The older me is also a shittier poster. Four months! Thankfully, the two or three of you that harassed me about it are good harassers indeed. Where to start? There were school festivals. The first was in July. Each class had a theme and decorated their room accordingly (ie. Okinawa, Japan Soccer, Haunted House...I would've gone with Apocalypse, these days being what they are). Then they sold all kinds of things, mostly food. The students know I'm an easy mark, so I ended up buying something to the tune of seven parfaits, three beef donburi bowls, five syrup drinks (and not the cool Houston kind either), two yakisoba plates, and several tickets for numerous carnival games, none of which I won. It was the most fun I've had at school. The students were so happy and excited about the whole thing. Oh, and it was warm then, too. Now, the cold has returned, and the piles of snow are right around the corner. But I digress. After that festival, I went to Tokyo with some other Yamagata foreigners and saw the Indianapolis Colts play the Atlanta Falcons. We saw some Japanese kids with a sign that read, "Do It Ron Mexico," a reference to Michael Vick's alias when he allegedly transmits herpes. We thought it was funny, so we took a picture with them. Hmmm. Now I'm tired. Anyway, I'm fine. I'm enjoying work a lot these days. This could be because I have learned to harness my powers. It could also be in part because I also escaped to Kyoto twice in those last four months. Most beautiful women in the world, in Kyoto. Yep. I'll see if I can't update again in the next four months.

itunes shuffle!
Dexy's Midnight Runners-Ryan Adams-Grandaddy-Aphex Twin-Gravy Train!!!-Sufjan Stevens-Rammstein

27. Mid-twenties? Late twenties? Mid-to-late-twenties? Not that it matters much. I hardly consider myself a full grown kid yet. Working at a high school manages to remind you daily of your age, yet also makes you forget it. Or, rather, not worry about it...being surrounded by youth, death doesn't exist. It's the opposite of working in a nursing home or a funeral parlor. Anyway, my birthday is on Saturday and there's two major parties going on that have nothing to do with my occasion, so I have plenty of opportunity to get filthy drunk and do stupid shit in celebration.

Random thought of the day: How the O'Jays did both "Love Train" and "Backstabbers" and how those are on complete opposite sides of the love emotion spectrum, and how rad that is.

P.S. Send me presents.

El Torito Tastes Better Over Here

Wow. This blog has dramatically turned down the rock and turned up the suck to 11. And the comments have somehow become disabled. This is not my doing. Luckily for me, I decided long ago that loss was romantic and character-building, so this is a good thing. Speaking of losses, the girls made it to the final 8 at the prefectural tournament, where they got hammered by Yamagata Kita High School, 7-0. The opposing pitcher was throwing these ridiculous sliders that broke right before the plate. They were almost like cut fastballs. We don't have anyone who can throw that pitch; we live and die by the changeup. The girls didn't stand a chance. Fortunately, I had a train to catch, so I didn't have to witness the waterworks all the way back to Nagai again. Tokyo was rad, as usual. More on that later; I'm off to get me a Loco Moco (awesome rice/egg/hamburger bowl) at Hokka Hokka Tei.

Top 5 Albums To Listen To While Driving In The Okitama Region of Yamagata Prefecture
1) Arlo - Up High In The Night
2) Coachwhips - Bangers vs. Fuckers
3) Mobb Deep - The Infamous
4) Pixies - Bossanova
5) Digital Underground - Sex Packets

It's Like A Koala Bear Crapped A Rainbow In My Brain

I'm off to Tsuruoka for the prefectural softball tournament, then to Tokyo for a few days for a conference. I might actually update this thing again when I return. Things have been good. The new first-year students are real smart, so school has been easy. The third-year kids seem much more happy, now that I'm not teaching them. It's been nice and warm, which means it's beach time real soon. I envision purchasing a giant inflatable whale and floating and basking. Mayhaps with beautiful women who realize that the whale is not a metaphor, but a flotation device that is not to be feared.

Harukimashita

School is back to being all regular. Well, sort of...two of the English teachers transferred, and adjusting to the new ones has been an adventure. We're cool so far. They both like Britpop. But Oasis and Suede, not Blur and Muse. That was puzzling. I'm fairly certain that I'm the first Californian they've met. Lucky them! Spring has sprung, and the cherry blossoms are beginning to happen. In no time, everyone will engage in "hanami," which is basically picnicking near famous old cherry trees and getting drunk. The English Conversation club wants to partake in hanami, hopefully sans the aforementioned drinking. As the advisor, I need to make this happen, and soon. The blossoms only hang around for a couple of weeks. The incoming first-year students quadrupled the membership of the club, so it has been a nice change, coming up with activities for the group to do. Softball is also in full effect. The prefectural tournament is in June, and we've been stepping up practices to prepare for it. We've been playing scrimmages against some of our tougher opponents outside of the county. It's kind of hard to watch sometimes. Since we want an advantage come June, we aren't giving the other teams looks at Noriko, our ace. Better for us if they don't see the fastball with filthy movement and the kneebuckling changeup until they have to. However, this means we use other pitchers in the scrimmages. Harumi and Shino did fine, but Hitomi and Tsumugi got torched for five-plus runs each. Worrisome. Other concerns include Ikumi's release re: baserunners stealing and Chisa's fielding at third. Recently, she's had the range of a truffle. This issue would be more relevant to me if I was the infield coach, but I work with the outfielders, who are more or less perfect as a result.

Top Five Albums of the Week (Thank You Hellen Edition):

1) Sufjan Stevens presents Greetings from Michigan, the Great Lakes State
2) ...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead - Worlds Apart
3) The Ging Nang Boyz - ...young alive in love
4) Mastodon - Leviathan
5) The Descendents - Milo Goes To College

Randy Is Awesome: Yonezawa Gaijin Flag Football Game Statistics
Offense: 12/15, 6 passing TDs, 0 INTs, 2 rushing TDs
Defense: 7 passes defensed, 2 INTs, 1 INT returned for TD

What I Did During My Winter Vacation, By Randy

Does listening to the Killers' "Smile Like You Mean It" on repeat count?

I remember this conversation:
Me: What a shitty dad that guy is. Look, he's not driving, he's not paying attention to the kid, he's doing nothing.
Tom: Maybe he's drunk.
Me: Oh.

Griffin and Hae Eun, Ming, Claire, Dirty Mike and D are all awesome, for different reasons.

I saw Kat, and we had a high-class meal at the T.G.I.Fridays of my people, P.F. Chang's. She was all pouty-lipped and red and hot.

Heather sang this most beautiful version of "Total Eclipse of the Heart".

I saw Julia Loafandbra and Jen Heller. I think it was on Saint Patrick's Day.

The Oakland A's should be alright, after Barry Zito stops leaving pitches up in the zone and they remember how to hit with runners in scoring position.

I bought a car yesterday. It is so rad. I keep turning on the windshield wipers instead of the turn signal. I look forward to driving, now that the snow is melting.

The new school term begins tomorrow, and I've already been giggled at by my new 1st year kids. Good start.

Back In The World

I'm in Pleasanton, and I'm exhausted. The flight wasn't too pleasant. Friendly skies? Not when the dude sitting next to you needs to get told what to do with that elbow. Anyway, I'm off to get a burrito.

Things I Likely Won't Hear Here

"Let's skiing!"
"Your English is easy to understand."
"Why won't you marry my daughter?"
"Yes, I would love to give you my phone number...let's drinking!"