...is too damn cold. I've taken to living under the kotatsu, falling asleep, and waking up disoriented. It need not be said that I am happy to be moving from government housing to an apartment closer to the station. It means less space, but it's easier to warm and cool.

"Don't tell anyone around here where you're moving," the bar owner of the place I frequent said to me. "Last thing you need is some drunken asshole pounding on your door."

"If anyone asks, I'm moving to Isawa."

"That's where all the yakuza are, you know."

"Yeah, I know."

A friend and I were looking at the real estate maps of the area, and when I found my current apartment I noticed something a little strange.

"Hey," I pointed towards the markers surrounding the area. "What does this symbol mean? There are an awful lot of them..."

My friend flipped to the front of the book and promptly shut it. "Nothing you need to know. It's not important."

"...those are graveyard markers aren't they?"

A moment of silence and then, "I'm sure they're at peace."

I just finished reading Ursula Le Guin's Left Hand of Darkness, which is one of the best novels I have ever read. And also one of the better love stories I've stumbled upon. Of course it isn't just a love story; it's so much more, especially when considering it as a fictional experiment focused sociological possibilities, but still... the dynamic between Estraven and Ai certainly got to me. Then again, what have I been reading over these past months? Consider the contrast. Russian novels. Dark, dreary, and filled with sadomasochistic love, but dare I even call it love? Sadomasochistic lust. Who knows? It's really not for me to define.

My thesis is done. My novel is done and thank goodness for that. It was supposed to be a novella, no more than a hundred and thirty pages but when the employee and Kinko's presented me with a two-hundred page printed manuscript I almost fainted. Granted, I had spent a sleepless night on revisions and additions (still not satisfied, not one bit) but I never expected I'd break the two-hundred mark. It'll only get longer. Christine finished her thesis around the same time. One hundred pages of research and analysis on the function of music in Victorian literature. Not surprising, since she is also a violist in the music school here.

Saturday. We stoked a fire in the living room fireplace and threw our rough drafts in there to burn. And burn they did. And they burned pretty.

Note: I live in a house of thirty people. We split the chores, which has me cooking once a week. I'll be putting the success recipes here while the failures hit the trash can. Plus, for those of you who (like me) just like to throw things into a pot and let it cook...

Tuscan Pasta and Bean Soup (from allrecipes.com)

INGREDIENTS:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes
2 (14.5 ounce) cans chicken broth
1 (15 ounce) can kidney or pinto beans, undrained
2 teaspoons dried basil, crushed
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley*
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup dried small pasta shells or macaroni

DIRECTIONS:
1. Heat oil in large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion; cook 2 to 3 minutes or until tender. Stir in tomatoes, broth, beans, 1/3 cup water, basil, parsley and pepper. Bring to boil.
2. Add pasta; reduce heat to low. Cook, stirring occasionally, 12 to 15 minutes or until pasta is tender.

Note: I seem to have come upon a recipe I need to cook for tonight, and for the sake of not losing it. I'm putting it here. Though I do encourage cinnamon lovers to give it a try. Goes wonderfully with tea.

Cinnamon Bread

Batter
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup sugar
4 egg whites
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups white flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup water

Topping
8 Tablespoons sugar
2 Tablespoons cinnamon
1 Tablespoon vegetable oil

Mix the oil and sugar, stir in whipped egg whites, and add the rest (alternating the flour and water).

Mix lightly.

In a separate bowl, mix the topping ingredients together.

Pour 1/2 the batter into a lightly greased loaf pan (9 x 5 x 2 1/2).

Sprinkle over that 1/2 the topping.

Add the rest of the batter and then the rest of the topping.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 40 minutes.