- Recently, I’ve been handling more and more e-mail correspondence at work. For whatever reason, the Americans and Europeans answering my e-mails call me “Mr.” Smith. Is “Emeth” such a male-sounding name? It’d be weird to sign my e-mails as “Ms.” … wouldn’t it? I guess, though, it really doesn’t matter whether I’m male or female.

- Just banned another spammer IP from commenting on this blog. Ohhh, so fun.

- Yesterday, I dropped by the Apple Store in Ginza, about 5 minutes walk from where I work every morning. I had my iPod with me, which suddenly and mysteriously quit working two days ago. When I told a guy on the first floor that my iPod was acting funny, he took me to a place called the Genius Bar. (Can you imagine? What in the world is that supposed to mean, right?! I admit Mac stuff is really pretty, but … they’re so stuckup about it.) Anyway, the friendly genius at the bar looked at my iPod for a bit then told me that the battery had died and that I would either have to pay a bunch for a new battery or buy one of their fantastic new iPods. *sigh* Is yours still holding up, Ben? I want a new iPod. And I wish they had coloured ones in bigger sizes, too.

- While I’m telling you about computer wishes, I wish I had one of those newfangled Powerbooks and one of those big monitors to go with my new 40GB iPod. Uh, huh, like that’s ever gonna happen.

- Meanwhile, my baby is in the hospital undergoing heavy surgery with Dr. Ken. I built him myself over a year ago, but he started getting disobedient last summer. Ken is going to rip out his bad parts and replace them with new, good ones. Oh, if only everything in life were so simple….

- Last night, I happened to turn on the TV just as a movie was starting. When the narration started, I thought the voice sounded awfully familiar. Mhmmmm. It was John Cusack.

- As I looked around the 40 or so men in the office this morning, I noticed quite a number of them, especially the older ones, wearing pastel colours. Pink, yellow, palest-pale-baby blue shirts and matching ties with dainty patterns or cute flowers obviously chosen to match the pretty shirts. Why? Granted, I’ve never worked with businessmen from any other countries so I may be speaking out of total ignorance, but is it common for men in other countries to wear such patterns and colours? The strangest thing about it to me, though, is that they require the young guys to wear black suits with white shirts. *shakes head* Can someone explain this to me?

Being with unsaved people every day is painful. Some of them are unpleasant or disgusting and I want Li Lian Jie to come and beat them senseless. I’ve probably wished that a few too many times. But it’s more painful when they are kind, good people, sometimes better human beings than some Christians … better than I am, for certain. The last few months, I’ve been praying that God would give me opportunities to share the Truth, and He has, almost every day, morning, noon, and night.

In the last few weeks, I’ve been talking about way more things than I really know. Martin Luther, Jeanne d’Albret, the Medicis, the Borgias, Cortes, the chivalric code, the laws of primogeniture, clerical celibacy, the crusades, the birth of America, the Puritans, Thanksgiving, Reagan, Bush, creation vs. evolution, war, guns and freedom, and more and more.

- Martin Luther King? Oh, I know him! He was an American who loved freedom.
- Uhh. Actually, no. That American was named for a German man from a few hundred years ago who was a Reformer…. *Emeth talks too much*

- When I saw the news about the World Trade Center, I didn’t think it was too important.
- *Emeth gets the wind knocked out of her and goes utterly speechless*
- It’s just something that happened in America.

- How can Bush be pro-life and then start a war? It seems contradictory to me.

- *listening to a speech at a party*
- You must be gentlemen! What does it mean to be a gentleman? Being a gentleman means being polite, greeting people loudly and clearly, bowing deeply, and being punctual, blah blah blah blah.
- *almost falls over … had forgotten this country has no history of chivalry*

The more God gives me opportunities to talk to people, the more desperately I realize how totally ignorant I am. I want to study. I need to study. I’m not at all ready to teach.

It’s amazing how long it takes for feet to heal after being torn open by a mere two days of high heels, how much energy coffee “gives” you except that it’s actually draining away all the energy you would have had later, and how “small” sins in one area of life can cause problems in all other areas of life.

… He said unto me, “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

… be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.