Tuesday, March 27, 2007

and here it comes.

beginning in on my buffy kick once again (thanks again bethy, for season 4!), i am now killing time at work by reading angel. all five seasons are up online in transcript form, and as much as i would rather be watching these episodes, rather than reading them and trying to remember all the sets and cinematography, it truly is a great way to spend the day. but why am i writing this, you ask? well because it inspired me to remember that there is a buffy comic that i keep telling everyone about, a comic that i have known about for at least a year, and should be out by now. so i googled. and googled some more, and low and behold: buffy!! season eight!! the comic!! it's out in two days in the u.s. and i'm tingling already. this is made even more exciting by the cover of the third issue. as seen below, it is so hot i think i'm going to die. now of course, i probably won't get to read this comic till september, when i am back in the good old u.s. of a., but i am still so excited that i am having trouble not giggling hysterically with joy as i sit at my desk. so, if you are one of the few in japan reading this, and you see me walking down the street, grinning like a fool, you'll know why.

and here they come.

today i left my parents wallowing in bed, or rather on futons, back at my apartment. i made my usual trek up the hill, sweating like a pig at the top, and rolled into yasufuruichi grounds to find a long and wide line of students and parents. junior high students, to be exact. confused and antsy looks. my co-teachers watched over them proud and well dressed. and i glided by hoping not to run anyone down. this is one of those days i fell happy to be in japan. this mostly comes from getting to see the change in the guard. being here from august to august, i get to see the new year begin in april, and all the kids grow up. my favorite is seeing my first and second years of last year (now second and third years) walking by the incoming junior high students with a smirk on their face. i see them lounging on the courtyard table, cruising in ten minutes late, and joking and laughing with their friends. they feel the energy that comes with having someone lower than you to pick on, or help. they feel the power of moving up in the world. it just makes me grin and remember my high school days, but mostly grin at my kids as they walk tall.

Sunday, March 04, 2007

it smelled like summer.

but not any summer. it smelled like the edge of summer. that perfect oregon summer. walking home through my park, the air was cool, a soft breeze on my face. i could smell flowers on the edge of my awareness, freshly cut grass, a clean fresh summer day coming to an end. i want to hold on to that small, feeling, to live there. to curl up there and never leave. it stuns me to find this smell in hiroshima, in early march. closing my eyes i feel i can touch my childhood.