 
Name:Phillipa BeaneAge:22 Seen:Bridget Jones' Diary Heard:Moulin Rouge Soundtrack Reading:  |
2.24.2002
good grief. too many months have passed. have forgotten utterly how to do this stuff, and page is desperately in need of redesigning. won`t happen anytime soon however. just finished lovely dinner with T after another temple-hopping day. is plum blossom season so we went to the various appointed blossom-viewing locations and found that the rest of the tokyo population had the same idea. is a repeat of our autumn leaves-viewing experience in Nikko. why does everyone have to do everything at the same time here? anyway, am doing well, but miss my friends and eating peach gummies. chocolate is in fashion, so gummy candy is hard to come by. am going to try and come to this cafe more, and update properly. must run, ta ta. 9.24.2001
am in lovely Harajuku Yahoo Cafe--am much too tipsy to do proper update. am living utterly new life since last wrote; things are ridiculously fantastic, which worries me of course. love living in Tokyo, spending weekends train-hopping and checking out a new part of the city each time. today was the upscale Ginza shopping area, the imperial palace, and now Harajuku. yesterday was Asakusa, with its kitchy souvenirs shops where we met up w/N&B and enjoyed the afternoon sunlight and pigeon-befriending old men. Then on to Shinjuku to see one of the last festivals of the summer; lots of men dancing about in their skivvies. Had good conveyor belt sushi and then home to watch a video. I tell you (you, the by now nonexistant reader of this page) all this because it is a good example of my typical weekend. Is it healthy to be having this much fun? My god, you'd think that I was actually (gasp) happy for a change. Best not question it. Will try to update again; am going on mini-break to Kyoto the weekend after next, so will try to update afterwards. 6.8.2001
6.4.2001
am feeling blue today...not a deep navy kind of blue, but just a little bit ultramarine. i find myself blinking back tears, though i'm not particularly sad about anything. odd. odder still is the conversation i had w/Shinobu today. when i first met her i thought she was a little strange, but i really had no idea -- she is, in fact, clinically insane. she was telling me today that she is actually the secret daughter of the korean president (or is he a prime minister, i don't remember), that she is constantly followed by secret guards employed by him, that the people inside the television sometimes talk to her, that she sees benevolent spirits who wander around her house doing nice things for her, and that she had an affair w/a man 10 years younger than her and that he is the real father of her child. she says she's on medication, but it certainly doesn't seem to be helping. and N was awful today, she was downright aggressive towards me -- i can't wait to leave. 6.1.2001
oh, how i do adore june. this first day of my favorite month was filled with such lovely moments...i hope the next 30 days will continue on in the same vein. i awoke to the sound not of a chorus of birds, but an entire symphony orchestra of them. wondering how a few birds could make such a racket, i shuffled out to the kitchen and looked out on the backyard. the entire lawn was covered in hundreds of little black and white birds, all pecking away at the caterpillars and bugs. country life has its surprises. the children were crazy, as they usually are on fridays. they decided, among themselves, that video-time was going to be naked-time today. so many little butts running amok -- i laughed 'til i cried. then as soon as N. left for the afternoon, Shinobu and I raced for our iced coffees and cigs, which we enjoyed under the chestnut-tree shade. the aforementioned rabbit made a second appearance while we were out there, and stayed for a good 1/2 hour this time. apparantly we posed no threat to him, since he took a nap and then raided the tomato/carrot/radish garden right in front of us. i just finished my friday afternoon class of 7 yr olds, who are a fun bunch. i find myself liking the rambunctious, misbehaving boys better than the demure girls. though yesterday when the ever-weepy Sayaka finally left the safety of my lap, joined in the game, and went home w/a huge smile on her face, i did think she was rather wonderful. and since i went to the market today, i have an extravagantly delicious dinner to look forward to. perhaps i'll go take a walk to work up my appetite. 5.30.2001
argh...massive attack of guilt. during "circle time" the kidlets all spontaneously crowded into my lap and started chanting "we love you teacher, we loooooove you!". now i feel like i'm abandoning them. oh well, kids have short memories. 5.29.2001
yay! received 1st piece of real mail at this ridiculous address (Sunny-Side Up!, indeed...). what medium jamie marie chooses to write her pithy epistles upon is always half the fun of getting a letter from her. this time it was not an m&m wrapper, but a paper napkin. i had better not leave it lying about or i just might use it to blow my nose. speaking of mail...reminder to self: turn down volume of incoming email notice so as am not awakened by happy jingle at 4am--the time at which my lovely friends on the other side of the planet inevitably write to me. am too full and content after dinner of broiled eel and tomatoes i picked myself to write anything witty and engrossing. perhaps will be artsy and draw pictures, or maybe just curl up w/another dick francis. 5.27.2001
went to the eency weency train station and took an eency weency train to the nearest large city, Takasaki, which is in the next prefecture. i really shouldn't be allowed to go shopping, as i spend money like it's going out of fashion. i splurged on an i-zone camera, cute boy-cut underwear, a new bag, the moulin rouge cd, and the book shown at left. the comic book is about a girl who wants to be a jockey, so obviously it's about me, and i had to buy it. and lo, i did find a "betty's blue" store. it was bizarre seeing my name on every single piece of clothing and merchandise. they didn't have any of those vending machines though. i went in to tower records today w/every intention of buying the new r.e.m., then almost got shaggy instead, but somehow went with neither. then when i was walking out of the store, a cute boy who was clearly under the influence of some good drugs came up to me and asked me if i wanted to play w/him. i told him i was busy, but i wonder what he'd had in mind...it might have been adventurous of me to say yes. now i'll never know.
am still playing w/page layout...the theme is, obviously, "things in my bag". my bag is that army fatigue thing at the top. it's a belt w/three pouches, and it looks pretty bad-ass when i wear it. my cell phone fits in one of the small pockets, my wallet and notepad in the middle, and the smokes in the other small pocket (not shown). the miscellaneous items are: green apple lipgloss, peach-flavored mints, my horseshoe ring, my coin purse (from lo), and my ultra-man keychain. 5.26.2001
this has not been, by any stretch of the imagination, what one would call a pleasant, restful saturday morning. i first awoke at 4am to find myself standing up in bed, screaming in terror. this is not a fun experience, and i don't recommend it. i also somehow managed to wrench my arm nearly out of its socket during my nocturnal episode, so am in much pain today. then i was awoken again w/the sound of ten elephants stampeding up the stairs next to my bedroom. it was, of course, N's children, here for the French lesson N's friend teaches here every saturday. so i resignedly got out of bed and showered and whatnot. then on my way to the market, walking past the lovely poppy/cosmos field i noticed a large, decapitated crow by the sidewalk. hmm, that sort of ruins the view, i thought. then i looked up to see a very long, green snake looking at me from a few feet away. as steve erwin was not w/me to explain what a 'beauty' she was, i slowly backed away and decided this was not the best time to go to the market. i watched as it slithered hesitatingly across the road, and saw it promptly run over by a large, speeding truck. it thrashed about wildly, coiling and flipping over, and then just lay still. this is definitely a memory i could have done w/out. i'd like to go back to bed and start over, but have a lesson in a few hours, so am making do by indulging in some haagen-dazs green tea ice cream.
yurkle flurp. is it finally friday? yawn. am up in the loft, letting the soothing tones of "Angel" (Dave Matthews) ease my frazzled nerves. have decided it really is the prettiest song ever. as is evident, have changed blog title as well as layout, since there is already another "slumberland" in existance. "greenly leaping" is a phrase from an e.e.cummings poem -- my most favorite piece of writing ever. Shinobu (the office manager) and I have totally joined forces against our tyrannical boss. over coffee and menthol cigarrettes we sit on the backdoor stoop and compare the verbal abuse wounds inflicted upon us by the evil N.
5.25.2001
5.24.2001
am relaxing w/glass of shin lu chu on the rocks (a lichee flavored liquer), after intense day of being bombarded w/crying chitlins. i taught my entire second lesson of the day w/a girl clinging to my neck and dripping tears down my back. my 'natural mothering instinct' is almost non-existant, but i prefer having to comfort them than admonishing them when they misbehave. but why do they cry so much? life is so easy when you're 3 yrs old.
i was just having my daily smoke in the rainy backyard when i saw a little grey rabbit munching on some greens by the chicken coops. he was so cute! i felt very alice and wanted to follow him, but i was supposed to be making sure the shortbread cookies didn't get burned in the oven, and thus could not embark on any adventures. 5.23.2001
back in the days when lo and i would run about the promenade being fashionable and stealthy and camera-happy, one of the things we delighted in was collecting phrases from briefly overheard conversations. it is fun to speculate what context these words were uttered in; for instance, "well, the breadman arrived," and "gonnorhea?!," and "I miss kissing." The latter is one I heard just this past weekend while lo and i were being fashionable and japan-savvy in shibuya. It's a rather melancholy phrase, n'est ce pas? It made me wonder if I miss kissing. I suppose I do, but none of my boyfriends were very good kissers, so I don't miss kissing them. Ponder, ponder... 5.22.2001
does anyone remember me saying how i wasn't going to start smoking because i have a brain and i'm smart? well, apparently i'm brainless and quite stupid because somehow i walked out of the 7-11 today w/a new pack of 7stars smokes. but they are so gooooood...just one pack and then i'll quit again. i swear. so i did tell my boss and she still wants me to work for at least a month. i told her i want to be out of here by the 10th, but we'll see. my least favorite kidlet appears to have a crush on me as he was throwing himself into my lap repeatedly and kissing my neck. yerch. i am in love w/my cellphone -- is much better companion than any of my boyfriends. love getting cellphone-email more than anything. had exciting moment yesterday when out of blue received email from Huan, a very se-eeeexy Vietnamese boy I met 3 yrs ago. apparantly my cousin passed my # on to him. am officialy addicted to aloe yogurt and pickled eggplant. also am becoming re-addicted to watching the Tokyo Giants (baseball team) every night. it is starting to get sticky hot so am running about in my skivvies when i finally get the house to myself. wish i'd had the forsight to buy ice cream bars while at 7-11 today.
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