So much like I was two years ago, I'm going to have an intern this summer. Well, I won't technically be his boss (that'll be my manager) but I'm mentoring him in the ways of the force, err programming at a software company. His first day here we went out to lunch on the company as is custom. At lunch he mentioned some stuff about progressive rock and Dream Theater. I knew immediately that he [...]

So I was in an car accident last Friday. I rear ended another car in an exit lane. My fault of course. Fortunately, the woman that I hit was very easy to deal with as was the police. I know that sometimes people have trouble. Unfortunately I was driving kinda fast and the airbag deployed. So they have to be replaced. If you've never been in an accident where the airbags deploy then let me te[...]

So I've invited that chick Akiko to hang out/got to parties two or three times but every time she's been busy. I know that always saying you're busy can sometimes be a way of blowing someone off (I'm sure I've done it a few times) but I don't think that's the case. She has so far seemed willing to go but had prior engagements, class, or work. Even still, I'm not sure what to do. I'm not sure [...]

So I've been going to a decent number of Japanese meetup events and such. It's good practice for me but I tend to get suckered into talking to the folks that don't know much Japanese. I hope that changes a bit in the future. I'm also one of the members most interested in meetup but I'm not a great leader so I'm not terribly good at organizing events. The Sakura Matsuri in D.C. is coming up a[...]

I finally got around to watching this classic film yesterday. I have to say. It does live up to the hype. What an excellent movie. So enjoyable was it that the 203 or so minutes went by without so much as thought about the length. I was glued to my seat the entire time. I think part of the attractiveness of the film is the believability of the action sequences and the characters. While each [...]

Even though most of the time I'm a pretty sober guy sometimes if I make a new friend or I'm excited about something I go a little overboard. For example, this one japanese chick that I met at a japanese club e-mails me late one night to say hi. It was a nice short e-mail in english. You know, friendly. I respond by immediately sending back an e-mail that's like (summarizing) Hey, I'm glad you[...]

Well, I haven't written here in a while. A lot has happened recently. My domain python-powered.net passed back to the company that I registered it from since I couldn't remember the login/pass for the page where I could renew it. Now they want $160 to renew it. Ridiculous. Well, I'm not gonna do that so maybe I'll get python-powered.org from a different registrar. I've been applying to grad[...]

I just added a new recipe for Miso Soup. Not to fancy but if you're new to Japanese cooking or want something simple and good then check it out.

I just finished watching, for me, a rather inspirational show on MHz about an old Chinese barber. His clientelle were mostly other elderly Chinese men (one 96 years old) and the discussions they had during his visits were most interesting and inspirational. He would talk to them about their daily lives and give them advise on what things to do to stay active. Some of them, the 96 year old man[...]

Whipped though the early chapters of the Kanji Book I've been studying from in the past week and a half. Most of the kanji I already knew or at least could recognise if I read them. So all I had to do was memorize the alternate readings and stroke order. You see, kanji have different readings in different words or contexts. So you have to memorize all the readings for each kanji. One that re[...]