It’s been a little bit since the last update and a lot has been going on. I’ve started building lomohut locally that will accommodate more features and better utilization of the site. Of course the blog will still be the main feature, however to see all posts you will need a login and password to view them. I will write detailed instructions once I launch it. Some of the features I am playing with include a mobile blog so I can take photos on my phone and they will appear on the side. I am also playing around with the idea of having a Picture of the Day to force me to take more photos – but I am not sure about that quite yet.

I’ve finished the semester turning in my last paper a few days ago. I’ve also added a paper that I wrote on The Tale of Genji as a Moral Guide. It probably won’t make too much sense unless you have read the book if only because you need to be familiar with the characters of the tale.

I think it is probably time I get off the computer for a while and read for a bit. Today I continue reading “吾輩は猫である（上）” or “I am a Cat (Upper volume)”. The book is written by 夏目漱石 (Natsume Souseki) that I talked about previously. What makes this book interesting is that it is told entirely from the perspective of a cat.

One of the novelties of Japanese is the number of ways the language can refer to themselves. There are about 5 commonly used ways to refer to yourself in Japanese from formal to informal: 私　Watakushi (formal), 私　Watashi (regular), 私　Atashi (regular – female only), 僕 (a bit below regular perhaps – male only), オレ (informal – male only). You will notice that the first three all have the same character just different pronunciations.

If we look at the title of the book it uses a word not commonly used for “I” – 吾輩 (wagahai). The feeling of this word when used is kind of odd and doesn’t directly translate. It indeed translate as I but the speaker is demeaning the listener in a sense that when they use this word they look down on them at the same time.

Since I am on the subject of words for I in the Japanese language – another treasure that I haven’t been able to use yet 朕 (Chin (no not the thing below your teeth – Chin pronounced like the first syllable in cheese)). The reason I have yet to use this word is because it is reserved for the emperor and other royalty only. Oh the fun of the nuance of language – or rather the fun of translation.