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7 . 3 1 . 0 3 Woke up late today, first time all summer. probably because I was talking long distance all night and cleaning out my fridge. heh. I suppose thats what summer is for really, not to stressful and committed at all. Wondering whats in store for me this upcoming fall. I'll be taking less credits this time around, but I'll be working almost half-time. My tentative goals are to at least keep up the workout schedule and keep a somewhat regular sleep cycle. About two more weeks in DC now, started cleaning up the apartment and planning on what I'll need to mail back to Madison over surface mail. Probably have a mellow weekend working on somethings tying up the loose strings on the report and what not. come to speak of it, I need to finish up that paper for La Follette as well. The 1st World Wide Uchinanchu Conference in Honolulu this year has a new website. Debating if I should register for the seminars or not. some of them sound pretty interesting, but I'll be shipping out the last day. I also found a site I'm listening to an "Okinawan Jukebox" that this guy has put on his weblog site. He married a girl from Okinawa and lives in Chicago. theres lots of okinawan stuff and posts. I like the layout and the flash scripts are pretty cool. 7 . 2 9 . 0 3 Tuesday evening and its kind of seems like early fall. temps that is. I've been hearing that we've been lucking out this summer in DC, very mild and tolerable by conventionial standards. I could actually say that on more than one front, I suppose this summer is the closest I'll be having to a paid summer vacation for the next 3 or 4 years. Its been making me wonder if I've been taking it too easy. I honestly don't think so, I've been keeping busy, working out, and reading a whole lot. Absorbing the political climate in the district and coming to some conclusions and thoughts about the state of the world today. Found an interesting article from Japan on American culture, namely how some of the newer conservative trends are affecting foreign policy. Also another one by Roger Ebert and the cultural value of film, interesting comments on the Academy Awards, Michael Moore's speech and overall patriotism and hollywood. Oh, and a slightly disturbing article on the Anti-Christ of North Carolina. I've seen example after example about the dangers of mixing religion and state power, especially with an arsenal of the US backing. Somewhere we get confused to equate our consumer culture and capitalism with a faith-based dogma of self rightousness. I'm just waiting until we launch an aircraft carrier the USS Manifest. 7 . 2 7 . 0 3 About two weeks to go in DC and have to say that ist been a very productive summer in more ways than one. I went to the National Cathedral this past weekend with Kristine, have to say that I was impressed with the architecture and design. Very grand and regal, I recall reading about the structures of buildings such as these to be menancing and intimidating to the worshiper. I was interested in the artistry of the stain glass windows along the side corridors, and the various shrines to different Christian saints and famous American figures. In visiting the war memorial section of the church I couldn't help but draw a comparision to my visit to Yasukuni shrine. The similarities were more than just subtle. I recalled the gut feelings reading the names of the countless war dead, especially the young kamikaze pilots and himeyuri. I think back to Kiyota's words that a clear cut comparision cannot be made between Imperial Japan and America, the US being more of a free society. however it begs the question could there be a day when an American president visiting the Cathedral would bring international uproar? I honestly hope that it doesn't come down to that, however things have been getting a bit more complicated recently. Some medieval antics in the 21st century, for example. of course when American soldiers are dragged shown on TV its an act of barbarism by an uncivilized people that deserve liberation through invasion and occupation. Meanwhile I saw another HK flick at the Freer, "Love Undercover" screwball comedy about a rookie cop trying to infultrate a suspected Triad's operations. Also found a copy of Rhapsody in August, noticing some of the parallels of cross generational and cultural ties in the context of tragedy. 7 . 2 1 . 0 3 Another monday, another entry. Things are starting to wind down, I've gotten a bit used to the 8:30-5:30 flex schedule, already timing the bills and what not in between paydays. kind of sad actually, a little bit of the rat race feel coming down is inevitable I suppose. About three more weeks until my real summer vacation working on Law apps will start. Applying for an assistantship with AASP. If I am selected to be officially on staff then I will definitely give this API stuff another try. will see. I think a year or two off is good. Found another Uchina cd at Borders this time of all places, another hybrid genre. I'm coming to realize that a lot of things about Okinawa culture is a mixture. Kinda like Hawaii yeah? Meanwhile I've been having a lot of dreams in Japanese lately. and I'm actually able to understand whats going on in the coversations - nuances and subtleties, all that suppressed cultural stuff. I wonder if it is a precognition or a quiet cry of a blood tie. Was feeling a little anti this past weekend, a little under the weather as well. Very Office-Space-ish. forgot to charge the phone on Sunday, and ended up going to the Sackler and Freer galleries, Aaron was right, the Noguchi exhibit is something else. I originally intended on catching one of the Hong Kong Cinema festival films, but I missed the free ticket hand out before showtime. I saw this girl that I talked to a while back at a lecture. Wasn't sure if it was her or not, either way she didn't recognize me. Something about girls named Sheryl maybe. 7 . 1 8 . 0 3 Friday comes with me juggling some bills, housing bill came in, along with a plane ticket home, and rent for the month. thinking of creative ways of paying everything off and minimizing my credit card balance. All this means that I'll be having a Chang weekend probably, no bars. I'm thinking about hitting the Sackler tomorrow. Why? because its free, thats why. I was just there last night to see a free film as part of the Hong Kong Film Festival. Saw a movie called "Visible Secret", a kind of funny ghost story with Hsu Chi. before that I went to GWU, Foggy bottom for a crossfire taping on the recent speech by Tony Blair addressing Congress yesterday. It was my first time being in a studio audience, let alone a political commentary. It got cut aout 15 minutes short though. I am again seeing numerous examples of similarities around me from a time 60 years prior to 9-11. It has been distracting me in observations of recent. One of the most recent was when I went to the National Holocast museum this past weekend, didn't get tickets in advance to see the tour, but got a chance to look at the exhibit on nazi book burning and censorship. And in the district there is a new political battle being waged over faulty intelligence which the administration is currently writing it off as nothing more than a partisan battle. While to some extent I do agree with the political undercurrents driving this new criticism, politics is really only the tip of the iceberg. As far as the seriousness of misleading the American people into supporting war that was not only pre-emptive, unnecessary, and imperialistic I wonder how long it will take before this country starts to see these as high crimes and misdemeanors. but of course, some people think that it is unpatriotic and unamerican to value transparency and well, honesty from our elected leaders. "My way or the highway" does not sound anything close to this. Neither does pursuit of national interests through a war first under the guise of imminent danger, and then humanitarian concern. This new attitude of arrogance and self-rightiousness that many Americans seem to be holding onto is also troubling. Wars have always claimed the lives of innocents and the humble in the crossfire. In walking along the monuments this past weekend I couldn't help but wonder where the monuments for all of the civilian casulties of America's foreign wars. Mentioning the word foreign is important being that we have never suffered the misery of fighting a war in recent memory on American soil. Meanwhile another area could be heating up. 7 . 1 4 . 0 3 Monday and the family is in towne. guess they lucked out with Hawaii-like weather this past weekend, escaping the humidity and heat that I've come to notice and complain about. Getting my fill of the Smithsonians, still need to check out some more exhibits before the summer is over of course. Went to the Black Cat with Aaron up by 14th and U for an indie rock concert, can't say that it was quite my taste, but it was definitely interesting. Kudos to Kristine for being a good sport. I think I owe her a beer or two or three. Otherwise not much of an update, still plugging at work, passing the three month mark on my adventures in DC. keeping up with the news and there will be a lot of posting to do later as some of the current events keep unfolding. 7 . 1 0 . 0 3 I have a new email buddy, who may be reading this right now. heres to procastination during and after working hours. Today we actually got into a bit of a debate on the current state of the union and economic theory. thinking about posting it someplace later if i get around to it. oh here she is again... Supposedly there may be a liberal backlash organizing to the current administration. I find it interesting how they are distinguishing themselves from the Democratic party, even the New Democrats. most interesting is that they're calling themselves progressives. Speaking of Progressives, how about an article reporting on some 21st century witch-hunting from about a year ago. One thing about living to DC I think I've become a news Junkie. so much stuff going on and knowing that you're sitting in the seat of power. (Well at least i'm not, i'm just a lowly intern, but many of the power brokers to the free world are concentrated in the district). 7 . 7 . 0 3 another monday, another entry. revamped my write-up into a grid form, make it easier for workpaper citations and what not. Sat in on a phone interview with a government official that spoke very fast with lots of acronyms. Its almost like a different language really. welcome to the federal government. starting to research a different angle on the jobs, working with some econometrics, in theory at least for now. giving a different side and perspective to the factors that are playing. maybe I should bust out the old textbook from last semester. had a fun weekend with Tristan coming into town, going out, clubbing, eating, partying what not. Citron, Acropolis, Sushi Taro, Pho 75, Fuddruckers, and a Korean BBQ makes a short list of places that got our business. took a bit of a toll on the wallet, but thats what weekends are for, in good company. I hear that DD and her sis might come down this weekend? haven't heard from her yet. meanwhile mom and pop and Aaron are coming up for the weekend as well. hope they're ready for DC weather, its gonna be dang hot. 7 . 1 . 0 3 So July is on and my adventures in DC is almost at the half-way mark. made some observations and discoveries, both the sacred and profane especially when it comes to the riding the Metro. I do like riding trains, and no, I don't think its a sexual thing. Tristan is visiting this weekend. hopefully we'll be able to pull off a La Follette happy hour this thursday before the festivities what not. Networking? sure why not. I think of it more as an excuse to party. Been keeping up with this working out thing, already noticing some progress both in sleep cycles and strength. getting back up to what my usual regimin was when I was still training, slowly but surely. surprised at how much strength I still retain after being dormant for so long. thawing out the ice I suppose. turns out the Japanese language class was cancelled due to low enrollment. they didn't bother to let me know before I lugged down there. Thinking that maybe its for the better, save some money. wondering what level I would place into for the spring, let alone the summer. will have to see about that. I still have the textbook and the kaiwa cds, maybe I'll hang onto them and see what I can do on my own. |