I spend two hours every day talking to my mom and Dominique over http://www.skype.com . I've come to look forward to these daily conversations. When I stayed at Ayase Kokusai Hotel, I went to a cybercafe just to keep in touch. Voice chats provide an immediacy far beyond instant messaging or e-mail. My blog entries have become fewer and fewer because I've already told my stories to the people who ask me for personal updates the most. If I write before I talk to them, the half-conversation is unnerving. These conversations end late at night, and I have no time to write afterwards.

However, talking has its disadvantages. I don't have to think about what happened. I just have to relate it. I can stutter. I can ramble. I can say things of no real lasting value. I can be lazy.

Writing requires more effort. I have to structure my thoughts. I have to figure out what useful tidbit I can extract from events so that my blog isn't just some self-centered personal journal that makes everyone feel a bit like a voyeur. Writing is slow, and the extra time forces me to think about what I'm writing, perhaps gaining more insights.

Conversation seems to be personality-centered. I can get away with unpolished thoughts and trivial stories because the point of conversation is conversing. On the other hand, writing--at least in my point of view--is more idea-centered. When I write, I have to make sense not only to people who are already interested in my life, but also people who read this entry as part of something else, like the RSS aggregator at http://pinoytechscene.mparaz.com . When I write, I have to make sense most of the time.

As much as I enjoy talking to Mom and Dominique, then, I think it's better if I refocus on the written word.

What will happen if I do so? My mother will probably write me letters, but I think my father is more comfortable with the immediacy of voice chat. I like hearing my dad's stories. They're the kind that should be told as soon as possible. E-mail creates distance, and probably won't do the stories justice.

People might also interpret this as me trying to distance myself from them. It really isn't. I think of this as creating knowledge, something that will reach more people, something I can reflect on later.

I write to find out how the words on my screen differ from the words in my head. I write to discover questions and answers. Journal entries give my day structure and keep me moving forward.

Japan has a magician game show. Imagine that. Does wonders for my concentration, really... <laugh>

Screw duplication. <laugh> If I have to repeat my stories for my family, it'll still be worth it.

I should interleave insight-finding with my studies so that my poor brain can take a rest every so often. ;) I have a fairly boring life at this point, anyway, so I don't really have personal stories to tell. I can still indulge in, say, 30 minutes of chatting. Now, if I can get my mom and Dominique to work out a schedule so that that I can sleep by 11 PM...

I liked tonight's chat with my family. Just a few quick stories from my dad, then back to studying. My mom will just have to get used to the fact that my life is currently boring. <laugh>

Along those lines, I will not respond to "Hi", "Good evening", or similar messages over instant messaging. If you have a story to tell, just tell it without any preamble or small talk. That way, I don't have to pretend I'm paying attention, and you won't get offended if I disappear in the middle of a conversation.

Just finished the last of my homework for the day. We're going at twice the speed of our previous classes, and my evening is juuust enough for all the homework. I should figure out a better way to do my chuukyuu homework.

Goodness. I've practiced the kanji, but haven't actually filled in the book exercises. I should do that soon. I copied interesting compounds to the word cards and cycled through them. My short-term memory seems to be pretty good. I pick readings up after one or two passes. Took a while for me to get the hang of writing some characters, though.

I'll try to do the kanji book before I go to sleep. At least one of the chapters, I guess...