Q1 JP

Arrived for the first time at Haneda last night. Damn getting in so late, seriously. I don't really WANT to have to crash out immediately upon entering my apartment; I LIKE having that period of forced wakefulness to anchor you to your new ground. I mean, I can't say I feel very jet-lagged this morning, but it is never so bad traveling West across the dateline. But who knows, maybe it'll hit me like a pile of sleep-deprived bricks tomorrow. Or maybe this ripening cold will come crashing down likewise.

So far plans are slim, which is nice. I will meet two friends. I will meet a friend. I will meet a friend of a friend. I will bestow X-mas cookies on everyone until they are gone. I will make a joyful return to Cafe Orchestra and apologize for not e-mailing them even though they were both kind enough to give me their cell phone addresses. (Note how "Cafe Orchestra" is a one-to-two mapping of the young guys who run it.) I will see Yuichi Ushioda perform. I will see Norwegian Wood even though I heard it was awful, but I will finish rereading the book first. I will see Cheburashka even though I was hoping to see the Japanese dub and they are apparently showing it in Russian. I will read more Japanese. I will study more kanji. I will go to a bookstore and look for a intermediate-advanced French textbook (in Japanese). I'll drum. I'll swim. As if the New Year holiday was not enough, I'll take Coming of Age Day off.

I think work will go well. Things continue to evolve quickly. Sometimes I feel like I need to just sit down with a blank piece of paper and think really hard with a pen, but other times I feel like I should think as little as possible, just observe and react. Log. Send e-mails. Keep the users safe.

Happy 2011.