Size 12

I used the Size 12 pattern.
I know that sounds ridiculously big, and you're probably wondering what I was thinking. I'll tell you. The package said "Size 12: 34-26-36," and so I thought, "Hmm, those are my measurements. Guess I'll use this one."
But it ended up WAY TOO BIG anyway. *grumble* Don't trust these stupid pattern thingies. Now I'm having to take in the sides, but it's a cut such that taking in the sides isn't so easy.
Poop!

How to pass the time

It's 14:23, and I've finally figured out how to pass the time here in Texas. Or perhaps it would be more correct to say I remembered.
Since my freshman or sophomore year at Princeton, whenever I'd return to Texas for breaks, my mother would take me to a local fabric store, and I'd spend the next two or three days making a dress. Some of you may remember the sari for which I sewed my own blouse and petticoat or the dress I wore for Mathey Music Night sophomore year (when Nic and I performed "The Nearness of You" and "Santa Baby").
You can see a picture of my latest project here. It's the pink one, only I'm not making mine in pink (blech). No, in classic me style, I did not follow the directions on the pattern package and chose corduroy instead of cotton. Why? Because I like corduroy, and because I'm making the dress in the fall. It's a stripey maroon corduroy, and I'm hoping to add some trimming in beige. Though I really like the fabric, I'm starting to worry I'll end up looking like a sofa. It should be done in the next few days, so maybe I'll post a picture, and y'all can let me know what you think.
Back to it!

About time?

It is 15:55pm, 26 Nov 2005, in Humble. I didn't really have any plans to blog 'til I got back to Tokyo, but my dad just commented on the absence of entries, which essentially means he wanted me to blog again, so here I go.
Rather than write anything deep, however, I instead have three main categories that have occupied me since returning to the States: food-related, music-related, moving pictures-related.

Food-related
I've been quite successful in this. The weekend in New York involved Italian Thursday night (in Little Italy of course - and I ended up finishing mine and Brett's meals); Thai Friday night; a Carvel ice cream cake and South Indian (dosa and idli) Saturday; bagels, Gus's pickles, and Lombardi's pizza Sunday; and two trips to Olympic diner with Brett for eggs over-easy. ^_^ My parents keep telling me I've lost weight, but I'm feeling contentedly tubby these days.
Of course at home I'm very well-fed, especially since they think I've lost weight. We had a monstrous dinner Tuesday night when Fuji was over, though I suppose it wasn't anything out of the ordinary for us. There's been bhaja maas, chicken curry, roti, aloo bhaji, and today the plan is kisuri. (A dozen knishes from Brett also arrived Tuesday.)
Thanksgiving, of course, involved *a lot* of food: cranberry sauce (my mother's from scratch is always so yummy), broccoli-rice-cheese casserole, potato salad, cornbread, green beans, stuffing, pecan pie, and umm... oh yeah, turkey. My dad, as expected, explained to Sushma and her brother that we were eating traditional Thanksgiving foods (nevermind that my mother had added jalapenos to just about everything). Unexpectedly, he did not insist that I say "grace" before the meal. (Add that to the list of things for which I'm thankful.)
Now, though I'd be perfectly happy eating casserole and potato salad leftovers, my mother insists on continuing to cook something new for us (i.e. me) each day. Though I find it wasteful (and I feel bad for my dad because I know that, once I leave, he will be stuck eating the leftovers for weeks on end), I can't say anything because I know she's just doing it because she loves me. The thing is, after eating my own boring fare of rice and fish (seasoned with the only two spices I have in my cupboard) for the past three months, even her leftovers are a treat.
Moving on.

Music-related
Last Thursday, in the mood to dance, Brett and I went to Pianos, not quite knowing what to expect. We certainly didn't expect what we got, which included 1) a girl with a wide, shiny belt that kept coming undone as she tried to grind with everyone in the establishment, 2) a girl who was a terrible dancer but probably fancied herself an artist of sorts because she would get down on the floor and wave her feet at the guy who was dancing with her who *could* dance and I felt was making a very valiant effort not to laugh out loud at her, and 3) a couple so intent on each other that Brett and I were forced out of our seats and came dangerously close to throwing the last of our drinks on them (in the end we decided against it because Brett is pretty well-known at Pianos). Turns out that half the aformentioned couple was very very drunk and her friends (who included shiny belt girl) were not doing a very good job of looking out for her. So please, if you're going to drink, drink responsibly with responsible friends. Else, don't drink... or be prepared to be blogged about.
Needless to say Brett and I did no dancing that night.
Sunday night we went back to Pianos to meet Laura and see the Comas and Giant Drag. Well, due to "philosophy mode" and some very satisfying conversation, we missed the Comas completely and most of Giant Drag. What I did see I wasn't incredibly impressed with. Annie's voice (when speaking) annoys me, and the whole playing drums and bass at the same time thing I find too annoyingly gimmicky to be worth the sacrifice in quality. Meh.
The Head Set's new song, on the other hand, rocks. I've only been watching them for a year or so now, but they've grown so much in that time, I'm sure it can only continue to get better, especially as they're all so eager. Unfortuantely I can't rip and post it for you, so you're just going to have to take my word for it.
I met Fuji Tuesday and we drove around Houston, stopping by the Guitar Center on Westheimer where he used to work. Using his employee discount, I purchased an OM2 "all performance dynamic vocal microphone." I don't quite understand the diagrams, but the package insert says it's "designed primarily for live performance" and has "added warmth in the lower mid-bass and a slight boost in the mid-range," and well Fuji said it would be good for my voice... at least what he expects/wants from my voice, which isn't necessarily what Stu, Chris, and Hideto want from my voice, but whatever it does, it has to be better than the crap mics we've been rehearsing with so far.
He also gave me an mp3 cd with the new Depeche Mode album, the new Fiona Apple, Fischerspooner, Tweaker, Lovage, and Gelbison. I love love love the new Depeche Mode Album. I haven't concentrated too much on the Fiona Apple - the first track I like a lot, the rest... sounds like Fiona Apple, I assume it's solid. I'm giving my first listen to the Tweaker right now and liking it. And though I trust Fuji's judgment, I'm not yet convinced by the Gelbison or Fischerspooner. It's *good* yeah, but whether or not it will matter to me is something else. Oh, and the Lovage is funny and a good addition to my collection, but it's one of those things I would never think to buy myself.

Moving pictures-related
Last Friday in New York, I met Darren, Lev, and Julia to see Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Oh boy was it fun. It was much better than the third movie, which I found severely disappointing, so already I was happy. But on top of that it was *good.* Though they had to change some things around in order to condense it all into a movie, I thought the choices they made were understandable and quite forgivable. There were some pretty big (in my opinion) details left out about Barty Crouch, which I think are important to the story and character development, but I can understand how the movie would have been less tight for it. The best part of the evening of course was seeing Darren, Julia, and Lev. I'd really missed companionship like theirs in Japan.
For Fuji's birthday I brought him Final Fantasy: Advent Children from Japan. Yes, this means it's in Japanese without subtitles, but he doesn't care. He'd seen it three times already with subtitles (and pretty much had the dialogue memorized), and it's still unclear when a subtitled version will be released in the States. Though I haven't seen the first movie and it had no subtitles, we watched it together on my old Dell laptop Omaris (I'd forgotten how high her resolution is, oh man). I can't tell you much about how it was as a movie. I was concentrating on understanding the Japanese and the plot. As it's an action movie, there wasn't too much dialogue to stress out about, but what little there was, I think I was able to pick up on/understand about half of it. Hooray for me. ^_^ I did notice, however, that computer animation has improved significantly when it comes to people - from the movement of hair and cloth to freckles. With this knowledge, I expect a little better from the next Spiderman movie (I assume there will be one), where they don't even have to deal with a cloak.
The day I bought the mic, I also bought the Fruits Basket set. I know, I know, it's a stupid shoujo anime, but after seeing the first couple episodes with Lisa a year or two ago, I've wanted to finish it, now matter how annoying (sort of like Naruto). Besides, I'm thinking the other shoujo manga I look at for my first paper will be Fruits Basket, so I can justify it by saying it's "research." ^_~ Actually, I'm really really glad I bought this one, because the Japanese in it is so interesting. Minagawa always speaks in tenei-go (polite speech), Honda (Tohru) often uses kei-go (honourific and humble speech), and of course the boys all speak like normal people. *rolls eyes* I wonder if girls who only read the manga (or watch the anime) in English are aware of these obvious "status" differences. If not, would being aware of them change their reception of the manga/anime?
The other night my parents and I watched an old Hindi film called "Guddi," starring Jaya Bhaduri or something like that and some other famous stars whose faces I recognize but names I don't know and could never spell. It was actually a really interesting movie (and more tolerable than most because there were no ridiculous group dance numbers and it wasn't THREE HOURS LONG) because it was about Bollywood movies and how they're pretty meaningless and just a bunch of glamour and glitz that has nothing to do with how life in India really is. I mean, it was nice to see a Bollywood movie trying to convey that message, but it was also kind of amusing because this movie itself was a parade of faces, and I can hardly believe that the main character's family was typical in any way (yeah, every Indian girl has an uncle with the connections to get her access to watch a shoot of her favourite actor, and in the end she'll end up marrying a handsome, successful engineer whom she loves with no worries about a dowry). Well, it was cute enough in any case.

It's not tomorrow yet in Texas

The flight feels so different when it's non-stop. We arrived before I knew it... and they fed us way too much! (Actually, for the first meal I asked for the salmon, thinking I wouldn't have good Japanese fish for a while, as I intend to eat lots of American food while I'm here... but the salmon was *terrible*! Worse than when I prepare it - dry and tasteless and hard. Blech.) But as soon as I got on the flight, things felt weird for me. People seemed too big, too loud, too awkward. While I appreciated the frank eye contact, the man sitting in front of me who said "shit" every other word (in place of "stuff," which would have been only slightly less annoying) I could have done without. Ah well. It takes all types, right?

I don't think I'm jet-lagged, which is good since my dad wants to leave at 6am for my flight to New York. I must say I'm excited, especially since Darren told me Harry Potter comes out Friday night! And now I'd better finish packing...

I hope I don't forget all my Japanese while I'm here. ^^;

One last thing

If you ever wondered what the flavour of the wind in the meadows was, they send it to you.
And a lovely one too.

終わった

The tests are over, and so is the after-party at Suzuki Sensei's house. Actually, she lives in a Judo Dojo. How cool is that?
I'm too lazy to write much more than that right now, so you'll just have to wonder.

Oh, there was another little earthquake early this morning. I probably wouldn't have noticed if I hadn't already been awake (wasn't able to sleep for some reason). So yeah, though I've heard there have been a few since I came here, that was only the second I've felt.

I still have to clean up the kitchen and pack, but I plan to catch a bus to Mitaka Eki in about 12 hours. From there I'll take the train to Shinjuku and then another bus to Narita Airport. I thought about trying to take the train, but I've heard it costs about the same as the bus. Pretty amazing, huh?

I will say this about the party though...
I'm excited about seeing my friends during this trip to the States.

Texas

I shouldn't be blogging. I should be working.
But I had to express my displeasure and disappointment at the unsurprising outcome of the election in Texas. I think Jodi said it quite eloquently, so I won't say anymore than "poop."

My head is killing me. I've been so tired all day, and I really don't know why. Last night and tonight too I met with Stu, Chris, and Hideto to work on music. The Melody Union "Live" is 14 Dec, and as I will be gone from next Wednesday to 5 Dec, we're trying to throw some songs together. It's pretty ridiculous stuff, I must say. I never imagined myself "singing" punk, but, for the sake of the audience at the Live, we're covering two At the Drive-in songs. I'm not too impressed with the At the Drive-in stuff I've heard, honestly, but it is fun to play if nothing else. *shrugs* Then there's the original music, which is sort of all over the place. Stu, in classic rock lead guitar style, likes to put solos in, which is cute, I guess. Hideto wants it to be fast and crazy so he can go wild with his punk thing, and Chris tries to be diplomatic and let them both do what they want. I have decided to sit back and see what happens and pretty much do whatever they tell me.

Yesterday after "rehearsal" we all went to the 一休 in Musashi-sakai for dinner. I guess I was telling Hideto that I had a paper to finish for Shoji class on uchi-mata, because we got into a discussion about uchi-mata (which Chris finds attractive apparently - only the second guy with that opinion we found, and the other is also non-Japanese) and attractive female posture. Hideto was telling me not to do such-and-such and to do such-and-such, and of course I found it all ridiculous. Sometimes I wish I'd grown up speaking Japanese, but then things like this happen and I know I would have suffocated growing up in such an environment.

Speaking of the uchi-mata paper, it has fallen to my lot (okay, I was sort of asking for it) to compile the final paper. That is, each person in our group writes on the section he/she presented (essentially writes down whatever he said), sends it to me, and I get to make paper out of it. Well, the last paper wasn't such a big deal. It was kind of stupid, and I didn't have to compile the final thing. But now... well I've really gotten into this project. I wrote almost a page on Naruto alone (and about a page on Audition and another half on our flawed research etc), and I've spent about three days on it (and I know it's still quite undeveloped and badly written). But I just know what I get from the rest of the group will be tiny and superficial and one-afternoon's worth of work in comparison. It's going to be the ugliest paper *ever.* I even started panicking today about documenting sources and which format to use, but now I'm realizing it probably couldn't matter less for this class. *shakes head* Well, in that case, maybe I'll go to bed now and wake up early to finish... since I haven't received anything from half my group anyway...

My Monday

I was out of breakfast materials Monday, so went to school without eating. I knew this wouldn't be an issue though, because I (along with everyone else in my class) have become a regular patron of he whom I like to call "Melon Pan Man!" (such that "pan" and "man" rhyme, even though the vowel in "pan" technically is different). As I left first period (in the ILC, where we do listening and pronunciation lessons), I was lucky enough to meet Melon Pan Man just as he was parking his bike and thus got to buy a very fresh, warm, and delicious meron pan for breakfast. I took this picture because, as business has been booming (largely thanks to my class, I think), he has had to, um, improvise to accommodate demand. So he now "carries" his meron pan like a ballpark vendor and has even upped production a little (my class used to buy every last one after second period). A little explanation of Melon Pan Man and his meron pan: I really have no idea why it's called "meron/melon" pan. I can't taste any melon. Mostly it's "kashi pan" (sweet/candy bread) if you ask me, topped with a few chocolate chips and sugar, but it's "better" by my American standards than any of the Japanese meron or kashi pan I've had so far. He wakes up every morning and bakes these in his dorm room to sell for 100JPY each. There was a time I would have thought that a rip-off, but I've become addicted and it's so much easier to spend a 100JPY coin than a $1 bill unfortunately. Plus, I'm impressed by his entrepreneurial attitude and am therefore willing to support his little enterprise.

That evening, after doing a little homework and eating a little dinner, Stu and I headed off to meet Chris in Tachikawa, where they intended to cross two more 一休 off their list. 一休 is an izakaya (sort of like a pub maybe? but not really) chain that's cheap, especially if you're a member (which the three of us are). Stu and Chris have made it their special goal to go to every one while they're here, which is quite feasible as there are only 20-some and they've already done about 10. I think when they finish they'll have another round. Anyway, Stu and I saw this as we walked to the train in Musashi-sakai Eki (station). Sorry you can't really read the smaller text, and I don't remember exactly what it said (I suspect it's along the lines of "A Good Friend's ---- Enriches A Heart")... but I do know the last line says "SN'T KIDS." (If you're getting tired of Engrish postings, just let me know.)

After hitting up both the north and south 一休 in Tachikawa, having a fair amount of food and beer (including their ritual eating of a semi-raw egg), and talking lyrics and music and plans for our rehearsals this week, we found a place to karaoke for a bit. Though I'd been reluctant to go out in the first place yesterday, I had fun, and somehow we got lucky when it came to homework, as much of what we thought was homework wasn't.

More fun with Engrish

Okay, so this isn't technically Engrish, but... it's amusing. Sidenote: none of the canned drinks here seem to be made properly, by which I mean, when holding and drinking from the can, part of the label is covered up by your hand. Thus, no free advertising. I wonder why no one's changed that yet?

From some Kimono shop in some department store in Tachikawa:

From the sock specialty store "Mighty Soxer" on Takeshita Dori:

The tag on the shirt I bought today:

My favourite from today. I originally bought it for Julia, but then I just couldn't picture her wearing it, no matter how hilarious it is, so it's mine now. (P.S. The small print says "NeuroSurgeons Scream for more"):

Uchi-mata and more

Because I'm sure you're dying to know how it went,
the presentation seemed to go pretty well yesterday (I think). It's a good thing I didn't worry about it too much *or* put in too much more work than I did, because it was still one of the best presentations, if not the best. I know that sounds awfully arrogant, and I'm really sorry, but seriously. Even after an entire term here, I am still *amazed* by the stuff people present. And more than *what* they present, but also *how* they present it. I must seem like a complete nerd to them, because I think I was the only person who got up there and actually seemed interested in what I was saying. But looking out at the class, I think they were interested too, so good for us. Our group also did more than just summarize and drone (we once again started off with one of our *fabulous* skits ^_~), so yeah. I'm happy with how it went.

Today I spent shopping *gasp* mostly in Harajuku. First I went to the Ota Memorial Ukiyo-e Museum, which was *very* cool. I wish the lighting had been brighter so I could examine the pieces better, but maybe they have to keep it dim to preserve the prints longer. Still, it was *really* amazing. I mean, you see the standard ukiyo-e prints everywhere, in books etc, but I had no idea what kind of detail and richness of colour (which would benefit from better light) they could produce. I'll probably take Ba there when she visits. Then I wandered up and down several streets trying to find the *right* gifts for the trip back to the States. On my list: Rebecca, Julia, Darren, Brett, Deepa, 'rents, Stefanie (and Chris).

The thing about shopping for presents in Japan/Tokyo is that you could go in two very different directions: elegant and "traditional" or wild and "trendy." Well I ended up going elegant/traditional for Stefanie, my 'rents, and Brett's parents, but went a little more "Engrish" for the rest. *giggle* Oh man, I really hope everyone gets a kick out of these. All in all, it was a successful trip. I just want to pick up one more thing for Julia, but that shouldn't be too big a problem. And I hate shopping, so I'm glad that's over. *whew* Next weekend I can concentrate on studying for the last two Japanese tests and cleaning before I leave my apartment for three weeks. I sure have gotten attached to this place. ^_^

And now, more images from my　生活　[seikatsu] (daily life):

I got called into the ICU Festival last week by Stu and found him wearing this. He and Chris picked up wigs for free (along with other random paraphernalia) the night before when they went to Roppongi. Apparently everyone was convinced it was really Stu's hair, which, if the picture were better quality, you would know should be out of the question.


Jimi was the main reason Stu wanted to go to the Melody Union show/ball/live at the ICU Festival. These guys really go all out when it comes to tributes (not just Jimi, but *everyone* in MU). Jimi (his real name's Daichi, but Stu refuses to learn/remember it) and band played mostly down stuff; the ony thing they played that I recognized was "Purple Haze." But definitely all very skilled musicians. They also did two numbers with special guests "Elvis" and "Ray Charles." Tres bizarre.
Oh, also, Daichi was *very* excited to learn my parents were from India at the Nomikai. I was somewhat taken aback by just *how* excited he got. He even started singing some filmi song for me, which of course I didn't know. *shakes head* Apparently his major is South Asian studies/history or something, and his thesis is on Hindu-Muslim relations.


Took this picture for Jonathan, who has been telling me about fugu from the moment he learned I got the fellowship. ^_~ I'm really confused about why it was in the seifu (the local grocery store I go to), as you need a special license to prepare and serve it? Though I guess it's possible that you're allowed to prepare and serve it to yourself, risking only your own life.

Taking a break

Today was Culture Day. I'm not really sure what exactly that means except that it's a holiday and (I was told) that other schools hold festivals. Phil and some of his friends went to Harajuku and the Meiji Shrine today to see what would happen, but, other than it being more crowded than usual, they didn't see much... or rather, they missed what there was to see.
I spent the day working on the presentation for Shoji Class tomorrow. From waking up to meeting Kai and Saori, I compiled notes and wrote up a short outline. Then we met for about 4 hours, including a quick trip to Tsutaya to try to rent the Naruto episodes I wanted to use (no luck, of course that would be the one dvd AND cassette missing) and buy more girlie magazines. I will be so glad when this class is over. It was really quite a joke, and though I probably could have made it more for myself, we were never really given any sort of guidance, so I just became really unmotivated about it (especially after the last class, which was a *complete* waste of time). It also didn't help that the only "work" in the class was in the form of group "projects." No offense to my group, I love them, but I hate group work. Hopefully whatever extra class I end up in next term will not be such a waste of my waking hours, however few I spend on it.
Anyway, here are the goodies:


The ridiculously amazing box Kai made for collecting our Body Language surveys. If he were a woman, he'd be the woman who does everything more beautifully than me.
We met in his room to work on our project today, and he shared these beauties from the ICU Festival brochure with me:


(from the [tandorii chikin] booth) "Tandoori Chiken--it's a spicy, tasty, oisy (OISHI) chiken!!" ("Oishi" translates as "tasty" by the way.)


Left (from Cafe Anju): "is black coffee really good? you don't have to be 'adult' here is the coffee never play up to you"
Right (from Can you fly?? I can FRY!!): "Our tiny & tasty fries can able you to fly with good taste !!"


(from the [churos] booth) "Sweet?Sweet!SWEET!! You should experience chuckle of churros!"


Simple and straightforward (from [chijimi]?): "Come & eat us."
And finally, not quite as funny, but a classic example of everyone's favourite Engrish (from a girlie magazine at Tsutaya):

I deserve to post

I just spent about three hours (and that's a conservative estimate, but I'm afraid to count more accurately...) on a report for Japanese class about Katakana words. I don't know *how* I spent so much time on it. Phil finished his *in class* yesterday, and I must have tripled the length of mine since then. When we started the "project," I was very unexcited about it, but during the presentations yesterday and then while writing today, I just kept thinking of more and more to say, and the enthusiasm was only exacerbated by the fact that I was able to actually convey (to some extent) what I wanted to say in Japanese. I feel like I am on a major threshold here, but I wouldn't know/notice it if I hadn't just "wasted" so much time on that one, dinky report. I'm slightly giddy from this small accomplishment, I guess because it's been so long since I've felt any sense of accomplishment in class (especially since Suzuki-sensei constantly reams me for my pronunciation - I feel like I'm the *only* one who gets picked on quite like that, and I get *really* flustered/embarrassed speaking in front of Sensei now as a result). ooh ooh AND I got an email from the ITO Foundation (they've started sending their emails in Japanese), and I was able to understand it all by myself! (Granted, there were a couple kanji I didn't know, but they were non-essential.) So yeah, all these little successes are why I deserve to take a break now and post.

But now I need to get back to work and prepare for Friday's presentation. *eep*