Friday, August 28, 2009

わかれうた - 中島みゆき

With the soon-to-be-passing of my cat, this song came to mind. It really does fit with how I feel:

途に倒れて だれかの名を
呼び続けたことが ありますか
人ごとに言うほど たそがれは
優しい人好しじゃ ありません

別れの気分に 味を占めて
あなたは 私の戸を叩いた
私は別れを 忘れたくて
あなたの眼を見ずに 戸を開けた

わかれはいつもついて来る 幸せの後ろをついて来る
それが私のクセなのか いつも目覚めれば独り

あなたは愁いを身につけて
うかれ街あたりで 名をあげる
眠れない私は つれづれに
わかれうた 今夜も 口ずさむ

だれが名付けたか 私には
別れうた唄いの 影がある
好きで別れ唄う 筈もない
他に知らないから 口ずさむ

恋の終わりは いつもいつも
立ち去る者だけが 美しい
残されて 戸惑う者たちは
追いかけて焦がれて 泣き狂う

わかれはいつもついて来る 幸せの後ろをついて来る
それが私のクセなのか いつも目覚めれば独り

あなたは愁いを身につけて
うかれ街あたりで 名をあげる
眠れない私は つれづれに
わかれうた 今夜も 口ずさむ

English translation

by Greg Sharp

Have you ever been lying in the street
Calling someone’s name over and over
Twilight, unlike in the stories
It is neither friendly nor charming

With the flavor of farewell
You knock on my door
Wanting to forget farewell
I open the door, without looking into your eyes

Farewell always comes
It comes right after happiness
Is it my habit?
Always waking up alone?

You wear your grief
Running around town, making yourself known
But me, sleepless and bored
I sing the farewell song again tonight

Who gave me this name?
The girl who sings the farewell song
It’s not like I sing farewell because I like it
I sing it because I don’t know any other song

Always, when love is over
The one who leaves is beautiful
The bewildered one who is left behind
Chases and yearns and cries and cries

Taken from here.

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Old Story: "The Kitsune-Ookami"

This is very old stuff I happened upon while looking through my website's archive. As far as I can tell, it's from when I was in late junior high, around six years ago. It does bring back memories, though. I'm a bit embarrassed to post it, but it's not as bad as it could be.

I am the wolf/fox hybrid. I was created in a lab accident by my guardian. I have been kept in a cage until recently. I broke out in a release of my rage in the form of demonic energy. Beware, for it may happen again. The darkness in my soul has settled, but it'll rise again.


It started off when I was eight. My parents had died recently, and I had be wandering about aimlessly. A kind old man had been sitting beneath a tree. Being as curious as I had been, I walked toward him. He looked at me and said, "Hello, young one. What brings you over here?"
I responded by saying, "I have nowhere to go. My parents died."
"Aww...you need someone to care for you."
I looked down, tears forming in my eyes.
"Well, I'll take you in."
I looked up at him and smiled weakly, "Okay."

He took me to his huge castle, which scared me. I put my hands over my eyes.
"Don't be afraid, young one."
I nodded lightly and entered.
We entered a long hall. A few of the things he showed me scared me. When we reached the end of the hall, he showed me a door. I pushed the door open, and saw a nice bedroom. There was a red velvet king size bed. There were also a lot of dressers about.
I said, wide-eyed, "Is this my room?"
He nodded lightly.
I ran with glee as I went to jump on the large bed...


The years passed by. I grew into a healthy, strong teenager. I learned by reading books from his large library. I later found his name to be Professor Motoko. It was all good, until one day...

I was walking along, still as curious as ever. I came across this big steel door, which I have never seen before. I tilted my head and walked toward it. When I grasped the black handle, it was oddly warm. I pushed the door inward, a loud, resounding creak occurring. When I walked in, I found it to be a long passage, with a bright light at the end. I walked toward the light, almost intrigued by it. When I reached it, I found it to be above. I looked up and found it to be a large bulb. I blinked, baffled. Turning my head downward again, I noticed a bright green light far off to the left. I walked toward it, only to find Professor Motoko working with some huge black thing. I looked at him.
"What's this thing?"
He looked at me with a crazy look in his eyes, "Oh no, you can't be here!"
I walked toward him. He jumped down and ran at me. I felt a blow to my right as I was knocked into a huge clear chamber with a huge metal band around it, a black cap on top, and wires coming out of it. He messed with a whole bunch of different things, running around the lab like mad. A chain was pulled, a switched was flipped, and a button was pushed.

A bright light enveloped me. A great pain cut through me like a knife. I winced, falling to my knees. The pain became greater as I fell to my side, passing out.


After much time, the blackness behind my eyelids became red. When I opened my eyes, the redness remained. I felt a great power within myself. I found myself growling, my eyes narrow. A great rage started to form, unprovoked. The power started to flow from my fingertips. As I looked at my body, the blue glow enveloped the entire thing. My fingers arched as long, metal claws came from my fingertips. I slowly moved my fingers individually, feeling a great desire to destroy. My eyes focused upon the containment chamber. I outstretched my arm, my claws extended. My arm trusted downward, shattering the side of the big case.

I walked forward, out of the clear prison. My eyes traced the surroundings as I continued to walk. As I got to the edge of the room, my newly formed fox-like ear twitched as a sound entered it. I turned around to find Motoko with a huge rod. He whacked it against me. My energy levels drained, my oversized body collapsing. I passed out.

My body twitched as I awoke, finding myself in a huge metal cage. I leaped upward, my head hitting the top. I charged at the side of the cage, my hands gripping the bars tightly. I managed to rattle it, but was unable to break it. The redness in my eyes grew deeper as my body heated up. The glow from my body turned white as I fell to my knees, my fingers curled lightly. My body trembled as the power overcame me. The red turned to white as everything faded.


When the white cleared, I found rubble surrounding me. My eyes narrowed as the natural light flooded inward. My feet paced forward across the wooden rubble, my balance unsteady. As I look downward, I found my feet to have gotten a lot smaller, as if they were paws. My eyes crossed, only to find a large nose residing upon my face. I looked to my hands, finding that they were similar as before, only covered in a dark orange and brown fur. The wind began to blow lightly, but instead of feeling it against my skin, I felt some waving. I look around at my body, finding it covered in fur with colors ranging from the dark orange to a deep brown with hints of silver. I began to pace again. As my feet went over a hard, round thing, I looked down. My eyes set upon the remains of Professor Motoko's skull. A deep growl resounded in my throat. I shook it off and continued to walk. My body turned to the path leading away from the castle as my feet paced forward.

I took one last look at the ruins through the corner of my eye, before snorting and facing away. My feet began to pace forward, away from the memories. My anger clouded my mind. My thoughts were:

"How could he ever do this to me?"
"Why would he be doing this?"
"Was I taken in to be an experiment?"

The anger never even touched on sadness. As I thought about this, I found myself walking upon all for limbs, my hands transformed into paws. I walked on all fours, as if it was natural.

A hunger formed in my stomach as I walked. I had a bizarre taste for blood. My pacing quickened, the hunger growing. My narrowed eyes shifted about, scanning the terrain for any signs of movement. They spied one bit of movement between the trees. My trot became a brisk walk, then a run as I followed the movement. My body dropped to the ground silently. I felt my legs instantly straighten, my body being forced through the air as I landed upon my prey, a large male deer. I sunk my elongated teeth into its neck, the blood entering my mouth. The taste made my vision tint a brighter red. As my teeth dug deeper, the spine of the neck snapped. The body of the deer went limp. My mouth pulled from its neck and lunged at the body. The fangs dug in as I pulled my mouth from the large body rapidly. The crimson fluid stained the pelt of the animal. As I tore at the body rapidly, more and more red tissue became exposed. Me mouth returned to its side as my teeth into it. I pulled out a mouthful and swallowed...

After several minutes of scouring the deer of its soft tissues, only the bone remained. The hunger had disappeared. A strong urge to rest formed within me. I paced toward a bush and around it. As to my amazement, a gray-furred creature rested behind it. I stepped towards it, sniffing the fur. I found the pheromones of a female being admitted by this creature. Seeing no reason not to, I laid my body beside hers, my side pressing to hers. My eyelids relaxed as my they slowly closed...


After what seemed for days, I felt pressure upon my muzzle. This pressure was odd, due to the fact moisture was left by the movement. My eyes opened slowly, the red tint gone. For once, I felt calm, relaxed. My first sight as my eyes opened, a large gray beast. I felt the urge to jump, yet it subsided as I smelled the pheramones I have noticed from before. My head slowly raised, becoming level with the grey, furry creature's. As my legs began to take my weight, lifting it slowly, the female slipped beneath me slowly, brushing against a tender spot. If I were to still be human, this would be a blushing moment. I looked to my opposite side, her slipping outwards from beneath me in that direction. She lightly touched her nose to mine. My eyes widened slightly as I felt her cold, wet nose against mine. I knew that she has become interested in me, yet I could see no reason why.

Thursday, July 30, 2009

HONEY - NANAMEUE ALL☆STARS

I came across this song while browsing the Vocaloid Wiki, and boy I was caught by surprise. It's no wonder it's popular outside of Japan: it's very upbeat, and manages to feature most of the Vocaloids (including fan-made) at least once.

It was painful getting the source encoding of the lyrics file correct, but here it is in Unicode for your enjoyment.


Honey くれたよね わたしに
愛のメロディ 今
心の中で 響いてる

Honey 君はなんでも お見通し
伝えたいの 私の気持ち

笑っても 泣いても
君といたい
心の距離をゼロにしたい

送るわね Honey
愛の言葉 顔文字たくさん使い
二人でヒミツしましょ 愛を感じていたい

君が呼ぶ Honey
甘い言葉 心のブログ更新し
幸せと 驚きで 飽きないの

ねえ わたしに 君 教えて



Honey くれたよね わたしに
愛のイヤホン 今
心の中で 使ってる

Honey 君の声しか 聴こえない
頭の中 ハートでいっぱい

喜びも 悲しみも
分かち合いたい
同じ気持ちを感じていたい

送るわね Honey
愛の言葉 顔文字たくさん使い
二人でヒミツしましょ 愛を感じていたい

君が呼ぶ Honey
甘い言葉 心のブログ更新し
幸せと 驚きで 飽きないの

ねえ わたしに 君 教えて

Friday, July 24, 2009

新世界 - 平原綾香

This song was in a dream I had last night. It's based on Dvorak's New World Symphony.

Find your way, no matter how hard it is.
Keep your feet on the ground and see what is waiting
the new world is there.

When I'm lost 青い 月明かり
夢の続き 探してた

出会い 別れ 夢やぶれて
すべてが 終わりのように見えた

どんな 自分を 生きればいい
どこまで 人を 信じればいい

きっと 心に 夜明けは来る
まだ 見えない未来の 向こうから

When I'm lost 遠い 道の先で
自分との決まりを 今 破る時

くるしいこころも そのままでいい
かなしいおもいも そのままでいい

それは 心 なおすことなく 手放すこと
いつだって きっと自分は 生まれ変われる

いのち 満ちる この地球(ふるさと)
誰もが 帰る 旅の果てに

新しい世界から何が見える
まだ知らない この私が微笑んでいる

どんな 自分でも 愛していたい
今起こる 何もかも 信じたいから

溢れ出す涙 夢を見せて
私だけに 出来る 何かが 必ずある

なつかしい大地を 強く踏みしめて
喜びも悲しみも受け入れてゆく

もう何も 迷わない そんな世界へ ゆけるはず
私は行く 新しい世界へ

Saturday, July 18, 2009

Central Link Grand Opening

Othello Station during testing, from Wikipedia.

Today marks the first day of the rest of Puget Sound's history: the opening of Sound Transit's Central Link, the first stage in the large-scale Link light rail network. I went for the ribbon cutting, since I always like firsts (search for "9:33 AM"). Note: while I do live in Bothell, I usually drive to Lynnwood on weekends.

I left early this morning via the first southbound 511, then transferred to a 7. I didn't know that they had shuttles for the occasion, but ran to a 97 shuttle to Mt. Baker Station. Note that the one I rode was a Metro DE60LF, not a Sound Transit bus. The shuttle driver missed the station, and had to turn around south of Columbia City station, and negotiate the small residential streets until we got back.

Now, I didn't actually have an inaugural ride ticket, since I had work at the time they were available, but I still managed to attend the ceremony behind the "public fence." Various people, including engineers and local activists and leaders gave their speeches. However, the most ceremonious act was when the mayor of Tukwila rode a Link train North and Greg Nickels rode another Link train South to Mt. Baker Station. They performed the ribbon cutting, then the inaugural riders, including the mayors, were allowed on the trains. To my surprise, I also managed to get a seat on the southbound inaugural train, which was a three-car train. There was plenty of seating.

The ride was quite smooth, with some great views and cool art. Everyone was very excited, and surprised at how comfortable the ride was. There's even A/C, which is likely what contributes to the most of noise that the Times was complaining about.

I rode from Mt. Baker, to Tukwila (the train turned around without forcing us to transfer at the end, which isn't normal service), back to Westlake Center, and lastly down to the International District. There was a lot of roundabout walking to transfer from northbound to southbound in the Tunnel, including exiting to the surface and re-entering.

I'm extremely excited to see what this new light rail line spurs. Who knows, I may be riding it from Lynnwood on my commute to Seattle!

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

YOU NEVER NEED ME - 中島みゆき

This song and this icon really suit my mood right now.

好きなものや欲しいものは次から次とあるけれど
必要なものというのは そんなに多くはない
私のことを憎からず思ってくれたのは事実
でも必要と思ったことなかったのも事実ね

もしあなたがいけなければ私は生きる甲斐がない
息をすることと同じくらいあなたが必要

雨に耳をすまして私は怯えていた
いつか雨のように愛がやんでしまう日のこと
風に耳をすまして私は願っていた
いつか風のように愛が戻ってくること

もしも私がいなくてもあなたは何も困らない
少し探してみることもなく すぐに忘れてゆく

You never need me You never need me
なぜ私ではなくて彼女でなければならないの
Need me You never need me
今から何をすれば必要と思ってくれるの
もう何もないの 何もないの

傷つけたくてはじめから私と出会うはずはない
そう信じてみるけれど 今はそれさえあやしい

私にくれた幸せは両手でも数えきれない
けれど失くした幸せはそれより多い

雨に耳をすまして私は怯えていた
いつか雨のように愛がやんでしまう日のこと
風に耳をすまして私は願っていた
いつか風のように愛が戻ってくること

もしも私がいなくてもあなたは何も困らない
少し探してみることもなく すぐに忘れてゆく

You never need me You never need me
なぜ私ではなくて彼女でなければならないの
Need me You never need me
今から何をすれば必要と思ってくれるの

You never need me You never need me
なぜ私ではなくて彼女でなければならないの
Need me Forever never need me
今から何をすれば必要と思ってくれるの
You never need me never need me never need me
Forever never need
You never need me
You……………

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Standard XHTML and Flash

With the status of standardization of web "technologies" in such a sad state, "Web 2.0" really doesn't mean much on the code side.


I've found something interesting regarding standardized Flash support: a way to include it in strict XHTML (not "transitional"). It involves creating a dummy Flash movie that loads the first one. I found it in this blog entry..

The XHTML code for the movie is as follows, assuming the movie we actually want to load is movie.swf:

<object type="application/x-shockwave-flash"
data="c.swf?path=movie.swf">
<param name="movie"
value="c.swf?path=movie.swf" />
</object>

c.swf is a fairly simple bit of ActionScript:

_root.loadMovie(_root.path,0);

According to the article, it loads the movie as expected and streams it. One caveat is that it won't operate properly if the browser doesn't support Flash. To fix that, something like this is necessary:

<object type="application/x-shockwave-flash
data="c.swf?path=movie.swf">
<param name="movie"
value="c.swf?path=movie.swf" />
<img src="noflash.gif" alt="" />
</object>

Of course, the img tag can be replaced with any "alternate" element to be displayed when there's no Flash support. Pretty cool.