plangent.underhanded.org

体が痛い

noreply@blogger.com (plangent) — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 08:12:00 +0000

昨日初めてウェイトトレイニングして、今日体がすごく痛い。でもトレイニングを続けるにつれて、痛みがだんだんなくなるそうだから痛みのせいでやめるわけにはいかない。もちろんやめたいわけはないけどこのくらい痛いと思うまい。

Yesterday we did weight training for the first time, and today my body hurts. Apparently as you continue training the pain lessens, so we can't quit on account of the pain. Of course I don't want to quit, but I wasn't expecting it to hurt this bad.

ギターの練習

noreply@blogger.com (plangent) — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 15:31:00 +0000

2ヶ月前新しいギターを買ってしまった。その後で練習時間が増えた一方だ。最近はもっと速く弾けるようになりたいと思ったからスケールを毎日練習している。ちょっと面倒くさいけど速く弾きたいなら、スケールを練習するしかない。美しい曲に対して速さを考えることはないけど他の人を感心するために重要だ（笑）もちろんスケールだけ練習することになっているわけではない。そうすればつまらない曲ばかり作るおそれがある。でも上手くギターを弾けるようになるとスケールの練習もやらなければならないということだ。

2 months ago I bought a new guitar. Since then the time I've spent practising has increased drastically. Lately I've been thinking I'd like to get where I could play faster so I've been practising scales every day. It's kind of a pain, but if you want to play fast there's no other way than practising scales. In producing beautiful melody there's no need to consider speed, but it's important for impressing other people (lol). Obviously it's not that I have to practise nothing but scales. If you do that you have to be worried about producing nothing but boring melodies. But to learn to play the guitar well, you have to also practise scales - is what I'm getting at.

ウェイトトレイニング

noreply@blogger.com (plangent) — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 07:56:00 +0000

明日から私たちはウェイとトレイニングを始めるつもりだ。格好を上達するためではないけど。最近私のひざがちょっと痛かったので合気道で怪我することに心配になった。3ヶ月前骨折したものだから、心配しすぎるかもしれないがとりあえずにやってみたい。合気道のような面白い運動ではないけど怪我を予防するように安心になると思う。

From tomorrow we're planning on starting weight training. But it's not in order to improve our physical appearances (which are fine as they are :p). Lately my knee's been hurting a bit, so I've become worried about getting injured at Aikido. I had a fracture 3 months ago, so I may be worrying too much, but for now I'd like to give it a shot. It's not going to be as interesting a form of exercise as Aikido, but I think doing something to prevent injury will stop me worrying.

日本の田舎に住みたくない

noreply@blogger.com (plangent) — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 09:13:00 +0000

日本にきて以来、東京に住んでいた。温泉以外一回だけ田舎へ行ったことある。思ったとおり、きれいな景色しか何でもないところだった。外人も全然いない。英語を教えるために日本にきた若い外人で田舎に住まされたのは多い。田舎に住んでいるばかりに、たくさん英語教師は2ヶ月後で帰りたいほど寂しい。田舎へ行った前にその気持ちが分からなかったけど今良く分かると思う。

私の経験で忘れられないことは一つがある。妻の家族と一緒に公衆浴場へ行った。私はお風呂が大好きなんだけどこれほど恥ずかしいことはない。お風呂の室に入ったところに20日本人にじーと見られた。確か、皆でアメリカ人を見たことはなかった。宇宙人がきたような顔をしていた。大変恥ずかしかった。多分田舎に住んでいる外人でそれは毎日のことだからすぐ帰りたい感じにびっくりさせられない。

Ever since I came to Japan I've lived in Tokyo. Except for onsens, I've only been to the country once. As I thought, other than pretty scenery there's nothing there. There are also no foreigners there. A lot of the foreign kids who come to Japan to teach English get sent to live in the country. Just because of that a lot of them end up so lonely that they want to go home after just 2 months. Before I went to the country I didn't understand that feeling, but now I think I do.

Of my experience there is one that I will not be able to forget. I went to a public bath house with my wife and her family. I really love Japanese baths, but I've never been as embarrassed as I was then. As I entered the room with the baths I am immediately being stared at by 20 Japanese guys. Probably not one of them had ever seen an American before. Their faces looked as if a space alien had just walked in. It was extremely embarrassing. As that is probably a daily thing for foreigners who live in the country, them quickly wanting to go home isn't surprising.

オーストラリア人が来る

noreply@blogger.com (plangent) — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 10:10:00 +0000

来月二人の友だちはオーストラリアから来る。試験の勉強の最中だけど楽しみにしている。前会の訪問は毎日歩けないくらいお酒を飲んだし、おいしいレストランで食べたし、すごく楽しかった。友だちのせいでたくさんお金を使ってしまったけどそれだけの価値はあった。家は狭いけどここに滞在するつもりだ。

一人はもう三四回日本にきたから電車とかだいたいわかる。日本語は挨拶くらい話せるけど自由に自分で色々なことができる。また一人は初めて日本にきているからちょっと心配だ。でも友だちが日本にくるたび、いつも大丈夫だったから心配しなくてもいいと思う。新宿駅に着き次第、私は家まで案内するつもりだけど成田空港から新宿駅までは自分で行かなければならない。彼はよっく旅行するから多分問題ない。

よっく書いたとたんに、この記入は長くなってしまった。ここまでで終わりだ。

Next month two friends from Australia are coming. It's in the middle of studying for the exam, but I'm looking forward to it. The time before we daily drank to the point of not being able to walk, ate at real good restaurants and had a real good time. Used a lot of money on account of them, but it was well worth it. Our apartment is small, but they're planning on staying with us.

One of the guys has been to Japan 3 or 4 times before so he pretty much understands the trains and all. He can't speak Japanese much past greetings, but he freely manage to do a lot of stuff on his own. It's the other guy's first time coming to Japan so I'm a little bit worried. But everytime friends have come to Japan in the past

合気道

noreply@blogger.com (plangent) — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 13:13:00 +0000

合気道の本部道場で合気道を学んでいる。合気道は体にいいうえに、すごく興味をそそる活動だ。日本に住んでいるうちに、本部のすばらしい先生から教えていただかないのは私にとっていけないことだ。合気道を学ぶかわりに、柔道とかをやってもいいけどこの小さい体に対して合気道の方がいいと思う。体にいいことだけではなく、精神にも良いといわれている。合気道を学んでいるうちに、自信と満足（？）が増えてきた。合気道のおかげで、もっと幸せな人になっている。

I am studying Aikido at the Aikido Honbu dojo. On top of Aikido being good for your body, it is also an absolutely fascniating activity. While I'm living in Japan, to not receive instruction from Honbu's incredible teachers is, to me, a no go. Instead of studying Aikido, something like Judo would be good too, but with regards to my small body I think Aikido's probably the way to go. Aikido's not just good for your body, it's also said to be good for your spirit. While I've been studying Aikido, my confidence and satisfaction have increased. Thanks to Aikido I am becoming a happier person.

Lefty

noreply@blogger.com (plangent) — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 07:41:00 +0000

Leftyの日常生活について記入だ。Leftyの生活は寝ることを中心として色々なベッドを毎日探している。ベッドというのは人の胸とか足の上をはじめ、押入れの中や家具の上も好きだ。Leftyの生活は寝ることをもとにして生活だけど、他の好きなこともある。例えば、食べる時の直前に大騒ぎすることが大好きだし、時間と雑音を問わず猫のトイレを使うことも楽しんでいる。Leftyの生活は私にとって、うらやましいというのは控えめな表現だ。

This post is regarding Lefty's day to day lifestyle. In support of the dominant activity sleep, Lefty's lifestyle consists of daily searching for various beds. To say bed means anything, starting with the chests and laps of people, and including places such as the insides of closests and on top of furniture. Lefty's lifestyle consists primarily of sleep, but there are also some other things he likes to do. For example, he loves making a racket just before meal times, and he's also enjoys using the litterbox with no regard to time or noise. To say that I am envious of Lefty's lifestyle is an understatement.

練習により

noreply@blogger.com (plangent) — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 10:58:00 +0000

現在、合気道とギターと日本語を練習している。練習するに伴って、満足ができるのは当たり前だが、自分の希望や目標による進歩に比べて不満な気持ちもある。人によって違うけどこの不満な程度はあまり珍しくないと思う。なぜなら私が思うに、目標を集中させすぎることだ。人によって違うと書いたから例を上げる。目標はほめられることだったら何かができるかどうかあまり考えない。ほめられることによって満足ができる。上手くできても、ほめられないとがっかりする。まどかによって表示した満足を見て、その満足もあると知らされた。でも私の場合は違う。自分が上手くできると思わなかったら、ほめられることはついうそと思う。

一番いいことは練習だけで楽しめることだとおもう。練習は楽しかったら、必ず完全に満足ができる。でも他の作者や先生によると、そのことはすごく珍しいそうだ。どやって私もできるようになれると全然分からない。

Presently I'm practising aikido, guitar and Japanese. As one practices, obviously you get satisfaction, but comparing my progress to my hopes and goals leaves me with a some dissatisfaction as well. This differs from person to person, but I don't think it's that rare. Because the way I see it is I'm focusing too much on goals. I wrote this differs according to people so I'll give an example. If one's goal is to be praised, one doesn't really think about what one is capable of. It's through praise that one is capable of satisfaction. Even if one can do something really well, if one isn't praised one feels disappointed. It was by seeing displays of satisfaction made by Madoka that I was made aware that this kind of satisfaction exists. But my case is different. If I don't think I do something well but am complimented, I will habitually think that compliment is a lie.

The best way is to be able to have fun just by the act of practising. If practise is fun, it follows that one will be capable of perfect satisfaction. But according to various writers and teachers, that kind of thing is really rare. I have no idea how I could become capable of it.

まどかは病気です。

noreply@blogger.com (plangent) — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 11:04:00 +0000

先の土曜日、まどかは私に「HYPOCHONDRIAC」を呼ばれた。残念だから昨日まどかはとても病気になってしまった。病気なまどかは本当に変なことをする。昨日の朝に比べて掛け布団が三倍以上増えた。まどかにとっては、熱についても、あせが出したほうがいいといわれている。病気だからまどかに対して失礼なことをいってはいけないけどちょっとやりすぎるかもしれない。掛け布団はこのぐらい増えるにしたがって、私にもあせを出させられる。悪いけどまどかは直るにつれて、わざと掛け布団がなくなるかもしれない・・・

This past Saturday I called Madoka a hypochondriac. Which sucks because yesterday she got really sick. A sick Madoka does some strange stuff. Since yesterday morning the covers on the bed have increased by more than 3 times. According to Madoka, even with a fever sweating a lot is supposed to be good for you. I can't really be rude to her as she's sick, but I think she might be overdoing it. Because of the amount of covers even I'm being made to sweat. It's bad of me, but as she recovers the covers might just start vanishing...

文法の練習を始めましょう

noreply@blogger.com (plangent) — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 05:34:00 +0000

ここでは、日記にかわって文法練習になります。日本語能力試験のために文法を練習しなければならないので日本語が分かる人（妻とか）とともに上手になる希望を持っています。日に応じ、五つJLPTにでる文法を赤字で書きます。初めにおいては、間違いところがありかねないので教えてもらうとともに、新しい記入で直すつもりです。私は学生としては不精なものだが、この引き受けたことに頑張ります。

From now this is changing from a diary to grammar practice. I need to practice grammar for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test, so I'm hoping with the help of people who already understand Japanese (Madoka, etc.) I will get better. Every day I'll be writing 5 grammar patterns which will appear on the JLPT in red letters. In the beginning there's going to be a lot of mistakes, but as soon as I'm informed of them I intend to make new posts correcting them. As a student I am lazy as hell, but I really do intend to do my best with this.

Pro Tip

noreply@blogger.com (plangent) — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 06:17:00 +0000

Put the catnip under the cushions.

Just back from vacation

noreply@blogger.com (plangent) — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 13:31:00 +0000

So we finally got a vacation, a whole week of it, and it was wonderful. We started out heading to Nigata Prefecture for a friend's wedding, stayed the night there then headed to an Onsen in Nigata called Rankeiso. Spent two nights there and headed into neighboring Gunma Prefecture to Takaragawa Onsen.

A day's routine at an Onsen went something like this. Check in around 2 or 3 in the afternoon after a train ride through some very pretty mountain country. Go take a bath for an hour or so, come back to the room and start drinking and reading. Dinner was usually around seven. After dinner continue drinking for a little bit then go take another bath. Come back from bath, finish off bottle and sleep usually around 10 or so. Get up the next day around 5 or 6, go take a bath, breakfast around 7:30 or 8, head back to the room and read. At or around noon, go take a bath and start up drinking again after getting back. Rinse and repeat. It was heaven.

There's a decent number of photos for all of this on the gallery. Go take a look.

Yet another awesome cat photo

noreply@blogger.com (plangent) — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 02:49:00 +0000

Blimp

noreply@blogger.com (plangent) — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 08:13:00 +0000

There was a blimp flying around today.

Kinda defeats the point, doesn't it?

noreply@blogger.com (plangent) — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 08:15:00 +0000

Just noticed this lying around so I figured I'd post it.

So the Japanese are really big on itemized receipts. But the Chinese restaurant we went to last night doesn't quite seem to get it.

For the Kanji impaired, the bill reads like this:

Drink
Drink
Food
Food
Food
etc...

I should probably quit smoking...

noreply@blogger.com (plangent) — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 08:08:00 +0000

Nasuusagi Gal

noreply@blogger.com (plangent) — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 08:05:00 +0000

I wish I could draw. There's gotta be an eggplant company mascot in this somewhere.

I love my kitty

noreply@blogger.com (plangent) — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 07:43:00 +0000

but she don't love me.

An afternoon on the beach.

noreply@blogger.com (plangent) — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 07:55:00 +0000

A fellow EVE addict invited us to a hoedown on the beach in Kamakura. It was quite enjoyable. Unfortunately the sand in my sandles (sounds like a song title dunnit) rubbed my feet so raw that the pain was unendurable even through an admittedly thick screen of alcohol. As a result I walked barefoot from Shinjuku station back to the apartment. Madoka was convinced I was going to step on something, get infected and die. Given the lustrous coats the rats in Kabukichou are sporting I think her fears were exaggerated.

Here's a photo of us riding off into the sunset.

My first translation

noreply@blogger.com (plangent) — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 12:58:00 +0000

So I've finally done a bit of translation and subtitling. This is a kids song from NHK about a bug that bites butts. Enjoy.

***EDIT***
This is to notify you that we have removed or disabled access to the following material as a result of a third-party notification by NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) claiming that this material is infringing:

おしりかじり虫 Oshiri kajiri mushi Subtitled: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8-oIt4BRAc

Kinda anal of them, but oh well. It was up past 100,000 views and was even on boing boing. Farewell Oshirikajirimushi.

Look at dat fukken cat

noreply@blogger.com (plangent) — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 00:46:00 +0000

n/t

Madoka gets a hakama

noreply@blogger.com (plangent) — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 13:40:00 +0000

So Madoka and I made 3rd kyu recently in Aikido. This means squat for me, but for the ladies it means they get/have to start wearing hakamas. Here's some pictures of Madoka feverishly practicing putting hers on in preparation for tomorrow's class.

Here's a closer look at the hakama itself.

Natto

noreply@blogger.com (plangent) — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 14:10:00 +0000

So, anyone who's heard me discuss Japanese food has heard me rant about natto. It's almost the only food here I haven't been able to like. I'll put a picture below, but to truly understand you need to imagine that you've got your nose stuffed under your armpits after running for seven miles in the afternoon during the middle of summer after a week's worth of not showering. If you can do that, you've got a fair idea of natto.

We moved.

noreply@blogger.com (plangent) — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 14:04:00 +0000

We're now living in Shinjuku, smack in the middle of Tokyo. The rent's a bit more expensive, but we're liking the place so far. It cuts half an hour off Madoka's commute and we're two minutes walk from the Aikido dojo which is incredibly nice. There's also a really nice view off the balcony (we're on the sixth floor of a seven story building).

So, 7 months since my last post?

noreply@blogger.com (plangent) — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 13:52:00 +0000

Yeah, about that. I'll post a picture which should probably explain a lot.