been pretty short on time lately (note to self: next time you have to write a paper about some aspect of japanese culture IN JAPANESE, pick something easy, like food, instead of trying to explain the historical origins of discrimination against minority groups in japan and how that has permeated modern society, using a second grader's level of japanese), but i do want to get back into the habit of writing regularly. not just because i feel antisocial, but also because i don't WRITE enough. used to write long, detailed entries EVERY DAY in middle school about anything at all and i don't know what happened but i can't seem to do that anymore. (i'm sure being bombarded with japanese 24/7 hasn't exactly helped my already-not-so-great english, either.) it's just so easy to put off posts for one more day, one more day, one more day, and suddenly it's been a month of nothing but a half-written draft.

but to start, thanks for the comments on the previous entry! i feel a bit bad because i haven't been reciprocating, but hopefully once i ease myself back into using lj regularly i'll get back into commenting as well. i've just been pretty terrible at this whole thing, haha.

anyway, not going to get into gender issues right now. instead, some amusing stories about cultural/linguistic misunderstandings (i haven't had much trouble with my own family, but i've gotten plenty of stories from other students):

( on sarcasm )

passed the three month mark of not posting (publicly), which is a bit saddening considering how often i used to write. but i'm not dead, not really! i've just been posting a lot of private entries (mostly about a certain person) and writing by hand (mostly about religion) in a marble notebook which is starting to look suspiciously like something that should belong to a serial killer. NOT THAT I'M SUGGESTING ANYTHING /hides knives

ANYWAY, hi. way too much stuff has happened since pax for me to cover it all, but to start with the most recent significant development: i'm currently in japan! living with a host family for two months and taking intensive language classes with the princeton in ishikawa program. a few complications have cropped up regarding the fact that i declined to select a gender on the application (and subsequent administrative forms). that, combined with the fact that my dad has recently been pressing me to confront my increasingly inconvenient and complicated gender issues, has finally brought those issues to the forefront, and there will likely be some significant changes in how i go about my life following the summer.

mentioning these issues, however, led me to realize that i never even wrote about them on my livejournal in the first place. i don't think any of you (besides a few who know me offline, and maybe one or two others -- but even then, only vaguely) have the slightest idea of what i'm talking about when i say "my gender issues" -- not to mention the other things (most notably previously mentioned religion/certain person, plus a few other things) that have been occupying my mind lately. i guess i never was able to think of my livejournal as the first place to come to with my more abstract/serious thoughts, which in a way probably contributed to my recent disappearance. went and skimmed through some old entries and realized just how many things i had made private, for no reason other than that they addressed something relatively more serious/introspective than my usual drivel.

may or may not go into further detail on any number of these things, depending on interest or a later urge to ramble, but just wanted to post SOMETHING, since i'd hate to disappear without a word.

THIS IS PROBABLY THE MOST SERIOUS-SOUNDING POST I'VE MADE IN A RIDICULOUSLY LONG TIME so here is a picture of a turtle skateboarding to balance it all out.



in more mundane news, my friend tori convinced me to buy a kindle, and i have since been working my way through isaac asimov's entire bibliography. hnnnnnngh isaac asimovvvv ♥