the beginning of the end

...and it couldn't have come any sooner. Not much blogging these days because I'm moving back to the states in LESS THAN THREE WEEKS (holla). Being swamped with errands and busywork has me thrumming with nervous energy - in a good way. Me being the freak that I am, I find that I totally get off on secretarial shit like preparing maps, information, pictures, etc. for my successors. God...I'd be perfect as the spinster event planner, blind to my own path in life and my own desire to love, waiting for someone else to plan my life, in the ubiquitous rom-com of the 90s. And so it goes.

That reminds me! Something interesting - I've been listening to Slaughterhouse Five as read by Ethan Hawke (yes that Ethan Hawke). Unfortunately, the dulcet tones of his voice are a bit too sultry...and it all ends up powerfully soporific. I really can't listen through a chapter without nodding off. This, however, has its own advantages! Thank you, Ethan Hawke - my personal Ambien substitute! (Vonnegut, please don't roll over in your grave like that...) It's funny how listening to audiobooks gives you this weird appreciation for the qualities of voice that really keep you engaged. Let me just say - A Scanner Darkly, as read by Paul Giamatti? Totally weird but totally engaging. The Game, read by some British dude with an abominable American accent? Complete boner-killer.

(You know, I think I would make a fantastic audiobook reader - I'm adding this to my list of possible careers.)

Okay, anyway, back to the moving. I'd be a little sadder about leaving, but right now any sentimentality is tempered by pretty intense job-loathing. Maybe it's just an angsty phase, but I can't tell if the timing is unfortunate or terribly convenient.

How is it possible that the days are both crawling and flying by? Why do I get the sense that I'm leaving Japan with very, very few things of worth? Why do life changes make you feel like you need to write profound things as acknowledgement? MAKE IT STOP.