ねこふんじゃた ~ Neko funjatta...

I must confess - I am a blog dilettante. I've retired a Xanga account (too many trollers), a half-hearted LiveJournal (too emo), and I'm too tired to edit strands of hypertext markup language (soo 1995). I used to write long before the days of popularized, dummified, pre-packaged web-logs (before they were known as 'blogs' - remember what Usenet and IRC #channels were like then? Ah, the mid-1990s... ) and online journals, but I have been impressed by the quality of some Blogger layouts. I've learned to put my faith in Google.

My parents were always sketchy on the details of how they came up with my Chinese name (羅慧英). It's probable my dad just liked the way it sounded, kinda like how they admired a certain female newsreporter of Chinese descent. The CEDICT dictionary gives me more fruitful results like the idiom "Discerning eyes can tell greatness from mediocrity" [慧眼識英雄 (wai6 ngaan5 sik1 ying1 hung4)] or the phrase "to enjoy the beauty of words" [含英咀華 (ham4 ying1 jeui2 wa4)] - even the term "heroine" [女英雄 (neui5 ying1 hung4)]. Seems almost poetic now.

'Satoai' (さとあい) is the closest japonification (japanisation? nihonising?) of my auxiliary Chinese name if I were to haphazardly tack the kun reading of my generational name [さとい (satoi)] with the on reading of my given name [えい (ei)]. I'm pretty sure name construction doesn't work that way in Japan, but I don’t exactly have a friendly oba-chan prodding me into correction.

As for the title, Neko funjatta, it's a Japanese ditty kids learn on the piano.

ねこふんじゃた　ねこふんじゃった
Neko funjata, Neko funjatta
I stepped on the cat, I stepped on the cat

ねこふんじゃったーら
Neko funjatta-ra
When I stepped on the cat

とびだした！
Tobidashita!
It leaped away!


It's known as the Flea Waltz in Europe, but the notation indicates it's not in 3/4 time. I suspect it's played in vivace with a slight ritard on the "-jatta". Damn, my sight reading sucks. :{

Wiki it: Der Flohwalzer