Okay, I'm into my last week of winter break and I finally feel like I'm on break... except for the fact that I now have to prepare for classes that start this coming Tuesday. Man, oh, man. My sister visited us for Christmas--which was nice--but she arrived on the 20th and I still had an exam on the 21st, so I didn't get to finish grading finals until after she left, around the 28th. Sorry to my students who may have received their grades a bit late.

So after finishing up the grading and then puttering around the house--tighten some faucets, do maintenance on the fan in two bathrooms--I finally caught my breath sometime this past weekend. I even went to see a movie--A Night at the Museum--at Tyson's Corner. The theater is beautiful and huge, but expensive for a poor professor-type like me. We went mid-afternoon to watch a matinee, but I learned too late that on weekends,  matinee prices apply only to shows before 12 PM. Now, who goes to see a movie before 12 noon?!? That is pretty bogus. If I had known that, I would have gone elsewhere... maybe... I think... but those seats were so nice and the stadium seating allows M--who is very short--to see the entire screen no matter who sits in front of her, even Shaq. Well, maybe if Yao Ming sat in front of her she might have a problem--as an Asian he has the short leg-long torso syndrome we all suffer from.

Anyway, so now I'm working on next semester's classes with very little time invested in recharging my batteries. But thanks to fyzle, I did learn that I could recharge my brain if I stop drinking. Apparently, ceasing alcohol intake can lead to a degree of brain cell recovery, according to this article sourced from Oxford University. Now, I have stopped smoking for six years, and the longer I am off the cancer sticks, the more I am convinced I made the right choice. To give up drinking seems like another tough choice. I just love beer and wine but do find myself more forgetful and just basically slower than I once was. If I can gain some of my brain function back--short term memory, quicker analysis--then this is something I would need to consider quite seriously. I am, afterall, in the business of "thinking".

Well, we'll see. I'd make it a New Years resolution, but I've come to the realization that resolutions are made to be broken, so why make something in the first place?

Now what was I talking about?

Wishing you a successful and prosperous 2007

Baby Steps

There was a time when playing in a bowl game lent prestige to a football program: Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Orange Bowl, Cotton Bowl. The smaller bowls also seemed prestigious: Peach Bowl, Gator Bowl, Sun Bowl. But now, there are so many bowl games that virtually every team that has won at least six games is invited: Alamo, GMAC, Music City, Las Vegas, Outback, PapaJohns.Com, Chick-Fil-A--I'm not sure I would want to play in the Chick-Fil-A Bowl. I'd feel like a Chicken. But the PapaJohns.Com bowl sounds promising. The players probably feast on pizza in the locker room. But I wonder if they'd deliver a pizza to your seat--"Pizza for aisle 38, seat 104!" Would you have to tip 15%?

Anyway, my beloved Bruins are playing in the Emerald Bowl, AT&T Park (home of the Giants) in San Fransisco. No, this has nothing to do with the city by the bay being the jewel of the west coast. It is the name of the sponsor, Emerald Nuts. BTW: We play Florida State University. Too bad Hanzo is no longer blogging. It woulda been fun to see his take on the game. But then, playing in a minor bowl game against a high-value opponent be just the ticket for my Bruins as they work their way back to respectability. Beating 'SC was a great first step. Finishing the season with a win over FSU--even though they are having a down year--will be good for us.

In any event, I hope none of you feel CHEATED. I said I'd try to write more and the first thing I write about is football. I KNOW FOR A FACT that some of you hate these entries... but ya gotta start with baby steps, right?

But lately, it seems like there is a whole lotta bad. Maybe that's why I'm so hung up on J-drama. I just shut myself off and live in my own world of delusions. Aaaah, Nodame. Ooooh, Hermes...

Man, what a pathetic life my world is turning into. As Tora-san would say: "It can be tough being a guy." 男はつらいよ！--some of you will know exactly what I'm talking about. Maybe I should write a story or novel. I might as well make something out of this anguish.

Anyway, I think I need to start writing again. It is definitely good for the soul. And I must admit that I am completely and totally flattered by you, my readers, who continue to be subscribed to me during there meager months of not blogging.

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you and yours the best this holiday season.

There is a God!

Ever get the feeling that you're over extending yourself?

*sigh*

I think I need to sit down and straighten out my priorities.

It is your right an obligation to vote, so please do so! Here's an old comic from a couple of years ago...

Smokeless

hen we got remarried back in 2000, M and I were already well into our 40s. In fact, we were both 44 at the time. Now, the Japanese have a relatively long life expectancy; indeed, it is the one of the longest in the world, where men live into the upper 70s and women into their mid-80s.

This is fine for M, but not so relevant for me. I am Japanese heritage, but culturally--diet, health habits--I am strictly American. Hamburgers and potato chips, steak and french fries are foods I can hardly live without. So my life expectancy is likely lower than the average Japanese male. I am hoping, however, that genetics will play a role in my longevity. My father and his siblings all lived long healthy lives. My uncle Frank lived to be 101, my aunt Ichi reached 88 (I think) a full 20 years after she was diagnosed with stomach cancer. My father lived until he was 92. My grandmother on my mothers side also lived into her 90s. My mother, an atom bomb victim, not only survived the blast, she survived two heart bypass surgeries, but finally succumbed non-Hodgkins lymphoma, a disease that may be connected with a-bomb survivors.

Unfortunately, both M and I were smokers. M smoked since her early 20s. I was much worse. I started at 14, stealing Kents from my mother and smoking behind the garage. By the time I was 18, I was a two-packs-a-day Marlboro Red smoker. When K, my daughter, was born in 1987, I cut back significantly to half a pack or less, but just couldn't kick the habit. So the effects of my years of smoking will undoubtedly influence my life expectancy.

But when M and I decided to get married late in our lives, we wanted to live together as long as we could. "It's never too late" sounds cliche and in fact it probably is, but we decided to quit the one thing we could control--smoking. We have been married since June of 2000 and neither of us have smoked since--well, I think I cheated once when I was drunk one night at a bar... which leads me to the next topic in the "Getting to Know Someone" survey.

Getting To Know Someone From A to Z

D - Drink or smoke: Yes, I drink, but only on the weekends, usually Friday, and occasionally Saturday, and often to excess, meaning 5-6 points of beer. No, I don't have the stamina I once had and find that I get drunk much easier than I used to. But it's okay. At least I no longer smoke.

Poetry is My Gig

oday I spoke on Japanese poetry and it made me realize how much I love talking about poetry and how it reflects who we are as humans. I truly believe that we interpret everything in our lives--consciously or not--by associating them with our past experiences. Some may be relevant, some may not, but experience influences how we interpret any given situation we confront. And since we all have different experiences, no two people interpret the same situation in exactly the same way--although they may be similar.

There are those who would argue vehemently against me, and I welcome their input. It would be stupid of me to think I know everything, although there are some I have met--both liberals and conservative--who think they have all the answers. Well, bully for them. I always admire a person who is confident to the max. I just make sure I stay out of their way, and hope they never get elected to office. *ahem*

In any event, poetry requires the reader to respond to the sparse words on a page. The more experience you have--whether you are well-read or simply worldly--allows you to read more into a poem, to get more out of it, to enjoy its many nuances. And this is a direct reflection of the human condition. Every time we are confronted with a situation--a red light, a large credit card balance, or a hot date--we are required to respond and the more experience we have, the better we will respond to the situation--stopping, using either a heavy duty shredder or antiperspirant. Not that I'm trying to justify my profession or the field of literature.

But this is what I do--profess the beauty and relevance of poetry. And I love doing it.

Getting To Know Someone From A to Z

C - Career: Education; specifically, I am a college professor teaching Japanese language and literature. My field of expertise is premodern court poetry, focusing on the intertextual nature of poems of the late-Heian early Kamakura period.

P.S.

The song I have playing is 48 kbps--I don't want anyone to get hung up loading my page. My own copy is 128 kbps, so if you like it enough to want it, please leave me a message and I will be more than happy to share...