Life in progress

Category Archives: Life


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NanoPoblano Day 4 – Day of Failure

Blogger’s guilt. This should be a thing. A recognized condition to describe how we writers in blogland feel when we want to write something but we just can’t.

Take, for instance, the matter of theme. This can range from the entire basis for which our sites exist, or it can be as small as something we decided in a fit of inspiration that our Nano Poblano challenge would revolve around. Yes, you guessed it. Today I fail. There will be no Japanese lesson today. I simply haven’t the heart, the brain, nor various other body parts for it. It’s been a rough day, full of doctor’s appointments at which I folded in the face of a red-eyed frightened child who didn’t want to get his flu shot, and a car parked in a parking lot miles from home, causing me to have to walk with the aforementioned child.

But tomorrow will be better! Perhaps we’ll talk about the joys of ordering coffee, not only in Japan but worldwide! Or maybe I’ll expound on the treat that is saying “I’m sorry.” Stay tuned! It’ll be fun! As everything should be when your life is in progress. Right?

Right?

Right.

nanopoblano2015dark

This strange confession/cheerleading session is brought to you by NanoPoblano. Find all the links here!


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One-Liner Wednesday – Goosebums

Every time I go down to the lake for a walk, I end up with goosebums.

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Geese

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…diving for food

 

 

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Anyone who would like to try it out, feel free to use the “One-Liner Wednesday” title in your post, and if you do, you can ping back here to help your blog get more exposure. To execute a ping back, just copy the URL in the address bar on this post and paste it somewhere in the body of your post. Your link will show up in the comments below. Please ensure that the One-Liner Wednesday you’re pinging back to is this week’s! Otherwise, no one will likely see it but me.

As with Stream of Consciousness Saturday (SoCS), if you see a ping back from someone else in my comment section, click and have a read. It’s bound to be short and sweet.

Unlike SoCS, this is not a prompt so there’s no need to stick to the same “theme.”

The rules that I’ve made for myself (but don’t always follow) for “One-Liner Wednesday” are:

1. Make it one sentence.

2. Make it either funny or inspirational.

3. Use our unique tag #1linerWeds.

4. Have fun!


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NanoPoblano Day 3 – Where am I?

Getting lost in Japan, as you know if you’ve been reading this blog for a while, is one of my favourite things to do. Knowing this even before I went there last December, I learned what I thought was a helpful phrase:

Koko desu ka? (ko-ko dess ka)

Where am I? Or, directly translated, means “where is here?” Since it is assumed when speaking in Japanese that you’re speaking about yourself, the “I” is not necessary. Makes sense so far, right? HA! I have had more strange looks asking this question than I got that time I told someone “I have woman” in French.* Ask a Japanese person “Koko desu ka?” and you will invariably be blessed with a facial expression that says, “Is this a trick question?” Perhaps it’s because people there don’t walk around carrying maps, though I seriously doubt it considering how difficult it is to find anything. Actually, the Japanese love maps. Probably because they can’t find anything.

Conclusion: Carry a GPS.

*In French, if you’re hungry, you say “J’ai faim” which directly translated means “I have hunger.” If you pronounce the word “faim” as “femme,” which means “woman,” people will look in your backpack.

Nano Poblano is fun! Check out some more posts at Rarasaur’s blog!


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NanoPoblano Day 2 – Gotta go!!

Today’s Japanese lesson involves something that affects all of humankind. Nay, all animated being-kind. It is a need unsurpassed since the dawn of time. No, not coffee. Though coffee is essential! Don’t get me wrong.

No, this requirement outweighs all other requirements.  From mere brewing to utter urgency, it is a force to be reckoned with. It is… the need to go to the toilet. And it is a must to learn in any language native to where you’re traveling. So let us consider the phrase in Japanese, “Where is the washroom?”

Say it with me:

O-tearai wa, doko desu ka?

Directly translated it means, “The toilet, where is it?” As you can see, the word for toilet has a lot of vowels in it. In Japanese, we pronounce each one individually. So, “O” always sounds like an O in the alphabet; “te” has a soft “e” sound, as does “a,” and “i” always sounds like “ee.” I give you: O-te-a-ra-ee. Try it. Try it again. Now imagine you’re bursting at the seams and try it again. It makes the rest; “do-ko dess ka” seem like a leisurely stroll in the park, doesn’t it?

Conclusion – cross your legs and eyes and whine. Someone will point you in the right direction. It’s a human thing, after all.

 

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This post has been part of Nano Poblano, found here: https://rarasaur.wordpress.com/nanopoblano-2015/#comment-53592 You can also type “Nanopoblano” into the search tabs in your reader to read more entries.


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#SoCS – Strangely Enough

Strangely enough, I’m still tired after sleeping until 10am (thanks, Alex for letting me lay in) and so I’m writing this while I wait for my tea to steep. I’m a bit picky about how I make my tea. I used to have a teapot, but it broke and I haven’t bothered to get another one. So I have this cup that came with a lid and a plastic basket for the tea bag that I use all the time. I still always put the milk in first, even though I’m pouring boiling water over the tea bag in the cup. (I can hear all you teaophiles gasping. But I’m halfway there, aren’t I?) It makes a pretty decent cup of tea.

I find it strange how things work out sometimes too. For instance, as I already noted, I woke up at 10, which means I didn’t start Alex’s first feed on his feeding pump until 10:20. The feed takes about 2 hours to go through, so he finished his breakfast at 12 or so. He’s having his lunch now, at 3:46pm, which means it’s going to be a late night for me as he’ll want to go out trick or treating before he has his dinner. BUT. I’m hanging on to the fact that we have an extra hour tonight. It’s like a gift from the g-tube god. Or the clock god. Or maybe it’s some sort of spooky Halloween god-type-vampire who goes around giving rest instead of taking blood. Or something. Did I mention I’m tired?

I went for a walk with, Alex, my best friend John, and his two young granddaughters today.  There was an elderly gentleman walking a little dog (we were on the path that runs along the water) and the two girls ran up to the man and asked if they could pet the dog. It both amazes and scares me how easy it is for little children to run up and talk to strangers. I do say hello to people I pass on the trail all the time, but at least I’m more than two and a half feet tall and weigh more than 40 pounds.

Anyway, now I’m rambling and my tea is ready. I’ll leave you with a pretty picture of the water though, that I took a couple of weeks ago. Enjoy!

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This post has been brought to you by Stream of Consciousness Saturday. Click the link and join in today: https://lindaghill.com/2015/10/30/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-oct-3115/

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Tuesday Use It In a Sentence

Yes, I know it’s not Tuesday. And I’m not here with a prompt. I’m actually here with an offer.

I started Tuesday Use It In a Sentence three weeks ago with visions of a prompt that would spread far and wide over the vastness that is the internet – and it still can! But I have neither the time nor the energy to host a third weekly get-together. I thought I did. I was wrong.

So I’m here tonight to see if there’s anyone who would like to take over. I’ll participate in it, and there were five bloggers and tweeters combined who joined in last week, which is about how many I started with when I began Stream of Consciousness Saturday.

Any takers? Email me at bacamjoly at gmail dot com and we’ll talk about what’s involved. The first person who’s seriously interested can have it. Or maybe two people would like to share it… the possibilities are endless. If you’d like to see what it’s all about, click here: https://lindaghill.com/2015/10/20/tuesday-use-it-in-a-sentence-overrun/

It seems a shame to just let it die after three whole weeks. 😛

Edit: I’ve had one person respond. I’m just waiting for her to confirm.


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Under the Category of…

…things one thinks about at one in the morning after a couple of glasses of wine…

Something the people who have met me in person know that most of you cannot is that I have a slight English accent. I acquired it from my parents, even though I was born and raised in Canada. I used to say I was born with an accent – I was teased relentlessly as a child for it. Most of it has disappeared but…

I was talking to myself at one this morning after a couple of glasses of wine (did I mention that?) and I said to myself, I wonder if I think in Canadian or English? And then I got to thinking.

What accent do we think in? Do we think how we speak? Or is there a language of thought?

In the immortal word of Bill and Ted on their excellent adventure, Whoa!!

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Why Beef? #SoCS

I’m not sure what I was hoping for when I made “beef” the word of the week in my prompt. Was I looking for recipes? Perhaps. A bunch of rants on what people had complaints or “beefs” about? Maybe. A throwing up of hands from the vegetarians who follow me? Diatribes from people who can’t seem to put on weight? That might be fun. I actually wanted to wait until I had my own post written before I read anyone else’s, so that’s what I’ve done.

I rarely air my own “beefs” in public. Or even in private for that matter. When people or situations (but mostly people) get on my nerves I normally first try to determine why they’re getting on my nerves. Is it just me? Is there a reason behind it? It’s not until I’m pretty sure they (the people or the situations) are really out to get me that I’ll go off on my own little rant.

There are words that get my goat. And phrases too. Most of the phrases are made up of bad grammar, but words like “portion,” OH OH and when someone describes a certain aspect of a problem as a “piece” it really pisses me off. Inside. Because I don’t actually say anything.

I suppose it’s possible that I just have a problem with words that start with a “p.” Whatever. I just have to keep reminding myself, in the words of the great Bart Simpson, “Don’t have a cow!” Or a beef.

This strange and wondrous post is brought to you by Stream of Consciousness Saturday. Please join in! Click here to find out how.

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One-Liner Wednesday – The Past Meets the Future

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May some things never change; may beauty survive despite us.

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Anyone who would like to try it out, feel free to use the “One-Liner Wednesday” title in your post, and if you do, you can ping back here to help your blog get more exposure. To execute a ping back, just copy the URL in the address bar on this post and paste it somewhere in the body of your post. Your link will show up in the comments below. Please ensure that the One-Liner Wednesday you’re pinging back to is this week’s! Otherwise, no one will likely see it but me.

As with Stream of Consciousness Saturday (SoCS), if you see a ping back from someone else in my comment section, click and have a read. It’s bound to be short and sweet.

Unlike SoCS, this is not a prompt so there’s no need to stick to the same “theme.”

The rules that I’ve made for myself (but don’t always follow) for “One-Liner Wednesday” are:

1. Make it one sentence.

2. Make it either funny or inspirational.

3. Use our unique tag #1linerWeds.

4. Have fun!


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A Directional Nightmare

This is my excuse for not getting anything done today: I had all my hotel bookings set for my trip to Japan – had some fantastic places to stay. I’m not sure why I didn’t think of this when I booked them (or in particular, the one I had booked for the nights of the concerts), but I thought I’d check the directions today to see how I’d get from the concert venue back “home.” I planned to do it on foot so I stayed fairly close, just like I did last time. After all, the trip will be made alone in the dark. With that in mind… hahaha… here are my directions from Google:

ＮＨＫホール
Japan, 〒150-0041 東京都渋谷区 神南２丁目２−１
Head northeast
400 m
Take the crosswalk
24 m
Take the crosswalk
100 m
Take the crosswalk
66 m
Take the crosswalk
110 m
Take the crosswalk
47 m
Turn right
55 m
Slight right
18 m
Cross the road
33 m
Cross the road
40 m
Cross the road
18 m
Take the crosswalk
12 m
Cross the road
19 m
Cross the road
40 m
Cross the road
47 m
Turn left
22 m
Take the crosswalk
130 m
Cross the road
55 m
Take the crosswalk
120 m
Cross the road
52 m
Take the crosswalk
33 m
Take the crosswalk
100 m
Cross the road
25 m
Cross the road
38 m
Cross the road
110 m
Take the crosswalk
50 m
Cross the road
68 m
Take the crosswalk
38 m
Take the crosswalk
36 m
Turn right
110 m
Take the crosswalk
63 m
4 Chome-5-9 Aobadai

It’s THAT EASY!!! I shit you not, that’s all I get for directions. Because as I explained in this post, there is no such thing as a street name in Tokyo. Needless to say, I canceled that booking and made another one closer to the train station, from whence I can get a bus. Or at the very least, since it’s the closest station to the venue, someone has to know how to get there. In fact, I’ll follow the crowd. It’s in Shibuya, arguably the busiest part of the city.

So this is where I’m staying now – a gorgeous hotel three minutes’ walk from the famous Shibuya intersection, for a measly $140 Cdn. per night, breakfast included. Can’t beat that.

Not too bad an excuse for getting nothing done today, eh?