Turning out Quite as Expected

I had been waiting in keen anticipation for Elementary 2 to commence and amidst looking through my verb sheets and character charts, came up with several things which I was expecting would occur during the duration of this class.

1. We would be facing off with a much more well-informed and studious bunch.

That was definitely the case. In fact, I should not even have guessed that this would happen. It was practically given by the fact that here we are sitting amongst individuals who are like-minded enough to part with another $200 for an external course which requires more than just 3 hours of your time a week, on top of school/work etc. Point to note: This scenario could only get more intense as the levels progress.

2. ドラマ 2 would unfold.

A sequel to ドラマ 2, with the same protagonist headlining each scene. But what surprised me was the fact that the female lead was cast so soon, having bewitched the protagonist with her curled brown locks and look-alike features. Would she have a look-alike personality to boot? The ドラマ is unfolding bit by bit.

3. (OK, this one I did not anticipate to encounter in class itself) Someone doesn't want to talk to me anymore

Not that we flocked together to begin with, but a certain individual who has been heralded as an elite, pruned and trimmed and fed lovingly by the government, through us mere mortals' coffers, to groom more of his kind, has given me a distinctly colder shoulder.

And what's the reason for his increasingly disenchanted conversation (or rather, snippets of thought exchange)? Simply because I deal with a discipline that does not involve something that he would die without. This 'something' has a rather fat bottom and streamlined top and is caressed every so often by his scholarly hands. It would be an inconceivable, horrifying thought that someone like me does not hold it close to my eye to read the tattoos that curve around its physique or place it in a heated environemtn and wait for its juices within to boil over. Blasphemy! How could I not love a beaker the way he does! So yes, even the common interest in 日本語 and goodness, a common profession (for now at least), cannot make up for the lack of beaker love, and that explains the unwillingness to even meet his brilliant eyes with mine, even for a second!

The only reason I did not anticipate this to encounter in class itself was simply because I was not expecting to meet this pruned elite in this class, thinking that his bookworm driven instincts would have propelled him to sign up for an earlier class which would all the more quickly enhance his almighty brain.

Oh how I love this class, now, to sort out the administrative matters for the exam.

Who's to blame!

I have just noticed something very unsettling about myself. I tend to blame God whenever things do not go how I wish they did, and then lambaste the scriptures for giving promises which turn out empty when viewed in the context of my predicament.

Rubbish.

Since when was it the case that a religion is there just to give you comfort and make everything sail smoothly?

In fact, I cringe even as I use the word 'religion'. Is that what Christianity really is about?

Or is it a relationship rather than a religion?

That's why there are so many ups and downs, joys and pains.

Lolita

I have chewed up every morsel from the Devil's Larder and if all goes according to plan, I shall be land my hands on Lolita tomorrow.

Ok, we're taking it a step deeper, beyond Kamikaze Girls and Baby, the Stars Shine Bright. Will this Russian literary masterpiece be able to unravel more insight into the world of dollies and lace?

Money

I have been spending.
A lot.
Too much.
Maybe.

And I've been dying to go abroad. Everybody seems to be escaping overseas, even if its just for a few days. I want to go some place I've never been before. Taiwan, anybody?

Overheated Lesbos and Skirt chasers!

My experience in an all-girls convent school, a coed junior college, and now, a public university have taught me something really interesting. The fact that some lesbos in heat simply lose every semblance of control over the parts of their body with lips. Here, i'm referring to 3 parts, all of which can secrete fluids and which they can shove things into.

Who would have thought that I would see the same phenomenon in skirt chasers (though for this case, there are still 3 parts, but only 2 have lips).

Edit: I'm not accusing all lesbos of exhibiting such symptoms under heat. The fact that I've likened the heterosexual male skirt chaser to those who do goes to show that I'm not pinning this phenomenon exclusively on women with a not so conventional orientation.

So please do vice versa.

Poisonous Food

The vocation in which I am having my current internship has a self-imposed invisible rule that requires me to take work home and is not leaving me with much free time. But I have been taking out snippets of half hour breaks from my 'work from home' time to indulge in a passion which I know would most probably be warped once August arrives - reading. Now, free of the rigidity of reading titles handed out on a piece of paper, I have the liberty of selecting what I want to read and hence my choice for Jim Crace's The Devil's Larder.

The process of devouring each of the 64 dishes with relish has left an aftertaste that has poisoned me into seeing the world in terms of food. It was with such food smeared lenses that I celebrated Samuel's birthday yesterday. Despite the lovely company and the immense fun we had with the KTV (I can't believe I'm actually buying into another Japanese craze), my main course @ Pasta de Waraku could only be described as poisonous. The melted fusion of sweet curry and cheese on the Okonomiyaki starter warmed the palate, but eventually soothed it so much that the clash of wasabi cream pasta with bacon and oyster came as a rancid shock.

I admit I only chose the combination 'wasabi cream' over more palate friendly sounding names like 'miso cream' or 'original cream' for the matter simply because I once read an article of an Italian chef (authentic pasta here!) bemoaning the fact that Asians request for the 'shocking' combination of spicy with cream. Japan - land of all things innovative - I really had to see for myself how they managed this blasphemous Orientalization of Cabonara (which, by the way, is an Americanization of Italian pasta).

The $14.80 heap of noodles arrived with a beautifully poached egg perched on top. I remember how I started. I scooped a bit of the part gelatinous, delicate albumen, coated it with the offending cream and took a bite. I remembered repeating the phrase 'a taste of innovation' to myself. I mean, if you choose to partake of the innovations from the country that gave you Kimchi Calpis, Bilk, Boy Lolitas and Uruha, you'd better psyche yourself to be shocked in al ways possible. So I ate of this innovation with almost mechanical emotions, and was met with a childhood memory inducing nostalgia when I chomped on a soft oyster which innards burst out of its rubbery coating and homogenized with the wasabi cream. Cod Liver Oil. The horrors!

And yes, I did finish the entire plate. While the experience with wasabi cream was certainly an exercise with exerting the mind over matter, the few morsels of curry meat sauce pasta that I nipped off Jie's plate proved to be a heavenly case of Japanization that would compel me to go back for more!

And speaking of food. I am of the opinion that cheese should be confined as a topping on pasta and pizza, sandwiched between 2 slices of bread or cubed and speared with grapes as an appetizer. If there's anything that cheese does not go well with, its with words.

Little Snippets

I cannot believe that I have decided to embark on a blog post that would actually need days of work before it can be published. Part of it is in a Microsoft Word document now and I am deliberating between feeling excited about it and feeling incredulous that I am actually commiting myself to a complete time-waster from which I would not receive any tangible benefit.

Work is getting tougher and tougher by the minute and I am finding it increasingly difficult to make steady progress. I have to press on.

Yet, being exposed to a discipline in which I need to read and write a lot has introduced be to a whole plethora of books that I would love to savour on my own as well. I was picking up some extracts and titles for the students today and have thus jotted down the many titles I would love to get my hands on and devour at my own pace once I'm finishing with Shiokari Pass. I have to admit that my progress with the latter has been considerably slow nowadays, given the change in intensity of my schedule.

But right now something is pressing. I have to make a decision between risking all I have for one shot and something I love or hopping onto a safer ship to do something I only like so much.

Stress is a constant. I run, very literally, away from it.

I have recently discovered that I am very, very slow in a certain aspect of life. Thank you for your patience.

I am looking forward to the day where I can finally publish the text, in progress @ microsoft word. Till then, look forward to snippets strung together to make a seemingly cohesive narrative.