Saturday, January 28, 2006

   Hey, Louganis, nice dive!!!

Well, it's almost Saturday. I got back from the game about an hour ago. We won!!! Woohoo!!!! It was a good game. Final score: Musketeers 3, Steel 2. I won't be going to the Saturday game as I have to work, but I'll be keeping tabs on the game. That's for sure.

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Thanks to all that have wished my Dad well. I saw him briefly this afternoon and told him to behave himself. He looked and felt better than he did yesterday. I don't know how long they'll keep him in the hospital though. He was chatting with the hospital chaplain when we got there, so we didn't want to interrupt two preachers "talking shop." *grin*

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Well, as I don't really have much else to say, I'll leave you with a picture of something attained at the game tonight. A bobblehead doll of our coach!

Truly an odd piece of memorabilia. It's now part of my collection of weird hockey stuff.

Laters!

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Friday, January 27, 2006

   Where have all my noodles gone?

Hmm... rare afternoon post again. It's Friday!!!

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Well, I haven't heard anything about Dad yet today. I'll be going to Sioux City later this afternoon to take some stuff to Mom and also to go to a hockey game. Yeah...I'm going to a hockey game while my Dad's in the hospital. Won't be the first time I've done that. Mom said my brother & I should just go on with our plans for the day as usual.

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Oh, there's a special treat for you guys down below here. It's another "prequel" story. I've got some more of the regular story ready, but this one is kind of cool and I wanted to post it for you. We finally get names on Satsuo's parents!!! Now I just have to work the names into the other story...

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I don't know if I'll be back online after the game or not. Depends on what time we get home from the game.

But I do have this to say. And it's just for you, Caprice!!!

Heh heh heh heh heh....

Laters!

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Homecoming

December 1868.

“I can’t remember, Takeda-kun,” Nakamura Yoshihiro said as they stood on a hill overlooking Kamakura. “What are the names of my wife and son?”

Takeda looked at his friend in disbelief. “Hiro-kun, are you serious?”

Yoshihiro started to laugh. “Of course not. Let’s get home.” He began the descent into town.

A light snow was falling as the two men entered town. They were returning home after more than two years fighting for the restoration of imperial rule. Yoshihiro wanted nothing more than to see his family. He had had enough of battle. His son would now be six years old, and he worried the boy would not remember him. No matter, he’d get to know him again.

“Hiro-kun, the dojo is just ahead,” Takeda said.

“So it is.” Yoshihiro’s pace quickened. He got to the main gate and was surprised to find it locked. “What is this? It’s locked.” He searched his gear for his key and opened the gate.

Yoshihiro entered the courtyard followed by Takeda. The place was abandoned, but still he called for his family. “Shizuyo? Shizuyo, are you here?” He wandered through the house, finding no sign of either his wife or his son. He returned to the courtyard where Takeda was waiting.

“Hiro-kun?”

“There’s no one here. They’re not here.” A hint of panic had crept into his voice. “What has happened to my family?”

“There’s no sign of anyone living here?” Takeda asked.

Yoshihiro shook his head. “Nothing.” He dropped to his knees. “There’s nothing here.”

Takeda did a quick search of the property as well. Returning to his friend in the courtyard, he said, “Someone in town has to know what happened. Let’s go to Tetsuo’s. Someone there may be of some help.”

Yoshihiro looked up at Takeda. “Yes, Tetsuo-san should know what happened.” He stood and they went to Tetsuo’s inn.

Tetsuo’s inn was quiet when Yoshihiro and Takeda walked in. There may have been a few people at one table, but neither paid any attention. The hostess came over to greet them and showed them to a table. Seeing that they were dressed for traveling, she asked if they needed rooms for sleeping.

“No, thank you,” Yoshihiro answered. “Just some tea and soba, please. Also, is Tetsuo-san available? I would like to talk to him.”

“Tea and soba, yes. I will see if I can find Tetsuo-san.”

Takeda watched the hostess leave the dining room. He looked over at his friend and said nothing. He could tell Yoshihiro was lost in thought. He, too, was worried about Shizuyo and the boy.

The hostess returned with their meals and said, “Tetsuo-san will be out shortly.”

“Thank you,” Yoshihiro replied and started to eat.

Tetsuo approached the table a little later and said, “You wished to speak to me, sir?” He then recognized the two men. “Nakamura-san? Takeda-san? When did you get back?”

“Just a short time ago,” Takeda replied. “We stopped at the dojo first.”

“Ah,” Tetsuo said, looking over to Yoshihiro.

Yoshihiro set aside his soba and took a sip of tea. Calmly, he asked, “Where is my family?”

Tetsuo sat down. “Shortly after you left, my wife went over to the dojo to see if your wife wanted to come over so our sons could play together. She found the gates open.”

Yoshihiro held his breath. Takeda closed his eyes, fearing the worst.

Tetsuo continued. “She heard crying and found your son alone in the garden. Your wife was nowhere to be found.”

“What happened?” Yoshihiro asked.

“We don’t know. My wife brought your son here. We’ve been taking care of him.”

“Did he tell you anything? I know he was still very young, but…”

Tetsuo sighed. “He said some things, but none of it made much sense. He said silver men took them away. The silver men then took him back to the dojo and left him there. He also said something about a white room. Like I said, it doesn’t make much sense.”

Yoshihiro looked at Takeda, but didn’t say anything to him. Turning back to Tetsuo, he said, “Ah, well, that’s all past now. Where is my son? Can I see him?”

“Of course, come on back to the house when you’re ready. I’ll let my wife know you’re coming, and to bring the boys out.” Tetsuo stood up.

Yoshihiro stood as well. “I’m ready now.”

Tetsuo smiled and led Yoshihiro back to his living area. Entering the house, he called out, “Akiko, where are you? We have a visitor.”

A woman came into the front room. “Yes, here I am. Who is it? Ah! Nakamura-san, you’re home. Welcome back. Are you here for Hikaru-chan?”

“Thank you. Yes, I’d like to see my son.”

“I’ll go get him. He’s playing in the yard with Satsuo.” She left and returned shortly with two boys in tow. She nudged the smaller of them forward.

Yoshihiro crouched down to be at his son’s level. “Hello, Hikaru,” he said. “Do you remember me? I’m your father.”

Hikaru took a look at Yoshihiro and turned back to Akiko and buried his face in her skirt.

“Hikaru-chan, be polite,” Akiko chastised.

Yoshihiro said, “I didn’t expect him to remember me. This is going to take time. We have to get to know each other again.” He stood. “Thank you, Akiko-san, Tetsuo-san. I’ll leave Hikaru with you for now, but he will come home with me eventually. We have to take this slowly. I’ll be going back to the dojo. Please, bring the boys over tomorrow.”

Tetsuo asked, “Both boys?”

“Yes, both of them. It may be easier on all of us if Satsuo-chan is with him.”

Tetsuo agreed and took Yoshihiro back to the dining room where Takeda was waiting. He said his farewells and left.

Takeda looked up at his friend. “Well?”

Yoshihiro sighed. “He doesn’t remember me, but I didn’t expect him to. I’m leaving him here with Tetsuo’s family for now. We will get to know each other again.”

“Of course. Shall we go home now?”

Yoshihiro nodded and they left the inn to walk back to the dojo. The snow had stopped and there was a soft, white coating on the ground. Neither of the men said anything as they walked, but when they reached the gate, Yoshihiro said, “He has his mother’s eyes, Takeda-kun. He has her beautiful green eyes,” and walked into the dojo courtyard.

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Thursday, January 26, 2006

   I should know better....

Thursday night. Not quite 11:00 pm.

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I was so going to try to get to everyone's sites tonight. I should know better than to say things like that. I had it all planned out that I'd be online around 9:00 and get through my email by 10:00 and then get to visiting sites right after that. But, it didn't happen that way.

My Dad's been coughing for weeks now. He's been to the doctor over & over & over and they've given him pills and shots and nothing has helped. Well, he wasn't feeling very good today and a friend who happens to be a doctor came over and checked him over and sent him down to the clinic to see someone down there again. Dad has double pneumonia!!!! Then this evening, he wasn't feeling too good and was going to go to bed, but ended up getting sick. So... I had to drive him & Mom to Sioux City to the hospital. *sigh*

So... any and all warm thoughts will be greatly appreciated.

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I think I'll go finish my email now.

Laters!

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Wednesday, January 25, 2006

   You don't see me! I'm a figment of my imagination!

I was supposed to have tonight off. I was going to sit and yak with my brother for a couple hours. I was going to work on getting those pictures to work on that script. But NO!!!! I got called to work.

Oh well, at least I get extra money for working tonight.

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I've been helping out a new friend with her site. Her name's Benzaiten. She's a Samurai Deeper Kyo fan, as is plainly evident by the theme we got going over there. I drew her a picture of Kyo already and it's up in the fanart here. Go visit her site if you have a chance.

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Great...now I'm trying to get a migraine. Arrrgh. This sucks!

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Well, I think I'm going to go try to get rid of this headache. Sites will be visited tomorrow night! I have it off and won't be called to work, 'cause they won't give me overtime!

Laters!

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Additional: Well, my subject line was a little prophetic. I put an extra ":" in my code at the beginning of the post and the whole thing disappeared! Boy... is my face red!

Additional additional: I thought I had fixed it. Turns out I had a : instead of a " and that's why this post disappeared. Oops. And this roll of Sweetarts was unfair! There were only two purple ones in the whole thing!!!

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Tuesday, January 24, 2006

   I don't like this weather....

It's very windy today. There's an Alberta Clipper north of Minnesota, so we're on the backside of it and have had some very nasty wind from the northwest. Some gusts have been over 50 mph. It wasn't easy driving to work in my little bitty car. Onigiri was not happy with the wind, either.

I get jumpy when it's windy. The town where I live is subject to a prevailing south wind. During the summer, it gets to be an unusual occurence if it isn't blowing from the south. I used to work at a little screenprint shop in town. The building faced south, so when that south wind kicked in, we'd have to lock one of the doors so it wouldn't stand open all day. Yes, it didn't stay open, but the wind would whistle through the cracks all day. After a while, I'd get really wound up from all that noise. So...I get jumpy on windy days.

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Well, the wireless is cutting out on me again. I need to find something else to do to occupy my brain tonight. I'm jumpy and have a short attention span. Great....

Laters!

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Monday, January 23, 2006

   Yaaarrrrrrrrr!!!!!! Geekery on the High Seas!!!

Well, here it is Monday evening. I'm at work and have been attempting to get the pictures on the scripts to work. I've not had much success getting them to work on this site. They work on my hosting site with no problem. I'm trying them in Geocities, too, but the wireless keeps cutting out on me. I think I will attack this again tomorrow here or Wednesday at home. I wanna get this post up and my new picture submitted before the thing cuts out on me again... and before I have to go on another van run.

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The picture is Hikaru again. There is a story behind the picture, but it's not written down yet. I may write it eventually, but right now, it's just what you see: Hikaru sleeping.

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Well, my football team is on its way to the Super Bowl! Whee!!!! Go Steelers!! I wasn't going to taunt my Dad the Broncos fan because he's not been feeling well the past few days. But Mom said we have to stop babying him, so I taunted him. ;)

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I think I'll go submit that picture now. Please check it out and vote. Then I'm going to shut this silly machine down for the night.

Laters!

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Sunday, January 22, 2006

   Is this thing on? *taps microphone and gets horrible squeal*

Hello? Can you hear me all right? How about you tree people back there? Can you hear me, tree people?

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Well, this site sure came up a helluva lot quicker than the past couple of nights. I am, however, wondering if there's something else going on. This is actually my third attempt to post today. The other two just didn't post, even though the thingy said my life was updated. Hmmm...

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I played around with those scripts again and got them to work over in another site. I'm going to put them in my introduction area to test them here. I really wanted to put them at the end of posts, but they don't seem to want to work. Oh, heck... I'm gonna try it on the bottom of this post. If they don't work here, I'm putting them in the intro.

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I'm at work right now with 6 hours and 20 minutes to go. It's already incredibly boring. Crystal's doing stuff with recipe cards and I'm playing around with web stuff like I know what I'm doing. I don't know what I'll do to fill in the rest of the night.

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So... here's the test of the scripts:

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I hope those work. Heck... I hope this whole post works!

Laters!

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Additional: Well, the posts finally showed up. All of them! So I deleted all the extraneous ones. The script seems to be working, but the pictures didn't show up. I wonder if there's something going on in the host site. I had problems with that the other night. I can't check it from this computer because it doesn't like the site for some weird reason. Oh well, I'll play around more with it later. I'm drawing things now!

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Saturday, January 21, 2006

   What's going on?

I can't get my own site to pull up! I've been trying for the past half hour to take a look at my own site so I can see what comments have been made and it won't come up!!! It's been difficult the past couple of days to get things to come up. Grr! *notices the little circling dots aren't there on that tab anymore* What do you know? My site finally came up! Sheesh!

There must be something going on here. I finally got my page to come up and the background is scrolling. *sigh* Good thing I don't feel like doing anything to the site.

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Well, today was not exciting at all. Vacuumed the living room, dining room, kitchen and staircase. Whee. Then I went to Sioux City as usual for Fridays. My brother had to get the exhaust fixed on his car. Yippee! Now he doesn't have to worry about inhaling exhaust fumes!

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Well, I don't know what I'm going to do now. I have to find something interesting to do or I will fall asleep. Hmm... sleep is a good idea...

Laters!

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Friday, January 20, 2006

   Maybe you'd drive better if that cell phone was crammed up your....

Well, Thursday was just about as exciting as Wednesday. But this time there was laundry! Wheeeeee!!!

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I spent some time goofing around with a couple scripts. I want to put them on the bottom of my posts and hope they work. So, tonight is going to be a test of the scripts. I didn't write them. I found them on that site I mentioned last night.

So... without further ado, here they are:

No...Here they aren't. I can't get them to work properly, so I removed them!

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I'm off to see if that works.

Laters!

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Additional: Well. Round 1 of Kitsune vs the Scripts didn't turn out the way I expected. The scripts aren't showing up. *removes a couple comment lines to see if that makes any difference*

Additional: Ten minutes later and they still don't work! So, as it says above, I removed them for futher experimentation. *insert evil laugh here, punctuated by lightning flash in background*

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