Entries this day: A_new_way_to_take_off_my_glasses Work rieko speech

A new way to take off my glasses

9:06am JST Sunday 21 September 2003

I wear shoes, slacks, shirt and tie to work everyday. I ride my bike from my house to the train station each day. When it rains, I don't care if I get wet, but my clothes generally care. SO when it rains and I'm riding my bike, I point my umbrella forward and the wind pressure keeps it pressed against my (granny bike's) basket. That way I can keep both my hands on the handlebars (very important for safety) as the umbrella keeps my clothes dry (and I can see over it (equally important for safety)).

I was in second gear (of three) when I got to the bridge/intersection, the light for which is usually green, but today was not. So I had to stop. And hold the umbrella since insufficent speed won't keep it in place. Light turned green and I started in second gear up the slight slope of the bridge, and couldn't shift cause I was holding the umbrella. Slightly tricky, but not so bad. Once I got moving over the crest of the bridge, I remounted the umbrella and held both handlebars as people clogs vexed my path on the sidewalk, and I zipped onto the street; this seemed no problem in the rain since it was relatively free of cars.

Umbrella happily blocking the rain from my shirt tie and pants, me happily enjoying the rain on my face and doing something no one else does, I approached the intersection at the bottom of that slight hill. Because I was slowing down, I grabbed the umbrella so it wouldn't fall, and instinctively held it up over my head, cleanly flicking my glasses off my face into the street.

For an instant, I was like, fuck 'em; I'm not going back, but then waves of fear hit me saying I wouldn't be able to do *anything* at work involving reading / writing.

Skidded to a stop and went back for them. I hadn't been going too fast, so they weren't too far back. Fortunately, few cars were in the street, and no cars were on my glasses.

Work

5:34pm JST Sunday 21 September 2003

Work was kinda bad today; just... tsk. Voice went from silent stares to a guy saying the moon landing was faked (according to someone he had heard) and that the US developed the technology to fly to the moon to strenghten the US military. It sounds likely, but still I hate to have it shoved at me. One cat defended the US, reminding us that the internet was created originally as a government project ( therefore not all US govt = bad ).

Fuckin' file system at work pisses me off.

rieko

10:57pm JST Sunday 21 September 2003

So thankful

Riekosan helped me get through the first two pages (of three) of my speech. I've not memorized them, but have correctly pronounced them and have been introduced to the vocabulary on both pages. She was really tired; I acknowledge her effort to help me.

I have nearly memorized the first six lines of my speech. I can pretty much zing through the first 3, slowly recite the fourth, and muddle through the fifth and sixth lines. The seventh line is a lot shorter/easier than the previous two, so it is nearly a given once I've finished the first 6 lines. The eighth line is the final line on the first page, and it's kinda sorta easy. Easy as the second line.

Second page only has four (long-ish) lines, so that will be easier than the first page. I'm practically done!

- - - - -

We ate dinner at a shabu shabu restaurant. Hajimete for me. I kept thinking about No Pants Shabu Shabu, which Frank talked about a lot on his last night. I didn't mention my awareness of such a thing to Rieko.

I'm really thankful for her help.

speech

1:11am JST Monday 22 September 2003

I've memorized the first seven lines of my speech. That's almost the first page. Killa.

It goes something (*) like this:

Watashi wa Rob Nugen des.

Watashi wa senkyuhyakunanajunenni America de umarete, Texas de
ryoushinto, kyoudaito, ishouni, sundemashita.

Texas wa America no minamichuouniari; Mexico to kokyouseshi
nanseibuto nantobuno Mexico wanni menshitemas.

Mata, Texas no nishito kitato higashigawawa yotsunoshouuto
menshitemas.

Texasno ookisawa nihonno yakunibaide, minami to higashi no shouzakaini
ookinatoshiga ikutsuka arimas.

Mata, ni, sanno daitoshiga texasno nishito kitano kodaina hegenya
kogeni tentento arimas.

Texas wa hollywood eigano cowboy de yumeides.

(*) I'm writing this in romanji in my journal, but I'm learning it in hiragana. Because this version is romanji, I won't pollute my brain too much by spellchecking it.