Something like that. Life's been quiet - I feel a little out of the teaching vibe, which needs to be quickly and quietly reversed. I might not be as hopelessly quagmired as I thought I might be about that funny thing called a future, though, so that's always a bonus!
...I really, really should take down my Christmas tree. ^^
But since it's never too early to get a start on the holidays (shh - the hyaku-en store around the corner is just filled with confection... boxes. That's right, people make chocolates and sweet things over here - in great quantities, if the supply at my small store is anything to go by. And in what's got to be a marketer's dream, Japan has two Valentine's Days - V-Day's for the girls to give chocolates to the guys, and White Day for the reverse.
Of course it's not that simple - sure, you can give chocolates to the one you're sweet on, but there's what's called "Giri-Choco," or obligation chocolate (it sounds so much nicer when you don't know what it means, hm?) that you give to people like coworkers on VDay. In return, on White Day, while it started off just being white chocolate, horizons have been expanded. Chocolate of all colours is cool, as are more expensive indulgences - candies, stuffed bears (and probably Stitches, oh hells) and jewelry and whatnot. And if you thought the girls had it bad, the guys have (at least in theory) "sanbai-gaeshi" - the tradition of purchasing a return gift three times the value of the one that they received.
Grin, much? ^_~
In fact-checking on Wikipedia (haha), I came across White Day's evil twin - Black Day. It's a South Korean holiday where locals eat noodles with black bean sauce and "commisserate their singledom." Forgive the Keanuism, but, dude. My heart being ridiculously on my sleeve aside, and love being a manysplendored thing that is really all we need and awesome for the writing (but hard on the knees and I should really stop murdering song lyrics now)...really? ^^
Switching amusements - even though some of you have yet to get your Christmas packages from me (oops) - send me a Valentine?
Get your own valentinr
In case online declarations of amusement/affection aren't your thing, I also have something a little more traditional - a poem that I just found and fell for.
Marginalia - Billy Collins
(Sometimes the notes are ferocious,
skirmishes against the author
raging along the borders of every page
in tiny black script.
If I could just get my hands on you,
Kierkegaard, or Conor Cruise O'Brien,
they seem to say,
I would bolt the door and beat some logic into your head....)
...oh, so true, although for Derrida and Socrates in my case.
And for ear-candy this time around?
Jonathon Fisk - Spoon
(has been stuck in my head all week. Tongue-in-cheek indie rock with hooky guitars.)
Take Me To The Riot - Stars
(weird video; ignore the first minute? I'm not sure what's with Torq and Amy actually playing off each other (this is strange but cool.) Stars are... Stars - Montreal indie-dream-rock with just a tiny bit of edge. My Uni band. ♥ There's less winter in this album than I'd like but it still wakes me up every morning.)
After Dark - Asian Kung-Fu Generation
(I admit it, I like this song. And the video is awesome. Business suits? Check. Awkward elevator/office scenes? Check. Drunken enkai moment? Check. Random people in costumes? Check. Enactment of the hero myth? Check-check. Cell phone cameras in time of impending tragedy? You bet. Also the lead singer looks like one of my students aged a few years.)
...take care and stay warm, everyone. ^^
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