Apr 05, 2006 10:14
One, Happy Birthday to fucking everyone. If it wasn't your birthday yesterday, it probably will be on Friday, Monday, or the following Friday. I know a grand total of 24 people and fully 80% of them have birthdays within a week and a half of today. Here's to you all.
Two, I am much concerned these days with the concept of nostalgia, and the distortion that comes with time. Specifically, I have recently been thinking of my time at JMU, which I recall hating most acutely. And yet, I also receive from these reflections a very specific tingle in the back of my head which I might only describe as fondness. I can't explain it.
The question is, as time between event and present lengthens, do other find themselves possessed of a similar "enjoyment shift?" Or do you find that things once hated simply remain so?
Three, I am so pleased this week with the concept of salad that I am considering asking my school for a reprieve from school lunch. Of course, i could always bring in salad AND pay the currently requisite 4000 JPY per month for lunch and simply not eat it, but that seems terribly wasteful.
Four, I am not unhappy with things here. I am in fact, feeling really good about stuff in general. My biggest problem is making time for my four current recreational pursuits (music making, reading, gaming, learning Japanese) some of which can be very time consuming when they want to be. Currently at the lead of each category: Tascam Porta02 MK, Exiles, Zero Mission/StarFox Assault, and polite ways of saying things like "I just have no idea what you are trying to say here."
Five, I fear the new school year, as I will lose two classes and a great deal of the stability that I had generated in my second year. I am, in spite of these fears, eager to meet the new ichinensei, some of whom I have already taught in an elementary setting. There is nothing so satisfying to see as progress.