In Search of Futon

Yesterday was the final burst of activity that moved us and accompanying stuff to the big, bad, castle city. In the middle of an incoming typhoon. It veered off, and so we just had wind and a little spitting, sideways rain. But it was exhilarating. In the afternoon I journeyed to a store that a northerly-dwelling fellow orientationeer recommended--Nafuco. O! Beauty of Do It Yourself! O! Warehouse of Wonder! Why looking at various forms of shelving or curtains should make me giddy, I don't know, but we lost a good half of our stuff to moving, because it belonged to the prefecture, not to us. But I was in search of... FUTON! We have decided not to bother buying a bed, because it is big and clunky, and a decent one would be expensive. But -proper- futon, those are a delight. And I think, after three years here, that I did pretty darn well, even got the little mat things to go underneath!! (Although I was comparing prices for a good long while, so long in fact that I noticed the same security guard pass me by no fewer than four times... Discrimination? Maybe. But I think by the time I wheeled my towering doublewide shopping cart to the checkout, that did away with any possible suspicion. To repeat the current Shiga anti-shoplifting campaign slogan: STOP THE MANBIKI!) No more rental futon for us! We are OWNERS now. Much to the puzzlement of the staff, I requested delivery. I don't think anyone much walks to this place. The guy I initially asked looked at me curiously, and asked WHERE I wanted it delivered, because they only delivered inside the city. I should have said Zimbabwe.

Vive l'amour, vive la compagnie!! OR お疲れサマー

Let every good fellow, now join in our song,
Vive la compagnie!
Success to each other, and pass it along,
Vive la compagnie!


Chorus
Vive la, vive la, Vive l'amour.
Vive la, vive la, Vive l'amour.
Vive l'amour, vive l'amour,
Vive la compagnie!!


A friend on your left, and a friend on your right,
Vive la compagnie!
In love and good fellowship, let us unite,
Vive la compagnie!


Repeat chorus

Now wider and wider, our circle expands,
Vive la compagnie!
We'll sing to our comrades, in far away lands
Vive la compagnie!

Repeat chorus


With friends all around us, we'll sing out our song
Vive la compagnie!
We'll banish our troubles, it won't take us long
Vive la compagnie!

Repeat chorus

Should time or occassion, compel us to part
Vive la compagnie!
These days shall forever, enliven our heart
Vive la compagnie!

Music is a curious thing. It comes to me and brings the strangest insights in the midst of chaos.

The first time I sang this it was with full exhilaration, and we were teenagers who had never tasted the bitterness of death, or the sorrow of farewell. And now, we hurtle through these lyrics like they are our life story: exhaustion and sorrow and summer and mad, mad celebration all mingling to make their mark like some epicurean tattoo, searing quiet the words "the last time" and imprinting our memories indelibly. VIVE LA COMPAGNIE!!!!

微妙な～。。。

The Conquering of the Inner Keep

The rain had stood in the way of the advances of the leader they called simply, "The Fury of the Hills of Old Castle, next to the Western Friend, of the Palace of the South Sea." The day dawned clear, with none of the threatening rain that had made everything linger in seemingly permanent dampness in its wake.

Screaming their war songs, the force descended upon the closed places that had defied them. Dust flew! Blood spilled! The entrails of the inner keep EXPLODED out in an EXPLOSION of EXPLODING EXPLOSIVES!! The leader laughed a mighty laugh, sweat and the blue of the face paint mingling together, the adhesives of booty affixed to the person. The kilt, another spoil of the war, adorned the leader's mighty frame! Lifting the mighty claymore, uttering a bloodcurdling howl of defiance, the leader challenged the inner keep! AND IT ANSWERED!!

Battle was met with the second dweller of the keep, the whoosh of one! two! three!The deadly dance was enjoined. But hark! The claymore's deadly path was diverted, and it shattered in TWAIN! Laughing, then, for they knew one another to be allies after all, the combatants joined forces, and the inner keep quailed, and fell.

Thoughts

Our life is boxes.
Our life is goodbye parties, even though we aren't leaving.
Our life is communicational disaster, work inflicted mania.
Yet.
In the midst of this hurricane, there is the surprising, humbling touch of God, there is the stunning revelation of conversation, there is a faint moment of depth of thought, or the lightning that makes us small again under the vast dark sky, the communality across distance, the matchstrike of inspiration, the yearning and motivation towards everything that is lost and that may yet be.
Is all change as funny as this?

Thoughts

This past week has been a bit insane for the both of us. We've got everything sorted for moving into the new apartment now, by which I mean, we will have our ADSL connection ready for us as soon as we move in. I was hoping to get work done for the classes I'm attending by bringing the computer in to school so I could read during my down time between the classes I'm teaching. That was a bust. Wednesday through Friday I was teaching all day at two different elementary schools. Usually, I teach at the Jr. High, but there is an unwritten agreement that the English teacher gets lent to the elementary schools once a month. This week was that once a month, but ended up being three times this month. To be honest, I really enjoyed myself. As I was telling my wife, this job has been the best thing to happen to me, in terms of martial arts prowess. I basically have 8 hours a day of low-level practice. At the Jr. High it's stopping fights, but at the elementary school its giving a kid a piggy-back ride while racing another kid in a 100 meter dash. It isn't the most conducive environment for getting much else done, and I can't say the lack of AC is the best in 90% humidity, but I had a lot of fun. I'm going to miss this job when I leave in August.

The folks over at IlliGAL have just gotten back from GECCO. Looking through the TOC from the proceedings is making me add another book to the wish list, as well as causing me to bemoan, at least to a small extent, how busy I am. I've had a project on the back burner for some time: A genetic algorithm for fast point-based character generation for the Shadowrun RPG. I know, I know, it is really nerdy, but still, it sounds interesting to me. Unfortunately, I haven't had the time for side projects recently.

Okay, I've spent enough time avoiding work that I desperately need to get done, back to the grind, but first a picture of our "Jumps" before recycle day.
Peace.