinking Contact, but we'll see if I can get up the guts to do it.

In the meantime, I've been working on a preview that will maybe go up this week. Mostly I'm just hoping I get a chance to take a peek at what I have heard it may be possible to take a peek at tomorrow. And then maybe I would get assigned to write about it and then maybe that would entail an interview or something. Somehow I doubt many of these things, but it could happen.

That said, I'm gonna have to shuffle home from work tomorrow night to write stuff. Man, I'm gonna have to pack a bag. Probably will go straight from PR to groceries. Work clothes, notebook, uncanny ability to slave away at a cash register all afternoon...those sorts of items; they might fit in my backpack.

Managed to do at least one thing

Before work.

SWEET

The State of Things

Natto need only be tried once. It is not necessary to attempt bravery when you know it is yucky and smelly and gives you nasty breath. Thus, I had pb toast for lunch with high hopes of picking up an orange on the way to work.

I need some fruit.

Speaking of work, I have no idea how I survived yesterday, but I did. Wednesday was such a nice and productive day. There are things I would like to translate today, too, but I have to go perform my six hours of cashier time. Paycheck next week, though!

The thing bugging me the most I think right now, besides the brain strain from repetitive oblivion, is the fact that it's always so chilly. It's not cool to stand there all day being cold (and/or wet, the weather being what it is lately.) Everyone is sick and I absolutely refuse! It's ridiculous.

I can't help feeling like someone needs to rescue me.

What else..oh. A preliminary visit to the doctor yesterday ended with free pills and a green card. Whoo. Now I just have to hope that my test in a couple weeks doesn't come up with the same results as the first, otherwise they have to take pieces away ;_;

Not excited about work today at all. Yesterday I was in a pretty decent mood going in, which I think is maybe also why I had an ok time of it. Still felt long long long, but...in a not so hopeless and despairing way.

Today I just don't want to go. The morning hasn't been so cheerful and I'd much rather work on my Japanese than sell food.

This is the first day I will have my own drawer and oddly enough my number is 112 (i.e. twelve, the best number ever.) Yesterday I was thinking that perhaps it's a good sign, but today all I can think of is that...

I don't want to go.

Don't. Want. To go.

Technically I should just look forward to later this evening when it is said that fun things will occur, but I'm in a such a shitty mood that I just don't care.

Why does this happen to me? Hate hate hate! Argh! I can't do this, but I need to think of a way that I can. I'm not such a wuss as all this, I mean, come ON.

I think the main problem is that there is no sense of accomplishment. Maybe counting my drawer at the end of the day and noting profits is an accomplishment, but no, not really. There's never any closure, either. Just more customers, customers, food, bags, customers, money, money, money. Maybe I should feel good about helping people feed their families, but no, I don't feel that way. I feel like staying home and translating flash games would be a much better use of my time.

Freaking hell.

Translations of the Day

DQ Swords info here

Wii Fire Emblem info here.

(and linked everywhere. Gotta pimp my stuff ;D)

Translation of silly song

Piipo Piipo Piipo-kun, policemen! HA!

Let's all sing the song of Piipo-kun!

There are antenna on his head

He opens his eyes on the mark

He catches the news with his big ears Our policemen [Yeah, this is awkward, but I'm pretty sure they are referring to Piipo-kun in the first few lines.]

They patrol for our sake to protect the safety of the streets

Do your best for justice Our policemen

Metropolitan Police (Piipo)

Metropolitan Police (Piipo)

To protect everyone's happiness

Metropolitan Police (Piipo)

Metropolitan Police (Piipo)

They patrol for the future

When you're in trouble [say] Come here Come here

They can undertake any consultation [Sounds better than discussion; That wouldn't be much of a police force.]

With their big hands and feet they provide security [only thing I could thing of that wouldn't be transitive] Our policemen

They tighten their belts and go on patrol to protect our kind smiles

Be brave and do your best Our policemen

Metropolitan Police (Piipo)

Metropolitan Police (Piipo)

To protect everyone's trust

Metropolitan Police (Piipo)

Metropolitan Police (Piipo)

They patrol for the world

Piipo Piipo Piipo-kun Policemen (HA!)

Metropolitan Police (Piipo)

Metropolitan Police (Piipo)

To protect everyone's happiness

Metropolitan Police (Piipo)

Metropolitan Police (Piipo)

They patrol for the future

Piipo Piipo Piipo-kun Policemen

We all salute you!

Piipo-kun

(Dunno why everyone insists to spell it Pepo-kun... That has nothing to do with anything.)

He's the mascot of the Tokyo police.

Check out the flash joke (via AltJapan) based on the song.

Lyrics:

ピーポ　ピーポ　ピーポくん　警察官(けいさつかん)だよ （HA!）
　
　「みんなでピーポくんのうたを歌(うた)おう！」
　
１． 　頭(あたま)の上(うえ)には　アンテナ （アンテナ）

　ぱっちりおめめを見開(みひら)いて

　大(おお)きなお耳(みみ)で情報(じょうほう)キャッチ　僕(ぼく)らの警察官(けいさつかん)

　みんなのためにパトロール　街(まち)の安全守(あんぜんまも)るため

　正義(せいぎ)のためにがんばるぞ　僕(ぼく)らの警察官(けいさつかん)

　メトロポリタンポリス（ピーポ）

　メトロポリタンポリス（ピーポ）
　
　みんなの幸(しあわ)せ守(まも)るため

　メトロポリタンポリス（ピーポ）

　メトロポリタンポリス（ピーポ）

　未来(みらい)のためにパトロール

　ピーポ　ピーポ　ピーポくん　警察官(けいさつかん)だよ （HA!）
　　
　　　
２． 　困(こま)ったときには　ComeHere(カムヒア)（ComeHere(カムヒア)）

　なんでも相談(そうだん)ひきうけて

　大(おお)きな手足(てあし)で警備(けいび)をするよ　僕(ぼく)らの警察官(けいさつかん)

　ベルトをひきしめパトロール　優(やさ)しいほほえみ守(まも)るため

　勇気(ゆうき)を持(も)ってがんばるぞ　僕(ぼく)らの警察官(けいさつかん)

　メトロポリタンポリス（ピーポ）

　メトロポリタンポリス（ピーポ）

　みんなの信頼守(しんらいまも)るため

　メトロポリタンポリス（ピーポ）

　メトロポリタンポリス（ピーポ）

　世界(せかい)のためにパトロール

　ピーポ　ピーポ　ピーポくん　警察官(けいさつかん)だよ　（HA!）

　メトロポリタンポリス（ピーポ）

　メトロポリタンポリス（ピーポ）

　みんなの幸(しあわ)せ守(まも)るため

　メトロポリタンポリス（ピーポ）

　メトロポリタンポリス（ピーポ）

　未来(みらい)のためにパトロール

　ピーポ　ピーポ　ピーポくん　警察官(けいさつかん)だよ

　「みんなに敬礼(けいれい)！」

(via Forum Japon)

I will probably get around to translating all this stuff later...maybe. No time now. More grocery things.

Found this

on Wonderland.

Emo Interlude

EDIT: I'm never gonna be able to remember all the produce codes.

I feel sort of like my life has been cut in half, and also sort of like all this rice isn't really a good thing for me.

Maybe it's ok.

I dunno. In the morning I wake up, have breakfast, send the boy off to work, putz for a couple hours, and have lunch. Then I hike to J-town, do the grocery store thing for 5 or 6 hours with a rushed dinner break, come home and putz. I have a snack eventually and sack out at some point.

THAT's what I do all day, all the while feeling like my Japanese is a lost cause.

And I also feel really weird, like something is off or disconnected. The boy and I are good, but I'm worried we may just start...co-existing or something. Like, very blandly. It's sort of a horror.

And I've been worrying about stupid things lately and I'm sure it's just stress from the job. I never have done well having a job. Blockbuster and Quizno's always just had me feeling a little wrong, even if I was having an ok time. Why should having a job have to make me feel so weird always? It would be stupid and irresponsible to NOT have one. What if NO job ever makes me feel good? What if everything just stresses me out and turns me into a square grouchy pill who snaps at people for no reason and worries that rice is bad for her? Or that three cookies is too many? Or that her freelance isn't good enough?

Tomorrow is my day off and I'm not sure what I will do. Obviously not grocery store things for five or six hours, so I'll have to come up with something. Maybe some WoW. I also have some dumb paperwork junk to take care of, medical and residential...

I need something to look forward to. Hopefully the boy and I will do something good together this weekend.

Dunno why I feel so sad.

Mad Loot

Today at work I had half-priced sushi for lunch. I am usually not too impressed with California rolls, but the ones they make their are ridiculously good.

I bought a bag of frozen takoyaki on sale for $2.99.

THEN, when I was leaving after a never-ending (i.e. five hour...I'm such a wuss) shift I got:

fresh takoyaki
a bento with tempura, rice with nori, and some kind of little salad
ikura don

FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.

w00t

Not my best

Taito Legends 2

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.

The fruits of last week are a little sour. Room for improvement!

I'm off to bag groceries, now.

Downsides to the grocery business

Or rather, the grocery cashier business.

In all my happiness about getting a job I realized that I forgot to factor in the PAIN that comes of bagging groceries. I was soooooo sore last night, which uber sucked cuz we were at a fun party and I would've much rather been in tip-top shape.

I had that thing where something in your neck is pinching ALL the way down your arm, and my wrist hurt, etc etc. Back, feet, everything. ALL HURTY.

Number 2 extreme suckage is that I lost my ring. The ring Scotty gave me for X-mas is probably nestled in someone's shungiku right now. This is very upsetting. Scotty said not to worry about it at all, not an expensive ring, he would get me a new one, but I still feel pretty crummy about it. My finger is lonely ;_; and I really liked having it. When I told one of my co-workers, they said that if people find them they generally bring them back, so I'm crossing my fingers for that...

My third complaint is that a fifteen minute break is JUST enough time to WOLF down a bento. No 2 second phone calls, even. It sucks. Plus after you've WOLFED down your bento, it's not like you have the luxury of digesting it at all. You're back out on the floor bagging like a banshee and no wonder your stomach is all messed up when you get home.

Moo.

In other news, Kitsune Udon is REALLY bad for you! It's all that fried bean curd, but I guess I hadn't thought of it that way. Just had it for the first time, instant for lunch, heh.

Next week I work MT 3-8 and RF 2-8, so that gives me time to freelance and hit up friends, etc.

Yadda...

Cancer Drugs and Wind Power

So, has everyone heard that cancer might be cured? According to Wikipedia, the news was first published in Cancer Cell.

From the website:

"Cancer Cell publishes exciting and highly significant studies in a broad range of cancer research, from those elucidating significant advances in understanding the disease processes of cancer to those establishing new paradigms in the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of cancers."

Anyhow, I was surprised I hadn't heard about it yet. I kinda try to keep my head poked out of the turtle shell. It's been picked up in a couple places...oh wait, here's Newsweek. So maybe it is getting more coverage. Or maybe I just came to it old. Anyhow, if you haven't heard yet it's good news.

Then I was reading in Wired about wind power ideas. I just love the fact that when people come up with these great ideas they get shot down because, “They saw us as competing with oil and natural gas.” Oi. It just reminded me of the cancer drug thing because the people who were passing it around were wondering why they hadn't seen a bigger happiness about it and thought that maybe the drug companies would be mad.

How can anyone be upset about cancer cures and cleaner energy? How about we screw MONEY for once, and just make things better. People are such idiots.

Day 1 at Nijiya

So yesterday I bagged groceries for 5 hours at Nijiya Market. It was my first day and I was pretty nervous, but the people there are so great and helpful that it wasn't so bad.

Most of the time I spent bagging for Stephen and Ivan. They are a couple of jokers :D Goofy guys who both have DSs, so that's cool. I also met Vivian and Yuuka. It was weird because there are four lanes arranged in two little islands of check-outdom, and it was split by sex for most of the time (i.e. except when I was bagging for the boys.) Vivian apparently has seniority among us regular employees, but she seems ok (even though the boys told me to be careful around her.) Yuuka is really fun and talkative. She is taking Japanese in college. The evening head cashier is Judy, who I saw for a bit in the beginning, but then she left me with the guys.

I think there are actually more Chinese speakers working here than Japanese. The managers tend to be Japanese, but many cashiers seem to be Chinese. There are also a good number of Mexican guys who stock (so they told me) and a smattering of other things (which includes me and I think possibly one other Caucasian.)

Anyhow, let's see. Bagging groceries. It's actually more complicated than you might think, unless you know a bit about Japanese culture. You will sometimes hear that they have a penchant for wrapping, and I would say it definitely comes through in their grocery bagging practices:

- Anything cold must be put in a small clear plastic bag (inside the other bags.)
- Fish and meat must be separate in these bags.
- Toiletry items and glass items (sometimes other small things) go in small paper bags
- Prepared food (from the deli or whathaveyou) should go in a separate bag.
- Don't forget to ask how many chopsticks they want!
- Sometimes you need to put regular paper bags inside the plastic bags.
- If it's heavy you double bag
- Some people also bring in their own bags.

I'm trying to think of other things. These are all...theoretical ideals, I think. Most people seem pretty easy-going about it, although they still give tips. Sometimes the customers are more insistent than the people I work with! I almost didn't put a package of chicken in a clear plastic bag once and a lady reminded me. Basically, I think it depends who you are bagging for, but I'm trying to make good habits, because, like I said, some customers are very picky about it. I mean, really, everything should be separate. But sometimes it just seems like putting a bag of chips on top of some chicken (which has been clear plastic bagged) isn't so bad. Stephen told me to bag it how I would like it to be bagged, like how I would find it convenient. To tell the truth, though, I don't care as long as nothing is damaged when I get home! I try to follow the rules ;D

What else did I learn? Well, Stephen showed me the basics of the register, but I don't start that until next week. I learned how to validate parking (which only applies if the total is over $30.) Eventually I will have to count my drawer at the end of the day, but since I'm not actually cashiering yet, I didn't have to stay last night. Oh, I know what else I did. Learned a little bit about produce. Need to learn the codes...not to mention the names of some of the items. It's a little like being in preschool again. Mizuna, shungiku, tokyo negi...

Perquisites:

- Locker in the break room. Comes with an improbably tiny key that I feel would be too easy to snap in half or lose.
- Very starchy light blue oxford shirt, blue company windbreaker jacket, blue company apron (i.e. the awesome uniform. This stays in my locker at work.)
- I get half off the deli food, supposedly anytime. This means big bento lunches for about $3.50 and onigiri with salmon for 75 cents. I had one of the latter as a snack the other day, and the boys were right-- I will need practice opening the package. There are also assorted salads, sweet potatoes, fried octopus and chicken, etc.
- At the end of the day, we are apparently allowed to take home extra deli food if we like. Not sure exactly how this works. As I was leaving everyone told me to "Take a bento! Ask Alex first, but, just take one!" So I did.

Today I will read through my NIJIYA MARKET EMPLOYEE HANDBOOK for CASHIERS as directed. I guess there are a couple more papers for me to sign...

I'm excited because I think even if my Japanese doesn't markedly improve, my knowledge of Japanese food WILL. I'm so envious of these people who check out with assorted dried bits of things and vacuum packed whatever that is and frozen noodles, oddly colored pastes, etc. I want to know what all those things are and how they taste and what you do with them! I'm gonna find out!

Job Update

I'm so excited *_*

I went and filled out my paperwork for Nijiya. I will be working as a cashier and wearing an awesome Oxford and jacket (size S.) Tomorrow afternoon I start training! I guess for the first week it will be just bagging. They ease you in, which is so nice!

I already really like the store manager, Jin. He's funny and friendly and seems to really care about the employees. For instance, when I told him I'd prefer to work weekdays he asked why and when I explained that I hang out with my boyfriend on the weekends, he was totally ok with that and said he would help me out! I do work this Saturday, but it's not a problem to do that once in a while.

Hopefully I will make some friends I can hang out with outside of work, too. The break room has pictures of the staff all goofing around together on the walls, so it seems like they get together for a good time once in a while, or something. I already know Jin likes tequila, since it seems to be his "power" source. A lady came into the break room complaining of a cold and he told her, "You should drink some tequila!" I dunno much about tequila, but I think at a job with such a relaxed dress code and goofy people, I'm going to have a lot of fun.

Aujourd'hui sur le 1Up

Ghost Rider

Final Fantasy XIII

I'm sort of surprised how intact the Ghost Rider one is. They didn't change much, but I think the deck is making fun of me ^_~ "2K's God of War killer," I never said that ;p

My New Job

Yay. I now have some semblance of a life (where I do work and don't just sit around playing video games and loving the boy) :D

I freelance for 1Up AND cashier for Nijiya Market.

Nijiya Market is the Japanese supermarket in J-town. There are smaller stores, but this is THE one. In addition to cashiering the best and improving my Japanese, I intend to shop there a lot and learn to cook (more) Japanese food.

To that end I have been searching for a good Japanese cookbook filled with recipes for everyday cooking and not just like...sushi and tempura. I think I found one! Let's Cook Japanese Food Everyday, in addition to having a very exciting-looking table of contents (at least as far as the tofu/egg section I was allowed to browse in the Amazon window thing), has exactly the right kind of title. Notice the optimistic ganbare spirit!!! This could be a sign on an elementary school wall (if said school were peculiarly devoted to cooking Japanese food...) Good signs. Correct signs. I'm totally buying this book.

XD

Muhaha

Break it down!

I made this.

Digital Comics

Came across this site today.



No matter what else Fuji TV is, the site has nifty digital comics (in Japanese.)



Good for speed reading practice, I guess.



The art is always interesting, even if you don't know what is going on.

Tidbits and Thoughts

I was going to post this yesterday, too, but ended up getting sidetracked. So Viz has arranged screenings of one of my FAVORITE MOVIES EVER (the original Japanese official page is gone : /), only not here. Viz is BASED here, but they couldn't arrange a couple here. Too bad I missed the 2005 SF Indie Fest >_<

Viz Pictures has a pretty slick website. I'm totally into this company. I assume they'll be putting out The Taste of Tea DVD soon. Isn't that what this means? God, I would cry. I love that movie so much.

-----

So, I don't believe I have been linking to my translation efforts. That is the most recent. I'll try to remember to do that. It's all very rough and literal, but it's practice, anyhow. It's valiant.

-----

Got some more work to do ^_^ I'll link when it's up.

-----

I need to keep more Japanese in my brain. Last night while falling asleep I was writing kanji in my head and I really think that is probably the only way to really learn this stuff. It's not enough to study while you write it down on the paper, you have to etch it into your cerebral cortex. Thus, I intend to spend more timing thinking in or about Japanese.

-----

I hadn't intended on saying this, but while I was writing the rest of this I was just thinking... I'm going to restart my vocab blog completely. I'd like to get it on the new system and add labels for parts of speech 'n stuff. Plus it's really...spotty and neglected-looking. I actually posted one this morning, but now that I think of it, the best way to recommit is to start from scratch. (Incidentally, this blog, as you may be able to tell, will never be switched to the new Blogger system. There are too many links I would have to add all over again, so screw it. There would be too many pointless labels, too.)

Deathnote Downloads and Anime TV

Viz is going to be selling downloads, apparently for sale and rent, of Death Note. Now, I admittedly know nothing of Death Note, and am not really as into the fan-sub scene as it would be fun to be, but I sort of wonder how this will effect their business.

The way I understand it is that as long as a title is unlicensed in America, fan-subs are generally not given any trouble (over subbing anime and giving it away for free.) I wonder if this move is seen as a good thing or a bad thing. From the comments on the news link above, it seems like people think it's neat, but they don't want to pay for it. Some want their payments to be "credited" towards DVD purchase, which seems silly. Are your iTunes credited towards CD purchase? Admittedly, it's a different market, where there are weird wait times yadda while things are translated, but I still don't think any vendor would consider such a scheme.

What would be even better is if they just released an English language version of Japan's anime network. Is it still WOW! or whatever it used to be? I mean, we export MTV and stuff, why couldn't we just import that. Have a team of translators whose only purpose in life is to completely translate that channel so that last weeks screenings are available this week in English. Premium cable.

WOE IS ME over premium cable. I wish you could get TV channels à la carte (Speak of the devil, Ian sent me that link a couple hours after I posted this. Wiggy!) I think the boy and I had this conversation one day and decided we would get: Cartoon Network, Comedy Central, TCM, and the Japanese channel. I would totally order subbed -- oh, here we go. It's WOWOW, and it's not just anime. I learned! Wikipedia tells us that it has become famous for broadcasting new anime, but also shows movies and Western shows. Go figure. So here is the channel we would really be looking for, Animax. And if you scroll down that Wikipedia link, it says (under North America) that they actually WOULD like to bring it here. If they would just do it subbed and not dubbed I'm sure many people would be very happy.

Whaddaya Know?

Emawii's a writer.

Post-shower reggae

as opposed to pre-shower, rest of the day reggae. It's Japanese.

I'm sitting here eating the smallest banana-walnut monstrosity with a dab of cream cheese. Kinda wish I would've picked a bigger one, now, but there should be dinner of some sort eventually.

In addition to shower, I did some laundry organizing and dishwashing, some Internet reading and kanji scribbling.

No e-mails, at least none that I really want. I pestered the bakery who promised me an interview, so I hope everyone is satisfied with my go-getter attitude.

Sorta forgot to go to the pharmacy, but hopefully I can avert tragedy by going tomorrow. Obviously I did some shopping, or I wouldn't have been able make those scone wannabes. So we have milk and eggs at least.

My hair is drying uncomfortably on my neck.

Oh, I also (after my second time through Twenty-Thousand Leagues Under the Sea) finished reading Haruki Murakami's latest short collection, Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman. It has a nice cover:



Lots of stories, one I recognized from The New Yorker. He mentions that some of them are bits he's fleshed out into novels, and I recognized one of those, as well. It's pretty obvious. Less obvious where it came from because I'm bad at remembering that sort of thing, but I think it might be Norwegian Wood.

Next, I'm going to take a look at Snow Crash, since it's on the bookshelf and Scott really likes it. I like knowing what he's referring to. Not that I'll ever catch up, but I can certainly try.

There is also some really cool jazz mixed in with this reggae, and punk, and...oddities. The Challenging Sushi link is in my sidebar. Should check it out if you haven't yet.

*hair continues to dry*

I made a thing

Banana-Walnut, with oatmeal. Not sure if they cooked all the way through. They were supposed to be scones, but the recipe was imprecise on the amount of milk to add, so they got too wet. Rather than add more flour and risk losing some of the banana-walnut-iness, I just did like...drop biscuits or whatever, instead. My mistake was that when I changed aim I did not change the pan prep, so the cookie sheet is hurting right now. Should've greased it instead of flouring... This sheet is pretty beat to hell anyhow. Not sure why. Should ask my mom where to get a tough one.

I had a biscuit-scone thing. It was quite tasty. I just hope they actually cooked all the way through. I imagine the moistness is due to the banana and being fresh out of the oven...

Hmm, second batch can't be completed due to burning first batch residue...ah well. We'll try again sometime.

PS: This recipe except I used the 1% milk we had (and too much of it, obviously) and didn't use a food processor. Also substituted about 3/4 (nearly a) cup of chopped (and rolling pinned) walnuts for half of the oatmeal. Yum! I bet it would be good with half wheat flour.

Gandamu to Urutoraman

I woke up this morning with the theme song from the original Gundam cartoon in my head. That despite the fact that I had heard the Ultraman theme more than 5 times the previous evening. Go figure.

Yeah, we started watching that last night. I had never seen it and can't pass up something that campy and Japanese and geeky. I'm working on getting the theme song down so I can be really obnoxious all the time.

URUUUUTORAMAAAAAAN!!

I think I was thinking about Gundams, though, because I started watching Gundam Wing again. I must've seen the first disc ten times now, but I've still never gotten to the end of the show. I only have up to the fifth disc and I don't even think I ever saw that far. Sort of sad. Anyhow, it seems my free time will continue to be interminable, so I can hop to it. Also, once I get a paycheck I can finish up my collection. Fancily, they have boxed the first and second halves of the series separately. I have no idea why, but it sure rocks for me.

Actually, I don't think I've watched this at all since something like my first year of college, or maybe even high school. Gundam Wing Volume 1 was the first anime I ever bought. Got it at Suncoast and I was sooooo excited. It's a pretty nostalgic show for me (although it's surprising how nostalgic I get for Ultraman, which is from two decades before I was born, not to mention the other side of the planet.) The biggest difference between now and the last time I saw any of this is that I know a lot more Japanese. That's not to say that I know a LOT of Japanese, but just that I can pick out a lot more than I used to, i.e. something other than "gandamu."

Watching Ultraman last night, however, gave me less confidence. They talk so fast! I remember in my French intermediate-advanced bridge class the prof had us pick out lines from movies and repeat them. In fact, we did a whole seen from Le Dîner de Cons in class. I guess this sort of speed training could be useful. I'm not sure it really helped my French, but it's sort of satisfying to be able to say SOMETHING at native speed. Even just "urutoraman" is a bit of a tongue-twister. From "ru" to "to" there seems to be a little bit of a hitch.

Ok ok ok, and CHECK this OUT:


I'm so happy right now. I just wanted to see if I could find the song since it was in my head all morning, like I said, and youtube has this glorious thing for me to find. Not sure who those guys are; one of the comments said the original version was sung by Kou Ikeda, which seems to be the case. I'm still impressed. Should learn this song, too.

Final Grades and other unrelated news

Well, they're posted. A- in Asto and US Politics, A in everything else.

I mailed a box today.

I also did some laundry. We don't seem to have enough room for our clothes.

Just e-mailed for some furniture on craigslist. Hope we get it!

Hum hum...

oh and I'll be back in O-town on the 18th for some lame medical business.

*boink*

Ha HAAA ha HAAA ha HAAA

The Gong Show is retro youtube. So stupid, but you can't tear yourself away! (Or maybe you can...)

Things of the Day

As of yet unnamed X-mas present:



Isn't he cute? The boy gave him to me so neither of us has to miss pine trees so much. He is a quite prickly and needs plenty of water.

Had my job interview. I'd say it was ok overall. I looked nice, anyhow. I think other than a bit of a low point in the middle, things were fine. Ended strong. Managed to recognize the kanji for legendary, even (which, could it have been a TEST????) Hopefully things will turn out OVERWHELMINGLY IN MY FAVOR. That would be nice.

It's really weird being asked hard questions by people you have met in social situations. I will say that. Especially when they are really hard questions to which you have no idea how to reply even though you could DO what they are ASKING. I think I said something later when I was talking about this like, "I know what you want me to say, but there isn't really a way to say it. It's something you DO, not something you SAY." Kinda yoda, but I think it makes the point. Some of the questions seemed like things that are intangible but quite evident, and don't really need explanations, like...how I would approach a certain project. That is probably something that evolves as you gain experience, at least I would imagine.

I dunno. I don't mean to sound so venomous here. I'm not like...upset or anything. It's just really frustrating to KNOW you can DO what they want, but not be able to explain quiet why...I guess. It really knocks down your, "I can! I can! I can!" message to answer, "I don't know."

*sigh*

Soul Calibur III silliness XD

2007

Well, it's a new year and I have no intention of posting a retrospective over the past one because I tried that for my last day of college and it was abominable and hence removed.

Had a good night playing Soul Calibur 3 (one of my X-mas presents from Scotty) until midnight. One of Scott's old friends stopped by for dinner and left just a little before the new year, which is just as well since I was, for some reason, extremely cold and quite tired. Pretty much zonked out after a celebratory smooch.

That, of course, means that I'm up at quarter to 8 wondering what I'm supposed to be doing. I feel like I have big plans, but I really don't, heh. I added some links in the sidebar, but I feel more like I should start culling things. It's not really accurately reflecting what I read, or even what I SHOULD read, anymore @_@ Become a bit overgrown...

Speaking of growing, Scotty also got me a bonsai for X-mas, which will surely be an adventure. Luckily my dad is pretty much THE go-to guy on plants, and I think he actually mentioned that he had been reading up on bonsai recently, so that pretty much rocks. Won't be quite so out of my depth. It's very cute, and sits in the window by the video games.

We CLEANED. This past weekend we turned the entire apt upside down. All that is left is dishes and laundry, certainly minor in comparison to the sheer amount of dust we swept up. Our bookshelf is overflowing and we still need a couch, but the place looks really great, and a lot bigger, too. The alcoves aren't full of junk, anymore, so the rooms have really opened up.

I need to make sure I get at least a bit of Japanese in everyday, which I'm thinking will come in the form of half gaming-half studying. I study to game and I game to study, rock! Anyhow, now that I'm thinking about that I should probably get to it, so ;p Maybe I'll putz with my links some more later. Probably the solution will end up being not deleting so much as just reading more...as if there is time in the day.

All your cookie are belong to us!

I just packed up a TON of X-mas cookies to take home for me and the boy. Happy!!! :D That's all I really wanted to say...make a silly joke and then bask in the cookieness...

OH YUM

Snippets of the year

Meme.

Beginnings

The boy and I decided we'd rather spend New Year's together so we finagled me onto a plane New Year's Eve./I got an e-mail from the Army./it was REALLY REALLY GOOD/So my roommate is officially gone./There is a banana on my desk that I would really like to eat, but it's for later, so I'm gonna try to hold out for another couple hours till dinner where it looked like there was gonna be some meaty pizza./Off to WI for a Midwestern weekend./Hmm, it was so big and long I'm not even sure what to say./This morning was wasted here./Two more classes and then it's off to a San Franciscan weekend of boy and happy love with PARENTS!/That's what Jackie said when I told her that I had just watched Scott's cab drive away in the rain./Well, I guess it's fine that we didn't go to the Castro last night, what with 7 (err make that 9, now) people getting shot and all./I REALLY don't want to go to class.

Endings
Also, none of those kids looked like seventh graders.../And...I'm gonna be late...not really.../I'm going to hold off on the Education project until after the midterm./Just gotta figure out what I'd like to get done then...and make sure I do it :D/Personally, I prefer the Cocoro/Java Aroma direction of this street./Speaking of which...maybe I should study a bit :D/Yep./Except I still sucked./Need to recuperate a bit before launching into the homework.../UPDATE: *trying to think happy thoughts*/Never will I enjoy doing laundry and stuff so much as today :D/yay

You can tell that the two main themes are school and the boy. The big and long line, just for clarification, follows a title "The Big Long Weekend" or something like that ;p Taken out of context it's a little jarring, though, ne? ;p

Anyways, terrific. That killed a lot of time XD

Existing still

Having a good break. Not really in the mood to blog, but...I figured I would make sure people know I'm around...or...something.

...

Got some cool presents (import gba games, books, clothes, etc) and hung out with cousins, nieces, half siblings, grandparents, yadda.

I'm full of split pea soup right now.

Been mostly just playing games (DDR, Elite Beat Agents, Windwaker, etc) and reading.

Had some appts earlier, one of which failed completely. I guess I have to see my cardiologist before my dentist will let me come back.

I think I like that sentence better unexplained...

Yeah, time to see if I can beat the "Sweatin'" version of Material Girl...

(doubtful)

The X-mas Time

So I spent all day at various airports, in various airplanes. I suppose there are a zillion people doing that, or continously doing that (if they're in Denver.) Made it finally. Weird to be home, as usual. Last time the boy came to visit, too, so that made it better... It's sad to be so far apart for the holiday, but we'll be back together for New Year's.

X-mas will be fun, but I think the majority of the time seems to be taken up by doctor's appts. All those check-ups you're supposed to have...

Well, California time it's only 10:30 but I woke up at 6 after only 5 hours of sleep. Took some uncomfortable naps on the planes, but I'm still kinda tired. More just...sick of airplanes and the air they make you breath.

Tomorrow is supposed to be a big shopping day starting 8 am sharp, so I should probably sack out...

...

>_<

A- and happy

The A- was on my astro test. It was pretty much no sweat. Sold back all the books except for Japanese, so I have some money to play with (i.e. eat out with) over break.

Now I'm in Frisco and it's not a slip-up anymore if I say "our apt" (although the boy said it didn't matter anyhow.)

Also have an interview with 1Up after X-mas! So much to look forward to!! (Keep crossing your fingers, everybody ;D)

Gonna try to hook up with some people before I fly home on Thursday, and then try to hook up with some more people between Doctor appts and family functions while I'm in Wisconsin. Yay!

Last exam

I'm so sick of studying for astronomy. I'm tempted to just go sell my book right now. I've been through the material three or four times: reading, lecture, review for individual exams, review for final exam. Even if I don't know it, it's really really boring.

Dunno what to do about that...maybe watch cartoons.

In other news I really hope that my friend can take the test fast because she said she would give me a ride to the train station at 5 if she's done.

If she's not, well, then I'm screwed. Not completely, since there is another train at 8, but the boy and I wouldn't get to eat together and we'd only get to hang out for a little while before sleeping so we can get up at the crack of morning to put him on an airplane.

My airplane isn't until Thursday.

*siiiiiiiigh*

Call-back

I received what amounts to one yesterday regarding that 1Up intern spot. This obviously created lots of intense fear and excitement :D Stayed up late writing another sample (since that is what they requested) to send today.

The other good news is that I finished my politics paper yesterday. I was a bit worried because when I went to go send it, I found that he had sent out another round of revisions. Luckily he let me just submit what I had. For those of you keeping track, this means I now have but one exam keeping me from X-mas, New Year's, and my precious freedom.

Scotty's train missed him last night, so he should be arriving at some point today. Hopefully around 3, since the next train wouldn't be until 6:10 again...

It's pretty cold in the apt. I will have a shower and play games or read or something. Still so sleepy, but I couldn't lie around anymore @_@

Thursday Night

Had victory sushi etc with 3 and JD. I couldn't pay for the whole thing, but I covered the better part of it. They were happy to pitch in, since it meant more food.

The deadline for those intern apps is the 26th. So no chance of finding out before X-mas. I wonder if there is a chance for before New Year's. They said they would be THROUGH them by the 26th...so...

I should just forget about it. Getting too excited about anything just makes for a tough let down.

Disregarding the last sentence completely...

I AM SO FREAKING EXCITED FOR THE WEEKEND AND FOR SCHOOL TO END AND FOR X-MAS AND NEW YEAR'S!!!

The Favorite Boy will be arriving tomorrow evening. We'll have dinner with my roommates (to thank them for driving me/us around nearly, if not every week this semester) and then play video games or watch cartoons or something fun like that.

I'm psyched to see what will be on Outer Heaven. The cool thing is that if there's nothing we care about we can go see Pirates of the Caribbean 2, since it's playing right next door.

Wonder if I would fall asleep if I tried. I bet reviewing my computer notes again would do it... Plus there's supposed to be something to studying RIGHT before you go to bed or something, right? Something that isn't nightmares about your laptop biting your hands off or stealing your ramen...

Something Exciting

Ok, maybe this is stupid, but I can't sleep. I just submitted (at least I think I did...hopefully the e-mail went through. If not, I have a copy...) what I think was a pretty sweet application to intern for 1Up and the prospect is sort of dazzling. Third time may very well be the charm and yadda all that.

Whoo!

I need sleep now.

EDIT: Ok, it went through now. Wonder how long it will take to find out? ajfs;lkj;lkajsdfkweijv *_*

One more week

That's really all I have to say. Had a low-lying weekend with the sick boy. We played video games and baked cookies.

Cookies are good.

Just got my check which I was hoping would be a might better. It's actually three dollars short of my conservative estimate, but oh well. Should still cover everything. Mrrf. Sort of. I hate thinking about money so much @_@

A week from today I will be eating lunch with Rachel, studying astro, taking the damnable final, and busting out of this joint forever. Rock.

I don't want to go to class

I REALLY don't want to go to class. Everything is turning into a giant waste of my time. I also have work later that I don't want to do. In fact, there isn't much I want to do except be done with all this junk that will end up not mattering at all.

Everyone says it's great to finish college and have a degree, and maybe someday I will agree and think, "Wow, thank God I wasted four years of my life in more school." If that day comes, well, then so be it. Right now, though, I see a completely pointless Japanese degree with no skills attached and a lot of debt. A lot of hours that could've been spent making money have gone to making...horrible essays and not much else.

I haven't been updating here as much as usual. That's probably a good thing, since it means you don't have to slog through my daily routine (boring as hell), what my homework load looks like (not much), and my many moods (mostly cranky, of late.) I'd sort of like to start a new blog. I'm not sure what that would accomplish, and I really like the title I have, but it feels like I need a new angle.

Not like starting a new blog gives you a new angle.

Or maybe I just need AN angle, any angle.

Not this crappy "going to school" angle.

Until something changes, though, I'm kinda stuck.

2 fucking weeks.