Date: May 14, 2000 Time: 10:08 pm Right now I'm feeling: Pretty good Right now I'm listening to: B'z B'z: Blowin' J-Pop Trivia Corner: When the lead singer of B'z goes back to his hometown of Kobe, he helps out his parents at their perfume shop. An unusual part time job for a rock superstar, eh?!? Quote of the Day: "Every life is a play in which the lead character is center stage--and the lead character in your life is you." -- Sonya Friedman Procrastination I am a bad son. Not good at the whole contact thing (i.e. emailing my mother once in a great while to let her know I'm still alive), I have one chance at redemption during the entire year. Mother's Day. My mom is great. She's my hero. I have her to thank for the most of the good that is in me. She's amazing and if I were 10X as strong of spirit as I am now, I might be half as strong as her. Somehow I got it in my head that Mother's Day was not this Sunday, but next Sunday. Over here, it's easy to forget the whole thing completely, where there is no advertisement bombardment; no constant messages flowing past my field of vision on television, in the newspaper, or signs in shop windows. I've been scrambling for a week to get the big gift taken care of, but there's just no way I could get it done in time to get it back home. I'd tell you guys what it was if I was absolutely sure that she doesn't read these journals, but I'm not, so I can't. You'll just have to endure the suspense until I tell all next week. I have my doubts as to how it'll be received... it's a little odd, but I rarely give conventional gifts. Doesn't that suck? You go through a ton of effort and energy or time to get your friend/loved one the perfect gift and they look at it, say, "Wow. That's great! Thanks!", then set it aside. Damn. That pisses me off. ... Nah. She'll love it. I'm sure of it. But it sucks that it'll be late. I should have started getting it together last month, but I'm kindof lazy. I procrastinate waaaay too much. Runs in my family, that. Procrastination. Everyone in my family is a chronic procrastinator. Last year I got my Christmas gifts late January or early February. :) So, maybe a week late on a Mother's Day gift ain't so bad. Drat. That little bit of rationalization didn't work so well. It is sooooo bad. I seriously have to get my act together, though. Hmm... what are the things I need to do? Well, I'm way behind schedule on that article I was writing for Dragon Magazine. I haven't made any effort to pay or file my taxes. Those are a month late, I think. I haven't paid my water bill in over four months. And I have a long-distance phone bill that is over a year past due. Goddamit!! I really hope my wife is the kind of person who can keep things in order or we are in some serious trouble. I need a woman who can keep my ass on track! The Poke: Revisited Friday I had the best self-introduction lesson ever. The kids were genki, interested, energetic, and they even asked good questions!! I couldn't believe it. It was great! I was walking out of class, feeling great, when I felt a sharp impression in my posterior. Yes, it was.. the poke I turned around and stared down at the smiling youngster. He had asked a couple questions during class and helped keep the class pumped with energy. He is lucky. I grabbed his hand, pulled out my ball point pen, and pressed his wrist to his desk. I wrote (rather harshly) on his hand, "Dame!", which means, "Don't!", but the tone is different in Japanese... it's not a polite word at all. I said, "DAME! Wakarimaska?" With his mouth gaping open and eyes wide, he nodded his head emphatically. Damn. I hate kids touching my ass. Hunt for a Home I'm still waiting on a domain which has expired. Dammit!! How long does it take them to update their frickin records?!? I get no response from the registrar (if anyone out there is hunting for a registrar, don't go with Network Solutions, their customer service sucks) and it's been weeks now. I registered a back-up domain, just in case I don't get that one. So, if I don't get my dream-domain (Hey! You don't expect me to say what it is and have it snapped up by one of you scoundrels, do you?? :) ) my site will soon be moving to 'farstrider.net'. Kind of catchy, don't you think? Well, I like it. It suits me, I think. Nightmares: Revisited Tylenol PM?? This was suggested to me after my lament about my nightly tribulations in my last entry. Never heard of this, but... hell. I'll give anything a try at this point. Trick is getting the stuff here. Hopefully we can work out an exchange which will be mutually beneficial. I'm thinkin Pokemon cards. Oh yeah, BABY! (Is everyone still after these?? Has the fad died down yet?) Pink? Yesterday I was in the video store wandering aimlessly along the shelves lined with katakanized English titled movies and I saw something bright out of the corner of my eye. Down the row, in the porno section, was a man in a bright pink jogging suit and white tennis shoes. He was holding a video plastered with pictures of such a disturbing nature that they could make a sailor blush. No one was pointing and laughing at the man, or even taking special notice of him. In America, a man dressed as he was, holding a tape like he was, would be a subject of hysterics, causing people to roll on the floor laughing themselves to tears. That is, before they beat the crap out of him. Still Here I really wanted to get out this weekend, but I stayed because my supervisor invited me and another ALT and his wife over to his house for dinner. Hopefully I'll get out next weekend. If I don't, I am certain my head will explode.