Profit over Democracy

Man, newspapers are closing down because of owners'/shareholders' ego, not because they are losing money. Something is wrong, something is wrong. We are losing something very important for us. Democracy!

Death

Wow, another newspaper is shutting down. Man, newspapers are seriously at the brink of extinction?!

Medical Expense

Geez, this country's medical costs are crazy.

A week ago, the university health center found a cavity in my teeth, and sent me to a private dentist outside campus. I went to the dentist this morning. Fortunately, the cavity was not deep, and the treatment itself was done in 15 minutes or so. My upper lip is still numb because of the local anesthesia (the photo above shows that my upper lip is weird), but no hurt at all. That's good.

After finishing treatment, I came back to the reception desk. The cashier told me it cost me $76.95! Ridiculous! You know what? The insurance coverage is already deducted from the total cost. I was scared, thinking what if I had not had health insurance.

Man, this country is crazy.

Dying Industry

Oops, another newspaper is dying.

Importance of Discourse

Again, I'm lucky that someone who says "Happy Birthday" to me. It may not be a big deal for them to say happy birthday to me, but it is a big deal to me. And I learned, as I know, that communication is really, really important for human relationships. I don't mean that communicaiton has to be formal. Just greetings work."Hi, Duck!," "Happy Birthday, Duck!," this kind of simple stuff makes people happy. Now, I respect Michel Foucault, though his writing is terribly difficult for me to understand.

Sweet People!

Ah, I'm lucky that I have someone who says "Happy Birthday."

GA and IN treated me dinner tonight and gave me a box of chocolate. Literally and metaphysically, they are sweet! Thanks, GA and IN!

And DF sent me a happy birthday email with old photos. I was amazed that she kept those old photos of me. It is really sweet of her. It's simply, but moving. Thanks, DF!

And I know my mom completely forgets my birthday as usual :P

Japanese B Gourmet Food Party

I was busy all day.

I met my dental appointment in the morning. I had a student appointment right after that. It lasted about two hours. Man, she asked me a lot of questions. I'm not complaining. Actually, she is a good student. Anyhow, I went to the library to pick up the book on hold, and also the museum of history to attend GA's presentation, which turned out to be interesting. She is an archaeologist. I don't know anything about archaeology. Well, I know some, at the elementary level though.

Finally, I came home around 2:30, which was the starting point of my cooking marathon. The party menu tonight was okonomiyaki, salad rolls, Philadelphia rolls, nikujaga (literary, it means simmered beef and potatoes, but I made it without beef because I was supposed to have a couple of vegetarian guests), seasoned hijiki (seaweeds). Because I promised my guests that the kitchen would be open at 6, I pushed myself to cook kind of in a hurry. Three hours and half cooking made me tired, but at the same time, doing something creative made me feel good.

All my guests are Americans, so my Japanese friend teased me before the party by saying, "I don't think hijiki is a good idea. I guess it looks gross for Americans." Guess what? My guests loved it! Well, they may not be typical Americans, hee hee hee.

I appreciate that they came over and enjoyed (or preteded to enjoy) my Japanese B food. And one of my guests, GM, brought some flowers, which is beautiful. Because I forgot to take photos of my food, I took a photo of his flowers :)

I'm Here (Again)!

Damn, it's been one week since I updated this the last time. I think I have some stuff to upload in the last week, but my brain has been kind of ruined by cheap wine.

Yeah, I'm remembering. I happened to submit my abstract to a conference, was fed by my friend's yummy food, was stressed out by thinking of the class structure of my class next term, and so on and so forth.

Anyway, I'm still here. That's the most important thing to tell you :)

Snow!

Yea! Snowing! Oh, well, this photo isn't clear enough to show it's snowing. But, anyway, I got excited when I was making coffee this morning. Making coffee is the first thing to do in the morning. I put my coffee maker on the stove and looked up to the window. And I saw the snow! I don't make a snowman or two, I don't fight snow balls, I don't draw an angel, or whatever, but still the snow thrills me. This snow looks wet, and I think it's going to stay, mm ...

Nausea

Damn, I feel nausea. Or, I feel something sticking in my throat. It's really annoying. Actually, I don't feel like throwing up. I just feel something weird around my throat.

Ta*Ma*Ra*N!

YO sent me a box of birthday gifts! It's really heartwarming that I can think there is someone who is thinking of me. This feeling is great. And her box is always full of surprise and laughter.

So, what is in this time? I opened the box, and found ... okonomiyaki ingredients! Tenkasu, aonori, sakura-ebi, etc. ... they are inevitable to okonomiyaki. The other day, I was just thinking of tenkasu, the residue of tempra cooking, "Tenkasu makes okonomiyaki perfect. But how could I get it here?!" Urgh, my okonomiyaki will be perfect with these!

Thanks, YO!