Work: Hahaha, "work." I`ve recently upgraded my response to the frequently-heard "so what do you do?" from "nothing!" to "this and that." The Cafe Absinthe job didn`t work out (hard to keep a job at a bar when you only know how to make approximately 3 drinks) so I bounced to a new place which opens at the end of this month and promises to be 7 shades of shady. Ahh, something new and different. While I wait for that place to open, I`ve always got a few translation jobs on the side (my going rate is 2000 yen per page, and that is f#$%ing cheap), a proofreading job that I have yet to receive any work for (maybe they didn`t really hire me and were just trying to be nice), a little once-per-week stint at a "conversation cafe" (nothing dodgy, just getting paid a lot to sit around a table and talk to a bunch of Japanese people in English .. oh what have I become), and of course the occasional audition, which I really shouldn`t keep going back to Tokyo for, since I never get anything ... actually I did land a part in a music video the other week, went and waited at the studio for about 7 hours for my turn, and was then asked to go home when they ran out of time and had to cut out most of the extras ... I still got paid for the job but was disappointed I didn`t get to do my thang.
Actually it`s amazing I`m able to land any jobs at all anymore, considering the recent collapse of the huge language-school NOVA which left something like 7,000 foreigners jobless and either on a plane-trip home or in the job market. Competition, nooooo! Actually, maybe I can use this to my advantage and start a "how to live in Japan with no job or money for extended periods of time" class ... hmmm.
House: Hahaha, "house." I`m back to Philly form, in that I went without a place of my own for too long and now that I have the means to get one, I can only think, "why bother?" Sure, it`s starting to get chilly out, which means I can`t sleep in the park, but when you`ve got a library, internet cafes (5 hours = 980 yen!) and random people`s houses (combined with a strong pity factor), 60000 yen a month for rent seems like a waste.
Other: If you haven`t downloaded Radiohead`s new album yet, I don`t have much to say to you. If you haven`t given the new Between The Buried And Me a listen, I have even less. I`ve given the new KMFDM a listen in the store, and am tempted to buy it, even though their last one left no taste in my mouth whatsoever. I suppose when you crank out an album every other month you`re bound to slip a flop in there somewhere. Also, the new Black Dahlia Murder (downloadable tracks on that site!) is at least as good as their last one, Miasma, which is to say that it is absolutely f#$%ing insane.
I got a collection of short stories by my favorite Japanese author, Haruki Murakami, and it has me wanting to write short stories of my own, though whenever I try to think of an idea for one, it`s always based on something that has actually happened to me, which is not entirely creative. Why can`t I make stuff up anymore? What do I mean, "anymore?" Could/did I ever?
As for the Christmas/NH thing, Yes.
Hidden Track: see if you can spot me in this gallery of photos from last week`s Halloween party!
