aaaahhhhhh....

This is so lovely. A massage for your brain.

http://www.storynest.com/Pictolaby_web/works/p08.htm

Go ahead and play - but only if you have shockwave, sorry.

I get my certification

So, Sam had a huge hairy fit about his literature circles homework tonight. It's his job to read the chapter and summarize it, and he's known about this since last thursday.

He screamed and wailed and flailed and cursed (as you all know he can) and didn't get much done - hard to read while screaming, wailing, flailing and cursing.

I think I should get a medal for not beating the crap out of him - the temptation was unusually strong, and Marie has now decided that she would like "less than one" children. But, we all survived and made it to the dinner table.

And we even managed to talk about it a bit. It went something like this:

Sam: I hate literature circles. It's too hard.

Me: I doubt that it is too hard. I think that the problem is that you didn't do any reading on the weekend, and now you can't get it done in time. You brought this on yourself.

Sam: Nothing's so bad that you can't add a little guilt to make it worse.

See? I'm a real, certified Jewish mother.

suspense!

Is giving me zits.

I think I might have hit a critical stress load, as my chin is breaking out most spectacularly. Aren't I a little old for this?

1. The election - soon to be resolved. We will get either the complacent and corrupt Liberals, or the scary Conservatives. Either way, it won't be much of a party - the most there will be to celebrate is (hopefully) a minority government. That way, there won't be too much damage done over the next few years.

2. Preparing for the upcoming volunteer training programme at TELL - all of those unpredictable variables - who will apply, will things work out, what will go awry...

3. Where, where, where? No word yet on where we will be living after July - the promised news for this week hasn't materialized yet. So, more waiting there.

4. It seems like with enough major stressors going on, everything else has the potential to become hugely stressful - so I am consciously avoiding making mountains out of molehills. It's interesting to note my reactions, I guess...

Poopy. Need chocolate.

snow day!

Sadly for Sam, it isn't a school day, but we woke up this morning to a thin blanket of snow (thickening as I write) covering the embassy. Interestingly, there seems to be a lot more snow sticking inside of the embassy compound than out. Coincidence? I think not... This is, after all, a part of Canada...

The election is fast approaching, and my ballot is working its way towards whereever mail-in ballots go. I doubt that my vote will make much of a difference, but having voted, I feel like I now have the right to bitch about the government until the next election. If you don't vote, tough patooties - you had nothing to say at election time, you get nothing to say till the next time around. That's what I think.

And this week, for a brief moment (well, two days), we thought we knew where we would be living come August. But then we didn't know. So, back to that constant state of minor stress - where? Augh!

Here's more of Thailand:

...and no speedos

At the moment, I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to vote in the upcoming election - and I need to figure it out soon, as the ballots are going out from the embassy on tuesday.

I suspect that my dilemma is a pretty common one - do I vote for the party closest to my values, or do I vote against the party furthest from them? In my riding - where I last lived in Canada - which happens to be Orleans - the pickings are slim. I get to choose between the big 3 - it might be the big 4 if I were on the other side of the river, but I'm not. So, NDP, Liberal or Conservative?

Living way over here on the other side of the world, I'm sort of outside of the election goings-on. No signs, no debates, no candidates knocking at my door. I can check them out on the internet, but that's about it. But I do hear rumours that the Conservatives are gaining ground. Ick. I'm sure I won't be revealing much, or surprise anyone, if I say that the NDP are closest to my beliefs. Which I think reveals a surprising vein of optimism in my character, really. A belief that people are actually good, or at least that the good people outnumber the slimeballs. And considering the Canadians that we come in contact with here (Steve in particular, with all of his prison visits) - that's kind of sweet, I think.

So, I could vote NDP - which would essentially be throwing away my vote in Orleans, but it would send some sort of message. And what if the NDP actually wins (just bear with me here)? Could they govern? But then, can any of the partys govern? Things do seem to be deteriorating - guns and scandals and healthcare and all that stuff. But if the Conservatives get in, what then? So, should I vote Liberal to head off that potential nightmare? What's a vaguely cynical, somewhat hopeful and seriously out-of-the-loop girl to do?

What we really need is a party that has a good social conscience, demonstrates solid fiscal planning (don't ask me), and will ban speedos.

Then, voting would be easy.

pointy bits

this is me being artistic. Like it or lump it.

call me!

Well, in the process of dusting the house today (our cleaner is on extended holidays...), Marie found the headset, so I went ahead and downloaded Skype.

Cool. You can find me under my name if you want to call me...

because...

I think it has to do with inertia.

I haven't posted anything for ages because I don't know what's happening in my life - I don't know yet where we will be living after we leave Tokyo, and since that's such a huge question - the only question at the moment - nothing else really seems all that important.

But, things, life continues...

The computer was at the home for wayward computers for 2 weeks - but things didn't get fixed. Oh well. I'll just ignore it and it might go away...

We went to Thailand for a week - that was cool. Bangkok is the opposite of Tokyo. In an urban way. Obviously, the middle of the forest or something like that would be the real opposite of Tokyo. But Bangkok is sort of Tokyo's urban opposite - hectic, dirty, disorganzed, cheap, cheerful, green in spots, rivers that are a functional part of the city (I really liked that bit). It was exciting, envigorating, and it made me nervous. I am so used to the ORDER of Japan - it just fits my personality so well. Everything in its place, everything goes where it should, happens when it should... I like that. But the craziness of a place like Bangkok feels more ALIVE to me. And I like that, as well. Which is probably a good thing, because wherever we live next, it most likely will not be well-ordered and polite. I suspect...

Anyway, Sam goes back to school tomorrow, and it is a national holiday, so perhaps I will use the time to find some funky photos of our trip to add to the flavour.