$Adrian mentioned something similar.  I figured that that would be about
$200 American, which I'm given to understand is fairly high for a
low-mid range department store, the kind of place where teachers looking
to stretch their clothing budget might shop.

Yeah...that makes sense. The only thing is that the cost of living is
severely inflated in Japan, and luxuries are even more outrageously
expensive. A dress like the one you described would probably not retail for
less than 38000 yen, and would more likely go for upwards of 50000.

THAT was my problem with it. :)

     Everyone oohed, except Osaka, who had begun the delicate
task of the alternate solution to the Rubik's puzzle, which was
to take all the stickers off and paste them back on.

I wonder how many of us actually did that when we were kids...*raises

hand

guiltily*

$I did mine so much the sticky wore off and it didn't work anymore.

I got caught in the act because I got them back on crooked. (What? I was
like seven.)

     "Ah hah, I uh, I also got a copy of Counterstrike last
night and I was so busy playing it I forgot to do my homework,"

Saw THAT coming. XD

$Of course, it's Tomo.  I may not really know computer oriented humor,
but I definitely know the ins and outs of avoiding homework.

Heheh.

The only response I have to this is to hit up Google and do a search for
'taiyaki'. :P (Hint: Taiyaki is customarily filled with sweet bean paste,
and while the popularity of habanero in Japan IS growing, I don't think

it's

at the level yet where your average taiyaki-ya will make

habanero-flavored

taiyaki on demand...)

$Actually, I kinda thought Yomi would make her own, for exactly the same
reason.  Never made one, I'm not a big bean paste eater, but surely it
couldn't be so difficult Yomi would balk.

I guess that's plausible. I don't think we know anything about Yomi's
cooking skills from the canon. I guess the taiyaki mold for actually shaping
it is fairly inexpensive, because there ARE a lot of home recipes for it on
the web...

     "I know!" Tomo cried happily as she jumped in.  I know why
she's so upset!  She's mad cause I 0wn3d her last night!"

"In the ass! With a cactus!"

$I detest leetspeak, and I think its use for humor is getting staler and
staler, much like the 'in communist russia' shtick, but Tomo definitely
strikes me as the kind of person who would use it.  This is the only one
where she does, though.  No more.

Heh. Well, leetspeak is not played so much for humor anymore as it's
just...integrated itself into the colloquial lingo. Much like 90s ebonics
and AOL shorthands. (I have literally heard someone *say* 'LOL' offline. The
frightening thing is it didn't register as odd until about half an hour
later.)

But yeah, I can relate--even though I occasionally lapse into it myself,
there are times when l33t is just l4m3.

$Haven't you always wanted to do that?  Every time I see leetspeak being
used I want to scream 'You're raping my language!'

Heh. It used to really bug me, but I've adapted to it to the point where I
normally don't even notice it anymore. (Much like ebonics and Snoop Dogg.)

$This was ripped directly from a japanese commercial for some kind of
pocky I saw in the World's funniest commercials 2004 a few weeks ago.
My wife actually came up with the rest when I told her the idea.

Heh! I love Japanese commercials. My favorite one is the Polaroid commercial
with the guy who uses his camera to get even with a superior at work (I
think)...

$The weakness here is that many copy machines rescan the image before
every print, but more and more of them are getting sophisticated enough
to store the image in memory and print from there.  I felt no need to
elaborate in the story, though.

*nod* Most schools in Japan would probably have newer digital copiers with
actual onboard image memory as opposed to the godawful slow ones my high
school used to have.

$Eventually, perhaps.  Right now, he doesn't know it's Yukari, and
Yukari hasn't found out it was him who spread them around.  Did we ever
get a name for the student who stopped and helped her with her bike in
the first few strips?  I've got the idea that he's that guy, but I
couldn't find a name for him.

The only time we ever hear a name for any male student is when Yukari is
taking roll call, and calls the name of an "Ooyama-kun". I don't think we
even saw his face, though.

     "Ah."  Minamo digested this in silence for a moment, then,
improbably, her eyebrow rose higher.  "You were looking at the
stationary?"

*SNRK!*

$It's a miracle this one was worth reading at all.  I had to have a
teacher see them to bring them to the principal's attention, and Nyamo
seemed a logical choice, but until that last line popped out I had NO
idea for a punchline.

It definitely works. :)

Pity for Kaorin that she's just TAINTED her collection...

$Ouch.  Bad pun, Osaka might like that one.

^_^

     Immediately, a page full of Lupin related links popped up.
Tomo considered those for a moment, scanning for one that looked
the most interesting.  Official website, nah.  Voice actor bios,
nah.  Picture gallery, now that looked interesting.  Lupin
hentai....

I had a feeling that's where this was going.

$Yep, that's the cure.  Whenever I'm feeling down, nothing picks me up
quite like a page full of Lupin hentai.   ...kidding, of course.

Of course.

...after all, we all know Azumanga hentai is much, much better. ^_^

     A few more clicks later, Tomo went back to Google to
redefine her search parameters.

*snrk*

$I don't know otaku/fangirl humor any more than I know computer humor,
but maybe I'll muddle through something worth reading.

Well, the humor value of that last line really depends upon your individual
interpretation of it. Me being the perv I am, I read that as Tomo getting
more specific about what manner of hentai she was searching for. ^_^

Nice work, all around. :)

$Thanks.  Glad you enjoyed it.  This has been your bit of mindless,
entertaining fluff from me.

We can only hope!

==============================
"Capitalization is the difference between
 'I helped my uncle Jack off a horse' and
 'I helped my uncle jack off a horse'."
==============================
The Eternal Lost Lurker
(This space for rent)
www.lurkerdrome.com



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