Studying at Starbucks every night this week after work, and I'm sure I'll be there all weekend, too. The same high school girl was sitting in front of me two days in a row. She was mildly amused when I showed up again tonight and said "tadaima (I'm home)", but her smile soon faded as she wondered why her cell phone wasn't getting any reception. Little did she know that the pencil case on the table between us housed not only a mechanical pencil and a green highlighter, but also a made-in-China, totally illegal cellphone blocker. 4 fresh triple A's and that thing kept the desk on the third floor of Starbucks undisturbed all night.
Stopped into Lucky's for a quick dinner of the usual: eggplant with miso and ricebowl curry with grilled garlic. Entertaining the wacky idea of renting out the whole place (well okay maybe just the back rooms) and having a big old birthday party this summer...but first things first; gotta get through this damn test on Monday, and then practice iaido like mad for the yearly enbukai end of June.
Whole lotta hype recently about Extreme Programming. Haven't tried it at work yet, but it seems to have potential...then again having some programming discipline in the first place helps, too.
It's official: nik & dave get married. Got the announcement yesterday so now we gotta figure out the logistics of getting out there and getting to/from Rhode Island. Remember I don't have a driver's license and haven't driven a car 5 times in the past 10 years. Think we'll be bummin' rides off of some of the other wedding guests or something...
I'm in serious study mode -- Japan Financial Registered Representative Level 1 exam is Monday -- spent a good 4 hours at the 'bucks last night cranking through corporate governance, bonds, and mutual funds.
I'm in serious study mode -- Japan Financial Registered Representative Level 1 exam is Monday -- spent a good 4 hours at the 'bucks last night cranking through corporate governance, bonds, and mutual funds.
Stevie put up some photos of the BigBeefyBirthday Party and the Pimps and Hos party afterwards.
Me, I went to iaido and we started practicing seriously for the yearly enbukai and competition June 30. I can barely lift my left arm.
Me, I went to iaido and we started practicing seriously for the yearly enbukai and competition June 30. I can barely lift my left arm.
Went to the monthly iai kenshukai (practice seminar) yesterday. It was in the gym of a school down the street from Akihabara Electric Town. People from all different Mugai-ryu schools came, and this seminar was specifically for beginners so it was really intense on the basics. Naganuma-sensei drilled us on the first 5 seated kata and 4 standing kata, and there were about 5 assistant instructors so we got lots of specific help and pointers.
After about 2 hours I and 3 others were called up while everyone else sat down in the back. We had to take off our swords, bow, put our swords on, do the first 5 seated kata, take off our swords, and do the final bows. I was tired and pretty nervous so I messed up the first sword bow, which Naganuma-sensei caught and smiled, asking "Blade out! You know that. You nervous?" which made me even more freaked so I did it again on the final bow and he said again "Blade OUT. Ren, you really are nervous aren't you?"
So anyway at the end of that he says "OK, these 4 have just been promoted to 3-kyu...even though ren can't bow to his sword correcly. Congratulations. Don't forget to pay the 7000 yen testing fee!" Huh? that was a promotion test? Uh, ok. So now I'm 3-kyu!
The whole seminar was 3.5 hours long and I really think I learned alot. I think I'm starting to get noto (sheathing the sword) and I almost remember all of the first 9 kata, but my arms and shoulders are killing me. And we've got regular Monday practice again tonight so I am hosed.
On Saturday we celebrated Jeff and Kevin's BigBeefyBirthday at Barbacoa. I think we put away several cows and a not few beverages. Beef sweats abounded and after dinner several folks went to Ed and Ted's annual Pimps and Hos party, but Hiroko was feeling a bit sick (sore throat) and I was beef-bloated so we just went home.
Last night finally watched Chocolat -- great movie!
After about 2 hours I and 3 others were called up while everyone else sat down in the back. We had to take off our swords, bow, put our swords on, do the first 5 seated kata, take off our swords, and do the final bows. I was tired and pretty nervous so I messed up the first sword bow, which Naganuma-sensei caught and smiled, asking "Blade out! You know that. You nervous?" which made me even more freaked so I did it again on the final bow and he said again "Blade OUT. Ren, you really are nervous aren't you?"
So anyway at the end of that he says "OK, these 4 have just been promoted to 3-kyu...even though ren can't bow to his sword correcly. Congratulations. Don't forget to pay the 7000 yen testing fee!" Huh? that was a promotion test? Uh, ok. So now I'm 3-kyu!
The whole seminar was 3.5 hours long and I really think I learned alot. I think I'm starting to get noto (sheathing the sword) and I almost remember all of the first 9 kata, but my arms and shoulders are killing me. And we've got regular Monday practice again tonight so I am hosed.
On Saturday we celebrated Jeff and Kevin's BigBeefyBirthday at Barbacoa. I think we put away several cows and a not few beverages. Beef sweats abounded and after dinner several folks went to Ed and Ted's annual Pimps and Hos party, but Hiroko was feeling a bit sick (sore throat) and I was beef-bloated so we just went home.
Last night finally watched Chocolat -- great movie!
Last night Hiroko and I took Masa to yakiniku and gave her a good feed. We were all meat-bloated and loving it. Nothing like excessive Korean BBQ to get the juices flowin'. Last I saw as I headed to bed was Masa slumped against the couch, controller in hand, deep into demon battles in Onimusha 2.
My man Steve Mollman just wrote an excellent article about mMode, wireless, and how cool tech is in Japan.
Just in case you really want to carry around me and momo, here's some wallpaper for your cell phone.
Finally got the rest of the various photos out of Kevin's digital camera. Ended up just putting his 1GIG microdrive into a PCMCIA adapter and sticking it into my laptop. Had to squish the photos down to a reasonable screen-viewing size, but anyway more photos from Joel & Aki's wedding and shots from the BBQ back at Hiroko's parents' place in Ibaraki. Hiroko's friend's daughter Momo was their and I just absolutely love her. I gave her a couple of English books; a book with all kinds of cool stuff to color and draw because last time she came over we were playing with coloring books alot, and a Dr. Seuss book: One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish. She speaks not a word of English...well that's not true she's been watching Sesame Street and she had free English lesson from some local cram school so she says "thank you" and "hello! ren" and "cucumber" (cucumber?) and her mom was like "Oh great, thanks ren now I have to learn how to read these!"
She's only five, but she acts much more like an old man, which in it's own way is really cool. Unlike every other little kid, she doesn't like Sports Day; running around all day playing games. Ask her why and she sighs and says "tsukareru" ("it's tiring"). We always grill cloves of garlic and when I was showing her how to peel and eat them she looks up and goes "miso", asking for bitter-sweet miso bean paste to dip the roasted garlic in; just like an old man at a yakitori bar snacking on a little something and washing it down with a cold beer. We got into much mischief that day, but luckily we didn't get caught.
Got schooled again in aikido -- weather's getting warmer and it was a non-stop sweat-fest. Can't wait for the real summer practices to start; 35 degrees C and 90% humidity.
She's only five, but she acts much more like an old man, which in it's own way is really cool. Unlike every other little kid, she doesn't like Sports Day; running around all day playing games. Ask her why and she sighs and says "tsukareru" ("it's tiring"). We always grill cloves of garlic and when I was showing her how to peel and eat them she looks up and goes "miso", asking for bitter-sweet miso bean paste to dip the roasted garlic in; just like an old man at a yakitori bar snacking on a little something and washing it down with a cold beer. We got into much mischief that day, but luckily we didn't get caught.
Got schooled again in aikido -- weather's getting warmer and it was a non-stop sweat-fest. Can't wait for the real summer practices to start; 35 degrees C and 90% humidity.
Only 5 people in iaido last night, and K-sensei's wrist was pretty bad so she practiced with a lightweight wooden sword. But we got seriously schooled on the first 5 seated forms, which I still can't memorize, so it was good (except for the exploding blister on my left palm.)
Got some good advice on bugei.com's web forum boards about sword bags so I went ahead and ordered one from Bujin Design. Also thinking I should get another hakama as mine's kind of long...well actually the hakama's fine it's just that my legs are really short.
Had lunch with Jeff, showed him how to do bank transfers at the ATM (only withdraw and deposit are in English), and FX'd with him so I can save away some dollars...some day we'll get a 401(k) plan...
Got some good advice on bugei.com's web forum boards about sword bags so I went ahead and ordered one from Bujin Design. Also thinking I should get another hakama as mine's kind of long...well actually the hakama's fine it's just that my legs are really short.
Had lunch with Jeff, showed him how to do bank transfers at the ATM (only withdraw and deposit are in English), and FX'd with him so I can save away some dollars...some day we'll get a 401(k) plan...
Spider-man was, as expected, a sucess. Spike didn't like it, but he was outvoted, so my record is now 2 for 3.
Studied for the RR exam for a few hours at Starbucks with Rika, then went home, grabbed my wooden practice sword and walked up to the park to practice. Walking past the Korean embassy was a bad idea: stopped every 10 meters by a different cop. The third time I'm going "You got a radio! Tell the dudes up there I'm coming so y'all don't have to keep questioning me!" I guess it's better than being able to walk by a bunch of cops with a sword and not get stopped.
Jeff and Kev came over for some traditional home-cookin' and Hiroko whipped up enough food to even put those two into chicken-coma. Ericka's still in the states so we took the opportunity to feed Jeff non-meat foods: tofu and veggies and rice.
Also, he got a car now so we're gearing up for some Costco runs!
Studied for the RR exam for a few hours at Starbucks with Rika, then went home, grabbed my wooden practice sword and walked up to the park to practice. Walking past the Korean embassy was a bad idea: stopped every 10 meters by a different cop. The third time I'm going "You got a radio! Tell the dudes up there I'm coming so y'all don't have to keep questioning me!" I guess it's better than being able to walk by a bunch of cops with a sword and not get stopped.
Jeff and Kev came over for some traditional home-cookin' and Hiroko whipped up enough food to even put those two into chicken-coma. Ericka's still in the states so we took the opportunity to feed Jeff non-meat foods: tofu and veggies and rice.
Also, he got a car now so we're gearing up for some Costco runs!
Todd and I spent the moring in Akihabara pricing parts as he's thinking about building his own projection tv. Saw some promising bits; small LCD screens and an overhead projector for only 6000 yen but the dude in the store couldn't get it to work.
However the real story is about, you guessed it! GIVE YOUR MEAT. Waiting outside the station for Todd and I see a guy with a blue sweatshirt and in green letter it says GIVE YOUR MEAT. I show him the image on my phone and he laughs and says "that's my friend" and points to her as she's coming out of the ticket gate. He said they got the sweatshirts somewhere in Nerima. I will have to investigate more, but at least I see it's all coming together. And they definitely are NOT Japanese; he and her and about 4 other people where handing out flyers for computer software and stuff -- same street, too. So at least now I know where to go to find them.
Tonight a bunch of us got reserved-seat tickets for Spider-man which should not suck. So far I'm 1 for 2 regarding reserved-seats; Planet of the Apes was a bomb, but Lord of the Rings was THE bomb. So hopefully Spider-man will push my record up to 2 for 3.
However the real story is about, you guessed it! GIVE YOUR MEAT. Waiting outside the station for Todd and I see a guy with a blue sweatshirt and in green letter it says GIVE YOUR MEAT. I show him the image on my phone and he laughs and says "that's my friend" and points to her as she's coming out of the ticket gate. He said they got the sweatshirts somewhere in Nerima. I will have to investigate more, but at least I see it's all coming together. And they definitely are NOT Japanese; he and her and about 4 other people where handing out flyers for computer software and stuff -- same street, too. So at least now I know where to go to find them.
Tonight a bunch of us got reserved-seat tickets for Spider-man which should not suck. So far I'm 1 for 2 regarding reserved-seats; Planet of the Apes was a bomb, but Lord of the Rings was THE bomb. So hopefully Spider-man will push my record up to 2 for 3.
Had dinner with Hiroko at Lucky. Seems Miwako is back together with her boyfriend (he finally apologized). Also, someone started a Lucky rip-off restaurant in Gotanda; stole the whole 1930's decor and everything, but of course it sucks. Remember: there is only one true Lucky, and it's in Azabu-jyuban.
Oh yeah, don't be fallin' for no damn virus scare about jdbgmgr.exe; I dunno what's worse, real virii or all the time and bandwidth wasted on freaking out about hoaxes.
My brother, by the way, is helping to spread the GIVE YOUR MEAT meme, so do your part and link. Google won't rank highly the unlinked, and we have to reclaim the phrase from vegetarian and/or gay porn sites!
Oh yeah, don't be fallin' for no damn virus scare about jdbgmgr.exe; I dunno what's worse, real virii or all the time and bandwidth wasted on freaking out about hoaxes.
My brother, by the way, is helping to spread the GIVE YOUR MEAT meme, so do your part and link. Google won't rank highly the unlinked, and we have to reclaim the phrase from vegetarian and/or gay porn sites!
Ouch. Aikido last night was entirely sitting techniques. You'd figure sitting is less tiring than standing, but that's so not right. No skin left on my knees. Looking at the photo of Yumippe's knees after she took a tumble on the streets of London and you'll get an idea of what my knees look like. Arms and back were sore from iaido on Monday, so in a sense it was good to have a lower-body workout at aikido. So now my entire body is in pain. I love it.
Photos from Joel & Aki's wedding are up! Wow I took alot of bad photos, so I only uploaded the few decent ones. I take the most pride in the shot of Colonel Beck and Z -- check out the expression on her face!
Haven't been to iaido for two weeks, and it shows. As is typical I can barely lift my arms and don't remember anything, but I had maybe one decent cut that made that nice high-pitched noise of sword cutting air...all the rest was pretty lame. Any movement other than straight down and I'm hopeless; diagonal cuts, straight across, and anything single-handed is even worse as I can barely keep my wrist straight let alone actually cut someone. But at least I get to "stare at the far mountain" and work my ass off gettin' all Zen-like. Did a new standing kata today, too: dude comes up from behind and you do kind of this 45 degree turn to the right, barely peeking behind, and then turn and cut up diagonal, follow him as he retreats, and finish him off. Looks really slick when K-sensei does it. I look like an old man planting rice or something...
Been cranking on the translation of the Mugai-ryu homepage, too, but I got stuck on the poem by Sekitan that inspires Heinai to name his iai style Mugai. Need Hiroko's help and a whole lotta brain juice to boot.
But first I really need to study for the RR level 1 exam! I barely understand futures, and haven't even gotten into options yet, let alone review margin trading and all the new tax laws...remind me why I am taking this test?
Been cranking on the translation of the Mugai-ryu homepage, too, but I got stuck on the poem by Sekitan that inspires Heinai to name his iai style Mugai. Need Hiroko's help and a whole lotta brain juice to boot.
But first I really need to study for the RR level 1 exam! I barely understand futures, and haven't even gotten into options yet, let alone review margin trading and all the new tax laws...remind me why I am taking this test?
Them Calverts showed the true meaning of G.Y.M. this weekend. Jeff's famous barbeque chicken and the traditional 500 pounds of fixin's made for a dangerously bloated fajita evening. With the colonel mixing (and drinking) potent margheritas, it was an evening of excess, topped with "Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back" and "Zoolander".
Stevie provided the comic relief as only Stevie can: he lost both his cell phone and his keys, forcing him to break into his own apartment building. He later found both items on the street, behind a bench. Only in Japan, and only Stevie.
Stevie provided the comic relief as only Stevie can: he lost both his cell phone and his keys, forcing him to break into his own apartment building. He later found both items on the street, behind a bench. Only in Japan, and only Stevie.
There, now I've done it. This is now the official GIVE YOUR MEAT blog. Note, usage MUST be in all caps. This is in reverent honor of The True Source. Now I really REALLY wished I asked her where she got the sweatshirt...maybe I can make my own and sell them on the web? Hmm...wonder if the original creator has some sort of trademark or something. If he does, bite me: GYM wants to be free! GIVE YOUR MEAT Are Belong To Us!
OK now I've definitely been working too long...
OK now I've definitely been working too long...
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