theme song

The pictures are copied from the la puta site. I think they are the beautiful work of our talented Kat. Thanks Kat! sorry for stealing...
(for my family: left to right- Olivia, Tara/Mavelle, Michael/The Bard, me, Krys/Serena)

It's been a year of upheavals and big decisions and saying lot of goodbyes. there are a few songs that float through my brain as I try and figure out where home is and what I'm doing with my life. One, that I fell in love with this summer on my final SCA galavant, is Ramblin' Rover. There are lots of versions out there and I'm trying to find a good one but none compares with the way it is in my memory, with a chorus of friends and firelight and cloaks and good beer. plus I think Michael the Bard does a way better version than Silly Wizards or any of the other recordings I've found. does anyone have a good recorded version?

here's the words for those who don't know:

Chorus:
Oh, there're sober men in plenty,
And drunkards barely twenty,
There are men of over ninety
That have never yet kissed a girl.
But gie me a ramblin' rover,
And fae Orkney down to Dover.
We will roam the country over
And together we'll face the world.

There's many that feign enjoyment
From merciless employment,
Their ambition was this deployment
From the minute they left the school.
And they save and scrape and ponder
While the rest go out and squander,
See the world and rove and wander
And are happier as a rule.

I've roamed through all the nations
Ta'en delight in all creation,
And I've tried a wee sensation
Where the company, did prove kind.
And when partin' was no pleasure,
I've drunk another measure
To the good friends that were treasure
For they always are in our minds.

If you're bent wi' arth-i-ritis,
Your bowels have got colitis,
You've gallopin' with bollockitis
And you're thinkin' it's time you died,
If you been a man of action,
Though you're lying there in traction,
You will get some satisfaction
Thinkin', "Jesus, at least I tried."

kaihin makuhari park

first of all: I now have hot water and have had two nice long hot showers.

but on to the adventures.

today was so beautiful. clear and just a little warmer than yesterday. it was so nice that I went back to chiba/kaihin makuhari to my school to get my old ratty tennis shoes that I forgot in my hurry to meet my students for drinks last night. for reasons that are beyond all logical reason, I never really explored or wandered around the area of my school before. on work days I was always too worried about my classes or my schedule and on weekends I never wanted to take an hour to get there. but it’s actually a really neat place. I’d heard about the outlet stores, which were swarmed with rabid shoppers. according to my students, rather than get a lot of Christmas presents most young adults just get a bunch of money from relatives and parents for New Years. They seemed intent to spend it all today. you know, while the sunshine lasted.

there’s also a nice big park, tucked between skyscrapers and filled with kids trying to fly kites, that leads down to the beach. there’s even sand on the beach. something the Japanese didn’t pave! it was really nice. there’s a big Japanese garden that was closed but, peaking through the cracks in the fence, it looks like the type of place I’ll definitely have to come back to.

to think that I worked just a few minutes away from all this and somehow didn’t look before! I’m so dumb sometimes. I find it too easy to find an awesome place and just go back, over and over again, rather than find new places. it’s a tendency that I fight already and have to keep fighting harder.