I should have mentioned that they hand out the Pulit Surprise not like the good candy that everyone wants like Pocky or something, but like the gross candy that sits around at the bottom of the Halloween bucket because even kids coked out on sugar highs aren't stupid enough to even put it in their mouths, much less swallow it, like those five-year-old Tootsie Rolls that everyone desperately tries to give to any takers. The moral of the story? Pocky = tasty sticks of sesame dipped in chocolate, Pulit Surprise = ancient bite-sized bits of poo wrapped in paper. As if we didn't know that already.
In a class freshman year, I needed an example to illustrate the inherent contentiousness of human nature, and I used my belief that cleaning the shower is a ridiculous and unnecessary venture - after all, it gets covered in soap every day! Everyone told me that once I got my own place, my tune would change, but I'm proud to say that it has not changed so much as switched keys a little; I still think it's stupid, but am willing to do it when needs press. To wit, I cleaned my bathroom for the first time today (yes, it's been a little over two months. What of it?), and while I did break down and clean the shower, it was only because the floor and walls of the tub had turned completely black, from what who knows. It couldn't be dirt, because I am such a clean person, so it must have turned black out of shame at its own imperfections. Since I didn't do anything interesting today, I'll just talk about the boring stuff that I do all day. Today I actually read a little bit for the first time in a long while, even if it was just one extremely short short story, "The Spider's Thread," by Akutagawa Ryunosuke. I absolutely love Akutagawa and recommend him with no reservations of any kind to anyone and everyone. He's got an extremely traditional writing style mixed with some odd, creepy story elements, and the result can be fairly reminiscent of Ambrose Bierce. Akutagawa is the one who wrote "In a Grove," the story that Kurosawa's "Rashomon" was based on, not to be confused with the story "Rashomon" that Akutagawa wrote, which has a completely unrelated plot and is also extremely good. Incidentally, I think the movie "Rashomon" pretty much sucks (in fact, I think every Kurosawa movie I've ever seen has pretty much sucked, despite his reputation), so if you're interested in the story just check out a translation of "In a Grove." Since hardly any of you speak Japanese you probably don't care, but "The Spider's Thread" is the first story I've ever read that was written using solely the ultra-formal respect verb forms, and the result was shockingly atmospheric.
Well, that was a fun excursion into Nobody-Nobody-Gives-a-Damn-Land; I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did! And now, kitties!
- Gyaa! I'm give up
