a history of me

We left at dawn for a trip to Cooperstown and the Baseball Hall of Fame. The trip wasn't my idea, I had heard about it from Kazu. He and a few friends were going to spend an outrageous amount of money on tickets for an overnight bus ride. For those who don't know, Cooperstown and Albany are about seventy miles apart. I was not going to let my new "international" friends get hosed. I volunteered to drive, much to everyone's delight.

One of the conditions was that they invite another friend who loves baseball, イチロー in particular. Her name is Sachiko, just like another girl here, so she is better known by her nickname, "Chappi." I think it's some kind of fusion of "happy child," the loose translation of "Sachiko," not that an English nickname has to make sense when interpreted by a non-English native. Irregardless, I think Chappi is cute so I encouraged them to invite her to fill the last spot in my car.

I know what you're thinking. "If you made it a point to have this girl come along, did you talk to her or anything?" Barely. I'm already fairly nervous about talking to girls I have an interest in, and the 4-1 Japanese-American ratio in the car didn't help. I'm not blaming the language barrier though because she does speak English just fine. The fault was mine for not taking advantage of the situation. However, what's done is done, and I'll have other opportunities to interact with her and get un-nervous.

Back to the trip: The route was very simple. We stopped for breakfast in a small deli along Route 20. It had been months since I had a deli-made breakfast sandwich, a taste I sorely missed. It wasn't that good but it was much better than the eggs back at the dining hall, that's for sure.

The trip only took about two hours, even with the breakfast stop. Cooperstown was just as I remembered it, although the Hall of Fame is undergoing major renovations. Some exhibits were closed, so the admission was slightly reduced. We still saw a variety of interesting objects, including much イチロー memorabilia from his record-breaking season. Many, many pictures were taken. Check this page for some digital photos from my international friends.

Lunch was eaten in an odd basement diner. The prices were a little high but we lucked out and they didn't charge us for one of the sandwiches. We did quite a bit of window shopping. There was a disturbing amount of Red Sox merchandise for sale, fulfilling my prophecy from last month. Don't worry, I won't say "I told you so."


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pictures added on November 13th, 2004



Today we had an honest snowfall. There was no accumulation on the streets, but grass and artificial surfaces got a nice coat. My blister fell off this morning so I was ready to play basketball again. We had substantially fewer people so we were able to play half-court instead of full-court. A good workout was had none the less.

Later I attended an "information meeting" regarding the JET Programme. If you don't know, that's the Japanese government-sponsored program where foreigners like me are brought to Japan to teach English. I fully intend to participate after I graduate in 2007. The meeting was really weird, as the speaker was a former participant rather than an official from the program. He clearly wasn't prepared, and he seemed quite melancholy. Some of students confronted him on his lack of preparation, asking questions he wasn't prepared to answer and noting when his meandering contradicted earlier remarks. I guess it was a moot point, since I knew I wanted to go and I'll probably be at another one of these meetings in my senior year.

Dinner was oddly tasty. I never considered fried mozzarella an entree before.

Tonight's Anime Gamers Alliance meeting was special. I hadn't attended in a few weeks because of other activities, and Mikhail asked me to bring my copy of Perfect Blue to screen for the club. A few people left during the show, for whatever reason, but those who stayed told me they liked the movie.

Busy day tomorrow. I'm quite the schemer.



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Boy, do I need a hot digital camera. I've got loads of photos trapped on my primitive, film-capture camera, while these exchange students all have sweet digital jobs. So now you can see a few photos from last Friday's revelry. Naturally, I am disgusted by my appearance in the photographs, but others insist that I take great photos. So I cannot, in good faith, edit myself out.

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Play the victory sound! [click here to hear the victory sound] I solved many problems today. Rather than call Financial Aid or Student Accounts I went down there in person (limping for sympathy) to remove the "hold" from my academic record so I could register for classes. The problem, as it were, was partially my own doing, as I had not "officially" accepted the loans the school was giving me to attend school. Once I did so, I was able to register for classes, which I did. Here's the Spring 2005 lineup:

EAJ 102 Elementary Japanese (time to get back into shape)
EAJ 389 Japanese Drama (Major course)
EAS 389 Readings in Japanese Religious Studies (Major course)
PHI 112 Critical Thinking (a.k.a. Logic)
THR 240 Acting I (yeah, I said Acting)

Unfortunately, I have no "quarter" courses, so it's going to be five courses, five days a week, January through May. Quite a different experience from this semester. Well, it wasn't for lack of trying, but there were no interesting/relevant quarter courses available. In fact, there weren't any courses that applied to my minor, Film Studies, which is why I'm taking those last two courses on the list.

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...may be better than the devil you don't know, as the saying goes. That's what I'm pondering after John Ashcroft's resignation was announced yesterday. Sure, he's a monster, but who's next? At least Ashcroft went to the trouble to assume human form. The next Attorney General might be a fucking Jabberwocky.

Before I try to forget the painful details of John Ashcroft's tenure, I have to point out the absurdities contained in his letter of resignation. He is proud that Americans have been "spared the violence and savaging of terrorist attack on our soil since September 11, 2001," and congratulates George W. Bush for restoring "corporate integrity." I am dumbfounded by his logic; despite the fact that the worst terrorist attack ever perpetrated against the United States as well as multiple, high-profile cases of wanton corporate fraud occurred on his watch, he considers it an "achievement" that they haven't happened again. This is some psychotic Orwellian reasoning here.

As a happy afterthought, I must wish my sister Salena a Happy Birthday, which was yesterday. I simply didn't post anything or I would have mentioned it on the appropriate date. I e-mailed her, so don't think I forgot. I'd say how old she is, but girls don't like that sort of thing. Let's just say she's old enough to have seen E.T. in theaters...the first time.

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I couldn't register this morning because of a financial aid conflict. Of course, I can't clear it up until I "electronically sign" something on a government website. Of course, this cannot be done today, only after an elaborate identity process is completed. I love the technological advances in education but not in administration. This kind of bullshit should be able to be resolved in ten minutes in person. Electronically, I have to jump through virtual hoops just to prove who I am.

As a kicker, my blister turned an ugly color today, so I strolled over to the Health Center to have a professional check it out. They had no "appointments" available until tomorrow, but I was still allowed to see a doctor as an "urgent care," first-come, first-serve patient. The wait was very short and they were quite helpful. They gave me some antibiotics and advised me to soak my foot twice a day in warm water.

The walk from the Health Center to the bus stop was brutal, but by the time I got home I was all set to treat this embarrassment on the bottom of my foot. Thankfully I don't have any school work to interfere with this crap.


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Got nothing to do, so I'm doing nothing.

They say it might snow here tomorrow. Some people seem nervous or upset, and I don't understand why. My car is quietly parked in the lot and I may not move it until March. I'm looking forward to seeing snow without having to worry about cleaning it up for a change. It'll be just like elementary school again!

Tomorrow I can finally register for next semester. I don't know how they arranged the order of registration but somehow I ended up getting shafted. I'm a sophomore, sure, but my name comes pretty early in the alphabet regardless of which name you take. Hell, my middle initial is A! Kazu's from another country and he registered last week! What gives?


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