Just a space-holder entry.

Because, not much has been going on. I've been working hard on putting together the final details and such to Mustang Splash 2007. The task is not made any easier when you are working with other 'older' adults who seem to have a hard time at letting things take their place, knowing that you can't possibly control everything, and that sometimes you need to trust other people to do their job. The last trait is not often found amongst adults anyway, and it's not like I was born with that trait either (and I still can't, sometimes), so I understand that it's difficult to just 'let go'. I just gotta say though, it's quite tiring when I have to repeat myself over and over again, answer the same questiosn, and go through all the planning and the details of the event--for the third time!!--because it takes a long time to explain it all. Each time I give a more succinct, if not simply 'cut down' version of it. Well, I guess this is what it's like to work in The Real World.

Al and I have been trying to fit in little excursions within and beyond Tokyo, and it's quite wonderful being exposed to parts of Tokyo that I never knew existed. I mean, I guess I did know that they existed in some sense, but I didn't ever take the time to see them or observe them while I lived here before university. Tokyo still bothers me in all its hussling speed and organized chaos, the carbon monoxide-filled air (although, not as bad as it was Beijing), the noise pollution, the mass-consumerism, the anonymity of people combined with a certain superficiality that is always maintained to ensure that no one is offended and thus, everyone knows quite nearly nothing about the person they ride the transit with everyday. In fact, they wouldn't even realize that they do.

So, it was really nice to escape all that this past weekend when Al and I hiked out to the edges of Tokyo, although it would be quite the overstatement to say that it was the fringe of civilization. For me this was a hike through Mount Takao, but for Al it was a walk because, according to him, "On hikes you don't have these vending machines or these little souvenir shops." I looked around me on a path that Al would deem at the most a 'pseudo-trail', the shops, the vendors, the vending machines, and people--people in Converse shoes, or even some others in heels. Alright, I suppose I can buy that argument.

In between all the mini-trips, the hours of coaching, and the 'on duty' obligations, I've managed to start practicing for my symphony auditions this coming September. This has also been a collection of pleasant moments. I can feel my rustiness slowly wearing off as I spend hour after hour toiling at the notes for my xylophone solo, and when I play Tchaikovsky 4 on my iPod and attempt to play the timpani along with it. My biggest challenge so far has been Scheherazade's snare drum part. It is so damn fast! Hopefully I'll get there in time..