Nyotaimori

mooser poosers, as is her wont, was sitting in the front window today as i was preparing to leave for ellie’s house. while lugging my laundry bag towards the door i could hear one of the sets of parent and child stopping outside the window to admire my cat. they coo, they delight, they meow, they are adorable. today though i did something new, something unheard of for me, voluntary association with strangers. i dropped the laundry and picked up the cat, opened the door and introduced a small child to my precious fuzzy. he was pretty freaking adorable. he let her sniff his hand first, uncertainly ready to pull back if she looked like she was going to attack (steady there, harry, you bow first and then he bows). his mom explained how she taught him to do this with dogs. i was impressed at his infantile ability to grasp such concepts and put them into practice with a wholly different animal. sniffing completed, he happily patted her head and tried to scratch behind her ears while his mom told me how much he wanted a cat of his own but they couldn’t have one in their house because of the landlord’s strict rules. i commiserated with this rude denial and the kid continued to grin happily and pet the moo-head, (who, as for her queenly-self, calmly deigned to accept this bizarre experience–being outside, being touched by a small child with semi-useless motor skills.

they were delighted by her name too by the by, in case you were wondering. or at least the mom verbally was. the kid didn’t really speak except to stare at me shyly and say ‘cat’ when i first came out of the house and ‘thank you’ at his mother’s coaxing as i re-entered the house.

i’ve always wanted to do this. the kids that go by on their way to and from day care down the street are generally full of cuteness about my window-sitting cats. but usually i’m too terrified to actually take one out to them. but from the gratitude i received today, i should obviously do it more often.

speaking of cute, cute kids. i went to ellie’s today and saw tyler who is turning ONE tomorrow, (it seems like only yesterday that she told me she was pregnant). babies grow up so fast once they pop out apparently. ellie gave me a picture because i mentioned how everyone is always delighted to see him in beanies and elephant suits. he doesn’t really speak yet but he is walking all over and his favorite book is about charlie parker and be-bop.

and sleep tight, my baby; morning light shall burst bright; and keep us, here safely.

so, as most of you know, it was my birthday yesterday. and for my birthday i wrote a murder mystery game set in indian mythology which i forced people to play on saturday. not only did the usual suspects of kristen, gene, jason, erica, jacob, dianna, christine, anderson, and brian danny play; but also nuala and marina FLEW UP FOR MY BIRTHDAY. it was delightful, let me tell you. if only i could have had the rest of you from far parts and kati vol not having to do a play, it would have been perfect.

an excellent way to see what characters people were playing is by this marked up photo brian danny did. admittedly he spelled both my name and his second wife’s name wrong, but you can get the idea, (gayatri and naruda). costuming was by far the most appealing portion of this extravaganza. i want to wear a sari all the time now and i don’t feel that anderson will ever look properly dressed with his own (albeit deformed) ears ever again.

i think the best part of the game, for me, was when marina told me that she had stolen the golden lotus from kristen and that gene had then stolen it from her. i was flabbergasted by the things people were doing a vast majority of the time. when christine dragged me, gene, erica, and danny into a corner of the hallway between the bathroom and bedroom and said, “Brahma, I’d like to present you with your wife: Saraswati.” and erica blushed and simpered and my mouth dropped open, it was brilliant. also greats: kristen’s cuteness at being in love and loved, anderson’s constant requests of erica for dates and then having sex in the bathtub, jason’s loud demands for the return of his sword (though he never had a sword himself, per se). parts of it were hilarious.

i wish jacob had gotten the sword. i wish i’d given jacob more powers. i sort of wish marina had gotten all the items. i wish BD had followed thru on his 3rd goal to get Shiva and Vishnu to fight. i wish i’d spent more time working on it because the last minute throwing together of it really left some serious plot holes (ie, how was saraswati killed?). but on the whole, i think it worked pretty well and people mostly did everything they needed to do. the last one was still better though i think. better written anyway.

the album on eloise with photos is here. pretty, pretty saris. people who still have photos to upload: danny, jason, anderson, nuala, anyone else who might have had a camera that i can’t remember now; eyebrow lowering glare, ‘hup, hup’.

next time?–pirates! high seas! booty and swashbuckling! possibly written by kristen!

more info later because for now i have to take marina to the airport, but here’s the first installment of pictures:

Indian Epic 2.0: A Murder Mystery Game set in Indian mythology/My Birthday.

two things which i don’t normally see:

1. 4 guys making a movie on the corner of anza and 25th avenue in san francisco at 10:45pm on a tuesday night. they had the video camera all set up in front of a guy on a scooter. the director was giving the actor an inspirational talk. the cameraman looked bored. a lighting tech was stationed at the top floor window of the apartment building shining a spotlight down on the scooter. it was delightfully odd.

2. naked women. lots and lots of naked women. sure, i see myself naked all the time. but dozens of other naked women? not so much.

yesterday i went to the campus rec center and went swimming! my classmate pamela held my hand (figuratively) and showed me where the towels are, how to get in, where to go, and how the suit spinner works (genius, it dries your swimsuit so fast). she even loaned me shampoo and conditioner because i, of course, brought nothing like the lame goose i am.

my eyes were popping out of my head by the end of this experience, let me tell you. locker rooms are a bevy of nudity.

you know how no one expects the spanish inquisition? well, i apparently don’t expect the reality of locker rooms. obviously they’re going to be full of naked women, but it still surprised me. just like thumbscrews and iron maidens.

i clicked on the the link to NinjaPorn today. thinking to myself, hmm, i forget what happened in that story. there was a tree, wasn’t there? and it went to a 404! NinjaPorn is gone from our lives! i’m pretty sure that i didn’t save that story anywhere else.

how sad. i am sad to have lost my porn of ninjas.

questions? comments? concerns?

p.s. sign up for typekey.

i added some more pictures to my christmas album. mostly of me. mostly. because before there were so few. anyway, my mom took all these new ones and i just scanned them this weekend. if you are interested, they start here on page 12 (after toadhall). favorite ones? 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.

in other news, school starts again tomorrow, and i’m a little terrified. my first class is ‘international politics of the east asian region.’ does that sound like fun to anyone? no, i thought not. apparently the goal of the class is to make us either political activists or policy analysts. i don’t want to be either of those things!

my other class is ‘economics of asia’. sigh. math.