July 23 2009

AM

Least: At about 8:15am I awoke with a distinct feeling of dehydration, a headache and a raging thirst. The day before I had eaten two suspicious foods - an onigiri and a spicy chicken rectangle from the Family Mart. At least one of these is ultimately to blame for my stomach upset and subsequent dryness.

Most: At 11:20am, Rosie and I began watching Revolutionary Road. It was fairly faithful to the book and well cast. The movie had less of the tension of the book and all of it's misery. Not a very interesting movie but, the most interesting part of my morning.

PM

Least: Between 8:00pm and 8:40pm I spoke to a guy who worked in the screens and filters industry. His company made screens and netting for industrial conveyor belts. His company had a massive drop in profits this year as the car parts industry lurched into catastrophe. Boring and depressing.

Most: Upon arriving home at about 9:30pm, I cooked a garlicky and basily pasta dish to go with the wedge of parmesan and the bottle of Italian wine in the fridge. The basil was from Rosie's balcony garden. The wine went straight to my head as we sat down to eat and to watch the spaghetti western, 'For A Few Dollars More'. The wine took me to bed with 20 minutes of the movie to go. I foresee that those 20minutes will become the most interesting events of my am tomorrow.

1,034,515

AM

Least: At about 10:50am I skulked down to the road to find that our bag of 'plastics' was still sitting there. I knew it had a yellow sticker on it, and I knew that I didn't know exactly what it said, but I had hoped that someone would decide that the offending bag was their problem and taken it away. Deep down, I think it was a laundry-related item that prevented the bag's departure, and deeper down I know I dragged the bag back upstairs.

Most: At about 11:15am during my excursion to the Family Mart and the Drug 11 I saw a youngish helmetless mother riding her bike with one helmetless kid in the back and a helmetlessbaby slung upon her chest. Her brakes screeched as as stopped. The vast majority of people never wear helmets while cycling in Japan. I've always wondered what the road toll stats are - they couldn't be pretty. And they aren't - 1,034,515 accidents and 5,743 deaths in 2007 (the lowest in 50 odd years) I carried my bag of plastics back upstairs.

PM

Least: Just after 4:00pm, I was teaching a class of 3-4year olds and one mother couldn't think of a more interesting way to redirect her child than to give him a smack. None of the other mothers blinked.

Most: Some time after 1:25pm, I became embroiled in one of Rosie's online arguments about the thoughts of Karl Marx. Some academic was boringly complaining that 'the people' have been too silent against the horrors of late-capitalism. I suggested that it was because most workers might be too comfortable to overthrow the capitalist system and the their (our) comfort was possible because of low wages in the developing world. Rosie threw that into the pot. I'm still unsure as to whether or not is was an interesting idea.