"Friends say it's fine, friends say it's good."

Last Tuesday was a day off for Autumn Equinox, and since then the weather has definitely gotten that idea. It's been very crisp and bright, and everything smells like fall, even though not many leaves are changing color. It put me into a nostalgic mood - that's already gotten me into trouble.

They were selling mesh bags of fresh chestnuts in the market, so I bought one. I was hoping to roast them like they sell in Prague's Town Square or in front of Tokyo's Kabuki Theatre. Then I got extremely busy, and left them on a small shelf above my fridge.

I came home the other day and... there were fat white grubs scattered over my entire apartment. They squirmed a little but didn't crawl, luckily, which would have made it harder to catch them. Even so it took me hours to pick them all up with tissue - I didn't dare sweep in case they squished. Apparently when the chestnuts are on the tree they chew their way out, drop to the ground and burrow under earth until they grow up into weevils. Hitting my hard-wood floor must have been a little disorienting. I wasn't sure at first the chestnuts were at fault, I thought maybe they'd bred in my drain or something. But then when I stood very quietly I could hear a munching sound coming from the bag. It was rather horror-movie-esque.

Speaking of which, I had my first Japanese Cinema experience. I hadn't before because tickets are twice as much as they are in America, but a film called "20th Century Boys" is on. It's based on a manga by the author of my favorite series, "Monster." 20th Century wasn't quite as good as that one, but it was still fun.

I needed to do something to treat myself, after all. After I went to the doctor and was diagnosed with an ear infection, I finished up the antibiotics properly and was told I was cured. The next few days my ears still felt odd, plugged or something. I thought maybe it was just a lingering effect and would go away. Then it started to hurt again - thankfully not like the excruciating agony of the first night, but still distracting. I don't want to have another round of humiliating doctor visits and expensive medication, so I'm trying various home remedies. For instance, there's something called Xylitol that's supposed to help. Here it's in all sorts of gum but I guess it's not common in America? So I went to the store and bought a pack of every flavor. It seems to diminish the feeling but it's not totally eradicated yet. Ah well, I guess I'll keep chewing.

It's a fad here to write novels on your cell-phone, and send them to subscribers a hundred or so words at a time. They become insanely popular, and sometimes are published in book form or made into movies. They're usually light, simple romances, written and read voraciously by teenage girls. Sometimes, though, there's a writer who's a little different.