Current mood:	calm
Current music:	Bach - Cello Suite no. 5 in C Minor - Allemande

For every effect, there is a cause.
My father gave me a book for Christmas (as he often does), Voltaire's Candide. It's a rather slim volume, and highly tongue-in-cheek, but its implications are rather striking. I'm thoroughly enjoying the text, although I suspect I might have to do a second and third reading--I know my father is going to question me about it when I next see him and the levels in this book are rather complex.

Atobe-san, have you read this novel? If you have, perhaps we can discuss it sometime, maybe even over a game of chess? You still haven't seen the set Sengoku-kun made me! (Also, I want to show you what I did with your Christmas gift--it'll be quite an interesting heirloom to add to the family collection in later years, I just know.)

Either way, it's been a quiet week, and I'm actually rather pleased about it. So many things have happened this December that a little repose is most welcome. I've been using the time well, practicing my music or my tennis, or just sitting here thinking. I've taken up Shindo's story again as well. Vacation's almost over, and it'll be back to school again soon enough... and with the hectic end-of-the-year programs, quiet time will be slim in the coming.

Oh! Hiyoshi gave me a goban as a (belated?) Christmas present!

Of course, I have no idea how to play go, but apparently Hiyoshi has some skill; he's shown me the basics (and completely trounced me in the process), and I think I'll enjoy the game. If nothing else, I'm really flattered that Hiyoshi even gave me the goban, with the seeming intention of grooming me to be an opponent--I really think we're friends now.

I've bought a Bach CD. I had a few of his violin concertos on some other compilations, but this one is all Bach. Cello suites, of course. ... I will learn to appreciate this composer, really.

Speaking of that, Ryou came over on New Year's Eve. Hiyoshi had slipped away to visit the shrines alone, and Ryou and I remained in the dorms. He didn't want to go to any festivals, and I didn't feel like persuading him. I'm not sure if he enjoyed the trip to my home, or if he was scared off by my relatives, but he's been a little quiet since then. I hope he wasn't offset by my father...

Ach. It's getting late, and I want to see if Hiyoshi would like to play another game of go with me.