Yes, Teresa, this is the pose that I was in for about fifteen minutes after reading your very kind-spirited posts in the guestbook that nevertheless read like "first you convince a squad of monkeys to crawl up your backside, and then, and this is the tricky bit, you get them to fly out." I may try that, once I become the Lord of Time.
I guess I should be flattered that my girlfriend thinks that I am some kind of tiny god of computer programming, but nonetheless I am thoroughly convinced that if I were to actually attempt what she advised, my computer would stab me in the eye for being a huge ass.
So today I did nothing again, and it was all I thought it could be and more. Well, that's not strictly true. I went to this international club that the French guy invited me to in the hopes that I would find someone who would be willing to let me homestay with them for a while, and ended up playing children's games in various foreign languages with about ten adults and five children. The Japanese get up to some very strange things when they want to socialize. I don't know how much you all know about Japanese social groupings, but social interaction for fun and hobby is almost entirely based on clubs and circles. Although these are supposed to be for relaxation and enjoyment, the superior/inferior relationship, based I believe solely on the length of time one has been involved and not at all on talent or merit, is extremely strict and without parallel in American society, as far as I can think. This is not to say that there is no actual fun involved, but the idea of strict codes of obeisance is antithetical to Western concepts of relaxation. Anyone who talks about the equality of all cultures and cultural habits has obviously never left his home. Lacking that, they labor under the delusion Cavafy describes.
That poem is ridiculously good; every time I read it I find that it has improved somehow.
The mustard and camembert pictured there cost me about $5, which is ridiculous considering how small they both are. I'd never had camembert before, but it's pretty tasty, kind of like a strong brie. Cheese and mustard is the greatest meal ever, although I wouldn't recommend this particular cheese in the combination. Due to the mismatch, I've been forced to return to eating mustard straight, even cutting out the middleman and going right to the spout. Where in the name of all that's tasty is the sharp cheddar in this country?
