my moral standing is lying down

I know I had a weird dream about hanging out at Carrie's place. I think it was because I was looking at Judy's photos just before I went to sleep. ^^;

Last night my Japanese class was awesome fun. The teacher is not the type I usually prefer -- I go for the "write things down" approach rather than the "let's practice conversing" one -- but I really like her attitude and her energy and I smiled all through the class. She is very focused on us having the proper rhythm and being able to speak more quickly. I can only be grateful that I've been into Japanese for years and am comfortable and familiar with the rhythm of the language, and able to pronounce respectably well. Otherwise, I know I'd feel stressed and pessimistic about this situation rather than excited and hopeful.

Miyashita-sensei just may be the same teacher that zoiluslucifugus might have had (or at least, she uses a similar method). I think that this class will be somewhat of a challenge for me, in the respect that I will actually have to work at keeping up because we're starting to go over things I'm not already very familiar with, and I should probably practice speaking a lot, to smooth out those speed bumps between my brain and my mouth. I also wonder what those people will do who are in the class and are really obviously just not up to the right level. I emailed Margaret to encourage her to contact the Japan Society to see if she'd be able to get into the class (3 people didn't show up yesterday), but she said they said the classes are closed. So that sucks. =(

We're learning "te" form now and Miyashita-sensei mentioned that little rhyme (that Liz had told me about last year) to help remember how the group I verbs are conjugated. I only remember a part of it, but I'm not sure that it'll help me anyway. I think I just have to get a feeling or understanding for the conventions and go from there.

I was worried because someone told me that they don't start kanji in this level, but I re-checked the website and saw that they do introduce kanji in the level 4 part of the class, so around halfway through, when we start the new text. I'm relieved. But in the meantime I have to brush up on stuff to study for the JLPT4, which I still intend to take. I guess I'm a little nervous about passing, but there really isn't anything to lose besides $40. And pride, of course. ^^;

Aside from my Japanese class, I've been reading Wil Wheaton's Just a Geek. It is really absolutely excellent. There's a lot about Star Trek in it, of course, but it's more about how working on it -- and interacting with the other actors, and the fans' varied reactions to Wesley Crusher -- as a teenager affected him in the long run, more than it is talking about the show or actors themselves.

The Star Trek references are certainly part of the pull, if you were a TNG fan. There are quite a few memories that he recounts of interacting with the other actors, so it's really fun to read and get an idea of what Brent Spiner, Patrick Stewart, and LeVar Burton are like, outside of their alter egos. But most of the stories he relates have to do with his family -- his wife and two stepsons, and his inner struggles.

It's probably the most relatable, non-fiction/book of memoirs that I've ever read. He has a great sense of humor and has learned to be unafraid to really expose some of his innermost fears and worries -- and all in a way that is insightful, and uplifting, and inspiring. And for the record, I really hate using the word "inspiring" because it sounds horribly cliche and so damn fake.

I almost never read anything but genre fiction (and books about grammar, I suppose), but if I could find more non-fiction written like Wheaton writes, I'd totally be willing to read it.