You look like you listen to Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, lol

I've been told that before. Did I write about it already? I was standing in front of a station in some town when a young guy approached me. I couldn't tell if he was trying to sell me something, scout me, hit on me, or if it was some kind of corporate training exercise, but we were having a chat where his goal wasn't clear. At one point in the conversation, I took out my iPod touch. The one with 25,000 songs on it, you know, to show him what I was listening to. Since there's a lot of classical music on it, the artist names on the screen are mostly in the alphabet, right? As I scrolled past those, which he probably couldn't read at a glance, some Japanese text appeared, and Kyary Pamyu Pamyu popped up. That's when he said, "You look like you listen to that, lol." So, what kind of character looks like they listen to Pamyu Pamyu, anyway?

And so, for the first time in years, I've been listening to Pamyu Pamyu. I used to like "Ninja Re Bang Bang." A friend of mine who worked in a general management position once told me that if I sang that at karaoke, it would be just one step away from being a party trick. A party trick, huh.

Anyway, it's been a day where I feel like I'm burned out. I've been sleeping in again. I still have things to do, but I'm not exactly busy. I'm just kind of lazing around. I guess this is what you call resting. I was going full throttle and pushing myself way too hard, so now I'm feeling the backlash. And I won't be able to settle down until the physical copies of the ZINE arrive. I have this anxiety that I might have messed something up. I have no idea how it's going to turn out. But they say 90% of the things you worry about never happen. It'll be fine, it'll be fine. Everything's going to be just fine.

I feel like watching a movie or something. Since I can finally take it easy, shouldn't I be doing all sorts of things now? I want to read books, too. They're just piling up, what am I supposed to do with all of them? I know I have a thirst for knowledge, but am I ever going to catch up? Probably not, right?

I need to find a time to go to the shrines. I'm going to visit Atago-san and Kanda-san. I'll return my old amulets and get new ones. Once I do that, there's nothing left until the first shrine visit of the New Year. My New Year's shrine visit is a little different. In the early morning, while it's still dark outside and there are no crowds, I first pay my respects at my local tutelary shrine. From there, I take the train to a certain shrine in another town. I return my lucky charms and amulets and pick up new ones. By the time I head home, I can see the first sunrise of the year from the train. It's quite fun. It gives the start of the year a sharp, crisp feeling. And as Masaatsu Yasuoka said, "At the beginning of the year, one should start reading a new, excellent book." Choosing that first book of the year is exciting, too.