Honeymoon with Anxiety

Scenes from a construction site

2011-08-02T23:53:00.002+09:00

Where that construction site is my house.

She is literally shaking. I picked her up and ended up covered in scratches (including one on my ear) and tons of cat hair on my new black Diru shirt.

We will have a bedroom door soon, like a normal home!

Surprised

2011-08-02T04:48:00.001+09:00

They really did include a live signature mini poster with the box set I bought. I know because they signed them too quickly and the ink smudged. So on the reverse side there is the imprint from the next card they stacked on top of it, before the ink dried.

But I am seriously impressed that they did care enough to actually sign it. Now I just have to figure out what to do with it. Maybe in 10 years it'll be worth some yen.

On the subject of whiny musicians

2011-07-30T06:09:00.003+09:00

Not bad - a little boozy tasting for me and (partially because I hadn't eaten all that much) I got wasted pretty fast on only a 375ml bottle. I did let it air out some though and it got much milder. Might buy again if I had no choice and really needed some sake to get my fix.

This week a band I very much enjoy is releasing their first album in two years. They are doing (as some Japanese bands are, e.g. X Japan) a blitz in the US as well to get more international attention. I actually preordered the album and because their international distributor did not learn from the Harry Potter snafus of 2007, has already sent out an album scheduled to be released August 3rd in Japan (the 2nd in the US) on Wednesday USPS Priority Mail. I should probably get it tomorrow (July 30th).

But, besides that snafu someone leaked a copy of the CD on bittorrent on Wednesday as well. I'm no stranger to the bittorrent or piracy in general - we go way back; I was pirating Photoshop back in 1996 (they really shouldn't let high school students have access to uncapped, unmonitored T1 lines). So of course the band, through their "recluse" leader released a statement about how sad they are that someone did this and thanking their "true fans" for waiting for the CD and not downloading it.

Naturally, I didn't even know it had been leaked until I read about it on facebook (and then on their Japanese twitter feed). I found it... not revealing where (because I value their services greatly) and you know... "thought" about downloading it. Not because I needed it - I'm getting it in the mail in the next couple of days; I paid for it - I even bought the deluxe package which includes the T-shirt and poster and LPs (what the fuck am I gonna do with those, I don't know) and random bullshit. I've paid through the nose for shows, T-shirts, DVDs, etc. But, I thought about downloading it simply because I could.

You know, the band is probably giddy as all fuck that this happened. You hear about albums of top bands, rap stars, pop singers, etc. being released early on BT and those albums are usually highly anticipated and by musicians where there is enough demand in the market for people to upload their stuff illegally and ahead of time. The fact that this happened to this band is very telling of the fact that they are at the point where people want to hear their music - highly eager - enough where you can get 1.5MB/sec down (on a shared T1 line) on BT from about 40+ seeds throughout the world also downloading or seeding this album (I heard about these stats from a friend of mine?) They can give a shit about this; their core, rabid (I've seen them en masse at concerts) fanbase has already preordered this album months ago and those who are on the fence about them might actually, as a result of this, realize they are pretty decent and may decide to patronize them (through concerts or CD purchases or whatever) in the future. I can say this for certain because I'm one of them (someone who was on the fence). It kinda made me physically ill to read all the "oh poor you" comments posted to facebook from fans about this "horrible" incident when, in all likelihood, the band probably could give a fuck - I doubt as they are sitting in their multi-yen homes, entertaining various groupies and drinking the good sake that they are worried about this. Likely it's Americans, Europeans and non-Japanese fans downloading it anyway - people who can't probably understand most of the lyrics anyway and are wondering what is up with this crazy Japanese hard rock.

And although I will give a full review when I receive the album - so far, I'm finding it to not be as strong as their previous works... I mean, my friend who downloaded it, isn't finding it to be as strong. My friend who also bought a $130 concert ticket to meet them and see their show in December.

[To the RIAA, MPAA, CIA, FBI and anyone else looking to find and sue me - I do not endorse, condone or no longer usually engage in music, movie or software piracy (I use Linux and don't watch TV anymore, which helps)]

Update 7/30: The band decided to sneak peak "stream" their album online; smart move.

今日の飲み物

2011-07-26T08:31:00.002+09:00

This sake wasn't bad, but it wasn't very good either. It was pretty run of the mill and I would not buy it again (especially since it was over $10). No hangover or headaches as a result of drinking a 375ml by myself, though so it gets at least one point.

Yesterday and today I went through my entire manga collection so I can finally organize it on my shelves. I have all or part of 35 series in Japanese or English or both. It would take me serious amounts of time to read all of these.

In the process, however, I also noticed series that I really just don't want anymore. If we ever did have a kid and stay in this place, we would have to do some serious book downsizing and get rid of some bookshelves. So on ebay right now I am selling whatever I have (most being complete sets) of the following: Bleach, W Juliet, Hana Kimi, Here is Greenwood, Mars (I own this one in Japanese) and Monster. That frees up a sizable chunk of bookshelf space right there (assuming someone in the world buys them). I am also trying to figure out how to get rid of some miscellaneous volumes of series I bought in Japan. I don't think I can donate them to the library and I am physically unable to throw away books. In recent memory, T and I have only thrown out two books - Rich Dad, Poor Dad (because this book is a fucking scam) and Dune - House Atreides (T says it was the worst thing he's probably ever read).

昨日の飲み物

2011-07-24T06:42:00.003+09:00

One of the best widely available sakes in America (got it at Whole Foods for about $25).

So this sake gets +1 in overall taste, +1 in the hangover test (i.e. after pretty much drinking the whole bottle by myself, how ill do I feel the next day), +1 in price (under $30), -.5 for being a little _too_ fruity, although it still went fine with my jerk chicken tenders. Overall, I'll buy it over and over again.

I am having a serious problem getting past all the bullshit puzzles and obstacles when trying to beat FFVIII. There is just way too much shit to do to get to the final boss and it isn't even fun or entertaining. It really is serious grinding, when I don't even need the level grinding anymore. All my characters are at 9999 HP (when junctioned) and Squall has maxed out at L100. I am thinking of just bypassing the last two mini bosses (and unlocking some abilities that are locked right now) and just beating this Ultimecia bitch so I can see the final cut scene. I have been "working" on finishing the game for about a week now, but after about an hour and frequently checking the walkthrough I get bored again and just decide to put it off until later. It is a bad sign when something that is supposed to serve as a diversion needs a diversion.

I have put the entire discography my top five bands, Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Tool, Radiohead and Dir en grey into a single Amarok playlist (cutting songs that I don't like, live versions, duplicates) and that produces 36+ hours of music. After listening to this for about a week off and on, I still 12 hours left. One thing I've been doing to make this seem semi-productive is taking five words in a Dir en grey (they have a lot of fucking songs since they have put out more albums than the other four bands) song that I don't know and adding it to the anki flash card deck that I have been studying from in preparation for the JLPT N3 (which I failed the first time after failing to study).

Dreams realized

2011-07-23T03:59:00.001+09:00

Sad dream, however, pretty stoked to have a Toto washlet again without having to live in Japan.

Sitting in the dark

2011-07-22T12:55:00.000+09:00

Penguins - just hanging out

So we are mostly settled in at this point in our new place. We get the honor and privilege of making our
first mortgage payment next week.

I also got the honor and privilege of meeting our upstairs neighbors on the best terms ever. Due to their improperly maintained shower, water leaked into our office closet. I don't know if I mentioned this before, but this exact same thing happened to the previous owners (of our unit and theirs) in 2009. Everyone had been told the issue was fixed at that time and it wouldn't happen again, etc., etc. so of course it happens three weeks after we move in. Now, we have to call out contractors to replace the drywall in our closet and repaint and whatever the hell else goes with that. This will be in conjunction (although not the same people) with the door installation which will be taking place soon. Until we get a bedroom door installed, when the boy goes to sleep I have to turn off the lights in the office (which also has no door) and I can't listen to music or anything. (He is very sensitive to light when sleeping, so I understand). At the old place, it was laid out in such a way that even if there were no doors, I could do stuff while he slept, but this place is designed weird. Weird bad, not weird good.

In awesome news - two things:

1) Bought ourselves a Toto washlet - for fear of flooding our bathroom, however, we are waiting for our handyman to come out and actually install the thing. It is sitting in the box on my couch, lamenting that it cannot warm and wash my ass just yet. The fact that people do not know the joys and wonders of having a washlet in their bathroom makes me weep for the future of this country. How Japan managed to surpass us by 20 years in bathroom technology is astounding. At some point we are going to look into getting the temperature gauge/control for the shower/bath. I really liked knowing that my shower was set at 40 degrees (C) and I didn't have to fuck around with the knobs trying to get it to that perfect location between freezing and scalding.

2) Dir en grey is coming to Chicago in December (and to a city likely near you as well). They actually sold, and I actually was enough of a fan girl to buy, VIP tickets which will allow me a chance to "meet and greet" (at least some of) the members of the band and I also get some premium swag like autographed posters and stuff. I was reminded that this is similar to when I did the penguin experience at Sea World. It probably isn't worth the money, but I can say I did it. I am paying for the "experience". I will actually do serious study in conversational Japanese in case I get the chance to use it (outside of just "Hajimemashite. Douzo yoroshiku.")

My only concern is that they other people who also bought these tickets are probably more fanatical than I and I may have many cringe inducing moments when I have to interact with them. I am reminded of the other Americans at the shows in Tokyo; I asked what other bands they listened to, and they looked at me as though I'd asked if there really was a rabbit making mochi on the moon. Also one had tattoos of the band name; you hear of "super fans" but you never think that you'd ever encounter one.

I am totally expecting these guys (the members of Dir en grey) to be complete and utter assholes. Like, not even remotely pleasant. I'll find out for sure in December.

Bachi case 1

2011-07-21T11:46:00.001+09:00

Almost complete, although I still haven't figured out how it will actually close. Any suggestions?

Move

2011-07-01T13:19:00.000+09:00

It was close to hell. I'll explain later.

To make myself feel better, I've listened to X-Japan's new single "Jade" on repeat for the last couple of days. It calms me.

Scenes from a move

2011-06-30T03:05:00.001+09:00

Maddie on her harness so she could scope things out for a few minutes.

She went into her carrier voluntarily. She's that freaked out by the four guys packing my shit.

Boxes everywhere! Movers have commented on how much stuff we have.

Joys of homeownership

2011-06-28T12:27:00.000+09:00

We closed today. Took a couple of hours for all the paperwork to be processed, many trees were slaughtered in the process, lots of money was moved rapidly around the state of Illinois and we received our keys. So within the next couple of weeks we need to:

*) Have the place thoroughly cleaned and carpets steamed (although they left the place in a good condition)
1) Recaulk the bathtub/shower area
2) Get curtains and solar shades
3) Put up a new shower head
4) Install my washlet (something I've patiently waited for since returning from the land o' washlets)
5) Install a bedroom door
6) Redesign the "TV hutch" area so that it is usable by someone with a real TV (two game systems and a laptop all hooked up to said TV)

At some point we will paint the place - in the meantime I will just use all the holes they already put in the walls to hang up my stuff.

I also have get the current place ready for the pack/move taking place Wednesday (basically throwing out things that we don't want moved, packing up loose items that would easily get lost when they pack, taking things out of the hard to reach cabinets, taking down pictures... essentially anything to make the pack go faster for them). So within the next 24 hours I will likely spend about an hour doing that, ten hours asleep, two hours surfing the internet and the rest of that time playing Final Fantasy VIII.

Concert last night was fun. I went with my Japanese tutor to spare the boy having to hang out with video game nerds at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, who despite having not played any of the games, enjoyed himself. My only gripe is that they translated one of the songs (Suteki da ne from FFX) with lyrics from Japanese to English, which did not flow very well and I did not particularly care for the vocalist. It was pretty entertaining however when the composer (Nobuo Uematsu) actually led the audience in "singing" the hallmark song One-Winged Angel (FFVII) as the encore piece. Overall, probably worth the $75 I spent.

すてきだね

2011-06-28T01:01:00.001+09:00

楽しみます！At the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

Final Fantasy XIII and Moving

2011-06-24T14:08:00.002+09:00

On Final Fantasy XIII:

Pros:
1) Better storyline than FF12
2) "Optima" AI system made things easier in terms of gameplay (although you heard me swearing a lot at the TV about how the characters were not doing what I wanted them to)
3) Feeling of accomplishment upon completion - I wish the boy was there to photograph me drinking my promotional "Final Fantasy XIII elixir" while watching the final cutscene after defeating the main boss (I even cried a little).

Cons:
1) To really play the game and actually win, you end up not ever using two of the characters. The first black FF character (Barrett in 7 is questionable) is absolutely useless once you have access to the other characters.
2) The game assumes you are going to continue playing once the storyline is complete. These people may exist. I am not one of them. I don't mind level grinding to get my characters hardcore, but making it so you can't get to the final area of character enhancement until after you beat the final boss is obnoxious. Basically you can't do anything really awesome until after you finish the story. I play FF for the story and characters - the gameplay is secondary.
3) I bought the Japanese release when it came out in Japan in December 2009 (about three months before the US). Then I bought the US walkthrough (because there was a... problem and the TV was destroyed while I was playing through it initially - I stopped playing and didn't start again until April of this year) and I noticed that they changed the names of the "roles" the different characters served between the Japanese and English editions. I don't mind translation - except when the Japanese version used ENGLISH FUCKING WORDS for the roles. In the Japanese edition it was "Attacker" (the English word written in katakana, but clearly the word attacker) and for some fuckedupdoesn'tmakesensewhatthefuckweretheythinking reason in the US version it is "Commando". They did that for all the roles. So, although the original version used English words to describe the roles, the translation decided they need to "translate" it as well; personally it made less sense. For me, attacker means some one who attacks. Commando means someone not wearing underwear.

The walkthrough helped a lot though. It explained the storyline (in a spoiler section) so that I knew the gist of what was going on and therefore didn't completely nod and smile during the very pretty cutscenes. I actually realized my listening comprehension has improved a lot.

So now that I have completed that I am playing Final Fantasy 8 now. The graphics are so bad (it was originally a Playstation 1 game) that I am playing it on the PSP since the smaller screen makes it look less shitty. Hard to go from a HD game to a 16-bit game, at least on an HD TV (which we got after the accident that destroyed the other TV). Once I've completed FF8, I will still have 5 additional FF games to play to have said that I've played all of the non-online main Final Fantasy games. Once I've played them all, I will be able to say officially that I am pretty lame for devoting over 720 hours to playing these games (each one takes on average about 60-80 hours to complete satisfactory)

Best part about finishing the game is two-fold:

1) It was a goal to finish before the Distant Worlds orchestra concert this Sunday
2) I can refocus on the whole "move" thing.

On the move/condo buying:

After making a very concerted effort to pack, I realized that I should leave it to the moving company who is more competent at such matters. Core competency theory FTW.

I did put in the wire transfer request to the bank, so that on Monday (our closing date) all our money will be where it always ends up - in the hands of someone else.

The good cat food

2011-06-16T02:42:00.000+09:00

This is Maddie:

Many of you have met her and know of her crazy antics or cuteness. I love her to death but one thing that she does on a semi regular basis that annoys me is throw up. Sometimes she'll even do that in direct human pathways as sort of a "fuck you" for something or another that we did to anger her.

From the early days we've tried to feed her good cat food - i.e. the expensive stuff that purports to be good. At first it was Science Diet and then the Natural Max Cat was the food of choice for awhile. After we moved to Japan and could no longer get the Max Cat, so we switched to Royal Canin. On all of these foods she has enjoyed being bulimic.

So now I'm trying to step up the game. I recently bought her Newman's Own Organic (turns out despite being expensive as hell, Royal Canin is actually shitty food) - $20 for a 4.5 lb bag, but all the ingredients are organic and apparently good or something. Has expensive ass cat food stopped the puking - of course not. When I finish off this bag (which should be relatively soon) I will try a different brand that I get at Whole Foods that claims to be good for her. We'll see what happens with that. New place has hardwood floors throughout (except our room, which we will correct when we get the cash (after throwing up a door, getting a washlet installed, maybe repainting, recaulking the bathtub)) so at least clean up will be easier. Krazy Kitten.

Yeah, we are still moving at the end of the month. No, I haven't done anything other than decide that I probably need a second box of boxes after seriously assessing our book collection. Since it is two weeks from today, I might even get around to doing things like canceling utilities or cleaning up. Don't hold me to that though.

As for the door - Home Depot doesn't do drywalling which apparently will be necessary in the door installation process. Since we'll probably have to have a couple of contractors take a look at this, we are waiting until after we move in to actually move forward. In the meantime, to keep naughty kitties from invading our room, we bought this. It seems to work alright, but we'll need a few to cover the door area as well as keeping a water bottle on hand in case she gets bold (or figures out how to get around it).

I'm going back to playing Final Fantasy now - life is boring me.

金曜日

2011-06-04T04:42:00.000+09:00

Here is one my favorite Maddie pictures

Back in law school, one her favorite places was on top of my law school laptop (pen-pen, RIP) because it was nice and warm and provided her with a place to lay on my desk. Being on my desk allows her to be near me, which she enjoys. This picture was actually taken mid-yawn, but she does make this face sometimes in a more hostile manner.

Fridays are pretty nice around here. I generally kinda just hang out and think of productive things I could do, but aren't. Tuesdays and Thursdays I work out at the gym, Mondays I see The People and Wednesdays I handle random things that occasionally come up. Right now, most of that being condo related bullshit.

One minor detail that has arisen (besides the bullshit with getting some doors thrown up) is that the condo association wants a "new resident information" form filled out. Most of the information is generally innocuous - profession, number of animals, where to send the association statements, etc. but then they throw in a question asking for both of our social security numbers and drivers license numbers. Neither of these pieces of information we feel comfortable disclosing, especially because it isn't clear who sees this stuff and what the hell they are going to do with it. So, currently the boy's idea is that we simply ignore filling out that particular document and send them everything else. Apparently we have to submit a seller's packet to the board as part of the closing documents on the 27th.

Ideas that we've had about getting around this little intrusion (besides just putting n/a) is to use pi (3.14...) and e (2.71...) for SSN and our Japanese alien registration card numbers for the licenses. If they don't ask about it, that means that they never needed the information to begin with and they are assholes, but if they did ask (because they tried to run our SSNs) then we would actually have to deal with that. I've put in an email to the other side asking if the board actually could do anything if we simply failed to fill it out and send it back. In other words, do they have any say whatsoever over the execution of the sale. Don't see anything in the rules and regulations or by laws on this issue. I could see if they were lending us a quarter million dollars or something, but giving them personal information just so they feel important is not something I'm about. Glad the boy is with me on this one (although he says that he will deal with questions that arise as a result of our defiance because I can be a bit difficult and annoying on these things).

Apparently there are psychopharms that do purportedly deal with psych meds and pregnancy. The People wasn't crazy after all.

Ennui to the nth Degree

2011-06-03T04:19:00.000+09:00

This is a very, very large dog.

Yesterday The People berated me about how I shouldn't have canceled my OB appointment because I need to start dealing with the medication/pregnancy issue at once. I understand the concern, but

1) we've actually done research about it and according to the ONE study done (that every other study or paper references) about Lamictal and pregnancy (which was a whole four pages) there really isn't much to suggest that there is even an issue; and

2) she thinks that there is somehow a magical psychopharmacologist and OB team that will be able to give me more information and guidance, which I seriously doubt based on my great experience with doctors over the last 10 or so years. I really don't think there are any psychopharms that actually care enough about pregnancy and psych meds that they specialize in it. In the city of Chicago.

Bless The People's heart, but although she's a board certified psychiatrist, she spent the majority of her long career (she is very old) doing psychotherapy work. So she actually doesn't know shit about the drugs side of treatment. She doesn't even profess to know. The only reason she is writing my scripts is because my psychopharm in Japan (I had one there that was an asshole, but really knew his shit) wrote an introductory letter explaining my medication history. I go to her though because I am seeing some value to therapy and talking through feelings and issues (and it helps that she can write scripts). For a long time I was dismissive of talk therapy, but I've warmed to it.

Therefore, although I am taking drugs under the care of a physician, she doesn't really understand it enough to guide and adjust. And she is totally adamantly against me taking meds during conception/pregnancy unless I'm under the care of an expert in this field. If said expert exists or not is a completely different story. This is simply one more thing that I really don't feel like dealing with and I wish would go away. Even the boy is comfortable with me continue my meds during pregnancy because the research is just not there to be telling either way. Since I'm stable on them, why fuck with it?

Another thing that I've been putting off, that I really need to deal with now, is that I had expressed interest in joining the board for a charter school. I even went to a meeting and everything. The more I thought about it, however, the more I realized that I don't care enough about their mission (which is admittedly pretty cool, but not really my thing) to be an effective board member. If someone asked me for money toward this endeavor, I would likely pass on it, in favor of other things. So now I have to write a simple, polite email stating that I don't think I can do this. By tonight, preferably (since that's when they are meeting). I'm feeling a little too unmotivated to do this. Hell, I'm not even motivated enough to play some video games, watch anime or read manga and those are things I theoretically enjoy doing. Maybe I'll just read some more fark.com.

Operation Danathom - Six months out

2011-06-02T04:38:00.000+09:00

Here is a picture of a black jaguar:

Tomorrow was an appointment to commence Operation Danathom: Dynasty (basically our plan to have kids). Although we aren't planning to start trying until December, pressure from both the boy and The People led me to make a "preconception appointment". Today as we were drafting questions to address at the appointment, I realized that it made no sense whatsoever to have an appointment this early. Many of the questions we have are in at least one of the three pregnancy related books we have and the only pressing question which related to one of my psych meds can wait until three months before we start trying. Much to the boy's chagrin, I canceled it and I'll rebook it in a few weeks when I can get an appointment for September.

Why are we waiting, you ask? Because of a study that has suggested that kids who are older in their class (i.e. born shortly after the school year starts) do better and are better treated by their teachers than the other kids. Some people dub it "redshirting" (although it is more technically holding your kid back on purpose than having a child that is born earlier in the school year) and although the boy (January) and I (April) seemed to do okay, academically, for ourselves, I guess if we can give the kid an edge, it doesn't hurt to shoot for a Jan-Mar conception. Granted, if we don't conceive in that window, we'll keep trying anyway, but it might be cool. I have no idea. Besides, that just means I can drink longer.

I tried to find a potential contractor via a couple of online websites, but so far, no dice. Looks like we might have to go with Home Depot after all (except keep a close eye on them). The boy thinks that I just got too frustrated with their apparently lack of competent thought, so he says he'll talk to them. One less set of assholes I have to deal with.

Moving... again

2011-06-01T15:00:00.000+09:00

Here is a picture of a panda eating bamboo:

So, for the third time in three years (but at least not to or from a foreign country) I have to successfully execute a move. You'd think I'd be a pro at this by now, but I actually have no fucking clue where to begin in actually getting everything that needs to be done taken care of. Hell, we're still buying shit over here and I just got a 35 pound box of old manga that I entrusted to a friend to take care of for me while I was in Tokyo. My desk looks like a disaster zone and there are things that I could have sworn I had on my desk (like a salt shaker) that I haven't seen in weeks. My computer currently has a 134 day uptime that I am very sad will be reset after the move (plus I might feel inclined to finally upgrade from Ubuntu 10.04 to 11.04)

The reason this move is more onerous is probably because we are actually buying a place. So, not only is it the logistics of moving, but also the logistics of making sure we have all the money to actually buy the place. To make matters slightly more annoying, the bedroom door to the new condo doesn't actually exist (don't ask me why, but apparently the condo was designed with no doors already on the bedrooms). The boy has a firm No Maddie in the Bedroom policy, so before we can move in we need to throw a door up to keep her out. We were gonna use Home Depot, but the people who work on the ordering and deploying of the installers did not invoke a sense of me believing they wouldn't fuck shit up. The same woman managed to tell us two different things within the course of a week. We're looking into other options - likely more expensive, but at least we know the right door might be installed at some point.

The one nice thing though is that the boy and I agreed that having people pack our shit for us is wicked awesome. So, we're packing the books and DVDs (because we have a lot of them and since we are paying by the hour, we can save a little time and money that way) and having the moving company pack the rest. The company we selected said that they could use the boxes we provided (which is cheaper than paying for their boxes at a nice markup) - so we buy some box kits on costco.com (go go gadget free delivery) and we're good to go. It will be especially nice for the first time to actually get our stuff on the same day as the move. We've moved from LA to SF, SF to Evanston, Evanston to Tokyo, Tokyo to Chicago, and all of these moves required that we wait at least a couple of days before we'd get to sleep on our own bed again.

I had a phone interview today. I should have boned up on the stock answer to greatest strength, weakness and what I would bring to their firm. I just made shit up on the fly, that was honest, but not necessarily the "right" answer. Out of all the job applications I've put in thus far since returning to the states, this is my first interview.

Mexico

2011-05-14T09:21:00.001+09:00

As close as I plan to ever go to Mexico. Chillin at an outlet mall by the Tijuana border.

Bit by an Emperor Penguin

2011-05-13T15:32:00.001+09:00

The past two days in San Diego have been fun (and expensive). We're staying at this resort style hotel near Sea World, which is a bit touch and go (walls are paper thin (and people are apparently getting laid), bathroom is a little old and decrepit and internet is spotty).

Wednesday, we ate at the Hash a Go Go place, then went off to San Diego Zoo to work of about an eighth of that caloric intake. That place is actually a lot nicer than I remember. I saw the three pandas who were having lunch at the time (will post video of a panda eating later), saw some elephants, took the little tour bus around the park and tried to avoid the groups of school kids and other entitled parents. Between the Zoo and Sea World, I realized that I really hate other people's kids. (Except for about five kids of people I'm friends with) Strangely I got a call from a headhunter while checking out the black Jaguar. I think I applied to some jobs during that call, we'll see what actually happens with that.

Thursday, we went to Sea World after eating at this place called Mission that is on a street bordered one both sides by water (ocean or bay, I have no idea). That was pretty nice - but we kept seeing people, barefoot, probably 10 year younger carrying surf boards. Living by Lake Michigan is not as happening as I want to believe. Birthday Girl and I walked from the hotel to Sea World (a nice 15-20 minute walk that helped us walk off some of the blackberry and banana pancakes that we split). We first went to see the penguins (during the dolphin show to avoid the crowds). Since it is Arctic fall, going into winter, the enclosure was pretty dim so you could see some of the 300 penguins but getting nice pictures of them was hard. It was at that time that we learned there was a Penguin Experience where you could go behind the scenes and hang out with them. (The website talks about the tour, but there is very little promotion of the tour especially in light of the more lucrative dolphin and whale interactions)

PSA: We were told it would be 90 minutes - in reality, it is only about 45. Granted, we got to see the Shamu show (which based on the 90 minute quote, we would have missed, but fuck Shamu, I want to hang out with some goddamn penguins) And to be quite honest, I probably still would have paid to do the tour even at 45 minutes; I just didn't like being lied to about the length of time.

Got some pictures of me petting the first penguin, but when we actually went up to the enclosure (at a balmy 25 degrees (F)) it was a little too dark (plus two of the people in our group did not understand the concept of moving so your companion can take pictures) to get pics petting the Emperor penguin hanging out there. We saw some penguins fighting, saw some baby penguins, asked some questions and I was able to say I was bitten by a penguin (bastard even drew blood even though I was wearing long sleeves at the time). I was told he may have been freaked about my watch.

The Shamu show was very... whorish and contrived. They tried to make show into sort bullshit story about how you should believe in yourself and other crap like that, when really all we want to see is how man has been able to conquer the killer whales and make the top predator of the sea do tricks for our amusement (except for the one who killed a few trainers). I don't need a story, I don't want inspiration, I don't want to hear more drivel about saving the environment, I just want to see a damn whale to a backflip and a 360 axle jump (and learn a little about how they pull that off). I have a feeling most of the other people, kids included, also didn't care about dreams and other "thematic" shit either. (Although it did manage to sell some DVDs and the stupid necklace that was worn by the actor in the story (who had a dream to hang out with whales or something))

To make matters probably worse, one "lucky" child from the audience got to go up and kinda pet and play with Shamu a bit. I would think that would make the other children (and some of the adults) in the audience pretty upset that their kid (or themselves) weren't picked to do it. I was more pissed at the kid - but I'm a terrible adult.

So, overall, San Diego Zoo is a lot more fun and educational and overall more pleasant (the pathways through Sea World were explicitly planned out to extort money at every turn) to visit than Sea World. Sea World is a theme park admittedly, but it was more like a county fair but with animals. (They really had carny games and rides and things that you would expect at a lame amusement park) Although, you did get to get up close to the dolphin training tank (watched a dolphin play football with himself) and do the penguin experience, the overall experience of Sea World and their clear commercial drive (over the conservation and education research that they are doing) turned me off to the place.

Everything that is wrong with America

2011-05-12T03:05:00.000+09:00

At Hash A Go Go in San Diego. I ordered a regular maple and banana pancake. This pancake is literally more than a foot wide.

All the stereotypes about Americans being gluttonous and wasteful are epitomized by this restaurant. I'm about to throw out enough food to feed a family of six.

2011-05-11T12:44:00.001+09:00

Nice to be back in LA. I missed the nice haze that blankets the city and I broke my seven month cheeseburger fast after finding the next best burger to Eat.

On recurring headaches

2011-05-08T09:29:00.000+09:00

For about the last month, I've been having recurring headaches. Often accompanied by nausea, dizziness, crankiness and other not so pleasant side effects. At first, I thought it was stress - we were still shopping for the condo. Then I thought it was a sinus infection - 10 days of antibiotics later, no dice. Today maybe I think it is eye strain, so for once in about two weeks (except when I watch anime on the TV which requires me to read subtitles) I'm actually wearing my glasses. This doesn't seem to help either. There were also the new medications, hunger and alcohol hypothesis. Since neither Aleve, nor even Vicodin, seem to really help all that much, I've just started sleeping. A lot. Everytime my head hurts and I don't have anything pressing to do, I put on my trusty eye mask and go back to bed. Occasionally I'll throw on a cold pack for good measure.

On Tuesday, about nine hours before I fly to LA, I have a MRI scheduled. I really, really didn't want it to have to come to this though - last time I had an MRI on my shoulder, my copay on it was $700. For $700 they didn't find anything amiss either. I'm looking forward to shelling out another few hundred dollars for them to likely not find anything and shelling even more in copays to keep playing the guessing game with my doctor. As scary as it might be, I hope they find a tumor or something, just to make it worth it. Then again, that might mean I'm about to die soon.

Later I will report about the "At the Bar" event I attended recently at The Drawing Room. That place really makes eating and drinking out a lot less enjoyable - after eating high quality food and drinking handcrafted, inventive cocktails, all other dining establishments (with the exception of a few really high quality places like Henri or The Aviary) are shit. I've become so pretentious...

On Japanese music

2011-05-05T08:47:00.000+09:00

I'm a pretty big fan of hard rock/grunge music. Have been since 1992. Since I don't have a radio or TV, though, after about senior year of high school I didn't even know who was making music anymore. I ended up establishing a de facto rule that if the band wasn't around in '94 I'm probably not going to listen to it.

That held true until about the time we were planning to move to Japan. As part of our immersion experiment, the boy and I tried to listen to only Japanese language music (him: hip-hop, me: hard rock). Suddenly I was thrusted into music that came out after 2000 by bands that weren't around when I was still wearing all black and flannel shirts (you know - the good old days).

First there was The Blue Hearts. I wanted the movie Linda Linda Linda and got a big kick out of the music in the movie, so I started listening to what they had out. It is punk, but more toward the pop side than the grunge side. Good driving music actually. When I totaled my car a couple of years ago, I was actually listening to their first disc (oddly, even after the accident, since the electrical system still worked, the CD player was still going)

Then I moved on to X Japan (although I am not sure how I found out about them). They actually were making music back in the day, but since it is rare that a Japanese musician can break into the US market, naturally I'd never heard of them. They actually were early pioneers in the Visual Kei music scene in Japan - basically think Kiss only probably even more flamboyant. They broke up for awhile around '96 and reunited recently. I was actually really stoked that I moved back to the states just in time to see them in Chicago for their first ever US tour. Really good show - looking forward to their return this year (hopefully).

Then, I found that the head of X Japan (Yoshiki, who I would consider becoming a groupie for (if I was still single and under 30)) was the producer of a band called Dir en Grey - this band quickly became one of the top five bands in my music world (along with Radiohead, Tool, Nirvana and Alice in Chains) I even saw them live four times during the 18 months I lived in Japan.

Apparently there was a band in the same mold as Dir en Grey called The GazettE who I heard about from my taiko sensei in Japan (remember Hot Sensei?) - got into them upon my return to the States. From Twitter I discovered Sadie - which is a relatively new band, but has some potential. (Also, I discovered L'arc en Ciel, Arashi and Orange Range, but that is pop music and I'm not big on pop music - might ruin my street cred in the hard rock/grunge circle to admit that I have a few J-Pop songs on my iPhone)

The interesting part is that a few of the members of these bands actually have Twitter accounts so as part of my daily Japanese lessons, I sit there and try to translate what the messages are saying. Sometimes, I understand the text, but the emoticons confuse the hell out of me.

楽しい日

2011-05-02T05:51:00.000+09:00

When I was kid, my mom used to take us to a Baptist church (and not even the fun kind that sings and dances; it was the boring kind that spent more time being pissed off and prevent others from having fun). So on Sunday mornings, at what seemed to be the buttcrack of dawn, we had to get up, take a shower, get dressed and then sit and listen to bullshit for two-three hours.

Easter Sunday 1996 was the last time I went to a church for the purpose of "worshipping". Since then I've been to a church (not as a tourist) in July 1998 for my grandmother's funeral and 2007 for a friend's wedding. I will have to go this August for another friend's wedding. Saying that I don't do organized religion is probably an understatement - I feel sometimes that I was in a cult.

So, Sundays used to be my "first one to wake me up, dies" day but recently I look forward to waking up before noon on Sundays. First, for two hours I have my Japanese tutoring session with a very skilled tutor living in the area. Then I get to go to taiko practice for another couple of hours.

I really got into taiko after seeing a performance at a festival in Shizuoka during my first visit to Japan. When we moved there, through a mutual acquaintance, I was able to join a school and actually learn how to play. Continuing my taiko practice did factor into my decision to hang out for an extra few months after the boy returned to Chicago. I was able to find a group of some pretty cool people when I moved back though - at first I felt a little out of place, but I'm slowly starting to feel less like an outsider and more like part of the group.

Practice was rescheduled to Tuesday though, so now I'm just hanging out trying to figure out what to do with myself.

Second dinner

2011-04-30T11:36:00.002+09:00

In my defense, I worked out today.

On Aviary, bathrooms and inspections

2011-04-30T07:18:00.003+09:00

On Aviary

Yesterday the boy came home and in a fake foreign accent said that he was the commander and that although the battlefield was cold and drizzly, we should venture out onto the battlefield in the pursuit of the ultimate victory - getting into The Aviary.

The Aviary is a cocktail bar that recently opened (last Saturday, in fact) in the River North area of Chicago. It was already considered the best cocktail bar in Chicago, before it even opened. Right now it is arguably the best cocktail bar in the United States - it blows away anything New York has to offer (actually, Chicago probably has two, maybe three, of the best cocktail bars in the United States) The boy has been anticipating the opening for weeks - so we decided to try to get in opening night. We showed up at 6:15 (15 minutes after it opened) and there was already a 100 person deep line. People waited for over 4 hours to get in opening night. So, we were like, fuck this shit and we walked back home (for a 5 mile round trip walk).

Last night, however, we tried again and we got in easily (waited maybe five minutes). It was... what heaven is probably going to be like. They had "bites" which were literally, one bite appetizers. The potato thing was what happiness and joy taste like. The drinks were really creative and pretty good. I did get the In the Rocks drink which is an old fashioned served in an ice ball that has to be opened tableside. We each got about three drinks, had some niblins and then realized we paid $225 for the experience. The nice thing though is that tip is already included in the price, so you don't have to tip on top of the bill (which based on the level of service would have been 20-25% additional) so we were stoked about that. At some point, later, I'll post my tasting notes (yes, I took notes during the night)

On Bathrooms

Last night, while at the Aviary, I went to the bathroom. Why is it, that even the most high end restaurants still have sub par bathrooms? In Japan (I swear this is my catchphrase), the bathrooms at the nice places were off the chain (one had a fountain sink setup). First of all, they (and most other places including homes, train stations, etc.) had Toto toilets with washlets. Why we don't have these everywhere in America is beyond me. We had one in our apartment in NakaMeg and quite honestly I don't know how I lived without one.

No seriously - this toilet was a mini command center, including a clock, heated seats, warm water sprays... hell, some cars aren't even this nice. Also, this toilet never clogged. Never. Our toilets here clog out of spite at least once every couple of weeks. When we moved back we actually asked if we could have an outlet installed next to the toilet so we could put in a washlet. What sold us, among other things, on the new place is that there is an outlet next to the toilet. I plan on buying my washlet on the closing day.

On Inspections

We had our condo inspection today. Basically it was me trying to make small talk with the seller's agent, while the inspector ran around and inspected stuff. I started to feel a little bad for the sellers because we are basically getting their place for a song. They apparently are upside down on the mortgage. But in terms of upgrades and their parking space, they did a really nice job on their selections - which now they might regret since it didn't really help the overall resale value.

I did feel a little voyeuristic going through their closets and cabinets and stuff. I have to check out the place, but with all their stuff there (this is their "in town" place, so they actually don't live there or even spend much time there - hence why they wanted to get out) it was a little weird. The parking spot the selected was also choice - don't have to worry about any weather elements because it isn't near the part facing the outside and you can pull right in and back straight out. Hopefully it'll be easy to rent out.

There was only one issue regarding a leak that left some cosmetic damage (although we want to be assured that the leak won't happen again and the problem was fixed), but other than that it was solid. We were a tad worried because due to the fact that the sellers are rarely at the place, there could have been some issues that had been long festering unnoticed (mold or bad plumbing) but I would like to give a shout out to Randy Creamer at National Property Inspections - awesome guy.

We also just got an email from Redfin telling us how much our rebate is - getting the buyer's agent commission (less $6K) is an awesome incentive to choose them.

初めて

2011-04-29T08:10:00.002+09:00

This is the first time since we bought this cat tree that she's sleeping on it. Maybe she likes the view.

Doing what she does best

2011-04-29T04:22:00.002+09:00

On being without wheels...

2011-04-29T04:19:00.000+09:00

So, much to my surprise, we got the executed purchase agreement for the condo this morning. Just as I was about to leave to go present my GAL report to the court, I get the message - including the directions about how we had to deliver an earnest money check to the seller's agent. Which is about 6 miles away. And we have no car.

With gas being as expensive as it is and the last time I drove I totaled the car (two years ago now), I don't miss car ownership... much. The Cali side of me misses driving - the road rage, the bad sing a longs I would do to whatever CD was most accessible (and mine), the need for speed, etc. But overall it is for the best. Instead, however it is all walking and public transportation, including cabs.

On Walking: Walking is pretty sweet, depending on the weather and how far it is. If the weather is good enough I don't mind walking a couple of miles easy to get places. If the weather is shitty (like it is for at least a 1/4 of the year), I just don't leave the house unless absolutely necessary.

On Cabs: When I was kid... well, actually up until a couple of years ago, I hated cabs. Despised them, even. Smelled bad, the drivers could be assholes (or worse, talkative) and I always felt like I was overpaying (fucking tip...) Now, I've become more at peace with them, especially since Chicago has fairly tough rules regarding cab driver conduct and accepting credit cards are required. Only problem is that if I want to go further than the temple I have my taiko practices at, it can get really expensive really fast. Worst yet, it is impossible to find a cab home without the Taxi Magic iPhone application (FSM bless that application).

On Buses: Then there are buses - when I was a kid... well, up until the age of 18, my family didn't own, couldn't afford to own, a car. Walking, buses and trains were all I knew. My friend's parents would have to pick me up/drop me off to go play with them. Childhood kinda sucked, overall (although my sister, who is now a social worker, always tells me that it could have been a lot fucking worse) But, back to buses - rode them a lot. I hate them and once I got a car in college I vowed to never ride one again unless absolutely necessary. Especially in Chicago. I had to break my 12 year streak at the beginning of this month though because, for this GAL volunteer thing, I had to visit these people on the south side of Chicago. Easiest way to get there (other than paying $40 round trip for a cab) was to take the #12 Roosevelt bus. Riding that reminded me that I still hate the bus. Riding that bus reminds me of a couple of problems with Chicago - 1) the voluntary segregation, 2) most of the city is a shithole.

On Trains: I like trains a lot. I seriously, seriously miss the Tokyo transit system. You can get just about anywhere using just the trains. The train system there is similar to the freeway system in LA - it is almost impossible to not live, work, shop near at least one train line (my home stop, Naka-Meguro had two lines running through it) They were expensive, but totally worth it. I did ride the bus there a couple of times with some friends, but those were more for novelty than necessity. A lot of train stations in Tokyo were also mini malls. Tokyo Station is basically inside a huge shopping center, Ikebukuro station is anchored by two of the largest department stores in Japan, there is a Beard Papa's in the Shibuya station (and yes, they really are the world's best cream puff). One drawback though is that a lot of the stations, especially in Tokyo, usually had a shitton of exits - when going somewhere it wasn't enough to know which station; you needed to know which station and which exit, else you exit the train station a good mile away from where you needed to be.

But, enough about Tokyo's system. Chicago has a decent, albeit seriously lacking, system. The coverage isn't that great and if it isn't rush hour, you can be waiting awhile for a train. On Sundays, when I go to taiko practice, even though the place is about 10 minutes, driving, from my place, it takes at least 45 minutes by train. (5-10 minutes to walk to the station, 5-10 minutes waiting, 30 minutes to go the whole five miles north) At least, it is better than taking the bus.

Adventure: Today I had to take the bus to drop off this check. It was actually a good bus ride though. It was a semi-express that runs along the lakefront from downtown into Hyde Park (where this place was). The whole trip took 40 minutes round trip, didn't have to wait long and it wasn't the ghettomobile (like the #12 Roosevelt) I was actually shocked a little. My feet are killing me though because I went to this place directly from the Circuit Court of Illinois, where I had to show up in a suit and heels to stand there for 10 minutes and say "yeah, dude is disabled and needs a guardian" and then walk to the bus stop, walk from the bus stop to the seller's agent's office, walk back to the bus stop and then walk home because the bus let me off a good 1/2 mile from my house.

We are getting a parking space with condo (that we will rent out to cover the taxes and assessments) - if it wouldn't cost so much money for car payments (we would have to buy a car), insurance (totaling a car probably didn't help my rates), maintenance ($4.5 for unleaded!??!) I might lobby the boy to let me finally get my Maserati Quattro.

Not dead...

2011-04-28T07:49:00.000+09:00

So, I haven't posted in awhile. It isn't because I have a job or do something productive during the day. Just the opposite, I became too lazy to even write a brief how am I doing.

So in the last oh... three months:

1) Started doing legal volunteer work - or at least I signed up to. I did a pro se divorce clinic on Monday and tomorrow I am scheduled to appear in court to give my guardian ad litem report on whether or not this guy should be declared disabled and someone else appointed to make decisions on his behalf. I finally wrote the report yesterday, proofed it today and dropped off a "courtesy copy" to the court. Now I have to get into my suit and go to the courthouse tomorrow.

2) Joined a gym in March and now I have a personal trainer once again. Not that I've lost any weight or fit into my jeans any better, but at least I feel like I am getting in shape. I'm still eating the Bistro, MD food (when the boy and I aren't going out to dinner or when I don't wake up until 2PM)

3) The boy and I decided to buy a condo. They increased our rent 8% (which based on what it currently is, is not an insignificant amount of money) so we decided to delve into the realm of home owning. After flipping out for about two weeks, we finally made a formal offer based on informal negotiations yesterday and now we are waiting for the countersigned acceptance letter. I am starting to get a little worried though, because usually the seller was getting back to us within 12 hours, but now it's been a day since we sent them over the offer, based on the terms we agreed upon. I hope they didn't fuck us and use that offer to get a better deal from a more desperate buyer. At the end of the day we paid 93.75% of the asking price.

The sad part about this whole thing is that due to our very strict criteria (had to be within 1/2 mile of the boy's workplace, had to have a lakefront view, over 1100 sq. ft., two bedrooms, two bathrooms (yes... my cat does indeed have her own bathroom), be in a building with a doorman... essentially it had to be the condo version of the apartment we are living in now. After looking at all the places in the area, with these criteria, in the price range we wanted, there were TWO condos. Both in the same building. At least it made the whole shopping process a lot easier.

4) My cat is still adorable.

diet food

2011-01-28T06:40:00.000+09:00

I actually was excited to get my box of food today (and quite cross that I didn't get it yesterday). I'm starting to think that bistromd does nothing for weight loss and is just a clever ruse to sell (very good) frozen meals for more money. I've reviewed my menu for the week - pretty good stuff.

Going to Oregon next week for a birthday party. I seem to travel only for birthdays now (first Spain, now Oregon). I wish my friends would move here so I wouldn't have to be on a plane for hours to go.

too much food

2011-01-27T04:01:00.001+09:00

Since I am a chronic meal skipper (what is this "breakfast" meal you speak of?) this bistromd.com diet has actually led to me gaining a little weight in the first week. There is a lot of food to eat - breakfast, lunch, dinner and two snacks. It doesn't sound like much, but considering I'm usually only awake for about 12 hours a day, this means I am eating every couple of hours. It feels like I am eating way too much, even though the calorie content isn't probably more than 1200 total a day. The food is pretty good though. I actually like what I'm eating and it is awesome not having to think about where my next meal is coming from. So far, for the convenience alone, this is a good deal. Hopefully I lose weight sometime in the process - I have 19 pounds to lose to win my bet and at least 15 pounds to get back in the "normal" BMI range.

Quote of the day

2011-01-23T03:01:00.001+09:00

When my husband returned home from work last night he told me that "outside hurts". I'm not sure about this staying in Chicago long term plan, anymore.

Entertainment News (with lots of links for your perusal)

2011-01-22T09:11:00.000+09:00

In entertainment news, I have started listening to the band The GazettE (yes, that is how it is spelled) which is in a similar genre to my favorite band, Dir en Grey. So far I am finding their music pretty good. Now that I don't drive long distances or in a position where I can just focus on the music, getting into new artists is a little more difficult. But so far they seem worth my time.

I have also started listening to the J-Pop bishounen (beautiful boys) group, Arashi. I have a little (well, big) crush on Jun Matsumoto (or MatsuJun), so I have decided to humor myself and listen to their music. The interesting thing, however, is that in Japan, the five members of Arashi aren't simply boy band members. They are idols - they act, host radio/TV shows (including a game show that was all about people coming on the show and competing against the members of Arashi in different obstacles), model, promote products and probably a bunch more other stuff. Right now I am watching a drama which has a member of the band in it. Personally, these guys are way better actors than singers. MatsuJun is actually a very good actor; I thought he was just eye candy, but I was surprised that he could actually act.

The scary part though is that there are a few other bands that are similar - the members are actually just Idols that do everything. This is actually a fairly common product put out by agencies in Japan. It is not uncommon to watch dramas where the lead male actor is one of these Idols.

If you thought N'Sync or New Kids on the Block were bad, imagine the guys not only on MTV with shitty music getting Artist of the Year awards, but also Best Actor in a drama series awards - multiple years in a row.

New Me?

2011-01-22T08:45:00.000+09:00

No, not really, but I've started a new diet and I have been a bit more productive this week.

I signed up for bistromd.com which sends low calorie, diet friendly frozen meals to your house each week. So basically I signed up to get five days worth of breakfast, lunch and dinner frozen meals. Today is the second day and of the four meals I've eaten I thought three of the four were pretty outstanding considering. It is quite palatable so I think I will keep ordering. It is extremely helpful actually because I realized that I don't eat most of the day and then I have a big, high calorie, not good for me meal. I basically kept taking my body into starvation mode so basically when I did eat it just made me gain weight. Doesn't help that I am no longer walking around a lot too, like I was in Tokyo. It is 2 degrees outside and has been all week; I'm not leaving the house unless absolutely necessary. I'm serious - I actually managed to spend four days straight not leaving the house. I don't get cabin fever like most people - I'm totally cool with the lack of physical human contact (except the boy) for days on end.

I also realized that I actually have severe anxiety. It is related to the whole working/doing something other that read fark.com thing. I actually want to work - I didn't mind my job when I actually had stuff to do. The only problem is that I really can't bring myself to find jobs and volunteer opportunities. At first I thought it was just the lazy talking, but I am finding myself freaking out at the idea of searching online for things to do (volunteer work is actually quite okay - we aren't crazy hurting for money or anything; I just need to do SOMETHING). I have finally been able to bring myself to calling and straightening out my bar registration so I can practice law again. This has to be dealt with, only problem is how?

Done chillin' in Europe

2011-01-19T11:52:00.001+09:00

I couldn't say so earlier because it was a surprise, but I just got
back from Spain. It was a pretty interesting country they had there,
but it wouldn't have been a good vacation but for my seven other
traveling partners. I did my traditional getting so wasted that the
next day I couldn't move. I even threw up on the train - after
haven't eaten anything except half of a croissant and drinking water.
I was afraid that if I got any more sick and tried throwing up again I
would throw up an organ.

When I wasn't acting like a college freshman on spring break in Mexico
though, I spent the time conversing with my friends, eating and
drinking fine Spanish foods and liquors and seeing the sights in
Madrid and Seville.

Now, time to get back to normal life - dieting, finding a job and all
the other things that entail being a functioning adult.

Favorite week

2010-12-30T04:31:00.001+09:00

This is my favorite week of the year - no one expects anyone to do anything which for us slackers means no one bitching at us for a whole week!

This is ideal because I apparently strained a back muscle when I slipped and fell a couple of weeks ago - I am now on muscle relaxants and Vicodin about 26 hours a day. Those drugs are pretty wicked.

Tom and I have set a date... to start the conception process which is step 1 in the Operation: Dynasty. In preparation for this mission, I consulted with my (new) primary care physician and (new) lady parts doctor. [I would like to plug zocdoc.com which is a really useful site that lets you book doctor appointments online] Both were like, that's cool and all, but you need to get off these medications (Lamictal and Anafranil) that might kill a fetus. So over the course of this coming year I will have to work with a psycho-pharmacologist to retool my meds treatment - good time should be had by all.

Another thing in the preparation phase is that I have to start taking prenatal vitamins. They are like normal vitamins with a few more things added that may make the baby better. We were looking for the Super Baby brand, but sadly no one has created a prenatal vitamin that guarantees your baby will be a super human upon birth. We are going to do OTC vitamins for now and when the time comes switch to crazy prescription only pills that seem better because they are prescription and more expensive. This baby thing should be pretty entertaining.

What is also entertaining is getting private emails meant for someone else, but because of the sender is too stupid to double check the address first, I get them. No, I don't reply to let the sender know they goofed - not anymore at least. The last time I did that, this guy who thought he was emailing his brother didn't believe me and thought I was just being an asshole. It took about three exchanges to clearly convey that I really wasn't this dude's brother.

家でやろう

2010-12-18T13:28:00.000+09:00

All of the past and current Tokyo Metro manners posters are on the train's website. Highly recommend you check it out. Just to be nice to my non Japanese speaking friends:

2010 (these are all pretty lame - these are the posters showing proper manners)

2009 (these are pretty funny overall; my favorites include drunk guy on train and guy doing pull ups)

2008 (year this poster campaign launched - the best ones are here; my favorites are drunk guy on platform and dude who flies into train as the doors are closing)

One of the beautiful things you see in Japan is that none of the posters I ever saw had graffiti - in fact it was pretty hard to find graffiti anywhere I was living or going in the city. In Chicago these would have been destroyed 10 minutes after they went up (or stolen). Also did I mention that the subway platforms and train cars were amazingly clean, well lit and well maintained. I miss Tokyo. =(

On the 8th day of Christmas

2010-12-16T07:34:00.000+09:00

On the 8th day of Christmas, my husband let me buy...

8 Riedel red wine glasses
7 lb of manga
6 pack of Woodchuck
5 lb HoneyBaked Ham
4 Riedel champagne flutes
3 things from the Body Shop
2 tickets to the Christmas Eve performance of the Nutcracker (and 2 anime DVDs)
and a copy of Starcraft II

I am also expecting a couple of more books and I have to do the Totoro day planner data transfer (where I copy important information from Totoro 2010 to Totoro 2011) Overall my holiday has gone well.

My only sadness is that my boy mischeduled his trip to visit some friends so we won't be able to go to his company's holiday party. I was really looking forward to the free food and drink that holiday parties of this caliber provide. Tomorrow night though we are going to a dinner at Kendall College (it's a culinary arts school, so cheap five course with wine dinners) and while the boy is away this weekend I will just eat Indian food - you order it on Friday and see if we can make it last until Sunday.

Time to go check the mailbox (looking like absolute shit) to see if Starcraft II came yet. Otherwise, back to the market data analysis I've been working on.

Customer Service FTW

2010-12-14T11:22:00.002+09:00

So my boy pointed me to zocdoc.com because I needed to make an appointment to see the lady parts doctor. I need an exam and to start asking pregnancy related questions. I set the appointment for this morning, got an email the appointment was confirmed right before I walked out of the house and after traversing the arctic tundra that is Chicago for about five blocks, I arrive to find out that the doctor is actually on vacation and they didn't know why I was told I had an appointment. Everyone was nice about it, and I just made a real appointment for later in the month. Sucks to have to make the roundtrip in sub zero weather, but I'm not gonna lose sleep over it (just bitch for awhile).

So I get home and post a tweet about how I was distraught about what happened, mentioning the company by name. Five hours later I get a call from zocdoc.com apologizing for the mixup and they gave me a $40 amazon GC. I am really happy about it overall and pleasantly surprised by the company's professionalism. Will use them again. =)

This also made up for the fact that I had to tip the Peapod guys when they delivered my groceries. I was unaware that there was a tipping policy, but I guess it is worth getting groceries without leaving the house. It is really cold outside... colder than that.

I might lose the bet on getting to 135 lb. I just like food too much, especially macaroni and cheese.

Ambien is a hell of a drug

2010-12-14T02:42:00.000+09:00

Don't ask why, but I have a _legal_ prescription for ambien. It helps put me to sleep better than taking a lot of Valium, which I had been doing prior to getting a script for ambien. I started taking it in Japan and it worked out pretty okay; I had to take two because one wasn't enough to keep me asleep during the night. Turns out, however, that the Japanese ambien and the US ambien are two different beasts. Taking two American ambien leads to sleep-living, by which I mean, I think I've gone to sleep, but in reality I've gotten out of bed, eat, talk on the phone, take showers... basically my body is awake and my mind is asleep. It was amusing the first time because the morning after I played Memento and had to figure out who I called and what I had did the night before.

This past weekend I took two again and apparently I was even less conscious and managed to do something to the back of my neck (I have a nice bruise there - have no idea what I did to get it), a gash on my thigh and I drank half a bottle of wine - this is just all the immediate observable things I learned the next morning. Plus I really angered the boy by "not using ambien responsibly" and he made me trash the rest of my current stash. He figured out I was on ambien because I apparently tried to have a "deep conversation" with him that was just me speaking incoherently about something that my sub conscience needed to discuss. Plus I crashed into the bathroom wall.

No more ambien induced trips for me. I can't decide if that is a good thing or a bad thing.

In the good news field - I finished my mediation training course. Anyone need a mediator?

Fwd: Appropriate dining options

2010-12-10T11:42:00.001+09:00

Beer and jello.

What's up?

2010-12-10T10:55:00.000+09:00

ひさしぶりね！So I had been lax posting here, even though I have had stuff to say. I've been doing stuff, sorta.

Yeah, I'm still unemployed. I started my 501(c) non-profit - The Dana Johnson Foundation. It will be used to support important projects related to me. Currently I have only one benefactor, but I am hoping to get more as time goes on. In all seriousness, though, being unemployed kinda sucks, but it has had its advantages:

1) wake up whenever I want
2) excellent dining options
3) the company kitty, Madeline
4) can slack off and surf the internet (no blocked sites!) and not worry about being yelled at

I am currently doing a mediation training program which I hope will pan out to good volunteer opportunities and maybe even paid job options later on down the line. I am also starting to learn about trading - with my husband as a HF trader, I watch him do magic and now I want to learn.

Last Sunday I took the JLPT N3. Didn't study ahead of time so I likely failed, but at least I now know what the test looks like and be able to study accordingly.

I have found a group to practice taiko with. They are pretty awesome people and the group is small, but writes its own pieces. The only complaint is that I basically have to re-learn taiko. The North American way differs from the Japanese way in terms of basic stance and striking. Japan goes for aesthetics and America goes for power. (You can substitute "taiko" for just about anything else in that sentence and it would still be true)

Damn you fark.com

2010-10-28T05:46:00.002+09:00

I keep getting distracted by sleeping and fark.com when I need to be studying for the JLPT. Despite taking copious amounts of medication, keeping focus is difficult. Doesn't help that I am listening to study-unfriendly Alice in Chains (Black Gives Way to Blue is pretty fucking good). I guess I'll check out Weezer's new disc and hope that it is more friendly. Pretty depressed right now though - Dir en Grey is doing a concert tonight where you could buy VIP tickets and get backstage. Despite their 31500 yen price tag, I would have jumped on that shit so fast that hazard's head would have spun... right before he divorced me. Yesterday I received my new bed (go overstock.com and their really close by warehouse that basically gives Chicago overnight delivery for $2.95) which my dad will help me assemble tomorrow. It came in three boxes and was quite a bear to get into our apartment. I feel bad for the UPS guys who had to deliver it, but at least they didn't have to take it up to the 23rd floor - they left that to me.

Yesterday I was a good girl and I worked out. My chest is feeling that day after soreness that comes only after over a year of not doing any lifting. It is actually hard to believe that a year has passed since I've been on a strict personal trainer regiment. On one hand I want a personal trainer again, but on the other hand, when winter comes, walking the few blocks to the personal trainer gym will be brutal. I am very much anticipating Chicago's worst winter in 50 years (because every year that I live here seems to have Chicago's worst winter in >50 years, without fail). Right now we are facing harsh winds that even in my apartment I can hear howling like "wolves for my blood" (thanks thrdchild for the quote). Putting off my Target trip until tomorrow.

I guess I will go take a shower and create flashcards for more of the JLPT N-3 grammar. I highly recommend anki for people currently studying for the JLPT - making flash cards for kanji and grammar will make studying a lot more effective... I hope.

JLPT N-3

2010-10-27T05:34:00.001+09:00

I have to crack down and start seriously studying for this now. It's been almost a month since I've been in a position where I am daily studying Japanese either passively or actively. I miss that a lot. Yep, still a bit homesick for Tokyo.

It's like being there all over again

2010-10-14T10:41:00.000+09:00

I just listened to the CD from the two Dir en Grey shows in January - let's just say my neck is going to hurt tomorrow and I got a lot of exercise being in my own private concert hall. I also managed to move around the furniture and finally put everything in its right place... it may be time for some Radiohead. Bonus news - even though the concert DVDs for Dir en Grey were "region 2" they play just fine in my region 1 PS3. Thanks guys - us Americans appreciate being able to rock out to your two stellar January shows for Uroboros.

Still got no job, can't sleep at night - going to bed at 8 am and waking up at 3:30 pm is probably inappropriate - and hazard is pestering me to go outside and do something that doesn't involve me and my friend Mr. Amber Woodchuck. I think the Granny Apple is better.

Still here

2010-10-13T13:54:00.001+09:00

Clocked it - X Japan's "Art of Life" has an 8:30 long piano solo. I think I might need a job of some sort.

Sunny with likelihood of Extreme Rocking Out

2010-10-07T17:40:00.001+09:00

I went to the X Japan show - it was nothing short of amazing. For a band where the members are in their 40s, they put many other bands to absolute shame - with the exception of Yoshiki, they have visibly aged - especially Toshi. The fact that since they got together in 1989, this was their first North American tour was pretty surprising - even Dir en Grey has been through here a few times already. They did go on hiatus though for about 10 years and the amazing lead guitarist died in the meantime (accidental strangulation after passing out drunk while doing something - it was ruled a suicide at the time, but the circumstances strongly suggest otherwise) The band revolves around the drummer Yoshiki, who is a fucking incredible drummer and pianist - produced Dir en Grey and does put Shinya to shame sadly. Both his clear drum set and clear piano (that has his name on it) were brought from Japan for the show. He was actually wearing a neck brace tonight - I had heard a rumor that he passed out from exhaustion earlier today or yesterday. Fucking Toshi came out in sunglasses and a fur coat with a cross on it - ちょっと変ですね.

So first of all, I showed up an hour too late and the line to get in was already wrapped around the block. Granted there were only about 100 -200 people ahead of me, but I wasn't expecting 1 - 200 people to even show up. The makeup of the audience was very diverse. Instead of being the only black person within 5 miles of the show like Dir en Grey, there were several people of color, Asians (natch), whites, like it was like fucking "It's a Small World" up in there. Highlights of the show:

* Started Art of Life at the piano solo, with Yoshiki killing it on his custom piano that he takes to every show; I cried during this song because just hearing the solo alone made coming back to the United States completely worth it - made everything bad that ever happened worth it; it was just mind blowing watching him kill it on the piano (and the solo was not an exact replica of the CD - it was truly filled with his emotion at the time and what he wanted to convey) I am very cross at my phone because I would have recorded the solo. I want to listen to the song, but I don't want to lose any part of the memory of seeing Yoshiki's live performance

* Yoshiki stage dove TWICE (sans neck brace)! I was close enough to the stage to touch him - grabbed his hand both times. The energy in the crowd and the number of people who were die hard fans made it a bit unstable though - no one wanted to let go of him and I fell the first time from the side rush to grab him. Who wants to touch me... ahem... I said who wants to fucking touch me!?

* Every song was at least 15 minutes because of the extreme rocking out on the drums or the crowd singing the refrain to "Endless Rain" until the band pretty much cut us off - they let us go for a good five minutes or so though

* Lost my parka that I usually wore to concerts - It basically was ripped from me at some point; I recovered my Totoro hankie, but not the jacket itself. There was nothing in it and it picked up lint like a mutherfucker so I got a T-Shirt instead; I think I came out ahead actually. Luckily I've learned to travel very light when going to concerts - I won't carry any bags and I usually buy the shirt and used it to mop my face. I sweat far more at this show than any concert I've ever been to.

* Show cost less than half as much as the Yokohama Arena show ($40 (with all the fees) versus 11,000 yen (before fees)), lasted the same amount of time and I was 20 feet from the stage. I could see that Toshi's sunglasses had rhinestones on them and see that Toshi had wrinkles already. I could touch Yoshiki when he dove into the audience. I could wave at the cameras videotaping their tour. Merch was also cheaper (and I circumvented the line because I'm an American damnit!). It's good to be back.

* You could take pictures. Too bad my fucking iPhone bricked this afternoon or else I would have had some amazing pictures from the show. It was a little irritating though the number of people who had their cameras up videoing the stage - they got in my way.

* We are X - what else is there to say?

When Dir en Grey comes to Chicago, I will be lined up 4 hours before the show - if I am not hanging on to the rail in the front row, there will be hell to pay. I let this one go (although I was still really close), but Dir en Grey is far too important to fuck around with not having prime viewing. Due to the stage dive, I ended up getting pushed back a bit so I didn't get to see the band bow at the end - too many hands (and Xs) in the way.

It's 3:30 am and I can't sleep - I managed to fuck up my sleep schedule to the point where I'm back on JST.

Back in the USSA

2010-10-07T06:50:00.001+09:00

In the past six (!?) days I've managed to

put a handful of books on a bookshelf - we have a fuckton of books... I own a lot of manga; I should open a manga kissa here in the States.

sleep so that i actually reverted BACK to japan time (I seriously do not remember Friday or Saturday)

brick my iPhone (well, it bricked itself - so I really can't take the credit)

look around the apartment and cry - hazard told the moving company to put shit whereever they wanted... so they put shit whereever they wanted and now i have to move all of it around

hang up my cels to protect from being broken

not find a job

I'm going to see X Japan tonight though so at least I will be going into the weekend on a good note. Maddie survived the flight and everything leading up to it - is having a bit of fun exploring the apartment. I didn't bring any food home with me for her so I had to buy Iams (toppest shelf food they had at Target) and we have to wait for the Royal Canin to arrive from amazon.com (who is about a week slower than amazon.co.jp =( hazard is going to So. Cal this weekend so I guess I can sleep and look around the apartment and think about cleaning it. Right now I'm hopped up on Provigil and Mt. Dew (which I forgot tastes like ass...) At least my computer is still up and running and hazard bought a new laptop (Lupin) for me to play Starcraft on... well, at least, that is my primary purpose for it, just as soon as I buy Starcraft II. No gaming for me though until I am completely setup and can game in peace. I think I'll restart FFXIII just so I can follow the guide this time (Japanese version of the game, English walkthrough... should be fun)

Maddie and the harness of opression

2010-10-01T06:35:00.001+09:00

This is gonna be a bad day for her.

No I haven't left yet

2010-09-29T18:53:00.001+09:00

Japanese TV is truly horrible. I didn't believe other people who have levied the same claim against Japan because I thought that US TV was seriously as horrible as he can get, but Japan really does deserve the prize. You know you are in trouble when they are showing Alf during primetime on one of the 5 million NHK stations. I tip my red hat to Japan for having TV even worst than the US.

I wanted to watch some anime for the last couple of days before I return home where we don't even have an antenna, never the less cable or satellite or whatever. It is a personal choice of hazard and I to not have one - that money can be spent on sweet internet access, where I can download what I want to watch when I want to watch it. Why have a DVR where there is demonoid.com?

Today was my last tutoring session. My tutor was surprised that I had a gift for her. I bought gifts for the three important service providers in my life - my stylist at Hayato, my tutor, and my taiko sensei. Yesterday was my last taiko class (tomorrow is my last taiko lesson) and the people who had been in my taiko class during the fall/winter all got me little gifts - I did cry because I was not expecting that. I was truly their pet American. =) I walked past the Asakusa Kannon-do and through the streets of Asakusa - I won't see them again for a long time.

I have butterflies in my tummy - I don't know what I am nervous about. Tomorrow's taiko lesson though will be me performing the piece that my sensei wrote for me and named "Red Heart". It's pretty cool and I look forward to playing it on Chibitai. Tomorrow I am going to a jazz festival with a friend of mine and I will also have my last meal - yes... it will be a kobe beef burger from Eat.

Japanese TV is seriously shitty.

so it begins

2010-09-29T14:06:00.001+09:00

The heart pounding, pit of stomach nervousness that comes with any big change in one's life has begun. I am in the middle of my second to last day in Tokyo... hanging out in front of my computer reading my RSS feeds.

Hot sensei named the song that he wrote and "gave" to me "Red Heart". I look forward to teaching it to all of you when I get back. It was actually a pretty cool "gift" - I hope my gifts of chocolate and DVDs are well received.

Furball, indeed

2010-09-28T10:17:00.000+09:00

Safe Kitty

2010-09-28T10:09:00.002+09:00

She recognizes her importance and that she is truly valuable.

No seriously...

2010-09-28T02:21:00.001+09:00

I don't think I can physically leave - at least until I have tried every high end yakitori/sake place in town. My goodbye party to my two lawyer friends involved good food, good conversation and me feeling even more sad about leave - but giving me a feeling I have to go out and do something with my life so even if it means leaving Japan, I will become someone my friends can be proud to admit to being their friend.

"You are the light and way that they will only read about" [Guess what band, song is from 10,000 Days]

Day 4 - Uh-oh & Packing Status

2010-09-27T20:04:00.001+09:00

I just realized I have no idea when I wrote that Day 5 post. Should I blame this on the sake or on the medicine? Well, one error - my husband is actually worth more than 1 million half-employed Japanese bishounen.

So what I ended up getting (thinking it was a duffel bag) was not what I expected in the way of luggage from amazon and will be sent back to amazon tomorrow. It was called a "dry container" and I guess the thing is more for camping and outdoors stuff than NRT to ORD flights. So I went to Olympic, this store around the corner that is kinda like... well, it's a store and it sells a lot of different things - not quite Walgreens but not a production like Target. I found a sturdy four wheel hardback and bought it and carried it home. 20 minutes later, I had packed most of my clothes. So I currently have two four-wheel hardbacks filled with clothes and booze. I'm really glad they have that delivery service.

Today they published the pictures from our performance last weekend - my arms look too fat and I still have a very large ass. They want upwards of 1500 yen for one picture! I'm really gonna have to think about this purchase carefully and if it is worth the sentimental value I will get from buying them. I really wish they had a "digital print" option where you could just download the thing - if I buy these pictures, to be able to show anyone I would have to find a picture scanner. Really troublesome indeed.

My stomach is making funny noises. Maybe it wants food or something. Maybe it'll be happy with some Japanese grapes.

Day 5: ANA told me so * Packing status 2

2010-09-26T23:06:00.001+09:00

Just called and confirmed that Maddie is supposed to be on a flight. It is really cute - the inside of her carrier has a wee wee pad and two dishes made for Hamsters (well - she has to be able to get around and this is the smallest they would do) and that it is $25 for oversized baggage which will 100% be my case. Just the sake alone was over 50lb (the limit). I went to Tokyu Hands yesterday to buy a duffel bag for my clothes (with the exception of a few T-shirts it can all be replaced - although it'll require a trip to Uniqlo and UT Japan) - didn't find one, but amazon is good enough. I also bought hot sensei the Uroboros concert DVD as a "thank you" present. If I was richer and Tom was deceased (and I didn't kill myself because Tom was deceased) I would be a great sugar mama - put in your apps now, boys. I have a feeling the former would occur over the latter though - Tom is worth 1000 half-employed bishounen). He did write the song we are doing in private lessons though - that makes me sorta feel special. =) (god, i'm fourteen again - shit)

* cat puking - hold on *

yeah - bringing 50lb of sake back to the US; who wants to touch me? I said who fucking wants to touch me?!

So it is really weird - today I had absolutely nothing to do but pack and meet my friend for dinner (Touan again FTW) so I hang out and chat with people on the internet until they have lives to lead. Stupid friends with lives =) I realized I just didn't make any friends (as usual) at Keio or in Japan just like every other town or school I've been involved in. So this week will be like the coming weeks where I hang out and do nothing- but when not studying Japanese or taiko with for someone to call and to hang out or offer me a job I will be trying to get opportunities to study Japanese, 和太鼓 and/or get a job. There is not longer a disturbance in the force.

Almost packed though - who fucking folds their laundry on a regular basis? I see a positive outcome, but still fucking sucks. Tuesday should be no surprises.

Packing Status #1

2010-09-24T20:44:00.000+09:00

These are my parameters (I'm in economy... as usual)

I have one piece of luggage with just nine bottles of sake, a softside cat carrier and a box of Riedel wine glasses. It clocks at EXACTLY 23 kg.

This is hoping that my clothes do not weigh more than 23 kg when all combined in one bag. Luckily I was packed for the summer months so no heavy clothes. The sake can't be shipped - fuck you USPS and US Customs Law. (Can never say that enough)

Just FYI - my carryon which is books and DVDs is about 23 kg as well... they never check.... *crosses fingers that they haven't started checking*

You know what's awesome - scheduling a delivery for 8 PM and the delivery guy showing up at exactly 8 PM. If I ever win the lottery I am so ditching the US for Japan, by any means necessary.

Day 6: Why am I counting down?

2010-09-24T14:55:00.000+09:00

Hanging out while Maddie hisses in turn at the cleaning people who she really dislikes for some reason, I realized this time next week I will have probably crossed the International Date Line on my way back to the US. This will thus end my stay as a foreigner living in Tokyo. I have to have my bags packed by Tuesday so that they can be sent to Narita (and not burdening me while trying to get to the airport on one of the saddest days of my life) via a delivery service. I am totally all about that. I just have to buy two bags a big duffel and a little duffel and a little cat dish set for Maddie's carrier. Getting up the desire to walk on this dreary day to Tokyu Hands in Shibuya though doesn't sound pleasant.

Maddie and I got to go on a field trip to the most ghetto vet I've ever been to. But they wrote out an official enough looking certificate that I can show the people at ANA so they'll accept my money (a lot) and let Maddie ride in their cargo hold back to the US. In case you were wondering, Illinois has no rules regarding bringing in pets from overseas. So the seven months of hell I went through to get her out of Illinois at least need not be repeated to get her back into Illinois.

Last night I went to the performance of my sensei's taiko ensemble, Mugen. It was really pretty awesome. More like being at a rock concert instead of a taiko performance; I'll post a video I found on youtube later from one of their earller concerts. I was even geeky enough to bring flowers to give to sensei after the show AND I wrote a card IN JAPANESE and IT MADE SENSE! Totally was stoked about that. I got depressed though because I realized this past year of fucking around, studying Japanese, being a housewife... basically being on a fully funded super vacation will end and responsibility and real life and all that entails is my future. Is this the best year of my life, ever? If so, why bother continuing to live? I feel better this morning, more upbeat and looking forward (although with slight suspicion) to the future. But last night, in the midst of all this happiness and joy, I still could and did become suicidal.

Today was taiko lesson - the song I am practicing is pretty cool and was written by my sensei as my going away present. One hell of a going away present.

I'm always paranoid that the cleaning staff is talking (or at least thinking) shit about me. Do other people who use maids or housekeepers (especially when they are speaking a different language than you) feel that way sometimes? I really hate being here when they are here, but I have no where to go... no, I mean, I don't feel like going anywhere.

Doesn't get any better

2010-09-23T21:23:00.001+09:00

Day 8: That doesn't sound like a good idea

2010-09-22T18:21:00.000+09:00

So, yeah, I guess I have a flight to catch on the 1st. Looking around this place though you wouldn't think I was going anywhere, especially permanently back to the US. I've gotten Maddie's medical clearance though, so technically we can go home whenever we want (within the next 10 days). I've gotten two important must have's - the 2011 Totoro watercolor calendar and Catbus day planner and although I have not amassed the manga on my list yet, I think I'll live if I don't have all the volumes before I actually leave. It'll give me something to get when I come back to visit.

I will officially start thinking about packing when my seven bottle order of sake is delivered from this great sake store I went to last weekend. Yeah, seven bottles. They are gifts for me - I will be bringing home 10 bottles and having to pay duty on 6 of those 10 thanks to US Fucking Customs - the same US Fucking Customs that wouldn't let me send some of this shit home. So now I'll have one piece of luggage that is basically alcohol and one that is a duffel with all the clothes not being used as alcohol packing material and any other things I should probably take back with me. See, I already know the game plan behind the pack, I just have to execute. This includes a trip to Shibuya to go to Tokyu Hands one last time as a resident to get things like said duffel bag and some luggage tags and some pet travel goods. Maddie only travels in style. Maybe I should buy a Hermes scarf or something to tie around her carrier's handle =) It'll give the baggage handlers something to steal at O'Hare or Narita.

My taiko enso went okay this weekend. I was not as pleased with my performance as the first one. Maybe it was also because hazard wasn't here to lavish me in praise. But I did have friends there this time - that was pretty cool. I'll see what I look like when the photos and the DVD are released. I'm too busy memorizing this new piece I am working on with my sensei during our private lessons.

Hard to believe this time next week, I'll be scrambling to make sure all my bags are ready to be sent off to the airport via the courier company. Anyone know if taiko bachi are allowed in carryon?

maddie misunderstanding

2010-09-18T13:48:00.001+09:00

Senior year of college, Tien really wanted a cat so we adopted one from the local shelter and brought her home on 9/17. When we graduated college though, since Tien's mom is afraid of cats, Maddie came to live with me with Tien having visitation rights. So every year we celebrate Maddie's adoption day - since we don't know her exact birthday.

She'll be hanging out in pet cargo on the flight home. She doesn't know that yet and will be quite cross when she finds out.

Middle of the 13th night

2010-09-18T02:02:00.000+09:00

Everyday I am doing something entertaining and educational, but my in between time is kinda wide open and I tend to engage in my favorite activity: sleeping. I should probably study or walk around or explore or something more productive but sleeping is just so much fun.

Today was private taiko lesson day and then I went and got my hair dyed red. To match my red fedora. It was important that the hair complimented the hat. My list of things left to do is all stuff that could pretty much to five days before I leave. I must get Maddie's international health certificate, buy TSE cufflinks for the boy, buy another bag (and get them delivered to Narita - god I love this country; there is a service that will deliver your luggage to the airport and basically that is the only way I'll be able to get everything to the airport) and cancel my cell phone service. Everything else is just classes or hanging out with friends. I bought a box of chocolates for my taiko sensei, my japanese sensei and my hair stylist and tried to make sure I set aside enough money to pay for all these goods and services. I do have enough set aside though for my final sake purchases. Basically my luggage will be booze and the duffel will be clothes. I wonder if Maddie also gets a four bottle free allowance on alcohol. She's already nine - I think that is old enough.

I guess I'll try to go see the Beck movie - I have feeling it will be a lot of slang Japanese though so I will understand the basic plot (because I've read the manga) and that's about it.

Birthday cat

2010-09-18T01:13:00.001+09:00

Happy adoption day to the cutest and laziest cat this side of the Pacific.

Day 15: Eye on the bank account

2010-09-15T22:00:00.000+09:00

I realized today that I am actually not made of money despite indications otherwise. I know, man, I thought I was too! I set aside all the money I would need to pay for classes and will keep an eye on not doing things like $50 a night dinners going forward; I want to be able to send a little back home as proof I have some self control.

Today I went to the 科学技術館 (Tokyo Science Museum). I had a lot of fun as it is really hands on place. If I had kids it would be great (also it would help if they read Japanese).

Okay, I'm gonna go try not to spend the next twelve hours spending money. It might be hard though; a lot of people ask me for money in my dreams.

Day 17: Really, dude, seriously

2010-09-14T23:13:00.000+09:00

I keep trying to schedule when I'll start packing for good. I don't want to start too early and have this huge suitcase taking up floor space, but I don't want to start too late and be rushing around because I forgot to do X, Y, Z. I know I have to go to Tokyu Hands though and get another bag (probably just a duffel) because the shit in this room isn't going to fit in my current space limitations. I really really seriously really don't want to pay overage fees and I have to keep to their two free pieces rule because ANA has crazy expensive fees. I already have to pay a lot for Maddie.

So on Sunday I went to this really awesome izakaya with some of my friends here and we drank some good sake, had some good food, it seriously had me reconsidering returning to the states. The owner even made a list of all the different sakes we had that night (8) in case we want to buy them at the store. One was excellent, but rare - only one place in Tokyo has it. A friend and I are going to go seek out this holy grail.

Other than that, I've been really sleepy. Since I've been going out for meals with people, when I am home I have non-fat yogurt and granola. It's easy and pretty decent and I think it's good for me; it isn't making me fatter. I have an Enso this weekend so I have to look in sort of decent shape so my costume.

I know you were all worried, but Chibitai is safe in Chicago. Go Japan Post EMS!

Hot sensei

2010-09-14T20:44:00.002+09:00

Presented by popular demand.

You totally know you would.

Day 20: Uhhh... shit I'm leaving soon, huh

2010-09-11T14:44:00.000+09:00

I am going to Tokyu Hands on Monday or Tuesday to buy a duffel bag so I can take this stuff home with me. That will truly mark the start of the beginning of the end. I wished this Tokyo thing had worked out, but it didn't and I've accepted that. I actually already packed one bag that will be carry on (it's full of books and DVDs and heavy as fuck). I really need to start evaluating the packing situation, especially because if I need to send stuff home I should know sooner and not later.

Had a really nice dinner last night with a partner at a Japanese law firm (he's actually a Japanese-American). Although he is "the enemy" (he is a partner) I am happy I can have a honest, frank conversation with him. Got tanked and then had a heart to heart, completely open and frank conversation with my father in law that I kinda remember the details of. I actually had to ask thrdchild about it this morning to jog my memory about the conversation. There is a little family drama going on that I want to resolve as part of operation dynasty.

Day 21: Keeping Busy

2010-09-10T19:10:00.000+09:00

I realized today that I have at least 10 Totoro handkerchiefs. When I see one in the store that I don't have all mental functions shut down and I buy it. I have 4 Totoro hand towels to hang up in the bathroom. I have a minor obsession with cute Totoro things. I have a pencil case and the day planner (which I use instead of the iPhone one). In fact, today I received the 2011 scheduler. I was seriously waiting for it to be released and was worried it would come out after I left. It brought about serious anxiety - うぞじゃない！Actually 花原先生 (the way I will actually refer to my taiko instructor because even though he's six years younger than me, I have serious respect for him - beyond any fleeting feelings of lust) also is a Totoro person. He had the Cat Bus pencil case. I'm jealous - it is really cute. But I think I might be one of those people who just collects Totoro hankies. I'd kill for a Totoro cel, but those things are easily 50,000 yen at least. We saw one that was 500,000 yen.

I can only use Kitty-chan (how they refer to Hello Kitty here) pencils to study for the JLPT. Dead serious - it has to be a Hello Kitty pencil or it just isn't right.

Four straight days of taiko practice was fun and I'm actually in good shape - only a little sore in my quads. My main problem in taiko is that I am supposed to relax - I am incapable of relaxing - I get anxious trying to relax. Yeah, totally should just have a Valium IV hooked up at all times. Today we worked on Tokyo and Osaka songs they play during お祭り (festivals). We generally worked on some of my problem areas. This private lesson idea was fucking brilliant - if I could afford it, I would have done this from the beginning, but limited budgets leads to some limited experiences.

I also got the right sized pants for my enso. This one actually covered my ass. It's pretty cool once correctly assembled. I used this website to figure out to actually put it on. Dude, it's complicated.

I realized I have mosquito or other bug bites all over my body. The Benadryl cream isn't doing much to help.

Ghetto thing of the day - I used a screwdriver to scratch a bite on my back that was hard to reach. It worked.

Day 22: Fuck the US

2010-09-09T17:07:00.000+09:00

Today Chibitai and a host of other things are making their big journey back to the United States. Three bottles of wicked sake was also supposed to go along with but you can't ship alcohol to the US from Japan. Why? I don't know either - I was hoping you did. I had to open my package, take out the sake and then reseal the box. The guy at the PO here gave me a bag to carry my sake home in though. That was nice of him. What is not nice is that I cannot buy a product and send it TO MYSELF just because I'm overseas. That is mad bullshit man. Mad bullshit. Dude, I'm gonna be pissed about this for at least the next 48 hours. This is somehow probably one of those political parties fault - likely both. Vote Libertarian!

I received my enso outfit today. Couldn't figure out how to put it on. Then realized I ordered the wrong sized pants. The company was cool though and they are sending me the larger size (LL for Lard (L)ass), I sent back the other pants for a partial refund.

I was also up all night sending out my first cover letter and resume to a firm in Chicago. A friend of mine was kind enough to write my cover letter for me and everyone helped. I feel like I just like learned how to ride a bike or something. I've never "job hunted" before - it's always been a canape on a silver platter being passed around the halls of all these elite schools I went to who reassured me I'd never have to do menial labor and I'll only get the best in jobs, opportunities and the best weed at the parties. 25 years later I find out that was a big fucking lie.

I'm gonna take it out on some drums tonight.

Day 23: Things I will miss about Japan

2010-09-08T20:21:00.001+09:00

I had a really kick ass taiko lesson today. Sensei actually is teaching me the drumline from one of my favorite Dir en Grey songs. Basically if I could play at Shinya speed, I could actually rock out. Of course, sensei, showing off as usual, did it perfectly at speed. But experiences like this I will miss dearly.

Dude, I was playing the drumline to Toguro (Uroboros) - completely worth every yen I spend on these lessons. No, dude, you don't get it... it was fucking epic.

Also, I'll miss typhoons.

My first taiko drum

2010-09-08T19:57:00.001+09:00

It's named chibitai. Chibitai was very well packed for it's journey back to the US. I used clothes to pack around the box chibitai was packed for me.

Day 26: Things I will miss about Japan

2010-09-04T22:15:00.001+09:00

Service providers:

I have an excellent tutor who comes three times a week to work with me on JLPT N3 study. I will have to find a new tutor immediately upon landing in Chicago (there are a lot of things I have to do immediately upon landing in Chicago)

I am taking eight private taiko lessons with Formerly Known as Hot Sensei in this last month. He is a really good instructor and very good at playing and making learning fun. I've actually started working out a little on my shoulders so I can keep up with him.

My hair stylist is a miracle worker. If I was very wealthy and could afford it she would be my personal stylist that I would take around with me for whatever the hell wealthy people who need personal stylists do. In two weeks I'm getting red highlights. Like bright red, color of my awesome fedora red.

I have to start packing... at some point. This time I won't have the luxury of having people just come in, pack and get my stuff to my new place without me having to sign some forms. I am actually a tetris level packer though, just a lazy as hell one.

Day 29: Things I will miss about Japan

2010-09-02T16:36:00.001+09:00

Sake. I love me some sake and I have a friend who is a connoisseur of sake; he takes me basically to the best izakayas in Tokyo so that I may appreciate fine sake. I won't just miss the sake, I will also miss hanging out with him too.

Also, there are no open liquor laws in Japan. So I bought a can of beer that Jun Matsumoto was promoting on a billboard to see if it tasted like ass. It tasted like ass; but at least I was able to walk about looking at the Kanda area while drinking my ass tasting beer.

Carrier has arrived

2010-09-01T17:26:00.001+09:00

Maddie has not yet been informed she will be spending about 18 hours in it soon enough.

Day 30: Thing I won't miss about Japan

2010-09-01T15:28:00.000+09:00

The fact that wire transfers are commonly used to exchange money. As a paranoid American I'm always freaked out that a) I sent the money to the wrong person and b) I have no recourse if the seller flakes out on me. It is more convenient than writing checks out to people, but I prefer my good old American Express to pay for anything and everything that I need. I rely on good old E*Trade to pay my bills.

Tonight I am going to an izakaya with a friend from law school. I'm am beginning my preparations to say goodbye to my life in Tokyo - this is going to a rough transition... where's my Valium?

Day 31: What I will miss about Japan

2010-08-31T20:08:00.001+09:00

The best hamburger I've ever had is at this place called "Eat" across the street from my apartment here in Aoyama. But for the fact that I would gain 40 pounds I would seriously eat at this place every day.

Scenes from the Asakusa Samba

2010-08-28T23:30:00.001+09:00

Stood me up Sensei

2010-08-26T19:30:00.001+09:00

Although I guess it wasn't really a date, I still feel kinda rejected that my taiko instructor "date" was canceled. Or more like, didn't show up for. Miranda from Sex and the City is reminding me that "He's just not that into you". Thanks, Miranda.

It's a feeling rejected, and I don't deal well with that without drugs and alcohol. How do normal, drug free, emotionally stable deal with this? I'm so distraught that I am not watching VS Arashi tonight. You know that is serious business. At the same time though I only watch it for the five minutes that I see glances of Jun kun and wonder how such a hot being could be on TV without the world caving in on itself. Rest of the members can go fuck themselves.

The question becomes a) should I mention it next time I see him and b) does he get his present that I was going to get him as a thank you for being my sensei.

Dude, I'm glad I am don't have to actually date someone on a regular basis. I probably would have off'ed myself by now.

Hate of today

2010-08-25T17:17:00.001+09:00

When I spend a week obsessing over something that ends up falling though. You're not sure why it fell though and you are even trying to be optimistic that it will work out in the end, but basically I forgot my mantra "dare to hope, prepare to be disappointed". I didn't prepare enough on the disappointment side so now I'm obsessing why my plans fell through. Wine and Valium might have to take over tonight.

Hate thing of the day

2010-08-24T22:02:00.001+09:00

When you are in the situation where you are looking for a job, but not totally sure what you want to actually do (especially if you despised your last job - the firm I worked for out of law school was such a horrible working environment that I don't even know if I ever want to work at a firm again... hell, I'm traumatized enough where I don't know if I want to work again) people ask you what are you dream jobs; what do you want to do and work toward that goal. Here are my dream jobs:

1) In house attorney for Viz Media, Tokyopop or another publisher that imports Japanese anime and manga.

2) A drummer in a rock band (or the bassist - that is also acceptable)

3) A professional taiko drummer

4) Some chick that just has a shit ton of money and a husband willing to allow her to have bishounen men as pets

5) Kato Catlin (that total slacker from the OJ trial) - or in the industry we call it a "professional slacker"

6) A judge

7) A psychiatrist

8) An arbitrator or a mediator

These self-help people can go fuck themselves.

Maddie has a new toy

2010-08-20T15:17:00.001+09:00

She'll have gotten sick of it in 10 minutes.

My father

2010-08-19T23:25:00.001+09:00

He isn't good with money and I grew up on welfare, but some of the life skills he bestowed unto me I am grateful for. Today it is the ability to manipulate sound settings on multiple devices to get the best sound quality. For my sister, she had to do her own laundry now which she is quite pissed about. My parents were poor and not well educated, but they managed to produce two college graduates with sound jobs (sorta) who are defy the stereotype of a typical black woman. Love you, Daddy. (and Mommy)

One of my finer moments

2010-08-19T22:42:00.001+09:00

42 days: 禁止

2010-08-18T19:54:00.001+09:00

Today I walked from Shinjuku back to my house (approximately 3.6 miles). I had ramen at a good shop in Shinjuku, fucked around in Shinjuku for awhile until we both realized that a) we're slackers and b) anti-social so trying to come up with something to do other than eating was difficult for us. Getting indecisive and anti-social people together is a feat within itself.

I have to swear off the 少女漫画 for awhile. The hardest part of living in Japan is that when I really want to talk to someone... anyone... about what's bothering me or at least get a burden of my chest and receive empathy from someone, all my friends are asleep. I will not miss the time difference at all. I am starting to have some regrets over how I spent the last 13 months:

1) Not getting a tutor earlier in the game to supplement my Keio studies (which were excellent, but I'm old and need special attention apparently)

2) Getting into the mindset of the other undergrads in my classes - you know, the mindset where you think everything is a bother and you don't feel like it and want everything to be over soon... I forgot that being in school is wicked awesome compared to the alternative of working.

3) Not making any friends... well, I made a couple of friends, but right now the only one who I could really spill my heart out to is back in the States. I have some Japanese friends, but trying to explain a complex situation and receive counsel is not really possible yet due to our language skills.

4) Realizing that generic Wellbutrin shouldn't be even on the market, nevertheless sold to people. Yes - you generic Wellbutrin producers: DIE IN A MUTHERFUCKING FIRE; you stole six weeks of my life with your fucking poison.

Listening to Spaceboy (Siamese Dream, Smashing Pumpkins)

先生が大好き！

2010-08-17T20:55:00.001+09:00

Taiko was so hardcore today that I developed a blister that burst and left blood on my bachi. I didn't even notice until after I was done with class.

Rent payment

2010-08-16T22:51:00.001+09:00

44 days

2010-08-16T20:17:00.001+09:00

The countdown begins to the day I return to my life as a United States resident. Depending on the hour, phase of the moon and my cat's mood, I am happy or I am sad. I cannot wait to see my husband again though.

Yesterday I lived my dream of going to a Japanese hanabi (fireworks festival) in a yukata. I bought a real yukata and obi (~1万円) and thanks to my friend H, I looked like I belonged in it. Although this violates the whole anonymous* thing I tried to keep on my blog I have included a picture as proof.

My obi is a little wrinkly because I had been sitting down (and I tied it too tight), but it worked. Now I want to wear one all the time. Once you know how to do it (my first try took over an hour) it becomes easier... I hope.

Today I studied Japanese and I am waiting for 松本くんのドラマto come on. My love affair with Jun Matsumoto knows no bounds.

*To any potential firms looking to hire me, who has stumbled across this post during your "due diligence" (which entailed cyber stalking apparently) I guess you would have learned about my personality sooner or later, so if my blog is the reason you decide not to hire me, then that's your loss, not mine.

Getting this shit home

2010-08-13T22:37:00.001+09:00

Yesterday I mailed off a box with some DVDs, books and other things worth about 1万円 and it cost 6千円. I realized that I need to downsize and start really figuring out what I can leave here and what I can't leave without. Considering that I have an entire office to clean and general work that needs to be done to the apartment when I get home (hazard has done nothing except setup his computer, wash some dishes and do his laundry) the daunting task of also having to clean my apartment here and fit it into three pieces of luggage (the 4th being a cat) makes me reconsider my decision to return home.

I hate Provigil - it basically reins in your mind to make you feel like you should be doing something, anything, preferably productive and keeps you awake. But it also makes you more talkative and social, like you want to talk and be around people - I've sent out a ton of "we should hang out" emails today - and if you get tired you can't just go to bed and sleep - the ProV is making your mind go a million miles a second so you can't even quiet your mind enough to sleep if you wanted to. This better be one of those short lasting side effect of long term usage. This is at a quarter of a normal dosage.

Shoujo manga dating

2010-08-12T18:07:00.001+09:00

Maybe it is because I miss my hazard dearly, but I really want to go on a date. Not an adult date where basically it is all a prelude to sex or there is other adult emotional crap going on, but a date like you would have as a 14 or 15 years old. The most that could happen would be an awkward kiss and maybe holding hands. The whole experience is about this new feeling that you never had before and all the angst is built around when you should grab his hand or what do to if your hands touch in the popcorn.

When you get married, dating ceases to exit in a wat. All the feelings and movements are natural and taken for granted, even. Dating almost becomes like a chore where you have to 1) figure out what to do that entails going outside (hazard and I are not "outdoor" people), 2) what will lead to sex later, 3) which restaurant/movie/club/bar should you go to and heaven forbid if it is a double date. High school dating you are thinking in the moment, analyzing it in full detail to figure out what is going on/what to do. Adult dating (married dating) is trying hard to actually be focused on what is currently happening and not what you should do later or what you wish you were doing instead or having to go to work the next day. I don't even know what happens when you add kids to that whole thing.

Maybe it is just me. I have been in the same relationship with the same person for over 15 years. We got all of the angst ridden high school dating out of the way pretty early into the relationship and transitioned to the "married" dating before we even graduated high school. Every one we knew figured, unless hell froze over, our relationship wasn't going anywhere. hazard was my first and only boyfriend and I intend for him to be my first and only husband. I miss him dearly.

Maybe I just need to lay off the shoujo for awhile and read some Naruto and bitch about how I could have been an awesome ninja if my parents had put me in ninja school when I was younger.

What I will actually do is drink a glass of wine and watch "VS Arashi".

And so it begins

2010-08-11T22:07:00.001+09:00

The first box on it's way back to the US.

Good genes

2010-08-11T20:34:00.001+09:00

Apparently I inherited my father's genes of being able to look younger than I actually am - my dad is in his mid-50s, but most people thinks he's in his late 30s at best. My sister got the same thing to the point where she convinced my mom that she was a year younger than she actually was. I still get carded and people usually think I'm a college undergrad instead of an alumna of Stanford Law. Now that I look around at my friends though, they also seem to look younger than 30. This is weird and I can't wrap my head around it. Do I really look younger than I am to the common man and all my friends happen to look the same way? What am I supposed to look like at 30? Talk to me internet - guide me toward the truth.

My taiko lesson yesterday was fucking awesome. There are only two people in my class - me and this ojiisan. Ojiisan couldn't make it, so it was just me and hot sensei. Instead of working on the recital piece (which really requires two people to rehearse) I did some more advanced taiko work with hot sensei. I got to play multiple drums and hot sensei is really good at listening to a song, separating out the drum line and then playing it on taiko drums. So we played some Slipknot and some j-pop and he played the intro to a couple of Dir en Grey songs. I had a ball watching him play and then trying to imitate what he was doing. Just for the record, he's 24 and doesn't have a girlfriend. Any single women in Tokyo looking for a hot taiko drummer - this is your man. I also get a kick out of teaching him English words - yesterday he learned the words for each finger (thumb, pointer, middle, ring and pinkie). I am really going to miss hanging out there.

Apparently I've recently become sedated... well, okay I like sleep. A lot. Recently, I've been planning my life around how to maximize my sleep. It isn't an issue of getting eight full hours. It has become an issue of getting less than 14 hours. On Sunday I was probably awake for 4-6 of the 24 hours. Depression does cause lethargy and although overall my mood has been quite high, I'm still depressed enough where sleeping is better than being awake. I don't know why I feel that way and I don't know how to change it either. So now I have to start taking Provigil daily to see if that helps with the sleep problem I have. Even right now, I'm wondering if I can get a nap in before Lupin III comes on at 10:30 PM. For awhile, I was having problems being unable to sleep due to high anxiety and stress.

My medicine cabinet is a scary sight. I have Provigil (which I had been prescribed "as needed" a while back ago), Ambien, Valium, Lamictal, Wellbutrin, Benadryl, an EpiPen, Excedrin and probably a couple more things hiding in the back. My body is probably composed of booze and chemicals at this point.

Now I'm gonna study me some Japanese during these precious hours my body is allowing me to be awake.

Things that should be illegal

2010-08-09T22:08:00.001+09:00

1) Jun Matsumoto on television. It is just not fair to everyone else on television at the same time that they have to compete with a god. He's so hot that it hurts... I would want him solely as a pet - I harbor no real feelings of wanting to engage in physical acts with him; I just want to pet him on the head and tell him what a good boy he is. If he could read English, I would encourage him to get in touch with me as I have an opening for an additional pet.

2) Selling anko/custard taiyaki. It's as though they are forcefeeding me fatty foods on purpose as a punishment. It's not like I can turn down the taiyaki - it's like crack.

3) Dreams - when I'm not having stupid ones that make me wake up pissed (they aren't bad, necessarily, just really boring or lame) - that when I wake up I'm pissed that I'm back in this "other world"

I would take multiple gunshot wounds, be pushed out of a window or anything else for (and only for) my husband that I love dearly, but Jun Matsumoto is almost a mythical creature of what entails a beautiful boy. It's interesting... I realized that of any race, ethnicity, etc., I am most attracted to Japanese men; never really encountered them before moving here, hence why I've never looked at another guy and thought he was hot (well, Angelina Jolie aside who everyone in the world would sleep with - yes, even you). If hazard ever left me and I decided to remarry for some god forsaken reason, I'd move here to find a mate... I hope that never EVER happens; that is my worst nightmare.

The only way to study

2010-08-05T16:21:00.000+09:00

I realized I was having issues studying for the JLPT. Then I realized it was because I didn't have a kitty-chan (hello kitty) pencil. Situation now under control.

All of June and July summarized

2010-08-03T21:03:00.003+09:00

I finished up the Keio University Summer Program and during the next two and a half months I will be working with a tutor to study for JLPT N3 (which I registered for this morning). So still studying the Japanese here - currently it is concentrated on kanji and grammar with my listening comprehension coming from lots of Japanese TV and just being outside and my reading comprehension coming from lots of manga (I've started reading some series that are in kanji only (no furigana) so I'm learning kanji and vocab and reading there!) Doing the Keio program - totally fucking worth it.

Living in Aoyama is pretty cool, but I have become lonely. My only conversation "partner" is Madeleine and she sucks at making small talk other than "Where's my food?" or "Why are these people in the room with that fucking vacuum cleaner?". Today I managed to finally figure out that I can watch my DVDs on the DVD player with adjusted audio and subtitles. I have quite a bit of anime to go through now. It turns out that my Kon (netbook) cannot really handle .mkv files that well, so I can't download and watch anything - well anime at least. I have quite a bit of anime to watch when I get back to the States at least.

It is hard to find things to do on a daily basis; overall I have things going on, but when I finally get out of bed around 11 I have to decide what the day will entail. I found out I suck badly at this. It doesn't help that it is 90 degrees with 80-90% humidity so my desire to actually go outside is not high. I did find out that I could walk to See's Candies (which is literally double the US prices, I think) and buy peanut brittle, but that is more of a bad find than a good find. The Kobe burger place across the street has a self-imposed limit of once a week and I've actually taken to McDonald's chicken nuggets... don't ask, I don't know either.

I am starting to get homesick... well actually I just miss my computer setup (sweet machine with speakers that don't suck and two monitors) and my boy. I miss him a lot and that will be the sole reason behind my tears of happiness and pride when I see the "Welcome to the USA" signs at O'Hare on October 1st.

Eva rules all

2010-08-03T20:55:00.001+09:00

For this show where they determine the "best" in Japan they did artist. This was one of the contenders. Yes it is a sketch of Eva related shit. It got the runner up spot. Seriously man. I don't think he's even affiliated with Gainax in anyway.

Napping

2010-07-28T15:03:00.001+09:00

It's her full time job.

Japanese Tele

2010-07-26T18:08:00.001+09:00

Even Maddie gets a kick out of Japanese TV.

Hello Kenshin

2010-07-23T21:05:00.001+09:00

I love collecting fine works of art. I was actually looking for Lupin cels but sometimes you have to take what you can get.

Off to take a bath, drink sake and think about a trip to Hakone. I think I'm liking this life sans chronic depression.