I’m completely covered with mosquito bites. I have no idea how or why or … anything, but a legion of mosquitos bit me everywhere, and I feel itchy and gross. (They, however, didn’t bite BF…)
If that’s not bad enough, some homeless guy has been really loud outside for a while (between 3 and 4 a.m.!), and I haven’t been able to sleep very well for a couple of nights. There’s only so much Coke Zero and coffee can do to keep me lucid.
A lot of Americans who have never been to Japan or studied its culture in detail think that anime = Japan.
(Which BTW is 100% false.)
The influence of media however isn’t limited to America.
I was talking with a Japanese friend once (BTW — she’s never been out of the country) and she told me that although she wanted to visit San Francisco, she thought America was entirely too dangerous for someone like her.
So I asked her, “Why do you think that?”
Her response: “Because…they have guns in America, right? What if they don’t like me or something and shoot? People always shoot each other in American movies.”
*facefault*
I was going to post some stuff about the way Japanese people use “yes” / “no” and the way Americans do, but my head is ready to explode from the lack of sleep. I was so rudely kept awake until 4:00 a.m. by really really loud people outside, and I realized that I said something really weirdly dumb in one of the emails I sent out this morning. *sigh* I wonder if people in my city don’t have to work on Fridays anymore.
I’ve been feeling a bit burned out recently.
I can’t sleep very well, and I’m often tired and so on. Partly I think it’s due to the sale announcement, etc. It’s been a bit overwhelming and exciting, and coming down from that…well…
Of course it didn’t help that I’m trying to wrap up A Happily Ever After of Her Own by Friday May 30, and wrap up Nine soon, before June 30. There’s nothing wrong with Nine per se, but I realized that there is some tightening up that I could do (thanks, Bettie 
), so I’m working on everything all at the same time. I also need to outline All the King’s Women, based on the result of Fast Draft, by June 30.
Some people might ask, “Why do you need to finish Nine or All the King’s Women by this date or that? You aren’t contracted for those works, right?”
To be honest, no. None of the projects are contracted (and if we put it that way, neither is A Happily Ever After of Her Own), but I’m very deadline-driven, and I always impose them on myself. I tried to be flexible, since sometimes it takes longer to finish, but I always tried to meet them. Consider it practice for when I do actually have contractual deadlines.
And yes, Natasha, I’ve made a nice Gantt chart. 
P.S. I might take a break on Saturday or Sunday, after I submit A Happily Ever After of Her Own to Samhain.
Kaysar isn’t that bad. Except when I have to do staccato bowing.
My downbow staccato is serviceable. (I think) But my upbow staccato sounds like wet noodle sliding down a dirty glass pane. Absolutely horrendous. The entire piece lacks crispness & lightness when I play it.
Of course, I don’t think it helps that I’m beginning to hate the way Dominant strings sound on my violin. It’s quite metallic, way too bright. The worst of all, it sounds cheap. I liked the deep resonance of Obligato (my old strings). I really must get the Obligato strings when I go home this year. They’re about 50% cheaper in the States. (In Japan, they cost about ¥15,000 or more; that’s 150 USD)
I turned 30 today. I was dreading it for a while, but it was fun actually. And rather productive.
The day started out with breakfast. BF made it. Well, he always cooks breakfast, but today was exceptionally nice: a cheese omelet with red bell peppers and some spicy potatoes.
And while he was working, I revise two chapters, checked emails, etc. I also got a card from Mom with an international money order inside. (BTW — note to everyone: if you send an international money order, make sure to fill out every single blank space you’re supposed to fill out or it’s going to be near-impossible to cash it.) BF and I had sushi and cake for lunch. I revised another chapter, then practiced the new scales (with something like five sharps and one double-sharp) and read. Very very satisfied with the day.
P.S. If you’re wondering what BF got me for my birthday — he gave me a copy of Rascal. It’s out of print, but he found a nice hard cover. W00t!
It’s not a bad etude.
If it weren’t so boring.
I had to change my chin rest again. Berber was too low, and it muffled the sound. So back to the original one. It seems to be louder & clearer. Of course it also means my teacher will be able to hear every little scratch and off-pitch notes coming from me. Argh.
G-major is usually one of my favorite keys, but in this case, it’s just annoying because of the random flats and sharps Kaysar threw in there. It sounds incredibly weird…like somehow I’m not playing it right or something. I had to stop and replay the section multiple times to make sure I’m hitting the right notes. (This is one of the reasons why I miss playing the piano because there’s very little guesswork involved. With the violin, I really have to stop and listen for the right pitch.)
Something I noticed recently is my poor bowing form. For some reason I can’t seem to do staccato very well. And let’s not even talk about double- and triple-stops because they sound atrocious. Like a wet pissed off cat being tossed into a burning oven. My teacher’s convinced that it’s because I don’t have enough confidence. His advice was that I should play with confidence…like I sound like Isaac Perlman even though I sound like crap in reality. He said that should help me relax, have fun and hopefully that’d come through in my performance. Easier said than done. I wonder if I’d have more confidence if I practice more or something. Mmmm.
My bicycle broke yesterday on my way home from the gym. I’m not quite sure what happened or how to make it work again, but it just totally made me unhappy since I happened to like my bicycle. It was cheap and did its job. What more can I want? I really don’t want to shell out $100-300 for a new bike. (This is the mentality that got me to keep my old 1996 Corolla even after I got my corporate job and everyone wondered why I was driving that beat-up POS car.)
Edited to add: Yay! It got fixed for ¥500!
Well…my throat’s better now, but my nose is completely congested. Kinda like 495 at 8:00 a.m.
Am feeling slightly tired, but slept a lot, so maybe it’s okay. Finally finished reading the last act of NINE. Am semi-pleased with what I have, but I have a ton of stuff to rearrange and fix. Am making a bunch of revision notes as well. I need to add a very minor subplot, then print the entire draft again and make more changes.
