On the subject of strange smells.

A digression in class today reminded me just why I love doing what I do.

In discussing the word むしろ (mushiro), which has a nuance similar to English's "rather," we stumbled on the topic of liking strange smells. It all began when one student, Mr. C., noted that rather than liking the more commonly appreciated scent of fabric softener he prefers the smell of bleach.

Aoki-sensei: Well, I like the smell of diesel exhaust.
Everyone: Eh?
A: Yes, when I was a little boy I used to run after buses to catch a whiff of their exhaust fumes.
Ms. H: Are you serious?
A: Yeah, that's a true story. I used to do that all the time, and this is how I ended up. Everyone, please be very careful about the smells you like.
E: [laughter]
A: Mr. C., you might want to watch it with that bleach thing.
E: [more laughter]

Support from all of you has been tremendously helpful, too. Big thanks to everyone who wrote in!

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In other news, I hope to have a more topical post going up in the next couple of days. (More stuff about "morality" and commerce.)

Oh! And Stephen Colbert is really growing on me.
Obama Bows to Japanese Emperor.

"The only appropriate time to bow before a foreign leader is when puking on his shoes." Righteous.

Your Daily WTF: Uh... Edition.

"Ninja" Impaled on Fence in Seattle After Failed Leap (The Huffington Post).

My personal favorite thing about this article is probably the tags, which include "bad ninja," "fake ninja," "fence through chest," "impaled on fence," and "ninja on fence," amongst others. I guess this kind of thing happens with enough frequency for these tags to be necessary?

[shakes head]

Via.