Happy Semi-Birthday To Me!

As I mentioned in a previous post, Michaelmas or St. Michael's Day is my secondary birthday. As I approach my 50th (or is it 100th, since I get 2 birthdays every year?), I wonder...will I be handsome, will I be rich, will I have rainbows day after day? Que Sera Sera...

But let's talk about September 29th, it's...
The Day of St. Michael is the Day of the early mass, the day of the sacrificial lamb, the day of the oblation struan (a cake made of all the farm's cereals,) the day of the distribution of the lamb, the day of the distribution of the struan, the day of the pilgrimage to the burial ground of their forefathers, the day of the burial ground service, the day of giving and receiving the carrots with their wishing and acknowledgements, and the day of the oda -- the athletics of the men and the racing of the horses. The Night of Michael is the night of the dance and the song, of the merry-making, of the lovemaking, and of the love gifts. Taken from "House Shadow Drake"

Alas, I have neither dance nor song, merry-making nor lovemaking to look forward to this evening. I did get a love gift this morning though. I got propositioned by a Russian damsel over the internet who is moving to Japan and "I want to share my life with good man because I'm also full of love and tenderness, I know that I am not so beautiful like Hollywood Princess but I do hope to meet my Prince and I am sure he will be not be disappointed to meet me in the real life! This is why I am going to go through the same way."




Boy, it's not bad enough that I get local stalkers, now they're seeking me out internationally! Happy Birthday, indeed!

ps. I think I'll check for an Adam's Apple scar before I take her up on her offer.

What's In a Name?

I've spoken about my name before: Michael Jones. Now it's time to ramble about my nomenclature again.

Did you know that people don't sign their names over here? Everyone uses a はんこ (hanko or personal seal.) Personally, I don't think it's all that personal when the personnel of a stationery store can impersonate it easily. Sure, signatures can be forged, but one can buy a hanko in a 100￥ store.

What I just discovered is that there are two kinds of seals:　認印 (mitome-in = "personal seal") and 実印 (jitsu-in = "registered seal"). A personal seal is used for everyday activities, such as signing for packages. A registered seal is needed to open a bank account or to purchase a car. I use my seal for opening accounts and signing in at work daily. Since there's a chance of losing my seal, I should probably get another.

This is the hanko and its case that I use daily.

The kanji in my name,
舞蹴 (ma-i keru), means "high kick jump" (like the can-can I guess.) The vice-principal at my old school chose it for me. It always spurs a giggle out of people when they read it.

Then there's my nickname, Mike. It's pronounced like マイク (as in
カラオケマイク or Karaoke-mike), short for microphone of course.

Finally MIKE is the brand name of a popcorn that FritoLay puts out. This particular flavour is こんぶ (konbu) which is kelp! (Tastes okay.)










Finally, if you break down my name into MI-KE, it's pronounced
ミケ (mee-kay) which is the name for a calico or tortoise-shell cat. ミケネコ are very popular around here and cost a mittload to purchase. If you're into cosplay, check out this hideous cat costume.
ps. one of the blogs I read, Mixed Nuts has a picture of her adorable ミケネコ and will soon have her own personal graphic novel coming out called The Black Tower. It looks promising.