2:13 p.m. Have just checked my mail as last attempt to stay in a fantasy world but I got the same message again saying, "No new mesages." I laughed out loud to realize my silliness fantasizing about winning the video contest. They were picking only one winner out of what must have been hundreds of entries and it's no wonder I wasn't picked, come to think of it. I mean, there must be countless contetants who didn't get a chance to have their video shown on the fan site just like myself. Who knows, they might not even have a winner after all. That's part of show business, you know. I've done the best I could do in making my own version of ‘Livin' On A Prayer’ and perhaps I should be proud of the fact that I tried. I've also learned how to make a movie using Windows Movie Maker, thanks to the contest. Besides, we're all favoring the same band and now that I'm through with the crying, the idea of comparing each other in the form of ‘whose video is better than whose’ seems so ridiculous. We all like the band, it's just that we expressed it in different ways, I guess.

2:37 p.m. Two and a half hours to go till I'm off to Tokyo Dome. Getting excited for the show. Let's have fun, everybody! YYYEEEEAAAHHHH!

The End

Caterpillar

2:10 p.m. Having a hoarse voice but no pain in the back of my neck or other parts of my body. I had a good time at Tokyo Dome last night. Bon Jovi had not changed despite the years that have passed by since my last visit to their show. I was afraid one of the members might fall during the show (especially Tico, considering his age...) from lack of oxygen or something, but they pulled through. All of us fans were ready and able to sing any phrase from their songs and Jon seemed to admire that, which to be honest, made me feel a bit smug.

2:25 p.m. The only down point was that their official tour T-shirts were priced 4,500 yen. By the time I got to the end of the line, I had already spent 600 yen out of my 5,000 yen budget for a paper cup of draft beer, thus making it impossible for me to buy one. Besides, I hadn't paid more than 800 yen for a T-shirt except tour T-shirts which back in the old days were sold for about 2,000 to 3,000 yen at most. Had to give up the tour T-shirt. I'd rather buy another cup of beer.

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Caterpillar

2:55 p.m. Back to normal life. Must start thinking about Japan Cup Dirt. Speaking of the race, couldn't they have come up with a better name? According to the Cambridge Learner's Dictionary (online free dictionary), the term ‘dirt’ is defined as a noun meaning "1, NOT CLEAN an unpleasant substance that makes something not clean, 2,GROUND soil or rough ground." There are examples of how to use the term given under each definition which says "a dirt road/track" under the 2nd definition. So the word ‘dirt’ is used more like an adjective when the user intend to use it in the 2nd meaning.

Under whichever definition it is used, the impression of NOT CLEAN seems to go with the term and I'd like to suggest JRA to change the name of the race to something with a CLEANER impression, at least to something with more dignity. It's a top grade race, after all. JRA has been changing the place and distance of the race a couple of times in the past decade, so I think it shouldn't be much of a task for them to change the title once and for all.

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Caterpillar

1:49 p.m. I wrote yesterday, that the title of Japan Cup Dirt should be changed to something with more dignity. I was wrong. I take it back. Am gaping at the racing form with poor runners. I thought this was supposed to be a grade 1 race, which is supposed to belong in the top category of Japanese horse race? Where are the grade 1 winners? The only grade 1 winner seems to be Vermillion eight years old, who is a defending champion from three years ago. This is his fifth challenge in a decade's history of this race. He earned his gold medal in his second attempt when the race was still run in Tokyo Race Course in a distance of 1 and 3/8 of a mile. Now the race is run on Hanshin Race Course in the distance of 1 and 1/8 of a mile. And Vermillion hasn't finished better than third place since the race has been moved to Hanshin...

2:22 p.m. Moreover, there are no horses from abroad. I thought this was supposed to be an international race? I hate to have to say it, but I think it is likely that the race would be mistaken for a grade 3.

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Caterpillar

11:04 p.m. Am baakk from WWWINZZZ. Am sooo sorry, butttttttttttttttttttam too sleeeeby to wrrrite. Can' keemy eyezopen. Thhinkal go lu bed.

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Caterpillar

2:15 p.m. Sorry about last night. I was really on the verge of falling head first onto the floor. Even think it's a miracle I got home without any bumps and bruises.

2:17 p.m. The undignified race of a bunch of track sweepers ended with a get away of Transcend. Where were all the other horses? What were they doing? My key horse Silk Mobius had a bad start droppig to the back of the field, then boldly rushing up the outside of all others as if he was Deep Impact, eventually finishing in the fifth place falling short by two lengths. Glorious Noah in 2nd place, impressive result considering his first try in the distance, while Admire Subaru aged seven years old, beat a three-year-old Birdie Birdie by a nose and finished third. I'd rather not call this a grade 1 race since the race level, I think, was not that high. But as Mr. N-jima puts it, this year's three-year-olds are beating older horses. Wait till next year and the drop-outs from the turf races would start running track races, when these bunch of track sweepers would probably all be whacked in their faces. That sounds promising.

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Caterpillar

4:07 p.m. Obaba had her ninetieth birthday. Can't imagine how it feels like to live in this world for almost a century. She had a brain hemorrhage in 2003, I think it was, and has been coping with the after effect of a slight dementia. I thought it wasn't anything progressive, but lately she has been acting a bit strange. For example, she seems to be having more trouble than before to follow along a conversation. I've always thought that it must be because she's hard of hearing, but now I'm not so sure because she often returns totally irrelevant reponses. And she can't seem to tell if it's night or day when she opens the window of her room to check, not to mention her growing laziness to check the time on the clock. She used to be able to tell time from a clock, but the past two years she's been counting on the digital clock displayed on the corner of the TV screen.

4:20 p.m. I've been thinking about it for some time and it suddenly hit me that these could be the early signs of progressive dementia. It never occurred to me up until now, but as I realize, there's no reason she wouldn't suffer one on top of her after effects... Terrifying idea, but cannot dismiss the thought because it seems to have the ring of truth.

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Caterpillar

1:33 p.m. Luck seems to have left me a long time ago. And it seeems I'm having another unlucky week. Halfway through the week and I've been encountered twice by unflushed toilets... How could it happen so often? The first time was when I walked into the bathroom of an Izakaya on Sunday, while I was hobnobbing with Cow and Mr. N-jima after Japan Cup Dirt. The second time was yesterday, when I rushed into a public restroom located inside a shopping building next to Shibuya station.

1:45 p.m. I understand that toilet gadgets in Japan have developed into cutting-edge devices, and some of these very smart toilets flush automatically after you're through with the business. Though I personally believe that it's also needless to say, those convenient devices are NOT installed in ALL of the public facilities. I've always thought that must be common knowledge to most Japanese. Then how could these people leave the stall without flushing or without checking if they'd flushed it just in case? I wish I could tell them how disgusted I felt when I opened the door of the stall to find the toilet unflushed.

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Caterpillar

4:04 p.m. I'm having a cold. Think it was last Thursday when Cow apologetically said, "Think I've got cold." What a perfect timing. Right after I'd overworked my throat at Bon Jovi's concert shouting, screaming, having a great time. I was afraid I'd pick it up from him until the very next day which was last Friday, when I was sure I did.

4:11 p.m. Since then, I'd been blowing my nose so often that my nose got scraped again. Have been keeping a couple of pocket tissue paper packets in my jacket pocket for the past week (sorry about that, I didn't mean to make it a tongue twister), so I would be ready whenever the attack of runny nose hit me. Fortunately or unfortunately, this cold that I'd picked up from Cow didn't get my throat swollen like the seasonal cold I usually have, but it attacks in waves of runny nose and stuffed nose and is quite nasty. Some of my clients are also having cold and cancelling meetings. Apparently the cold season has set in. So I wish you'd all take care, eat good food, keep warm, get a lot of sleep.

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Caterpillar

4:27 p.m. Oh my God. Just been to Howcast to find amazing video that might stop the toilet paper war with JoOusama! The title says, "How To Get Your Husband To Replace The Toilet Tissue." This is exactly what I wanted to know. You will need : patience, creativity. You got it baby.

4:30 p.m. Have watched the video and my hope crumbled away. Here's the How-To. Step1, Express your frustration to your husband when he doesn't replace the toilet tissue (but try not to yell). Step 2, Show him where the new rolls are stored and how to replace it. Step 3, write a note above the holder to remind him. Step 4, forget to make him dinner, pay the newspaper bills, wash clothes when he uses the excuse that he forgot. Step 5, hide his necessities such as toothbrush, razor or shoes. Step 6, remove the toilet paper before he's turning in for the night to let your hubby know how it feels. Step 7, thank your husband for finally replacing the roll. Now try getting him to put the seat down. That's pretty fair. I'm afraid JoOusama won't fall for this.

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Caterpillar

1:47 p.m. I had something I wanted to write here but I've forgotten...

2:44 p.m. I still can't remember what it was that I wanted to write. I wish Howcast had a video on How To Remember What You've Forgotten.

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Caterpillar

9:20 p.m. How could a fillies' race run so slow? I was pretty confident today, that it would be a tough race since the fillies, as young and inexperienced they were, would not drop to a slow pace. So, my mind was set on Dance Fantasia, Dance In The Mood's first daughter. Her mother's won me a couple of long shots and I was sure that she too, would sweep the race as long as she didn't rush off to the front which was unthinkable at the moment considering Yutaka Take on her back.

I keyed her on the wheel of Aventura, Meine Isabel and Reve d'Essor. But the start was slow and the pace dropped... Dance Fantasia apparently didn't like it and fought half her way through the race, which sank her in 9th place. The race finished with the most favored Reve d'Essor in the 1st place, Whale Capture in 2nd, Rice Terrace in 3rd. The result says the first three furlongs were run in 35.8 seconds. That's the slowest record I've seen for a mile's distance! I thought fillies were supposed to go wild?

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Caterpillar

4:14 p.m. Have slept a lot. Yesterday I slept until noon because it was a quiet Sunday at home in a while (actually not quiet since the kids came around again but I didn't have to go out). This morning I even overslept as a matter of fact, thanks to my Miffy alarm clock which the alarm hasn't been working since I had dropped it from the top of my drawer about a month ago. But I am not feeling so good. Perhaps I slept too much.

4:21 p.m. Oh, my. News source reports that Snow Fairy has won the Hong Kong Cup! I wish she'd run in Japan Cup, too. Am pretty sure she'd been a good match with Buena Vista, regarding Meisho Beluga's performance. If she'd run, then things might have been different, I mean, Buena might not have bolted in front of Rose Kingdom and... That's my wishful thinking. I lost it anyway.

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Caterpillar

4:07 p.m. Weathernews says they're going to relay the Geminids meteor shower live on the Internet. The Geminids meteor shower is said to reach its peak from around 8:00 p.m. tonight to early tomorrow morning. Hooray! Meteor shower time! It's been raining in Tokyo since yesterday, and despite the comforting information the radio weather forecast has been offering all day that the sky will clear up later in the day, so far it's still overcast... But there's no need to worry. Even if you're not blessed by weather, you can still check out the meteor shower on live streaming! As said before, tonight is going to be the peak of the Geminids and more than fifty shooting stars are expected to be seen in an hour. So there's a good chance to catch one. Get ready to make a wish and good luck, everyone!

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Caterpillar

2:09 p.m. I got up late again but I made it to work. Pheeew. Think it's not because I've stayed up late since I went to sleep earlier than usual, terrified at the thought I might sleep over. As a matter of fact, I have been having trouble getting up in the morning for about a week although I cannot come up with any convincing explanation. Must do something about it. Sleep even earlier, perhaps.

As I stepped out on our veranda around half past twelve last night with my cigarette and portable ashtray, the sky above me was covered with thick clouds. Oh, not again. That's three in a row to have to give a miss on the meteor shower, I thought. Nearly gave it up until I noticed the wind high up above tearing the clouds away in some parts. And while I stood there smoking my cigarette, I spotted a bright star shooting woooosh, in the gap between the torn clouds southeast. Yeeeeeah! I must've been lucky. I hope my luck will last till Arima-kinen.

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Caterpillar

3:39 p.m. It's cold. Well, it should be for half of December is already past. One of my clients seemed to be interested in the previous meteor shower, so think I'll give you some info on the next one coming up. The Ursids meteor shower is expected to be seen on December 23rd, though it seems to be a minor one with only several shooting stars visible per hour. Besides, the moon will be out all night so the condition is not very good. The first one next year would be the Quadrantids, expected on Janeuary 4th which reaches its peak around 10:00 a.m. There's going to be a new moon so we will have a fat chance to catch shooting stars before dawn. Sounds like it would be a terrific start of the new year if you can see one.

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Caterpillar

4:01 p.m. Have been struggling with designing our greeting cards. Every year I try to put it off as much as possible because it consumes so much time and energy coming up with the ideas, designing the card, deciding the layouts and then drawing pictures when necessary. At times I feel like quitting sending greeting cards but then again, I'd like to respect our tariditions that has been passed down for generations. And it would be nice to have people thinking about you at least once a year when they get the card.

4:19 p.m. Have retired from greeting cards. Cow has taken over. I've had enough for a day.

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Caterpillar

10:41 a.m. A familiar tune came out from Cow's lap-top. He's watching a video clip of "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" on YouTube. Starship, right? It was on the soundtrack of the movie "Mennequin." Yay 80's! Brings back the memories. Cow actually loves this song together with the movie, probably ranked as one of the top 3 in his short list of favorite foreign songs, not that he can understand or sing the lyrics. Yeah, I like it, too.

3:00 p.m. There were a couple of submitted comments that Cow suggested I introduce here since he deeply agreed to them, but can't find them now and Cow himself is currently out so I can't ask him. Sorry, Cow. Maybe next time.

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Caterpillar

11:43 a.m. Cold is dragging and have been troubled with nasty coughs. I was going to get up around seven as usual but it was already past ten when I woke up. Sleep don't come easy when you have terrible coughs all through the night.

2:04 p.m. Have been to library to return a book. Was going to come home by 1:00 but wasted too much time searching for a can of diced tomato for less than 100 yen. Now the kitchen is occupied and must wait till JoOusama is finished...

4:40 p.m. Was going to get back my loss of Juvenile Fillies, but Asahi-hai Futurity Stakes has struck me with a total loss. Grand Prix Boss finished 1st, Real Impact came 2nd, Libertas was 3rd. It was going to be Sadamu Patek, Lift The Wings, Meiner Lacrima finishing in 4th, 5th and 6th place respectively, had the pace been faster in the first half of the race. Was going to...

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Caterpillar

3:15 p.m. Cow has dug out a bunch of phone cards. Phone cards... They're practically useless now that most of us have cell phones, though neither I or Cow carry one. We're a dying breed.

3:23 p.m. Cow has gone through thorough searching but seems we cannot cash them in. I thought they were pre-paid cards and pre-paid cards were supposed to be convertible... Looks like it's case by case, though Cow's search has unfortunately proved the phone cards to be incovertible.

3:24 p.m. Just flipped a card over to find clear instruction stating, "No refunds available." Oh, man. What am I gonna do? As a matter of fact, I've got a bunch of phone cards at home, too. Must search and find a shop where I can sell phone cards with bikini models. Wonder how much they'll make.

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Caterpillar

4:19 p.m. Cow has done a brief search to get a grasp of how much our phone cards could be worth. According to his research, my beautiful-girls-in-bikinis phone cards were sold for 3,000 yen each on an internet shop. The place had a wide selection of phone cards neatly categorized, such as idols, actresses, promotion girls, musicians, celebrities, artists, horse race, etc. Horse race? We happened to have some cards with grade one champion horses designed, so we decided to take a look at ‘Horse Race.’

4:30 p.m. Here are three of the high priced racing horse cards that we both had: Abukuma Poro for a staggering 7,000 yen(wow!), Silence Suzuka for 9,000 yen(very convincing), Seeking The Pearl for 13,000 yen(!!) Cannot believe Abukuma Poro is worth that much. He's from the local tracks, you know. I'll sell mine right away.

4:38 p.m. But then Cow comes up with another research casting a damper that they were the selling prices, and the average buying rate would be around 200 to 250 yen a card at best...

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Caterpillar

3:00 p.m. Why are my clients trying to make up their cancelled meetings all of a sudden just because it's year end? Why, may I ask, are they shoving in their rescheduled meetings within this particular week? Why do I have to be here from ten to eight while the radio keeps playing their endless chain of Christmas songs? Very much frustrated.

3:11 p.m. Why, oh why, is Cow suddenly announcing that he's making a Christmas cake? From the words I picked up in the sermon he was giving me while I struggled to stay focused on my computer, it seems that he figured buying a Christmas cake at a patisserie is a waste of money after all. Though since it's his first time actually making a cake, he seemed to have settled for getting a sponge cake and doing just the decoration on his own with whipped cream.

3:25 p.m. Cow has just returned from shopping excited, waving the sponge and a carton of cream under my nose... So, don't miss it ladies and gentlemen, is what Cow is now forcing me to write here. Very much frustrated.

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Caterpillar

5:40 p.m. Emperor Akihito has held the annual press conference on occasion of His Majesty's birthday. Known as an ichthyological researcher, His Majesty has expressed his feelings for the recent discovery of Kunimasu (Oncorhynchus kawamurae) that have been thought to be extinct since the 70's. Here's a part of a trascript of the press conference. " I wish to express my deep respect to Professor Tetsuji Nakabo of Kyoto University who made a major contribution to this discovery of kunimasu and who will soon publish a paper on kunimasu. I am also pleased that &lsquot;Sakana-kun,’ Visiting Associate Professor at Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology, and many others were involved in and worked together for the discovery of the fish this time. "

5:51 p.m. Oh, God, His Majesty has mentioned about Sakana-kun! It's amazing how a young boy who just simply loved fish grows into a celebrity.

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Caterpillar

4:04 p.m. Cow asked me yesterday if I had changed the batteries of my digital camera to new ones to which I answered, yes, I think so. He told me he was going to take a picture of his first Christmas cake. He went in the kitchen a couple of hours ago, and just came out crestfallen. The whipped cream decoration to top the cake turned out to be a hard task, with the cream unexpectedly softer than Cow thought. He said he was too embarrassed to take a picture.

4:12 p.m. Encouraged Cow that I'm sure he would be an expert after a few more tries. Think he's actually a quick learner. As a matter of fact, I too, was filled with bad feelings being late for work because the subway got delayed, having to cope with my client while he chatted on and on for an hour. But there was one nice thing. Another client has brought me a small bag of sweets in return of the Christmas card I'd sent. She'd lost her husband this year and now lives alone. It's Christmas. Best wishes for you all.

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Caterpillar

12:04 p.m. Have been devoting this quiet Christmas morning to research for Arima-kinen through JRA, JRA-VAN and keiba-net.com. Yes, it's time for the year-end-annual-Grand-Prix-race, Arima-kinen! Yaaaayyy! I don't win every year, actually I lose more than I win, but still it's the biggest year-end event to me. If I win I'll have my share to enjoy a nice relaxing holiday season, if I lose I'll bitch and cry over it until the Kinpai(first grade race next year) runs.

12:31 p.m. Buena Vista is currently my key horse, no doubt. Her second place last year assures that she can perform good enough at Nakayama, and considering the past two races in which she earned two easy wins in a row(forget the set back in JC), she's the closest to the Grand Prix champion. Am still pondering over the others with Never Bouchon, Rulership, Meisho Beluga, Danon Chantilly, Eishin Flash and Dream Journey on the top half of my list.

12:55 p.m. Cow's Christmas cake wasn't that bad after all, just for your information. At least my stomach hasn't been upset so far.

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Caterpillar

11:29 p.m. Buena Vista couldn't win. She couldn't catch Victoir Pisa by a nose. Victoir Pisa was my last minute choice and I had his number on my betting ticket together with Buena however, had keyed Buena along with Eishin Flash and that turned out to be my biggest mistake. Plus, To The Glory who came in 3rd was absolutely not on my list nor my betting ticket. Wonder how long I've been losing Arima-kinen. The last time I won was 2004, I think, so it's been six losses in a row. What a disaster... Where did I go wrong?

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Caterpillar

3:56 p.m. I came across a posted comment criticizing Masahiro Imai's how-to's on handicapping. Masahiro Imai is the person whom I thought to have developed his unique style of handicapping horses based on racing horses' mentality, and I've been worshipping his methods for about ten years now, despite the mountain of losses in grade one races. I had bought his book, and dutifully followed his methods for at least eight years. And today I found a comment saying that Imai himself hadn't won a grade one race in years. I didn't feel good because it felt as though I was criticized, but then I suddenly realized the shocking truth. How would I win a race when my master is not winning any?

4:16 p.m. Oh, my, oh, my. No wonder I lost Arima-kinen six years in a row...

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Caterpillar

12:14 p.m. Last day of work this year. Had to carry a heavy iron Sukiyaki pan on my back since Cow had ordered me to bring it for our New Year Sukiyaki party. It's made with Nanbu iron well known for fine iron goods which is absolutely the best pan you can ask for when cooking Sukiyaki, only if you don't carry it around on your back for an hour and a half.

1:20 p.m. Have finished our year-end cleaning of office. Cleansing, more like. A tradition to prepare our souls and things around us for the coming year which is supposed to bring some fortune.

11:27 p.m. Am not sure whether it's because I haven't cleaned my room yet, but my heart is smoldering with rubbles from Arima-kinen in spite of the cleansing this afternoon. How should I handicap the horses from now on?

12:37 a.m. Wondering if I could win Tokyo Dai-shou-ten without the help of my master, Masahiro Imai. Actually, haven't won this local race in years too, so maybe it's a good time to take the next step. Can always just handicap the horses and not buy the tickets, can't I?

The End

Caterpillar

9:30 a.m. So I've handicapped the horses for Tokyo Dai-shou-ten. My mind is set on trifecta keying Furioso on second, Smart Falcon and Wonder Acute on first with Silk Mobius and Gold Blitz on third. The odds are not good when I include Smart Falcon since he's the most favored, though there is a good chance he would win easily if he runs as usual. Was going to go out to Suidobashi to buy betting tickets however, it makes me hesitate when the trifecta odds are around 1500 yen to 1. Too much risk to gain so little.

11:24 a.m. Still hesitating...

1:11 p.m. Have decided not to go. Will clean window instead.

4:38 p.m. Things have become extremely convenient these days. Have watched Tokyo Dai-shou-ten on live streaming. It was an easy win for Smart Falcon followed by Furioso in the second place, though it was Birdie Birdie who secured the 3rd place, not Silk Mobius or Gold Blitz. Was right about not going, after all.

The End

Caterpillar

1:32 p.m. Was determined to get up early today in order to finish the year-end cleaning of my room by tomorrow, but couldn't get up until way past noon. Perhaps I was tired, though I didn't do anything special yesterday...

10:55 p.m. Have just remembered that I had unexpectedly discovered how to win Tokyo Dai-shou-ten, just when I was falling off to sleep last night. I've written down a note fighting sleepiness before I crawled under my blankets, and I am pretty confident that I will win the next Tokyo Dai-shou-ten at the end of the coming year. Can't wait! The secret lies in the depth of the dirt(sand) of Ohi Racing Tracks, but I can't tell you any more. I wouldn't want to make the already bad odds even worse. He-he-heeee!

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Caterpillar

In the same speech, Michael had also said, "I realize that many of our world's problems today, from the inner city crimes to large scale wars and terrorism, and our over-crowded prisosns, are a result of the fact that children have had their childhood stolen from them." Exactly, exactly! That's what I think, too! And his words followed, "The magic, the wonder, the mystery, and the innocence of a child's heart are the seeds of creativity that will heal the world. I really believe that."

It almost gave me the creeps to see how someone else, someone I've never even met or exchanged words with, someone in a different time, far away in a different place, living in a completely different world, could speak that way revealing exactly what I thought. It was a weird experience.

The End

Caterpillar