good news, bad news

Good news:
Got the results from my yearly health check: all A's! I'm healthy!

Bad news:
Our belov'd Spike not only got his motorcycle stolen, but he also got his health check results: liver=D -- very bad, too much drinking!

Chihara-kun has been busy taking photos and updating the Student Iai page. Some photos of me doing (a very lame attempt at) the first seated form shin and some cute photos of Kanai-sensei.

Had lunch with Yoshiko Motoyama yesterday. She's our Internet Analyst and she rocks. She spent the whole time destroying all my theories about the net in Japan and explaining how Softbank is kicking everyone's ass and will continue to do so. Makes me wanna finally sign up for Yahoo! BB's DSL service.

puchi no like me

Couple of weeks ago the Takazaki family moved into the house next to my building. And so did their white dog Puchi. Puchi doesn't like me very much. He barks at me every morning when I'm leaving and every night when I come home. Gets to the point that some poor Takazaki comes out, toothbrush sticking out of his mouth, to shut the dog up. And it seems to only be me; Puchi doesn't bark at the old lady who always makes sure we throw our garbage away correctly. Puchi doesn't bark at the little kids who live downstairs from me. Puchi doesn't even bark at Hiroko. Unless I'm with her, then Puchi's a raging bellows of canine fury.
So I started a new strategy. I bought a bag of doggie snack beef jerky, and every time I go outside I give a piece to Puchi. This morning Puchi ignored the snack, then a few seconds later noticed the delicious morsel sitting inside the gate. Tough to chew and bark at the same time.

ann & jacob

Got some photos from Ann & Jacob's adventures with us. Glad we could spread some traditional japanese summer fun!