May 24th, 2005
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I want to eat spaghetti
Actually, I can’t clearly remember the last time I cooked something western for dinner. I left work at eight-thirty today while the rain had let up, thinking I could return home before it got worse. But of course I was a full twenty seconds down the road before it started up again, not torrential, just a good, steady low pressure rain. Though not the kind of person who won’t stop for directions (still, I rarely need them), I am the kind of person that will never backtrack under any circumstances just because I can’t stand the idea of wasting time. So I tied my five dollar GAP painter’s shirt around my head like a turban and rode home, getting myself and my BKB soaked, just because that’s the way I am. It’s like Tsunetomo says,
There is something to be learned from a rainstorm. When meeting with a sudden shower you try not to get wet and quickly run along the road. But doing such things as passing under the eaves of houses, you still get wet. When you are resolved from the beginning, you will not be perplexed though you still get the same soaking. This understanding extends to everything.
So, I was resolved to get wet, and wrapped the shirt only to keep the rain out of my eyes and improve visibility.
In any case, that’s why I’m so hungry. Because the house has no preparation-free food, and I worked my tail off integrating new assets into our game today. I said I was going to write the next three posts in Japanese, and technically I did, but I had to remove one of them due to a work-related blunder. Still, I think I did a good job, even though anyone who speaks both languages fluently will probably be disappointed with the disparate contrast of my writing styles in each language. I’d say it’s fifty percent the fact that I can’t speak coolly and verbosely in Japanese, and fifty percent because it’s just difficult to convey this markedly western sort of diatribe in my nascent Asian tongue.
But I want spaghetti, the really awesome sauce that my mother makes so wonderfully and I fail at so miserably due to the fact the best meat I can afford in Japan is ground pork and beef mix. Actually, I can’t remember the last time I had red meat. It’s just ridiculously expensive here.
I’ve been watching My So Called Life more and more recently, and it just snows me because it’s a) obviously quite nostalgic, and b) so dead on accurate; then, now, and fifteen years down the road. I’ve been thinking lately how much I love acting, and how fulfilling it is to entertain people. I guess it’ll be a long, long time before I can ever do a half-decent job acting in Japanese though, so I’d be better off focusing my efforts on finding an English-speaking troupe in Tokyo. I’m sure there are several.
The never-ending wealth of community activities in Honmachi are extended by the addition of a kendo class in June. Though this is probably the worst possible time in the project to try to pick something up, I’m going to try my damnedest to make something work out.
I’ve been invited to help carry omikoshi on Saturday. Maybe if I totally grind it out Thursday, Friday, and Saturday morning I can make it. Cheer for me.
