I really should get around to moving these pictures to a more permanent location (and out of the way of my all-too-important ramblings). But all the same, here's the next batch of what I do when I'm left alone to my own devices to sketch pictures!
Tired.. blah. Need to do some laundry, head out, and meet up with a new student of mine who called me mysteriously and wants me to come meet him this evening at his house. With any luck, he's not a serial killer! I've seen way too many movies where the character is alone, no one knows where they are, and they go to meet up under vague circumstances.. and at a doctor's house no less.
Oh, and I need to buy socks. Could my life get any more exciting? Really, don't be jealous.
Time to shower and get this show on the road!
Jason on 12.29.10 @ 11:56 AM JST [link] [comment]
Late night cafe ramblings
Current Sounds: Copperia no hitsugi
From being on vacation, we've learned a very important lesson: Jason should never be left in charge of ensuring the continued survival of Jason.
It's not that I'm disinterested or have an actual go to not continue with Jason's survival. It's simply that I have a poor interpretation of 'care' and 'well-being' and have an extreme distaste for doing things that I feel are a waste of time. Which would probably explain why I've been pulling all nighters and eating one meal a day. Need to stop doing that, I know, but the lack of a solid work schedule or, frankly, absolutely anything to do with my day kinda makes it all just blend together. Blah.
I have, however, gotten my research proposal written in Japanese and out for proofreading (should get that back on Thursday) and will be writing my "research history" (considering I have none, that should be pretty easy!) in Japanese maybe tomorrow. I also remembered to buy food at the store since all grocery stores are closed for about three days around the holidays (something I've forgotten over the past two years and never ends well). I got soup! And spaghetti! And Chinese foods! And of course 20+ pounds of rice (when you live in Japan, that's a necessity). Go me!
Right now I'm in a cafe and have a book on Japanese etymology in front of me. Should get started on that in a bit, read for a few hours, then figure out what I'm doing until sunrise. Dunno why, just kinda feel like staying up all night as of late. I guess it's been a long time since I've done that. Other than that, not a whole lot coming up. Gotta study, study, and study. Mail my entrance examination application next week, and that sort of stuff. Before you ask about my birthday, please don't. Nothing's happening, and I can only affect a cheery disposition about this fact for so long. My current choices are to either see if I can recover this and make some last minute plans with MCK if available, or see if I can top my record of the most ghetto birthday ever, as shown on YouTube last year with my birthday party of stuffed animals. Kinda tempted toward the latter. If your birthday's gonna be a train-wreck, you may as well make it a flashy train wreck, right?
Anyway, enough complaining. Need to read about the history of words and then read some traditional Japanese fairytales. If possible, I think I'll also try to compile a list of famous Japanese poets, in case it comes up on the test.
Don't have too much fun!
Jason on 12.29.10 @ 12:32 AM JST [link] [1 comment]
Here's my Christmas cake! Made it with MCK (there's a long story behind her that I won't get into, but we'll just say she used to be my student a year and a half ago), all by hand. It's a 3-layer cake with coffee-flavored whipped cream between layers and normal whipped cream used for the icing (all hand-whipped, by the way, which takes a really long time). The house on the top came out decently, though the coffee whipped cream wasn't whipped long enough so it wasn't stiff enough to come out like I hoped. Otherwise, I'm ridiculously proud of my very first diorama cake. Especially the trees (which are just biscuit-sticks stabbed into the cake with green-colored whipped cream and a star-shaped tip).
And to think that people made fun of me for spending all of my developmental years watching Martha Stewart. Ha! Admire my cake skillzzzz.
Anyway, I'm kinda in the middle of writing my research proposal for grad school, so I need to finish that up and translate it into Japanese. Need to stop procrastinating. Also have to buy a new hard drive for my backups, since my other drive just died tonight (lame!!!).
But before that, we've got another video tour or my apartment (Christmas edition!), and more pictures for my daily random sketching. Those are all under "more.." at the bottom of this entry.
Work, work, work.. blah. Good luck!
Jason on 12.27.10 @ 05:43 AM JST [more..] [2 comments]
My, Jason's feeling pretty fluffy and warm hearted, isn't he? Oh, WAIT! No! One of my students (Ami, 13 years old) wanted to play on the iPad instead of actually learning anything. Seeing as I was 40 minutes away from being on vacation, that sounded like a downright good idea to me!
What'd Jason come up with for his daily foray into picture-ing?
Apparently I wasn't feeling so chipper. But hey.. ignore that! It's CHRISTMAS.
Let me state that again just to make sure the full implication sinks in: IT'S CHRISTMAS. Dunno why, but I do rather like Christmas. A lot. So, we're gonna let that "Christmas" feeling kinda soak for awhile before I get around to actually having to study and work for the rest of my vacation. But hey: we got a day of cake-making, going out to lunch, and general merriment.
The only downside is the whole "when do I open presents" thing. I mean, when you live alone, you can technically do it at midnight. Or you could do the wake up at 6am, drink cocoa and tear open presents. But it all feels kinda weird when it's just me, myself, and I. Personally, I like to put it off as long as possible. As soon as the presents are opened, Christmas is done.
So anyway, I'm just rambling (it's late!). Enjoy the pictures, enjoy your Christmas and I will see you all later!
Oh yes, and next time I see you, I will have pictures of cake. My diorama cake. HAHAHA!
Jason on 12.25.10 @ 01:10 AM JST [link] [2 comments]
Can't sleep. Well, I can. Just can't find the will to get myself into bed. Dunno, just don't really want to for some reason or another. Anyway, drew this earlier today on my iPad in my free time. Gonna see if I can get around to sketching something once a day. Not that anyone really cares or needs to see what I randomly make with my finger-sketching in my free time, but I think it'd be nice to come back in a year and look at what kinds of things you're thinking about.
I have to say, you can do a lot with just touch support, your finger, and a $2 program. Lots of features.
Anyway, since 5 out of 8 of the staff members at my company are on vacation now, it's gonna be a busy day tomorrow (working from 11-9, teaching 7 classes.. 3 of which were thrown onto me). Not really keen on this, especially seeing as my boss charges my coworkers money for taking unauthorized holidays, and yet I'm not getting paid overtime for the insane schedule. Free money for my boss. But anyway, no need to be cynical.. I'm just tired.
Watch me on Youtube! You know you want to.
Jason on 12.24.10 @ 03:29 AM JST [link] [2 comments]
Wednesday, December 22nd
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
Current Sounds: Elf (on TV)
As for the above picture, I drew it on the iPad. Totally pointless and in no way can justify the expense, but I have to say that I'm totally enthralled with the idea of sketching useless things with my finger. And then I can e-mail such pictures to people from anywhere I am! Don't you just feel warm and Christmas-y now that you can see my beautiful artwork?
As I mentioned earlier, two weeks ago I did my Cookie Decorating Party Extravaganza!! Three of my coworkers came over, we made icing and then decorated cookies. I made 73 in total (I have a lot of students and was going to give them out to my students throughout the week) and had plain, chocolate, and vanilla. As for shapes, we had people, houses, stars, trees, wreaths, and circles. Remember, kids: if you're gonna do something, overdue it. Under no circumstances should you ever do it 'so-so'. That's just lame.
It's now December 22nd, and we've got 3 days till Christmas. What shall we do? It's gonna be a low-key Christmas, sadly, but that's what you get for living on the other side of the globe in a non-Christian country. But I will be meeting with my Japanese coworkers to have lunch together, and then a friend of mine is coming over to my apartment to make a Christmas cake (Christmas cakes are a popular tradition in Japan, and I've never had one, so might as well make one). But making just a cake is stupid (remember the overdue it idea?), so I'm going to make a CAKE DIORAMA featuring Santa Claus and Frosty. Never really made a cake diorama before, so I'm looking forward to it. I'll take pictures.
Anyway, there are more cookie pictures coming up under "more...". They're pretty awesome (trust me!), so be sure to check 'em out!
Jason on 12.22.10 @ 11:11 PM JST [more..]
More cable TV adventures!
Current Sounds: "A Christmas Story" (on TV)
Well hey, kids! Guess who's back on TV? As I mentioned, I'll be appearing just 'bout weekly on tv on the local station, so I've uploaded the next 3 videos (not sure if I'm technically supposed to have the next 3 weeks worth of videos and if I should be putting them on the internet, but hey, ignore that).
Yay! Of course, seeing as I'm devoid of any sense of shame, I'm gonna make these as public and open as humanly possible. Why? It's just cool (even if the lines and stories are.. lackluster at best, stupid at worst).
There are two more movies under "more..". Be sure to check 'em out!
Jason on 12.22.10 @ 11:07 PM JST [more..]
Sunday, December 19th
Got the best of me
So, was it a good idea? Probably not, but I decided to buy an iPad today. Considering I was above budget I figured it was a reasonable purchase, in addition to the fact that this will let me actually get out of my house over these next few months. I need to study online (wikipedia) and I'm getting really tired of sitting at home every night and reading for 3+ hours while sitting in front of the screen. Of course this probably means I'll be sitting in my new apartment in a few months, unable to pay bills but totally able to download youtube movies of cats, but hey.. That's life, right?
Gonna post pictures of last week's cookie party soon (later this week), but rest assured that it was good fun. Otherwise, I'm alive and well, just having some problems with my boss and stuff like that. Blaaaaah.
Anyway, at McDonalds now and posting from my iPad, so figured I'd say hey! Good luck, have a good weekend, and I'll write more later!
Jason on 12.19.10 @ 03:03 PM JST [link]
Thursday, December 9th
I made a new friend!
Been a tired Jason lately. Kinda sad that getting back home at 1am is not considered 'early'. Yay.. 1am! Finished translating all the past 5 entrance exams into English and now got a handle on what I don't know (quite a lot, actually, but surprisingly less than I anticipated). I have two months to prepare for the exam, and I think that may actually be more than I need. Not to say that I can slack off (and I won't), but nice to know that things are more manageable than I originally assumed.
Still, just.. tired. But even if I had a chance to do nothing, I'd still turn it down. I book most of my weekends and free time solid whenever possible. Don't like having nothing to do. Though so far it's looking like most of my winter break's ending up that way, so will probably devote that to more studying. Yay! Found a nice book on the etymology of words and have been reading it recently. I'm sure people with real hobbies might not be terribly interested, but for some reason I find the history of words, idioms, and language to be fascinating. There are some great, easy to pick up and read books on the subject that anyone could get into without needing a linguistics background, in case anyone's curious. Just let me know (though I don't respond all that often, I do read all my e-mail.. just dead tired and never home, so unless there's a direct question, I don't answer as promptly as I should).
I have made a new friend, though. Don't like him, find him annoying, and not really much of a talker, but he gets me through the long, lonely nights at the Doutor cafe.
I'll leave you two to talk while I get some sleep. Don't be shy..!
Anyway, off to sleep and then off to high school. This weekend, COOKIES. Yeeeess. I'll take pictures.
Jason on 12.09.10 @ 01:52 AM JST [link]
Wednesday, December 8th
I'm a (cable access) TV star!
Spent 4 hours in a cafe translating questions from a grad school entrance exam, prepping for this test. Assuming this is a sign of things to come, this is gonna rank up there with some of my less fun stretches of 2 months. So forgive me if I don't make a lot of sense right now.
But that's not what we're talking about. Oh no. Oh no no no!
We're here to talk about my television debut!! Sure, it's a 5 minute TV program, and sure I only rock out for a whole 2 minutes (well, more like one and it's repeated), but who cares? I don't imagine this will bring me fame or riches, in fact, I don't really think anything of it. But you can't deny that it's cool to tell people you've been on TV. The details don't matter. So for your viewing pleasure, you too can watch Jason talk about how beautiful the Christmas lights are.
Be amazed. Be very amazed.
So watch it once. Twice. Hey, 3 times just for kicks! In fact, I'll send you a DVD copy for your Christmas present. You can thank me later!
Anyway, off to bed. I'll write more later when I can make more sense of the English language. See ya!
Jason on 12.08.10 @ 02:26 AM JST [link]
Tuesday, December 7th
What have I done..?
Current Sounds: "A Christmas Carol" (2009)
Oh. My. God. Remember when I said I made copies of the past three years of grad school entrance exams? I just looked through them today, and have discovered that while I'm a little better off than I first imagined (I only have to write about two subjects out of Education, Linguistics, and Culture, not all three. Seeing as I know nothing of pedagogy, this is a godsend), I've also learned that the next 2 months are going to be somewhere between a living hell and hell on earth. An observant reader may note that these two things are exactly the same. Trust me; that's intentional.
Fortunately, I have a strong background in Japanese culture and history (it was my major after all), but some of the questions are so obscure that Japanese people have never heard of them. I also have a good backing of linguistics (had linguist friends and took enough classes for a minor in university, but never pursued it), so that I'm at least somewhat okay for. But, there's the added bonus that in the last 3 years worth of exams (2 exams a year), I've never seen any questions repeated. So.. what do I study? If I study what's presented, I already know that it won't be on the test. But therein lies the problem.
As I discussed with BFF Midori today, by going through the questions of yesteryear, I can identify what I don't know (and remedy that). That's no problem. I've got 2 months, no hobbies, time to kill, and an unreasonable determination to do my best. Good, good. Knowing what you don't know is half the battle. But the problem is, I don't know what I don't know. By its very nature, that is the most dangerous and most pressing issue. This is also why 16 year olds annoy everyone (and I realize I was much the same way--probably still am): they are blissfully unaware of how much they don't know (which is pretty much everything). But I digress.
I'm guessing the best strategy is to study what I know that I don't know, and pray that by sheer osmosis I'll pick up other stuff along the way. I have 50 topics to research, times 3. So that's 150 things (at least) that I need to learn and read up on. I imagine there will be recurring topics in all of those, which should somewhat alleviate this unknown unknowns problem. Maybe.
So! Need to buy some books on linguistics in Japanese (so I can learn the technical vocabulary that I only know the English terms for), and start spending hours everyday on the Japanese wikipedia. Not the best of resources, but I've got less than 2 months to learn an BA degree worth of linguistics in Japanese. We'll learn to make do.
Also thinking of getting an iPad. Though I'm opposed to spending money now (every $1 I spend now is food I don't have later as a starving college student) and I need to sign on for a 2 year contract, the iPad is free with contract right now, and it'd help for my studying for the next two months. I need to get out of my house to study, but I also need internet access. Right now, these things are mutually exclusive.
Anyway, that's just what's going on today. In other (good?) news, I'll be on TV for the first time tomorrow. Will be appearing in a weekly English program for the next 6 months. It's stupid, short, and made for kids, but I'll do my best to get a copy of it and put it on YouTube.
All right.. need to exercise and get some rest. Enjoy!
Jason on 12.07.10 @ 12:47 AM JST [link]
Monday, December 6th
One test down!
Current Sounds: 'Twas the Night Before Christmas (animated movie)
Gaaah.. tiiiiiiiiiiired. Been a long day. Went to bed late, woke up early, rode a train for 3 hours (studying vocabulary all the way!), made copies of past graduate school entrance exams, then took a Japanese test. Left my house at 7:20am, got back to my house (to head out to dinner) at 6:50pm. After heading out to a book store and a cafe to study, it's now 12:30am and I've still got to write my monthly reports for my company.
Naturally, I should be getting to that, but.. you know, it's not exactly exciting. There's also the extra fun part that my boss doesn't actually read my monthly reports. I just have to submit them (for mysterious reasons). Though knowing I can sleep when I'm finished is a definite draw!
Don't have too much to say, actually. Just wanted to mention my test is finished, and now I can work on preparing for university entrance exams. Woohoo! The only problem we're facing now is.. what do I do if I don't pass the test? I'm not being negative here, just realistic. There are so many points of failure that if everything doesn't go perfectly (language test, research proposal, entrance exam, interview), things may not work out. So do I kill time and wait for the next time around, or just move on and find a new job actually utilizing my language skills?
I just wish I had someone to talk this through with. In lieu of that, I ramble to myself late at night on my own website. Blah blah. Everyone else I talk to just says "YOU'LL DO GREAT!!!! YAY!!!! GO!!! IT'S NO PROBLEM AT ALL!!!!". Though I appreciate the support and enthusiasm, I don't want to talk about if things go right. I can do that by myself. I want to be constructive and talk about alternative plans.
But now I'm just complaining, aren't I?
Anyway, back to Christmas movies! And, supposedly, my stupid monthly reports. 7 days till cookie extravaganza!
Jason on 12.06.10 @ 12:45 AM JST [link]
Saturday, December 4th
Next week? Sounds good!
Current Sounds: The Santa Clause 2
Surprisingly, while November was a mad rush of activity week after week, December's seeming to come and go with a whimper. Sure, I've got a test tomorrow (get to make my monthly pilgrimage to Hiroshima!), and I've been continuing my marathon study sessions, but after that it's pretty much coasting on through till January with some minor activity here and there.
The test... should be okay. Am I gonna pass? Fail? Dunno, can't answer that. But I've made my peace with the results either way, so I don't really feel much anxiety about it (that's the benefit of taking tons of these tests: the nervousness goes away after awhile). I feel fairly good about it, though. If I don't pass, well, then there's nothing I could've done TO pass. 20+ hours a week devoted to textbooks is the best I could give.
After that, next week we've got Jason's Cookie Decorating Party Extravaganza!!!!! Don't be jealous. Got the cookie cutters earlier this week, got spatulas, got Christmas music, just need to bake cookies later on this week in preparation. I think 3-4 people are coming, so it should be interesting at the very least. I will be sure to take pictures of the aftermath (the event itself is ideal, but dunno how many people will approve of pictures).
And theeeeeeeeeen? Who knows! I don't know if I've mentioned this in my many essays about me, but I have a strong disinclination for making plans more than 2 weeks away. It's not that I'm impulsive.. far from it. I save money, pay off my debts, watch what I eat, worry about the future, etc. But when it comes to making plans, if it's more than 2 weeks away, I have no interest in it. It's simply too far away for me to care. Far future plans? Totally okay! Going to university, becoming a translator, finding a job. Sure, sure. I can grasp those. "Let's go to dinner!" ? Unless you want to go to dinner in the next 7-10 days, I'm not really sure about that. Why? "I might be dead by then." is my typical response.
It's not that I actually intend to be dead, or anticipate that I'll be dead in 10 days. It's simply that I don't feel I can predict where I'll be in 10 days and therefore I'd rather not make plans that may not happen. Only recently have I noticed that not everyone feels this way. This comes up because people keep asking me what I plan to do on Christmas, my birthday, and over my winter break (11 days). I have absolutely no plans, and it still feels way too early to make them. Seriously, that's over 3 weeks away. Crazy talk!
Trying to save money for next year, so I probably won't be traveling. Instead, it looks like I'll be continuing my tradition of spending New Year's with my coworker's wife. It's a Japanese tradition to go to a shrine in the new year to pray for good luck and all that stuff, and by some series of odd circumstances, I seem to spend every year going with my coworker's wife. Obviously it sounds scandalous when I put it this way, but the reality is that she worked at the same company and we worked together, so we're good friends. Also, her husband (my coworker) is going home to England, so she's in town. But I like the other way of saying it better. Sounds more fun!
Ah well.. gotta go prep for calligraphy later today, watch some Christmas movies, and eat lunch. Fun fun! Test tomorrow.. wish me luck. I also get to make copies of the previous grad school entrance exams so I can study this month. Win, lose, pass, fail.. regardless, it's gonna be an interesting ride.
" is my typical response.