Ironic Aplomb

Happy Hallmark Day

2008-02-15T04:34:38Z

Or as Kyle put it "happy corporate capitalist bullshit day"
He's better at naming stuff than me.

To be fair, V-day is no worse, no more capitalistic or materialistic than the other holidays, like Chirstmas with its presents or Easter with its marshmallow bunnies (notice my focus on 'mainstream' Christian holidays). In a way, its the more honest of the holidays since it makes no lies about its corporate beginnings. And it certainly doesn't have the fame to infamy as Thanksgiving.

Regardless, the point is that this day to me means hilarious special ads from lovers to lovers published in newspapers. Today's personal favorite:

Snooger,
Your dad must have been a baker, because you have a nice set of buns :) Happy Valentine's Day! Thanks for everything that you do. I love you so much!
Love, Snoogie

Also of interest:
Dear Alberto,
Happy Valentine's Day! I love you so much! One little kiss!
Love, Johanna

...Now I just need to find someone named Johanna

ironicaplomb @ 2007-05-04T10:11:00

2007-05-04T01:12:08Z

It seems Im stuck taking at least one credit for University Scholars this summer.

Anyone know if Florida Bright Futures pays for one summer class or not?

scholarship!

2007-04-10T01:29:42Z

I got a wonderful e-mail today informing me that I got accepted into the University Scholars program, which will be giving me a nice amount of money to conduct research this summer.

What does this mean? It means I'll be staying in Japan over the summer! Sorry to those back in the States and Miami (read a Sophia). I won't be seeing you guys till August.

ironicaplomb @ 2007-03-24T12:15:00

2007-03-24T03:16:26Z

meh

oh and no more mister donuts.

ironicaplomb @ 2007-03-19T17:30:00

2007-03-19T08:23:14Z

Pics from the concert:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/99946507@N00/

Video from it:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=RmdDDnE2rZw

ironicaplomb @ 2007-03-14T22:59:00

2007-03-14T13:59:34Z

So fuck studying for midterms. I went to a Muse concert instead.

Amazing.

yikes

2007-03-02T09:31:53Z

In post secret, http://community.livejournal.com/_postsecret_/155888.html

I found this thread: http://community.livejournal.com/_postsecret_/155888.html?thread=78939632#t78939632

Which said:
my brother is a huge necrophiliac
ive caught him jerking off to pictures of corpses online
and at a dear friends funeral, he got a boner.
i also have read in his journal how he frequently scouts the cemetary for freshly dug graves, but hasn't worked up the nerve to dig anyone up.

he wants to be a medical examiner.

ironicaplomb @ 2007-02-22T00:30:00

2007-02-21T15:30:57Z

Omg my money is back. Yessss.

ironicaplomb @ 2007-02-14T22:05:00

2007-02-14T13:09:45Z

I made a purchase at an electronics store here in Japan using my debit card. It works fine. However, the clerk was mistaken so I had to go back and return it and replace it. So what they did was supposedly cancel my previous purchase and charged me anew, for the correct product this time. For a few days (I went Sunday) my bank statement said money had been pulled twice from my bank account. But it was still 'processing' so I assumed it would rectify itself. However, I checked my bank accounts again today, and both payments have stopped processing. And they've both gone through.

-__-

Should I wait a little bit more? Maybe they're (whoever they are) are late in informing my bank that no I have not just spent that much money. Or should I contact someone? The store or my bank?

Pain in the ass. Don't take my money!

i can see my damn breath

2007-02-05T01:02:30Z

Japanese houses...are very cold. Espesically when it gets as low as 10 C (maybe even lower!) and there is no central heating. Though technically, in my home in NY my parents would not have the heater on at night. So that's fine. But these Jap-style homes must not have any insulation at all! Twice I've woken up, and when I exit my cold room to go into the even colder hallway and stairs, I could see this white puff float in front of me. I could see my own breath! I think sometimes it may actually be colder inside than out. Spring better get here soon. Come on global warming!

On another note, I had issues and concerns about the credit I'm earning out here in Japan for UF. I finally get a reply from my Asian-studies academic advisor...aaand I get this in part of the e-mail:

"...It's very unusual for a person to go to Kansai Gaidai
with 3rd year Japanese complete, but most of the students at Aoyama
Gakuin go like that. They do not get further language credit, but
just return very far advanced over the other students. It is a
little disappointing that you are in level 5 and 6, but you will come
back very strong..."

Unusual? disappointing? I largely don't regret coming here. I've made really good friends and had wonderful experiences. Plus, I just wasn't good enough to take actual Japanese classes (which would have been Aoyama). Kansai Gaidai has something like that too, Academic Japanese, and I was definitely not good enough to do that. Maybe I should have tried for it this semester? But I don't know...this e-mail just kind of bothers me. Mostly because out of frustration that I wasn't strong/good enough to get the proper credit. Now I'm going to be 2 credits behind, will this be a problem? And even though I'm still learning a lot...I'm now feeling that my academic history just reveals someone who is stupid in Japanese. I got all these nice scholarships because they thought I was smart and probably going to go into Japanese-Japanese classes with Japanese students. Now I'm just feeling stupid and depressed.

I need a damn McFlurry.

weird dream

2007-02-02T01:42:48Z

I'm not sure if I was me or someone else. Like inside the body of someone in a movie. But I was older, and addicted to cocaine-laced peanuts. I guess to avoid being caught with cocaine, people started putting it on foodstuffs so its not so obvious. So I'm this dark factory(?) where I can only see two other guys, the dealer holding up the flashlight, which is the only light. The cops come outside and he drops the whole bag of peanuts. I start picking them up and putting them in my green backpack, and I have a whole damn bag of drug nuts! I must be high or something, because then I collapse face-first and throw up some. I wake up in the hospital. The cops are keeping me there so I can get treatment and also await some trial that's 10-months away. Not quite sure what happened next.

Also, I'm not sure if this came first or second, but I had another dream where Xavier and Guylaine are broken up. It was a really sad dream because they're such an awesome couple, and here they were over, awkwardly avoiding each other.

Not sure why but I felt kind of dirty when I woke up.

homestay

2007-01-30T09:43:50Z

So I not only got into the homestay program but I did get pretty lucky with the family. It consists of a retired 60-something man who used to work at Panasonic; a 54 (I think) year old piano teacher who still teaches kids sometimes during the daytime; a 30 year old graduate student son who is living at home (has he always, don't know); and a 27 year old son who lives by himself in Osaka and works at some clothing company.

They've done homestay many times and so know what to expect. They also seem very nice and generous. The mother is very willing to talk and has asked me a lot of questions. The dad is a little more quiet, but still very cordial and nice. Since one is retired and the other teaches from home, they're pretty much at home most of the time. They do play tennis twice a week though, apparently. The eldest son, being a law student, seems to be very busy. He goes to school even on weekends to study and what-not, and comes home late. I've been staying at this house since Sunday and I have yet to meet him. Maybe he's just in his room secretly watching anime and porn all day long.

There's an unused soccer ball in their "yard." That makes me sad. On that note, I wanna get good at soccer. I've recently come to enjoy playing it (that, and frisbee).

The house is very nice, though cold. No central heating, even in the shower room. Brr. Typically they fill the tub up with warm water and it warms the room up. But the past few days they've told me to just take showers. At least I have a heater in my own room (my own room! with a bed!) and in the living room. So they keep them off at night.

Also, my social situation doesn't seem as bad as I worried. I still know a few people here and getting to know a bit more. Eating dinner with the Frenchies tonight at Sem 1. So it's only the first week, but hopefully this trend continues. I don't want to do this homestay isolated from everyone.

Japan chronicles

2007-01-23T00:37:11Z

So its recommended, I hear, to keep some kind of journal when you go abroad. And since I have a LJ, I may as well use it I guess.

I've been here in Japan since Saturday. It felt a little like going back home, returning to all the familiar sites of the Hirakata I used to see everyday. But things are different, and it is a little weird to see people I'm not used to seeing in the lounge and dining room, mixed in with a few people that I do know. There are French people in Sem House 2 this semester! I wish they had been here last semester but I'm really glad I got homestay this one. On that note, I know nothing of my family yet. It's a little disconcerting.

So I saw Haruna and gave her a big hug. That was nice. Its also nice to see Will, Xavier, Guyllaine, and Joanna are still as cool as ever. Meg came back yesterday but I didn't see her last night, so that's a little disappointing. Well, I have the whole semester, so it shouldn't be so bad.

I'm meeting a few new people. But I keep having this nagging thought, a worry, that this semester and these people won't be as fun as last semester. Because I know, despite all these new people, if Sverre or Andrew came in walking through that door, I'd immediately go to them and need no one else. But I don't want my new interactions to be tainted by that, or it will ruin my experience from the beginning. This semester will be different, but it can still be a lot of fun. And I need to remember that if not I will make myself miserable.

kobe

2006-12-21T16:47:27Z

When my speaking partner took me to her

bowling

canadians

Theres a Chinatown in Kobe, as in a single walkway where all there is is restaurants

Boob-shaped toy

Apparently we were lucky to catch the Kobe Port tower pink, an event that occurs only once a year.

home visit family

2006-12-21T16:37:12Z

Here's the family. From left to right: the mother, the father, the cousin Hoko, the daughter Chisami, and the damn loud Estonian girl I had to share them with.

The dog, Pimpa.

Yes, they had a giant xylophone

The Akashi (their town) bridge. Its apparently the longest suspension bridge in the world.

They lit the bridge up in rainbow colors at night

They took me to Himeji castle, one of the oldest castles in Japan. Also one of the few to survive WWII bombing.

pics from Osaka

2006-12-21T16:21:00Z

So its not like I had an amazing time in Japan,

Welcome to Shinsaibashi in Osaka

The inside of a store called LoveDrug

Giant Crab!

Giant Pocky!

Theres a Dennys in Osaka. What the fuck.

Vegetarians dont look. This was all you can eat yaki-niku for 2 hours and it was delicious.

Jia En drunk after one drink. We loved her for it.

sfla

2006-12-19T07:06:56Z

Officially in Miami. Call me. Or I will call you. That is a threat. I'm probably not sleeping tonight due to jet lag.

kikoku

2006-12-16T14:02:20Z

back in Florida this Monday. I will be requiring severe hanging out-age so I don't go crazy in my house.

what christmas means to Japanese people

2006-12-11T09:53:27Z

Every single shopping mall and store has some sort of decoration-everything from lights to small plastic trees. Employees can be seen wearing santa hats and holiday jingles are on the speakers. The crazy part is that very little of the population is Christian, yet they seem to enjoy it so much.

However they don't give presents. Maybe lovers will to each other, but thats about it. It's not a family holiday, no one comes together. They have this strange thing called a christmas cake, which they will cut and eat on the 25th, and boom it's all over. Time for New Year's.

But probably the most amazing thing is that christmas means Kentucky Fried Chicken! No joke. We saw a schedule outside KFC where people have signed up to go to KFC on that day, pick up some chicken whatever, take it home and eat in with the holiday spirit. People take this seriously here, and some Japanese people were surprised when I told them most Americans don't actually do that.

My thoughts: KFC has the most amazing/horrible marketing device in this country.

Ataru Nakamura

2006-12-08T05:58:07Z

who wants to see a male-born singer with a gorgeuous voice.

For those interested, her name in kanji is 中村中, the character 中 meaning middle or in-between. I'm pretty sure it's not a given name.

transgender stuff

2006-11-29T07:53:00Z

For those of you not interested or just annoyed with gender issues, especially those relating to transgender issues don't read this entry. Now,

If anyone is interested in a good transgender, specifically female-to-male, documentary, I recommend Shinjuku Boys. Admittedly, it is foreign and subtitle heavy, but I found it very interesting. The main characters differ from the typical tranny narrative, in that out of the three only one is taking hormones and one blatantly states ze is never going to do it. Ze's also pretty gender queer, in that he doesn't identify as female, but not really as male either. His words are "in-between."

This is not to dis Transgeneration, but I kind of prefered Shinjuku Boys to it. I was only really interested in TJ (and his friend ;-) ), the rest seeming a bit shallow. Maybe I need to see the rest of it first before judging. But these Japanese trannies just have these interesting personalities and say some really deep shit about themselves.

I'm starting to miss the whole queer scene I had back home. Everything has just been so normative since the beginning of summer. Not that thats bad, but for me, I need more. I especially feel out of the loop with the tranny world. Ever since Kyle left my life (emo!!) I haven't really had that in anymore. I need to find a way to really plug myself in all the facets of queer world independently.

Btw, I typed this whole entry with all fingers, as I have now learned to type correctly. Hurrah.

japan

2006-11-25T17:22:50Z

Hi i'm alberto, i'm in Japan, i'm french
Harr harr
plus i;m so sad and bad and speling.

i <3 emo. and andrew's spectacles.

Pikachu

ironicaplomb @ 2006-11-21T00:00:00

2006-11-20T15:00:32Z

I still don't know where to live next year. Blah.

Supermassive Black Hole

2006-11-13T11:54:23Z

This is my favorite song in the new Muse CD. And I was afraid I wasn't going to like any of it:

Oh baby dont you know I suffer?
Oh baby can you hear me moan?
You caught me under false pretences
How long before you let me go?

You set my soul alight
You set my soul alight

(You set my soul alight)
Glaciers melting in the dead of night
And the superstars sucked into the supermassive

(You set my soul alight)
Glaciers melting in the dead of night
And the superstars sucked into the 'supermassive'

I thought I was a fool for no-one
Oh baby I'm a fool for you
You're the queen of the superficial
And how long before you tell the truth

You set my soul alight
You set my soul alight

(You set my soul alight)
Glaciers melting in the dead of night
And the superstars sucked into the supermassive
[ these lyrics found on completealbumlyrics.com ]

(You set my soul alight)
Glaciers melting in the dead of night
And the superstars sucked into the 'supermassive'

Supermassive black hole
Supermassive black hole
Supermassive black hole

Glaciers melting in the dead of night
And the superstars sucked into the supermassive

Glaciers melting in the dead of night
And the superstars sucked into the supermassive

(You set my soul alight)
Glaciers melting in the dead of night
And the superstars sucked into the supermassive

(You set my soul alight)
Glaciers melting in the dead of night
And the superstars sucked into the supermassive

Supermassive black hole
Supermassive black hole
Supermassive black hole

weaver maybe?

2006-11-12T13:25:24Z

I'm having a rather enjoyable time here in these international dorms I'm considering seeing if I can recreate this back at UF. This is of course taking into the account my general laziness and general difficulty in finding an apartment and signing a lease as I spend my time in a foreign country. But mostly, I want to meet French people, Japanese people, etc. again.

Is this a stupid idea in any way? Someone tell me.