Despite the cuteness that I shared with you in the last post, my monitoring experience this afternoon has me convinced that children are lying, greedy, conniving bastards. There are no specifics. It was just one of those days.

I just got my third quarter grades back and am relieved to see that I can probably get away with a little slack fourth quarter. I've got a B in Japanese and a B+ in AP Art, but other than those two, I'm in safe A territory. The dip of the latter is probably just a scare tactic devised by Ms. Thomas to get me under pressure and inspired, so it'll probably go back to an A- if I exert enough effort during the final stretch. The comments on these things are good for my self-esteem. If I combine all my report card comments for third semester, I'm a challenged and brilliant anchor with two positive attitudes and an admirable sense of humor. Check it.

I'm excited. If they're not all sold out, I'm going to be buying myself a DS Lite and a couple of games this weekend. I'm definitely hoping to get New Super Mario Bros., but I also have an interest in Mario Kart DS and Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan! Here's my dilemma. I really want Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan!, but they've announced a sequel for mid-May. If you're not familiar with the game and are at all curious, here's a video of one of the harder levels. The tutorial video is a little easier to follow. (The first part is the original Japanese game, the second is from the North American version, Elite Beat Agents.) To play, you use the stylus on the touch screen and hit the circles when the shrinking ring reaches them. The title of the sequel is incredible. Are you ready to hear it? Really? Here it is: Moero! Nekketsu Rhythm Damashii: Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan 2. The comic-book-esque nature of the story lines will force me to read some Japanese and I will be familiarized with some Japanese pop music. Awesome!

If you've got an opinion either way, tell me if you think I should get the original and buy the sequel as well or if I should just get some self control and wait for May 17th to roll around. Knowing how DSs and DS games go in Tokyo, I might not be able to get it when it comes out, so maybe I should just get the original for posterity's sake.

I've also been told that Animal Crossing (known in Japan as Doubutsu no Mori) is also fantastic. Touch Panic looks like fun too. We'll see how this goes. Worst case scenario, all the DSs in Tokyo will still be sold out and I'll get hit by a bus while moping out of the store empty handed.

More exciting plans. I'm going to take a trip to Kyoto with Monica and Hinako for our four-day Golden Weekend. Hinae-nae's family has got a house there. Monica has never been and I have only seen the traditional, historical parts, so it should be an excellent experience.

Das ist all for now. If I stumble upon any other good lookin' games, I'll report again.