cleaned and oiled

Noxon is magical. Gave my sword a thorough cleaning and oiling in preperation for the national tournament this weekend. I'm sure it'll start rusting as soon as I put it away, but that's how it goes when you're a sweaty dude in a humid country. Thinking about getting the handle re-wrapped in silk instead of the leather I have now; the black dye in the leather turns my hands black because my hands get so sweaty.

puchi hates me

The damn dog that lives in the house next to my building just hates me. It's getting old. Every morning I go out to get on my scooter to go to work, the dog starts barking his head off, mom comes out, sees it me, we say hello, smile and laugh, and then she tries to calm the dog down until I leave.
I've burnt through a bag of dog jerky and the mutt still fears me. Screw him. Next time he barks at me I'll just bark at him louder. He thinks I'm scary? I'll show you scary.

Had to leave work this morning for a couple hours nap -- allergies were killing me. Head all swollen and nose stuffed and red hives on my face and neck...no fun this allergy thing. I think I'll go to a doctor in the US and see what they say. Is it REALLY totally incurable?
So I'm not feeling too hot, so no iai tonight. No practice tomorrow either because I've got my Thursday night conference call, so that's it until the national tournament this weekend. 12 hours on a bus leaving Friday night to get down to Shimane Prefecture...not looking forward to that, especially since I'm on the "B" bus, otherwise known as The Bus For Drunks and Degenerates. Just leave me alone and let me sleep!

Momoya

Hiroko and I went up to Ibaraki yesterday to play with Momoya, daughter of Hiroko's buddy from back when she was little. We met Satchan at Ueno Station and then took the Joban Line up to Toride Station.
Momo and her dad picked us up at the airport and we went back to their house. In traditional Japanese-boonies style, the first thing we did was eat. Then Momo gave me some cool colored pens that smell like the color (peach, strawberry, melon, etc.) and I gave her the books we bought in the US: Olivia and Olivia Saves the Circus.
Momo and I played around outside a bit, then we all went to the Ibaraki Nature Museum.
It was getting dark and we were getting hungry, so we asked Momo what she wanted for dinner. Most typical 5 year-old girls want to eat something fun, but Momo is actually a 60 year-old man in the body of a five year-old. Her answer: "Ramen or Yakiniku!"
So off to cook meat it was! We drove to the local yakiniku place and started cooking up plate after plate of meat. And of course Momo orders a plate of yukke and finishes off the whole thing herself, as well as a bowl of rice and a whole bunch of meat ("Daddy, I want the really FATTY one!") Momo, are you really 5 years-old?