- I won`t lie to you -- I`ve been in a pretty low place for the past couple of weeks. One of the main reasons is that my heart was recently stomped on by a girl in Osaka. We`d only been together for a very short time, but I thought it was the start of something wonderful ... turns out it wasn`t. Another big reason is I can`t find a f#$%ing job to save my life, though that`s probably because I`ve been very picky, specifically looking for jobs outside of Tokyo (where there are a billion work opportunities). Actually I thought I`d be able to find translating work in Osaka (I was successful with this as I was with the girl), so I put in my 2 months` (!) notice for my Tokyo apartment at the end of August. Result: No girl, no work, and pretty soon, no home. If I find this to be a recurring theme in my life, does that make me a born loser? I`m about to resort to drastic measures. No, not teaching English .. not that drastic.
- There`s some new Evangelion movie playing over here, which I`m pretty sure is just Death & Rebirth over again with some added scenes (probably of Shinji whining, Rei trying on schoolgirl uniforms and Gendou riding around in elevators), but as part of its commencement or whatever, there`s an entire section of the Ikebukuro Tokyu Hands store devoted to crazy Evangelion merchandise. T-Shirts, keychains, mousepads, Zippos, figures ranging from a few inches tall to practically life-size, police tape that says Nerv on it, and beverages (just the other day I drank a can of tasty LCL). You want anything? An Ezekiel paperweight, perhaps? A mass-produced Eva with its arms cut off, half its head missing and its brain sticking out? Give me a holler, I`ll try to hook you up.
- I was lamenting the fact that approximately 10,000 albums I want, no, NEED to have all came out within the last week or so, by bands including but not limited to: Between the Buried and Me, The Black Dahlia Murder, High On Fire, The Baroness, Manu Chao (??), Ministry, and to a lesser extent, Arch Enemy and KMFDM. I say "lamenting" because I had no money to spend on CDs at the time, and couldn`t bring myself to just download them like everyone else does. Perhaps as a reward for my anti-music piracy stance, yesterday I randomly found an envelope on the ground with $200 in it, so I`m treating myself to the first 4 on the list ... maybe 5. Good thing I have my priorities in order.
- Also, it looks like I`m going to the Tokyo Game Show on Friday ... free pass and all. Not ticket, mind you -- pass. Suck it, Otaku! I`ve got connections! EDIT: Apparently tickets are only like $10 anyway. Oh well, I still feel cool.
2007年9月20日木曜日
Zankoku na tenshi no you ni
A few notes:
2007年9月9日日曜日
Worst blog ever
This blog is terrible. Terrible! I miss my old blue one from when I lived in KY, and the sort of grey one from when I first moved to Japan, all of which has been deleted. I guess I blog better while sitting at a desk trying to avoid doing work .. and I haven`t done that for more than a year now. Wooo!
But alack! I may have to start again. Working, that is. Unfortunately I`m having a hard time finding legitimate employment in Osaka .. I may have to alter my plan and move to Nagoya instead. Whatever. I have to do something -- I put in 2 months` notice on my apartment in Tokyo the other week. The clock is a-ticking!
See, even when I actually do type in this blog it`s not interesting anymore. I feel like all I have is, "I`m going to Osaka, I`m back in Tokyo, I need to move, waaaahh there`s all this drama .." blah blah blah. Nothing clever to say whatsoever. Oh, but plenty to complain about! That`s always fun. For example:
I always go back and forth from Tokyo to Osaka via overnight bus. 9 hour trip, 4000 yen. 9 hours seems like a pretty long time but the seats are pretty comfortable, it`s dark and quiet, and you can pretty much pass out the whole time. Unless! The seats are full. Then you have the option of paying just 2000 yen for your ticket and getting an "aisle seat" -- this retarded little seat that folds out from the side of a normal seat and juts out into the aisle, so you`re essentially sitting right in the middle of the bus. It`s really more of a stool than a seat, actually. There`s no back so you can`t lean back or anything. Plus everytime the bus stops for a break (every 2 hours or so), you have to get out of your seat and fold it back up so people can get through, to get off the bus and buy a drink or smoke or whatever. You`re really getting what you pay for with the aisle seat.
Since I always buy my ticket at the last minute, the regular seats are usually sold out, and I`m left with no choice but to buy an aisle seat ticket. This momentarily makes me happy because it`s half the price .. then I remember that I`m not getting aaaany sleep on this trip. However! Lots of times people don`t show up for the bus, leaving their (normal) seat open. I take! Half price and a normal seat. Take that, system.
Until the last time ... me and this other dude are waiting for all the regular passengers to board, so we can fold out and take our gimpy seats afterward. Then, just before getting on, the driver comes out and tells us, in beautifully polite dialect of course, "There are some empty seats because people haven`t shown up .. but you`re not allowed to sit in them."
"Come again?" I say.
"Since the ticket price is different, you have to take the aisle seat. It`s what you paid for."
You`ve got. to. be. kidding me. I argue with the guy for something like 5 minutes, and he pretty much agrees with me that it makes no sense whatsoever, but he says "it`s the rule." Somehow my "but I`ve done it like 50 times already" argument doesn`t sway him.
Anyway, after delaying the departure with my wise-ass gaijin attitude, I get on the bus, pull out the stupid seat right next to an empty actual seat, wait for the driver to close the curtain (there`s a curtain which separates the driver from the passengers` section, to preserve the darkness I guess), and promptly move over into the good seat and take a nap. Oooooh I`m such a badass.
First stop: I get out and buy a drink and some doughnuts or something. Getting back on the bus, the driver stops me and says, obviously pissed: "Sit in your own seat. I told you not to sit in the empty seats." I look at him questioningly, and then he hits me with it: "One of the other passengers told me you moved."
F#$%ing hell. Who the crap does that?
More arguing. The driver suggests that I pay 2000 extra yen so I can move over into the comfy seat. I`m not hearing it. Someone already paid for that seat, and they`re not f#$%ing here.
I forget how this story ends but it wasn`t as dramatic as it could`ve been -- I could`ve figured out who told on me and beat the snot out of them, I could`ve continued to sit in the normal seat every time until the driver called the cops or something on me, which I honestly felt like he was ready to do, I could`ve taken a stand and refused to get back on the bus, and gotten ditched at a rest stop halfway between Tokyo and Osaka. But I don`t need that kind of excitement right now.
Seriously, though, wtf??
But alack! I may have to start again. Working, that is. Unfortunately I`m having a hard time finding legitimate employment in Osaka .. I may have to alter my plan and move to Nagoya instead. Whatever. I have to do something -- I put in 2 months` notice on my apartment in Tokyo the other week. The clock is a-ticking!
See, even when I actually do type in this blog it`s not interesting anymore. I feel like all I have is, "I`m going to Osaka, I`m back in Tokyo, I need to move, waaaahh there`s all this drama .." blah blah blah. Nothing clever to say whatsoever. Oh, but plenty to complain about! That`s always fun. For example:
I always go back and forth from Tokyo to Osaka via overnight bus. 9 hour trip, 4000 yen. 9 hours seems like a pretty long time but the seats are pretty comfortable, it`s dark and quiet, and you can pretty much pass out the whole time. Unless! The seats are full. Then you have the option of paying just 2000 yen for your ticket and getting an "aisle seat" -- this retarded little seat that folds out from the side of a normal seat and juts out into the aisle, so you`re essentially sitting right in the middle of the bus. It`s really more of a stool than a seat, actually. There`s no back so you can`t lean back or anything. Plus everytime the bus stops for a break (every 2 hours or so), you have to get out of your seat and fold it back up so people can get through, to get off the bus and buy a drink or smoke or whatever. You`re really getting what you pay for with the aisle seat.
Since I always buy my ticket at the last minute, the regular seats are usually sold out, and I`m left with no choice but to buy an aisle seat ticket. This momentarily makes me happy because it`s half the price .. then I remember that I`m not getting aaaany sleep on this trip. However! Lots of times people don`t show up for the bus, leaving their (normal) seat open. I take! Half price and a normal seat. Take that, system.
Until the last time ... me and this other dude are waiting for all the regular passengers to board, so we can fold out and take our gimpy seats afterward. Then, just before getting on, the driver comes out and tells us, in beautifully polite dialect of course, "There are some empty seats because people haven`t shown up .. but you`re not allowed to sit in them."
"Come again?" I say.
"Since the ticket price is different, you have to take the aisle seat. It`s what you paid for."
You`ve got. to. be. kidding me. I argue with the guy for something like 5 minutes, and he pretty much agrees with me that it makes no sense whatsoever, but he says "it`s the rule." Somehow my "but I`ve done it like 50 times already" argument doesn`t sway him.
Anyway, after delaying the departure with my wise-ass gaijin attitude, I get on the bus, pull out the stupid seat right next to an empty actual seat, wait for the driver to close the curtain (there`s a curtain which separates the driver from the passengers` section, to preserve the darkness I guess), and promptly move over into the good seat and take a nap. Oooooh I`m such a badass.
First stop: I get out and buy a drink and some doughnuts or something. Getting back on the bus, the driver stops me and says, obviously pissed: "Sit in your own seat. I told you not to sit in the empty seats." I look at him questioningly, and then he hits me with it: "One of the other passengers told me you moved."
F#$%ing hell. Who the crap does that?
More arguing. The driver suggests that I pay 2000 extra yen so I can move over into the comfy seat. I`m not hearing it. Someone already paid for that seat, and they`re not f#$%ing here.
I forget how this story ends but it wasn`t as dramatic as it could`ve been -- I could`ve figured out who told on me and beat the snot out of them, I could`ve continued to sit in the normal seat every time until the driver called the cops or something on me, which I honestly felt like he was ready to do, I could`ve taken a stand and refused to get back on the bus, and gotten ditched at a rest stop halfway between Tokyo and Osaka. But I don`t need that kind of excitement right now.
Seriously, though, wtf??
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