sechan19 | お久しぶり！

It has been quite a while since I made a post of substance. My excuse for this is, of course, the Thanksgiving holiday - which I spent in relative idleness.

A few things of note:
* During my flight to New York, two weekends ago, the plane took off as the sun was setting. The combination of the cloud cover and the craft's ascent enabled me to see a sunset in reverse. First a shimmer of golden light appeared along the horizon, then the reddish globe slowly took on a fuller rounded shape, and at last the sun reemerged in all its glory. I don't suppose I'll ever see such a sight again.
* Having the opportunity to visit with a good friend, whom I met in Japan, after nearly six months was a delight. I'm continually thankful that the friendships I made there have persisted. I speak with a good number of folks from the program on a regular basis, and we've got plans for a stateside Rocky Party in the new year.
* Finding out that one of your favorite authors of all time went to college at the college you are currently at is awesome. I'm a superstitious fool, but when the omens stack up like that you know you're in the right place at the right time - and that's a damn good feeling.
* Kurosawa Akira's Ran is one of his best films and one of the definitive versions of Lear that I've seen. I was astonished by the rich beauty of the film and the deft reworking of the classic tale of the mad fool-king. Gackt's Moon Child is of decidedly less quality, but it was a better movie than I'd remembered - actually boasting an interesting plot that provided fodder for philosophizing. (Although, granted, it doesn't take much to get me to philosophize.) And the fight sequences were goofily enjoyable. I liked it. My mom liked it. Thumbs up.
* This month marks the one-year anniversary of the death of my car, and I'm here to report that generally speaking life is possible without vehicle. But I miss driving, and on a night like this one (where my futile attempts to get to a volleyball game were thoroughly quashed by sheeting droves of rain), I do recall the merits of automotive capability.

終わり