Friday March 18, 8:01 p.m.

I see my computer is gone on the fritz again; After my usual crash messages, now I've got all sorts of weird icons floating. Well, I guess a virus check would be in order.

In any case, I guess Friday is gonna be my Maruzen Day. I made another run down there to pick up some texts. The texts aren't that bad pricewise, but boy, the tapes do kill one's budget. I guess all that money must be spent on that English voice talent. Anyways, I had to splurge over 10,000 yen to buy the books plus order the tapes. I decided to get the books for the elder sister of the twosome on Saturday and for the New Kid. The text was designed for the Japanese student with an already good grounding in English but with the need for a bit of conversational fluency. Well, the two teens in question are just perfect guinea pigs.

I've been trying to avoid McDonalds for lunch since I decided to eat better. It's been a good move; it's forced to find other alternatives. I found one underneath Maruzen near the entrance to Otemachi Station. It's a Vietnamese place; Vietnamese hasn't been one cuisine that I've eaten a whole lot of in Japan over the decade. In fact, I think the only other time I've had Vietnamese was with the Tea Room Gang years ago in Yurakucho. Well, this place looks a whole lot more modern and smaller. I just went to one of the stand-up tables and ordered something called Bunbi, a bowl of pho covered with veggies and chopped pork. Quite delicious...it was 50% more expensive than a Big Mac set and even more pricier than the equivalent stuff back in Toronto's Little Saigon but no guilt trip.

That pho plus a Subway set for dinner continued to hold off the guilt, both calorically and financially. I certainly broke the bank in the two areas when it came to last night's feast at Tony Roma's.

Well, gotta plan for the kids and then JJ. I gotta hit the hay a little earlier since I've got the early shift with the kids tomorrow.

Thursday March 17

Looks like for some reason my entry for this day got wiped out. Well, I'll give you the highlights. I met up with Jazz Buddy yesterday morning. The lesson was a lot more cheerful than the drudgefest a couple of weeks back. For one thing, JB was quite delighted and surprised to get my belated White Day present of Belgian chocolate. For another, I was happy to get my ticket for Diana Krall. Can't believe that the concert is just a week away.

In between her and MK, I had my regular stint at Speedy's. I was actually able to get through all of the textbook. Not quite sure what I'll be doing next for the guy.

After MK's lesson, I sped over to Tony Roma's to catch up with the new grads. Yup, I engorged myself on the large ribs, french fries and clam chowder. The kids weren't disappointed. But I don't think I'll be doing that again for a while. Very nice to have chatted with the gang once more. Not sure when the next time will be.

Wednesday March 16, 9:54 p.m.

Feeling rather achy right now after my first gym outing in two weeks. Surprisingly, there was only an increased displacement of 200 g since my last outing there. I must be doing something right.

It was another day in cafes and family restaurants. After gym, I had lunch at the family restaurant a couple of floors down. Had my usual set of hamburger and deep fried oysters, a favourite dish in these parts. Then I hit the supermarket to buy some Belgian chocolate for Jazz Buddy since she got me the chocolate truffles last month on Valentine's. I still haven't even reached the second package of truffles; the things are just too rich to eat in a bunch...more like one or two a night.

Then, I had The Hawaiian and The OL at their respective eateries. I sometimes wonder if I shouldn't even bother spraying on the cologne...just throw a few coffee grounds on my neck. I think I had about 4 cups of coffee today, double my average. So I ended up going for a Strawberry Creme Frappucino at the OL's Starbucks. Made for a rather sweet but nice alternative to the caffeine I'd been ingesting all day.

Before the OL's lesson, I stopped off at the HMV in Yurakucho. I needed a magazine to read since even crosswords were no longer enough to keep me from nodding off on the trains now. There are quite a few CDs that I wanted to get but with the rent due tomorrow and knowing that I'm gonna have to shuck out a lot more yen for income tax, I held my wallet.

Well, after some pleasant if pollen-filled weather this week, we're in for some rain tomorrow. Maybe that will mean all that stuff will get washed out of the air.

Tuesday March 15, 11:02 p.m.

Wooh...pretty drained after another 4 hours at the juku. Teaching may look sedentary but it sure doesn't feel like it. I really have to keep my focus on each student. The New Kid was better today; had more strucutre to the lesson which helped. I got my "revenge" on the Beauty Pair for those chocolates they had given me last month on Valentine's. Mind you, I just picked up some Fujiya chocolates for them...nothing like Godiva or Maison Du Chocolat, but it's the thought that counts. I also have to get some for Jazz Buddy and the two sisters on Saturday.

Well, I'll definitely be hitting the hay in about another hour or so. I feel a bit bad since I haven't done any more lesson plans for Speedy but considering the past few days, I just don't have time or energy to get back onto that project. I think the only opportunity may either be tomorrow night (if I'm still all there) or during my regular gig at the school itself on Thursday afternoon. I'm glad that I'll be finally be getting back to the gym tomorrow morning after not having a single day there all last week. At least tomorrow, I have The Hawaiian and The OL, two of my most dependable students.

I may not have mentioned it but The Bohemian tried to contact me on Sunday about dinner sometime. I did mention Friday night as a possibility since those so-called classes with my ex have turned out to be a bust. He's yet to contact me so I'm kinda wondering if that also means a no-go. M + M have contacted me about getting together for Sunday afternoon. I think the Tea Room ought to be open then but I'll have to check on Friday when I see SR.

Tuesday March 15, 2:39 p.m.

Already feeling a bit piqued after a rare lunch at KFC and before that, handing in my tax return at the Ichikawa Tax Office. I've never been a great fan of heading to government institutions but this trip was fairly painless aside from the 30-minute round trip between the tax office and the train station. There is actually another train station just a few minutes' walk away from the office but to take that would involve one extra transfer so I decided to go for the exercise instead. There was indeed a lineup on the 1st floor but it moved almost to the point of a rather pleasant flow. So I was in and out of there within 10 minutes.

Mind you the day isn't over yet. I've got my 4 hours at the juku starting with The New Kid. Hopefully, things will finally settle down with him now that I've got a better handle on his situation. Plus, White Day was yesterday so I should pick up a couple of boxes of chocolate for The Beauty Pair since they were nice enough to bring me something for Valentine's Day.

Monday March 14, 9:17 p.m.

Rather exhausted. It just took a really sloggy session at the Company to wipe me out. And it was just on adverbs. Man, I'm glad we have the holiday Monday next week.

Had another wonderful lunch thanks to that new chef at the Class Act's house. Made me a great rice omelette with Hayashi Beef. Rice omelettes and Hayashi Beef are examples of the first try at Western/Japanese fusion cuisine, probably as far back as the Meiji period over a hundred years ago. Along with main course, I had a salad which included broiled sea eel and a balsamic vinegar dressing. A guy can get pretty spoiled on the stuff.

Well, I wish I can hit the hay early tonight but I think I probably won't get to bed until midnight since I gotta fill in the final tax return and then prep for my lessons tomorrow. This could be another taxing day, to say the least

Read Volume 2 of "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen". Another rollicking read...more of the scintillating story and that underlying tongue-in-cheek humour. But I must admit that I was rather surprised that the authors took advantage of the GRAPHIC part of the novel pretty seriously. Let's say that some of the scenes can give hope to the older guys looking to sow their wild oats one last time. Plenty of gruesome violence, too.

Monday March 14, 12:17 a.m.

Rather long day for a Sunday. I'd usually be at home by around the early evening but instead Movie Buddy and I involved ourselves in a gastronomic odyssey interspersed with some major walking.

It all started out with a quick realization that my apartment and home of over 10 years may finally be falling apart. My washing machine now leaks water even during the spin cycle so that I have to turn off the water midway if I'm not to put drenched laundry on the line...rather heavy with all that moisture. Now, my door knob is not only falling off but I had a bit of a problem just getting out of my own home; the lock wouldn't turn. I had to quickly dismantle the indoor knob and reattach it before I could get out. As a result, I was gonna be late. But not to worry, the rest of the group wouldn't show up for a good half-hour beyond our start time in Ginza.

MB, myself, The Sylph and a few of the original school alumni went to Marenma, a pizzeria located on Ginza's 5th Avenue. The place has a weekly all-you-can-eat pizza buffet on Sundays. The Sylph was able to secure a reservation there so we got in rather easily. Since half of our group wouldn't show up for 30 minutes, we decided to start on the stuff that was on the table such as salad and soup. Then, when the other half did show up, The Sylph gave the word to the waiter and we started getting the rash of pizza pies. Apparently, the pies weren't coming fast enough so The Sylph had to ask the harried waiter a number of times in a rather coy but firm voice. The pizzas were quite good; they were of the original Italian thin-crust style. And the variety was quite good...none of this Mega Meat or Chicken Teriyaki that comes from Dominos or Pizza Hut. The pies were more sedate such as Marguerita or plain tomato. The bunch of us managed to engorge ourselves like ticks on a particularly beefy arm, and still had some room left for some dessert (the usual tiramisu and chocolate cake).

Just like a real pizza, the eight of us split apart into 4 pairs with our own plans. The Sylph and the Curry Master (yes, she did show up) went to do some lingerie shopping, while Movie Buddy and I started our major walking excursing throughout downtown Tokyo. We first tried to check out Yurakucho Mullion to see if there were any movies worth catching. Seeing that was none, we continued to hike through Yurakucho to the Tokyo Station area, walk through the outskirts of Kanda, Otemachi and Kudanshita until we eventually arrived in the neighbourhood of our school some 90 minutes later, all the while talking on movies and the like. We had a bathroom stop in the building where our adminstrative offices were located. The school and, for that matter, every other office in the building were closed but flip a few switches and the lights were back on. I was very surprised and delighted that the washrooms, after suffering from years of increasing grodiness, were miraculously transformed into lovely lavatories of hotel calibre. I was just stunned at seeing polished granite and actual Western-style toilets with heated seats instead of the grimy squats in the decayed porcelain of yesteryear. Tis heavenly!

When we both finished our toilette, MB suggested that we actually break our hike for a bit and take the JR down to Shibuya since he was rather keen to find some graphic novels. I'd earlier mentioned during our walk that there was the Manga no Mori in Teen Mecca which carried what is probably the best source of Western comics in the city.

It'd been a while since the two of us were actually in Shibuya on Sunday. I think there was an underlying reason that we had avoided going there. Sundays in Shibuya are like Time Square on New Year's Eve. It's just wall-to-wall masses of people. Mind you, the walk up was interesting enough. Lots of young girls dressed up in either hip-hop fashion or in the currently hot Goth Maid style while the guys looked fashionably scruffy. We made it up to Manga no Mori and there I perused through the latest X-Men comics. I gave up the habit almost a decade ago when the prices were just too steep. I see since then the prices have got even more nosebleed-inducing. Plus the X-Men have gone through so many twists and turns that I just cannot even begin to catch up. Scott Summers and Emma Frost an item?! Jean Grey dead?! What the--?! In any case, we spent a good half-hour in there until MB found what he was looking for. He was very grateful for my tip. In fact, he lent me the novels since he's a bit busy reading something else at the moment.

After a bit more traisping through the bowels of the area, we decided to walk up to Shinjuku via Omotesando, thereby launching Phase 2 of our big trek. Plus, MB had wanted to go a step further in our gastronomic excursion by eating the Foo Foo ramen. I was a bit surprised that he would still want to do that after the pizza buffet but I was game. However, we had to do both phases of the walking to get us even close to becoming hungry again. During our walk this time, we got into somewhat more sobering topics such as our respective futures. I'm still not sure what this year will hold for me in terms of being able to stay in my home for the past decade.

By the time we reached Shinjuku some 30 minutes later, it was already dark Still, we were still not hungry at all so we decided to hit the Excelsior Cafe, the Japanese clone of Starbucks owned by Doutor Cafes, just on the brink of Kabukicho. MB had something caffeine while I settled for an iced tea. We spent the next two hours talking about life at the old school going over old faces amongst the students and teachers, and the various scandals and vicious gossip that infiltrated the place over the past 7 years. There was no problem about that stuff filling 2 hours. During that time, though, my eyes started to water like sprinklers so the medicine was starting to wear off. I took another dose and within several minutes, my eyes thankfully dried out.

Finally, we weren't absolutely famished but neither did we feel bloated anymore. So, the long walk did fulfill the mission and we walked over to Foo Foo. We just ordered the bowls of Pai Ko Tan Tan Men, our usual choice. Didn't do much talking at that time...just enjoyed the savory soup. However, I think we could safely call it a night by the time we finished our meals.

The ride home after separating from MB was spent looking at the comics that MB so graciously had lent me. They turned out to be the two volumes for The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen by Alan Moore. MB and I had seen the movie version with Sean Connery almost 2 years ago; the two of us weren't all that thrilled with the adaptation. After reading through Volume 1, I just found the novel so much more engrossing than the watered-down movie. The original certainly has a different slant on it with Mina Murray as the team leader instead of the movie's Alan Quartermain. I'm sure Sir Sean had a hand in that little difference.

When I got home, I got a message from The Bohemian. Looks like he's back in town. He'd called to see if I were available today but obviously I wasn't. However, I've gotten a missive off to him to see if Friday would be open for him.

Well, off to bed. I certainly hope that my stomach will forgive me my excesses. But I doubt it.

Sunday March 13, 7:46 a.m.

Got through the dry run of the tax return last night without too much of a problem. I just have to fill out the real stuff and then I gotta take the whole package out on Tuesday. Despite the Tax Guy's reassurances, I'm not looking forward to the trip out to the tax office.

Hit the hay a bit early last night. Listened to one of my favourite CDs, The Dude by Quincy Jones. I think I can also say with confidence, it's just one of the best CDs, period. If anyone would like to hear what US R&B sounded like around the late 70s and early 80s, this is THE album. Almost a decade before hip-hop came to the fore in the genre, R&B had a lot of influences of funk and jazz and pop...truly fusion. And The Dude shows that along with a good mix of singers and musicians: Stevie Wonder, Patti Austin, James Ingram, jazz harmonicist Toots Thielsman. Plus, this album seems to have been the warmup for Jones and Company before they really hit it big with Michael Jackson's Thriller.

What got me hooked onto The Dude was the first track, Ai No Corrida. Strangely enough, though, it wasn't Quincy's version that I'd first heard. I actually heard and saw it performed at the 1981 Kohaku Utagassen by the leading pop idols of the time. At that time, the Red-&White Song Festivals usually had a segment in which all of the young singers took part in a mass dance and song number...you might say it was a proto-Morning Musume formation. But in any case, I saw this number and, after having had my second trip to Japan several months earlier, I thought, man, this is a pretty damn uptempo funky song for something that has a Japanese title. You have to realize that the early 80s were the second boom of the idol singers: Seiko Matsuda, Naoko Kawai and the Tanokin Trio. Well all of them were jazz dancing and singing to Ai No Corrida...a title that I wouldn't realize was also the name of the infamous porn movie by Nagisa Oshima.

Well, after having heard this great song, I went through the process of finding this song. Remember this was years before the Internet, so I had to shuffle through the record bins at the neighbourhood Sam's, the leading record store in Toronto at the time. Eventually, I came across the 45 rpm single by Jones and Chaz Jankel and played it repeatedly on the old stereo. Not surprisingly, the original sounded even better. It would be years before I actually bought the whole album in its CD format but I think that was a good thing in terms of listening quality...yep, I think CDs sound better.

As I said, just about every track on The Dude is eminently listenable. The second and title track is a great mid-tempo funk-and-jazz mix devoted to Quincy himself. And the other standouts are the two James Ingram tracks, Just Once and One Hundred Ways, two ballads. Ingram became even more famous on the R & B charts a year or two later with his duet with Michael McDonald, Yah Mo B There, and then some years after that with his other duet with Linda Ronstadt, Somewhere Out There. All in all, The Dude is probably one of the few CDs that I would put on a repeat loop.

Saturday March 12, 6:05 p.m.

Well, that income receipt did come in...over a day late, mind you, but as long as it got in. I can finally finish up the paperwork for the tax return.

JJ was fine today. Just a bit of underconfidence about her ability. I should get there earlier so that I can find a warmer table. It would've been warmer outside if it hadn't been for the stiff gusts and the overcast sky. Got home to see half of my wash on the balcony floor absorbing the dirty water. Well, I guess we'll be doing another load tomorrow. Not too bad with the hay fever, though. I downed some more pills but didn't need to put on the mask.

The Barmaiden finally got to me about the dinner plans on St. Patrick's Day. Kinda wish she would tell me which Tony Roma's she's reserved for the dinner.

Saturday March 12, 9:55 a.m.

I was about to hit bed last night when I caught the events of that Atlanta courtroom shooting on CNN. Over here, noone could imagine anything like that happening in a courtroom. For one thing, about 1% of the population have access to any handguns...most of whom are either the cops/military or the Yakuza. And I'm not sure if a crazed psycho with a knife can achieve as much carnage even in a "naive" environment. And unlike in the US where court proceedings are now almost the 21st-century version of Roman Gladiator games (see Classic Trek episode "Bread and Circuses"), the Japanese version is very sober. The only televised image we are allowed is the scene before the trial starts...three judges staring blankly ahead, in fact, everyone in the courtroom is staring blankly ahead. After that, everything is up to the court sketch artist.

Movie Buddy contacted me about the change in time for that big pizza eat-off tomorrow. I told him that "National Treasure" is in general release on the 19th, not today, so that movie is on hold for at least a week. He took it with his usual aplomb and said that perhaps we could go for another movie or let our stomachs rest a while before tackling the Foo Foo ramen. I remarked that after a double of pizza and ramen, we could be responsible for one of the worst gas leaks in Kanto history.

Friday March 11, 9:35 p.m.

Today's lesson with The Teacher was one of those "very special episodes". Instead of the usual laughfests with the underlying tone of raunchiness, she went into a long monologue about how some of her friends went into the medical profession because of some tragic screw-up or the cold attitudes of the doctors. She got a bit misty at one point. My general impression on doctors over here is that a lot of them have taken the title "sensei" a bit too close to heart and have become all high and mighty with an often cold attitude. But again, it all depends on the individual doctor; I'm sure that there are very decent humanistic healers in this country. The two doctors that I have seen in my 10 years here were fine enough. Once we got through that rather serious chapter, though, The Teacher was back to her smiling ways again.

My meeting with SR was good if tiring. We spent the whole second hour just going through the written exercises of the TOEIC book. She'll be here for next week but she'll be a scratch for the 25th which works out in both our favours since I'm catching Diana Krall with Jazz Buddy that day, and she'd like to see her Korean friend then as well.

Then I had dinner with my ex in Nishi-Kasai. She looked rather exhausted when she first got out of the ticket gates, and so I thought...uh,oh...she's in one of those moods. However, as soon as we sat down at El Torito and dug into the food, she was back to her normal self again. It certainly looks like she's back at the top of her game again. She said that she's happier, stronger and more confident; I half-expected Helen Reddy to show up and sing "IAM WOMAN!" I'm not sure if she were being her usual "tennen boke" self or if she were trying to take a few swipes at me in revenge for the 18 months of hell I may have put her through (I gather that it's the former), but she cheerfully boasted that she's hasn't felt this fine in the past few years, and that she's managed to get on her with her life. Geez, thanks. Well, anyways, she has her life and I have mine. We still enjoyed dinner and dessert.

Well, that Star Wars trailer is up and running now. I tried to download it but it looks like there are about 2 billion other people ahead of me so I'm gonna wait a while.

Thursday March 10, 10:18 p.m.

Met up with my tax consultant today at the Hilton. He'd initially gone to the Keio Plaza by accident and had to run probably a kilometre. With all of the hotels in such a tiny quarter of Nishi-Shinjuku, it's not too much of a surprise to get lost. Plus, he's said that he doesn't really frequent the area.

Well, he took me to a tonkatsu restaurant in the somewhat gaudy sliver of restaurants and electronics shops located between the hotel district and Shinjuku Station. His mother had once told me that it was a very good and popular restaurant, especially with the businessmen. Well, it certainly looked that way...there was a good lineup going up the narrow and steep stairs to the place. But the lineup quickly shrunk and we got in within five minutes. Still plenty packed inside. The atmosphere was typically boisterous and silent amongst the customers and staff in the cramped restaurant. The top guy was taking orders and barking them to his staff; at one point, he chewed out one of his underlings for an error. Groups of salarymen were huddled at tables and on tatami alternately eating their pork cutlets and sucking on cigarettes; it's a wonder that these guys can actually savor the lunch with all that smoking. The lone folks just quietly noshed on their bottomless bowls of rice and pork soup. We were rushed to a small table. No separate tables here...they just threw us to any empty spot which we shared with other folks lunching. And boy, I could understand the popularity of the place. We both ordered the tonkatsu lunch which included a very thick and juicy slab of deep-fried breaded pork, the aforementioned soup and rice and of course, the de rigueur shredded cabbage. Tax Guy informed me that the sweet sauce was the best point so I generously spooned on a heap of the stuff on the pork. He has yet to do me wrong. Great food and at 800 yen a pop, darn reasonable. If I can just remember the name, I'll definitely bring folks with me. However, it's enough for me to remember where it's located.

After the voluminous lunch, the two of us went to a Renoir cafe around the corner. Renoir is one of the cafes that used to dominate the Tokyo scene before Starbucks and its clones attacked a few years ago. The decor in a Renoir is one of faded glory. The furnishings remind me of a prestige hotel of the 60s (see Tokyo Prince Hotel for a time warp), and the coffee is even more expensive that your usual caffe latte at Starbucks. Well, the two of us got there and got to work on the final touches for my tax return. He scanned through my results, gave me some advice of what and where to write figures down, advised me to get that income statement from my school ASAP and that was it. He predicted that I would probably have to shuck out 200,000 yen this year. Not exactly peanuts but I won't exactly collapse financially because of it. However, I'll have to really think about not spending so much this year. I'm doing OK so far, though. He also advised me that I should bring the entire package in person to the tax office just to make sure everything gets there in one piece. Plus, I have one more document which has to be deposited in person. It's gonna be a bit of a drag on Tuesday, the due date for the returns, but he assured me that the lineup there like the lineup at the restaurant will go quickly. As long as I get it out of the way.

The two of us parted ways and I headed back to the school. At Shinjuku Station, I spotted an officer brusquely reminding a couple of smokers to cease and desist since the new anti-smoking bylaws came into play. Tokyo is definitely turning a corner. I certainly admired the officer's diligence; usually it's the staff that gets abused whenever there is a screwup on the line.

I reached the school ostensibly to pick up the remnants from Pancake Day. I could overhear Bruno, The Head and Movie Buddy teaching the kids...literally, the kids since it's the season to teach those special teens who are planning to go across the Pacific to study at California universities. But there was also the matter of the income receipt. I wasn't looking forward to going hat in hand into the lion's den and ask the Accountant, a person with a crust so thick to put French bread to shame, for a tiny flimsy piece of paper. However, the coordinator was there and for some very cheerful reason, she was more than happy to ask for me. And some minutes later, she contacted me to say that it'll be coming over in the mail by tomorrow. Well, as those last words sound, I'll believe it when I see it.

Since Movie Buddy finished for the day, the two of us went to the local Excelsior's for a coffee and couple of hours of kaffeeklatsch. He had a story to weave about his future with the school involving the high school that he's been teaching at for the past several years. Let's say at this point that he may be hanging around a while longer. In other topics, the two of us, the Sylph, and some of my very first students at the school will be heading out for this pizza place in the Ginza on Sunday afternoon. Apparently, there's a popular all-you-can-eat buffet on Sundays that MB has been telling me about for the past year but that I've yet to visit. We are also thinking about catching the latest Nic Cage flick, National Treasure, but for some strange reason, all of the theatres are only showing it late at night. I never got the impression it was one of those movies. But we'll play it by ear.

Got over to the Tea Room where I had my salad and tea. The sisters, Carolinan and New Yorker, came by for their lessons. The New Yorker is starting to come out of her shell slowly; she was a bit more talkative with me. I'm not sure but the Carolinan seemed a bit touchy tonight.

Dragged home my bag plus two other bags filled with Pancake Day stuff on the train. Managed to survive that despite the rush hour crowds. Checked the e-mail; looks like the dinner with my ex is a go. We'll be doing Mexican a couple of stations away. And I get to see SR for the first time in a few weeks at the Tea Room.

It's been a long day...

Wednesday March 9, 9:25 p.m.

It was a regular March Wednesday in that I had both of my regulars and I had my protection against hay fever. The only extra was the morning shift at Speedy's. The Hawaiian was her usual genki self which certainly helped the lesson go smoothly. And the OL was also quite fine, although she was starting to get a little nervous about her upcoming trip to America for a very brief homestay.

My ex was asking about places to eat on Friday. Good luck without a reservation. Not much else happened but I do have some final stuff on my taxes to do before I see the tax guy tomorrow for lunch. Plus, I gotta get stuff planned for the sisters.

Wednesday March 9, 8:26 a.m.

Jazz Buddy contacted me about cancelling her lesson tomorrow which frankly suits me fine. She didn't give any details for the reason but it could be due to her ailing sister or she might be thinking about letting me down easy. If she cancels again next week, I'll have to start thinking about the future of her time with me. To be honest, last week's embarrassment and today's e-mail has gotten me thinking about whether it might be good to get proactive and drop the deadweight. At this point, JB is the only problem spot. The Beauty Pair is another problem but I can't really get rid of them since they're signed onto the juku and not me.

Still not sure if The Hawaiian will be a no-show or not today. However, I'll dutifully show up at the regular family restaurant.

Skippy contacted me about The Kid's goodbye party just now. So I'm seeing if everyone can make it out on the 3rd.

I see that another hoary old sci-fi franchise is getting the dusting off. Battlestar Galactica has made a triumphant comeback...which is saying a lot considering that the first incarnation was a rather hackneyed ripoff of Star Wars with repetitive SFX. Star Trek is finally going fallow...not a bad thing but the timing could have been better. But the next big franchise to come back is Doctor Who. I used to be a big fan of the series when I was smaller and less discriminating about the quality of SFX (imagine...using a golden spray-painted styrofoam ball to represent a spinning planet...genius!). It was more about the stories of manipulating time and the different characterizations...oop, sorry, I should regenerations...of the good Doctor that got me hooked to the extent that I even bought a ton of the novelizations for a good long while. Now there is a new guy...so far, the reviews have been unsurprisingly mixed. One guy says that he's willing to give it a shot after previewing the first episode; not a ringing endorsement by any means but hopeful. However, the Sci-Fi Channel in the States has treated the new series like a mysteriously powdered envelope. I took a look at the official website. The new Doc looks just like a bloke going off to see a soccer match at Wembley...during the pre-season. No, he doesn't look particularly flashy like the foppish Third Doctor or the Bohemian Fourth Doctor but then again, after 40 years, how much more creative can one get in a Doctor Who characterization nowadays? In any case, I doubt that I'll be able to see the series here. The only thing BBC in Japan is the news or the odd spate of Monty Python and Mr. Bean that pops up now and then on late night NHK.

Well, on with the mask and off to work....

Tuesday March 8, 11:39 p.m.

Well, managed to get through the gauntlet of 4 lessons at the juku. Actually, it was really just 3.5 hours. My first "lesson" with The New Kid was not much of one since I was still trying to get the feel about what he needs so it was basically half-chat. He was pretty good about it for the most part, although I kinda wonder if he did throw me some cheek by asking me the question in Japanese, "Atama ga ii desu ka". I'm not sure if he meant "Are you intelligent?" or "Is your head all right?" although either one doesn't bode well. But I can't say that I could blame him, though...I'm sure he was thinking about what I was trying to do at times. Well, the sacrifice of my pride and respect is a good one if it gets me to find out some more about him. I now have a plan.

My final lesson with the Siberian had a pretty interesting ending. I found out that he's quite the Kanji otaku. That is to say, he has had a passion for writing, and therefore having a great knowledge of, Kanji characters. He certainly impressed me with his ability to write some of the most intricate characters that I have never seen. But he floored me completely when he wrote a character that is probably not even known by 90% of the population. Basically, it's a family name, Taito, and the character looks like a colony of characters...it is THAT filled with strokes.

Luckily, the medicine for my hay fever decided to wear off way after my lessons concluded tonight. On the way back to the station, my eyes started tearing up someting awful although my nose was largely left alone. By the time I got inside, my eyes felt like they were on stalks. I hosed down the clothing on the line and my own person with the special Febreeze so hopefully, the pollen has been deactivated.

Got further word from Speedy. He tried to get me for another model lesson but I had to turn him down since I already have JJ on Saturday afternoon. In a way, I'm happy since it seems that he's been trying to push corporate lessons onto me. My history with corporate lessons at the old school was one of the reasons that I decided to leave. I posed him a question about the nature of the corporate lessons that would be taught by his school as well as tell him about the problems we teachers faced with our corporate clients at the old school. He never replied to that. I'm not alarmed yet, though.

I got word from The OL. She'll be back tomorrow but I have yet to hear from The Hawaiian. I hope she'll get back to me before I leave in the morning. And it looks like The Barmaiden has set up the time for this big reunion at Tony Roma's. Luckily, it'll be starting just when I finish with MK, so I should still make it good time.

Tuesday March 8, 7:53 a.m.

Apparently, the pollen is FLYING today in the Kanto. So, it'll be even worse than yesterday! Yippee! Well, the temps certainly reflect it...it's going to be a warm 17 and sunny. Can't gripe about that aspect. Still gonna be putting on the mask. I've already taken the medicine and the air cleaner has been on since this morning.

Fairly busy on the e-mail. Shard's been catching up on our correspondence, and I've been involved as the middleman in trying to set up a contact between Speedy and The Doll. Looks like Speedy's support staff has been conked out with the flu. Could be a long day today. Considering that I've got The New Kid at 6, I may just go straight from The Beehive to the gym today and have a longer prep period at the juku. I'll also let the boss know that four consecutive classes are my limit. She'll probably be disappointed since she can handle 8 straight but I simply don't have her energy.

Monday March 7, 9:27 p.m.

Well, the mask and the medicine worked like a charm. However, those first few minutes of the mask are pretty darn irritating...kinda like getting accustomed to crutches, but once the initial sensations of itchiness wear off, my mouth and nose have that warm moist womb feeling (as faintly disgusting as that may sound).

I was rather surprised that both of the Class Act showed up this morning after hearing that the father of one of them had passed away yesterday. But the lady took it all in stride; not to say that she was callous, though. I also missed a rather large bullet when the other lady asked me about SIL. For the past few weeks, I'd thought that she and I were kaput but thanks to not hearing a few vital words, there was a rather gross misunderstanding and nearly an embarrasing incident. Luckily, the lady had the presence of mind to call her up. Indeed, SIL was coming back. Well, I should more accurately say that she never left. To qualify my statement, it would seem that SIL in her so-called finale mentioned that she wouldn't be able to come FOR THE REST OF FEBRUARY. She's back in March. Ooops, my bad. I didn't have any materials for her but she's a talker so there was no harm done there.

I also heard the news from the lady of the house that she'd hired a part-time cook...a pretty darn distinguished one too, She was able to get him after he had quit a rather swanky Italian restaurant. Well, after the first lesson, I was graciously invited up to the kitchen and sample some of his wares. Man, did I hit the jackpot! He made us some deliciously arranged and just plain delicious squid-ink pasta and penne with porcini mushrooms. Good golly! Talk about eating the high life. And this was considering that I wasn't overly impressed with my first experience with squid-ink pasta years ago and that the cook told me that the squid ink had been combined with the guts of the squid to add richness. If he'd told me that before lunch was served, I would've been shaking in my boots. Instead, I've become one of the converted. The man himself struck me as rather soft-spoken but I could detect an underlayer of no-nonsense...not surprising when one has been in the oft-volatile restaurant business. Generally, it was a feast all day at the house. For the Class Act, we usually get served two orders: the first one is sweets and the second is one of fruits. Well that custom continued, and then came the wonderful lunch. Plus, the Lady of the House served me some scrumptious cake for dessert with coffee. And finally, when SIL bounded over, I got another plate of sweets with coffee. I practically rolled out of the gates. One other thing about The Class Act's lesson; the weirdness factor was still in session. After one week talking about homosexuality, then last week's chatfest on the daughter's underbust size, today we ended up talking about that same daughter's obsession with tweaking side flab. I told the ladies that I would probably the Motherlode.

The Company class was rather mild in comparison with just the one guy but everything worked out pretty well. Got back to the station and decided to hit the tonkatsu restaurant for the first time this year. All of the station restaurants were crowded with salaried types but I could get a seat at the local Tonki. Not the healthiest dinner by any means but the breaded chicken cutlet, ham cutlet and fried chicken with rice, soup, pickles and shredded cabbage certainly filled me up at the very low cost of 880 yen. Now, that's a starving student price if I ever heard one.

Checked the e-mail to get a rather long note from Speedy asking me about my availability. Once again, I had to tell him that my schedule was pretty fluid again since the mistake concerning SIL was corrected. I feel bad about doing that to him but he says he understands. He also asked me if I could get in touch with The Doll for a possible job. I tried contacting her at her Docomo address but, as I figured it, my provider seems to hate Docomo. The message keeps bouncing back like a boomerang.

Gonna have to contact the tax guy again. Tried a few minutes ago but noone answered.

Monday March 7, 7:38 a.m.

Pollen is a most insidious substance. I had the windows closed since last night but it apparently has managed to either seep in through the cracks or it activated in my blankets after taking them off the balcony yesterday afternoon once the temps started rising. In any case, my eyes started watering up along with my nose at the crack of dawn. In contrast to the snow on Friday, it's gonna be hitting a balmy 12 degrees today which means that Tokyo is on hay fever alert. I've already downed the medicine and I'll be putting on the mask.

Called up the tax guy last night. Found out that his timing might be a bit iffy this week; apparently his grandfather just passed away yesterday....I'm a bit surprised that the Class Act didn't call to cancel since I'd think that the guy's Mom would be rather busy with funeral arrangements. In any case, if she does come today, I'll give my condolences. Basically, all I really need is just one question answered and then I can probably do the rest of the return myself and hand it in this weekend.

Had my breakfast watching an old beloved anime: Gattchaman, or as it was called back in the West, Battle of the Planets. As far as I know, this was the very first of the anime that went over to the Americas although I heard that old B&W anime like Speed Racer and Astroboy had come out a bit earlier in a much smaller market. As a young lad, I remember watching the manga version in those cheap thick comic books that my parents would buy me occasionally. So it was quite the surprise while I was watching WKBW Buffalo one night and the commercial came on showing G-Force in the Phoenix. As I watch it now, the anime comes off a lot rougher than the stuff that comes out nowadays ( I actually caught Gundam Seed Destiny Saturday night), but Gattchaman had a lot of heart. Of course since the times of Battle of the Planets, anime has slowly crept (and some folks probably mean that in the most negative way) into the Western pop culture ethos until its current status as a legit genre.

Speaking of Japanese pop cultural phenomena, that living anime of girls, Morning Musume, has had a bit of a reset. Their weekly show (their only show, outside of a few late night programs, now that the MM boom passed a few years ago; at one time, the group had two or three other prime-time programs) started off in its regular time slot but with a new set and new segments (or "corners" as they are said in Japanese, something I'm sure that comparative geometrists would love to discuss). The newly-retired tall stringbean Kaori Iida emerged with her long hair shorn off and formerly disgraced Natsumi Abe was back in the fold with a quick, and hopefully, final apology for her crime of plagiarism. Took a look at the relevant bulletin board at JPop; sure enough, a few hours after the airing of the episode, the fans feverishly passed info, reviews and even uploads to each other. Frankly, I'd given up on the music side of things years ago after the group's peak in 2000 with their hit, Love Machine, the most-played song of the year at the year-end parties. Now it seems like MM is aiming their stuff at the under-5's; a pity.

Sunday March 6, 8:12 p.m.

Quiet Sunday today. Tried to call Mom for our monthly touch-base. Couldn't reach her but that's no surprise since she usually doesn't pick up. She gets the sign from her call display that I called and then she calls me back at a much more reduced rate. However, she never contacted me. Ah, well, maybe that will change later tonight.

Decided to hit Tokyo today since I spent the last couple of days in the neighbourhood. Wanted to check Maruzen for any potential material for my two newest students. Saw something promising for JJ but it's not anything that I needed to buy immediately. I'll go through my own supplies before making a commitment. As for the newest student at the juku, I'll have to play it by ear as to his attitude but I've got something ready.

Then I grabbed my gift certificates and hit the Ginza to see if there were anything worth getting. There were some good shirts and socks there but nothing really struck my eye. I'll hold onto them and bring them over to the Class Act tomorrow morning just to have them look the gc's over. There is the Daiei in my neighbourhood which will also honour them. I may get more stuff for the amount, too.

Speaking of the Class Act, I've gotta call up the tax consultant in an hour and let him know that I've done my homework. I need to have him check things over to make sure everything's OK. Hopefully, we'll have some time to meet this week.

Currently watching BEFORE/AFTER, a regular Sunday night program concerning the remodeling of some person's home. It's a good deal more sober than its more glamourous American counterparts. No particularly handsome or beautiful craftsmen gabbing their way through the process of tearing down and rebuilding. Every episode has a different architect walking in from the horizon to some bombastic synth music (not like Vangelis, though) after the first five minutes are devoted to how the owners were suffering in their dilapidated surroundings. The first 30-40 minutes are devoted to the various tasks to rebuild the home while a female voiceover provides the commentary. Then the final 10 minutes are devoted to showing the new and vastly improved home (and I mean, to a staggering degree) and the family's reaction. No suspense here...everybody's always satisfied. It's just to see if there will be tears or not. Sometimes, though, I think there's a little too much contrast between a couple in their eighties living in a house that would even make those living in Aoyama swoon.

Saturday March 5, 1:47 p.m.

Well, met up with MK and my latest student, JJ at the Starbucks. MK was her usual super giddy self. I'll definitely have to move to a warmer table though. The angles and the windflow weren't too conducive to a comfortable lesson for her. As for JJ, she's much more adept at the English language but she seems to have inherited MK's giddiness. Should be fine by next week, though. Looks like I'll have some shopping to do, tomorrow, for perhaps more materials. Certainly, I'll be putting those JCB gift certificates to use. Durable socks is one idea.

I got an e-mail from The Barmaiden. She wants to have that visit to Tony Roma's on St. Patrick's Day. Not the most convenient of days to go for me since I've got MK that night and I don't think I really should cancel on her. However, I'm sure some sort of deal can be made up.

How about that Martha Stewart? Talk about a cat who can land on her feet. Not only did she make bosom buddies in jail but her stock is twice as valuable now. That would piss off her prosecutors more than if she'd sent them a cake filled with horsebleep.

Ah, well. I gotta get some household stuff out of the way.

Saturday March 5, 7:26 a.m.

Overcast day. What else is new? I'll be heading out to see MK and then her reportedly more fluent friend for her initial lesson...well, level check, actually. I'll probably be making the sweet n' sour today since I still have the fryer of oil from the last batch that I'd like to use before final discarding. I'll tell you the Japanese really hit the target when they come up with that coagulant to get rid of that oil with no muss, no fuss.

Apparently, somehow, the e-Trekkies have been able to find out that Jonathan Frakes and Marina Sirtis of The Previous-Previous-Previous Generation will be making an appearance in the final episode of "Enterprise". There's been no mention of it anywhere on the official site for Star Trek but the guys at Dark Horizon have confirmed that the two actors have signed the contract. The rumour also has it that Commander Riker and Counselor Troi will be watching an old holo-program of the S.S. Enterprise from the Enterprise-D. I'm a bit iffy about that part since I think the two of them are a bit too long in the tooth to convincingly play their Enterprise-D selves. If anything, I'd more likely see then on the USS Titan, Riker's first command. In any case, it certainly seems that Paramount has definitely pulled the plug on this franchise, with all due respect to those Trekkies fighting for its survival. Considering the finality of the title of the season-ender, "These Are The Voyages..." and the appearance of the TNG folks, it would look rather disjointed, to say the least, if the series were revived. Just look at what happend with Babylon 5 when they got their last minute reprieve from cancellation. That sudden 5th season has been widely reviled.

I did get some words of encouragement from Jazz Buddy about the somewhat lackadaiscal lesson on Thursday. Still doesn't change anything from my rant the other night.

Friday March 4, 11:06 p.m.

Enjoyed a nice quiet evening. The snow's now a memory. If the rest of Japan wants to laugh at us Kantoites, they'll have to wait another day. Looks like the rest of the country is gonna get smacked by a snowstorm tomorrow.

Used the remaining taco mix powder with some ground beef to not make taco rice (no cabbage, no cheese) but to produce a kind of soboro, a Japanese mix of rice and ground meat. I threw in some diced onions for extra heft. Not too bad at all.

Looked at some old Japanese TV from a time when I couldn't get enough of the stuff. It was a repeat of an old Kato & Ken comedy-variety special. From the hairstyles, fashion, music and guests, it must have come from the late 80s. There were a few faces who are still on the tube who looked positively babyish on the show. Rather nice to watch some of the old stuff.

Just got through a chat with Movie Buddy. Looks like The Sylph's birthday is on the weekend so he's got some nice surprises for her in store.

Friday March 4, 1:51 p.m.

The snow is slowly tapering off, an hour or two behind schedule but we were duly informed of this change in plans on one of the wide shows this morning. The announcer also noted that we may be in for some more of this dumping over the next few days. The Teacher was fine as always; JR didn't inconvenience her a bit.

I'm rather glad that I turned down PH's invitation tonight considering the slush outside. My running shoes couldn't keep my feet from getting soaked so what chance do my dress shoes have? Now I wonder what MK's situation will be like tomorrow morning.

My ex accepted my apology cheerfully. I sometimes wish she wouldn't be so noble.

Well, I've got stuff to do. Gotta get "December" done which should be quite easy since I was only here for half of it last year before taking off for The Great White North. Then, I gotta plan for MK's lesson and think about her friend. That's about it...thankfully. I don't have to worry about the kids. At least I won't have to trudge all the way out to their neck of the woods this weekend. It'll just be one short hop to Kiba and back.

Friday March 4, 8:06 a.m.

Kinda hard to believe that I'm writing this at this time of year, but there's a good ton of snow falling down over our heads right now. Roused out of REM sleep around 4:30 so I just looked out the window; it didn't look white out there so I thought it was another screwup by the Weather Office. However, when I truly got up a few hours later, we had a Winter Wonderland. My subway seems to be in working order so I don't think I'll have any problems meeting The Teacher although she has to take an oft-problematic JR so she may have to leave a bit earlier than usual. We'll probably only get 2 or 3 cm in the immediate vicinity which will probably have the residents in the Tohoku sneering, "WIMPS!" at us. Of course, I'm also quite accustomed to a far larger accumulation where I come from.

My mood hasn't particularly improved since my last tirade, but I think I owe my ex an apology. She didn't choose the night for our lessons, I did, since there was no other night to teach her. On the other end of the romance spectrum, I read Movie Buddy's latest blog entry. Looks like The Sylph had an even bigger surprise for his birthday last week. Not only did she pull off the surprise b-day party but last Saturday she even dragged him suddenly to Haneda Airport for a trip to Kumamoto, a place that he had always wanted to go to, for a weekend trip. As the title of his entry states, "She rocks". I gave him my congratulations.

Well, how the mighty have fallen. Looks like there was an even bigger loser than me yesterday. Yoshiaki Tsutsumi, once noted as one of the richest men on the Earth before Bill Gates wiped out the competition and the head of the once mighty Kokudo conglomerate, got his comeuppance in the form of an arrest warrant for insider trading and irregularities in his stock reporting. He controlled various entities such as the Prince Hotel chain and the baseball team, Seibu Lions. Well, the usual media scrum was there to cover the long line of sober-suited tax guys and police as they marched into his house and picked up boxes of data and most likely, the man himself. This news was competing head to head with the big snow.

I would be watching Lou on CNN right now but my satellite seems to be even more delicate than the JR when a good snow comes down so I'll just settle for finishing off my breakfast.

Thursday March 3, 9:04 p.m.

Was passing through the supermarket when I heard the usual kiddies' songs saluting Hina Matsuri. And just on the eve of a potential snowstorm. Well, I made my contribution to the holiday by buying a couple of cakes with the seal of the festival on it. It's about the closest that I'll ever come to paying tribute to young folk.

I had what I would call a complicated, irrational day. I met Jazz Buddy and went over to the New York Muffin Cafe. It looks like that'll become our new base of operations. Anyways, during our usual talk, she divulged that earlier in the week she and a whole bunch of other students including Skippy and Jazz Veteran had met up for dinner. For some reason, that threw me for a loop...the fact that a bunch of alumni would get together without any teachers...notably me. Yes, it does sound amazingly arrogant of me. I mean, why shouldn't they get together without any of the other teachers. They probably must feel a whole lot more comfortable not needing to speak in English. Still, I was...hurt. It must have shown since JB at the end said that I didn't look or act like my usual pro self; in fact, she stung me a second time by saying that I looked more like her...half-asleep and slightly pale. Well, I managed to mumble a apology before slinking away in a rather foul mood. I sent a more profuse apology by e-mail to her.

The whole ugly internalized affair got me thinking, though. For all of the seeming camraderie amongst myself and the students, I think now that I've put too much stock in our so-called "friendship". I'm not really their friend; I'm their former teacher. Just a walking resource for their second-language hobby. They can't fully relax in front of me and I know I can't let my hair down fully in front of them. That's not a friendship. Perhaps the head teacher of the ol' school who has never shown up for a grad party as far as I've been there may be right after all in not showing up. Well, I know what I have to do now.

To no surprise, my ex cancelled her lesson with me tomorrow for the second time. Frankly, I think she and I are wasting each other's time. Friday night is party night for which she loves. I just told her what I thought and wished her well with her life. End of story.

To add a bit of sweet to my bitter, that other delivery which I'd thought was another package for The Anime King turned out to be gift certificates for all of the big department stores from my new Internet provider. Very nice of them...just don't know what I'm gonna buy.

Back to bitter. As I said, I'm probably making my slow inexorable march toward Curmudgeonville. Y'know, I get all worked up about not getting invited to some stupid student dinner and yet, I've turned down two invitations to PH and Speedy's parties over the next couple of nights. I swear, I think I am twisting into the Dark Side. I only hope noone acquainted ever finds this blog. Just so embittered with life right now!

Thursday March 3, 7:36 a.m.

I was ready for some snow but the forecasters are saying 3 DAYS OF IT?! What the--? Apparently, even downtown Tokyo is supposed to be getting some good accumulation of the white stuff from tonight. But then again, we've been tricked before by the Weather Office so I won't believe it til I see it after 9 tonight.

I've got almost my usual Thursday lineup. I've got Jazz Buddy in the morning, and then I help out Speedy for a few hours at his school. But I don't have MK tonight so I can avoid the worst of the rush hour.

Wednesday March 2, 9:40 p.m.

Managed to finish off the latest tape of "Enterprise" in one day..probably the first time I was able to do that in all these years of The Entrepreneur sending me Trek tapes. Well, if the series is indeed being cancelled, it's sure trying to go out with a bang. The last episode on the tape: Trip jumping ship to Columbia, Reed possibly being one of the first agents for Section 31 and I finally find out what was behind the ridgeless Klingons of the Classic Trek.

In between eps, I managed to head for the gym and got my workout in so at least if I don't go anytime again this week, at least I got it in once. Still have a gut the size of a small house, though.

I was invited to a couple of things. First, the school coordinator told me about the welcome party for the new kids on the block next month. Well, if I'm not gonna be teaching there anymore why should she want me to come? However, I held my tongue. Then, Speedy asked me about celebrating the end of the model lesson season over at his school on Saturday. Well, don't really feel much like celebrating this weekend and since MK and her buddy will be meeting me on Saturday not too far away from home, I declined his kind invitation. Yup, a few more years...and my conversion to the Dark Curmudgeon Side should be complete.

Well, it might actually snow later tomorrow night...in which case, it will be copying one year ago almost to the letter. So, I wonder if we're gonna get a repeat of that horrible summer heat. Feeling a bit tired; I'll hit the hay in another hour.

Wednesday March 2, 10:30 a.m.

Took an initial trip down memory blog lane just now to see if it'd been pretty cold a year ago considering this winter's relative freeze. Sure enough, my posting for that week revealed that, yes, things were plenty frosty, and in fact, there had been a bit of snow later on in the week. Little did we know that we were to face the Summer of Hell. I can scarcely believe that it was also a week ago this week that the Beehive and I made that trip to the Edo Museum in Ryogoku.

I was replying to the Entrepreneur that I feel almost giddy that I have noone, nowhere and nothing to teach today. It's been a long time since I scored that triple... I think since I got back from Canada. The first of two packages got delivered a few minutes ago; it was the suitcase carrying my hotplate from the Pancake Day festivities of last month. I still have to wait for one more delivery...I assume it's another purchase from the Anime King. Once that's done, I guess I can get ready for an outing at the gym. Hopefully, I can get some other stuff done like doing another month of bookkeeping beforehand. I was able to catch the first couple of eps of "Enterprise" from the latest tape from The Entrepreneur. "Daedalus" struck me as being a bit overdramatic but then again William Shatner made a point of being so in several episodes of the original. The next episode had a nice gotcha ending which made me go, "Oh, ho!" And it was nice to see the underused, luscious Hoshi Sato show that she's not the quiet goody-goody.

Got a memo from the mother of the two kids. Looks like the 12th will also be a scratch due to school matters. So I actually won't be seeing them until the latter half of the month.

Tuesday March 1, 11:28 p.m.

Well, it's been a quietly eventful day. After finishing off another couple of days' worth of bookkeeping, I received a message from one of the juku boss' friends who suddenly asked me to teach her son. Hmph..I first thought that I'm gonna have to inform the boss that she ought to be checking with me first to see before having her give out my phone number. But my usual initial annoyance gave way to my more reasonable side and thought that, well, I can probably teach him in the hour before I start my regular classes at the juku.

I got to the juku a couple of hours later. As soon as I made my first steps to head upstairs to my classroom, I heard the usual frantic cries of greeting from the boss. Hmm...I know what this is all about, I thought. However, I had a further surprise in store for me when the boss breathlessly told me that the son was already in the room and that I would be doing a quick model lesson for him right then and now. Oh, grand....I internally sighed. For the nearly two years that I've been teaching at the juku, I've always enjoyed the casual atmosphere. However, I think there has to be a certain amount of protocol when it comes to giving a model lesson to a prospective client.

The kid was the usual teenage Japanese boy. Shaved head, gawky and shy as all get out. He was also half-Italian. Not that that was surprising; I've met my fair share of students of mixed parentage including last year's Biologist. One reason that I've never been too fond of teaching kids is not just having to deal with a being that's undergoing major emotional roller-coasters as a rite of passage but also because I tend to OVERestimate the teen's knowledge of the world. I'm so accustomed to teaching complete human beings. Well, I did throw a few curve balls at him unintentionally to which he just gave me a blank look or a mumbled "I dunno". Actually, his comprehension was pretty good and I get the impression that his knowledge of grammar was also fairly solid, but as is true with almost all kids (I've had a few exceptional gabbers in my career), he doesn't have a whole lot of fluency. Well, I gave him a 15-minute tryout; I didn't have anything planned for him and since I had this literally thrusted upon me, I didn't feel any particular obligation to give him the full treatment since I need to actually PLAN a lesson before I give one.

The aftermath of this all came about after my regular classes when the boss called up the kid's mother and had me talk with her. HER English was a far sight better than the boss' so it was easy to talk with her about what her son needs (not particularly wants, since I didn't detect any great desire on his part). Both she and the boss stated that the kid actually liked me (huh?). Well, I guess he had better since he's gonna have to come out 40 minutes by train over here. In any case, if the son is OK with it, I'll be starting with him next Tuesday from 6. Interesting turn of events...I'll be having my juku classes bookended by a couple of teen boys. I wonder if I'm gonna survive this year.

Speaking of the different atmospheres at the juku and at my old school, I ended up talking with the boss about the kid and then we got into some other stuff. Before we realized it, the time was 10:50. Of course, the boss had a major epileptic fit and apologized profusely. She even insisted that I get paid for that hour. Now that's a revelation. It was usually the custom for all teachers at the old school to check their monthly pay schedule to see that they weren't being shafted by the accountant, and the jerks there wouldn't pay for us to write student reports on our own time without resorting to some major yelling from us (luckily, the staff were remarkably resilient when we did confront them). And here was this lady running this tiny juku on a far smaller budget willing to pay for an hour that I didn't teach and just spent listening to her. Something is both right and not right about this situation.

Got home tonight to find out that not only do I not have the OL tomorrow but the Hawaiian as well. She just sent an e-mail over to me stating that she's gotten the cold again so she's gonna bail out. Well, at least I save myself the train money if lose the pay. And I guess I can actually watch my tape of Star Trek episodes that The Entrepreneur has sent me. I can even do the gym now. Still, it won't prevent me from waking up earlier since I've got a couple of packages being delivered my way in the morning.

Tuesday March 1, 2:15 p.m.

I was just about to write down "February"...but understandable under the circumstances. It's still plenty wintry here in the Kanto. In fact, we may still get some snow later this week. Not quite sure what this will mean for the summer. Perhaps hay fever season may be shunted further down the Spring.

Had my first session with the Beehive for a couple of weeks. Ms. Travel was the first one there as usual; she'd just come back from an epic trip to Macchu Picchu in Peru. She was looking quite Peruvian in her fashion. She was sporting an alpaca cardigan with some accessories which had the shape of some of those Nazca etchings. She went by Air Canada since it is the only airline which could pull off the most direct flight from Narita to Lima via Toronto. There, she was able to bring back some icewine and icewine-filled bonbons. The sweetness was so high that there was no chance of the breakdown in decorum that we'd had back in early January

Afterwards, the ladies took me out for lunch for the first time this year. It was one of the domestic restaurants in the soon-to-be-shut-down Daiei department store. Very good stuff there for a reasonable price but then again, I wasn't paying.

Now that I'm back, it's time to get back to bookkeeping and then prep for tonight's lessons. No gym today. However, I hope to get something in tomorrow sometime.

Monday February 28, 11:36 p.m.

I'm going through a little lull right now checking e-mail and doing my usual blog entry. However, I'm racing through stuff. I did a bit of looking at tomorrow's lesson plans, wrapped the Anime King's latest delivery, and even ironed the pile of wrinkled clothing. I've still got to hit the bookkeeping but I gotta feeling that I'm gonna have to do another double-month tomorrow.

I gave my purchases from the sale a test run today. Worked out well. The pants ride up a bit high in the crotch but I gather that they must be worn to be seen more than for comfort. I was most impressed by my shirt, though. I didn't notice until I had gotten it back home but my dress shirt doesn't have any buttons. Instead, it has a zipper. I actually have a pullover dress shirt. I guess higher costs do translate into higher creativity in the fashion industry.

Looks like "Million Dollar Baby" did the million dollar sweep at the Oscars although it didn't approach the heights of "The Lord of the Rings" last year. Kinda too bad that I won't be seeing it; just not into dramas at all. "The Aviator" will probably be the closest that I'll get. And whatever happened to "Sideways"? I think that movie, after all the hubbub of it being the romantic comedy to come into Oscar, got an eponymous look from the Academy. At least the actor who got snubbed won't feel too bad. Everyone got snubbed.
However, "The Incredibles" got best animated feature which makes my day. Can hardly wait to get the DVD.

How about that Halle Berry, eh? She's certainly shown that she has a sense of humour and a lot of guts for actually showing up to the Razzies which probably brought down the house. She's certainly earned my respect although I'm sure that her agent must have taken the heart pills. As for someone who doesn't have much of a sense of humour, look at Sean Penn.

Had my usual class with The Class Act. Looks like SIL never told her sister-in-law that she wouldn't be coming for lessons anymore. Also, her reason for not coming started metamorphosizing into an alibi when my student told me that SIL's mother's cataract surgery was a wild success. SIL said that she would probably need to take care of her mother for the next number of months....ahh...I don't think so. Another one of those face-saving measures that she just wanted to cut out. In any case, the Class Act lessons are starting to approach those of The Teacher's in terms of raunchiness. Last week was on homosexuality; today for some left-field reason, we actually got into one of the lady's daughter's bust size. Ahhh...love my job.

Did my usual errands before getting some lunch at TGIFridays. Had a really smiley waitress who was really nice but kinda scared me with that million-watt grin...it was almost Cheshireish. The Company class was a bit of a slog.

The OL has cancelled her lesson for this Wednesday which means that it'll just be The Hawaiian. Received a call from Speedy about which text to use for this high-level student. Looks like I'll be doing some research at Maruzen or Kinokuniya again.

In the middle of listening to Michael Buble's latest release, "It's Time". He's doing a few more non-jazz covers this time around, including a duet with Nelly Furtado and even a Beatles classic.

Well, I guess after I'm finished Buble, it'll be a shower and then bed. The bookkeeping can wait til the afternoon. I just hope that I don't have to give up on my gym.

Monday February 28, 8:15 a.m.

I'm starting to those itches in my nose, and my eyes are starting to tear up. Looks like hay fever is back in town. Down the medicine, up the mask. With my bum knee and foot, I ought to look just perfect as one of the walking insane.

Well, it's Oscar Night in Hollywood which translates as Oscar Morning here. The only live coverage for the Academy Awards in on NHK Satellite, which I don't have. I think Japan does it perfectly right here; they just give out the results, throwing out the other 3 hours and 56 minutes of lame jokes (Chris Rock...no matter what you say, you're still in an emcee straightjacket), bad musical interludes and often stilted presenter dialogue.

Got the Class Act on the new regime of textbook. Hopefully, that translates into better structure for both of them. Then I've got the Company as usual. I have to pay my last installment of the past year's National Health Insurance plan. Will be nice to see that go away, if only until July.

Sunday February 27, 9:41 p.m.

My right foot is acting up again. It can't be gout...my toe hasn't swollen to volleyball proportions. The pain is in the left back...not sure if it's the tendon or nerves but I've walking up and down the stairs like an old grandmother...worse...I saw some old ladies beating me. Ah, well...chalk it up to age. Since the average male lives to his early eighties, I figure I'm quickly approaching the midpoint.

Got together with Speedy and his crew in front of Ikebukuro Station to head for this big invitation-only access to a huge shopping fair for some local high-end clothing. I couldn't really say it was a conglomeration of friends aside from Speedy himself. It was more of a bunch of acquaintances and first-time meetings with the same goal: get rare access to some decent clothing.

Speedy was under the false impression that we'd be able to scoot right on in since the massive lineups were back in the morning when the doors opened. Not quite...the lineups still looked like the ones for Phantom Menace before the truth came out about that movie. And with a ton of invite-only folks lining up for some ridiculously low, low prices on fashion, there was the odd incident of venting at the poor staff by a couple who apparently didn't have their invites with them. It's too bad that there wasn't a Rick Blaine type to coolly get rid of the interlopers.

It was naturally crowded in the convention space. A lot of clothing stores were represented. However, it wasn't the rush hour subway situation that I had dreaded. I was able to move about. All of us basically scattered never to see each other again. I didn't buy all that much considering the majority of folks who must have believed that clothes were going extinct today. After about 30 minutes of searching, I managed to buy a pair of slacks, a creamy purple shirt wth matching tie. Came out to a grand total of 10,000 yen. Not too bad for the good stuff.

Sat in the lounge for about another 30 minutes when something told me to look back. Sure enough, my Spidey senses were working well. I saw Speedy and one of the other acquaintances come on up. Speedy hit the jackpot with his stuff, but then again he's no longer just an English teacher...he's the president of a school which automatically means he's been "promoted" to businessman. I don't envy him.

Hobbled home and made some taco rice for dinner. Made enough to choke a T-Rex so I'm eating the rest for dinner. I finally got a response from Skippy in terms of "The Aviator". Looks like we are a go for March 27th. I'm kinda wondering if I should bring in the new graduates into this as well.

I'm currently watching "The Peacemaker". Currently seeing this for the first time, it has already come down in my book as one of the few movies that I regret not seeing in the theater. It really keeps the suspense going at fever pitch...a very intense Tom Clancy thriller that isn't Tom Clancy. Up to this point, I thought George Clooney was cool in "Ocean's Eleven". Not any more. Strike up a target on the DVD hit list.

Sunday February 27, 1:05 a.m.

Another long day has come to an end. Had my kids in the morning, albeit at a much more decent hour than of late. Then, I went over to Speedy's school to help him out in his campaign to bring in students. I had a definite advantage in that I knew two of the prospective students from a previous party and that the other two were pretty decent folk. Pulled out my best comedic routine and hit one over the park. They actually learned something, too. I was a bit surprised when Speedy asked me if I wanted to download something or use any of his newfangled software to help teach. I'm definitely old school. Just the whiteboard and a marker. I have a lot to learn about 21st-century language teaching.

I was the last one to teach during the campaign so I was the cleanup hitter. Afterwards, a bunch of us including my students, Speedy and his wife and one other teacher had dinner inside the school's luxurious lounge. The pizza Speedy ordered was pretty gourmet. It comes from some pizza chain called SALVATORES. An Italian name more than six letters long...yup, that pretty much says gourmet pizza to me. And the pies failed to disappoint. These weren't the usual deep-dish pizzas with tons of cheese and tomato sauce. These were the original Italian thin-crust pies with a bit more subtlety in their flavours. Kinda wish they had branches in my neck of the woods, but they're pretty scarce even in Tokyo. And the designers of the pizza just happen to be WORLD experts in their field. A couple of them have even won competitions in Italy itself. That's some pedigree!

But that wasn't all of the good culinary stuff at the school today. One student's mother, a professional baker, whipped some tasty little apple pies and chestnut pies as an appetizer of sorts. Very scrumptious, and I was lucky to take home the leftovers for breakfast today.

I've programmed 7 hours of sleep starting in less than 30 minutes. Then later today I meet up with Speedy once more. However, this time isn't for business but for clothes shopping. Apparently, there's gonna be a major sale of some pretty prime brand name clothing with discounts of up to 70% in Ikebukuro. Well, I've gotta see what I can pick up in terms of shirts and ties. Maybe if I can swing it, I can even get a suit.

One last comment on Speedy's school now that I actually got to teach there. The setup and current status reminded me of what I'd heard about my old school when it got its start 30 years ago. It also started in a small room on a floor with just a couple of teachers. I wonder how Speedy's school will develop over the years...will it also end up become a richer, prosperous school with well-meaning students and teachers hampered with substandard materials and soulless staff? I wonder if the stone-faced president of the old school was once a fresh-faced idealist like my friend. I very much doubt that I'll be around nearly that long to find out, though.

Friday February 25, 11:00 p.m.

Do you know where YOUR children are?

Considerably easier day today compared to the rushing around I did yesterday. That rather intense flurry of snow at midnight last night gave way to just some very gray and cold weather. On the way to see The Teacher, I went to pick up some medicine at the pharmacy just across from the station. I usually pick that place amongst the plethora of drug stores in my neighbourhood since at that place, I can just pick a box of pills straight from the shelf instead of having to ask for it at the counter. The less said, the better. However, the pharmacist noticed me struggling to pick a bottle so he decided to help me out. When I told him I was looking for something to combat my hay fever, he showed me some bags of herbal medicine with the store name on it. Automatically, my spidey senses went on alert. Was he trying to scam me to buy the in-house product? Still, it was just the same price as the usual stuff I buy which is just for colds anyways. I took a few of the pills at the cafe. I have to admit that I did feel better by the end of my session with The Teacher.

As for The Teacher, it was one of the more mirth-filled sessions since she talked about having to run over to her younger son's Kumon class earlier in the week. Apparently, the poor kid had a stomachache and promptly vomited all over the classroom, taking out an unsuspecting family of zabuton and two carpets plus the front of his shirt. The Teacher went into supermother mode and had the offending chyme-soaked furnishings washed...on her coin...and got them back to the school within the hour. Man, imagine any mother in Canada going to THAT much trouble?

Got home and promptly fell asleep on my couch for an hour. Then I tackled "April" and "May" for my bookkeeping since I couldn't do anything about it last night. Finally, I was able to get some long overdue cleaning done. Dinner consisted of a mess of wieners and cabbage with a side of daikon salad. Not fancy but costwise, it was a whole lot lower than the small fortune I shucked out for MB's birthday party last night. It was still good food, though.

KInda nice to have a quiet night at home just listening to my jazz. But tomorrow is another day. And I've got the kids back at the more civilized time of 11, and then I've got this model lesson to teach over at Speedy's in the evening.

Friday February 25, 1:22 a.m.

That little scratchy sound I hear on my windows is the arrival of millions of wet snowflakes. Yup, Winter is back after a short reprieve yesterday in which the temps hit 19 degrees!. When I put my street clothes into the washing machine out on the balcony, the snow was starting to accumulate. Uh-oh! Luckily, it'll get warm enough later today that all of the stuff will melt away by lunch time. I'll also only have The Teacher so I won't be doing any major traveling.

Unlike yesterday in which I met up with Jazz Buddy, went to Speedy's to work on lesson plans for a few hours, went to the Tea Room to teach the Carolinan and the New Yorker, then finally over to Ginza to celebrate Movie Buddy's birthday. I really made good use of the one-day pass.

Jazz Buddy and I had a bit of a breakthrough. We actually had a pretty meaningful lesson, and without any need for textbooks. We just gabbed and some new expressions were sifted through the verbal chaff. She applied them and she learned. Huzzah! Our latest new forum was The New York Muffin Factory in the basement of the Shinjuku I-Land restaurant complex near the Andersens where I usually meet her. It's certainly more cramped than the Andersens and the Starbucks where we used to hang out but the muffins can't be beat. I can only hope that future lessons will be as happy.

I did get that Foo Foo lunch that was sadly yanked from me and MB on Sunday. Great stuff that ramen on a cold day like today. Definitely one place I would regret seeing closed...knock on wood. I still have yet to totally recover from the loss of The Farm Grill.

Looks like my work so far on the lesson plans have bulked up my planning muscles. I was able to get quite a bit of work done which impressed the boss. He brought me up to speed on the upcoming model lesson on Saturday. The one faux pas was discovering that I managed to rip a couple of holes in those cheap socks I'd bought a couple of weeks back. I had to discreetly hide my big white toe during my time there. Showing one's piggies while at work is not exactly kosher in this nation although I'm sure Speedy would be cool with it. Still, it was enough for me to get my shoes on as soon as I finished my stint there and buy some equally cheap but sturdier white socks at the convenience store near the Tea Room. I did a quick change in the Room's bathroom.

My work with the sisters was OK. The New Yorker is pretty shy but she can catch on quickly. I'm sure with the right direction and speed, she'll be able to put together a rudimentary conversation in a few months' time if not sooner. I'm just a bit worried about her innate shyness though. As for her much more fluent sister, no problems whatsoever.

The rains started when I left with the Carolinan back to the subway station. At that point, the precip was still watery but it sure got cold. I took the line all the way down to Ginza and found the restaurant easily. It's a place called ISOLA. The only thing called ISOLA that I know was a J-Horror movie a few years back. Nothing horrifying about this place's cuisine, though. The Italian was just scrumptious...although the Bismarck pizza of prosciutto and raw egg is an acquired taste. Movie Buddy was wallowing in his b-day enjoyment. There were a few others there including The Sylph and one of my very first students at the school when I started teaching there over 7 years ago. She's the only one in my time there to have gone 2 years. The Sylph was also one of her classmates during that time and another one of my first victims at the school.

My knees and right leg were calling Uncle by the time I got home. My knees felt like Bobby Orr's before reconstructive surgery. It must be the cold weather...good heavens...all I need to hear is that I'm arthritic.

I got home to check my e-mail and find out that I got a couple of more letters from a new alumnus and my co-host from the grad party. Always nice to hear from the kids. Hopefully, we can arrange a bit of dinner one of these days.

Wednesday February 23, 9:34 p.m.

Well, I put on my mask and swallowed the remaining medicine. No problems with hay fever. There were quite a few people out with their masks on as well. It was pretty windy so the pollen could fly up people's noses unabated. However, it turned out OK for me anyways. When I got home, I shot all of my clothing with that pollen-catching Febreeze.

The classes went OK as usual. I was lucky enough to find the Doner Kebab truck in front of Towers open for business so I helped myself to a nice chili kebab. Very reasonably priced for what I get. I picked up my text for the New Yorker for her class tomorrow. Gotta plan for that one plus the others. I'm gonna be pretty busy, and I'm quite tired now as it is. And I have to tackle "March" in my race for my tax return.

Wednesday February 23, 7:18 a.m.

We're gonna get a taste of Spring today. It'll be hitting around 17 degrees in the Kanto but with the warmth comes the pollen count. I may have to swallow the pills and even put on the surgical mask. I'm definitely gonna have to spray me down with the anti-pollen Febreeze when I get home tonight.

In those New York sitcoms, the characters often complain that their water initially comes out brown. Strange thing about my Ichikawa water. I poured some into my mug to make coffee and I got a froth. Not a head on a good beer or latte level but it did look like somewhat spat out some soap bubbles.

I'm already starting to dread going through my fiscal past. It was rather depressing reading through those dark early days of 2004. However, the fact that I'm still here in a relatively warm apartment does give me hope.

I picked up my weekly METROPOLIS magazine at Maruzen. METROPOLIS is the free English-language magazine detailing events, want ads and articles on life in the Big Sushi. Well, this week's editorial was from someone who seems to be a cheerleader for NOVA, the oft-slagged English conversation school which happens to be the largest chain in Japan, and my former employer from many moons ago. He certainly made a very impassioned case for his company although he made sure in his writing that he was speaking for himself; there were a lot of "to me" and "it's not for everyone". However, I still couldn't shake the feeling that he came off sounding like one of the party hacks. He certainly isn't just one of the teaching drones; he mentioned late in his piece that he was on the management level. Obviously he is quite happy with his lot in life.

Allow me to provide my sort-of counterpoint to the writer's story. I come here not to praise Caesar but not to bury him, either. My first gig in my current life here was at the Golden Arches of English Teaching for a couple of years. I even had 18 months of being the top dog at my branch. It was educational in that I realized I had no real love for administration which gradually to my departure. To be honest, I didn't have a bad time at all at my former employer. A good part of that reason was that I'd been assigned to a newly-born branch in a traditional area of Tokyo. Over the past several months, our school was lucky enough to attract a mostly nice group of students and a mostly decent group of dedicated teachers. The atmosphere created was one of a friendly, family type....something that certainly wasn't true of some of the other branches I heard.

I certainly can agree with the writer about the salary and training aspect. I was somewhat gobsmacked when he wrote down that salaries START at the mid 280.000 level. I'm not sure if NOVA is trying to account for the rise in inflation; I certainly hadn't started at that level. But I digress. It is a good salary to have. And if one stays at the firm for a good long time and does a good job, that salary will eventually creep up to a goodly monthly salary. And training is comprehensive. You could be a total neophyte when you come into the company and within a few months, you would be an absolute veteran. Frankly speaking, you would have to be a total idiot to fail at NOVA. In addition, there are always periodic observations by the head teachers on the regular teachers with comments. I certainly didn't get that with my previous school. My snaky manager just laughed cynically when I asked about observations and feedback during my first contract review. It's all about the money with him and his staff. It is with NOVA as well, but at least the company tries to ensure product quality.

Having said that, NOVA won't ever shake off its McDonalds image ("Do you want your fries with your Present Continuous?"). All the branches basically have the same appearance: creamy decor, cubicles or free tables, and Voice Room. The lesson format is very strictly structured. The writer mentioned that the lessons are "plug and play". Well, my PlayStation has been gathering dust in my closet for a few years now. For a teacher who wants to push the envelope and bring in a lot of creativity to lessons, NOVA is just a bit too constricting...physically, as well as figuratively, if one is assigned to a "cubicle" school. NOVA is great for the teacher getting his/her feet wet in Japan and the person who is only here for a lark and wants some good quick cash. Certainly, the career opportunities are there but they are in administration, not teaching, and you already know my feelings about the former. Basically, for most teachers, NOVA is the revolving door while for the students, it's the fast food outlet. And for the Japanese sales staff, it's a quick road to ulcers and nervous breakdown. Their salaries, as far as I know, are pretty minimal, and their jobs are very stressful as they always try to reach an ever-increasing quota of new students to recruit.

Also, I have to wonder about another couple of points the writer mentions. He says that the infamous nickname of the company as "NO VAcation" is a myth and that he has been able to swap shifts so that he can enjoy good lengthy trips all over Asia and back home. He must have been a wizard in his teaching days, and one with a lot of stamina. When you swap shifts, you can actually get those Saturdays AND Sundays off (a very rare situation for teachers in NOVA) but you have to pay for that with extended workweeks; there are tradeoffs. Also, NOVA doesn't recognize national holidays which is a selling point. Great for students who'd be hard pressed to find time to come to a school; perhaps a bit depressing for teachers although if one, such as me, starts out at NOVA, one doesn't feel it as such. Having been at a school where those holidays are recognized, it would be awfully hard for me to return to NOVA. The second point is about the famous non-fraternization rule between students and teachers. He proudly boasted that he doesn't particularly need the company of students. He's got other Japanese to become friends with. Well, let me say that NOVA's Prime Directive is just legal underwear. NOVA teachers DO go out with students, platonically or otherwise. And rumour has it that even the higher echelons also do the same although I'm not sure if the Directive applies to them. For me, I would have liked to have gotten to known my students better during my time there, and I think I could handle myself with aplomb offschool as well as onschool. Apparently, the writer isn't THAT confident about his abilities. As it is, once I left NOVA, I did spend more recreational time with my old students.

To finish up, I can only say that I will be very interested in seeing what the rebuttals (and boy, will there be rebuttals) will be like in future issues of the magazine.

Tuesday February 22, 11:24 p.m.

Had that long wakeup call since the Beehive wasn't having me today. However, I still have yet to start on "February" of my bookkeeping. I'll have to get that done straightaway although I still want to get some sort of sleep in.

I got back to the gym. I tried out some more new machines such as the bench press and the pectoral press. In the meantime, there was the aerobics class going on the in the transparent room ahead of me. The teacher just sounded like a DJ at Velfarre and dragging a lot of rather rotund women into the woodwork. They managed to crawl out. Since I got back from Maruzen rather early in the afternoon, I was able to get through my workout a full 2 hours before my usual arrival at the juku. So I decided to have dinner at the downstairs family restaurant. I will have to be more conscientious about what I eat before lessons. I had the hamburg steak in demiglace sauce with some pretty raw onions. I was rather self-aware of my breath that night. The Siberian seems to enjoy the lessons but still not a bit blocky in his delivery.

Got word from the Sylph, MB's girl. Looks like she's planning another B-day party for him in Ginza on Thursday and I got the invite. I'm not sure if I can make it out since I've got the Carolinan and the New Yorker on that night but if it's still going on at 9, then it should be OK. I've only got The Teacher on Friday. My ex cancelled out on me for the night.

Monday February 21, 11:46 p.m.

I finally got the second guy for The Company for the first time this year. Boy, was he rusty. He was pretty much the lower of the two after having been the ace of a low group all last year. However, he soon got with the program. Hopefully, he won't be doing too much more of those long absences.

Afterwards, I met up with PN at the Hyatt. Maybe I should have thought of somewhere more cheaper. As soon as we sat down and got our menus at what I thought was one of the more reasonable restaurants there, she had a mild hissy fit about the prices and suggested fairly strongly about moving out to another place. Well, I answered very civilly that we were in the hotel area of Shinjuku so prices wouldn't be too much different withn a 1 km radius; she acquiesced to that and ordered an ice cream sundae. One thing I won't do is change restaurants after we've already committed ourselves by stepping inside. She saw the menu outside and she made the decision to go in. As far as I'm concerned that means we stay in.

All that was just part of her dislike for Tokyo, and Japan in general. We had a good chat on the good and bad of life in Japan; most of what she said was on the bad of Tokyo. She asked me why I liked living here since she's rather hellbent on getting out of Dodge. I simply replied that I've been very comfortable for the past decade; certainly, the largest megalopolis in the world has its obvious drawbacks but I've learned to avoid most of them or live comfortably enough with them. I think that is what PN found appealing about life in Toronto...she could handle life there. However, again, I know that she's also found a way to complain about every city she's been in, including her former home of T.O., so I'm still not sure if she'd be absolutely content about returning once she's there.

On the way home, I realized that I've yet to buy the texts for The Siberian for his lesson tomorrow, so now I have to rush out to Maruzen to buy that. Plus, there's the text for The New Yorker on Thursday night. I'm not too miffed although it will mean a trip out to Tokyo. I think I can still get that lesson plan out there to Speedy and even tackle "February" for my tax return...knock on wood.

Monday February 21, 2:24 p.m.

I actually got a decent 8 hours of sleep last night thanks to The Class Act shifting times this week over to Wednesday morning. So, I got my first massage in over a month; thank heavens that the director of the clinic was the one who kneaded my worries away and not the woman with the jackhammers-for-thumbs. Afterwards, I got my two free Subway sandwiches since I filled up my point card. But those days are now over since the franchise has gone to a new system of a much smaller point card with only a modest discount the reward. Drat!

Also picked up a new photo album to fill with the grad photos. Got a few good ones of the young filly with the gams. And I picked up a notebook to start the long arduous trek to prep for my tax return. It's not too difficult weeding out the expenses and categorizing them but, boy, is it time-consuming. I just completed January. My tax advisor told me to go at it one month a day. Good advice. I'd go mad tackling the entire year in a day.

I was also able to air out the mattresses for the first time in 2 weeks due to my schedule and some of the inclement weather that had been plaguing us for a while. Today is pretty sunny if chilly. I've got my lone class at The Company, and then I meet PN at the Hyatt afterwards. I'm not sure where we'll go for dinner...maybe we'll try Foo Foo since I was vastly disappointed yesterday.

Sunday February 20, 9:57 p.m.

Well, MB and I caught ALEXANDER at the Picadilly today. Before that, we had our first disappointment in that Foo Foo wasn't open. In fact, the entire underground mall was closed down due to electrical rewiring. Not too happy about that. However, we did have a good consolation lunch at Samrat, the Indian restaurant near the theater. It was a pleasant time to chat about movies and yesterday's grad party. MB is starting to get that itch that I did a couple of years ago when I decided to go freelance. He's also worried about the status of the school since it seems like the classes there just keep on getting smaller and smaller.

As for ALEXANDER, it wasn't the bomb that the critics back Stateside were crowing about. I think that the dogpile mentality is alive and well in the media. In fact, not being able to go to Foo Foo was the far bigger disappointment. As usual, MB enjoyed it more than I did. I didn't think the movie was all that much to call home about but it did make for a serviceable docudrama with some A-list talent. Colin Farrell did fine with the eponymous character as he rose into the world's leader and fell into madness and death. Angelina Jolie's lips blabbered their best emulation of Lady MacBeth. As for Rosario Dawson...holy cow. I think Morgana the Stripper should look out behind her back. She may have competition now.

Generally, I felt that this wasn't a TROY action piece, and I think that's partly why the movie got the drubbing it did. There were only two major battles while the rest of it centered on Alexander's rise and fall and all the melodrama it contained. Certainly, the beginning was rather slow but when Alex started his conquests, things did pick up some more. I knew right off the bat that it was Vangelis who was behind the score. I almost expected those CHARIOTS OF FIRE joggers to come running by. Still, it was an OK movie done in by bad marketing and some media who've had their knives out for Oliver Stone for years.