Confessions of a TV-holic

I am a TV-holic. When I was a kid, my mother used to ask me what was on TV because I was the  TV Guy, her own personal  TV Guide, as it were. I knew the day and time of sitcoms and whiled away my youth on such fare as Hogan's Hero, Gilligan's Island and MASH. Around the 80s, I began to actually take academics seriously in college and coincidentally my viewing habits changed. No, I did not give up the boob tube for books, but I watched fewer sitcoms and took an interest in dramas.
But I didn't watch just any drama. I didn't watch too many police stories. Nor did I watch overly melodramatic programs. The dramas i watched had to have a "serious" theme, but it also had to have an element of the light-hearted, often witty, and occasionally funny, as represented in such favorites as Moonlighting, Hill Street Blues, LA Law and, of course, ST:TNG.

Then I moved to Japan to do my dissertation research. I ended up living there for almost seven years and during my time there, I watched my share of TV. The doramas in Japan were exactly to my liking. They touched on themes of everyday life with a touch of light-heartedness and seriousness. A dorama like "The 101st Marriage Proposal" was classic: a man who can't seem to get married because he is not the best looking guy, but eventually finds the right girl and wins her over with a sense sincerity and a touch of desperation. I also appreciated how dorama were aired. They are season long mini-series, each dorama runing about nine to twelve episodes over a three month period. Once the dorama's over, it's over. There are no cliff hangers that keep viewers in suspense for months, like the "Who Shot JR" fiasco of Dallas.

When I returned to the States in 1996, I was lost. Programming had changed so much that I felt like a foreigner. The Fox Network? Reality TV? There were, of course, some gems: The X Files and Law and Order. But by the 2000s, the X Files had run its course and Law and Order was getting old. The only show worth watching was CSI... How I longed for Japanese dorama.

Then my students led me to some sites that offered dorama online. Oh-My-God... I was in heaven. I watched everything from the silly--Gokusen--to the sublime--Nodame Cantible (okay, it was sublime to me). I found myself watching four, five, even seven titles a week. That's a lot of TV viewing. Then in the mid-2000s, I discovered that cable TV was also producing quality dramas: Battlestar Galactica, Mad Men, Burn Notice. These just add to the total number of hours I already spend on J-dorama.

So what does this all mean? I need to change. I have justified my J-dorama viewing habits by insisting that I learn Japanese. And I do. No, really. I keep a notebook next to the TV and jot down vocabulary I don't know, and there is now quite a list. Still, I'm not sure if that is enough to justify the hours in front of the tube. Indeed, I feel I was much more productive sitting in front of my computer, pounding out daily post on this blog, which I did from about 2003-06. I believe that all that writing--even the rather inane details of my life--allowed me to develop a style and an ability to structure a piece more effectively and efficiently. So maybe it's time to escape from the wasteland of TV and return to the blog... my blog.

Maybe...

Schools out for summer... almost

I still have Final exams to make and grade, but at least classes are over. Whew! I don't think I've ever worked harder than this academic year. The Genji class was brand new so I had to start from scratch--re-reading each chapter, re-/reading secondary sources, drafting lecture notes, creating PowerPoint slides.

Beginning Japanese was another time consumer. I co-taught with another teacher and we split the duties: she was in charge of homework and special assignments--oral interviews, one short essay and a final one-minute speech; I took care of lectures, all quizzes and exams, and maintaining grades. We had quizzes twice, sometimes three times a week, and in case you're wondering, grading 45 quizzes takes me at least about 3 hours: correcting, grading, tallying points and recording grades. Also, since they put us in such small rooms and students sit elbow to elbow, I make two different quizzes in an attempt to discourage wandering eyes--I believe that a teachers should also be responsible for academic integrity by creating an environment that discourages cheating. In other words I was grading two different, albeit similar, quizzes. Fortunately, preparing for class was much easier as a colleague generously allowed me the use of her PowerPoint slides. I tweaked them to fit my own style/approach to teaching, but in general I used them as is and I think I would have died without them. (Memo: Send thank you card to TT.)

J-Lit in Translation was another time consumer. I hadn't taught it in a couple of years so had to re-read some of the material: I alternate books occasionally to break the monotony of teaching the same course each year, so it had been a while since I read/taught Enchi Fumiko's Masks and Kawabata's Snow Country. I also used the new abridged edition of Shirane's Early Modern Japanese Literature.

Indeed, since it had been over a year since the last time I taught J-Lit in Translation, I felt a bit off balance. Also grading three essays for 35 students was not a simple task--especially when you squeeze them in between the 45 quizzes that I always seemed to be grading--even if I did limit them to 1000 words. Oh, and I made new PowerPoint slides for this course so it was almost like teaching from scratch.

Interestingly, the easiest course I had this academic year was Bungo, perhaps because it's my favorite class... although many students will easily and roundly express their displeasure: It's too hard, it's too fast. Blah, blah, blah. But it's not, I retort. It's a state of mind. At which I am usually met with blank stares. *sigh*

In any event, I have Finals to make and grade, senior theses to read, and three commencement (count 'em, 1-2-3) to attend, all leading up to... summer school, which starts the day after commencement. Will work never end?

Just direct me to a pillow. All I wanna do is sleep.

Rats with furry tails

I've been talking about it on facebook and twitter, but we have a squirrel in our attic.

After the big snow storm in February. I heard a bunch of grating and scratching sounds above our ceiling. I went up into the attic to look but did not see anything so I figured whatever critters there were, they were outside on the roof. I was very wrong.

On March 30 I found a chunk of our soffit wall--the space between the attic floor and the top floor ceiling--laying on our back porch. When I looked up, there was a large gash in the side of our house below the eaves.

Oh great. Squirrels.

So I called our pest control guy as they were scheduled to come for their annual termite inspection anyway. He came last Friday, but he said they don't set traps on weekends because they are closed and a trapped squirrel will not survive in a trap more than a day. They aren't licensed to kill squirrels.

Say what?

Apparently, it's illegal to kill wildlife critters in Virginia unless you're properly licensed?

So what do you do with these rats with furry tails?

After trapping them, they take them 15 miles away and set them free. 15 miles seems to be the magic number for squirrel sonar. Any closer, and they will find their way back to the nest that they had newly called home. Personally, I wished they'd do something a bit more dramatic, like give it to a cousin named Vinny or Paulie, so they'd take care of the little pests more "permanently" if you get my drift.

Well, the guy in charge of wildlife came today, and it turned out to be our regular pest guy, the guy who comes quarterly to check our house. I didn't know he was in charge of wildlife as well--I guess he's a versatile guy--but it was a relief to know that the guy who will be crawling around in the attic is a guy I've known for about three years now.

He set a trap but said not to expect a catch on the first day. It takes a while for them to get used to a new contraption in their space. But once they start catching, and depending how many of them there are, it will take as long as a month to get them all--especially since they've been up there for at least a month. Only after they are satisfied that they have caught all of them will they seal the hole in the wall and I can finally get a carpenter to fix the structural damage. Geez, what a headache.

Anyway, I paid him their hefty $485 dollar--this includes all work and a one-year critter-free guarantee.  For that kind of money, I really wished the guy we were contracting did have a name like Vito or Sal, y'know what I mean?

Meeting Sulu

My brother is art director at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles. He came by in January to set up an exhibit at the National Archives called Fighting Democracy. My brother invited me and the missus to the exhibit's unveiling and soiree. It was a nice exhibit called Fighting Democracy. Apparently, it is a "traveling" exhibit that has been to New Orleans, Tuskegee, and soon to Memphis at the Martin Luther King Museum.

While the exhibit was nice and the food adequate--actually much better than most of the fare I get at school functions--the highlight of the evening was meeting George Takei. Musubichan was so excited to meet a celebrity. I have to admit that meeting Sulu was more interesting than addressing Senator Dan Inouye in the elevator: "By all means, after you, Sir." Yeah, that's all I could muster.

Anyway, it was a nice evening, but even nicer was getting reacquainted with my brother who stayed at our place for a week. Living out in Virginia/DC, you kind of lose touch of the people who are important to you, especially family.

White out

You may have heard about the snow storms over the mid-Atlantic states, which would include my digs in northern Virginia. More than two feet in one week (two separate storms) and everything stopped--no street, no trains, and so no work. I think everyone was getting cabin fever.

The idea of having a snow day was so appealing, but believe me when I say that after a few hours of shoveling snow, I don't want to see another snow flake. Ever. I've had it with the snow.

Anyway, just thought I'd let you know that I'm still alive. A lot of things have happened since Christmas and I may try write a few lines here and there. Not that it would be interesting to anyone but me.

Oh yeah... Happy Valentine's Day.