tokyographers

So as part of my ongoing plans for self-improvement, I’ve started to study languages again. I recently went to Borders so that I could pick up basic books in Tagalog and Korean; I’m starting with the former. After years of being able to understand a lot of it without being able to speak any of it, I figure it’s about time I work on getting better at it. I took a quarter of it in school, but I didn’t get much out of it. So far, I’ve gone through about 40 pages, and I’ve already started to get a much better grasp of the language. I think this book is more to my liking - systematic, concise, and well-explained.

In other language news, I’m thinking of adding a Japanese-to-English dictionary script to the Tokyograph site, and I’m also curious about whether a translation script would be a feasible long-term project for me. In any case, I hope to at least have the dictionary added in the near future, depending on how quickly I can figure out a good way to present it and integrate it into the site.

Happy New Year, everyone! 2006 was a good year. A lot of things happened to me - something of a career change, several family and friends getting married, a couple new babies in the family, and some amazing traveling. In addition, Tokyograph was born! It’s still in its infancy, but it’s growing every day.

I hope you’ve all decided on your resolutions and your plans for the new year. I have several things in mind regarding the main site, especially since this will be its first full year in operation. Lots of things to look forward to!

Here’s to a wonderful 2007! Cheers!

The holiday season has been pretty busy for me, though I did at least get the Winter Drama preview done (although a bit later than usual). My main project right now is redesigning the site a bit. It’s not a complete redo from scratch - I’m just trying to make it a little more visually appealing and better organized. Hopefully I’ll have it done pretty soon after New Year’s.

Meanwhile, I finished watching a few of the recent drama series. 14-year-old Mother ended well. It’s not the most amazing series, but I applaud it for tackling a difficult matter and not treating it in an irresponsible manner. Tatta Hitotsu no Koi was a pretty standard teen romance type of drama, but it at least exceeded the expectations I had based on the cast. But in the end, Nodame Cantabile definitely was the winner for me this season. It’s so amazingly good as an adaptation of the manga, but even on its own it’s simply an enjoyable series. Between this and Swing Girls, I’ve really grown fond of Juri Ueno as an actress. I really hope she gets a lot more leading roles in the future.

Okay, so I haven’t updated in a while, and I still have half of my Japan trip to cover. Between preparing for the holiday season, working on my JET application, updating the main site, playing Final Fantasy XII, and a few other things, it’s been rather busy for me. But I’ll get back on track soon (unless I happen to find a Wii).

As for the site, I’m still working on a redesign, but for now I’ve at least added some things. The most notable is the listing for upcoming releases in film and music. If you haven’t noticed yet, check it out.

In other news, I’m loving the Nodame Cantabile drama series… It’s also made me rediscover classical music! I’ve listened to Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 (and several of the other pieces used) over and over since I started watching. The show is just brilliantly done, and it captures the feel of the manga well. Definitely my favorite drama of the season.

So, I’ve decided again to try keeping a blog (after having abandoned my Xanga long ago). This time, I have more things to write about, now that I’m busy managing Tokyograph. But first of all… I have to cover my recent trip to Japan! I’ll be writing up the adventure in the next several posts. (I should’ve taken more pictures!)