Update
I'm way behind and have forgotten lots of stuff, so I'm just going to try to get through this quickly.
Sunday, after the Siren Music Festival, Brett and I went out to Long Island. His sister Jodi (author of the only other blog I read, sugar and spice), brother-in-law Owen, and brand new niece Arden Miriam, had flown in, so we joined the family for dinner and some cooing over the baby. It was my first time to meet Arden, and though I still wasn't comfortable baby-talking to her, my biological clock still seems to be ticking full speed ahead, because I found her absolutely adorable (granted, she *is* "remarkably adorable," as someone from my Japanese class said) and didn't really want to put her down. The first time I held her, she fell asleep in my arms. That was *almost* as amazing as that time on the Pine Forest playground when the little blond toddler I'd never seen before ran straight into my arms with his little arms outstretched and a great big smile on his face. Anyway, Arden is an incredibly well-behaved and happy child and quite a performer too. Though she'd apparently exerted herself a lot by rolling over for the grandparents earlier that day, she outdid herself and continued to strut her stuff for the rest of the family all evening. Jodi and Owen kept referring to Brett as "Uncle Boom," when pointing him out to Arden, which I think is a fantastic name, even if it did originate in hypothetical jest. And as people to turns walking Arden around the table during dinner, I became "Auntie Indu." *laughs* After the other family members left, Brett's parents begged us to stay the night, though I had my first Japanese class at 9am the next morning, so we did. We woke up at 6:40am and rushed out to catch the LIRR back to the city, then had a time navigating down to my class on Barclay in the Woolworth Building (also had to purchase pens and a notebook on the way, since I'd taken nothing to Long Island). Class was fine. I'm way ahead of everyone else, but it's useful to practice conversing. After just the first day, I returned to the apartment in Japanese-mode, automatically forming simple questions and everyday speech in Japanese, so I think I'm getting my money's worth.
Tuesday the 19th I woke up bright and early to go to class, showered, dressed, gathered my stuff, then bent down to pick up my bag and *ouch* somehow sprained my neck. I, with some pain, managed to climb back into bed and whimper myself to sleep for a few hours. Needless to say, I never made it to class. I sat all day long, reading Harry Potter (my copy hadn't arrived yet, but Eliza lent me hers as she'd just finished) with sporadic breaks for application of ice and/or Bayer to the neck and shoulder area. I finished Harry Potter just after midnight (took me 12 hours), emailed Kishimoto-sensei to let him know why I'd missed class, then struggled back into bed. The night was difficult. Every few hours, I'd want to turn and change positions, but couldn't do it by myself. I felt just a little ridiculous. The next morning I was still in pain, so I ignored the alarm and skipped class again. I did some work on the PlanetLab bibliography, but nothing really exciteen. I finally went vack to class the next day, feeling somewhat better, but I had to sit sideways in my chair so that I didn't have to turn my head too much to look at people.
As for Harry Potter, it was amazing, to say the least. The books have really matured over time, just like the characters, just like the audience. I am so impressed by J.K. Rowling's skills. I won't give anything away except to say that I wasn't too surprised (about who died), but I still hope that [enter betrayer's name here] redeems him/herself somehow. In fact, I expect it, if not redemption, some sort of decisive action.
That weekend, July 22-24, was Sasha Trip 2005. Darren and I took the train together down to Princeton, and we rode with Lev (terrifying ^_~) to Baltimore. It was a pretty pleasant and relaxing trip. Nothing too eventful, nothing incredibly powerful. My last time to see most, if not all, of those people for at least two years. Perhaps the gravity of that fact just hasn't hit me yet.
*whew* Almost caught up.
Sunday, after the Siren Music Festival, Brett and I went out to Long Island. His sister Jodi (author of the only other blog I read, sugar and spice), brother-in-law Owen, and brand new niece Arden Miriam, had flown in, so we joined the family for dinner and some cooing over the baby. It was my first time to meet Arden, and though I still wasn't comfortable baby-talking to her, my biological clock still seems to be ticking full speed ahead, because I found her absolutely adorable (granted, she *is* "remarkably adorable," as someone from my Japanese class said) and didn't really want to put her down. The first time I held her, she fell asleep in my arms. That was *almost* as amazing as that time on the Pine Forest playground when the little blond toddler I'd never seen before ran straight into my arms with his little arms outstretched and a great big smile on his face. Anyway, Arden is an incredibly well-behaved and happy child and quite a performer too. Though she'd apparently exerted herself a lot by rolling over for the grandparents earlier that day, she outdid herself and continued to strut her stuff for the rest of the family all evening. Jodi and Owen kept referring to Brett as "Uncle Boom," when pointing him out to Arden, which I think is a fantastic name, even if it did originate in hypothetical jest. And as people to turns walking Arden around the table during dinner, I became "Auntie Indu." *laughs* After the other family members left, Brett's parents begged us to stay the night, though I had my first Japanese class at 9am the next morning, so we did. We woke up at 6:40am and rushed out to catch the LIRR back to the city, then had a time navigating down to my class on Barclay in the Woolworth Building (also had to purchase pens and a notebook on the way, since I'd taken nothing to Long Island). Class was fine. I'm way ahead of everyone else, but it's useful to practice conversing. After just the first day, I returned to the apartment in Japanese-mode, automatically forming simple questions and everyday speech in Japanese, so I think I'm getting my money's worth.
Tuesday the 19th I woke up bright and early to go to class, showered, dressed, gathered my stuff, then bent down to pick up my bag and *ouch* somehow sprained my neck. I, with some pain, managed to climb back into bed and whimper myself to sleep for a few hours. Needless to say, I never made it to class. I sat all day long, reading Harry Potter (my copy hadn't arrived yet, but Eliza lent me hers as she'd just finished) with sporadic breaks for application of ice and/or Bayer to the neck and shoulder area. I finished Harry Potter just after midnight (took me 12 hours), emailed Kishimoto-sensei to let him know why I'd missed class, then struggled back into bed. The night was difficult. Every few hours, I'd want to turn and change positions, but couldn't do it by myself. I felt just a little ridiculous. The next morning I was still in pain, so I ignored the alarm and skipped class again. I did some work on the PlanetLab bibliography, but nothing really exciteen. I finally went vack to class the next day, feeling somewhat better, but I had to sit sideways in my chair so that I didn't have to turn my head too much to look at people.
As for Harry Potter, it was amazing, to say the least. The books have really matured over time, just like the characters, just like the audience. I am so impressed by J.K. Rowling's skills. I won't give anything away except to say that I wasn't too surprised (about who died), but I still hope that [enter betrayer's name here] redeems him/herself somehow. In fact, I expect it, if not redemption, some sort of decisive action.
That weekend, July 22-24, was Sasha Trip 2005. Darren and I took the train together down to Princeton, and we rode with Lev (terrifying ^_~) to Baltimore. It was a pretty pleasant and relaxing trip. Nothing too eventful, nothing incredibly powerful. My last time to see most, if not all, of those people for at least two years. Perhaps the gravity of that fact just hasn't hit me yet.
*whew* Almost caught up.
posted by Bibhatsu at 20:22
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