October 28
I just want to get this off my chest.
I'm low on time right now because:
- I still need daily treatment for the illness that reared it’s ugly head rather spectacularly in August 2024(?) (
I threw up from pain in the foyer while trying to get to the car to go to the emergency room) - I was quasi-coerced (more my ex-co-worker’s fault than my boss’) to increase my responsibilities at work starting January 2025 and now I have to work 5 days a week, which was a thing I really never wanted to do on account of my poor health.
My luck in life is astonishing 
. (But no, really, I have wonderful people, wonderful dogs, and a wonderful home in my life. Astonishingly wonderful. 
) Anyway, getting back to my point, the thing I’m trying to get off my chest is that I have all these study plans that I CAN’T DO ANYTHING ABOUT!
Things I want to do for studying (in no particular order):
- Follow ADOJG and Quartet study group resources (currently saved in OP) to fill gaps in knowledge and progress
- Propose ガイコツ書店員 本田さん | L32 to IMC and lead club
- Sign up for group lesson teaching コンビニ人間 | L29 with the teacher I like
- Use Nihongo Jam podcast for listening, vocabulary, shadowing, speaking practice
- See my favorite tutor again
- Read とんこつQ&A | L26 (one of the lowest natively level literary books I’ve ever encountered)
- Finish 日本の歴史マンガ and get offshoot club up and running
- Watch Love Is Blind Japan (at least the intro episodes) with Japanese subs for conversation/shadowing practice
- Continue watching anime w/o subs starting from lowest level, currently https://learnnatively.com/season/cf7714659f/
- Write kanji as furigana in all of 都道府県のおはなし 低学年 おはなしドリル | L19
That’s not even a completely exhaustive list, cause I have other ideas, such as following @mitrac’s example with news articles (which I am still trying to write a response to in their study log, btw), and naturally no matter what else I do I plan to continue to try to work my way through my physical and Harta backlog. And probably continue doing speed run clubs. I’m a lost cause. 
By the way, Japanese broke my brain. This is me trying to write 'mitrac'
- “mitrac” no, no, too plain
- “mitrac-san” too formal
- “mitrac-chan” too childish
- “mitrac-senpai?” we are more 同級生 tho
- “mitrac” sigh, I guess that’s my only option …
Apropos nothing, but
Join the speedrun club, folks!
Some musings on Zen Buddhism
Thich Nhat Hanh writes meditations for all kinds of things. Driving meditation, Washing the Dishes meditation. Yesterday I came up with my own: Thanking the Grocery Store Clerk meditation. You can’t do it very slowly, because cashiers have to keep moving, but you look them in the eyes and smile while being mindful of how good it feels to look someone in the eye and smile genuinely and thankfully. (This meditation is a great reason to skip the self checkout option. Who will you smile at if there is only a machine there? I guess you could smile at the machine, but it’s so much nicer to do with a human.)
This meditation reminds me of my interconnectedness with even people I don’t know. We’re working together to make our world how it is, and when you do this meditation the world (in that moment) is more connected and more full of love. As a person who also works retail, I’m confident this manner of engaging with the person who is at work makes their day a little bit better, too.
Not sure how well I explained that, but there it is.
Other things
Kanji - been keeping reviews around 25/day or lower
Exercise - nothing whatsoever, but i’m not giving up
Music - haven’t played because i had a sore throat last week. sore throat and flute don’t mix.
Spanish - read a picture book at work yesterday (La intérprete / The Interpreter | L20??)
I like this. I’ve started doing it too. 