'...you could always see into, the dark for miles around...'

Happy Halloween! A few more stares on the train than is normal...
'Twas a good party. Selected pics may appear on the Photo Guild at some point.

'...slavin' for bread, sir, so that every mouth can be fed...'

Cliched from another blog -

AM: me
WANT: better Japanese
WISH: for someone distant
HATE: zealots and dogmatists
MISS: talent in the pop industry
HEAR: voices and a helicopter
WONDER: at everything
REGRET: being overly patient
AM NOT: in North America
DANCE: rarely
SING: always
CRY: never
AM NOT ALWAYS: up front
MAKE WITH MY HANDS: dinner
WRITE: always
CONFUSE: everything
NEED: a cup of tea
SHOULD: make a cup of tea
START: making a cup of tea
FINISH: homework

Halloween party this weekend. Should be fun.

'...I should be workin' on my manners, but I'm workin' on my website...'

Bowling tonight, pretty funny. Haru was on, as were Brandon and Alex. Total on two strings a sad 180...as inconsistent as Noriko, Sayumi, and Yui. Nowhere near Haru's 300 or so. No pressure either.
The homesickness CD is playing. Joel Plaskett's La De Da, an excellent effort with nary a bad recording. Released just before Canada was put on the backburner and makes an appearance when homesickness strikes. A reminder of excitement and enthusiasm not felt so much anymore, perhaps. Many people are shocked by how mundane living in another country can be. True culture shock?
Still, not nearly as mundane as home.

'...the only thing worse than growin' up, is never quite learning how...'

It's sad to watch dreams evaporate while the dreamers stand by and do nothing.
A friend from the past seems a bit self-obsessed, perhaps age is catching up and that nostalgic longing for 'The Glory Days' is creeping in. This friend has always been a little self-obsessed. However, it is interesting when someone manages to crop everyone but themselves out of group photos; which are normally far more interesting for oneself and one's friends than edited solo-shots.
More Japanese today, an exchange, suit shopping, and maybe bowling later. Japanese bowling alleys hand out digital score sheets when the games are over. Souvenirs, perhaps. Christmas gifts, maybe.

'...ever overpsyched...'

Matador's collected Chavez: a good idea. Why is it, though, that individual releases have been so long out of print or unavailable? No bankability there? Matador getting too big for their breeches? With the New Pornographers and Cat Power on the roster, though, some forgiveness is in order.
Rain continues and, like everything, nears its inevitable end. It's going to be cold here again this year.

'...the fluorescent lights were hummin', hmmmmm, yeah...'

Ah, Joel Plaskett...lovely and lonely sounding. Rainy, windy, and cold. There's a typhoon hovering off the coast. Chaos is still being organized and in need of a good run with the vacuum. This weather is bringing the mood down and giving a feel for how cold winter's going to be. The windows rattle fiercely. Earthquake? No, wind.

'...cities and circles drawn perfect, complete...'

An uneventful day. Rise, a phone-call home, to town for Japanese, more shopping: a chalk-board, second clothes rack, shoe rack, and so on... Sanwa's selection of adhesive hooks is terrible.
A standard Friday afternoon. Kids, traffic, and the sound of the Oil Man drift in on the breeze. Back in town for dinner later.
From Catch 22:

Yossarian marveled that children could suffer such barbaric sacrifice without
evincing the slightest hint of their fear or pain. He took it for granted
that they did submit so stoically. If not, he reasoned, the custom would
certainly have died, for no craving for wealth or immortality could be so great,
he felt, as to subsist on the sorrow of children.

(p 407)

Guess the title quote and get a postcard.

no sound

Quiet yet industrious in the neighborhood tonight. On the way to the grocery store there is activity all around...construction near the water tower, junior high kids chanting and playing some game in the dark, taiko drumming erupting from an elementary school. And everywhere kids in uniform on the way home. Predator 2 is on some station or other...what a cinematic gem. And, to top things off, there is no sound. Why is there no sound?
Other industry of note: a new coffee table, new shelf for the sink, new bookshelf for the four-and-a-half, new clothing rack, groceries, and no recent earthquakes.