Keeping busy

[spacealien_vamp]

Last night I randomly had the TV on in the background as I worked on writing my portion of one of the seniors' exams, and a show came on called 大改造！！劇的ビフォーアフター ("Huge Reform!! Dramatic Before/After"). It's a show in which an expert architect completely reforms someone's house to fix all their problems. Normally, this is not the kind of show I would watch, but I totally couldn't take my eyes off it. Last night's show was about an elderly couple living in a house with so little space that A) they had to stack pots and pans on the washing machine, B) they had to undress in the kitchen before taking a bath, C) the bathtub was so small, you would have to sit with your knees pulled up to your chest to fit in it, and D) when their children and grandchildren came to visit, there were not enough chairs (and barely enough room on the floor) for everyone to sit in the dining area. The entire second floor was used for storage. The architect completely redesigned the house and the furniture to save space. It was awesome. My favorite was the way he designed drawers for storage in places such as under the bed or under the stairs that, when pulled all the way out, folded into extra chairs to use for visitors. I wish I had known about this show before, because it reminded me a lot of the kinds of things Dad builds, and I'd bet he'd really get a lot out of seeing it.

Unfortunately, the website for the program doesn't have any information about episodes that have already aired. They apparently have a book out about the various renovations they have done, though, including details of what the architects did.

Today was the last day of classes for the seniors. This means that, from now through mid-March, I will have to think of ways to keep myself occupied at work. Having plenty of time to read is nice...but since I'm right next to the heater, I kinda get sleepy easily. I brought some cro-tat supplies to work on today, and I managed to finish two doilies. (There's a crochet stitch called a Double Love Knot. I never knew.)

One of my students is going to the National Shougi Championship, one of four representatives for the entire prefecture. ...Not that I'm responsible for it in any way whatsover, but I thought it was neat.

Comments

[pacoese.livejournal.com]

That's pretty cool. You should really have mom show this posting to dad. He might get a kick out of it.

[megory.livejournal.com]

I just wanted you to know that your father read your entries, and enjoyed them. He said that the tv program sounds very interesting...sounds like work, too.

What is "shougi"?

Love, Mom

[spacealien-vamp.livejournal.com]

Shougi is often called "Japanese chess." It uses sort of wedge-shaped tiles, each of which has its piece name written on it in kanji, and they are moved around on a board rather like chess. Other than that, though, I don't know the slightest thing about it.