log web page visits Blaaarrgh!: 01/01/2006 - 02/01/2006

木曜日, 1月 19, 2006

And I laugh quietly to myself...

The benefit of having lunch while class is going on is that I get to overhear things. Right now, I hear three children SCREAMING.

Someone did something bad. Someones. And it was stressed that they had to say "Sorry," before them were allowed back into class.

Cue crying. No, wait. Uuuuup! Uuuuup! SCREECH! HOWL! Tantrum!!! And in the middle, I still hear the teachers repeating vainly like broken records, "Say sorry! Sooo-rrryyy... Say sorry! Say it! And you can go back in!"

You gotta let kids cry. This is one thing I have learned. Tantrum zone = no man's land. Kids have entered a disparate universe, and cannot be brought back.

Someone in the howling screams, "SOOORRRRYYYYUUAAAAAHHHH!" and they are allowed back in. Gradually, the others also say sorry. But someone is still screaming-- hoarse, horrible wails that sound like an amped up version of the cat sex outside our windows at night. They are... beyond.

I am glad I am not in the classroom. ^_^

火曜日, 1月 10, 2006

A Return from Break

A new semester begins but not after much relaxing was had by all. Since both the Wife and I are involved with schools, we both were able to enjoy three weeks of composing ourselves. So, if we have been a bit remiss in updating our digital diary, it is because we have been lounging, or freezing, depends on who you ask; the lack of any sort of central heating makes life a bit cold in the winter. It does have its advantages, like creating a walk-in refrigerator out of the kitchen. We have also been able to get some reading done, which I have luxuriated in. As I keep telling Dan, I'm working on a review of Aaron Copland's, What to Listen For in Music, for the Society, a site which we have both been overly lax in updating. I was able to get through A Game of Thrones, By George R.R. Martin. I keep wanting to write the title as, A Game of Throwns, not because it was bad, just when I start spelling it out, throwns comes to me before thrones, and throwns isn't even a real word. I also finished Still Life with Woodpecker by Tom Robbins. That book was very enjoyable, that I will liken to playing pretend. It reminded me a lot of Breakfast of Champions, by Vonnegut. I've also taken to rereading my books by John Holland, I just finished Adaptation in Natural and Artificial Systems and I am moving on to Emergence. I've just about completed Alternatives to Economic Globalization, and I'm not entirely certain what I think about it. They do a good job pointing out flaws with the current economic system and what people are doing about it, but they only briefly touch on the problems that are facing some of the alternatives. Still, it has been an enlightening read.


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Originally uploaded by t_k3ttl3.


That's pretty much been my break, reading, playing around on the computer, and I even got some work done on my thesis, as well as finished my graduate school applications. Now the waiting game begins. We did get some traveling done as well. For the new year, we went to the 平等院, which was gorgeous. The name struck me as ironic. For our anniversary we went to a 旅館 in 木ノ本. It was a bit too snowy to hike around, but we enjoyed the lavish room and private onsen. The food was metcha delicious; duck sukiyaki for dinner and a traditional Japanese breakfast as well. I shall leave you with some pictures of our travels.


PICT0045.JPG
Originally uploaded by t_k3ttl3.