I deleted my facebook account a couple of days ago. The privacy settings had become ridiculously convoluted, and the simple fact is that I no longer trust them with my personal information. I shouldn't have to constantly update my privacy settings in order to make sure that a website isn't spreading my information all over the web. Facebook's CEO has basically said that he doesn't think that their users' privacy is important, and, I'm sorry, that's just not acceptable.
Other stuff: Today I taught the first graders today at one of my schools for the first time. It was funny...they were excited, and probably a little scared, I think. One little girl was right on the verge of crying when it was her turn to introduce herself to me...she couldn't talk in front of the class, and I could tell she was about to lose it, so I smiled and gently sent her back to her seat. The Japanese teacher comforted her a little, but she still shed a couple of tears. Nothing too major, but I didn't want her to be traumatized by her first English class, so I came back to that class for lunch. I was glad to see that she was fine, and she came up to me and talked to me a couple of times, sans tears, and she helped out when a couple of the kids decided to give me a spontaneous back rub. I'll take it. They love touching me, for some reason.
I'm still working on the story of Jun's grandma's funeral, and it's turning out to be a bit more epic than intended. I'll try to wrap it up in the not-too-distant future.
Friday, May 14, 2010
Monday, March 29, 2010
Busy times.
Well, a lot has been going on lately, but I haven't been posting to this blog much and I'm going to take some time over the next few days to rectify that.
First of all, I'm on spring break and it is friggin' sweet. I have 3 weeks off (2 of which have now passed). Nice.
So, I guess I should probably start the catching up with the end of the school year. In Japan, the school year ends in March, so I had to say goodbye to my students. Here's how that went:
As you may or may not know, I was teaching at both a junior high school and an elementary school. For reasons not entirely clear to me, I finished at the elementary school a week before the junior high, which threw my schedule into a bit of disarray. No big deal.
Saying goodbye to the elementary students was not that easy, however. I'd grown pretty attached to them over the year, especially some of the little ones, a few of whom had become totally enamored with me over the course of the year. I'll *never* forget one morning when a little boy took my hand and escorted me across the entire playground, smiling delightedly the whole time.
On my last day, I had my last class with some of the second graders. At the beginning of class, I told them, in Japanese, that it was my last day. Except for an occasional word here or there, I don't usually speak Japanese in class, but my last days at the school I made a some exceptions to that rule. So, I told them that it was my last day and then we conducted the class per usual.
A popular game with the second graders is something called "Fruit Basket." It's a form of musical chairs that is played in an inward-facing circle instead of back to back. We played the game, per usual, at the end of class, and finally the last bell rang. I scrambled of the students out of their seats for one last round of the game, and they eventually got themselves seated in their chairs again (small children aren't known, necessarily, for their rapid decision-making skills). After they'd gotten situated, I sat down, myself, in the middle of the circle, smiled, and started waving to my students.
It's a little difficult to accurately describe the moment when you realize that you could be crushed to death by a mob of screaming 2nd graders. They seem so cute and innocent, but then when they are piling on top you like a pack of crazed howler monkeys, well...it's not quite so fun then, now is it?
I make light, but it was actually extremely touching. Some of the students were crying. One kid took a hit to the mouth in all the excitement and ended up with a bloody lip. A couple of the students gave me several dozen origami cranes that they'd folded themselves. One girl gave me a handwritten note (in Japanese, of course) thanking me for teaching her and for being kind to the students.
I walked out of that school at a little after 4 o'clock on a Friday afternoon. As I made the long walk, for the last time, across the playground, kids from all over the playground yelled my name and waved goodbye to me. I felt a lot of love from them on that last day, and it's not something I'll ever forget.
First of all, I'm on spring break and it is friggin' sweet. I have 3 weeks off (2 of which have now passed). Nice.
So, I guess I should probably start the catching up with the end of the school year. In Japan, the school year ends in March, so I had to say goodbye to my students. Here's how that went:
As you may or may not know, I was teaching at both a junior high school and an elementary school. For reasons not entirely clear to me, I finished at the elementary school a week before the junior high, which threw my schedule into a bit of disarray. No big deal.
Saying goodbye to the elementary students was not that easy, however. I'd grown pretty attached to them over the year, especially some of the little ones, a few of whom had become totally enamored with me over the course of the year. I'll *never* forget one morning when a little boy took my hand and escorted me across the entire playground, smiling delightedly the whole time.
On my last day, I had my last class with some of the second graders. At the beginning of class, I told them, in Japanese, that it was my last day. Except for an occasional word here or there, I don't usually speak Japanese in class, but my last days at the school I made a some exceptions to that rule. So, I told them that it was my last day and then we conducted the class per usual.
A popular game with the second graders is something called "Fruit Basket." It's a form of musical chairs that is played in an inward-facing circle instead of back to back. We played the game, per usual, at the end of class, and finally the last bell rang. I scrambled of the students out of their seats for one last round of the game, and they eventually got themselves seated in their chairs again (small children aren't known, necessarily, for their rapid decision-making skills). After they'd gotten situated, I sat down, myself, in the middle of the circle, smiled, and started waving to my students.
It's a little difficult to accurately describe the moment when you realize that you could be crushed to death by a mob of screaming 2nd graders. They seem so cute and innocent, but then when they are piling on top you like a pack of crazed howler monkeys, well...it's not quite so fun then, now is it?
I make light, but it was actually extremely touching. Some of the students were crying. One kid took a hit to the mouth in all the excitement and ended up with a bloody lip. A couple of the students gave me several dozen origami cranes that they'd folded themselves. One girl gave me a handwritten note (in Japanese, of course) thanking me for teaching her and for being kind to the students.
I walked out of that school at a little after 4 o'clock on a Friday afternoon. As I made the long walk, for the last time, across the playground, kids from all over the playground yelled my name and waved goodbye to me. I felt a lot of love from them on that last day, and it's not something I'll ever forget.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Creative energy.
So, I haven't been updating this thing much, largely due to the fact that I am channeling most of my creative energy into a couple of music projects.
First: I DJed a couple of weeks ago at a bar in Omotesando. There weren't a ton of people there, due to the fact that I arranged it a few short days before I actually played didn't have much promotion time. However, I was trying out some new gear live for the first time, and that's not necessarily the time to be working in front of a lot of people. In any case, the new stuff worked nicely and I'd call the evening a modest success, technically speaking.
I recorded the set, and here are the results:
Part 1: http://www.mediafire.com/?jn11mtm5qym
Part 2: http://www.mediafire.com/?gq5n3gywoye
Second: I am working on an original composition. Right now it's in the early construction stages...I have a beat. I have a hook. I have some harmonization. I'm working on the bass line. The next step is to arrange the components and add layers. I've done remixes, but this is actually *not* my first original composition.
HERE is my first original composition: http://www.mediafire.com/file/jrotwmzdquz/New Hope (instrumental).mp3. I started working on this track when I first got to Tokyo, literally on one of my first few nights in town, when I was couchsurfing and really had no idea what the fuck I'd be doing in a week or two weeks' time. I haven't really shared this track much, previously, because it feels strangely personal and because I didn't really like it much when I finished it. Time has brought a little perspective, though, and it is what it is.
While I'm at it, here is a remix that I made shortly after I composed that last track there: http://www.mediafire.com/?kdjmbmyza2n. This track was a lot of fun, although I confess that I'm not entirely satisfied with the final mix. On a large speaker system, it is definitely lacking punch, for some reason. I've been meaning to remix the remix, but I haven't gotten around to it.
So, there you have it. Busy times.
First: I DJed a couple of weeks ago at a bar in Omotesando. There weren't a ton of people there, due to the fact that I arranged it a few short days before I actually played didn't have much promotion time. However, I was trying out some new gear live for the first time, and that's not necessarily the time to be working in front of a lot of people. In any case, the new stuff worked nicely and I'd call the evening a modest success, technically speaking.
I recorded the set, and here are the results:
Part 1: http://www.mediafire.com/?jn11mtm5qym
Part 2: http://www.mediafire.com/?gq5n3gywoye
Second: I am working on an original composition. Right now it's in the early construction stages...I have a beat. I have a hook. I have some harmonization. I'm working on the bass line. The next step is to arrange the components and add layers. I've done remixes, but this is actually *not* my first original composition.
HERE is my first original composition: http://www.mediafire.com/file/jrotwmzdquz/New Hope (instrumental).mp3. I started working on this track when I first got to Tokyo, literally on one of my first few nights in town, when I was couchsurfing and really had no idea what the fuck I'd be doing in a week or two weeks' time. I haven't really shared this track much, previously, because it feels strangely personal and because I didn't really like it much when I finished it. Time has brought a little perspective, though, and it is what it is.
While I'm at it, here is a remix that I made shortly after I composed that last track there: http://www.mediafire.com/?kdjmbmyza2n. This track was a lot of fun, although I confess that I'm not entirely satisfied with the final mix. On a large speaker system, it is definitely lacking punch, for some reason. I've been meaning to remix the remix, but I haven't gotten around to it.
So, there you have it. Busy times.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Busy, busy, busy.
I've been working a lot with my new DJ software and hardware, and my work is starting to bear fruit. The problem is that a music collection as massive as mine requires and enormous amount of preparation time, in total, to prepare it for full use with the software. I can just load a track and play it, but there are a lot more options available if I do the prep work ahead of time. Sometimes it's really painless...others, not so much.
In other news, I've also been working on a short story. I wrote it both as a stand alone story, and as a potential opening chapter to a larger work. My 1st draft is done, in any case, and maybe now I can think about writing a follow up short story (or chapter 2, if you prefer).
BUSY!
In other news, I've also been working on a short story. I wrote it both as a stand alone story, and as a potential opening chapter to a larger work. My 1st draft is done, in any case, and maybe now I can think about writing a follow up short story (or chapter 2, if you prefer).
BUSY!
Monday, January 11, 2010
Too long!
I've been super busy working on a bunch of new music stuff recently, so I haven't been spending much time bloggin'. So, let's recap:
The holidays are over now. I started work last week after a nice, long vacation. There wasn't a whole lot of relaxing going on during vacation, but it was long.
Christmas was in Korea and New Year's was spent at Jun's parents' house. Both were fun and interesting, although Korea was a bit difficult, at times. I missed my family during the Xmas season (duhh). Jun's parents' place was a good time. Her brother and sister-in-law came over with their two kids, ages 6 and 8, and there was much tickling. We also ate and drank a lot of great food and sake, respectively.
On New Year's Day, we visited a shrine and then walked around a bit. More good times were had.
So, last week I only had one day of class and this week I'll be having 4 days...it's a short week. Yay.
There's the recap. Current projects include: putting together a DJ night here in Tokyo, practicing said DJing, and working on some remixing. I've been fairly tightly focused on the music, and I'd like to keep it that way for a while.
Done! More soon!
The holidays are over now. I started work last week after a nice, long vacation. There wasn't a whole lot of relaxing going on during vacation, but it was long.
Christmas was in Korea and New Year's was spent at Jun's parents' house. Both were fun and interesting, although Korea was a bit difficult, at times. I missed my family during the Xmas season (duhh). Jun's parents' place was a good time. Her brother and sister-in-law came over with their two kids, ages 6 and 8, and there was much tickling. We also ate and drank a lot of great food and sake, respectively.
On New Year's Day, we visited a shrine and then walked around a bit. More good times were had.
So, last week I only had one day of class and this week I'll be having 4 days...it's a short week. Yay.
There's the recap. Current projects include: putting together a DJ night here in Tokyo, practicing said DJing, and working on some remixing. I've been fairly tightly focused on the music, and I'd like to keep it that way for a while.
Done! More soon!
Saturday, December 26, 2009
From South Korea.
Jun and I are presently at a hostel in South Korea. The lounge is small, but cozy and comfortable, and it's from here that I am writing a quick blog post.
Yesterday was Christmas, and it was still depressing to be away from my friends and family. Jun and I bickered for a solid percentage of the day, which was not helpful. It happens. We had a crab and cake on Christmas Eve, but we didn't particularly *celebrate* Christmas. However, this year was still massively better than last year, as followers of this blog will be aware. Holy God, it was horrible.
We hiked and rode rented bikes around this small town that we're staying in, and I got some pictures that I'm feeling hopeful about. I'll need to see them in a large size to tell for sure...the tiny little camera screen doesn't reveal much.
South Korea is nice and it's interesting and I'll post more about it later, but right now I just miss my brother and sister-in-law's nice warm kitchen, and the warm love of my family. Maybe next year.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
The Last Week.
This is my last week before vacation...I have two more days at the junior high and 2 days at the elementary school. The elementary school has missed a bunch of classes, due to swine flu, so, naturally, I get to make up those classes. It's less than ideal...I spend a lot of my canceled class-time doing prep-work, but there's also a fair amount of thumb-twiddling. The thumb-twiddling time can be spent in some productive ways, such as learning Japanese or writing blogs, but I'd trade it for a balance...teaching 6 classes a day at the ES is very specifically *not* fun.
I have some new DJ gear on the way, which is good because I've been slowly losing my mind over the course of the last year. I like making music, but the spontaneity is definitely lacking when it takes me 3 or 4 hours to make a tiny beat loop that my perfectionistic-ass brain is still mildly dissatisfied with. Just loading up some tracks on the turntables and rocking out is massively more satisfying, and, more importantly, I need the damn practice so I can start DJing out again in Tokyo. I'm tired to trying to do it in electronics stores...it's funny, but it's shitty practice.
Anyway...next week, KOREA! Yay. Jun and I are excited, although I'm currently harboring a healthy paranoia about getting sick. Yeah, we'll see what happens on that front. After we get back, it's off to her parents for New Year's. I'll definitely have some healthy blogging to do when I get back, so keep your eyes on this here space.
I have some new DJ gear on the way, which is good because I've been slowly losing my mind over the course of the last year. I like making music, but the spontaneity is definitely lacking when it takes me 3 or 4 hours to make a tiny beat loop that my perfectionistic-ass brain is still mildly dissatisfied with. Just loading up some tracks on the turntables and rocking out is massively more satisfying, and, more importantly, I need the damn practice so I can start DJing out again in Tokyo. I'm tired to trying to do it in electronics stores...it's funny, but it's shitty practice.
Anyway...next week, KOREA! Yay. Jun and I are excited, although I'm currently harboring a healthy paranoia about getting sick. Yeah, we'll see what happens on that front. After we get back, it's off to her parents for New Year's. I'll definitely have some healthy blogging to do when I get back, so keep your eyes on this here space.
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