Oh, seriously? I've been reading that title wrong for what? five, six years now? It's Umibe no Kafuka, shore, not hamabe, beach. Helps to actually look at the kanji occasionally.

Next door's music as well as the tedium of peddling a balky machine for thirty minutes straight has the upside of reintroducing me to a bunch of CDs bought in the 90s and rarely listened to since. These include several boxed sets of Dance Music Through The Ages and Best of Bach, bought to drown out my neighbours at International Women's House in Heiwadai. When I came back here it was no longer necessary to drown out my neighbours and, since I prefer silence to anything when I'm studying or reading, silence is what I opted for. Also my bought-here boombox, though a lovely Sony made in Japan beastie, in relatively short order (6 years) became picky about what it would and would not recognize, and the boxed sets were first to go. This made me sad because I still listened to the opera ones. But now, Renaissance dance music is just fine for bicycling to, though it really is a bit monotone.

Balky bike machine is why I can't do anything else except bike. Stop paying attention to where my feet are and it sticks. Otherwise I might be biking for hours.

Cold and rainy again, and I realize that this year I won't be able to turn down the thermostat and go partake of someone else's heat for five or six hours a day. So I turn down the thermostat and layer up, starting with the insulated longjohns I've contemplated throwing out for several years now because long underwear is far too hot once you're inside any Canuck interior. Never throw anything away: you never know when the world will turn upside down and you'll need it again.