One more week

The police have confiscated my bicycle. I arrived back at Hankyu Kawaramachi on Wednesday and looked for it chained to the metal fence, next to the river, but it wasn't there. I was afraid it had been stolen so I scrounged around on the ground for clues and found a note saying that it had been hald to the bike pokey, far south of the city. I had a million errands to run and did them all on foot. By hoof as my Mimi might say. I was just warned against drinking the water here. A month too late. I need out. I need out. Everything I own, not much at this point, is all on Koji's balcony and I think he isn't happy about it. I need out. I have to journey to retrieve my bike at some point.

I Don't Know Why

But ever since I can remember I have hoped that there was a special place in the underworld for people who came into a room, insisted that it must be too dark for you and the, despite your protestations to the opposite, turned on the light ' for you.' One and a half more weeks.

Judo

I went to judo for the first time in a while. It was my first time with the gi. It was really fun. A little weird telling junior high students to teach me but, hey... When we finally got to randori (free wrestling? A Portugese import word) I kicked one black belt's ass. (I know he is 15, but he is also a black belt and out weighs me.) Then, the other black belt wrecked me. My spine feels like it is going to explode. But it was good.

The Doctor

I went to a dcotor who Tatsuya recommended last Friday. He is a sports medicine guy and worked on Ichiro. His English is quite good. It was one of those amazing trips to the doctor where they actually take your probloem seriously and tell you what is wrong and what you can do about it. He said that everyone who has ACL construction starts to experience some osteo arthritis after 10 years or so and that I need to try wearing insoles as the pressure is coming up the inside of my legs to the inside of my knees. That would have been a nice thing to learn a few years back. It always seemed that way to me. Anyway, it is a miracle I can go to the doctor at all. Suck on it America.

The insoles are working I think.

Watch Movies

This week I watched The French Connection and Seven Days of the Condor. The French COnnection is easily the better movie. Every shot in it is brilliant. By this I mean that if you isolated every shot in the movie and showed it as a photograph, it would be vey good. Not that that makes a good movie. If it did, Constantine would be one of my favorites. It also features excellent performances by everyone involved, especially Hackman. Watch it. Watch it again. Watch it with the William Friedkin narration about what really transpired. In every way a great movie. Three Days of the Condor is cool as a Seventies spy flick but.... kind of hard to look at. Like the Seventies.

read books

This week I went to Random Walk to get the next book in the Master and Commander series, which I am hopelessly addicted to, but it wasn't there. Egads, as my grandmother would say. So I bought Until I Find You by John Irving. I had been meaning to read it since I heard him talk about it on Terry Gross years ago. Irving is a tricky writer. He doesn't really strike you as brilliant, but then you realize you have read an 839 page book in less than a week and have been incredibly moved. Not shaken up and changed as Faulkner or maybe Irving Welsh can do, but moved none the less. It is really a good book; tattoos, wrestling and tawdry sex, so really, right in my strike zone.

Back to Random Walk last night, still no Master and Commander so I got some Patricia Highsmith.

Trapped in the Guest House: With Roaches!!!

I have one and a half more weeks here, which means almost zero posting and more roach battles. One emerged from my tuna fish the other night. One dropped from the ceiling as I was cooking macaroni and cheese. A little paratrooper. A girl I don't know yelled and we killed it together. Very romantic. I have started running my air conditioner full blast because they made the room next to mine the lounge and I have to listen to people talk about nothing until 3 in the morning. They say they will charge me for two much power use but.... I kill their roaches.

choices

DSCF4627, originally uploaded by wwc photos.

kinda happy the big kid went with the speedo. takes courage.

Arisa in the Relay

Arisa in the Relay, originally uploaded by wwc photos.

Arisa is in the running for my favorite student ever. She is super cool and speaks to me like a human being. She also isn't scared to talk in class and try things that are difficult. Some other girls don't like her because she has confidence. Go Arisa, Go!

sakura is on to me

sakura is on to me, originally uploaded by wwc photos.

student body president and winner of most japanese name ever contest: Sakura Fuji

is this illegal? these kids are in junior high.

Suiei Taikai

DSCF4523, originally uploaded by wwc photos.

Last Wednesday was the 三国中　swimming　tournament. Fun was had by all. Poor chillens.

Ed and Shoko

DSCF4434, originally uploaded by wwc photos.

These knuckleheads are getting married on the 21st. The paperwork part anyway. They wanted their special day to coincide with my dad's birthday. Crazy kids. The wedding will be in April and they better invite a butt-load of JAL stewardesses.

imprisoned in the guest house

I am here until october 4th. I am paying 100 yen to use the computer for 60 minutes. I am surrounded by Germans. The washing machine growls like a crocodile. Today I overslept by an hour and was 20 minutes late for work. I am seldom late for work. This place wouldn't be so bad if I were on vacation. But I ain't. Today I noticed one really hot girl and one super-cute girl had moved in. Somehow that makes living here worse. Does that make sense. Now their are a bunch of foreigners too. It was just me and the crazy people who might be Korean who chant and then collapse. I want to wear a hat that says "I'm workin here."

I went to Cafe Du Monde in Kyoto Eki last night. Yes. That sentence was correct. It is so weird. It has this fake lattice work with New Orelans street sings. It closes at ten. The last time I was at Cafe Du Monde-the real one-it was the morning after Christmas with Mom and Tommy. The one here has paper cups. Fucking fakers. If it isn't anytime of day and you aren't dodging bird shit.....plus the waiters aren't Vienamses. And this is Asia.

Dekichyata

Satoko, the ridiculously hot hip-hop dancer who buys me coffee to speak English with her, told me that she is getting married in November. I assume this means that she is 'in a family way.' Probably a bad reason to get married. She is from a very wealthy Kyoto obi manufacturing family. I see much philandering and malcontenment in her future. Not that I wish it on her, but this is Japan...really.

I will post Ed's engagement party pictures and videos when I get a computer I can do it from.

That's right; Ed's engaged.

Books

I finsihed Papillion on the way up. It is a good read. Disappointing in that it is not true. Well written for an escaped convict, not for a literary con-man. I enjoyed that their main concerns throughout were cigarettes and coffee. I feel less ashamed of my petty hungers.

Tearing through the Patrick O'Brian Master and Commander series. I couldn't recommend it any more highly. It gets better and better. Writing wise the man is on par with any of the big guns, Pynchon included. He is a fiend and an amazing read. 16 more books to go.

Mom's Surgery

Yesterday my mom had knee surgery. To get my revenge I left her in bed at home and moved to Japan. Take that!

A Guest House in Kyoto

Boy am I moving up in the world.　I live in a small room in a guesthouse in Kyoto. To make matters worse it is south of Shichijo while I am of the opinion that anything south of Shijo isn't really Kyoto. That being said, it is only for the month. I went to look at my new apartment, which is still under construction, and it is rad. The location is anyway. It is directly behind Nijo Station. Not as close to the river as I would like, but...

I just got mail from Mellani, who I used to work with at Friend's (the worst fucking) International Preschool (in the world.) She said her doctor made her quit and gave her a letter for the evil Yukari saying she had to leave for health reasons.

The guesthouse now is full of craziness. There is a woman in the room next to me (who is eating lunch next to me as we speak) who won't talk to me but was yesterday chanting empatically until she would collapse in a fit of coughing and then begin again. There was a huge rainstorm outside and she would raise her tone and go up an octave and then i would hear a cough and some banging around. I started laughing　to myself and saying, "She's exploded." The highlight of my day was that "S.W.A.T." came on TV in dubbed over Japanese. It is hot. I smell all of the time and I have one pair of pants because Koji is on a business trip and I can't get to my stuff. I am also being stung by mosquitos. It could be worse. I am not broke. Unfortunately I realized that all of my freinds (well most) are girls, so I don't really have anyone to just go hang out with. Girls require you to do stuff.

It is 900 degrees and I wake upt o bells from the temple next door. Yesterday monks were pacing around outside singing.