Recently I have been listening to Name by the Goo Goo Dolls.
Apparently 'Zen Guitar' was written by a Japanese-American. January 25, 2009
It has become one of my favorite songs.
John Rzeznik said:
Rejection is the biggest part of all of our lives, and you just have to get used to it. There is a great book called 'Zen Guitar'. It's an awesome book, because it talks about finding your spiritual pulse through your music. Music can be a really profound way of praying.
I am a bit surprised that John Rzeznik seems to have some understanding of Zen.
I would love to read this book.
If money is lost, nothing is lost.
If health is lost, something is lost.
If integrity is lost, all is lost. I found this in the book Warren Buffett Wealth by Robert Miles.
Integrity is like oxygen.
If you do not have it, nothing else matters.
August 26, 2005
In Japan, there is a soccer magazine entitled European Soccer. (It should say Calcio instead of Soccer!)
Yesterday I looked at this magazine. There were eight photos of Totti, and they looked awesome!
Totti is the sexiest man on the planet. I cannot believe there are women who are not attracted to him. hee-hee.
And I have heard that Cassano underwent surgery for hemorrhoids. I hope he is ok now.
Many Roma supporters exhibit a strong rivalry towards Juve because Capello left Roma for Juve.
And Totti seems openly hostile to Capello too. Well, that is Totti. He always expresses his feelings directly. He does not change. :P
September 7, 2004
Oh my god, I had not updated this section for about 2 years!
I apologize to those of you who check out this section regularly.
It is very hot and humid in Tokyo. The temperature rose to 39 degrees recently. :(
Oh, I should mention that AS Roma are coming to Tokyo in August. Can you believe that?
This will be a once-in-a-lifetime chance for me to see Totti!!!
I bought a ticket, and my seat will be in the third row, behind the goalposts!!! This is a great seat!!!
As for my work, I recently translated a (very boring) technical document from Japanese to English.
My client said that the translated document would be exported to the Netherlands next month.
I will have to wait and see what the Dutch say about my poor English. :P
July 26, 2004
Whoopeeeee!!! Italy has advanced to the second round of the World Cup!!
I was afraid Mexico might beat Italy while watching their group G World Cup Finals soccer match on June 13, 2002.
But thanks to the agonising equalising goal by Alessandro Del Piero, the match ended in a 1-1 draw. Great job, Del Piero!!
I am relieved that Italy did not go home soon like France and Argentine.
I just wish Francesco Totti had not missed a scoring opportunity against Mexico. -_-;
Prove to the world that Italy esp. you are great, Totti!!!
He is a such gorgeous hunk. *grin*
I have been a complete fan of Azzurri since I saw them on TV early this month.
FORZA AZZURRI!!!!!!! GO ITALY!!!!!!!!
June 14, 2002
This is a message for everybody who was involved in the recent terrorist attacks on the US---for those who actually had to face the terror, and also for everyone who lost their loved ones.
After watching news coverage, I keep replaying the plane crash in my head. I am deeply saddened by the terrorist acts.
I sincerely hope that the perpetrators who are responsible for the despicable acts will be brought to justice ASAP.
I want to tell you that all of us here in Japan are praying for fast recoveries from the situations, both physically and mentally.
I hope our feelings of support are reaching everybody.
Our prayers are with you.
I believe that most people in the world do see a common humanity and we can't let a few individuals undermine that.
This is a great tragedy, but the way Americans have rallied around their flag is absolutely glorious.
September 15, 2001
I am now a Certified Lotus Specialist (Application Developer).
I passed the certification exam in mid-June.
My instructor told me that this certification is a lot easier to get than other certifications such as MCP, but I am still happy. :) I must admit that this certification is not that hard to get, as I spent only 6 days studying for it.:P
Anyhow I wanna thank my terrific instructor for training me to be a CLS free of charge!
BTW, our new prime minister is Koizumi, who is said to be a maverick and a wacko.
He is far from being a wacko in my opinion. I guess he is one of the very few members in the ruling Democratic party who tries to address issues confronting the general public.
The reason he is called a maverick and a wacko is because most of the other members in his party have not even tried to adress those issues.
I am super-happy that he has become our new prime minister.;)
June 15th, 2001
It is great to power on my computer & find that I have got greeting cards waiting to be opened.
A special thanx goes out to every one of you who wished me a happy birthday. Thankies!
As I told some of you, I am planning to travel to North America soon. I am currently searching the Web for an inexpensive hotel in North America, which is crucial for a budget traveler like me. My eyes are getting heavier. -_-;
Once again, thanx for the cards...I just cannot thank you enough for your consideration. May YOUR birthday be filled with sunshine. :)
March 19th, 2001
It is time again to celebrate Oscar's birthday!
Are freezing temperatures keeping your country under a blanket of white this Christmas?
Unfortunately, my hectic work schedule keeps me from modifying my website as much as I want on this special occasion. :(
Let me just post a memorable quote from one of my fave TV shows.
"The world is no longer a romantice place. Some of its people still are however, and therein lies the promise. Do not let the world win, Ally McBeal."
As most of you can tell, this is a quote from Ally McBeal. I find myself addicted to this show these days. ;)
Ally may seem to be an incurable romantic, but I kinda admire her for that somehow.
The phrase "Do not let the world win" reminds me of Oscar, who was never one to rest on her laurels.
She stood up for what she believed in...
PS I wish Riyoko Ikeda-sama a happy belated birthday!
December 25, 2000
A mistake at an ad agency in the U.S. led to a billboard on an interstate highway that proclaims "Gore 2000" and shows a pic of George W. Bush.
The ad agency executive said the mistake was discovered Friday, too late to get a crew to change the ad.
This is definitely a must-see pic! Click here to view this hilarious billboard!
I am flabbergasted that the ad agency goofed on the campaign billboard. What a goofy oversight!
November 16th, 2000
The U.S. presidential election is getting sooo weird!
First they projected that Al Gore won Florida, and retracted the projection. And then they said that Florida went to George W. Bush, and took it back again.
Even the folks at various news agencies were saying "What the hell is going on?! We have never seen anything like this in our lives."
It now appears that the election outcome hinges on the pivotal recount of nearly 6 million votes in Florida. (6 million, wow!)
This race has always been said to be one of the closest in decades. Pollsters and pundits have kept saying that the race is too close to call. After seeing what has happended in Florida, I wonder if this could be THE closest race in U.S. history.
Some TV show revealed that George W. Bush is mainly supported by males while Al Gore is mainly supported by females.
Personally, I much prefer Al Gore to Bush, 'cause I hear that Bush is filthy with money! Yuck!
I firmly believe that those wallowing in money should not be top leaders. Would not you agree??
November 9th, 2000
A friend of mine just got back from a trip to the US.
Gee, I wonder when was the last time I went overseas...
BTW, I feel totally comfortable in my current workplace.
The beauty of working here is that everyone has got a cubicle!! (This is not always the case here in Japan.)
Words cannot describe how much I LOVE a cubicle in a workplace!! :)
I feel I have total freedom here as no one looks over my shoulder.
Besides, most of the communications between the workers are supposed to take place electronically here, thus making the workplace super-quiet. (We gotta make concious efforts to use less paper to save the rain forests. Communicating by email might be one solution.)
Does not this all sound so coooool? ;-) I did not have the slightest idea how comfortable a cubicle could be before I joined this company.
The unfortunate thing is the fact that someone by the name of Greg is due to work in the cubicle next to mine.
I do not mind if this Greg person has a big, sagging belly like some of the other guys working here. :-P
I just hope he is not an annoying prattler...
October 25th, 2000
The U.S. movie entitled "Interview with the Vampire" starring Tom Cruise was televised in Japan yesterday.
I was attending a college in the US when this movie was released, and what I remember most about it is its hilarious parody called "Job Interview with the Vampire." That was really fun. :) (Did any of you see this parody?)
While the movie was being aired on TV yesterday, I accidentally found out that Yoko Ono, the widow of John Lennon, was being interviewed on another TV show.
It took me by surprise to hear her speak perfect Japanese. For some reason I had assumed that she had completely forgotten the Japanese language.:-P
Speaking of John Lennon, the guy who fatally shot the celebrity was denied parole recently.
Understandably, Yoko Ono objected to his release, saying "it would bring back the nightmare."
I read in a paper that he said "John Lennon would have approved of his release."
What a strut fart he is!
If he is ever put on parole, he might face retribution from ardent fans, I guess.
Oh well, part of me wants him to face the music.
October 6th, 2000
I will post some RoV info this time around. :)
The two-volume RoV DVD will be released in Japan.
This DVD will be available only in Japanese. (Sorry, forks...)
The first volume will come out in late Nov, 2000, and go for approx. $260.
It will contain the first 20 episodes of the anime. ($13 per episode!)
The second volume will be released in Feb. 2001, and is expected to contain the rest of the episodes.
The price of the second volume is not yet fixed, according to a company that emailed me the detailed info on the DVD.
I am dying over the high price of the DVD!
On top of that, I have got no DVD player...*sob*
October 4th, 2000
My boss is gonna be out of the office for three days!!
This sure makes my day!! :D
As my "About me" page says, I am currently working as a translator in the fields of computers, electricity, etc.
What? You expect me to have intimate knowledge of computers?
I wish I did!!
What frightens me is the fact that my boss asks me computer questions from time to time to ensure that I keep abreast of what is going on in the computer industry.
He recently asked me if I knew what DIMM stands for, which I did not.
I found out later that DIMM is one of the most basic terms in the computer industry!
I was so overwhelmed with shame that I wished I could crawl under the rug. :P
It is totally amazing how little I know about computers...
August 21th, 2000
My God...I could not surf the web on July 14th!! Bummer!!!
I was totally swamped with work on the anniversary of Oscar's death.
I was planning to modify my website but could not. :(
So how did you guys spend July 14th this year?
I know that some of you held a RoV chat...Hope every one of you enjoyed it!
And thanx for inviting me in advance! Wish I could have joined you guys...
As I mentioned before, I took that computer programming test in mid-July.
One thing is clear now: I am not cut out to be a computer programmer. :-P
Maybe I should not have chosen the C language. I am now considering Perl or something, which might be somewhat easier than C.
I chose C simply because it is touted as the most dominant programming language on the planet.
I admire people who are capable of programming in this pesky language.
Okay, back to work...*sigh*
July 21st, 2000
I have decided to write messages in English so that those of you who do not understand Japanese can read them. I also wanted to prove that my site is not really moribund. ;-)
First of all, I would like to thank all of you who have complimented me on this website. It always makes my day to receive email from other RoV fans!
As we all know, the anniversary of Oscar's death is just around the corner...
I am grateful that some of you invite me to enter a chat room with you on July 14th every year. :)
I wish I could spend all day chatting with other RoV fans, but I am supposed to take a computer programming test in mid-July, so I gotta study. But I do not feel like it... The hot weather is killing me! :(
How is the weather in your city? Hope it is not as muggy over there as it is here in Tokyo.
July 2nd, 2000
