Monday January 26, 7:24 p.m.

Well, it was a Sunday to remember...although not because of the Bond movie and not for a good reason. I was just 30 minutes away from heading out for Shinjuku to meet with the guys there for "Quantum of Solace" when I got two phone calls...one was from my real estate agency asking whether there was some sort of water leak in my apartment. The only place I could think of was on the veranda where my washing machine is located since the hose connecting the water supply to the machine often tends to spurt loose. Then 5 minutes later comes a phone call from a home services company which is on retainer with the agency telling me they have to make an emergency check of my apartment for leaks.

Some minutes later, a couple of middle-aged guys in coveralls come up looking like Sgt. Friday and Sgt. Gannon from "Dragnet" and proceeded to tell me the horror story that my downstairs neighbour made a frantic call to the agency stating that his apartment was flooded due to some leak emanating from upstairs. Well, I probably did blanch at that thought since Joe Friday suddenly came out of his "Just the facts" pose and turned into everyone's favourite uncle and reassured me that this wasn't my fault. Still, I got a chill down my back as he was gabbing with the agency guy and quoted a 120,000-yen job. Friday and Gannon proceeded to look at the potential trouble spots. They checked out the veranda and quickly concluded that that wasn't the problem, although Gannon got to work at cleaning up the drain there. Friday took a look under my sink and after a bit of digging found the culprit there as a bad pipe. That bad pipe was apparently responsible for inadvertently turning my neighbour's place into a swamp.

Joe gave me a rather serious and sage look (I could almost hear the first few bars of the "Dragnet" theme) and said that they would have to pull apart the sink for a day's work to correct the problem. In the meantime, they would have to shut off the water supply for the rest of the day and night until they came back the next morning. Joe gave me his card; it turned out he was the president of his little home services company. And he was good about it...I had to go and meet MB. Other folks would've said that there was no time for that and that they would have to get to work on the double. But Joe said that they would be back the next morning; besides, the water was turned off...there could be no more damage.

The craziest thing though..and luckiest (so far)...was that the downstairs neighbour didn't come up to even talk about the situation. At one point, yesterday afternoon, Friday and Gannon and I had to step outside to check out the water line for my apartment, so the guy could've seen me and come out to eviscerate me (verbally or literally). Even though Friday told me I wasn't at fault, I wouldn't have blamed my neighbour if he wanted to use me as a punching bag for dousing his futon (and those are pretty much useless once they get very wet). But to be honest, I'm not even sure who my neighbour is. There was one meeting between me and a downstairs neighbour several years ago...all of one second...when one of my shirts accidentally flew down to his veranda. He was a salaryman who quickly came up to my place, handed me the shirt, mumbled something and then took off in his suit. There was another situation for the same reason but at that time, he just hung my clothing in a plastic bag on the doorknob after I'd left him a note in his mailbox. It's conceivably possible that this was the same guy although aside from me, most of the tenants tend to come and go with the seasons in my apartment block. But it would explain why he didn't bother to come out to talk. Maybe he knows that what happened wasn't my fault and I'm not the type to go around flooding neighbours out of their apartments. In any case, I am very grateful although for the next several days, I'll probably be walking up very quietly to my apartment and getting nervous whenever I do the dishes, use the toilet or shower, and wash my clothes. I still think I might get ambushed.

I was in a bit of a daze as I took the subway over to Shinjuku. I actually got to the theatre ten minutes into "Quantum of Solace"...just when James Bond started his chase of the MI6 turncoat. Surprisingly, I was able to find my seat at the Picadilly in the dark although I may have stepped on the toes of The Satyr, Miss Ivory and Frodo on the way. I now had an enhanced reason to watch the movie since I needed a good dose of escapism to drown (oops, bad choice of words) my sorrows. The movie pretty much succeeded at that...a balance of hard-hitting action and espionage exposition which made it feel even fuller than its length as the shortest 007 flick ever. I felt rather badly for MB since he waited for me down at the ticket booth level until the movie had already started...and he's the biggest Bond fan in the country.

The verdict on the movie was that it was an enjoyable romp although The Satyr pointed out that the herky-jerky editing that seems to be in vogue now for these action movies was plaguing this one as well. MB must've liked it since he said he would see it again...in full. And I may do the same. Amazingly, MB's wife, The Sylph, managed to pull off a nap in her seat.

Skippy was also there, and she had her own little tale of woe over the Holidays. Apparently, she'd collapsed in her apartment...luckily, while her boyfriend was there...due to internal bleeding (!!). Well, five days later, she was let out but with no clear explanation for the gusher inside...not a good sign. I noticed that she and the juku boss exhibited some similar signs. Both have outsized ebullience, both have had serious medical surprises and both have had their personalities magnify. Skippy was just bounding all over the place during dinner and dessert. I have a feeling that both ladies are just celebrating the fact that they're still alive.

We had dinner at a burger place in Hatsudai, near Opera City, called Base. The burgers there were pretty good although they still didn't quite hit the heights of Brozzers. We ended up going to Denny's for dessert...the annual strawberry festival was on. They talked about one of the trailers which happened to be for the Hollywood version of Hachiko...I'd seen the report of this a year ago on CNN. Richard Gere is supposed to be the kindly-but-soon-to-be-dead professor/master of Hachiko the faithful dog. Surprisingly, only The Satyr groaned.

I started my new life as a waterless person by brushing my teeth in the subway station washroom and then bought a couple of bottles of mineral water from the conbini. I tiptoed up the stairs to my apartment...ironically, my neighbour's lights were on. My slightly disheveled kitchen reminded me of what had to come pass earlier in the afternoon. And what continued to make my day a Sunday to remember was when MB called me up asking if I would consider taking a job teaching at his girls' high school. Apparently, The Satyr has found somewhat more fulfilling work elsewhere. MB and I bantered the discussion back and forth for half an hour, although I made my point clear in the first 5 minutes that I was allergic to teens; he really must need somebody. Along with the fact that I don't like kids, there was the fact that I don't look upon my JET days with any great pride and also the fact that his school is way beyond Speedy's area...and I had my share of commuting hell teaching my two of my first freelance students out where MB lives now. I was considerate to him, though...I said I would mull it over although I already knew I would say NO. I just have to decline it later tonight.

I took my MASH-like sponge bath with half a bottle of heated mineral water...prayed that I didn't need to go to the washroom in the middle of the night and hit bed while playing The Carpenters on the Discman...really needed Karen and Richard last night. "Rainy Days and Mondays" took on an even bigger significance.

Woke up this moring at 6:30 because I had that tingle. Put on the clothes, put the toothbrush and paste in my coat pocket and walked the 10 minutes to the closest public washroom by the station and ended up having McBreakfast. Just thought what the day would bring. 90 minutes later, I got my answer in the form of two new plumbers from the same company as Friday and Gannon. I think these guys were Adam-12. In any case, I was surprised to find out how easy it was to remove the sink from the kitchen wall. I was dreading some sledgehammer work, but all it was just a tug and the unit came out fine. However, there would be a few hours of hammering and drilling as they took out the errant pipe and put in a sparkling silvery one. Friday and Gannon actually also showed up near the end to take a look at the work which actually only took 3 hours instead of the whole-day experience that Friday had warned me about the day before. Perhaps, he was using the Scotty principle of overestimating the work time by a factor of 4. In any case, I just did some ironing and then read through several pages of "The DC Comics Encyclopedia" when at 11, Adam-12 proclaimed the work was done. When I went back into the kitchen, it looked like noone had even touched it. I asked about payment, but they said they didn't know anything about it...sounded ominous, although I've got a feeling that my real estate agency will be picking up the tab since Friday did say that it wasn't my fault. In any case, I've also got insurance so I'm still covered.

The Sunday craziness taken care of (although I'm still waiting for my neighbour to come at me with a Tomahawk), I took off for Daiei to pick up some stuff to add on the cleanup that Gannon had kindly done on the veranda yesterday. I got some electrical duct tape and an extension hose for the washing machine as Friday had advised me. Stuck the hose on and then wrapped the duct tape over the tap and tube leading to the machine.

I actually have classes today. I had The Full-Timer; told her about Sunday. She was surprised that I hadn't gotten a furious neighbour going for my blood. Apparently, her family had been the target of wrath from their downstairs neighbour when a similar thing had occurred years ago. I should be so lucky.

Now, it'll be Medicine Man in less than an hour. I've gotten some more proofreading and translation courtesy of Cozy. And I was surprised to get a lot more in my pay packet than I'd been expecting...since I was off a lot of the last month back home. Well, maybe some of that will be going for an extra futon for my downstairs neighbour if he threatens it. Still, the whole sordid tale will be one for my niece when she's old enough.

Saturday January 24, 12:24 p.m.

Finished with Mr. TOEIC who's currently Yahoo'ing something on the laptop. During the lesson, we were rather surprised when we saw a sudden flurry of snow whipping by outside. It lasted all of 10 minutes but it was something to behold in a town not known for any sort of white precipitation. As for Mr. TOEIC himself, he was having a little more trouble than usual trying to get his words out accurately. It was almost as if I were dealing with The Diver.

The next time I get that "Woe is me" feeling, I just have to remind myself of a Brazilian model, all of 20, who's had to have her extremities amputated along with her stomach because of some horrible disease.

Saturday January 24, 9:04 a.m.

Back at the salt mines a bit early today since I've got Mr. TOEIC in about 45 minutes. Even on early Saturday mornings, the subways, though not packed like sardines like during the weekdays, are still devoid of free seats...at least on the notorious Tozai. However, I was lucky on the Marunouchi since that's full only for the weekday commuters.

I've got just the three guys today: TOEIC, The Intellectual and Mr. Pronounciation. The only thing is that they're spread out over the day so I'll be here until past 5. A bit of a drag but at least the down time will provide me with an opportunity to get some more material made up for Swank's next class.

I've been going through Season Six of "Family Guy". Peter Griffin's take on "Shipoopi" from "The Music Man" has been burrowing through my brain like Brachonid larvae through a caterpillar. I've actually got some free time tonight after work so I'll probably burrow through some more.

Friday January 23, 8:42 p.m.

I'm feeling pretty knotty right now but I finally got that translation off to The Corner. Hopefully, it'll basically past muster. At least I'll only have to worry about tomorrow's classes at Speedy's instead of trying to race through a translation.

The Ace is running late so he'll just have the half-hour tonight. No particular probs. I kinda figured that he may not be able to make it out early.

Friday January 23, 1:28 p.m.

Well, sent off the bill to Cozy, do the meatball surgery version of translating The Corner's stuff and finish marking those high school essays. Just gotta type up The Corner's stuff at the juku and then send that off.

Talked with The Admin last night on the phone. It was the first time I had a chance to talk with her since she'd left Speedy's well over a year ago. She had been interested in taking private lessons with me for some time but apparently could never get around to it until now. She's keeping this on the QT from Speedy, probably to prevent the same thing that hit the fan between me and 002 last year, although she was never aware of that kerfuffle. I said I would meet her on Wednesday morning or afternoon since that's really the only open time I've got left on my schedule, and even then, she's gonna have to move over for Grandma Enka on the first Wednesday of the month.

I see that the Oscar nominations came in last night. Heath Ledger did get his nomination for "The Dark Knight" as did Robert Downey Jr for "Tropic Thunder". I guess Tom Cruise's dancing didn't quite bowl the Academy over. Still, it was nice to see Scientology's most famous disciple showing that he can still bust a move some 25 years after "Risky Business".

Friday January 23, 11:15 a.m.

For a Friday, it's feeling a whole lot like Hump Day. I've gotta hand in my translations for the Corner, then get back some marked high school essays to Speedy, and then take care of the three lessons for Swank, The Ace and The Restauranteur. Nope, not quite President Obama's schedule, but still... Speaking of whom, I saw that little awkward moment when VP Biden's mouth got the best of him at that swearing-in ceremony for the White House staff. Barack must've been second-guessing his choice as running mate at that point by the look on his face. Then again, I think I'm probably more like ol' Joe than Barry.

Went over to Akiba and had my dinner at the kaiten sushi on top of Yodobashi Camera. I realize I could ask for whatever sushi I wanted but still I was disappointed in the lack of variety going on the conveyor belt. Then, I went downstairs to check out the digital cameras. The cheapest they had was going for close to 20,000 yen. The neighbourhood Yamada Denki has gotten something for almost half the price so I'll probably go along with them.

MB got back to me about "Quantum of Solace". It'll be a late-afternoon gig followed by another round in the Burger Tour.

Thursday January 22, 11:15 a.m.

It's kinda nice not having to come in bleary-eyed in the morning...although it is too bad that Grandma Dynamite has been ailing so. I'll be having Grandma FON in about 15 minutes and then Miss Sedona before I head on out to see The New Yorker in Ichigaya once more. It's been raining off and on for the past 12 hours. Definitely feels like normal Vancouver out there. Speedy is off to the local city office to beg for money since apparently PM Aso has started giving financial helping hands to small and medium-sized enterprises.

Will be heading out to Akiba once I finish with The New Yorker for the first time in over a month. I've been kinda looking out for a cheap digital camera. I saw one at the neighbourhood Yamada Denki yesterday but just wanna see if anything in Akiba can beat that price of 11,000 yen. Plus, I'm in the mood for kaiten sushi.

Wednesday January 21, 9:38 p.m.

Just the evening classes but they've been concentrated. 001 was chock full of laughter after a somewhat lackadaisical session last week, but it was pretty intense with The Diver. Not quite a reversion back to baby steps but she hasn't mastered a lot of the basics....and she's on her last lesson next week. Not sure how that's gonna go. Luckily (or unluckily...would like to go home at a decent hour), The Fashion Designer has called in to say that she'll be 20 minutes late. Well, at least, I don't have The Smile or Grandma Dynamite early in the morning...I can be more leisurely coming in tomorrow.

Wednesday January 21, 5:25 p.m.

Well, I witnessed all of the pomp and circumstance last night leading up to the 44th President putting his hand on the Lincoln Bible and saying, "I, Barack Hussein Obama..." at 2 a.m. JST. I'd never seen an entire Inauguration Ceremony before...just saw bits and pieces live while saving the rest as highlights. But I would have been damned not to see this one. And I certainly wasn't disappointed with the crowds...although there was far fewer than the 3 million predicted to come, there was nothing wrong with having 1.5 million all along the Mall. It was still a stirring sight. The big highlight was seeing President-elect Obama placing his hand on the bible and getting sworn in, thus dropping the "-elect" part, and even a linguistic fumble by the Chief Justice couldn't obscure the history laden in "The Moment". As for the speech, it wasn't Obama's most soaring one but then again in these times, there is nothing wrong with a relatively quietly reassuring word instead of something wholly pithy. I think it was more than enough to see an African-American taking the Oath of Office on the steps of a place that had been built by slaves more than 150 years ago.

As I said, I caught all this in the wee hours of the morning, so I couldn't see the parade on Pennsylvania Avenue live but was happy to see the highlight reel this morning. The CNN coverage was still going on like a telethon; last time I saw it before leaving the apartment had the President and the First Lady dancing at two of the ten balls they were supposed to be attending.

After two years of the most historic campaign in US history, it's now time to see if Barack Obama can actually get down to business and, even more importantly, if he can actually succeed.

Tuesday January 20, 12:59 p.m.

Well, it's Inauguration Day...or it will be in a couple of hours Eastern Standard Time. The significance of the moment is not lost on the Japanese media. NHK and Fuji-TV at least are planning to have live coverage from the wee hour of 1:40 a.m. tomorrow of Obama's swearing-in. Today's session with the Beehive was pretty rousing with everyone just throwing new vocab at each other concerning the Inauguration. I've been lucky so far since I don't have any classes scheduled tomorrow until 001's night class. I'll be having a similar session with Suzanne since she told me last week that she's pretty interested in these sorts of events.

Nearly had a problem getting to Tsudanuma this morning when I saw a massive crowd of people at the entrance of my station. Apparently, there was a signal problem at Nakano Station on the Tozai Line which shut down any traffic in either direction. I had to give a call to Mrs. Alp just in case I'm late or not coming. But within a few minutes, the crowds suddenly flowed into the station like an unplugged bathtub drain. Mrs. Jade informed me that there was a problem on her line when the train overshot the platform by a good 300 m. Some conductor probably got the chewout of his career.

Monday January 19, 7:30 p.m.

Met up with The Full-Timer at the usual place...smoky Doutors. Full house there which meant full smoke. I think she was having a problem with her allergies. We traded gifts; my calendar and maple cookies to her and then a bag of whitebait with peanuts from her in care of her family New Year trip to Hong Kong. It was a miracle that she could get accomodations during that time and as it turned out, her family got housed in a dumpy hotel above a duty-free shop. At least, they got their money's worth in terms of food, such as the delectable Shanghai Crab. I would love to go back to HK...that is, if I can scrounge up the money. Don't think that I'll be going there anytime soon.

Heard rumours that President Obama may come over to Japan as early as this year. I can only imagine all of the hullabaloo that would follow his arrival. It would be a Second Coming on the order of Princess Diana's trip here 20 years ago. Obama City would absolutely demand or beg an audience with the Change man. But with an unstable leadership here in this country and the fact that the new Prez will be enormously busy saving the world, I think that trip will probably stay a rumour.

Monday January 19, 5:23 p.m.

The first day of the first full week since getting back from the Holidays. Not too bad a feeling; and certainly the weather has been cooperating. A really balmy 16 degrees C and sunny. I can get used to that.

Being a Monday, I had The Class Act for the first time in more than a month. The Matron stayed in Tokyo for New Year's while The Lady and her family did the usual pilgrimage over to Hawaii. Like everyone else there over the Holidays, they had to contend with power outages. However, with a President-elect there, the powers-that-be made sure that the electricity was back on ASAP. The Lady finally used the big "D" word to describe the breakup between her daughter and her son-in-law. We won't be meeting next Monday due to family obligations on The Lady's part but a week later, the three of us will be hitting some restaurant nearby for lunch to celebrate The Matron's birthday. I'll have to think of some sort of gift for The Matron since her family has been good to me over the years.

Had a good rap session with SIL as well. Usually I get a bit dozy even with the proffered coffee but this time, the two of us were catching up on a month's worth of news. We covered everybody from Barack to the late Ai Iijima to that Chuo University professor murder. I think we should have our own daily show.

Back at Speedy's. I met AK for the first time this year. We gabbed a bit on our respective holidays. I've got The Full-Timer and then Medicine Man. Hopefully, I'll have some more time between lessons to get further on those translations from The Corner. I printed out stuff about the Inauguration for The Beehive who'll have us working on his acceptance speech from November. I also made the same printout for Suzanne since she showed a keen interest in this event.

Yup, looks like Barack Obama's Inauguration (or should I say, Coronation?) is taking on epic proportions...even more epic than would be usual for a US Presidential Inauguration. Washington D.C. has basically sealed itself off from the rest of the States for security reasons for what could garner more ratings than the best Super Bowl game ever played. It seems to be kismet with a capital K that Martin Luther King Jr. Day is just before Inauguration Day.

I've now been going through Season Six of "Family Guy". Man, that show can sometimes even outdo "South Park" in terms of hilarious vulgarity. But Seth McFarlane can really come up with some great show tunes.

Finally caught "Holiday Inn" last night on the DVD. I'd seen bits and pieces of it over the years but it was the first time that I'd caught it whole. Yep, I'm well aware that it has the very first rendition of "White Christmas" on the big screen. What I was surprised about was that it had so much whimsy in it. Around the usual cheerfully unbelievable premise of Der Bingle open up a hotel only for national holidays, I got to see Fred Astaire as a gleefully dirty, rotten scoundrel trying to screw Bing every which way, a number of special effects including an animated turkey battling the calendar, and a meta-scene of a film of "Holiday Inn" within the movie itself. Too bad I didn't get the copy with a commentary on it.

Sunday January 18, 2:02 p.m.

Just finished knocking off those translations for Cozy. He tried to get me at 9 last night but I said that I probably wouldn't make that time getting home and he had some plans soon afterward. Still, I fulfilled my duty by coming over to an empty Speedy's.

Around this time yesterday, as I was getting ready for The Businesswoman's lesson, there was a bit of a Keystone Kops farce going on outside in the outer office...and the lobby. Speedy has been interviewing prospective teachers for lessons that neither he nor I could do for the past few days. The 2nd guy in line for the interview caused a bit of an uproar with the superintendant of the building when he screwed up the intercom to let him in and then proceeded to try to force open the door in the lobby...which was the door to the super's apartment. The nimrod could've used his cellphone to contact Speedy upstairs, but no, he had to stir up Hell. The super was far from pleased and gave an earful to Speedy; the super and the nimrod ended up in a "Lost In Translation" situation with neither speaking the other's language although a lot of confused, angry communication took place. Basically, Speedy had to rush down from his interview with the first guy to sort out the situation and then apologize profusely to the super. Not exactly a great day for him. Nimrod looked rather forlorn as he sat out in the outer office while Speedy ended the first interview; I'm sure he was thinking that he lost any chance at a job with us. Speedy pretty much reached that conclusion last night.

Movie Buddy contacted me about getting together for "Quantum of Solace" next Sunday. Yep, the flick is just gonna reach these shores next Saturday. Looks like I'll be getting a bunch of souvenirs ready for he, The Satyr and Skippy. I gave my calendars to Tully & The Coffeemaker this morning. Had a good session with those two.

Now, as I finish this, I'll be heading back home before the rains come in to see if I can get one of those plastic binnies for storage at the neighbourhood Daiei now that I've got room in the apartment.

Almost finished the Linehan bio. The book seemed to cleave away into four sections: the life of the Linehan family in Hamilton when Brian grew up, Brian Linehan the legendary interviewer and his jetsetting years, the Zane Wegman suicide, and then Linehan's doomed battle with cancer. Did get some insight into suicide and dying from it.

It may just be a cold weekend here in The Big Sushi, but over in the States, it's Obama Weekend. I've never seen such a big media deal made over the inauguration of a president, even a US president. I think CNN should just change its first letter for the next few days to "O". Well, I shouldn't be that sassy. I'm planning to be up at 2 a.m. Wednesday morning to see Barack take the Oath of Office. I'm just praying that neither The Nurse nor any other student will be making any lesson requests on Hump Day. I may even consider stating to the bossman that I won't be available on Wednesday.

Anyways, ready to head on home.

Saturday January 17, 11:04 a.m.

Here for another round of lessons at Speedy's. Fairly chilly here...which would translate as frigid for Tokyoites. I would transplant all 14 million of them over to Toronto right now and then they would realize what COLD really was.

I'm reaching the end of Brian Linehan's biography written by his good friend, George Anthony. I guess the best two words I could use to describe the late interviewer is "Glorious Bastard"...as an indirect crack at Quentin Tarentino's upcoming movie. He was a great guy to see in his element but probably someone I would end up avoiding like a plague outside. I could only imagine that perhaps someday someone might be tempted to make a made-for-TV movie of this guy...only in Canada, though.

Walking through the darkness of old Urayasu where the juku is located, I've been noticing that things have been getting a bit seedier there of late. The area has always had that inner city sheen about it, especially compared to the relative luxury of new Urayasu which is closer to Tokyo Disneyland. But on Tuesday, Suzanne and I heard a brief but intense argument outside the house and on my way walking to the juku, a couple of ladies were having a major fight on the sidewalk. And of course, the area around Urayasu Station at night is pretty raucous with kids. Not gonna say that the neighbourhood is approaching Times Square circa 1980 or even Kabukicho but I am noticing.

Friday January 16, 6:45 p.m.

The two-hour session with Swank was pretty relaxed though she still got an educational workout. As it turns out, she won't be taking the Eiken 1 test at the end of the month after all since she feels that she couldn't devote enough time for study so the next time will be June. Either she'll be hanging out with us at Speedy's for another half-year, or she'll be saying goodbye in a couple of weeks.

Had dinner at the usual Urayasu family restaurant and then I popped up here at the juku. The juku boss did some mock panicking at the fact that I'd come so early. I recall sometime last year that I arrived a little past 8 and she almost accused me of being later than usual. Just can't satisfy women.

Now that I've got a chunk of tatami space where there used to be a beaten-down sofa, I've gotta think about the storage space that I'd like to put down there along with one of those low-to-the-ground recliners. It certainly felt a a bit weird this morning sitting down.

Speedy attended that wingding at The Hotel New Otani (where I used to teach The Class Act before I went freelance) for the Prime Minister of Ireland. He was never sure why he had been given his golden invitation. STill, he went and tried to schmooze as best he could. I gather that his work for study-abroad programmes in the Emerald Isle didn't go unnoticed. Still, he felt like a fifth wheel there. I can sympathize...before I started the custom of bringing an entourage to The Lady's Xmas parties, I didn't feel too in place there.

I'm making some headway on that translation for The Corner. I've yet to hear from Cozy about my submission for his translation request. I remember him telling me that there may be a lot more to come my way...it is approaching tax season, after all.

Friday January 16, 7:55 a.m.

Yep, here bright and early. Already feel like I need another 3-week vacation. I think I did put down as one of my New Year's Resolutions that I would try to get myself out of these late night-early morning transitions...don't think that's gonna happen anytime soon. Unless my translation gigs get really enormous so that I can actually take a sabbatical from Speedy's. However, I did successfully carry out one Resolution...well, half of it anyways...as soon as I got home...past midnight...I wrestled out one of my two sofas all the way downstairs to the garbage pick-up zone. I had been thinking about doing it first thing this morning but I think it was far better to get it over with last night. Not exactly the easiest thing to do and I was worried that someone would decide to make off with it overnight but it was still there when I left the apartment at the crazy hour of 6 a.m. It was just too cold last night for anyone to go for free furniture, I guess. There has been a penchant for folks to rummage around to see if they can find some freebies...not just used manga. At this time, the sodaigomi people should have picked up my compressed furniture by now. As I left, I gave the sofa the gold-watch equivalent of a pat.

Speaking of interior transitions, the White House is now down to its last 4 days before Bush goes and Obama comes. The Inauguration of the Century seems to be taking on Hollywood proportions in the pomp and (dire) circumstances that the US is going through right now. President no. 44 is facing a Middle East crisis, a belligerent Russia, the usual threats from Muslim extremists, a couple of embarrassments in his Cabinet picks, and of course, the global economic meltdown. However, it looks like the first First Lady in American history to get a key Cabinet position will be doing so. And what got my eyes opened was hearing that Obama may be tapping Dr. Sanjay Gupta to be his Surgeon-General. Not sure if this is true news or not but if the telegenic Dr. Gupta does become Top Doc, he'll be the most famous one since his mug has been popping up almost daily on CNN.

As for me today, I've just got my usual students in the form of Prissy, the Eiken student and the bunch at the juku tonight. I'll be properly exhausted by tonight. Just grateful that Mr. TOEIC has officially switched his lesson to the last slot tomorrow instead of first thing in the morning.

Did break my first resolution of not going to McDonalds by having McBreakfast there this morning. However, I'll still hold off as long as I can from having Big Macs. And in any case, I figure if you're gonna load up on empty calories, you can do so for breakfast. Pretty nice rationalization.

Thursday January 15, 9:04 p.m.

Well, I was able to get that translation rush job done for Cozy. Hopefully, it passes muster but I think there will be a bit of a discussion back-and-forth before it's finally accepted. I've yet to really get into The Corner's translations; I may have to come in on the Sunday to get that done.

I went down to the Excelsior Cafe in Shinjuku to see The Carolinan. She's lost weight since I saw her back in mid-December. I've only got Medicine Man tonight and then I have to get back home to throw out one of my two sofas. Yes, after 14 years of good use and a lowering of several centimetres, it's time to make some more space in the living room. Paid my large-garbage payment stamps (was surprised that it doesn't cost all that much to pitch a sofa out...just 2,000 yen). But I'll be struggling to bring down the two parts early in the morning since I'll probably be groggy, and I have to be out and on the subway by around 6:30 a.m.

The big news here today is about a stabbing death of a professor at one of the big universities in Tokyo. And it happened on campus in one of the buildings which has gotten the students there pretty nervous. I have a feeling that this isn't a random act, though...maybe it was an ex-student with a grudge.

I managed to track down that YouTube video of the Vocaloid version of The Ielvan Polka that The Anime King had introduced during my Xmas vacation. Apparently, the tune originally came from one of the Nordic countries. Well, it's managed to insinuate itself into my brain like termites in a wooden house.

Thursday January 15, 4:33 p.m.

I've been doing a rush job for Cozy. I told him that I would probably be able to get it back to him on Friday or Saturday, but with a bit of luck, I may even be able to get it off to him before I see Medicine Man tonight. However, I'll be taking off in a few minutes for The Carolinan's lesson at a Shinjuku cafe. I don't want to always depend on this school to house my private students.

Looks like we lost a couple of old-time celebs: one who used to run an island, another who just desperately wanted to get off one. First off, Ricardo Montalban, famous for Mr. Roarke, Khan Noonien Singh and Corinthian leather, finally passed on. And Patrick McGoohan of "The Prisoner" has gone to that Village in the sky. I guess it'll have to "be NOT seeing you".

Wednesday January 14, 4:59 p.m.

Just finished up revising The Stick's resume. Yep, my former student sent me over her English-language of her CV for proofreading. So, happy to have gotten that done.

And it looks like Grandma Dynamite did give the cancel order to her lessons with Speedy and me for tomorrow. Well, at least I can get some more shuteye in the mornings...that is, unless The Smile requests her early morning classes again. Haven't heard from her yet since I got back. Dynamite will be keeping a low profile for the next 2 months at least.

Saw The New Yorker in Ichigaya. She had a good session today...applied the grammar pretty well. She also appreciated the calendar of Toronto. Looks like she had a fairly quiet New Year's.

Well, I'll be having my usual Wednesday night crew starting in an hour. 001 is back along with The Diver and The Fashion Designer. The Diver will be the one to keep an eye on since I'll be starting that crash review of the entire text from tonight. Not sure if the month's absence will have her revert to her Nervous Nellie of almost a year ago.

Finished the Season One DVDs of "Get Smart". Gotta say that Don Adams gets my respect for doing a lot of his stunts well despite his character as a bumbling CONTROL agent. That was him fighting a KAOS agent in the pool. That was him doing the punchups with stuntmen. I listened to the lone commentary by Barbara "99" Feldon; it was interesting to hear how she had to slouch and wear flats so that she wouldn't tower over her co-star.

Wednesday January 14, 12:38 p.m.

So far, so good for my first Hump Day of 2009. Just had Grandma Enka for the monthly chit-chat. She liberally mixes Japanese with her English to the extent that I'm never sure if she's actually getting anything out of the 60, but she seems to be quite happy. She told me that her sister, Grandma Dynamite, has been ailing of late so we're not quite sure of her status for tomorrow morning.

I'll be heading out in about a few minutes to teach The New Yorker in Ichigaya. I've got her sister, The Carolinan, tomorrow night. It's been over a month since I've taught The New Yorker so I'm not sure what her ability will be like. Probably very rusted. I did get word from Tully that he and The Coffeemaker will be OK for Sunday morning. Looks like I'm getting back into the swing of things.

And the translations are starting to pop up as well. Cozy gave me the heads-up on some work heading my way in the next few weeks. I've already got stuff from The Corner.

I heard that Mr. TOEIC will be shifting his lesson from early Saturday morning to late Saturday night. Well, at least, I'll get some shuteye on Friday night.

Tuesday January 13, 5:25 p.m.

Had my first Beehive session with the ladies. They thanked me for helping them relay the gifts and good wishes to Mrs. Tulip back in Toronto. Mrs. Travel suffered a bit of a concussion after falling on some icy ground up in Karuizawa the other day. The topic of discussion was on the effects of the plummeting economy. Each of the ladies told me about neighbours they knew who had been laid off. A couple of them were from Honda. I figure that the crime rate will go up. And CNN is reporting that the number of homeless has also gone up. I think for a lot of people, recession will be a new and disturbing feeling.

The long weekend was good for relaxing. Had a binge of shopping in Shibuya and Shinjuku. I've been trying to keep my New Year's resolution of trying to get fit again after 3 weeks of noshing back home. I've been sticking to as many stairs as possible in lieu of elevators. I've been proud of the fact that I haven't hit a McDs in almost a month.

KDDI is getting on my tail about my disconnected line since I'm now with Ichikawa Cable. They sent a notice asking for my modem back. No particular problems there....I even called the customer service centre but I could only get 50% of what the guy was rattling off his tongue, so I just went with my original plan of writing them a letter. Hopefully, I won't be getting any more red tape.

I've got the usual suspects tonight. I have Suzanne and then The Artist followed by The Milds. The juku boss is still coming back from her operation.

Saturday January 10, 4:51 p.m.

Finished up with The Intellectual and The PA. The Intellectual was as talkative as he usually is. The PA seemed a bit sleepy-headed although she did appreciate my omiyage of a Canadian calendar. My photos from Toronto helped drive the lesson throughout the day.

Over the last couple of days, I have been in surprise communication with an old high school buddy whom I hadn't heard from in about 25 years. He somehow managed to track me down on Facebook. He had some maturity issues back then but it looks like he's fully grown now with his own business to boot. He even got me onto another old classmate who's on the forum so I've sent him a message.

I had our staffer look through that letter from KDDI; apparently, they said that they would cut my service with the Internet provider that I never used so that I don't end up paying money endlessly. Serves me fine. I'll send a letter in response just so that they know what's happened in good faith.

The Corner has sent me the final 7 pages to be translated for that Hokkaido website. Nice to be able to make a bit of money on the side.

Speedy informed me that The Trekkie has left the coop since she was only meant to work until the end of the year. Pity about that...she was quite a character. I was going to ask her about what she thought of the passing of Majel Barrett.

Saturday January 10, 1:42 p.m.

I'm halfway through the lessons. Finished up my double with Mr. TOEIC and then the single with Mr. Pronunciation. Was regaling both about my culinary exploration of Toronto's restaurants, especially for the latter guy since he'll be studying there for the latter 6 months of the year. I showed him the pics from the Sunset Grill, the breakfast place that Automan had taken me, The Wild Thing and their significant others a couple of weeks ago. Man, I'm gonna spoil Mr. Pronunciation before he takes off.

Just very briefly spoke with the bossman since I'm in classes and he's in interviews for that new teacher. I figure that he'll want to talk with me after my lesson with The PA is over about what's been happening over the past few weeks.

Saturday January 10, 9:51 a.m.

Have a brief respite due to a late Mr. TOEIC. Back at Speedy's right now. Looks like it's gonna be a busy one but not just for me. Speedy is apparently going to be interviewing three folks to potentially take over for one of our part-timers who will be leaving us. I was gonna suggest that we could use another full-timer to give me a bit more breathing room.

Mr. Mild came by with all of my accumulated mail during my absence including a number of New Year's cards. I also got a letter from KDDI concerned about my decision to cut off my NTT line; apparently, they didn't get the memo about my switching over to Ichikawa Cable. I rather expected that this would happen.

Friday January 9, 8:10 p.m.

Just found out that there may be a good chance of sleet or full-blown snow heading into the Kanto tomorrow. Ohhh...just great...right in time for my first full day of work at Speedy's. And over here, if a single snowflake were to get onto a JR track, there would be mayhem. I'm gonna have to keep a good eye on the weather and traffic reports tonight.

The juku boss came in right now to give me a piece of cake, stating that she can only eat a quarter of what she could eat up to early December. I kinda wonder if she underwent gastric stapling

Did forget to mention that I'd also seen "Tropic Thunder" on the plane coming back. Yep, fairly funny and very profane. There was absolutely no way that even Air Canada censors could cut out the swearing. Otherwise, the movie would've been just 5 minutes long (reminds me of that sight gag on the "South Park" movie from a decade ago about a non-profanity version of the kids' favourite movie). So, the censors gave up and kept a lot of the potty-mouthed results in. Yep, Tom Cruise still has the moves after 25 years. I think those closing credits have garnered him more respect than anything in "Valkyrie".

Friday January 9, 2009, 7:44 p.m.

Back at the juku for the first time this year. I initially had come by around 5:30 but the house was locked and I had forgotten to put back my house key into my wallet. However, it was good that I already had a Plan B in mind. I ended up having dinner at The Restauranteur's place just down the street. Friday nights are usually pretty quiet there. I was the only one there for several minutes before some factory workers came on in. The Restauranteur became the first of my omiyage donees as I gave her my Ontario calendar. She inquired about the boss' health so obviously she hadn't seen her in almost a month. After my hearty dinner of wafu hamburger there, I spent the next hour just glancing through an issue of TokyoWalker, the weekly magazine on what to do in The Big Sushi.Most of that time was actually just spent walking through the crowded, musty corridors of my mind since I really can't read kanji all that fluently. However, The Restauranteur glanced at my supposed reading and was impressed by my Japanese ability.

I took another look at the juku after dinner, and relievedly, found the place back open. The juku boss was thinner but not alarmingly so. She was quite happy to reiterate how the surgery went. I was just happy to see that she was recovering nicely although apparently a few of her wardmates didn't survive. Just as I passed through the genkan, Mr. Mild called to say that he would be dropping by the juku at about 10, at the end of my lesson with The Restauranteur with my mail. Looks like I'll be able to give away all of today's omiyage, thereby lightening my load considerably.

Speedy left a message on the machine for the first time this year. Yep, it'll be a busy one tomorrow starting with that double with Mr. TOEIC. And The New Yorker sent word abouther next lesson.

With all of the changes going on in pop culture, the next big one I've heard is the announcement of the next Doctor Who...a much-anticipated event in Britain along the lines of a selection of a new Pope. Apparently, it isn't The Next Doctor, David Morrissey, but that was pretty obvious. Instead, the producers are going even younger than baby-faced David Tennant and going with a junior Thin White Duke type named Matt Smith. Geez, he does seem to be David Bowie's love child...he's even younger than when Peter Davison took the role. Of course, there has been some griping that the new kid simply cannot have the gravitas to play a 900-ear-old Time Lord. But then again, I'm reminded of all the furor against the new James Bond and where did those naysayers go? So, I'm not too worried and it'll probably be another year before we actually get to see the Eleventh Doctor.

Friday January 9, 3:29 p.m.

Well, I'm back after 3 weeks of Christmas vacation in Toronto! A very belated Happy New Year to you all. I was watching the first season of the original TV series of "Get Smart" with Don Adams and came across the episode in which Agent 86 remarked with some surprise and resentment that certain others were getting 3 weeks of holidays. I hope that is not the reaction I'm getting from some students...well, not that it would matter anyways...I'll get my 3 weeks every time.

Got back home last night after several hours of flight time elongated by a stopover in Vancouver and a delayed takeoff from Pearson due to the snow. I'm back here in relatively warmer weather of 5 degrees C and rain. It felt a bit weird to be back in Japan even though I've been living here for over 14 years...almost as if I didn't really fit. I guess my latest trip back to the hometown had some poignancy since my father has definitely become one of the elderly and my friends have become harder to meet up with due to the increasing demands of family life. Still, it was good seeing everyone.

The flight itself was filled with movies to watch and a book to read. I managed to see "WALL*E", "Hellboy 2" and "X-Files: I Want To Believe". "WALL*E" was worth catching twice...I realized I caught it on this small screen but it was that good....had to be for me to choose it 2 times on an airplane. Definitely will get the DVD. "Hellboy 2" was good enough to catch once although the final battle was somewhat anti-climactic...but I've got a feeling that "Hellboy 3" will be in the pipe. As for the latest X-Files movie...man, that only deserved to be shown as an extra-special TV episode, not as a motion picture. The gruesome plot was interesting but not enough to launch it anywhere as a hit movie. And it should prove as a cautionary tale to those directors on the risks of having romantic tension collapse.

The Holidays are ironically also a time in which celebs seem to die off. Just in the past 3 weeks, we've lost Van Johnson, Eartha Kitt and Majel Barrett Roddenberry, the matriarch of "Star Trek". And here in Japan, I saw the late Ai Iijima's face on a number of ads for tabloids wondering aloud about the circumstances behind her death.

I've been watching as a bit of weaning from life in North America the 1st season of "Get Smart". I had vaguely remembered the pilot episode as being the only one to be shot in black & white in the entire series. I had forgotten that The Cone of Silence was actually introduced in the pilot. Never forgot that Barbara Feldon was such a babe. And she's now even older than my Dad! I've got quite a few DVDs to get through...sets of "Family Guy", "Futurama" and the 1st season of "Mission: Impossible". Plus, I also have the classic "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" with Steve Martin and Michael Caine.

My omiyage season starts today. I've got calendars to give out to the juku boss, The Milds, The Ace and The Restauranteur. The Ace gets the added bonus of getting some Second Cup and Tim Hortons coffee since he's such a connoisseur of the stuff. Plus, The Milds get some T-shirts from me. Unfortunately, my stupidity resulted in my bottle of Crown Royal for Mr. Mild getting confiscated during the Customs search back at Pearson...I somehow hadn't realized that the restriction on liquids also extended to alcohol. Well, I'll fix that. The juku boss sounded a bit hoarse on the phone but otherwise, she was still pretty genki despite that rather major piece of surgery last month. I hope she looks as fine as she almost sounded although she had warned me that she might look a bit gaunt for the next little while.

I got a pretty full slate at Speedy's tomorrow although The Bostonian has cancelled her lesson. I've got Mr. TOEIC, Mr. Pronounciation, The Intellectual and The PA before we go into the long weekend of Adulthood Day on Monday. I fully expect to hear of delinquent teens making trouble though I will probably be curtailing viewing of Japanese TV for the next several days due to my DVD purchases.

I've been reading the biography of the late, great Torontonian interviewer Brian Linehan since I got on the plane. Probably not many regular folks would either know or remember him; it was more the media and entertainment cognoscenti who would, though. This was the monkey-faced fellow who had the mind of a steel trap filled to overflowing with all sorts of minutiae on his interviewees...a fact that got him parodied by Martin Short on SCTV in the character of Brock Linehan. Brian Linehan garnered a lot of respect and love from a good bunch of Hollywood types because of his interview style and a good deal of resentment and jealousy from his fellow journalists. He could either be seen as one of the most unique and best interviewers that the media had ever seen or will ever see or as a sycophantic suck-up with a vindictive nature against those who crossed him. I think the book shows him off as both by his best friend, George Anthony.

Not sure what this year will bring. This will be the year of uncertainty for everyone here in Japan. But I know that I will be changing a number of things about myself. My apartment...at least the interior will be one of the first things.

Thursday December 25, 2:33 p.m.

Well, it's been quite an interesting week for me since I officially went on Xmas hiatus. The plane ride was actually rather uneventful, and I think the stopover in Vancouver was better for me than a direct non-stop since it gave me a chance to stretch my legs and look at something other than the personal screen for 13 hours straight. The only downside was having to wait over half an hour at both VCR and YYZ for my suitcase to pop out of the carousel.

Meterologically, Toronto hasn't let me down. It has been a showcase of all kinds of weather...the climactic version of "A Night of a Hundred Stars". First off, we've had two or three snowstorms blast through T.O. but today is a balmy 6 degrees C and Saturday promises to be a blistering 11 C. All this after going through the first few days of -15 C weather.

My social calendar has been OK although the first five days were spent virtually at home or in the immediate neighbourhood. Actually, I had my first outing with friends a couple of nights ago with some of my old classmates from university. We were supposed to have met on Friday night, but the first storm left those plans in tatters. And that other night wasn't exactly the greatest night either. Ironically, the guy who planned it all, Ol' Sam, ended up taking 3 hours to get from his place to The Keg since traffic was tied up from the snow. Still, he and his wife made it to see me, The Engineer and his new wife, and some of the others for dinner. Our waitress was almost annoyingly perky...still, I gave a generous tip. The Engineer remarked that a lot of these food service professionals are trying for thespian careers.

Yesterday on Xmas Eve, I pulled off a double by meeting The Entrepreneur for lunch at The Mongolian Grill near Don Mills, and then braving the horrible slush downtown and meeting up with Shard in his renovated house. Muddy slush is one thing I will never miss being in Japan.

Back on Monday, I met up with my old student, Mrs Tulip, at Hospital for Sick Children. Her elder daughter has been hospitalized for about a couple of months, but hopefully, she'll finally be discharged tomorrow. I am hoping for good news there. I'd never been in the world-famous institution...so I was rather impressed to see that one wing looked like the atrium of a huge hotel. Beforehand, I had walked through the deserted environs of U of T since it was on official holiday. Ended up having lunch at Swiss Chalet, one of my must-dos whenever I get back into Toronto. I wasn't disappointed although I waited for over half an hour to get a table. The special sauce is one of the most hotly debated topics anywhere. The university always seems to gain some new sparkly building. There was another one at the north end of the St. George campus which looked like Kal-El's crystal ship.

Today, it was the usual thing of getting up early and then being whisked off by my brother to the morning church service. His family has started going to another bigger church with more developed facilities. The main sanctuary looked like the bridge of the Enterprise with its own wide viewscreen at the front. There was a little play performed on stage about the reason behind Xmas...one guy did act like Shatner.

Every time I get back home, I usually fall into the habit of catching one particular show on the telly. Last time, it was "CSI: Miami" but this time around, I've been catching a lot of "Robot Chicken" and "Family Guy". Would love to grab those DVD sets.

The other strange theme I've been encountering this trip has been one of life and death. Since I got back here, I've been encountering new and upcoming births and the pitter-patter of little feet. Ol' Sam's wife is expecting, Chip Guy has just gotten a second daughter and of course, my niece is just running and gabbing around. But to counter that, I found out from The Bohemian that his grandmother had just passed away...which adds a third person to be excluded on the don't send list for nengajo. Unfortunately, he didn't send me the news until two days after I'd already sent out the cards. But the somewhat surprising news was a celeb death on Xmas Eve back in Japan. Ai Iijima, the hardcore porn actress-turned-TV personality, was found dead in her apartment yesterday. I found out the news yesterday morning during breakfast; my jaw hit the table momentarily. But then again, I shouldn't have been surprised...she'd retired from show biz less than 2 years ago under some mysterious circumstances with the rumours of serious disease and depression swirling around her. It's definitely a very sad end, though. Iijima was one-of-a-kind for show biz....anywhere on the planet. Porn actresses have ended up breaking into other genres or completely different industries (such as that woman in Italy who ran for its parliament) but they still built their new fame on top of their old one. Ai Iijima was also well known for her original career and it did help her get into the more mainstream one. However, she's the only ex-porn star I know who was able to make the full transition into regular tarento without ever needing to use her former status as a crutch....unless it was to make a point, which she did several years ago with her book, "Platonic Sex" which was made into a movie and a 2-part TV special. Although I have no doubt that most people beyond their teens knew about her more sordid past, they saw Ms. Iijima as just that regular talking head on the tube...bantering about food and throwing insults at the comedians. As I said, a very sad end to a woman who had a tough but interesting life.

Speaking of colourful personalities, I finally did get a chance to take a close look at cooking's enfant terrible, Gordon Ramsay, on The Food Network, the other day. I knew about his reputation as a profanity-spewing, chef-destroying force of nature and figured him to be a vainglorious bully opportunist. However, after having caught an episode of "Restaurant Nightmares", I've changed my mind on him slightly. He was called in to save an Italian restaurant from the mismanagement of its young and arrogant chef-owner. What I saw wasn't an ogre breaking down a chef into little bits just for some psychopathic fun but a version of a military drill instructor showing a raw recruit a bit of tough love...breaking him down of his ingrained bad habits before building him back up into a better chef-businessman. It was interesting to watch; Ramsay showed up on a local interview show last night as well...he came off as being quite personable although with some very straight answers.

Anyways, just got off the phone with X. Looks like everything is coming into place for Saturday's get-together at Yonge-Eglinton. Tomorrow will be a day with The Anime King and his Court. And in a few hours, it'll be Xmas dinner with the whole family.

Wednesday December 17, 3:21 p.m.

Well, had that dinner at Gen Nakamura. Not a person's name but the name of a restaurant in Ebisu. It's actually a reconverted apartment, and by the looks of the interior, it must've been a pretty large apartment. It did look like a true restaurant inside. The Carolinan made the call on this one and she picked well; the fare was a bit more different from the usual run-of-the-mill izakaya. The main dish was a hot pot for which the broth was 100% collagen...a woman's best friend in Japan. It looked rather groady since it looked like pale yellow blocks of wobbly stuff and it didn't have much of a taste but when it melted during the cooking and we put in the chunks of chicken and veggies, it made for a satisfying meal.

Some of the old folks from the ol' school were there: SR, The Jazz Singer, and of course, California Girl with her hubby and buddies. The Jazz Singer just got engaged last week so she was fairly glowing...even without the collagen. Both she and SR were asking about my services once again, but not sure if I can even fit them into the schedule.

And it looks like Ol' Sam has been getting the old gang together for dinner on Friday night. Looks like City Hall will be the meeting place.

Tuesday December 16, 6:11 p.m.

It's been a busy last few days. I've had to prep stuff for Speedy since he'll be spelling me for the next couple of lessons for Swank...and prepping for Swank is always a bit of an epic. Finally got the shopping out of the way. Bought two more books for the parentals and got stuff for The Anime King and his court. Binged at the Akiba kaiten sushi place at the top of Yodobashi Camera and sacrificed over 3,000 yen; worth every little silver yen.

Officially, I'm on holiday but I'm here at Speedys, having taken the past several hours to write up the stuff on Swank. Ray and The Trekkie are having a mock debate on the significance of Santa Claus. The Trekkie was gobsmacked when she found out that Kris' abode is in my country. I naturally pointed out the fact that his clothes are indeed red-and-white.

On Sunday, I did take Tully and The Coffeemaker for brunch at Fujimamas. It was one of the rainiest and coldest days that I'd experienced all year as I explored Kiddyland for a few minutes while waiting for the two. The third floor is now devoted to Snoopy and the Peanuts gang. As for Fujimamas, there was no sign of that snooty waitress who had the temerity to snort at my single status when I'd arrived at the place for Xmas dinner some years back. I once again had The Plate, the dish of just about every breakfast item available. It used to be served on big long platter but now apparently too many customers probably complained about the syrup getting into all of the savory stuff like the sausages so now the hotcakes come on a separate dish. Tully and The Coffeemaker enjoyed the fare there. I even got a present in the form of a Swiss Army Knife from them.

Later in the evening, after some running around for Xmas, I met up with Movie Buddy and The Satyr plus their significant others, The Sylph and Miss Ivory, and Skippy in front of Picadilly in Shinjuku. Unfortunately, Skippy had to skip out to a prior engagement so it was a very brief round of greetings between her and me. The rest of us ended up having dinner at Foo Foo for the usual pai ko tan tan men. Even with the walk up from Omotesando to Shinjuku, I hadn't completely walked off all those calories from the brunch, so it was a bit of a slog to get through the huge bowl of ramen at Foo Foo. Still, I had enough room in the ol' belly for dessert at a place in Lumine.

Yesterday was my last official day of work for the year. It was a full slate of The Class Act, SIL, The Full-Timer and Medicine Man. Even The Businesswoman managed to squeeze in an hour in a rare Monday appearance. The Full-Timer had just come back from France after her first trip there. She definitely had a good time. Her theme was also food-based; she showed me a rash of the dishes she and her colleagues had noshed on there. She was also pleasantly surprised that the French in Paris were not at all rude and snooty.

In about 20 or so minutes, I'll be heading out to Ebisu to meet up with California Girl and her hubby, SR and The Carolinan for a reunion of sorts at some apartment-converted restaurant near the station. Can't really stay too long since I'm gonna be pretty busy.

Saturday December 13, 12:34 p.m.

Well, got through the guys. Mr. TOEIC and I basically noshed on favourite foods. We exchanged ramen and burger tales. I gave him my point card for the amazing Foo Foo. TOEIC remarked that the burgers at MosBurger, arguably producers of the best burgers of all the fast food chains in Tokyo, have shrunk due to the oil shock of '08. The Intellectual and I spoke on more esoteric fare such as the increasing numbers of elderly and how to take care of them.

I was talking with Marcie about this year's crop of nengajo or New Year's Cards. I wasn't quite sure when I should send them Every year at this time, there is an official date set when it's OK to send the cards out so that they get to people's homes on January 1. Marcie reassured me that probably Monday will be OK. If it had been much later, I would've had to give them to Speedy or someone to send out and I would much rather face 001 in a chug-a-lug contest than do that since my calligraphy is just horrible. Any resemblance between my kanji and that of a Grade 1 student is purely coincidental. And I just can't seem to keep the letters in a straight line. The recipients of my nengajo must wonder if my printing has a bad case of scoliosis. Well, at least they should get a nice laugh out of it.

Just munched down too much lunch again. I had to share my dessert with Marcie. Next up are three ladies.

Saturday December 13, 9:21 a.m.

Coming across some entertainment stuff of the sad, surprising and not-so-surprising variety. As for the sad part, I just read that actor Van Johnson passed away today. Even as a child, I remembered his name for some reason...I think he popped up a lot in guest roles on TV shows and commercials. But of course, he was the wishy-washy Lt. Maryk on "The Caine Mutiny". Never won an Oscar or got nominated for one.

Of the surprising variety, I also read that Hugh "Wolverine" Jackman is gonna host the next Oscar Awards. I can just imagine Jon Stewart and David Letterman having a field day with this one.

And then, there is the news that the revamped "The Day The Earth Stood Still" has been getting bad reviews. No, not all that surprising, although the casting of Keanu Reeves as Klaatu was pitch-perfect.

Saturday December 13, 8:45 a.m.

Once again typing early at Speedy's. Got another 5 here: Mr. TOEIC, The Intellectual, The Businesswoman, The Publicity Agent and The Bostonian. Plus, I gotta get stuff prepared for the bossman's go with Swank. It's gonna be another busy. Luckily, I was able to get an hour of lunch into the schedule between The Intellectual and The Businesswoman.

Did get to see those old Number Painter sketches with young Paul Benedict and Stockard Channing. (for your information, try the numbers 4 and 5) Yup, pretty fetching...Stockard, I mean. I also came across her audition tape on Youtube for Christopher Reeve's "Superman".

Had to decline MB's offer of catching "Tropic Thunder" tomorrow. It was a bit of a tossup since I had a couple of hours between the brunch and the movie outing, but I'm gonna be doing a lot of crosstown commuting to get the remaining stuff for home so I just said it'll be dinner. And I did want to see how Akihabara was looking these days. I read something to the effect that the Sunday hokoten was back after a few months of reflection following the killing spree there in June. Tourism apparently plummeted there since the authorities pulled the weekly event.

In another possible sign that PM Aso's is going through the Reader's Digest version of George Bush's "success" in office, his own coalition ignored a direct order concerning his intention of increasing the consumption tax rate within 3 years. And his approval rating is about the same as Bush's...20-25%. I may have to pick up that Aso manju fast...by the time I get back from vacation, it'll be replaced by the latest confection for the next flunky to become Prime Minister.

Read an article in today's "Japan Times" about the word "o-mae" which is one of the ways to express "you" in Japanese. The instruction manual on this word states that this "you" is supposed to be used between sempai and kohai or folks who have a very close relationship with each other...spouses, family and the like. However, it's become rather clear and very belatedly that the targets of o-mae greatly resent being addressed like that. I can vouch for that. Even if I know the person very well, I would feel stung if I got called that way. Perhaps it's because as a child, my parents used the term when they weren't too thrilled about something I did or didn't do. And so, o-mae is a word that I wouldn't mind seeing expunged from the Japanese lexicon. Plenty of nicer ways to use the 2nd-person singular. Of course, the crusty older generation who can read English would probably be chewing this article and spitting it out like chewing tobacco, and railing very loudly about the further oversensitization of the current generation.

Friday December 12, 10:00 p.m.

Finished my last lesson at the juku for the year. The Restauranteur was alternately bashful and cheerful...good combination. We both hope for the boss' safe return. I remarked that it was pretty quiet up here.

Had Misia playing on the stereo before The Restauranteur came over. It'd been a while since I played her. I may have to take one more listen before I go. Can't believe it's been a decade since she hit the airwaves. But then again, the same can be said about Hikaru Utada. Frankly, both have seen better days professionally.

Time to go...still, miles to go before I sleep.

Friday December 12, 9:04 p.m.

Well, will wonders never cease. Even at my advanced age, I can still pick up an eye-opening piece of trivia. Yes, it's been a very quiet night...Mild Jr. never showed up so I've been pretty much alone with Toonces (who did get back in) for the past 3 hours. Was able to get some of my nengajo (New Year's cards) written up in bad kanji and got the lesson ready for The Restauranteur. A neighbour came in about an hour ago to take care of some household chores for my hospitalized boss.

As for the trivia, I was tooting about Wikipedia just to keep myself occupied when I came across the fact that it was a young Stockard Channing (aka Rizzo of the movie version of "Grease" and First Lady Abby Bartlett on "The West Wing", both characters who could hardly be called wallflowers) who played the cute and mute doe-eyed woman on those Number Painter skits on "Sesame Street" all those years ago. And the Number Painter himself was played by Paul Benedict, who would find further TV fame as the somewhat bizarre Mr. Bentley, neighbour to The Jeffersons. And I also found out that the man had just passed away less than 2 weeks ago...and that he wasn't even British but a native New Mexican. I remember those old Number Painter sketches (whoops!) with the ragtime piano theme and ol' NP painting single digits on stuff such as sandwich bread and bald heads. I went straight to YouTube but with the condition that the juku computer is in, Internet Explorer just kept giving up the ghost whenever I tried to start the video. Well, guess I'll be taking a quick look when I get in to Speedy's tomorrow morning.

I'm not sure if it's because my ol' Canadian persona of being a culinary vacuum cleaner is coming back before I head home, but recently I've been getting some major cases of the late-night munchies...which I should definitely not be doing at my age. However, I've just been feeling that dinner hasn't been all that soul-satisfying. Then again, I haven't had any lunch for the past couple of days so that might be causing these stomach grumbles. Tonight, I went over to KFC...the set was OK (Mariya Takeuchi's annual Xmas theme song for the franchise was playing in the background) but again I'm feeling that I could pick up a little something on the way home tonight. Last night, I ended up getting an instant shio yakisoba pack to munch on...and this was just an hour before I hit bed. I had a slight case of the bloat when I got up at the obscene hour of 5 this morning but not as bad as I used to remember them. Not sure what I'll get tonight...maybe it'll be another instant noodle pack or just some kaki-P (spicy rice crackers and peanuts). I also have to remind myself that I need to pick up the new scheduler for 2009 since students have already been starting to fill up my January slate.

The Matron has sent over another package to me. I checked the undelivered notice and it said that it doesn't seem to be food...her usual parcel. That would be good since I can't really eat her usual stuff within the time I have left before departure. I just hope that it isn't a request for me to bring something back to the parentals.

Friday December 12, 6:39 p.m.

Got through the latest double with Swank. She did well with the Reading stuff; glad that was what she wanted to do...I was pretty thin on the other stuff. Tried some of my homemade exercises on Ray and Marcie; they made it up to Eiken 2. According to Speedy, the gap from Eiken 2 to Eiken 1 is about as wide as the Grand Canyon. I think I rather depressed Ray after she couldn't hack too many of the questions. In any case, that'll be the last time I'll see her for this year since she doesn't come on Mondays and that'll be my last day.

I was able to get back home with my pressed and cleaned sweaters plus a box of cheap sneakers that I'd bought at the neighbourhood store for the measly price of 1,900 yen. Yep, they could melt in the heavily salted streets of Toronto, but I only need them for the Holidays. And I managed to get a bit of dinner in before getting over here. Once more, the place is empty. Even Toonces is out there somewhere. I am assuming that Mild Jr. will be showing up in about 15 minutes since I haven't received any cancellation call. Then, it'll be another 90 minutes of downtime before The Restauranteur shows up.

Friday December 12, 1:11 p.m.

Just waiting for Swank to show up. I've got as much done as I could. Hope it all holds together. Had The Smile and that model student from Nov. 21 who got converted into an official student. She reminds me of a slightly older and shyer version of Skippy. Not sure what I'll tag her as...perhaps Miss Cute. In any case, she did quite well although she looked rather tired by the end.

I was also able to get material done up for The Restauranteur tonight for what will be the final lesson at the juku this year. The Ace will be gone for a bonenkai tonight. I'm assuming that Mild Jr. will be showing up earlier in the evening. However, between Swank and the juku classes, I gotta pick up my cleaning and buy some cheap sneakers for the trip home. I certainly can't wear my loafers in the snow and salt of Toronto.

Friday December 12, 7:38 a.m.

Ugh....I really gotta do something about these lousy early wake-up lessons. I mean I like the Smile and all, but...

Tried to smash in as much information as possible for Swank's lesson today but still gotta putter around a bit for her, plus I got that new student in between her and The Smile. This may not be a good day.

The Lens got back to say that most likely Saturday night will be a wash. I'm not too put out since I'm probably gonna be too busy getting stuff done myself.

Well, gotta get ready....just hope I don't end up stressing myself out of a trip.

Thursday December 11, 7:32 p.m.

Well, it's been another long day. Strangely coincidental as well...on Tuesday, I ended up being the guy to open up and close down the juku with the boss being in hospital. And today, I opened up the school here at Speedy's and will most likely be the one to close up here as well unless Speedy gets back in within the next 10-15 minutes. Ray couldn't wait up for me to finish with The Carolinan (I always end up spending extra minutes with students unless there's a lesson immediately following...can't help it, I'm intellectually curious), so she left me. Mind you, the bossman will return sometime tonight.

Didn't have time even to grab a quick lunch from the conbini since I had to take care of the stuff for Swank tomorrow. In fact, the lady did come in to pick up the text. Had to do a bit of the verbal softshoe since she was asking so many questions about Eiken/TOEFL with me. I'm kinda glad that it'll be my last one with her before I take off but Speedy still expects me to make enough material to last him for the next couple of lessons. I can try... However, I found an ace in the hole by using some of the taped stuff from The Smile's textbook. I don't really want to spend a whole lot of time tonight making up questions since I've got an especially early departure tomorrow morning. Plus, I gotta make up material for The Restauranteur's half-hour tomorrow night. Don't even know if Mild Jr. is swinging by.

As for the other lessons today, Grandma FON took up the slack that Grandma Dynamite left in her wake. And Miss Sedona spent a good chunk of the lesson doing the after-action report of the bonenkai last Saturday. Miss Pronunciation was doing pretty well...things seem to be settling in nicely for her.

Well, just about to take off. I'm fairly famished but it looks like I may end up grabbing something from McDs due to time constraints. Shouldn't but don't really have a choice.

Thursday December 11, 11:26 a.m.

Man, that was a drag and a half. It wasn't a great day for Grandma Dynamite. She was pretty much Grandma Wet Fuse today. She has those days from time to time; Speedy sometimes warns me that she's not up to speed. This was one of those days. I even had to roll out the family photos to keep her attention. Still, we finished about 10 minutes early since it was no use beating the dead horse that was this lesson.

At least, I have a bit more to hold onto with Grandma FON who should be here any minute.

Thursday December 11, 9:51 a.m.

Another one in the series of late nights and early mornings. I was able to get Mr. TOEIC to shave his class from a double to a single on Saturday morning, but I'll still need to leave the apartment at around 7:15...ugh! And I've got The Smile tomorrow morning for her usual early lesson at 8:15, but at least I'll finish with The Carolinan tonight at 7, so there's a good chance that I'll get some reasonable dose of shuteye tonight despite the early call.

On the walk from McDs to the school, I was suddenly greeted by a guy. At first, I thought I was being accosted by a Mormon asking whether I could attend a prayer meeting, but it turned out to be The Pessimist. Remember him? The one who finally begged off the lessons citing major depression several months ago. Well, he had a rather large smile on his face when he greeted me. It was just an exchange of greetings before we set off on our respective work-related paths. I just asked him if he was OK...and he just nodded. Not sure what to read but I just hope he's gotten over his funk.

Last night, I had my triumvirate of Wednesday women. 001 was just coming off of a cold; she actually had to miss her workplace's bonenkai, which irked her no end. Anytime she misses out on consuming mass quantities doesn't sit well with her. As for The Diver, my homemade review went pretty well; I hope the take-home test will be similarly as successful. In any case, I won't know until I get back from Canada next month. And The Fashion Designer was in fine fettle as usual.

I did my usual warm-up act with The Patent Attorney before Speedy took over this morning. We were talking about the lagging economy and the fact that SONY threw 16,000 people out of work yesterday. I'd remarked that while in past economic downturns Tokyo seemed to put itself out of harm's way while the rest of the country hit the doldrums, it now looked like even the capital may also experience the tough times.

Still kinda working the kinks out with the preparations for Swank's next lesson for her Eiken 1 test. I've been looking at some interviews on CBC.ca and some traffic reports from the States to help out in the Listening section. There are some potential gems in there but I'll have to do some on-the-fly monitoring.

Wednesday December 10, 5:04 p.m.

It's been a quiet couple of hours here with just the staff and myself in the office. Speedy has been out teaching The Singer. I think she's supposed to be heading out Stateside for those several weeks of English conversation training. I went off to see The New Yorker out in Ichigaya. I was going to have lunch at that somewhat pricey Japanese deli right by the station, but even at 1:30, the place was chock full of people, so I ended up going to the King Of Curry (that's the actual translation) and had a mess of Keema Curry. Filled me up just nicely although I have that faint whiff which may get some questions from my nighttime students.

The New Yorker was a bit more on the ball with the lesson today. She also showed me some of her pics from Okinawa. She seems to have the artist's hands and eyes. There was a picture of a clay statue of an Okinawan lion (shiiza) that she'd actually made. Couldn't distinguish it from a professional's creation.

The mail from Canada keeps coming in about my return to The Great White North. The Engineer has gotten married with that young lady she'd introduced me to a couple of years back in that Chinese restaurant which provided some unintended entertainment in the form of a gang fight between two punks. The Engineer and his wife promised me that they'll be taking me to a far more sedate place which has Surf n' Turf...I wonder if they mean The Keg? So far, that's the first officially scheduled night out. The Entrepreneur and his wife have invited me over to their place on New Year's Day for a potluck, but Jan. 1 is strictly a stay-at-home with the family so I'll decline politely.

Wednesday December 10, 10:41 a.m.

We'll be "broiling" at 18 C today. Go figure on this weather. Meanwhile, Toronto has been freeze-dried then snowed upon. Should be quite a transition. The social calendar continues to fill up back home. I may once again need a vacation to recover from my vacation.

There's been a bit of a respite injected into my so-called Mother of All Hump Days tomorrow. Mr. Pronunciation has canned his lesson smack dab in the middle of the log jam and put it off until the New Year...thanks for the Xmas gift. Of course, The Trekkie had a couple of errors in there. Still gonna be busy.

After The Nurse today, I'm heading out to teach The New Yorker over in our old haunt of Ichigaya. Just don't wanna use this school as a crutch although Speedy himself will deny that.

Looks like corruption in Illinois is as deep as Chicago pizza. The governor there has been arrested for some rather sleazy politics. I think most of the citizenry is just yawning.

Tuesday December 9, 9:26 p.m.

I've finished my final Tuesday of the year at the juku. Not quite the same way without the boss nattering away with some student or in the far rarer case of chewing him/her out. Toonces is back inside after drying himself out on some of the futon inside the closet. I just hope that water was the only thing he has left there. He's very dry now.

The Milds were very kind in taking care of my place during my absence. I gave them my package of Yoku Moku Cigares as an advance thank-you gift. Of course, there was the usual token give-and-take about it, but they accepted it. Mr. Mild actually pinpointed my apartment, thanks to Google Earth and was even able to get a photograph of the side of my building...which is a bit disturbing to find out.

Well, I'm ready to head home although it's gonna be through a mess of rain. Looks like the weather folk have got a lot to answer for again, since this stuff was supposed to be restricted to the late afternoon hours. I'm gonna have to put The Beehive's gifts deep into my bag.

It'll be a fairly usual Wednesday tomorrow. I've got The Nurse to start things off...thankfully, she's asked for a 11 a.m. slot which means that I don't have to wake up with the rooster. Then, I'm heading out to see The New Yorker in Ichigaya (I just don't want to use Speedy as the default place all the time) and then I'm coming back for the usual nighttime trio of 001, The Diver and then The Fashion Designer. I'm sure the latter two will want to talk about the bonenkai from last Saturday.

Tuesday December 9, 7:52 p.m.

Got finished with Suzanne and The Artist just now. Looks like Suzanne is getting that wanderlust; most likely, she'll be heading outside Japan sometime in the next year or so. Can't imagine her sticking around the juku for that much longer. She's thinking about spreading her wings and I'm all for that. Referred her to "What Color is Your Parachute?" to help her gauge her capabilities.

Tuesday December 9, 5:22 p.m.

Currently at the juku with Anita Baker's Xmas CD playing on the old stereo. A bit jazzy, a bit R&B, all Anita. I think she is indeed the reincarnation of Sarah Vaughan. The New Orlean jazz treatment of "Frosty The Snowman" will probably be a tune that will have to grow on me, but so far, the album is going pretty well otherwise. Toonces The Cat has been in and out. He'll probably come back when he's thoroughly drenched. Don't know where the towels are for him.

Made the call to Fujimamas to make the reservation only to have the waiter refresh my memory that they don't take reservations for under 6 people. I just sent word out to Tully about the change in venue, so hopefully he and The Coffeemaker will be OK with meeting at Kiddyland.

The rains did come while I was in the I-cafe, and continued on while I made my way over to the juku. Unfortunately, my thank-you gift for The Milds got mildly wet but not too much damage.

I've got the sniffles right now and I've developed a bit of a rash on my hand, both probably due to some allergic reaction from Toonces (happens now and then), so gonna be taking the meds. At least, I'm better than Mild Jr., who just blanches at the sight of a cat due to his somewhat stronger allergic reaction.

I couldn't a candy cane for Suzanne but settled for some cute pieces of Xmas cake from the local supermarket. Don't think I'll be getting any dinner tonight since I engorged on some rather cholesterol-rich fare today.

Tuesday December 9, 1:07 p.m.

Supposed to be raining right now, but the sun's still out. Had my final lesson with The Beehive this morning. When I got into the Tsudanuma Becker's, my ears were assaulted by the cackling of several soccer moms taking up a whole side of the second floor. I was worried that our little own kaffeeklatsch was finally going to be usurped after over a year, but not too long after Mrs. Travel arrived, the group quickly parted like The Red Sea. Mrs Jade and Mrs. Alp came in and I took in their gifts for Mrs. Tulip back in Canada, throwing a little something for Mom. The gifts won't take too much room in my carry-on, I hope. I splurged a bit this time at the Becker's...opting for a gravy-laden poutine with my tea. I guess it wasn't a good idea that I decided to go for The Double Quarter Pounder set at McD's for lunch. My arteries are probably gonna end up looking like downtown Tokyo at 6.

Found out that my destination for that thank-you brunch for Tully and The Coffeemaker on Sunday, Beacon's, is gonna be kashikiri...i.e. the entire restaurant has been rented out...probably by a pesky bunch of wedding folk. Ah, well...it's gonna be Fujimamas then. At least, it'll be closer to the JR for Tully to get to his part-time job in Shinjuku quickly and it'll be a bit cheaper for me since I'm picking up the tab. Still sting a bit from that rather rude waitress from a few years back on Xmas Eve but I'll give it another try. Plus, The Lady had told me one class that some sort of marketplace has opened up in the area, which strikes me a bit strange since this is fancy-schmancy Omotesando we're talking about with all of its Jimmy Choos and Hermes and other boutiques. Anyways, I'll make the call tonight.

Got a message from Speedy about Mr. TOEIC asking for one of his doubles on Saturday morning. Well, I've got The Intellectual right at 11 and since I've got a stack of classes right after him, I'm assuming that TOEIC will be asking for bright and early in the morning. Well, I'll give him a single but no more than that...bad enough I'm coming in from crosstown twice this week for early classes but not on a weekend.

Should be a quiet night at the juku since the boss is now in hospital. It'll just be Suzanne, The Artist and The Milds. I've brought some Xmas CDs for a bit of atmosphere and hopefully, I can get some sort of Xmas candy for everyone.

Monday December 8, 9:02 p.m.

In the midst of all that coffee talk over the best restaurants in Tokyo, The Lady did give a pretty funny story about the father of a friend of hers. The father, an elderly fellow in his 70s, accidentally bumped into a few fellows somewhere. The fellows happened to be key members of the Waseda University rugby team, and apparently they took extreme umbrage at the old guy invading their personal space and decided to make an example of him. My immediate thought was that any person in their 20s who would even think of beating up on an old man for a slight bump should be in extreme need of anger management, but I digress. In any case, just when the three were going to show the old man a very up-close-and-personal look at their physical skills, the old man showed them some of his own...he happened to be a 6-dan karate expert a couple of decades back, and much to the rugby players' regret, he still was. Several bruised ribs, broken teeth, and a round of applause from the adoring crowd later, both parties were at the local police box where a university official pleaded with the head officer to release the players. Under the circumstances, the police let both the embarrassed players and the Yoda go. I believe the Waseda team did win their match the next day, although without the assistance of the three idiots who dared take on a Jedi warrior. Showed them some manners, he did.

Meanwhile, MB signed in to see if I were available to watch "Tropic Thunder" on Sunday. I had to give one of my rare apologies and decline since I have to wrap up some shopping. But I did say that I was available for the after-action dinner. Looks like I may not be able to see Skippy before this year is up since she said she could make it for the movie but then has to head out to a concert afterwards.

Looks like my social calendar is taking shape in Canada. I've got my old university buddies talking to me about dinner, the Anime King and his otaku for another round for Chinese dinner or dim sum, and people like The Entrepreneur and The Egg asking me as well. My sister-in-law has officially asked me about the annual service on Xmas Day.

Monday December 8, 5:05 p.m.

Feeling a bit off-guard right now. I thought I was gonna be swamped with stuff to do with attempting another translation for Cozy, figuring out Swank's next lesson plan and then the fact that The Lens is coming to town. Well, Cozy has cancelled the assignment though he expressed his worries about the juku boss' upcoming operation on her cancer, my plans for Swank may involve stuff that I can't really do about until the day of, and I got The Lens' arrival time all wrong. He's in town now, but no chance of me getting to see him for lunch since all of the students here want a piece of me before I head off for Canada. I threw him a line for Saturday night for dinner, but if he were available he would have told me that fact already. So, I'm actually quite a bit freer right now.

My week is gonna be rather busy, though. Thursday will be another in the series of Mother of All Hump Days. I'm looking at 6 hours' worth then, and I'm only lucky that The Smile decided to move her lesson to Friday morning that I may not end up with an aneurysm on Thursday night.

Today may be the only really slow day this week. I just had The Class Act and SIL. The Full-Timer is still on vacation in France, so it's a few hours before Medicine Man comes in. The Lady gave me a bottle of Italy's best extra virgin olive oil to give to my parents, but frankly speaking, I don't think Mom is that much of an Italian cuisine freak and since the bottle isn't exactly light, I may decide to just use it for my own purposes. Nope, not exactly kosher but the flight home is already aggravating enough. The Matron was all decked out in her kimono for reasons that I'm still not sure about. Basically, the 2nd-last lesson of the year for them was them going all bonkers for various restaurants. It turned out that they'll try and get some sort of lunch thing with me included going at Quintessence, that French restaurant in tony Shiroganedai, for sometime in February (this place is one of those places which needs those 3-month-in-advance reservation calls).

Beforehand, I did drop by Tower's and picked up this year's Xmas album in the form of Anita Baker's CD. Might as well.

SIL's lesson was partially stand-up act with my dislike of flying being the topic du jour. Of course, we once again went down memory lane with our favourite American TV show of the 60s. Did mention the fact that CBS, although ironically called The Tiffany Network back then, was far more famous as The Farm Network with its string of countryside comedies such as "The Beverly Hillbillies", "The Andy Griffith Show" and "Petticoat Junction".

Back at Speedy's. The bonenkai on Saturday worked out well. It was at Nakamura, that celeb-owned izakaya. The course was worth 5,500 yen (but as a bonus, Speedy told me to hold onto my money) and included the 2-hour all-you-can-drink option and a chicken hot pot. On the staff side, the bossman and I were there along with Ray and AK. A lot of my students came out as well including The Diver, The Intellectual and Miss Sedona. I was initially worried about The Diver since she's such a Nervous Nellie. When I saw her take the farthest spot at the end of the table, away from the bunch in the middle, a Social Yellow Alert sounded. So I quickly made my way out to the end and engaged her in conversation. Luckily, The Intellectual sat by me and then my semi-regular student, The Germanic Nurse, sat by The Diver. The Intellectual is also a diver and since The Diver and The Germanic Nurse share careers, the conversational cross-pollination did the trick. Actually, Speedy and I were a bit worried about the Grandmas...they just seemed to be in their own little world. Grandma Fado looked somewhat mute and withdrawn, but then again, she was like that last year. I gather that she's not really all that communicative in group settings. However, I tried my best and engaged them in conversation.

I found out at the party that the part-time teacher who comes out on Mondays is a full-on sci-fi freak of the highest level. The Geek, as she herself calls herself, is a jovial young lady whose birthday was right on party night, so of course, the bossman led the requisite chorus of "Happy Birthday!". I had the best conversation of the night with her talking about Trek and Who. I'd also found out earlier that she's been a longtime anime otaku. This lady is a convention organizer's wet dream. And to think that she and The Trekkie have yet to meet. The friend that she'd brought to dinner even had a passing resemblance to Billie Piper, aka Rose Tyler.

Meanwhile, Miss Honolulu was going full bore on the 2-hour all-you-can-drink rider and regaling her newfound friends like The Fashion Designer and Miss Sedona with lots of stories. She was definitely the tipsiest out of the students there and was more than happy to lead the folks to the second party. I opted out politely. I don't think I can really do more than an after-dinner coffee and dessert.

Sunday was a walk in the park. Got to stay totally at home...or at least in the neighbourhood. Just did some shopping and then drew up the map for The Milds to get to my place when they act as guardians. I bought a pack of Yoku Moku Cigare Cookies as an advance thank you gift for them. I even got started on my New Year's cards.