blakerson.com

For the most part, at least. The next two weeks I'm bouncing back and forth between A-town and Austin, moving things home in boxes and Space Bags (believe the hype/infomercials, those things rule), but school is 99% done for the semester so now I can get moving on LSAT prep. Here's what I've been up to:

-I saw Imogen Heap live earlier this week, and all I can say is she's the real deal. She's an amazing vocalist, a programming wizard, and an all-around bright/happy kind of woman. I strangely didn't walk away feeling amazed like I have by my other favorite musicians, such as Incubus or John Mayer, but she's definitely extremely talented. I blame my lack of sensation on the weird-ass crowd there: half early 30-somethings who all found Frou Frou by watching Garden State and seeing themselves in it; half teeny-boppers who heard 'Hide and Seek' on The OC once and decided it was the story of their lives.

-My mom's getting a new car. In the next couple days, she's picking up a gray-on-black, fairly loaded 330i. I'm psyched to take it for a spin and there will likely be a late-night test drive or two. Ring me for a ride.

-June 3rd there's an Audi track event. Click. Sign up for Dallas, Saturday at noon if you can to join up with the rest of us. Technically you have to be 25 to get behind the wheel but I'm going to make an attempt anyway.

-I'm getting into cooking. I'm going to use food as a ploy this summer to make my mom not get quite so sick of me. Plus, it's something to do and it's a worthwhile skill.

More importantly, here's where I am and when:
Sunday-Wednesday: a-town
Wednesday-Tuesday-ish: Austin
Tuesday-ish on: a-town.

Let's get the Starbucks runs going already!

My E3 post is coming up later, but since Aroon's firewalled, I've totally got his back. Here are the preview images from Super Smash Bros. Brawl. It's an early 2007 game. It uses more traditional control schemes, and some are saying you'll even plug a Gamecube controller into the Wii.

Images are here, but if you're not firewalled to Smashbros.com, hit that up. Hell, hit it up when you can anyway, there's the full trailer for the game as well as the theme song composed by Nobuo Uematsu (famous as the Final Fantasy composer).

One of the many, many reasons to get a Wii this Christmas. More later.

"I've been meaning to ask you about JET," I told her, trying to get out of her some kind of information. About life as an English teacher in Japan. About how to get into the program. About her life before she came to the US. Anything. With a smile as adorable as this woman's, I'd listen to her talk about damn near anything. Especially with that engagement ring of hers conspicuously missing.

"Sure." She giggles like she always does when someone expresses interest in what she has to say. "What do you want to know?" she asks, eager to help. And at that moment, there's a tugging on the jacket wrapped around her waist. It's a happy, adventurous little half-Asian girl, probably about two years old. Suddenly, a lot of things start to have new explanations. Maybe this child's hers. Maybe she's ashamed about her figure since the baby, hence the jacket. Maybe this little child looks so happy despite the absense of a father, or God forbid, that daddy just went away forever.

But before I start thinking about that whole mess of possibilities, there's a more pressing, more captivating matter: an adorable two-year-old half-Asian girl looking up at me with curiosity written all over her face.

"Konnichiwa!" I say in my talk-to-little-children voice, my face lighting up with a reciprocal curiosity about this new person I've never seen before. As lady-like as a two-year-old can be, she answers:

"Konnichiwa. O-namae wa?" What's your name? So she's half-Japanese. This is her child. Bless her heart, she's just a young Japanese teacher. Just a few weeks ago, she had the appearance of a girl who had come to live some kind of hybrid Japanese/American dream. She looked independent yet impressionable, and gods willing, she'd be married by 25 to a supportive man who she could spend her life doting on. Now I see her in this context, and she's an abandoned woman with a child to care for and a Texas teacher's salary. She's still beautiful, but to the countless eligible bachelors in this city, she's damaged goods. Dangerously close to 30 and already with someone other scumbag's child. This unsuspecting, beautiful young woman with only the best of intentions has found herself in the midst of the American nightmare.

Amazingly, this adorable, outgoing child had no concept of any of this, or so it seemed. Don't take my word for it; I've already been wrong once about appearances. I lay down on the ground, so as to be at eye level. I roll over on my back, looking at her upside-down to try to get a laugh out of her. It works.

"Bu-rei-ku desu. Anata wa?" What about you?

"Mai." Again in her lady-like manner, she says, "Yoroshiku onegaishimasu." Nice to meet you. While I stand back up, she looks up at her mom. "Chichi?" she asks. Daddy?

The woman and I look at each other in amazement. We've both clearly drawn a blank as to what to tell this child and not ruin her day. Out of honesty, I want to lean back down and say 'no,' but to be perfectly honest, I'd much rather be able to be back on the ground, turn back upside-down, and say, "Tabun." Maybe.

As of today, the first of my friends is married.

You go, Emily. Sip those fruity umbrella'd drinks somewhere tropical. Much love.

(Dear Lord, what have I just said...)

My interactions with my mom are like my spending habits: it's very, very cyclical. I'll spend a whole week not talking to her, then spend the next week on the phone for 30+ minutes a day, each day. This is one of the hyperactive weeks, and the conversations we've had make for a good update on me, since I haven't updated in two weeks:

Summer: Taking the LSAT on June 12th. That controls my life until that day, and from June 13th onward, I'm free to do whatever I please until I move back to Austin in early August. In between, I'll be visiting California, Oklahoma (brother), likely New York, and possibly Europe - that is, if my mom decides to travel with me instead of her boyfriend. I'm a fallback plan, but when the fallback gets an all-expenses-paid trip to Europe, I'm not one to complain.

Next fall: I have an easy semester coming up, with only 12 hours per semester for my senior year. This coming one, I'm taking my thesis, 2 Japanese classes, and a class on Japanese foreign policy. That leaves me lots of time to make good law school applications, write a great thesis, and pick up a few more extracurriculars. I'll be living on my own in a nice 1-bedroom apartment which will be designed and furnished by mom's boyfriend, who owns a furniture store. Awesome.

Winter: I'll be going to Japan this Christmas. I'll most likely spend lots of my time in the areas surrounding Tokyo.

This weekend: A banquet, where everyone's dressed nice, and the ridiculous afterparty, which will be the swankiest party in town on Saturday night. Call me.