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Finished the Murakami book today. Read until I couldn't see last night. Probably read until nearly 2AM. Was a warm, muggy night. There was a sound like running water coming through the heater vents. Not sure what that was about.

The Murakami book, Kafka by the Shore, is another brilliant work. He makes it seem so effortless and simple, yet I feel compelled to read, read and read. Can't get enough of that Murakami stuff. Fanciful story and very allegorical with sprinkles of paranormal, mysterious icons, and his wild mixture of the profane and mundane.

Picked up one of the Soseki books (actually Soseki is the writer's first name--his name, or rather pseudonym, is Soseki Natsume) that has a story called Ten Nights of Dream. Very appropriate stuff given my fascination with my own dreams (of which I don't remember any from last night even though I know I had at least one). It seems that they invert the names in Japan and refer to him as Natsume Soseki. There's also a bar over the "o" but I can't seem to find the set of keystrokes that make that symbol. His actual name is Natsume Kin'nosuke or Kin'nosuke Natsume in normal (English) form.

Will write my impressions once I read some of his stories.

Went to chiropractor and Qigong class tonight. When I walked into the class there was this pot-bellied, elderly dude (meaning he looked a lot older than me) who was taking attendance (you can see where my mind was). I figured him for a rec center volunteer who was earning his senior badge for being helpful. Turns out he's a co-founder of a local, but internationally known, Qigong Institute. He's a PhD and has an impressive vita. So much for my first impressions detector. He's apparently researched and built up a database of Qigong papers that detail clinical results from the practice.

The institute has its own website and is local (run out of his house perhaps). Good lesson for me regarding my insular attention to myself and not reaching out to others.

Spent some time last night puzzling through the frequent flier maze on the Internet. Looks like I can book flights with my FF credits and start making some journeys before my credits expire. Just have to book out in time a bit to get the best deals.

Now that I've finished my Murakami marathon, I should try and get to sleep a bit earlier than last night tonight. If no other reason, so I can net my own dreams and not have Murakami's or Natsume's dreams overlay my productions. Seems only fair.

Tomorrow is another day--wake up early and out to play...