The top menu is working! Due to limitations of the goodies exploit, I decided to just make the faq a blog topic, so click on the faq link to see the first of several entries in that topic. FAQ entries will not appear on the front page.

The guestbook is back on its own page, but it needs some cosmetic touching up, which I will get around to soon.

The bio page is still under construction, but at least there is something there when you click on it.

Things are coming along nicely. I'm having fun learning to be an antville power user. If you take the time to delve into the workings of the system, there's a lot of stuff you can do that isn't typically possible with a free hosted-blog service.

Look for more content and a lot less site updates starting tomorrow! Thanks for visiting!

The title "words of my neighborhood" comes from a variety of different sources.

The Lancaster, PA band The Innocence Mission, of which I am a fan, has released an album entitled "Birds Of My Neighborhood", and it is partly an homage to that album.

My login-name "ototoro" comes from a film by Japanese animated film director Hayao Miyazaki entitled "My Neighbor Totoro". If one translates the Japanese for this title (Tonari no Totoro is the romanji) in a more literal fashion, it can be read as "Totoro of my neighborhood", so it is also an homage to Miyazaki and that film.

In the film, there are actually three different Totoros seen inhabiting the forest near the home of the young girls Mei and Satsuki: O Totoro, Chu Totoro, and Chibi Totoro. O Totoro is the largest of the three, given to grumbly growling and big happy grins. He's my favorite of the three, and I identify very much with a lot of the themes in this film and his role in them, so that's why I chose "ototoro" as my admin name.

When you see a message from "ototoro" on this site it is, of course, from me.

I also chose "words of my neighborhood" because I was already imagining a photo project for myself that would involve taking pictures of interesting texts and typography within walking distance of my home. It may be another week or two before I get that posted, so you have something to look forward to.

Finally, the most important reason for "words of my neighborhood" is that it seemed to be the only organizing principle I could imagine for my willy-nilly approach to blogging. My site doesn't pigeonhole neatly as a political blog, photo blog, literature blog, diary blog, or any of the other various precision-focused blog genres. About all I can promise about this site is that I'll always be writing about the world around me. That may be the greatest weakness of this site, but I hope to also make a virtue of it in time.

I believe that no matter how global one's perspective gets, there's always an element of the local in their worldview. The internet, and changes in society in general, have complicated the notions of locality and neighborhood to some degree, but I think that ultimately everyone's words come from their neighborhood, however large or small, however analog or digital. These words are from mine.

Highlights of the weekend:

film worship

Set up all the connections to the new HDTV & progressive-scan DVD player. It's astonishing how good 70mm films like 2001 and Akira look in 43-inches of progressive-scan HDTV glory.

If anyone is in the market for a new television in the U.S., I highly recommend UEC Web as an alternative to buying a new one. They have refurbished Hitachi televisions for 50% off or more, with a 30-day warranty that you can extend by additional years for extra cash and still come out way ahead.

I'm not a rabid TV fan, but I love movies, and this is worth it for the movie experience alone. "The Man Who Wasn't There" looks touchably brilliant.

sushi!!

They really should dedicate a table to me and my friends at Pango, the new sushi & tea bar in downtown Austin. Saturday night, we made yet another of our many frequent trips there for dinner, in a party including the angry robot and Sei Shonagon.

The unagi (barbecued eel) nigiri was impeccable as always. Definitely in strong contention for the best unagi in Austin. Unfortunately, Bruce and Karin ordered the Unagi-Don (a big box serving of unagi over rice and other accompaniments) instead of the nigiri, and had quite a long wait for it. It seemed to go over well when it arrived, though. Luckily, they ordered edamame (soybeans lightly steamed & seasoned, yum!) to keep them sated while they waited.

In addition to the unagi, I enjoyed some amaebi (sweet shrimp) nigiri and a Philadelphia roll, which is a really tasty concoction of smoked salmon, cream cheese, and avocado. Like a bagel with cream cheese & lox, minus the bagel.

I also tried the house iced coffee for the first time, which according to the menu is based on a family recipe from Taiwan. It's definitely a different, more gentle taste than the typical American iced coffee. It's both less bitter and less sweet. Overall, it was the sort of flavor that appeals to a tea fan like me, as one might expect from a bar that specializes in tea. I generally don't drink coffee except on rare occasions, but this was good enough to potentially convert me.

Overall, a typically delicious night at Pango, as always.

(Brenna, next time you are in Austin, you must go there!)

comedy!!

After sushi, Sei (Karin) and the robot (Bruce) and I went over to the Hideout theater to see the We Could Be Heroes improvisational comedy troupe. We were in luck, as our friend Peter was performing that night. He's been working really hard at improving as an improviser, and it showed. The show that night was an elimination-style game called Micetro (kind of like Survivor! for improvisers), and he tied for the win before losing the tiebreaker by a narrow margin of applause. Way to go, Peter!

belly dancing!!

Sunday night was the big performance of Karin's belly dancing troupe at Marrakesh. She and several other girls in my circle of friends & acquaintances have been studying for the past couple of years with Cara Bowen of Austin and Karen Barbee of San Antonio.

You may think you have seen belly-dancing before, but unless you have seen it performed in its native culture, chances are very slim that you have seen anything approaching the level at which these girls are learning it. Cara and Karen are very accomplished dancers, and it was clearly evident in the show that they are excellent teachers who are proving very successful at transferring their knowledge to their students.

The show was a lot of fun, and the performers all seemed to be enjoying themselves immensely, despite the difficulty of performing incredibly long choreographies that rely on fine distinctions between muscles I am not even aware of in myself.

Karin will be in another upcoming show by Karavan Studios in San Antonio, so if you live in the S.A. area, I highly recommend checking it out. Details here.

to sum up

I had a really great weekend! My only regret is I should have taken pictures at the belly dance show. I'll be sure to bring back some pictures from the Karavan show.

Unfortunately, now it's Monday, and there's a long week ahead. :(

Maybe I'll go to Pango again tonight. Sushi always makes me feel better! hee!