□My 3-sentence Diary　(October 3, 2003〜 October 31, 2003 )
ネット上で日記は、個人的にはthe last thing I want to doでした。しかし、英語を書くことが
学習の一環と言う立場にあるものが、sampleになるのも意味のないことではないだろう、
自分も毎日、英語に接する機会も増えるし、また、このホムペになんらかの足跡を残すことに
もなるかな、などなどlong, sleepless autumn nightに考えて、半ば勢いでcreate。
　3-sentenceとなってますけれども、not necessarilyです。要するにnot longということです。
Starting on October 3, 2003

Friday, October 31, 2003 Fair

　I had a full day today, although I was not feeling very well. I had a pain in my chest. It may have been intercostal neuralgia, though. I have no idea. I stayed up late working last night. Perhaps I was tired out. In spite of all this, I had a load of work to do. I kept working all along today.

Thursday, October 30, 2003 Fair

　On my way home from work today, I made a stopover and ate miso ramen. All of a sudden I felt like eating miso ramen. I know a good ramen shop, but I have to break my journey. So I did today and ate miso ramen. It was delicious. But was this stress eating or something? Was I stressed out? I am not sure, but I know I like miso ramen.

Wednesday, October 29, 2003 Fair

　I often eat out with my wife. There are some good restaurants in my neighborhood--a Chinese restaurant and a Japanese restaurant. There was a good coffee shop, too, But it moved away because of the development of the area in front of the station. I miss that place where I would often eat and drink coffee sometimes with some sign language circle members and sometimes with my wife. The warm atmosphere of the good old days is disappearing from my town, too.

Tuesday, October 28, 2003 Cloudy, Windy later

　Last Friday my second son and I bought a new cell phone. The cell phone company of our old ones has changed its name from the Japanese name to the European name. Then my phone began to receive more spam. Now that I am used to using this old one, it is going to take some time to break in this new one.

Monday, October 27, 2003 Fair

　This school year I am sometimes on library duty. I like being in the library. While I am there, I read a lot. It is quiet there and I can concentrate. Time flies. I never get bored. Reading is the first step to learning. It is no exaggeration to say that you stop learning when you stop reading.

Sunday, October 26, 2003 Fair

　Mine is a correspondence high school, so students do not come to school every day. I am hoping that the Internet may be able to provide a place where they can exchange their ideas, feelings, opinions, and information. Man is a social animal and cannot live alone. He needs a feeling that he is not alone.

Saturday, October 25, 2003 Fair

　Today is our second son's birthday, and me and my wife bought an electronic dictionary for his birthday. It was quite expensive. Then our first born son got pissed off, saying,"That's not fair. You didn't buy me nothing good for my birthday." We never intended to hurt his feelings, but he took it that way. That is a Cain complex.

Friday, October 24, 2003 Fair

　Today I visited an English class at a school for the deaf. I thought it would be helpful as I sometimes act as sign language interpreter for a deaf student at my school. It was a very small class. The English teacher taught his students by using sign language. The atmosphere was homey. The students were doing O.K. , but the way English was taught leaves much to be desired.

Thursday, October 23, 2003 Fair

　It has been pretty cold today. The weatherman said that the first cold wintry wind of the year would blow today. On the way to work, I was standing on the wind-swept platform , waiting for my train. On the train, I read, mostly, books written in English these days. But in winter train seats are so warm I often find myself dozing.

Wednesday, October 22, 2003 Cloudy

　It is getting colder every day. I do not like cold weather. I have a chronic ailment. My neck bones are partially wrecked from an injury I suffered when I was young. It is literally 'a pain in the neck.' Pain is very subjective. It is not visible from outside. This pain gets sharper in cold weather. Should I constantly think about it, I might go mad. It will never leave me. I have to live with it and die with it. Oh, no! When I die, it is gone. Gone with my death!

Tuesday, October 21, 2003 Rain

　I belong to a local sign language circle. This circle meets every Tuesday. It is fun communicating in sign language. I like to talk with those who were born deaf. They have lived with their handicap all their life and tasted the sweet and bitter of life. But I find it difficult to get along with those who lost their hearing later on after birth.

Monday, October 20, 2003 Fair

　Some people have a grudge against somebody and never forgive him or her. Some people get easily pissed off because they feel they have been wronged. It is all up to each to decide how to live, but is it really possible to be full of hatred and live happily? Those who bear somebody a grudge believe that they are always correct and just. To them, it is always somebody else's fault.

Sunday, October 19, 2003 Fair

　I have had a full day today. I have walked a lot. My pedometer says 16.586 steps now. I want to lose weight by walking at least 10.000 steps daily, but if I walk too much, my knees hurt. So I am somewhat on the horns of a dilemma. As you get older, your basal metabolism gets slower. As a result, you tend to get fat. I usually have a good appetite and eat a lot. If I eat less, the stress will build up. We live in a very stressful society. Stress management is necessary.

Saturday, October 18, 2003 Fair

　Went out to buy a new floppy disk drive and have just installed it. My PC is back to normal. My family bought me a bottle of perfume for my birthday because I often say men my age stink. I do not smoke, and I dislike the smell of cigarette smoke. But the kind of smell that I am talking about is not that smell but some offensive body smell, body odor. Maybe my sense of smell is rather keen.

Friday, October 17, 2003 Fair

　A high-rise condominium complex is going up in front of the station. The platform is going to be in the shade in the afternoon. In winter, while waiting for trains, we cannot get the sun like before. Too bad. In fact, today the sun was behind the tall condo buildings while I was on the platform. Give me more light!

Thursday, October 16, 2003 Fair

　I sometimes take a walk and browse at this bookstore and that in the neighborhood for a change. There used to be a nice coffee shop near the station, but the area in front of the station is now being developed. The coffee shop moved away. There are some other ones, but they are no good. I want the kind of coffee shop where I can take a 30-minute nap after drinking coffee.

Wednesday, October 15, 2003 Cloudy

　Toward the evening, when I was taking in the washing, a centipede popped out of it. A big one! Maybe you can imagine what a fright it gave me. Centipedes give me the creeps, you know. You must watch out after the rain. That is when they come out of nowhere. But little did I dream that a centipede would be in the washing in mid-October!

Tuesday October 14, 2003 Rain
　
　This morning the weather was gloomy and miserable. I was in no mood to do anything. I did not go to the local sign language circle. If any group has anyone who has what is called 'the number one disease', the atmosphere of the group becomes uncomfortable, tense, and hostile. I would rather not associate with such a vain man. A self-respecting person respects others, but a vain person just looks down upon others.

Monday, October 13, 2003 Rain

　Let me just compose one haiku. autumn dawn−dishwasher whirs, insects chirp. Yesterday I may have sounded very nihilistic, but actually I do not believe in nihilism, which just makes life an empty dream. I do want to enjoy my life with those whom I love, if possible. I want to be true to my heart. Tonight my family celebrated my birthday.

Sunday, October 12, 2003 Cloudy and Humid

　Tomorrow is my birthday. I never expected to get this old. When I was a kid, life was easier to live. In a sense, we had a stable society. But today truth, goodness, and beauty have become relative. It seems that we now have nothing that makes our life meaningful. The local community has collapsed,and we are a lonely crowd.

Saturday, October 11, 2003 Cloudy

　There is an autumn festival going on in the neighborhood, but the town is not necessarily in a festival mood. I am not the kind of person who is eager to celebrate festivals. These festivals often block traffic. Only part of the town takes part these days. Festivals are originally celebrations. What is the good of festivals without celebrating?

Friday, October 10, 2003 Fair

　On my way home, I happened to hear an old foreigner speaking fluent Japanese. He was saying to himself,"Japanese have no taste," seeing a bunch of smokers in the smoking area on the platform. The way those smokers were smoking must have been an eyesore to the foreigner. I am not necessarily for smoking, but probably they never appeared to be enjoying smoking.

Thursday, October 9, 2003 Fair

　Medicine is a benevolent art, but actually it is said to be moneymaking. In this world, everyone is seeking wealth, fame, and power. Doctors are no exceptions. As far as I am concerned, I will not consult doctors I do not get along with. There are doctors and doctors. When the chemistry is wrong, you feel uncomfortable. I usually follow my nose.

Wednesday, October 8, 2003 Cloudy

　I am reading Darren Shank. I have read up to Book 4 so far. It may be more fun than Harry Potter. I asked my elder son to buy a copy of Book 5 for me, if possible, one of Book 6, too. I usually read 20 pages or so in English daily. Although I am over 50, I like adventure stories. When I was a little boy, I loved Arabian Nights stories.

Tuesday, October 7, 2003 Fair

　I belong to a local sign language circle. Every Tuesday I go and practice signing. Communicating with the deaf in sign language is fun. It is like using a foreign language. When you can make yourself understood in a foreign language, you feel very happy. The same thing is true about using sign language−the joy of understanding and being understood.

Monday, October 6, 2003 Rainy and Cleared Up

　Usually after Sports Day comes a substitute holiday, but today was a workday. On my way to work, I felt a little cold, so I put on the thin jacket I keep in the bag just in case. While teaching in the classroom, I perspired a little although I was not wearing the jacket. Teaching is good exercise. And I am glad that today's students were responsive.

Sunday, October 5, 2003 Fair but Chilly

　Today was Sports Day for my school. Not too many students came, but it was O.K. I hope they had fun.
　There was something wrong with the Interned connection this morning. The modem seemed to be out of order,and now at midnight, it is functioning all right. Strange! I don't understand.

Saturday, October 4, 2003 Fair

　I usually do the dishes at my home. Today tap water felt a bit cold. Our two cats began to sleep together, too. This morning I saw a scene of rice reaping. They were using a machine, a harvester. When I passed by, I smelled the rice plants. Here and there in the paddy fields were the red heads of cluster amaryllises(higanbana ).

Friday, October 3, 2003 　　Fair

　The autumn festival is coming soon in the neighborhood. At night, lanterns, red and white alternately, are lit overhead along the electric wire. As I walked home from the usual station, I happened to see a couple of cluster amaryllises(higanbana ) in the darkness by the wayside. In the daytime, fragrant orange-colored olives (kinmokusei) smelled sweet. I like this season.