query took 0.0383 seconds — man, i can’t even begin to imagine how long it would’ve taken to update 763 entries by hand…

after the typhoon — your basic week-long rainfest…

there’s a newish metro bear poster — foto coming soon… it’s been so wet lately i was hoping they might break out the old bear in boots posters, but so far no…

gotta rush — hello, hello…

dr glastonbury, i presume? huge props to keri, who’s now the justifiably proud owner of a set of markers’ reports for her doctoral thesis that you’d have to say are positively glowing… congratulations on the brilliance of the writing, the strength & determination to get the thing done, & (last, but not least) your totally deserved success! when’s graduation?

heavy rain, some typhoons — douyoubi wa tenki ga chotto wild desu, ne. (or something like that… in point of fact, probably something not very much like that at all, but i continue undaunted in my efforts to simultaneously deface two languages…) saturday saw typhoon #22 & counting… lotsa rain, some flooding, some wildish winds…

hello? australia? what were you thinking? despite the impending typhoon, i made my way to the oz embassy in azabu juban on saturday to cast a defiant (if, in light of events as reported on the abc’s website, ultimately ineffectual & apparently out of touch with most of the rest of australia) vote against the forces of dimness… a fourth term & control of the senate? what the…?

note to self: your telephone takes photos…

excuse the lack of exposition… although i should say that mount fuji (that slightly whiter blurry blobby bit on the horizon a couple of photos phurther down) looks much more impressive — & certainly much less blurry — from my desk than the photo manages to convey…

in which it rains… (& rains & rains… tokyo, balmy one day, raining & freezing the next three…)

& the learning curve approaches vertical… (the number of additional domains with which i suddenly had to become familiar today was astounding…)

& extra study is called for… (gotta shovel some learnin’ into my rapidly widening knowledge gaps… somebody pass me my hat with the propellor on top…)

a difficult couple of weeks — sumie’s mum passed away suddenly & unexpectedly on the seventeenth of september… a big shock & surprise to everyone… her funeral was very beautiful, if a little difficult at times… it was very different to anything i’ve ever experienced, & at times i felt a little embarrassed to be there — i had very little understanding of what was happening, & often felt as if i was intruding — everyone had enough on their minds without having to worry about babysitting me as well… but sumie’s family were very welcoming & accepting… it was the first time i’d met many of sumie’s relatives, & it was nice to meet them, although i would have preferred if we could have met under different circumstances…

sumie’s mum was very nice, very funny & open & she was very kind to me in the short time i knew her… i’m happy i got the chance to meet her & to get to know her even a little bit…

some better news — got confirmation last week that my contract has been extended for three months, which i’m very excited about… i’m really enjoying my job… learning a lot, working with some smart people…