12.13.08/19:50  i think i have a tapeworm               

The picture?  It's Lucas from MOTHER 3 rendered in Othello.  I realize there aren't any grey chips in the game, but monochrome makes him look naked or like an angel.  A little greyscaling becomes necessary for the differentiation of features.

The difficulty of 2kyuu has really forced me to reevaluate my situation here.  The only conclusion I can come to is that I should've stayed in Japan.  So why the hell did I move back?

The whole time I was there, I knew that somewhere on the other side of the world was a little girl in a cold room quietly loving me.  And the longer I waited, the more likely it became that I'd lose her forever.  I had to make a choice.

So I took a chance on love...

Of course there were other reasons as well: a need for more education to get a better job, a desire to spend time with my family, an escape from doing that same damn job forever...YES, all good things.  It's just that it's cold here.  So cold...

Anyway, for better or worse, I have to come to terms with the fact that I'm in Pittsburgh for the foreseeable future.  Which means I have to get back to work.  I'm not talking about the job.  That's a joke.  I'm talking about studying and making music and staying up all night, all those things I try to excel at.

12.5.08/21:44  children of the advent                   

It's that time again.  Happens every month, happens every year.  Every month, the past month gets archived at some point.  Visit November by clicking on that beautiful highlighted yellow word.  And, every year, Christmas happens as well.

In my country, it's traditional to decorate flammable plastic trees with cheaply-wired electric lights.  The girl and I have chosen to observe this tradition, as illustrated by the attached digital photo.

This week, this is it.  It's a big week for me.  I have two tests and a meeting, and while I'm hoping they all end successfully, I can only do what I can do.  Tonight is the drive to Chicago for the JLPT, Level 2.  Has a year of translating and studying improved my skills by the requisite fourteen percentage points I'll need?

I have no idea.

As always, I feel like I have to apologize for the sporadic and uninsightful quality of the posts here lately.  I usually give excuses as to why this is.  This time around it has to do with work and the going to of it.  Being an early, daily event, this is killing my sleeping/posting time and my quality of life.

But we'll get through it.

Schemes and plans require money and saving, so this job is a necessary evil.  Also, the having of health insurance is not a bad thing for me to be doing.  I've heard there's a kind of doctor whose job it is to clean and repair teeth.  While I've only heard tell of these mythical figures, I figure it can't hurt to pay one a visit.

                                                                                (c) 2003-2008 jordan baugher

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