First Time

I got a massage for the first time yesterday, a real, professional one. It hurt, but not real bad. Apparently I was really tight and she was taking it easy on me. I'm not surprised. I've likely built up a lot of tension over the years. It made me sleepy and I slept the afternoon away. But I haven't felt so good in a while.

It looks like spring may finally be coming to this lovely city. I declare that with extreme caution.
You just never know around here, not until June, anyway.

I'm reading a book on Japan, which I first borrowed from the library but then quickly went out and bought so I could mark it up and keep it. It is called Shutting out the Sun: How Japan Created Its Own Lost Generation. It's fascinating for someone who loves Japan, like me. It's about many things, but I'm still at the beginning where the author writes about the people who lock themselves away, usually in their rooms, and never come out. This guy has interviewed them, and from what he's written I want to meet them my self. I always figured they were mentally ill people and dangerous, but the ones in the book are intelligent, articulate, and very interesting. I guess there is some degree of illness, but not like I think of it. They're not crazy. Anyway, you should read the book.