December 9, 2024

Monday - Rainy, cloudy and cold

I woke up quite early this morning, it was somewhere around 6:30. I think that F probably left around then. I went downstairs and then went back to bed. I slept on for quite a while. I got up before I often do, so that was good!

I dressed, went downstairs to make my breakfast and then returned to eat it. I watched some YouTube videos and some of the news. I had a quiet afternoon. I wrote some Christmas cards for my exchange and then went downstairs to get my lunch. 

I ate lunch while watching FBI from the weekend. It was a good episode but I worry that one of the characters is getting broody. I do hope not! 

I relaxed for a while, watched the news and then a little YouTube before F called to say he was on the way. I went downstairs a little early as I was planning to bake some potatoes and that takes a bit of time.

I went downstairs and instead of doing dishes as usual, I scrubbed the potatoes and got them ready to bake. I got them in the air fryer and got on with other work. I washed my dishes and prepared the chicken to cook. I washed salad and cooked some spinach too. I was organized, but two of the potatoes took too long to cook and I had to give them extra time. 

Dinner was good. Most of the food disappeared and we even had some Bocca puddings for dessert. That was very nice. 

I did the dishes after dinner and then went upstairs and relaxed for a bit. F was upstairs chilling as well. His mother tonight asked him for an electric blanket for her bed. She asked him at 8 pm after the shops were all closed! I suggested that she turn on the heater in her room, but she doesn’t like that idea. I also suggested opening the door into the living room so some of the warm air there could warm her bedroom up. F thought it was a good idea, but when I said goodnight to K the doors were closed again. Sigh. She doesn’t get it. 

F has ordered a blanket for her online. I suggested he pick one up after work for her but he preferred online shopping. It should arrive on Saturday…that’s a long time to wait if you ask me!

A bit after 10pm I went downstairs and took a shower. It didn’t take too long and then came back upstairs. F went down to make some rice for dinner tomorrow and I watched another episode of The Devil’s Hour. It is really getting intriguing. I think I have one more part to watch. 

And that’s about it. I’ve been watching YouTube for a while. For some reason, my favourite vloggers seem to be doing massive videos. They are interesting, but I sometimes prefer shorter videos so I can watch more!

I’m not sure what I’m going to get up to tomorrow. I have a couple more Christmas cards to write, I’ll have to make a marinade for tomorrow’s dinner and I need to do some laundry. I still haven’t got down the Christmas Tree, so if I feel up to it, I might do that. 

I’m a little blue if I’m honest. I found out on Friday that an old friend from high school had Parkinson’s. As his condition was progressing to the point where he needed to be in constant care, he decided to take advantage of MAiD, or Medical Assistance in Dying. While I completely understand what he did, I didn’t have enough time to even get used to the idea that he was ill, let alone that he was so close to the end. He died over the weekend. 

Now, I wasn’t a close friend of his, but we chatted from time to time on Facebook and in high school he was a good guy, so I’m sad that he’s gone. I am glad for him that it was on his own terms, however. 

Come back later if you like and hear all about my Tuesday. Until tomorrow….

 

December 19, 2023

Tuesday - Cold but cloudy

Well, today was not the day that I expected to have! I woke up early (but around F’s getting up time) and went downstairs. I came back and went back to bed…and then F’s phone rang. 

It turns out that F’s uncle died last night. I didn’t know him well, he’d had Alzheimer’s for the last few years and before that, he and I didn’t really meet that much. I do like his wife, she is always very nice and kind to me. F took his mother and his sister over to his aunt & uncle’s house and I slept on for a while. 

I got up eventually of course and got dressed. F and his mother came back and F made her some food. I grabbed my breakfast a bit later and came back upstairs to eat it. 

After a bit, F came upstairs and offered to take me out for lunch, but I didn’t really need any as I had stuff for lunch already. I made my lunch and came upstairs again to eat it. I watched some of the news as well. 

Then…we went out. F and I had a doctor’s appointment on Saturday, but his uncle’s funeral will be on Saturday so we can’t really go. We had to go and see if we could get squeezed in today at the doctor’s office. We were squeezed in, but we had to wait for hours. Most of the time, we waited in the car. I think I took a nap as I was a bit tired. 

After we were done seeing the doctor, paying and getting our medicine, we went back to the car. I asked F if he wanted me to cook. I had planned to, but it was already 6:30. By the time we got back to the house and I changed it would be quite late. We decided to get bentos made from the nearby bento making shop. They weren’t very expensive, so it was cheaper for us to grab bentos than go out for a meal. 

We came back to the house and ate our meals. I added on some salad, and F made miso soup for himself and his mother. He asked me, but I turned him down! Dinner was okay. After we finished, I got to do the dishes. I was rather annoyed as when F did cooking earlier, he didn’t clean up the kitchen very well. All the dishes in the drainer were dirty so I had to rewash them all. Grr. He’s not good at washing dishes. 

I went upstairs and F was already in his pyjamas. What the heck? We had to go and get groceries. To do him credit, he did get dressed again and we went out. His mother was rather annoyed with us for going out, but I needed food for tomorrow! When we got back to the house, K was in bed. 

We unpacked the groceries and then came upstairs. F filled up the kerosene tank for our heater and brought it up for us. I’m so glad he did that.

Tomorrow, F is back to work. He’ll have the rest of the week off after that I think. I should really try and do some laundry tomorrow as I’m not sure when I’ll get the chance to do more. 

Oh, and I almost forgot about the Tea Advent Calendar. Today’s tea was Rooibos Honey. I drank it this evening and it was okay, but not one I’d seek out. Not my favourite. 

I don't like honey, so it made sense that this wouldn't rock my boat!

Anyway, come back later if you like and hear all about my day. Until tomorrow….

 

December 31, 2017

Sunday - Warm and sunny

A nice day.

I’m just going to do a quick and dirty entry today as it is very late and I am very tired.

We had a decent day today. F was grumpy about lunch, but as I suspected it had more to do with him being hungry than anything else. We had to end up at Gusto and I thought lunch was fine. F didn’t like his much.  

F wanted to get his haircut so he dropped me off at the mall and I did a little shopping. I didn’t buy much. After a while, I went to Doutors for a tea and that’s when he called me. He joined me with a new haircut! We did a little shopping and then went to pick up the sushi.  

At F’s house, he went into high and cranky gear to make dinner. We put out the sushi and some soup.  We ate that, then F made some soba for us. Bleck.  I told him before he cooked it that I didn’t want much, but he didn’t believe me. I had to ask him to take some of it back off my plate later.  It wasn’t great stuff, but it was okay. There was still too much of it though.

After dinner, I got stuck with doing the dishes and is par for the course, F was nowhere in sight, despite making way too many dishes.  After I finished I went upstairs. I decided not to go back in the living room. I don’t really feel welcome there.  Besides, Japanese TV.

I came upstairs and worked on some computer gaming things, and listened to some Christmas songs.  Yay me. I didn’t see anyone else until 11:30-ish. F asked if I’d like to go and do a Hatsumode. He suggested a few big shrines as options. We decided to go to Tsuruoka Park’s one, so got dressed up and left just after midnight.

There was a lot of people at the shrine, but it wasn’t too bad. F and I were in and out about 45 minutes later. It was a little drizzly, but the weather was warm, so not bad.

We drove to the gas station and F picked up some kerosene for us. He stopped on the way back at a convenience store, but they didn’t have a lot of food as they were renovating soon. 

At the house, I was upset with him as he chose to be annoying when I was trying to help him. I eventually just grabbed my drink from the fridge and brought it upstairs. I didn’t drink it until he came up. We had a little “Kampai” and then had our drinks. 

That was that. Despite my losing my temper, it was an okay day. Tomorrow we’re off to Yamagata, fingers crossed it goes well.  I won’t be here tomorrow, probably back on the second. 

Oh, last minute mention…Sue Grafton, the author of the Kinsey Milhone ABC mysteries died. I am quite upset.  Apart from the fact that I loved her work, she didn’t finish more than Y and won’t let other authors finish her works.  I will probably get Y soonish, as I have many of her other works.

That’s it for me.  Until tomorrow’s tomorrow....

November 22, 2017

Wednesday - Sunny and clear

A mostly good day.

It was a little sad today, both my sister and my best friend sent me word that David Cassidy died. He was the first pop-star that I ever fell for.  I remember when we lived in Britain saving up crisps wrappers (potato chip bags) so that I could send away for a poster of him, and how happy I was when it arrived.  I do still listen to his old music and have been known to do a couple of his songs at karaoke.  I had read that he was ill so it wasn’t entirely unexpected, but it was still sad.

I had another quiet morning today. I got up, had some drinks and then went down to have breakfast. However, K was nowhere to be seen.  Another granola & yogurt brekkie for me. Yay.  I like that anyway! I did have to clean up the kitchen though as my dear husband had made bread and sliced it on the kitchen table. He hadn’t cleaned up after himself though and there was machine parts to be cleaned and crumbs to be wiped up. I supposed that is the price I have to pay for fresh bread!

I brought in my laundry from the garage and hung it in my room up here. It was mostly dry, but would take forever over there in this season.  

K was up and around at 11 something, I heard her banging doors in the house. I said hello when I was downstairs for something else.

We had lunch together around 1 pm and we had a sort of clean out the fridge thing. We had leftover nabe, some leftover duck, salad and basically anything I could think of that would work. It was quite good though. I did the dishes after we finished and then went back upstairs to get ready.

I left the house promptly at 2:30 and walked to the bus stop. I was still a little early and the bus was 5 minutes late, but it was fine. I got to S-Mall, got off the bus after I paid and then walked to the hair salon I go to.  

I got a good cut, another pixie, but I like it a lot. We had a couple of misunderstandings so I didn’t get my hair washed, but it’s okay really. When I was finished, I paid and then walked back to the mall.  I did a little window shopping and no buying then went to Doutor for a cup of Soy Latte. I had just sat down when I saw an ex-student from Sakata and waved. She came to sit near me and we chatted a little. She is in the process of moving and had asked me to visit her in Sendai after her move. Since I’m going to Sendai next month, I suggested that it might be too soon to visit and she agreed. I’m glad that I brought it up with her though because I might have felt a little guilty if I hadn’t.

F joined me and then she had to leave. F had a drink too and then we went for dinner in the mall.  F suggested the restaurant upstairs so we tried it. I had my usual pasta, which was good tonight, but not great.  F complained about the ramen as usual, so no big deal!  We tried to get his mother something for dinner, but the store was out of pre-made stuff, so we went to another grocery store.  F picked up a few things for his mother and then we took it back to the house.

K had a bite of dinner, but I think she’d already eaten before going to bed. F decided to go out and buy kerosene tonight and asked me to accompany him. I did but it wasn’t a big deal at all.

We had a quiet evening in the house. F was tired, I wasn’t and watched quite a bit of TV. After midnight I gave him his birthday card. Yes, the lucky bum has a national holiday on his birthday every year!  

Tomorrow we’re supposed to have a nice lunch together and perhaps see a movie if we both feel like it.  F’s not doing well these days, so I hope the day off is good for him. Come back later and find out what we get up to. Until tomorrow….

July 17, 2017

Monday -  Hot but overcast

A good day.

This morning we slept in quite late, which was lovely.  We don’t get the chance to do that these days.  Around 10 we went downstairs and I washed some of the blueberries and put out some cereal and milk or yogurt for all of us.  We all got our bowl topped with blueberries, which was a lovely treat.  

After I did the dishes, F and I went for a walk.  We went to the local shrine where we said a prayer for my relative that just died.  Since I couldn’t go to the funeral, that and the little tribute I wrote to her on Facebook are the next best thing really.  

F and I walked a little further, then came back with some drinks from a vending machine.  We decided to go to Hyakkenbori for lunch, and to take F’s mother with us.  We changed our clothes a little and then drove over.  They were a bit busy, so we had to sit outside for a change.  F and I had the same thing, the Hana Noodle dish which I loved, and he didn’t. K had the lunch special which was sashimi.  She liked it a lot.  

We took K for a quick grocery trip and then dropped her back at the house.  F and I went off to Mikawa to buy him some jeans.

When we got to the mall, we went to Seattle’s Best Coffee for a chocomint java kula, but the one we got didn’t seem to have any mint in it.  And to make it worse, F had put cinnamon on top of both of them, because he was trying to be nice.  It didn’t really work.  All I could taste was cinnamon.  

We walked along the mall and went to a clothing store and found F a pair of jeans.  He wanted a pair of Japanese ones, but I didn’t like the way they fitted.  I got him to try on a pair of Wranglers and he ended up getting those. I hope I didn’t make a bad suggestion to him!  He had some time to wait until the jeans were ready as they were being shortened, so we hacked the craft shop and then looked at the ladies clothing department.  Despite swearing that I didn’t need anything, I ended up getting a nice summer shirt.  It’s a light blue and white striped shirt, supposed to be cool biz or something.  

We picked up F’s jeans and then had a cup of coffee at Mr. Donut.  We ended up having two cups of coffee and had a brief chat with the guy that used to run the Egyptian restaurant in town.  

We were mostly done in the mall, so I suggested a quick trip around Don Quihote.  It is never a quick trip though.  We bought a few things, but kept it low cost and simple.  

F wanted dinner after shopping and asked for okonomiyaki.  It was fine with me.  We went to the shop and had a good time.  We got a table this time, rather than a floor table and then ate a couple of kinds of food.  We also had some potatoes which were very good.  

We picked up a few groceries and dinner for K at the store in the mall, and then drove back to Tsuruoka.  We were close to the city when K phoned us to see where we were.  

When we got back, F gave his mother the food, I put some of the stuff away, and then came upstairs.  I watched a little TV and did a little crochet.  

Tomorrow I have to get ready for my trip.  I need to do laundry and pack my suitcase, get to the bank if I can, and perhaps find time to do a postcrossing?! Wish me luck with that.

Come back later and see what I get up to.  Until tomorrow….

October 6, 2016

Thursday - Clear and then rainy

A sad day.

I got up early again today and had breakfast and tea.  I watched The X-Files and surfed the net a little.  After a couple of my shows I got dressed, made the bed and started in on dinner.  I made up the tuna burgers mix and put them in the fridge to firm up.  I expected F to come home for lunch, but he didn’t today.

I was getting ready to do some of my usual computer stuff when I received a message from my sister. She told me that she’d just found out that a relative of ours had died last month, but we were only finding out about it today.  The relative lived in England, was older and single, but was a lovely woman.  Even though I haven’t seen her in person in years, we kept in touch and sent gifts and cards at Christmas.  

I was quite sad, and frankly, quite regretful. I have been meaning to write to her all year and just never got around to it.  Sigh.  I should have written.  

In the afternoon, I had a little cry, and then scanned my cards.  I walked them off to the post office and also walked myself off to the conbini and got myself a cafe latte for the walk home.

When I got home I got stuck on dinner.  I did a lot of dishes and then made the easy zucchini salad I’ve made before.  F got home while I was making it.  

He changed and started to relax while I got dinner ready.  Tonight we had quite a good dinner. We had tuna burgers on hot dog buns, with cabbage salad, zucchini salad,  steamed broccoli and a few green onions.  There weren’t as many leftovers as I had hoped!  Still, I was pleased.  Dinner was good, and it was remarkably stress free.

In the evening we had a quiet night.  F watched some Japanese TV and then at 10 pm I watched Bones and did a bit of crochet while he took his bath.  He went to bed when he finished and I stayed up a bit longer.  Okay, a lot longer.  

I did something a little different for me.  I did some colouring.  When I was at Costco last week, I bought myself a book of zen postcards to colour, so I started one tonight.  I haven’t finished, but I like what I’ve done so far.  It looks good.  I’m a little surprised at how popular colouring is for adults these days, but it is enjoyable too.  I might even send someone my postcard(s) if I like them!

And that’s about it for me for today.  Tomorrow I have to get out of the apartment for a bit and start getting ready for my trip on the weekend.  Come back in a bit and see what I get up to.  Until tomorrow….

April 3, 2016

Sunday - Rainy

A sad day.

I slept in this morning.  F was supposed to go out early to his mother’s but didn’t.  Instead, he waited until my alarm went off before he left the apartment.  I wasn’t too pleased, two days in a row he wasn’t around for lunch, but didn’t worry myself too much about it.  I had my breakfast and that was enough for the mean time.

When F finally did come home, he said that Gombei wasn’t able to stand up anymore.  He has gradually been getting more and more feeble.  This winter, mild though it was, was quite hard on the poor little dog.  

We went out for lunch.  My first pick didn’t have lunch anymore, my second was okay.  We went to Moku-Moku, the first time in ages, and had new dishes for us, donburi.  I had a teriyaki chicken donburi which was really nice, and F had a ginger pork donburi.  He didn’t like it that much, but he never likes things!

We went over to Yamaya to get a few foreign foods and while we were there, he got a phone call from his mother.  She thought Gombei had died.  I hurried my shopping as much as I could and then F brought me home.  He went over to his house while I put away the shopping and waited for news.

After a while, F came home.  He was so quiet when he came in the apartment that I just knew.  Poor Gombei, his little Shiba-inu had died.  F got Gombei a couple of years before we got married.  In fact, I think it was part of the reason I fell for F.  His teacher at the Eikaiwa asked him to bring his puppy to the school, and he did.  Since F was in class and my students were hardly ever there, I “puppy-sat” Gombei a bit.  I missed having a dog while I was in Japan, growing up, we’d always had dogs on the farm, so it was nice to be around an animal.  

Gombei as a puppy

Earlier this year.

Gombei was 17 years old, which is quite a senior dog.  He was mostly blind by this time, probably deaf too and had quite a hard time walking around so in some respects it was a release.  I’m not sure how F’s mother is going to be now.  They were good company for each other and she got out of the house to walk him when F couldn’t come over. 

Neither of us really felt like going out for dinner, so I suggested going to the grocery store and buying a few things for dinner and then watching a movie from the DVR or something like that.  We decided to do that.

At the grocery store I picked up a few things for the next couple of days and also some roast beef for tonight and my lunch tomorrow, plus veggie sticks.  F got sashimi too.  

We got some kerosene, but only one tank tonight. It is starting to warm up a bit, but I still need the heater in the morning and at night.  

We came home and watched The Lego Movie.  It was nice and light and bright and cheerful and a pretty good choice for tonight.  We watched and ate and drank a bit of wine and then I did some crochet too.  At 11 I watched the latest NHK English drama, The Musketeers.  It was okay, I’ll probably keep watching it.  

F was up for quite a while.  I know on one hand he is very sad, but I think he knew that it was time for Gombei to go.  Vets in Japan don’t seem to be in favour of putting pets to sleep or I might have suggested it a while ago.   

I’m not sure what I’ll get up to tomorrow.  I’m going to cook tomorrow evening, but I’ll have to use my slow cooker earlier on in the day and see what other things I can do.  Come back later to see what happens. Until tomorrow….

August 12, 2014

Tuesday - Cooler, a little rainy and overcast

A good day.

I set my alarm for 8ish this morning and actually got up.  I was a little late, but I did it.  I got dressed and went for a walk.  Yay me.  I walked to the park and then did a lap and a half before coming back home.  It was quiet and quite nice to be there.  It was threatening rain, and it was my first day, so I didn't really want to spend a lot of time on it.

I came home, checked my email and Facebook, the usual.  There was news all over Facebook this morning about Robin Williams.  I'll try and write a little more at the end of this entry about that.  I went over to the couch to watch Charmed and read the paper/have breakfast.  F called me around 10:40 and invited me out for lunch.  I told him I had to shower first, but we agreed to meet.

At a little after noon, I met my husband outside and we went to Marumatsu.  It was a little busy for lunch, but we both ordered quite quickly.  Then, we had to wait, and wait and wait.  It took ages until we got our food.  In fact, F had to wolf down his food with less than 5 minutes to spare before we left.  He was not impressed, and neither was I.  The food itself was good, but the restaurant wasn't that busy.  We drove back towards our apartment, but I told F to just let me out on the main road to save him a couple of minutes.  He did that, and I walked back home.

At home, I did some laundry, got started on today's dinner (marinating some pork) and the things I always do on the net.  I also scanned my cards and stamped and addressed them.  

I took them to the post office a little before 5 pm.  I dropped them in the box and came home.  

F was a little late tonight.  I (over)cooked the broccoli in the microwave, sauteed the pork, and put out the remains of yesterday's salad.  Dinner was quite good really.  F however was really hungry tonight.  He had rice with his meal, and then when he was finished, had ramen too.  I was quite surprised because he usually says he isn't hungry.  Still, I'm glad he had an appetite.  

We had a fairly relaxed evening.  F watched some Japanese TV.  Only some of it was annoying!  I put my headphones on and listened to some music.  I tried to make up an ever-changing playlist for my iPod.  I used to have one and it was great.  I'm not sure if I can do that with the new iTunes.

At 11 I watched The Following with was a bit freaky as always.  F has gone to bed and I should go soon too.  I'm a bit tired from this morning!

Okay…so, Robin Williams.  I'm really of two minds about him.  He was funny at times, he could act, but often didn't. He used his shtick. At times he was so over the top that the movies seemed to be about him or his character, rather than the story the writer and director wanted to tell.  I admire him for the charitable work that he did, for the genuine friendships he seemed to have, and for some of his films.  It's funny, but my favourite films of Robin Williams aren't always other people's favourites!  He was great in Good Will Hunting and Awakenings, but I liked some of his other films better.  It's an extended cameo really, but his appearance in Dead Again was surprising because it hadn't been advertised that he was in the film. Even though I shouldn't like Jumanji, I always find myself watching it, and really enjoying it when it comes on TV. 

Before I came to Japan, one of my male friends loved Robin Williams and would always make me go to see Robin's latest movie. Unfortunately, that was in the years when Robin's films weren't that good.  I saw a lot of bad films and I'm afraid that I grew to dislike Robin Williams.  It is only as I look at a list of his films that I realize that I do rather like a lot of them!  

No idea what I'll get up to tomorrow.  Come on back and find out.  Night!

April 5, 2013

Friday - Sunny and warmer

A sad day for movie fans.  My favourite movie critic, Roger Ebert lost his fight with cancer today.  I have been a huge fan of Ebert since his Siskel & Ebert shows.  In Canada I have two of his books and I check his website frequently to see if it is worth seeing some of the films that I plan to see.  He had been ill for years, but even though he lost the ability to speak, found a new voice through the internet.  I will miss him greatly. 

In other things, I got up, had a quiet morning around the apartment.  F called me just before noon and asked if I'd like a bento, so I said sure.  He brought me one and we had a nice meal. I had miso pork and he had salmon, plus we shared a chicken cutlet.  

F left and I didn't.  I finally roused myself to do a load of laundry and a little tidying.  F came home around 6:30 and we had a little chat for a while.  After that, we went out for dinner.  He asked to go to Midori Shokudo, but I couldn't face it. We ended up going to a soba chain restaurant for an okay meal.  We hit up the drugstore afterwards for a few items and came home.

I watched a bit of TV, but I did turn control of the box to F a few times, so he wasn't left out.  We're now watching some weird thing where in Japanese where the guy is eating a nabe and talking all about it.  It's actually quite annoying.  

Tomorrow I have an afternoon class and we might go and see a movie in the evening.  I'll come back tomorrow and give you all the news.  Until then, the balcony is closed.

January 19, 2010

Tuesday

Sunny and warmish. Nice day.

Today was quite good. I went to bed a little earlier than I have lately last night and it made a difference in how my day went I think. I got up this morning with quite a lot of energy and I felt good too. I watched the news, read the paper, drank some instant coffee and showered.

I did my computer stuff, followed by a bit of TV watching and lunch making. Then I was on my way. I had to decide if I would ride my bike or walk. After thinking about it for a while, I decided to ride my bike, knowing that I would most likely have to walk in places.

I set off and did walk in places. I stopped on the way at a bakery to pick up some sandwiches and other food for later in the day, then headed off. I made good time, even with the walking. It was still a little icy in places, but also very wet in places. The snow was melting. I made it to my school and parked the car. I did take the snow shovel outside and moved a bit of snow both in front of my school and in the parking lot. I made it possible for a car to let off someone at the front of my school, and I tried to make it so the snow would melt in my snowpile. Yay me.

I had 3 classes today and they all went well. In the first one we have decided to add a second book for listening. I have to call the publisher tomorrow if I can for a bit of advice about level for my student. In my other classes I think the students and I had fun. I did, and that's usually a good sign.

After work I finished up and called F. There was no answer. I was hoping he wasn't still mad from yesterday or that he hadn't fallen asleep again. However, he called me back about 15 minutes later. He had just finished work. Egads. He had a meeting tonight. Poor thing. He picked me up and we came home.

We didn't have the nabe yesterday, so we had it tonight. I did the prep for it and it was great! I wasn't sure how to cut the veggies, but F showed me or told me silly things (for example, cut the fried tofu in triangles- so I did!) I threw it all in a bowl. I put the curry soup packet in the nabe pot and brought it to a simmer.

While it was heating up, I checked my email and got some very sad news. One of my close friends in Canada lost her mother today. It was unexpected and very sad. I dashed off a quick note to my friend and the nabe boiled over.

We both rushed to the pot and put the veggies in and then had a very nice dinner. We were both surprised at how nice the curry soup made everything. F even put some noodles in at the end like you are supposed to and they were good too. He did the dishes afterwards, while I watched Criminal Minds with Luke Perry.

So that was my day. I'm really sad for my friend. It brings back a lot of feelings from when my own mum died too.

I have to go. I don't have any profound words to leave you with. Sorry. Night.

June 26, 2009 - Friday

Hot and sunny.

Although it happened June 25 in the US, I only heard about these events today so I'll mention them here. Today both Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson died.

I had heard that Farrah Fawcett was fighting cancer and it wasn't going well. I never really saw much of Charlie's Angels when it was on TV, we lived too far out of the city to pick up that channel. I remember her poster and her appearances on The Six Million Dollar Man with her then husband Lee Majors. She seemed like the typical All American Girl, and I had nothing in common with her!

Michael Jackson was a different story. I'd never really heard much of the Jackson Five when I was a child. A combo of travelling and living in a country under apartheid I think. When Michael started getting airplay, I was in my teens. I wasn't a big fan, until Thriller came out. Then, I was. One of my proudest moments was convincing my college's radio station manager that we needed a copy of Thriller in the station.

On with my day. It was quite boring really. I watched Re:Genesis and then the two episodes of Cold Case that were on today. I made myself a nice omelette and had some of an avocado for lunch. I headed off to the school, stopping at the drugstore on the way.

My student came and went. He was okay today, not great, but certainly not the worst he's ever been. I cleaned up and called F to pick me up afterwards.

We went out for soba after my class. I really wanted something cold. I couldn't handle anything hot for dinner. The apartment was up to 29 degrees today, my school was over 30 when I got there today, so really, just too darn hot for me.

We came home and I finally booked our trip to Canada. It was a little complicated because I'm staying longer than F so I couldn't book our tickets together. But, we're on the same plane going to Canada, and if I did everything right, should be sitting next to each other too.

That's about it. I watched an episode of Lost from the third season, but didn't really follow it. Too much between what I've seen and what I should know for this episode. Oh well.

And now, to bed. Night night.

December 26, 2008 - Friday

Snowy and cold.

I woke up this morning to a world of white. Sigh. It was not nice. It was really cold in our apartment, so I didn't really feel like getting up, but I did! Yay.

I had a quiet day at home. I had planned to go out, but the weather was really horrible, so I didn't. I stayed home, did laundry and re-watched Once.

I had a nice lunch of leftovers and just enjoyed my day. I would have liked to go out for coffee, but it just wasn't possible.

Fumihiko came home a bit after 6. We relaxed for a while, then went out for dinner. I made him stop at another drugstore and what do you know? They had echinacea. It was their last box of it though. We picked up a few other things, then went on to the restaurant. We had yakiniku tonight and it was really good. Our table was near the door, which meant that everytime someone came in I got a cold draught.

We made a quick stop by my school to check that everything was okay, and then came home. At home we relaxed for a bit, and then at 11 pm watched last week's Grey's Anatomy. It was a good one tonight. (Yes, I did watch it before, but Fumihiko didn't, so....)

After midnight I played phone tag with my sister, then had a nice chat with her. It sounds like they had a nice Christmas and liked the presents that we sent over. Yay.

That's about it for me. I just had to go and put on warmer pyjamas as mine just weren't cutting it. I'm now bundled up in a sweatsuit for warmth. I think I'm going to end this and go and sit on the couch and read my book and then watch Sex and the City! Sounds like a great plan.

Night.

Oh, two deaths that I wanted to note, first of all Harold Pinter, a playwright and secondly, actress and singer Eartha Kitt. Eartha Kitt was one of my favourite singers. She had an amazing career, and lived a very interesting life. I will miss her.

In Memoriam - Eartha Kitt

My mother had a lot of record albums that she was rarely allowed to play. I say "allowed" because usually my sister or I were hogging the record player with our favourite artists of the time.

I was in university when my mother died. Going home for the summer I decided to play some of my Mum's old albums and started with Eartha Kitt. I knew of her as the woman who'd sometimes played Catwoman. From the first bars of the album I became a fan. I smuggled Eartha's albums back to university with me, and played them often. When I upgraded to a cd player, Eartha Kitt's cd "Miss Kitt, To You" was one of the first three cds I bought.

For me, her music was a way to connect to my mother, and to the person that my mother was, once upon a time. And, Eartha was good, damn good. I can't think of anyone who could sell a song like Eartha could. Ever listened to Madonna's version of Santa Baby? Weak. Compare it with Eartha's version sometime. It doesn't come close to the sultry tones or the sheer brilliance of Miss Kitt's performance.

Actress and singer, dancer and activist. The woman was amazing. We've lost a legend.

In Memoriam

Ten years ago the world became a darker place.

A young Japanese woman was murdered in Auckland, New Zealand by an unknown assailant.

She had been my student.

She went to New Zealand to study English and to work. She was a wonderful person. She could sing Enka extremely well, was madly in love with Jon Bon Jovi and loved listening to gospel music. She was funny and kind and lived life with great gusto.

She sent me a letter from New Zealand after she had been there for a month or two. She thanked me for teaching her, and told me about her life in Christchurch. She loved her life in New Zealand.

September 11, 1998 was the last day that she was seen alive.

When I went to visit her parents to pay my respects they showed me a picture of her that I keep in my mind. She was on a rock, in front of a lake. Her arms were upstretched and on her face was an exuberant look of joy. She looked like a mischievous angel. That is the way that I want to remember her.

Heath Ledger

I wanted to say a few words about Heath Ledger's death. I wasn't a huge fan of his work, although when I looked through a list of his movies I was surprised to see that I've seen quite a few of them. He was an actor that managed to disappear into his work, quite a feat for such a young, good looking actor.

At this time, at my school I have a copy of January's Empire Magazine sitting out for my students. The actor on the cover? Heath Ledger as The Joker in the upcoming Batman movie. It doesn't look like Heath Ledger.

I'll look forward to seeing The Dark Knight, and hopefully he will have given as great a performance as he did in his other films.

Heath Ledger's films that I have seen....
Brokeback Mountain
The Brothers Grimm
Monster's Ball
A Knight's Tale