Stamped And Self-Addressed

Unfair Randomiser

Sun, 22 Apr 2012 18:29:55 -0400

I was just about to go to bed when I happened to check the first page of Danbooru, saw this and was like “Must translate!” First thing I’ve tried to translate for fun in a while, I may be quite rusty. But I really love this artist (Nakatani)’s work!

Last night I dreamed that I was wandering around a shopping centre in my hometown on new...

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 13:14:17 -0400

Last night I dreamed that I was wandering around a shopping centre in my hometown on new year’s eve. For some reason lots of people were wearing red. I ended up in a nightclub that doesn’t exist in that place in real life and ran into my friends. I recall saying something along the lines of “Why didn’t I get the memo about all the girls in our group dying their hair pink and blue?” Then someone asked me where I was tonight, when I replied “I’m physically here,” it turned out there was some kind of technology in existence that was like being in a chatroom but sent a hologram of yourself to an actual location. That said, one of my friends who was supposedly not there did pick me up and carry me over his shoulder at some point, so I’m not sure exactly how it worked.

The night wore on and eventually I left the club in the company of comedian Rich Hall, who was in a wheelchair for some reason. Instead of the town centre, though, we exited into a sleepy English village. Or so I thought! En route to Rich’s hall we were attacked by mischievous yōkai and rescued by a vampire who turned out to be Mr Hall’s uncle. As I got him home and bade him goodnight, Rich suddenly ran after me, asking if I was going to be alright. My reply?

“Yeah, of course, I was just doing a serious goodbye for dramatic effect. More importantly, why can you walk perfectly all of a sudden?! >.>”

Tonight I went out to dinner with my family. Just before leaving for the restaurant my mother told...

Sat, 17 Mar 2012 16:11:10 -0400

Tonight I went out to dinner with my family. Just before leaving for the restaurant my mother told me we wouldn’t be having a bottle of wine with this meal. I felt a pain like the first time I got told I was too old to have a kid’s meal. Do you know the feeling I mean, readers? Maybe I am an alcoholic after all…

I’m in my twenties, but sometimes something will happen that will make me feel like such an...

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 11:30:19 -0400

I’m in my twenties, but sometimes something will happen that will make me feel like such an old lady. The other day I picked up a flash drive someone had dropped outside of University. Inspecting it, I found no form of identification on the outside, so thought maybe I should check if it had any files on it that would give me a clue as to its owner. When I discovered, though, that it didn’t connect in a USB-kind of way, I got confused, flustered and ended up just leaving it where I found it.

Today I wrapped up my first paid translation job, woo! I must admit it felt strange to earn about as...

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 16:20:39 -0400

Today I wrapped up my first paid translation job, woo! I must admit it felt strange to earn about as much money as I usually do being bored/lazy/abused all day at the art gallery or museums that are my usual haunts for something that barely felt like work and didn’t take much longer than four hours in total. Also good to use Japanese in a way that wasn’t related to school (or everyday life like when I was living in Japan)… could this be a taste of the fabled “job satisfaction”?

When I was getting on the train this morning, I thought for a moment that someone had brought along...

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 14:10:19 -0400

When I was getting on the train this morning, I thought for a moment that someone had brought along a rice cooker! Then I looked more closely and realised it was a motorcycle helmet. Still, what was a person with a bike helmet doing on a train? You can’t take a motorbike on the train, so did they leave their bike behind? Or did they lose it and have to take the train instead? Or did they have a bike waiting for them at their destination? Sometimes life is full of mysteries.

During a recent conversation in which I was recounting some light flirtation with a coworker, the...

Wed, 07 Mar 2012 14:56:34 -0500

During a recent conversation in which I was recounting some light flirtation with a coworker, the friend to whom I was talking asked me what the coworker in question looked like. I replied “A bit like a horse, and also a bit like a frog. I mean that in a good way, though, she’s gorgeous.” Then earlier today when I was staring deeply into an attractive teacher’s eyes I found myself thinking “How would you describe the colour of those eyes…? They’re like… a swamp.” I wonder why I’m still single? >.<

Is it odd to dream about one of your followers even though you’ve never spoken to them or met...

Wed, 07 Mar 2012 14:52:32 -0500

Is it odd to dream about one of your followers even though you’ve never spoken to them or met them in real life? And that even though your subconscious seems to have forgotten their name and what they look like you still know who they are? It seems kinda weird to me.

These are a few of my favourite things.

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 03:30:23 -0500

These are a few of my favourite things.

I bloody hate when fucking ignorant people use buggering swear words to try to instill some arsing...

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 11:11:33 -0500

I bloody hate when fucking ignorant people use buggering swear words to try to instill some arsing passion into their bastardly statements in the whorish hope of making their scragging argument sound more pimholing valid.

"No matter how busy I am, I always go out once a week with my family. That’s because at those..."

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 15:04:46 -0500

“No matter how busy I am, I always go out once a week with my family. That’s because at those times, the smiles on everyone’s faces are genuine. When you see that, who cares about deadlines?”

- Hiroyuki Takei

Sometimes I wish I could stay awake while I’m asleep so I could be aware of what a relaxing...

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 13:14:55 -0500

Sometimes I wish I could stay awake while I’m asleep so I could be aware of what a relaxing sleep I’m having.

I’m so sick of seeing people regurgitating other people’s ideas since they lack any...

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 14:12:27 -0500

I’m so sick of seeing people regurgitating other people’s ideas since they lack any original thoughts of their own or are guilt-tripped into circulating it because they’re afraid of being seen as opposing the viewpoints those quotes and pictures express.

Reblog if you agree.

Below is a transcription of a presentation I had to give in class on Tuesday, for anyone who might...

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 16:39:21 -0500

Below is a transcription of a presentation I had to give in class on Tuesday, for anyone who might be interested (why you would be is beyond me). Also, if there’s any potential employers out there, look - I can write fairly coherently about vaguely important topics! (For English speakers, there’s a dessert in Japan called “Purin,” which originally comes from “Custard Pudding,” but I think we should just transliterate it as “Purin” rather than translate it as “Pudding” because it’s not a very good translation)

皆さん、こんにちは。日本のコンビニに入って、「プリン」という食べ物を見たことがありますね。最近よく目につくのは、プリンを「Pudding」と訳すことですが、このような翻訳が大丈夫でしょうか。時代と共に言葉の使い方を変える必要があるので、今日は「プリンをPurinにしよう」という立場から主張したいと思います。

私がプリンをPuddingに翻訳すべきではないと考える理由は三つあります。まず一つ目は、プリンがデザートの中の一種だけだからです。プリンは、元々フランスの「Crème Caramel」、他の言い方で「Custard Pudding]というデザートおもとに作られましたが、この名前を短くして、日本人に発音しやすくした結果、「プリン」になりました。カタカナで書いてあるし、元々「Pudding」から来たし、プリンと英訳するときに「Pudding」を使うのは当然だというのも一理あります。が、私はそういう考え方に賛成できません。皆さん、「Pudding」と言えば、何を想像するでしょうか。イギリスでは、アイスクリームを始め、チーズケーキ、スポッテドディック、クリスマスプディングのようなデザートの種類がたくさんあります。ですので、プリンを「Pudding」と訳したら、何を示しているかが明かではなく、翻訳として弱いではないでしょうか。

二つ目の理由は、プリンが外国のものだったのに、現在日本のものになってきたからです。というと、長年に渡って、日本人に合う味を出すために、日本の材料が使われるようになって、日本なりの作り方も出てきて、プリンが「Crème Caramel」と別の料理になったほど変えました。こういう風に考えてみると、日本製の外国料理ではなく、日本独自お菓子として認めたらどうでしょうか。「Purin」をそのままローマ字で書くことでこの価値を現せるように思います。

最後に、今のイギリス社会には、日本語の言葉がもはやいくつも入ってきました。過去と比べて、一般的なイギリス人の会話の中で、「侍」、「漫画」、「寿司」などの言葉が説明せずに使えるようになりました。イギリス人が日本文化をますます知っているによって、特別の日本語の言葉も英語の外来語になると言えます。「Purin」がその言葉の一つになったらどうでしょうか。この「Purin」という言葉一つしかないですが、少しでも日本文化に関する認識が認められ、イギリスと日本の文化交流を促進できるようになるかもしれません。

以上に言ったように、プリンを「Pudding」にしたら、三つの問題点があります。最初は、様々なデザートがあるので、はっきりではありません。次に、日本の味や作り方を認めていません。そして最後に、イギリスと日本の文化交流機会の一つが失います。ですから、皆さん、プリンをPurinにしましょう！これで私のスピーチを終わりたいと思います。ありがとうございました。

A hangover, instant noodles and Round the Horne, who could ask for more?

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 09:01:29 -0500

A hangover, instant noodles and Round the Horne, who could ask for more?

"My darling little baby, what will he grow up to be - The Prime Minister of England? Or the King of..."

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 08:07:49 -0500

“My darling little baby, what will he grow up to be -
The Prime Minister of England? Or the King of Italy?
I waited twenty years or more to see what he would be,
He’s now a dustman in Chiswick Town,
Oh deary deary me.”

- Spike Milligan

I thought I’d share this picture (artist...

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 03:58:24 -0500

I thought I’d share this picture (artist “katsuhiro”), because it happens to be the 1988th picture saved into my main folder of erotic images, and 1988 is the year I was born.

Sometimes fairy tea parties aren’t all they’re...

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 16:37:00 -0500

Sometimes fairy tea parties aren’t all they’re cracked up to be.

I took this while wandering around town early one morning....

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 13:24:00 -0500

I took this while wandering around town early one morning. I’d had an amazing night (which didn’t involve a bench and a bottle of JD) and went to work the next morning without going home in between. A nice reminder of a fun time.

Reason For Tears

Wed, 28 Dec 2011 11:58:30 -0500

Reason For Tears:

Today I have been mostly trying to translate this comic, Mari-Moko Namida no Riyuu, by Hime Haruka (yes, I am procrastinating against doing more serious work). I started ages back then got put off by the many tricky sound effects and expressions I understood but couldn’t think of good translations for. Hope someone enjoys this and thanks to the other translators who cleaned up my mistakes!