Monday ramblings

Just returned from a 15 minute bathroom getaway. I must still be recovering from that pork-cutlet curry Saturday lunch-dinner. Is there a lunch-dinner equivalent of brunch?
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(9:21) The beginning of the year is starting out slowly for me. Classes don't start until this Thursday. Today's schedule:

1st - group-building activities in new classes (学活).
2nd - student council orientation for new 1st years.
3rd - club activity orientation for new 1st years.
4th - class representative election.
LUNCH
5th - group-building activities in new classes.
6th - 地域生徒会 election. Some kind of student council election, but for different municipalities within Nakayama.
CLEANING
FINAL CLASS MEETING

Now you can see the reason for today's extended rambling.
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My to-do list today: 1)update blog for hadaka matsuri pics 2)study Japanese, complete at least 3 lessons lest I want to fall behind against Simona 3)read ESPN (very important) 4)update fantasy lineup against Mark (extremely important, today's the last day of our playoff matchup) 5)file form 2028 (also extremely important as the extension form needs to be filed by Friday, but I'm predicting that procrastination may take precedence) 6)update expenses spreadsheet 7)
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Last Friday was the beginning of year enkai, at Yamato taikan. The third year teachers, the clown group of 瀬川 and 吉田(plus 江原 as an honorary member, who's mostly a quiet backrow'er but occasionally a ragin' drunk), hosted and MC'd the party, so it was a blast. The teachers 応援団 made it's second appearance, as did my student uniform. Skipped the second party early to meet Simona, whose photo was snapped by my teachers as she dropped me off at the restaurant. For some reason everybody treat the fact that Jeff-sensei has a girlfriend seems like the tabloid headline of the month.
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(10:35) Just finished the student council orientation. The gym was freezing. Next is the club activities introduction, that should be fun.
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Sites I am reading now:
Paul Shirley's blog on NBA.com
The Man Date.
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(11:45) Returned from the club activities orientations. I think kendo-bu is going to be by far the most fun group of kids. I am really tempted into signing up with Mitsushima. Plus, the ex-principle from the elementary school, a bona-fide joker, English afficionado and 3-dan kendo master, may teach the club.
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(11:50) Re: Mandate.
Wow. I had no idea

that this is the reason why it was really, really awkward when I invited Matt and Ian over for home-cooked dinner in the fall, but the pot-luck thing with Simona and Akemi was okay.

that the empty-seat-between-two guys-in-a-movie thing was standard practice (Mark and I had been doing that since 9th grade).

that this may be the reason why Mark and I only talk about "issues" during TV basketball or video games; or my college roommates only talk about these things after a hurrican drinking session, and that those phone conversations are always kind of awkward.

that poker sessions may serve partly as man date pretense.
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(11:57) Among the many uniquely annoying mannerisms of the Japanese folks, the breath-sucking has to be in the top 5. Men and women alike have the habit of sucking breath through teeth in an audible "Tsss-" for no apparent reason. You tsss when stepping into the cold, tsss right before closing a window on your laptop, tsss as you get up to go to class, tsss as you search for a reply for a difficult question, tsss when you unzip, tsss when you zip up, tsss when you dry your hands...and only god knows how often Japanese tsss behind closed doors.
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(12:12) This past Saturday Amy Hunt, Simona and I drove to Tottori for the ultimate practice. Simona's no athelete and it showed. She was really frustrated about the whole thing, because she sees how much I enjoy sports, how much I wished that she enjoyed sports too(not true, but not completely untrue, if that makes any sense), and how much she does not enjoy it. In my effort to talk her out of sinking into a bout of self-pity, it occurred to me one of the real reasons why I enjoy team sports much more than individual sports.

Team sports are often chaotic. Many players moving on the field/court at once. Plays are made when two or more players see the same moment of order amidst the chaos--the split second before a passing lane opens up, a part of the field clears or some breakdown in the defense--and act accordingly to make the play. It's that mental connection between people, in the precise moment when it needs to happen, that makes a positive play special. It's like two people sharing the same epiphany and arriving at the same point of tranquility in a storm of movements.

Of course, what's even cooler, is when the defense see the same connection forming between the other team, and then acts to frustrate the play before it starts.
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(12:40) Just returned from my 5th bathroom trip to the bathroom this morning. Lunch starts in 5 minutes. I wonder what's on the menu today?

I'm going to send an email to Hugh, I think this blog-style ramblin' might be a good idea for the equally useless YT, if the magzine/website can handle this much inane nonsense all in one day. Stay tuned, it might get interesting...and if it doesn't, I'll make something up.
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(12:44) Tomorrow's schedule
1st - Test
2nd - Test
3rd - Physicals
4th - Physicals
5th - gakukatsu
6th - gakukatsu
Looks like another ramblin' day.
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(13:55) Wakame rice, grilled squid on the cob, spinach salad, an Everything Inside miso soup, and a hybrid orange/grapefruit. Noguchi-san must've taken my hint during the Welcome enkai and cooked the wakame rice. The girl next to me (the starting OP on the volleyball team, do not remember her name) was trying too hard to have a good time chatting up the baseball catcher/captain. A lot of fun she was not. And really, what's more important than making me happy?

Played basketball during lunch. A running layup against 康介石田(Kousuke Ishida the high jumper), a couple of assists, a bunch of rebounds and bunch of outlet passes to a trigger happy 小椋健史(Ogura Kenji).
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(14:20) What a day, consisting of very little of what could be considered constructive. I think I should start studying Japanese now.
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(14:25) Just overheard from Honda-sensei, my JTE: "xxxxxxxxxx, xxxx, xxxxxxxxxxxx, ジェフ先生と光嶋先生(Jeff-sensei and Mitsushima-sensei)xxxxxxx, xxxxxxx, 面白いねえ！”followed by giggles from both Honda and Ogura-sensei's. Interesting. I might call it hilarious.
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(15:21) Spent the last half hour skimming over IRS documents. The whole thing is actually so straightforward I can't believe I've been putting this off for so long. Of course, I could be dead wrong and end up being fucked.
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(15:28) El Tigre wins the first in 10 and the green jacket in a playoff against DiMarco. Love that Sunday cardinal red. He screws up big, but he recovers even bigger.
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(16:27) Email from Mark:
From: "Mark hutchison"
To: Jeff Cho
Subject:RE: links
Date: Mon, 11 Apr 2005 00:04:58 -0700

Man that was a disappointing end to a season. Go kick Metro stars' ass.

-Mark

Booyeah.
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(16:59) I'm outta here.