The end is nigh.

Thomas Hardy would constantly weave something called the 'pathetic fallacy' into his novels, which basically means whenever the likes of Tess were swooning, or dying of a broken heart (due to a POOR choice of men more often than not, and some intense religious morbidity) the weather would reflect this and be all hot and sweaty, or dark and gloomy. Now, i'm not implying that my own situation could ever be in the same league as a 19th Century Tragedy, (i'm dramatic, but not THAT dramatic), BUT. Things here are taking on a touch of pathos and it's all getting a little sad, and the weather is indeed showing a little pathetic fallacy. Rainy season this year brings with it torrential rainstorms that sometimes last for 24hours, with thunder and lightning, and this weekend, a typhoon. And with rainy season, comes the approaching leave of all those i've spent a year trotting around with, to be left on me tod, in Shimonosexy. Those leaving me are Stirling, my big, clumsy bear-like-brother, Leanne the disney princess and partner in crime on the hunt for techno, Marko, Marko the gem with his unique take on the world and voice of reason, and wonderful stories about life in Oxford with insane ex-girlfriends, and Jess the Ninja, who was training me up to be a shit hot scrabble player. (I'm fucked without her.) Emily also leaves soon, moving to Kokura, not far from here, but living on the next island, Kyushu. And this all happens in about 2 weeks. I'm still a bit in denial about it all actually, trying to pretend Stirling will always be living next door with his door permanently unlocked for anybody to walk in at any time of day. Leanne played her last gig at the club we always go to, and we all had a wistful night knowing it would be the last a lot of us would be together for a very long time.

She won't admit it, but I reckon Wakako will miss being molested in public by Stirling. However, she's agreed to be MY girlfriend when Stirling leaves, and I wouldn't dream of molesting her in public.

Me and my bro. He looks wasted. He usually is.

As you can see by this photo, he usually is.

Em has a new man in her life.

Aonghus. He is exotic, because he is Irish. In Emily's eyes, anyway.

As for me, I have my own fan. But he couldn't be here, so this was a substitute.