Yesterday I was in the midst of writing about the dozen things (more or less) that I wished to write about when I suddenly realised it was time to go to Japanese and thus quit writing. I did make it to Japanese, and even without getting lost, although I was pretty worried as I drove and drove and drove down Steven's Creek looking hopefully for the 85. It all worked out, though, and I had a lovely 3.5 hours of class, complete with Hong Kong bakery food provided by Chrisber. Afterwards I went home and collapsed next to Jim, only to get distracted talking until midnight. Perhaps there will be early sleep tonight, but with Buffy and Angel and pop-up video and wanting to eat dinner I sort of doubt it.

But I was going to write about my dozen things, wasn't I? Like books. There are a plethora of books in my life right now. For instance, I reread the first eight Sailor Moon manga and the first X manga and Rosemary Edghill's Bast books, and read for the first time a book of Pat Cadigan short stories (Patterns), and a Catherine Asaro novel. And that's just the fiction! I've also read the first book my conversion-to-Judaism tutor loaned me (An Orphan in History, by Paul Cowan), and a book on linguistics (Native Tongues by Charles Berlitz, grandson of that Berlitz, yes), some popular science books, and a ton of anthologies, including one of Irish-American women's fiction (Cabbage and Bones), and one of exile/immigration stories (both fiction and non-fiction), and one of gay male literature that I didn't like all that much, and one from 1970 of fiction from African authors about Africa. I sort of doubt I can keep up the pace, but it's been fun while it lasted. I sort of doubt I should keep up the pace, really, since the downside of all this input is that I don't find/take the time to do any output activities, like writing or daydreaming. Which I'm pretty sure is no good for me; having started writing in here again I can feel all the spaces that open up and all the places that relax when I start getting my thoughts out again.

I haven't been watching as much anime as I used to, and upon reflection TiVo is mostly to blame. Rather than coming home, flopping down, and watching anime, Jim and I now flop down and watch Pinky and the Brain, The Muppet Show, and as of just a few days ago, Pop-Up Video. This last is a cute show on VH-1 that shows a half-hour of videos with little informational pop-ups added to them, describing the making of the video, making snide comments about fashion choices, and occasionally coming up with marvelous random facts based on a lose association to what's being sung. I really enjoy it, and since each video is in such tiny chunks (2-3 minutes) it's easy to watch in small pieces. Plus some of the videos are really pretty, and it's fun to discover just who did some of the songs I've enjoyed hearing on the radio.

But -- all of this means no anime! I did manage to see the first four episodes of Card Captor Sakura, and also the Tokyo Babylon OAV. I'm on a bit of a CLAMP kick right now; they do such interesting things with the shoujo genre, and of course I like the hints of male-male romances that seem to crop up in every one of their series. I'd like to get CLAMP Campus Detectives and watch it, but I don't really want to drop the $150 I suspect it would be on VHS, and I don't know if DVDs are out yet. I'm hoping I can rent it from Lee's.

Despite none of us having any time, Chrisber is going to start running a new game soon! This comes to mind because although the intended style of the game is Sailor Moon inspired magical girl, my character keeps turning into a moody CLAMP character, with her own insight into darkness and struggle to keep choosing the light. I can't really put her into words yet; she's all potential right now, and won't start to solidify until I've played her a few times. In a way it's frustrating; I love Sailor Moon so much, and I'm so excited about the opportunity to play around in that style of world, but this moody girl is gnawing at me and I have to play her, rather than the genki clumsy crybaby Usagi-type I had been envisioning. What's up with that? And will she really work out? I feel like she knows too much for there to be the right sort of character growth when the talking animal hands her magical powers. More thought is needed.

Indigo Girls, now. I love this song. This working through my at-work CD collection is really paying off. That quote isn't true, not yet, but I'm getting there, slowly, every day.