This post follows no real line of thought.

Once again, I observe the fact that I SHOULD NOT EVER knit while I'm sleepy. I skipped a row on the snowflake socks and had to rip back to fix it. But that's okay! They still look awesomely amazing. However, with the start of October I've realized that I really have to get some work done on MOFriend's wrist warmers. So that's what I've been doing. It's mindless ribbing, really, so I can knit and watch TV or knit and read a book. Looks good. I'll get a picture up when the first one is done. Only a few more inches.

Sensei was over Sunday for some lessons and dinner. I learned the basis behind the kanji for the days of the week, but most of them just seemed to be made up. She said it was how her teacher explained them, but whatever. I have a first grade kanji drill book in the mail, I should get it in the next week or so. Oh, 'what is kanji' you ask? Well, the quick explanation is that Japan has three written languages. Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji. Kanji are the calligraphy characters you see in target and stuff. It's the most difficult to learn, especially for foreigners, and there are...uh... a lot of them. Like, more than 500, I think. I forget the exact number. History lesson! Katakana was invented during the feudal era as a short hand that was easy to write for commanders and easy to read for their underlings. It's very angular, and I find it's hard to differentiate between some characters. Hiragana was made by women because they didn't like katakana and is more curvy and there are more differences between the characters (this is the one I know best). Kanji are modeled after images, though many of them don't make sense. And how you write them (stroke order) effects how you read them. Three words may all be spoken different but begin with the same character.
Nowadays, katakana is mostly used to spell out foreign words, like "Amerika."
In Japan, you have to know a certain number of kanji before you can graduate to the next grade level. In first grade, I think you learn about 150.

So the Yarn Harlot is coming to my area! I'm so excited. Mom, Em and I are going, I hope we get a seat. I'm going to leave work early. I don't want to take the day off, because I've already taken the 26th for a three-day weekend for me. So I'll ask to leave at three.

Speaking of work, they called me today at about 10:30 AM to say that numbers (of children) were down so they didn't need me in. I thought it was a nice surprise. Now I have time to finish my laundry today. There's a lot of it. Speaking of which, the washer is done, and I've got a mountain of folding to do, so I'll leave it here for now.


We are so obsessed with doing that we have no time and no imagination left for being. As a result, men are valued not for what they are, but for what they have--for their usefullness.
-Thomas Merton