Saturday, December 25, 2004

quick idea about sales tax

people often say that a sales tax is regressive, and harms the poor more
because most of their income is spent on sustenance so they pay more tax
proportionally speaking

i just realized that if most of their money is spent on sustenance, and
sustenance (ie raw food) is NOT taxed, then those people are wrong...

comments?

Friday, December 24, 2004

Christmas Eve Experiences

well I have a Bacon Number of 3 LOL. So I think I win ^_^.

the linkage broken down:
I am related to Lenny von Dohlen
Lenny von Dohlen was in Jennifer Eight (1992) with Kevin (I) Conway *
Kevin (I) Conway was in Mystic River (2003) with Kevin Bacon *

OR (since i'm oober related to famous ppl)

I am related to the late Johnny Cash (my mom's side)
Johnny (I) Cash was in Hunted, The (2003) with Tommy Lee Jones *
Tommy Lee Jones was in JFK (1991) with Kevin Bacon *

* from IMDB

all i can say is w00t

ok i just got back from obirin talking about my bank account stuff here in japan...and on my WALKING way back, i saw so many high school girls dressed like santa claus in the 7 degree (celsius) weather...i felt so sorry for them, so i wonder if i could make a pun about it in japanenglish (the language of jokes made by exchange students here in japanese that only make sense to english speaking japanese speaking ppl

i saw a cute high school girl dressed like santa claus on my way home in the 7 degree weather and i thought "kawaisou"
MUAHAHAH

so the joke is, when you take an -i adjective like "oishii" (tasty) and drop the final 'i' and add 'sou' you get "oishisou" which means "looks tasty"...the 'sou' adds a 'looks/appears' feeling to it

"kawaisou" means "feel sorry for" so in this case the joke is
i thought "i feel sorry for her" but also if you don't speak japanese well you may think that "kawaisou" means "looks cute"

actually it doesn't, but that's another story

not very funny, is it? ^_^ heheh i suck

on another note i watched this japanese comedian last night...dresses in hakama and plays the guitar named 波田明 (あだあきら - HADA AKIRA) and i understood what he was saying in his song...something about

クリスマス クリスマス
Christmas Christmas
二人のクリスマス
Couple's Christmas
一人で、
I am all alone.
~~~~~???~~~
SOMETHING SOMETHING SOMETHING
ザンネ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ンッ!!!!
IT SUUUUUUUUUCKS!!!!! (yelled at the top of his lungs)

i took some video today also (since it is xmas eve here...i'll transfer it to my computer and put some online SOMEtime but i dunno when...i don't have a firewire card here and i dunno if i should buy one, and even if i did, i don't have the hard disk space to edit video right now...not til i have an iPod will i have enough free space again... ^_^

ok well i'm going to post this entry for now...i'll add about what's happened the past few weeks hopefully tonite...if not tonite, then it will be an xmas present for everyone who dutifully checks the blog ^_^

Thursday, December 02, 2004

Human Test: Novel Vaccine Stops HIV

wouldn't it be great if this was the start of the cure?

i am speechless

in what is most likely the stupidest (yet most rewarding) thing i have done since coming to japan...i read Haruki Murakami's South of the Border, West of the Sun cover to cover straight through...no stop for food, drink, anything...it is now 3:55 am

i was going to go to bed at 12, get a good night's sleep, be ready to do well in class tomorrow and have a good rest

apparently not

now i am driven to write, at this dead hour, my thoughts on what i say with no exaggeration is either the best book ever written, or the best translation of a book ever performed..

this book made me cry
this book made me ecstatic

i have never read any words (except maybe from Nabokov) that were so...beautiful

Her hand, which up till then had laid on the back of the sofa, she now placed on her knee. I stared vacantly at her fingers tracing the plaid patter of her skirt. There was something mysterious about it, as if invisible thread emanating from her fingertips spun together an entirely new concept of time. I closed my eyes, and in the darkness, whirlpools flashed before me. Countless whirlpools were born and disappeared without a sound. Off in the distance, Nat King Cole was singing "South of the Border." The song was about Mexico, but at the time I had no idea. The words "south of the border" had a strangely appealing ring to them. I was convinced something utterly wonderful lay south of the border. When I opened my eyes, Shimamoto was still moving her fingers along her skirt. Somewhere deep inside my body I felt an exquisitely sweet ache.

there are so many emotions i'm feeling after reading this book, but i think the main two are these
1) i want to create something like Murakami did
2) all the loves of the main character's life, rolled into one, is my girlfriend...i think one reason that this novel was not-put-downable was that everytime i turned the page, i found something else about my gf that, no matter how hard i try, is beyond my level of expression...for the first 20 pages solid i just thought "well there's another way of talking about the woman i love...why didn't i think of that"

the ending reminds me of 6th sense...not so much cuz of some twist on death ending, but just...the novel leaves you saying 'holy crap holy crap what did i just experience' and a deep desire to share it with others

please, everyone who reads this, either buy the book and read it, get it from a library, or when i am back in america, borrow it from me...you will not be let down...this is the single greatest work of literature EVER

ok well since it's so late, i suppose i shouldn't really go to sleep now...i'll study some so i don't have to tomorrow night, and can sleep to make up for my foolishness...of course, this book *sigh* i could not put it down in the literal sense...i feel that if i had put it down to go to sleep, i would have felt empty inside...unfinished...

of course it doesn't help that i slept a bajillion years yesterday as kyle-time after my horrid day on tuesday, where i felt like i didn't know anything, and i was on the verge of crying, or even a breakdown...right there in class, my mind went blank and i didn't know what was going on...i guess i pushed myself too hard with studies...i can't remember the last time i got out to do something fun w/o it being school related...the beginning of november...

ever since my bday, that following weekend was
saturday - kamakura (school)
sunday - ghibli (school)

next weekend was oh gosh i don't remember...i think i stayed at home and did laundry...no that was last weekend, and two weekends ago it was raining? maybe that's it...but whatever, i haven't been to machida nor akihabara like i've wanted to...so i can get an electronic dictionary...i need to get one but haven't found the time yet...and i wanna go to machida to eat subway and la pausa's pizza also...

also being here, just studying and that's-about-it, i've gotten to think...what is it that makes me me?

i can study nearly all the time, completely holed up, w/o interacting with anyone, just pushing myself...am i happy? i wouldn't call it happy, so much as something i can do, and do well

could i do this the rest of my life? sit all by myself and study?
no

what is it that i hope to achieve out of life? well...i know that one, but i'm not gonna tell you ^_~ ask me in private exchange sometime...if you really wanna know that bad you'll make the effort ^_^ hehehe

ok posting time