My presentation today went really well. I wrote the lyrics for "Zou-san" and "Kaeru no Uta" on the board, helped my classmates understand the meaning, then sang the songs. Hirai-sensei laughed and helped me get my classmates to sing along. I think they were amused by it, and they looked like they enjoyed it. <grin> I just love making presentations...

I didn't do too well on this afternoon's kanji review test. I missed a lot of the numbers! I think I need to focus on kanji a bit more. Burning one of my extra days, I practiced kanji all evening. The current set's a bit difficult, though. We'll see how the test tomorrow turns out.

My iPAQ's turning out to be incredibly useful. Not only have I installed a Japanese dictionary that accepts handwritten input, but I've also copied tracks and lyrics for a few Japanese songs. I used it to prepare for my presentation this morning. I also have a copy of "Sakura", one of the songs we learned in class.

Miss everyone! Haven't been able to chat much these past few days.

Movie up at http://www.adphoto.com.ph/sacha/2004.09.28-songs.MPG or http://www.adphoto.com.ph/sacha/ (same directory).

"I'll love you forever." He pressed her fingers to his tear-stained cheeks.

She pulled her hands away. "No more promises. That way, you can't break them." She left without looking back.

Two years later, he saw her obituary in the newspaper. Only the moon knows the vow he made, the first since they parted. To see her one last time, perhaps? He never made it, dying in the flood that rose that night.

They say you can sometimes still see him struggling through the mists, bound by his last promise.

(Reply to flashxer prompt: "Trust you? Trust you? Of course I don't trust you. Once again you made me a promise you just can't keep.")

http://samizdat.mines.edu/howto/HowToBeAProgrammer.html

Picked it up off my http://del.icio.us/inbox/sachac/ . Wonderful stuff. =)

The carabao grunted to a halt unceremoniously. I felt Maria wake up. Steadying her, I jumped off the broad back and tugged the carabao's horns.

"We have to get Maria home. C'mon, lazybones..."

The carabao shook its head.

"Please, Ambo?" I waved some grass in front of it enticingly.

The carabao snorted and closed its eyes.

"Oh, man, don't go to sleep now!" I scratched my head and sheepishly grinned at Maria. "I can walk you home, if you want. I'll just come back for Ambo."

"It's... it's okay. My home is still far from here, and there's plenty of time. Maybe he just needs to take a short nap."

"Yeah. I'll try waking him up in a while. For now..."

"Shhh. The afternoon sun is beautiful."

I smiled and sidled closer to her, throwing a wink at the carabao. Who says old carabaos can't learn new tricks?

(in response to flashxer prompt: Stalled)