Merry Christmas!
...that is all.
25 December 2007
21 December 2007
Van Halen
I just got home from the Van Halen concert at Honda Center (formerly the Arrowhead Pond). I was above stage left, and had a decent view. It was a killer show, and I was lucky to be able to see. Sometimes, I love my job. :) I'm so glad I wasn't outside in the cold and the rain. Tonight was a great night.
As an aside, this marks 50 blog posts for me. Yay!
As an aside, this marks 50 blog posts for me. Yay!
22 November 2007
give thanks?
Today is thanksgiving, the day when Americans stuff themselves with turkey and potatoes in celebration of the time when the natives saved our settlers from dying by helping them get food and make houses, and to thank them for that kindness, the settlers took their land and gave the natives smallpox and the flu. So, huzzah for that!
14 November 2007
Ads
I allowed a couple of little ad thingies on my main page. I tried to make them as unobtrusive as possible. If you're feeling bored/interested/helpful, give them a click and I suppose I'll earn a little money. If not, feel free to ignore them. I won't hold it against you. If you are offended and want them gone, try the CustomizeGoogle Firefox extension from here.
13 November 2007
The British are coming!
In a less-than-subtle move toward re-conquering the world, the British Empire has begun infilitrating their groceries stores into American society. the Tesco's chain is opening several stores in California under the name of Fresh and Easy Markets, and they're promoting such wholly un-American ideals as "healthy food" and being "environmentally friendly." In fact, just the other day, on my way home from being in a Parade (More information later) I was stuck behind one of their hideously huge, lime-green trucks at a stop light, proclaiming in large letters to run on "bio-diesel," whatever that is. Surely it's a move toward overthrowing us, and bringing the new world home, Subjecting us back to British rule again as a colony.
There's a website too.
There's a website too.
05 November 2007
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01010100 01101000 01101001 01110011 00100000 01110011 01101001 01110100 01100101 00100000 01100001 01101101 01110101 01110011 01100101 01110011 00100000 01101101 01100101 00101110 00100000 01010011 01101111 01101101 01100101 01110100 01101001 01101101 01100101 01110011 00100000 01001001 00100000 01110101 01110011 01100101 00100000 01101001 01110100 00100000 01100110 01101111 01110010 00100000 01100110 01110101 01101110 00101110 00100000 01101000 01110100 01110100 01110000 00111010 00101111 00101111 01101110 01101001 01100011 01101011 01100011 01101001 01110011 01101011 01100101 00101110 01100011 01101111 01101101 00101111 01110100 01101111 01101111 01101100 01110011 00101111 01100010 01101001 01101110 01100001 01110010 01111001 00101110 01110000 01101000 01110000
15 October 2007
Camping
This weekend, Crystal and I went camping together. We spent two nights (Saturday and Sunday) at O'Neill Park, near Rancho Santa Margarita. It was very nice. On Sunday, we went for a drive to find Trabuco Canyon Nature Center, which I'd been told about by my mom. She said Leave the campground at turn left, and there'd be a sign and I'd turn right and be there.
We spent 2 hours and 30-40 miles looking for this place. Nobody had ever heard of it. Not the Sheriff's Department, not the Park Rangers, not the people at Irvine Lake (They tried to tell us which way to go actually, but we never found the road they said.)
I have reasonable doubts that the place doesn't exist. We were pursuing untamed avians.
Even so, it was a good trip. I'll update this post with a picture of our campsite when I unload the car and bring in my camera.
Update:
We spent 2 hours and 30-40 miles looking for this place. Nobody had ever heard of it. Not the Sheriff's Department, not the Park Rangers, not the people at Irvine Lake (They tried to tell us which way to go actually, but we never found the road they said.)
I have reasonable doubts that the place doesn't exist. We were pursuing untamed avians.
Even so, it was a good trip. I'll update this post with a picture of our campsite when I unload the car and bring in my camera.
Update:
17 September 2007
Talk Like a Pirate Day
Wednesday, the 19th is official Talk Like a Pirate Day! As the name would suggest, this is a holiday about letting out your inner pirate. Do things you want to, don't worry about what people think, and, of course, use words like "Arr" and "Avast!"
And no, I'm not making it up myself! Anyone who hasn't heard of this wonderful national holiday has obviously been living under a rock. And I guess there are a lot of rocks out there... That or you're not a pirate fan. But that's no excuse!
For more information about Piratical events across the country, and about the day in general, check out the official website.
And no, I'm not making it up myself! Anyone who hasn't heard of this wonderful national holiday has obviously been living under a rock. And I guess there are a lot of rocks out there... That or you're not a pirate fan. But that's no excuse!
For more information about Piratical events across the country, and about the day in general, check out the official website.
11 September 2007
Japan pics!
Hooray, Japan pics are here!
...well, not here, per se, but on the internet at least! I've uploaded some at my myspace page. This link should get you to the album. Enjoy!
...well, not here, per se, but on the internet at least! I've uploaded some at my myspace page. This link should get you to the album. Enjoy!
04 August 2007
Another trip
Sunday, I'm going with my parents on a trip across the US and back, and we'll be gone about a month. This means I should be able to sort pictures and write new blog posts on mom's laptop in the car, and post them when internet is available. So, hopefully I'll have Japan things soon. Yay!
Of course, there will also be new things, because there's a new trip. Watch for it!
Of course, there will also be new things, because there's a new trip. Watch for it!
30 July 2007
Lazy Days
Summer is nice. I can hang around he house and do pretty much nothing. Or play games. I've been doing a lot of that.
Been to the beach a few times. I really want to go surfing soon.
Went to the fair. Saw Weird Al in concert. Fourth row seats. It was great. I took a bunch of blurry, poorly exposed pictures with my cell phone. If anyone wants to see I will share.
Went to the fair again, did rides. lots of spinning around. Whee! Saw a clown/acrobat show, too. Aga-Boom. They were good. Had the same seats as for Weird Al.
I've been playing DS games a lot. It's occupying a lot of my time.
Been to the beach a few times. I really want to go surfing soon.
Went to the fair. Saw Weird Al in concert. Fourth row seats. It was great. I took a bunch of blurry, poorly exposed pictures with my cell phone. If anyone wants to see I will share.
Went to the fair again, did rides. lots of spinning around. Whee! Saw a clown/acrobat show, too. Aga-Boom. They were good. Had the same seats as for Weird Al.
I've been playing DS games a lot. It's occupying a lot of my time.
19 July 2007
Recently...
Apparently, I don't post enough any more. What can I say? I've been relaxing since I came back to America.
Been playing a lot of different DS games, since I got a flash cartridge. It's handy.
Earlier this week, Crystal learned that someone had gotten an advanced copy of Harry Potter 7 onto the internet, and made me go find it for her. Didn't take long. Apparently, someone got a copy of the book early and decided it would be a good use of their time to take pictures of every page. Whatever floats your boat, I guess... Anyway, thanks to that we've already been reading the book. Right now she's on chapter 18, and I'm on 10. I took a break the last couple days.
A few days ago, I found a random bottle of maple syrup in my room, and decided to play with it. I've been putting maple syrup in my drinks. Juices, sodas (as I'm writing, it's maple 7up) and it's working out quite well for me. I think maple syrup is good for more than just waffles. ;) Really, though, what kind of person finds a random bottle of maple syrup while looking through their bedroom? PRobably just me, I suppose...
Yesterday, I decided the weather was nice, so I went out in the back yard and laid down in the grass, and took a nap in the sun for a while. That was nice. I watched the birds a bit.
Eventually, I'll stop being a lazy git and go through my pictures form japan. At that time, I'll be able to remember trips and stories, and will upload some pictures here and tell more about my trip.
Been playing a lot of different DS games, since I got a flash cartridge. It's handy.
Earlier this week, Crystal learned that someone had gotten an advanced copy of Harry Potter 7 onto the internet, and made me go find it for her. Didn't take long. Apparently, someone got a copy of the book early and decided it would be a good use of their time to take pictures of every page. Whatever floats your boat, I guess... Anyway, thanks to that we've already been reading the book. Right now she's on chapter 18, and I'm on 10. I took a break the last couple days.
A few days ago, I found a random bottle of maple syrup in my room, and decided to play with it. I've been putting maple syrup in my drinks. Juices, sodas (as I'm writing, it's maple 7up) and it's working out quite well for me. I think maple syrup is good for more than just waffles. ;) Really, though, what kind of person finds a random bottle of maple syrup while looking through their bedroom? PRobably just me, I suppose...
Yesterday, I decided the weather was nice, so I went out in the back yard and laid down in the grass, and took a nap in the sun for a while. That was nice. I watched the birds a bit.
Eventually, I'll stop being a lazy git and go through my pictures form japan. At that time, I'll be able to remember trips and stories, and will upload some pictures here and tell more about my trip.
03 July 2007
im home!
landed a little before 11 yesterday. left the airport around 1. ate mexican food. went to sleep around 4 and woke up at 11 pm. now its 5pm and i've been up the whole time. yay jetlag! yay dry climate!
moustache grew big.
moustache grew big.
26 June 2007
Tachibana Yama 橘山
A couple of days ago, Marlon and Kevin hiked with me up a mountain up the road from our dorm.
I`d been wanting to do it for a while, and I was prepared and extecting to climb stright up the hillside through the brush and trees, forging a way as we went. Fortunately, it didn`t come to that.
There was a trail.
We left about 3:30pm ad arrived home very near 8:00.
On the way up, we took a lot of pictures, saw huge spiders (No, bigger... think bigger than that too.) These buggers were easily four inches across. Without the legs. They were black and yellow striped.
We saw mushrooms and gnarly trees, and huge butterflies. the bugs in japan seem like they`re from a hundred million years ago. huge! the spiders, for one. giant black butterflies. flies three times normal size. foot long earthworms (we thought it was a snake!).
In Japan, people must stay very fit from their good diets and excercise (stairs everywhere). We passed about three old Japanese dudes who were on the way down from the summit. They seemed to be doing fine, and us three dudes in the prime of our lives were having a hard time in places. It was crazy.
As we neared the top, more light began to come through, and we could sense that we had almost reached the goal. at the last turn in the path, the way ahead was blindigly bright, and as we emerged from the jungle, the top of the mountain was clear-cut and grassy, with a ring of trees around the back. Ahead, all of Fukuoka lay spread out before us, and through the haze was the sea of Japan. It was amazing. Unfortunately, pictures of the scene didn't really work because of the haze, but we were able to pick out the college, and off to the side our little home of Kenshuso Dorm a couple blocks away.
At the summit was another old Japanese dude and his dog. It`s name was Sakura, and I don`t remember the guy`s name. But we talked with him for a little while and he took pictures of us. They`ll be around somewhere. Look for them from Kevin.
We had a notion to stick around and watch the sun set form the peak, but decided going down the hill in the dark would be a bad idea.
We headed down by a different path, and this one was even more wild.
This was where we saw the king of the earthworms (I named him Jeffrey) as well as walked into some nasty spider webs. Marlon caught one full across the face and when we looked, there was another huge spider sitting up a little higher. Fortunately it wasn't on him - we would have had to draw straws to pick it off. This one was a couple inches long, and had decided to build it`s web full across the path, hoping to catch some really big prey, I guess. Kevin took pictures of Marlon freaking out and the spider itself.
At one point, when we were beginning to wonder if maybe we`d gotten entirely lost, and if everything had given way to jungle (we went through about 5 different kinds of jungle on the mountain), we came across a little shrine set to the side of the path. Japan is funny that way. Even in the middle of nowhere, on a mountain overtaken by jungle, you can find things like this. Japan is fun.
It was on the way back to the path that we found Jeffrey, King of the Earth Worms. I guess I stepped on it, because Marlon saw it waving around like an injured snake in the leaves. I looked too, and thought it was a snake. I was going to try and pick it up with my walking stick when I got a closer look and realized it was a worm. Amazing! It was longer than my hand, which is quite large indeed, and fat and firm. We took pictures.
On the way down more, the mosquitos really started attacking, and we weren't having quite as much fun.
When we finally emerged from the jungle at the base, we found ourselves right at a buddhist shrine/temple thing. There was nobody around, just a couple of cats, but we looked and stayed there for a bit to film some things. From there, there was a real, paved road back home.
The trip took nearly 5 hours. It was about a 3-mile hike (probably closer to 3.5) and had an elevation change of 1000 feet.
It was a lot of fun.
I`d been wanting to do it for a while, and I was prepared and extecting to climb stright up the hillside through the brush and trees, forging a way as we went. Fortunately, it didn`t come to that.
There was a trail.
We left about 3:30pm ad arrived home very near 8:00.
On the way up, we took a lot of pictures, saw huge spiders (No, bigger... think bigger than that too.) These buggers were easily four inches across. Without the legs. They were black and yellow striped.
We saw mushrooms and gnarly trees, and huge butterflies. the bugs in japan seem like they`re from a hundred million years ago. huge! the spiders, for one. giant black butterflies. flies three times normal size. foot long earthworms (we thought it was a snake!).
In Japan, people must stay very fit from their good diets and excercise (stairs everywhere). We passed about three old Japanese dudes who were on the way down from the summit. They seemed to be doing fine, and us three dudes in the prime of our lives were having a hard time in places. It was crazy.
As we neared the top, more light began to come through, and we could sense that we had almost reached the goal. at the last turn in the path, the way ahead was blindigly bright, and as we emerged from the jungle, the top of the mountain was clear-cut and grassy, with a ring of trees around the back. Ahead, all of Fukuoka lay spread out before us, and through the haze was the sea of Japan. It was amazing. Unfortunately, pictures of the scene didn't really work because of the haze, but we were able to pick out the college, and off to the side our little home of Kenshuso Dorm a couple blocks away.
At the summit was another old Japanese dude and his dog. It`s name was Sakura, and I don`t remember the guy`s name. But we talked with him for a little while and he took pictures of us. They`ll be around somewhere. Look for them from Kevin.
We had a notion to stick around and watch the sun set form the peak, but decided going down the hill in the dark would be a bad idea.
We headed down by a different path, and this one was even more wild.
This was where we saw the king of the earthworms (I named him Jeffrey) as well as walked into some nasty spider webs. Marlon caught one full across the face and when we looked, there was another huge spider sitting up a little higher. Fortunately it wasn't on him - we would have had to draw straws to pick it off. This one was a couple inches long, and had decided to build it`s web full across the path, hoping to catch some really big prey, I guess. Kevin took pictures of Marlon freaking out and the spider itself.
At one point, when we were beginning to wonder if maybe we`d gotten entirely lost, and if everything had given way to jungle (we went through about 5 different kinds of jungle on the mountain), we came across a little shrine set to the side of the path. Japan is funny that way. Even in the middle of nowhere, on a mountain overtaken by jungle, you can find things like this. Japan is fun.
It was on the way back to the path that we found Jeffrey, King of the Earth Worms. I guess I stepped on it, because Marlon saw it waving around like an injured snake in the leaves. I looked too, and thought it was a snake. I was going to try and pick it up with my walking stick when I got a closer look and realized it was a worm. Amazing! It was longer than my hand, which is quite large indeed, and fat and firm. We took pictures.
On the way down more, the mosquitos really started attacking, and we weren't having quite as much fun.
When we finally emerged from the jungle at the base, we found ourselves right at a buddhist shrine/temple thing. There was nobody around, just a couple of cats, but we looked and stayed there for a bit to film some things. From there, there was a real, paved road back home.
The trip took nearly 5 hours. It was about a 3-mile hike (probably closer to 3.5) and had an elevation change of 1000 feet.
It was a lot of fun.
20 June 2007
Daily Life, or - Look, I`m on T V!
Each morning around 7:30, Crystal comes and pokes me out of sleep, and I get dressed and we go for breakfast at the Clubhouse - one of the cafeterias on campus whereat two meals a day were paid for as part of the cost of our trip.
Usually, there`s a bit of free time and then the whole group will go off for our activity for today.
Today, we went to the KBC TV studio (They`re channel 9) and had a tour. It started off with getting to look around the set for their morning show, アサデス (Asa Desu - It`s Morning) and then watched them set up and film the first ten minutes ish live. That was pretty cool.
Then, it was upstairs to the control room. There were gianormous boards of switches and knobs and sliders. I could have had endless fun in there. But I decided to let things be.
Afterwards, it was into a radio studio. We got to fiddle around with things a little, and our guide told us about how the studio we were in (one of four?) was designed for live music, since it was big and had boom microphones. We walked from there into the control room (half the group at a time) of another radio studio and watched the radio people do their show for a little bit. Takahashi loved my hair. He was one of the radio guys*.
After that we walked through the newsroom - which was a lot like you see on TV shows expet not so busy - and then into another studio, where we had some fun taking pictures in front of the blue weather screen, which I`ll have even more fun with in photoshop at home.
*Incidentally, this isn`t the first time radio people liked my head. In Kagoshima, we saw DJ Pocky and DJ (some name in japanese that I couldn`t read) in their booth near a mall doing a live broadcast, and they loved me and talked about me on air.
afterwards, we wandered around Tenjin, a bit shopping area that we all have been spending a lot of time in. Kevin and I ran into a random film crew and decided to film them because it was funny. Turned out they were doing a segment for the very show we watched from the studio. The bit they were doing was for next week. We lost the rest of the group because of that, except Crystal who waited. Yay her.
Kevin split off and crystal I and a goat got some lunch. But the goat was being rude to people, so we ditched him, not wanting to be associated with someone so boorish. I had steamed meat buns and takoyaki and some sort of yummy-cooked hardboiled egg that they do here. Oishii! Delicious, if you don`t know.
Home again Home again Jiggity Jog.
The other meal we eat every day at school is dinner. The cooks names are Moto and Tomo. For the first couple weeks, I thought it was one dude who`s name I couldn`t remember properly, and another who`s name I didn`t know. They cook different things for us every day, and it`s always good. Lunches we are on our own for.
One day, we ate at Ichiraku Ramen, the same shop that the main character of a certain anime loves to go to. Turns out, the creator went to the college I`m here at now (Kyushu Sangyo University) and frequented that particular ramen shop. Nice!
Things have become kind of routine. I can tell my Japanese is improving. I`m already doing better at understanding people and making myself known, but I have a long way to go. I want to keep getting better.
With only a week and a half left, I`ll don`t think we`ll be able to do enough to satisfy me and want to go. I like it here.
...Incidentally, the title of this post was a lie. I wasn`t on TV.
Usually, there`s a bit of free time and then the whole group will go off for our activity for today.
Today, we went to the KBC TV studio (They`re channel 9) and had a tour. It started off with getting to look around the set for their morning show, アサデス (Asa Desu - It`s Morning) and then watched them set up and film the first ten minutes ish live. That was pretty cool.
Then, it was upstairs to the control room. There were gianormous boards of switches and knobs and sliders. I could have had endless fun in there. But I decided to let things be.
Afterwards, it was into a radio studio. We got to fiddle around with things a little, and our guide told us about how the studio we were in (one of four?) was designed for live music, since it was big and had boom microphones. We walked from there into the control room (half the group at a time) of another radio studio and watched the radio people do their show for a little bit. Takahashi loved my hair. He was one of the radio guys*.
After that we walked through the newsroom - which was a lot like you see on TV shows expet not so busy - and then into another studio, where we had some fun taking pictures in front of the blue weather screen, which I`ll have even more fun with in photoshop at home.
*Incidentally, this isn`t the first time radio people liked my head. In Kagoshima, we saw DJ Pocky and DJ (some name in japanese that I couldn`t read) in their booth near a mall doing a live broadcast, and they loved me and talked about me on air.
afterwards, we wandered around Tenjin, a bit shopping area that we all have been spending a lot of time in. Kevin and I ran into a random film crew and decided to film them because it was funny. Turned out they were doing a segment for the very show we watched from the studio. The bit they were doing was for next week. We lost the rest of the group because of that, except Crystal who waited. Yay her.
Kevin split off and crystal I and a goat got some lunch. But the goat was being rude to people, so we ditched him, not wanting to be associated with someone so boorish. I had steamed meat buns and takoyaki and some sort of yummy-cooked hardboiled egg that they do here. Oishii! Delicious, if you don`t know.
Home again Home again Jiggity Jog.
The other meal we eat every day at school is dinner. The cooks names are Moto and Tomo. For the first couple weeks, I thought it was one dude who`s name I couldn`t remember properly, and another who`s name I didn`t know. They cook different things for us every day, and it`s always good. Lunches we are on our own for.
One day, we ate at Ichiraku Ramen, the same shop that the main character of a certain anime loves to go to. Turns out, the creator went to the college I`m here at now (Kyushu Sangyo University) and frequented that particular ramen shop. Nice!
Things have become kind of routine. I can tell my Japanese is improving. I`m already doing better at understanding people and making myself known, but I have a long way to go. I want to keep getting better.
With only a week and a half left, I`ll don`t think we`ll be able to do enough to satisfy me and want to go. I like it here.
...Incidentally, the title of this post was a lie. I wasn`t on TV.
17 June 2007
engrish and cliffdiving
Today is monday the 18th.
Saturday was a free day. Crystal and I went shopping in Tenjin and bought a lot of shirts. All but one of them are engrish shirts. the other is jsut a nice shirt.
for the uninitiated, "engrish" is nonsensical english that the japanese write on things because they think english is cool and they dont understand it. The shirts say things like "notorious pipsqueak" and "get disgustingly drunk" and "the spare time which should go to sleep is spended by the sports. he goes to school. Also play the game and chat with friends. then, what the special thing for this guy is the concert halls are in all over the world. the soul is supported by a wonderful family. this sleepy man is still in a growth phase. his only hope is to get up when he wants."
that last was the first of four paragraphs on the shirt i`m wearing right now. What does it mean? Who knows! Nothing! That`s why it`s funny. For some engrish fun yourself, write a sentence into any web translator program and translate it to Japanese and back. good for hours of wholesome fun!
here`s a website to help: http://steinhoffen.tripod.com/engrish.html
Sunday we went touring by bus a long way. the first stop was a bee farm. I bought a sampler of flavored honeys full of tastiness and joy. then we went into the caldera of a big volcano, and some of the guys and i tried to climb a mountain. a bush stole my shoe, and i fell in a river. it was great fun. there were a couple other stops as well. one was a mini-niagara falls, whereat Kevin tried to take the quick way down. perched precariously on the precipitous precipice (that`s alliteration) he tried to film over the edge, slipped, and almost went over the edge himself. That would have pretty much spoiled his trip, i think. And his shot. I wasn't looking forward to all the stairs down to the bottom to climb in the boat and fish him out, only to have him tell me to save the camera first. Yes, there was a small boat. yes, there were a lot of stairs. no, the camera wouldn't have made it. yes, writing like this gets annoying. I shall stop.
Saturday was a free day. Crystal and I went shopping in Tenjin and bought a lot of shirts. All but one of them are engrish shirts. the other is jsut a nice shirt.
for the uninitiated, "engrish" is nonsensical english that the japanese write on things because they think english is cool and they dont understand it. The shirts say things like "notorious pipsqueak" and "get disgustingly drunk" and "the spare time which should go to sleep is spended by the sports. he goes to school. Also play the game and chat with friends. then, what the special thing for this guy is the concert halls are in all over the world. the soul is supported by a wonderful family. this sleepy man is still in a growth phase. his only hope is to get up when he wants."
that last was the first of four paragraphs on the shirt i`m wearing right now. What does it mean? Who knows! Nothing! That`s why it`s funny. For some engrish fun yourself, write a sentence into any web translator program and translate it to Japanese and back. good for hours of wholesome fun!
here`s a website to help: http://steinhoffen.tripod.com/engrish.html
Sunday we went touring by bus a long way. the first stop was a bee farm. I bought a sampler of flavored honeys full of tastiness and joy. then we went into the caldera of a big volcano, and some of the guys and i tried to climb a mountain. a bush stole my shoe, and i fell in a river. it was great fun. there were a couple other stops as well. one was a mini-niagara falls, whereat Kevin tried to take the quick way down. perched precariously on the precipitous precipice (that`s alliteration) he tried to film over the edge, slipped, and almost went over the edge himself. That would have pretty much spoiled his trip, i think. And his shot. I wasn't looking forward to all the stairs down to the bottom to climb in the boat and fish him out, only to have him tell me to save the camera first. Yes, there was a small boat. yes, there were a lot of stairs. no, the camera wouldn't have made it. yes, writing like this gets annoying. I shall stop.
Address
if anyone wants to send me mail in the two weeks i have left in japan, here is mty address:
Mark Crawford
c/o Center for International Affairs
Kyushu Sangyo University
2-3-1 Matsukadai
Higashi-ku Fukuoka
Yay, mail! Help make Dustin not be the only one getting stuff.
Mark Crawford
c/o Center for International Affairs
Kyushu Sangyo University
2-3-1 Matsukadai
Higashi-ku Fukuoka
Yay, mail! Help make Dustin not be the only one getting stuff.
15 June 2007
Whee, I like japan
Wow, I guess I`m a failure at keeping this up to date consitently, eh? I`ll try to do better.
Yesterday was the bet day so far, I think. We started off bright and early with breakfast, and then a bus picked us up from our dorm. Better than walking to the bus stop already!
It took us to the mountains, where there was a village and an elementary school with only 7 students (plus a couple visitors that day - nine kids) and four teachers to maintain them. It`s able to be so small because they`re a branch of the main school down the hill, from whence lunch is delivered each day by taxi.
They began with some introductions, and the children did a performance for us with Taiko drums, two pieces which were written by students at the school in previous years. They were good! afterwards, we got to fiddle on teh drums a but, and it really wasnt as easy as they made it look. I tried matchign the pattern from the boy showing me, and just when i started to get the more complicated one, he started spinning the sticks. then i messed up again.
We split into 3 groups and went to different classrooms and each did a separate activity. One did calligraphy, another origami, and my group pressed flowers. I partnbered myself with Zenkou, a second grader who showed me how to do it and helped me along the way. And said things I didn`t understand because it was Japanese. Sigh... outpaced by a second grader. At one point, he said "let`s go get some flowers" and my response was "I`m nineteen." ...He looked at me funny and said it again, then I got it.
After an all-too-short time with the kids, sensei had a special treat for us - barbecue!
It was spectacular. We went to a japanese-style barbecue place, where they brought plates of raw meat and we cooked them on a grill in the middle of the table. Everybody got stuffed with meat. Yummy, glorious meat. The pineapple was really great grilled, too.
Then we went to NAnzoin temple. I liked it there a lot. There mere many statues, and a couple of little caves to crawl through with shrines. Then I wandered off into the forest, ansd that was really great too. There was nothign around, jsut hte path I was following, and it really seemed like i could get lost in time. It was a bamboo forest, with birds calling and rain occaisionally makign it down to me, and it was pretty surreal. I found myself a nice piece of fallen bamboo and made a staff. I brought it home to the dorm.
Apparently, this is supposed to be a famous temple with a huge buddha layign down, but i didnt know that and I guess I missed it by wandering into the forest. it`s ok though. sonmeone else will have taken pictures.
Afterwards, we went to costco, grouped up with the people who had menmbership cards. All I bought was some cheese bagels and a really big bag of reese`s pieces. Costco was expensive, like most of japan.
Then, back home. I sat and carved side branches off my staff for a while and managed to get only two minor cuts and a blister on my thumb. Then it was in to watch TV for a bit. Some show about foreigners. IT was really quite amusing. Cassidy came too, and together we managed to figure out that they were trying to fidn out what was the mnost popular japanese restaurant for foreigners. So they found some gaikokujin (the more polite term for foreigners) in amakusa (we were there, I`ll write about it sometime) and send them opff to find lunch. The winning thing was a sushi train restaurant, when the food tries to escape you on a little conveyor belt and you have to hunt it down. Jsut like the traditional, time honored tradition of hunting sushi. 16 people went there, out of the hundred foreigners.
the next bit of the show was finding out the most popular type of cup ramen. So the guy and his cameraman went around barging into random peoples homes and searching their kitchens for ramen.
Really.
it went something like this:
*knock knock*
woman answers the door "hello?"
guy comes in "hi there, we`re doign a survery about ramen!"
guy looks around till he finds the kitchen, then starts digging around in the cupboards to find cup ramen.
in one house, the woman was fighting him for the cupboards, trying to hold them shut while he looked for ramen.
in another, it went something like this: "oh, look at the family, mom and some kids... where`s dad?" and the guy looks around the house to find dad. "oh, here he is in the shower!" as he opens the shower door on dad.
I`m not making this up. It was on T V.
Anyway, after it ended i played video games for a while and went to bed. Then I looked at my watch and realized it was only 8. Damn. I went to bed at 8. But there was nothing to do so I stayed.
That was the best day.
Yesterday was the bet day so far, I think. We started off bright and early with breakfast, and then a bus picked us up from our dorm. Better than walking to the bus stop already!
It took us to the mountains, where there was a village and an elementary school with only 7 students (plus a couple visitors that day - nine kids) and four teachers to maintain them. It`s able to be so small because they`re a branch of the main school down the hill, from whence lunch is delivered each day by taxi.
They began with some introductions, and the children did a performance for us with Taiko drums, two pieces which were written by students at the school in previous years. They were good! afterwards, we got to fiddle on teh drums a but, and it really wasnt as easy as they made it look. I tried matchign the pattern from the boy showing me, and just when i started to get the more complicated one, he started spinning the sticks. then i messed up again.
We split into 3 groups and went to different classrooms and each did a separate activity. One did calligraphy, another origami, and my group pressed flowers. I partnbered myself with Zenkou, a second grader who showed me how to do it and helped me along the way. And said things I didn`t understand because it was Japanese. Sigh... outpaced by a second grader. At one point, he said "let`s go get some flowers" and my response was "I`m nineteen." ...He looked at me funny and said it again, then I got it.
After an all-too-short time with the kids, sensei had a special treat for us - barbecue!
It was spectacular. We went to a japanese-style barbecue place, where they brought plates of raw meat and we cooked them on a grill in the middle of the table. Everybody got stuffed with meat. Yummy, glorious meat. The pineapple was really great grilled, too.
Then we went to NAnzoin temple. I liked it there a lot. There mere many statues, and a couple of little caves to crawl through with shrines. Then I wandered off into the forest, ansd that was really great too. There was nothign around, jsut hte path I was following, and it really seemed like i could get lost in time. It was a bamboo forest, with birds calling and rain occaisionally makign it down to me, and it was pretty surreal. I found myself a nice piece of fallen bamboo and made a staff. I brought it home to the dorm.
Apparently, this is supposed to be a famous temple with a huge buddha layign down, but i didnt know that and I guess I missed it by wandering into the forest. it`s ok though. sonmeone else will have taken pictures.
Afterwards, we went to costco, grouped up with the people who had menmbership cards. All I bought was some cheese bagels and a really big bag of reese`s pieces. Costco was expensive, like most of japan.
Then, back home. I sat and carved side branches off my staff for a while and managed to get only two minor cuts and a blister on my thumb. Then it was in to watch TV for a bit. Some show about foreigners. IT was really quite amusing. Cassidy came too, and together we managed to figure out that they were trying to fidn out what was the mnost popular japanese restaurant for foreigners. So they found some gaikokujin (the more polite term for foreigners) in amakusa (we were there, I`ll write about it sometime) and send them opff to find lunch. The winning thing was a sushi train restaurant, when the food tries to escape you on a little conveyor belt and you have to hunt it down. Jsut like the traditional, time honored tradition of hunting sushi. 16 people went there, out of the hundred foreigners.
the next bit of the show was finding out the most popular type of cup ramen. So the guy and his cameraman went around barging into random peoples homes and searching their kitchens for ramen.
Really.
it went something like this:
*knock knock*
woman answers the door "hello?"
guy comes in "hi there, we`re doign a survery about ramen!"
guy looks around till he finds the kitchen, then starts digging around in the cupboards to find cup ramen.
in one house, the woman was fighting him for the cupboards, trying to hold them shut while he looked for ramen.
in another, it went something like this: "oh, look at the family, mom and some kids... where`s dad?" and the guy looks around the house to find dad. "oh, here he is in the shower!" as he opens the shower door on dad.
I`m not making this up. It was on T V.
Anyway, after it ended i played video games for a while and went to bed. Then I looked at my watch and realized it was only 8. Damn. I went to bed at 8. But there was nothing to do so I stayed.
That was the best day.
13 June 2007
This is where I live!
The Kenshusho Dorm, at Kyushu Sangyo Daigaku (KSU).in japanese, that would be 九州産業大学. If you can`t read that, google for instructions. Anyway, come in, let`s look around.
The hallway. This time, it`s cooperating. See below - sometimes it misbehaves.
The tatami room, or Cool Room. Our other common room. It`s cooler, but not used as much. I like it though.
Cassidy spends a lot of time there playing that game. It`s about Japanese history. And guys with strange weapons who kill everything. This morning, he was someone with a hula-hoop made of swords. Or something.
The kitchen. We`re not allowed to cook in it, unfortunately (only sensei), but we use the fridge for keeping things cold. And as a punishment - twety minutes inside if you make some sort of cultural faux-pas. It`s a big fridge.
Common room 1. We eat here sometimes, and have class with sensei.
The main hallway. It blurred. Sometimes that happens. I think it`s the japanese spirits messing with us. It can be a bit disorienting when you`re walking to the bathroom in the middle of the night.
This is my room.
Crystal has pictures around too. They are here. go see.
The hallway. This time, it`s cooperating. See below - sometimes it misbehaves.
The tatami room, or Cool Room. Our other common room. It`s cooler, but not used as much. I like it though.
Cassidy spends a lot of time there playing that game. It`s about Japanese history. And guys with strange weapons who kill everything. This morning, he was someone with a hula-hoop made of swords. Or something.
The kitchen. We`re not allowed to cook in it, unfortunately (only sensei), but we use the fridge for keeping things cold. And as a punishment - twety minutes inside if you make some sort of cultural faux-pas. It`s a big fridge.
Common room 1. We eat here sometimes, and have class with sensei.
The main hallway. It blurred. Sometimes that happens. I think it`s the japanese spirits messing with us. It can be a bit disorienting when you`re walking to the bathroom in the middle of the night.
This is my room.
Crystal has pictures around too. They are here. go see.
11 June 2007
a week in fukuoka
i copy/paste-ed this from the email i sent to everyone, so some bits may be redundant. in that case, just move on to the pictures below.
First off, the website for the show (where I have a new blog to maintain) is http://travelmoxie.tv/
Second, if anyone doesn't have it yet, my blog is at http://oberek.blogspot.com. Spread that one around. Tell everybody. My posts there will probably be pretty much the same as what I`m sending here, but you can leave comments and make me happy.
I`m probably going to forget things here, since a fair bit has happened and my memory is bad, but maybe I can fill in blanks later.
It`s been a week in fukuoka now, and the pace has calmed down a lot. There have actually been a few days that were entirely free. Our schedule did get a bit messed up - the school was closed on what was supposed to be the first week of class because of measles. Luckily, all us Americans had a shot for that ages ago. Immunity power, GO!
One night, we went out for karaoke. That was fun. I could have done better, except I`ve been sick most of the week. Getting better, but not all there yet, so my voice is a little off. Still, very amusing. We will do it again.
Gone shopping a couple days. I bought a yukata. I will get a picture at some point. For now, i have some other pictures on my blog so see them there.
Today we met the school`s president and had a bit of a tour of campus. Good to know where things are.
身ってよ日本語を書いています。面白いね
Teehee. I can write in japanese.
For some reason, most of what has happened escapes me at the moment. Just go see my blog for some pictures, then.
Ta!
First off, the website for the show (where I have a new blog to maintain) is http://travelmoxie.tv/
Second, if anyone doesn't have it yet, my blog is at http://oberek.blogspot.com. Spread that one around. Tell everybody. My posts there will probably be pretty much the same as what I`m sending here, but you can leave comments and make me happy.
I`m probably going to forget things here, since a fair bit has happened and my memory is bad, but maybe I can fill in blanks later.
It`s been a week in fukuoka now, and the pace has calmed down a lot. There have actually been a few days that were entirely free. Our schedule did get a bit messed up - the school was closed on what was supposed to be the first week of class because of measles. Luckily, all us Americans had a shot for that ages ago. Immunity power, GO!
One night, we went out for karaoke. That was fun. I could have done better, except I`ve been sick most of the week. Getting better, but not all there yet, so my voice is a little off. Still, very amusing. We will do it again.
Gone shopping a couple days. I bought a yukata. I will get a picture at some point. For now, i have some other pictures on my blog so see them there.
Today we met the school`s president and had a bit of a tour of campus. Good to know where things are.
身ってよ日本語を書いています。面白いね
Teehee. I can write in japanese.
For some reason, most of what has happened escapes me at the moment. Just go see my blog for some pictures, then.
Ta!
Pictures
A random assortment of pictures from japan.
These are in reverse order for some reason. scroll to the bottom and go upwards.
some are doubled. please ignore the second. or the first, your choice. but not both.
some are sideways. please tilt your head to accomodate.
near the top, that mountain with smoke is a volcano that tried to kill us all. we were driving around on it.
But as you can see, I conquered it.
You can click on any picture to see a really big version of it. If you`re going to save one, I recommend it be that one.
These are in reverse order for some reason. scroll to the bottom and go upwards.
some are doubled. please ignore the second. or the first, your choice. but not both.
some are sideways. please tilt your head to accomodate.
near the top, that mountain with smoke is a volcano that tried to kill us all. we were driving around on it.
But as you can see, I conquered it.
You can click on any picture to see a really big version of it. If you`re going to save one, I recommend it be that one.
03 June 2007
Nihon kara...
Back in Tokyo, we had an all-day bus tour one day, and after went to the famous area Akihabara, the Electric Town. It's full of electronics shops and comic places, arcades and restaurants. it was very cool. But it rained. I didn't buy anything, because there wasnt much if you arent willing to spend a lot.
the next day we went and picked up our train tickets for the bullet train. we have a pass for a week to travel anywhere on the JR train lines, which is a lot of them. In the evening, a group went to Roppongi, which is supposed to be a fun flashy party area. But it rained. And it was thursday. So it was pretty dead. We went and ate at a little restaurant on the way back ot the hotel, we were all exhausted.
Almost the entire next day was spent on the Shinkansen on the way to Fukuoka. We stopped off in Hamamatsu and toured the Yamaha factory, where they make grand pianos, and their music musem. That was fun.
Next day, a group went on our own to Miyajima, an island at Hiroshima that has a famous shrine, and a big red arch that you see pictures of sticking out of the water. It was low tide when we were there, so it was sticking out of the sand instead. There were deer on the island. When we got off the ferry, and out of the station, we saw one, Ooh, a deer. Then there was another. And we looked around, and there were a lot more. The deer were everywhere. just hanging around. We took pictures of them and with them, and some of the other people in the group that went said the deer tried to eat their stuff. Unfortunately, we didnt have long there, but we caught the ferry back to the main part of Hiroshima and ate okonomiyaki at a nearby restaurant. This is the dish that Hiroshima is famous for, and they made it a lot better than I do. It took all evening to get back to the dorms at the college in Fukuoka.
Next day (Yesterday) we took the train to Amakusa. That took all morning, but we got to the hotel around 1:00 and met with our host families, and went out with them until evening. I was with Kevin the photographer (who gets lost a lot, but managed not to that day - though he did run out of film and made us walk back up the hill for it) and our family was very nice. We went to a flower festival at a park, and most of the other people did too. Kevin and i, and our family, and Crystal participated in a traditional tea ceremony. That was cool.
Afterward, we went with the family to a pottery shop, they had a lot of nice things, and toured to see how they make everything, and their three huge kilns. We had coffee there aqt a little cafe they maintain on site, and then stopped at a small bakery and got cakes on the way to the family's house.
It was nice there, big and clean. one room was very traditional styled and fancy. We had tea and our cakes and talked for a while, and showed pictures. Our hosts gifted upon us a bottle of sake and two crystal glasses. in the evening, we came back to the hotel for dinner. The hotel is very fancy and nice, I like my room a lot, and the view from the balcony is great. For dinner, we dressed in yukatas and were served lots and lots of food. I stopped counting after about the third course, but one of the guys said it was a total of 13 dishes. Lots of food. It was very tasty. Part way through dinner, one of the hotel people came in and found kevin and I, and told us that our family had come back for something. They brought us more gifts. It was very kind. We each got a small doorway curtain sign thing. Kevin's has a mountain, and says Japan on it, and mine has the traditional beckoning cat icon of luck and good fortune. And also a box of incense each, and a card. We bowed a lot.
In the evening, most of the group went to the onsen nearby (google it, and pay attention to the customs - the key word starts with "n"...), but not all together. most of the guys were leaving as i arrived. That was an interesting experience, but it was nice. There was an inside and outside section, and outside was also stairs leading down to a separate area with four individual tubs. I sat in one for a little while and left, back to the hotel.
That was the first relaxed day so far. Every day has always been busy busy, run run, stairs stairs stairs. This day was overall calm and very refreshing.
This morning we had a buffet style breakfast, with mostly traditional foods. Very tasty. Later, we'll be off to
someplace else, and will stay in another nice hotel again tonight, I think.
My camera's memory card is nearly out of space (700-ish pictures on it) and I forgot my cable in fukuoka so i cant get them off. No pictures for now.
Crystal wants to go see the aquarium at the bottom of the cliff, and time is getting a little short, so watch for more from me another time.
Ooh, the travel show site is travelmoxie.tv but there's not much there, and may not be until we come home. Go see it anyway.
Sayounara
the next day we went and picked up our train tickets for the bullet train. we have a pass for a week to travel anywhere on the JR train lines, which is a lot of them. In the evening, a group went to Roppongi, which is supposed to be a fun flashy party area. But it rained. And it was thursday. So it was pretty dead. We went and ate at a little restaurant on the way back ot the hotel, we were all exhausted.
Almost the entire next day was spent on the Shinkansen on the way to Fukuoka. We stopped off in Hamamatsu and toured the Yamaha factory, where they make grand pianos, and their music musem. That was fun.
Next day, a group went on our own to Miyajima, an island at Hiroshima that has a famous shrine, and a big red arch that you see pictures of sticking out of the water. It was low tide when we were there, so it was sticking out of the sand instead. There were deer on the island. When we got off the ferry, and out of the station, we saw one, Ooh, a deer. Then there was another. And we looked around, and there were a lot more. The deer were everywhere. just hanging around. We took pictures of them and with them, and some of the other people in the group that went said the deer tried to eat their stuff. Unfortunately, we didnt have long there, but we caught the ferry back to the main part of Hiroshima and ate okonomiyaki at a nearby restaurant. This is the dish that Hiroshima is famous for, and they made it a lot better than I do. It took all evening to get back to the dorms at the college in Fukuoka.
Next day (Yesterday) we took the train to Amakusa. That took all morning, but we got to the hotel around 1:00 and met with our host families, and went out with them until evening. I was with Kevin the photographer (who gets lost a lot, but managed not to that day - though he did run out of film and made us walk back up the hill for it) and our family was very nice. We went to a flower festival at a park, and most of the other people did too. Kevin and i, and our family, and Crystal participated in a traditional tea ceremony. That was cool.
Afterward, we went with the family to a pottery shop, they had a lot of nice things, and toured to see how they make everything, and their three huge kilns. We had coffee there aqt a little cafe they maintain on site, and then stopped at a small bakery and got cakes on the way to the family's house.
It was nice there, big and clean. one room was very traditional styled and fancy. We had tea and our cakes and talked for a while, and showed pictures. Our hosts gifted upon us a bottle of sake and two crystal glasses. in the evening, we came back to the hotel for dinner. The hotel is very fancy and nice, I like my room a lot, and the view from the balcony is great. For dinner, we dressed in yukatas and were served lots and lots of food. I stopped counting after about the third course, but one of the guys said it was a total of 13 dishes. Lots of food. It was very tasty. Part way through dinner, one of the hotel people came in and found kevin and I, and told us that our family had come back for something. They brought us more gifts. It was very kind. We each got a small doorway curtain sign thing. Kevin's has a mountain, and says Japan on it, and mine has the traditional beckoning cat icon of luck and good fortune. And also a box of incense each, and a card. We bowed a lot.
In the evening, most of the group went to the onsen nearby (google it, and pay attention to the customs - the key word starts with "n"...), but not all together. most of the guys were leaving as i arrived. That was an interesting experience, but it was nice. There was an inside and outside section, and outside was also stairs leading down to a separate area with four individual tubs. I sat in one for a little while and left, back to the hotel.
That was the first relaxed day so far. Every day has always been busy busy, run run, stairs stairs stairs. This day was overall calm and very refreshing.
This morning we had a buffet style breakfast, with mostly traditional foods. Very tasty. Later, we'll be off to
someplace else, and will stay in another nice hotel again tonight, I think.
My camera's memory card is nearly out of space (700-ish pictures on it) and I forgot my cable in fukuoka so i cant get them off. No pictures for now.
Crystal wants to go see the aquarium at the bottom of the cliff, and time is getting a little short, so watch for more from me another time.
Ooh, the travel show site is travelmoxie.tv but there's not much there, and may not be until we come home. Go see it anyway.
Sayounara
29 May 2007
in japan
im writing this from a computer at the hotel im staying in in tokyo. i cant find the apostrophe key. im here and safe, its about 6 am and ive been up since 4. i went for a walk earlier and found out the area. ive taken lots of pictures already but internet right now is too expensive to take time to upload them.
japan seems very nice so far. i like where we are in tokyo. its very clean.
japan seems very nice so far. i like where we are in tokyo. its very clean.
27 May 2007
Ashita
Ashita means "Tomorrow" in Japanese. Because, tomorrow I'll be in Japan. I'm very excited!
Anyone who's looked here in the last couple days will see that I added my countdown timer to the sidebar - you can sit and watch it tick down to the very minute of my scheduled departure, if you like. And if you haven't been here in the last few days, look at it anyway. It's there.
I'm all packed at this point, ready to go. I've decided what I'm going to wear that will be comfy on the plane (10 hours ish, I think!), and filled up a ba with things to do and eat (the toys aren't food.)
Everyone share the link to here ( http://oberek.blogspot.com/ ) and pass it around, make sure everyone knows, because I'll do my best to keep up to date on this site with what I do throughout the course of my trip. So excited!
Anyone who's looked here in the last couple days will see that I added my countdown timer to the sidebar - you can sit and watch it tick down to the very minute of my scheduled departure, if you like. And if you haven't been here in the last few days, look at it anyway. It's there.
I'm all packed at this point, ready to go. I've decided what I'm going to wear that will be comfy on the plane (10 hours ish, I think!), and filled up a ba with things to do and eat (the toys aren't food.)
Everyone share the link to here ( http://oberek.blogspot.com/ ) and pass it around, make sure everyone knows, because I'll do my best to keep up to date on this site with what I do throughout the course of my trip. So excited!
21 May 2007
Goodbye Target
Today was my last day at Target. Most mondays, I work as a cashier from 12:15 to 5pm, and so it was today.
The whole time passed pretty well. It seemed busy for most of he day, which is fine with me because the time goes faster, and I don't like being bored.
As I went to clock out for the last time, everything was quiet. There was something beeping near the pharmacy, but I didn't pass many people. I watched the clock on the time punch machine as I sat, until it showed 5:00pm, and entered my employee number. At the end, it beeped a few times, at that was the end of it. No more going back in.
I had to see Rahul, our HR guy, to get paid out for the time I'd worked since my last check. He did a few things on the computer, and then I was even more officially done. No longer employed. However, everything had apparently been going too smoothly for the day. When he went in to do whatever it was in the system to tell it I'd get money, the servr wet down for maintenance. What fun. Aren't computers grand?
So I wandered the store for a little, saying goodbye to my friends, people I'd worked with for the last 6 months, until I was called back to the office and we finished everything.
I liked working at Target. I don't know if I want to go back, but the people were great, and everyone was very supportive.
Well, I guess that's it for being there though. I probably won't be seeing any of them again for over a month, likely longer. It's onwards and away for me, I'm flying away and when I come back, I'll find another job. Maybe it will pay better.
20 May 2007
Shots
Mom gave me shots the other day, since I'm going a way. Tetanus and Menyngitis, or however you spell that. Whatever. It was two days ago though, and the tetanus one still hurts, even though its getting better. I don't like needles. :(
18 May 2007
Another test post
I'm trying out posting in different ways, so let's see if this one works, and what it looks like..
--
...In accordance with the prophecy.
--
...In accordance with the prophecy.
1-click Award by 株式会社リクルートメディアコミュニケーションズ
1-click Award by 株式会社リクルートメディアコミュニケーションズ
Finally, we find out what makes the cursor move around your screen when you move the mouse!
After months of intensive study, a Japanese team of scientists using newly-developed high-powered magnification technology has solved the mystery for all.
Finally, we find out what makes the cursor move around your screen when you move the mouse!
After months of intensive study, a Japanese team of scientists using newly-developed high-powered magnification technology has solved the mystery for all.
14 May 2007
Crystal in the desert
She looks like she wants a hug. hehe
It's a trick picture though. I used my amazing photoshop skills to remove something from the image, but I purposely left evidence of it's presence. Can you tell what's gone? Prizes to whoever gets it right. :)
Silly little poems.
I was inspired to write a haiku from this post today on my aunt's blog: DaisyLand: Haik who?
When I was in school, if we had an assignment to write a poem, I would always choose to do a haiku, because they're relatively simple, and certainly short, and easy to come up with, and they don't rhyme. It made for simple assignments.
The first topic that came to mind to write about is japan, since that's a big thing coming up and it's on my mind.
I will fly away
the land of the rising sun
Japan awaits me
Long plane rides are dull
twelve hours is long to sit down
Arrive with sore butt.
Jet lag: not my friend
Falling asleep at strange times.
the first days are tough.
When I was in school, if we had an assignment to write a poem, I would always choose to do a haiku, because they're relatively simple, and certainly short, and easy to come up with, and they don't rhyme. It made for simple assignments.
The first topic that came to mind to write about is japan, since that's a big thing coming up and it's on my mind.
I will fly away
the land of the rising sun
Japan awaits me
Long plane rides are dull
twelve hours is long to sit down
Arrive with sore butt.
Jet lag: not my friend
Falling asleep at strange times.
the first days are tough.
12 May 2007
11 May 2007
Playing with fire
Fire is fun.
Swords are fun.
So I thought, what if I put them together?
Look and see...
I decided to set one of my swords on fire. The initial plan was to then attack something with it, but I realised that would be pretty dumb.
Fortunately, I had photographers on hand! So, I jsut posed and took some great pictures. I'm quite pleased!
It was great! I'm very pleased with how the pictures turned out. I think it was wicked awesome!
Hooray for flaming swords of doom!
Swords are fun.
So I thought, what if I put them together?
Look and see...
I decided to set one of my swords on fire. The initial plan was to then attack something with it, but I realised that would be pretty dumb.
Fortunately, I had photographers on hand! So, I jsut posed and took some great pictures. I'm quite pleased!
It was great! I'm very pleased with how the pictures turned out. I think it was wicked awesome!
Hooray for flaming swords of doom!
06 May 2007
09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
Just spreading it around...
(edited because I decided actually do prefer to be vague)
Just spreading it around...
(edited because I decided actually do prefer to be vague)
01 May 2007
Happy May!
It's May now. Huzzah! The weather is definitely like spring now, its very nice out. I can hear birds outside as I'm writing this. I like sunshine. I need to go surfing more. I'm going to Japan at the end of the month. That will be great.
A couple things in one
1.
I got a replacement phone in the mail today. It's charging now, but I set most of the settings the way I like. I haven't yet restored my address book or ringtones or anything, though. If anyone suspects I might not have their number, go ahead and email it to me.
As a special bonus, I will now also take requests for what people want their ringtone to be - that is, the song I'll hear when you call me. You can email me that, or post it in the comments if you like. My phone only rings for about twenty seconds, so you can tell me what portion of the song to use, too, if you like. Otherwise I'll probably use the beginning. If you want to send me the song, that's great, but I can pretty reliably get just about anything.
2.
I forgot the couple other topics I wanted to mention while I was busy writing all that about my phone. Oh well. Just pretend I'm continuing on for a while with a fascinating and important, informative thing.
29 April 2007
- Quiz Galaxy - - How will you be remembered in history books?
- Quiz Galaxy - - How will you be remembered in history books?
Here's a fun thing I found through a friend. Find out how the history books will remember you!
Here's a fun thing I found through a friend. Find out how the history books will remember you!
| jook was the cause of the apocalypse. | |
| ... afterward, jook found 10 bucks under the couch. | |
| 'How will you be remembered in history books?' at QuizGalaxy.com |
27 April 2007
Still don't have my cell phone.
I lost my phone tuesday at school, and I looked for it then. I was only in three areas, but it wasnt there. I called it and wandered around hoping to hear it, too.
On thursday, I went to four different offices (three of them in the building where i was tuesday) and none of them had it. I left my information at two of them.
I've tried calling it a lot, but it just rings and then goes to voicemail. Nobody answers. I'm getting sad.
Where is my phone?
On thursday, I went to four different offices (three of them in the building where i was tuesday) and none of them had it. I left my information at two of them.
I've tried calling it a lot, but it just rings and then goes to voicemail. Nobody answers. I'm getting sad.
Where is my phone?
26 April 2007
Got my license
I posted about this before, but now my license actually came in the mail. Hooray!
...still need a car.
...still need a car.
24 April 2007
Lost my cell phone
Everyone please help me to call my cell phone a lot and hope someone answers so I can get it back. Thanks.
23 April 2007
Ignore this message
I just felt like making a new post now, but there's nothing to write about, so there's nothing here. Hooray!
22 April 2007
first 100? - UPDATE
As I'm writing this, the hit counter shows 94 page views. That's pretty good, considering I've only been doing this a week. Half of them were probably me anyway. In any case, if you happen to be number 100, take a screenshot and email it to me, and it will make me happy. :)
Update:
When I checked the blog page just now, the counter was at 102. It's ok that I didn't get a picture of 100, but I am very pleased to know that there are enough people watching this. There were at least 8 new views in the 6 or so hours since I posted this originally, so it's interesting for me to know. I wasn't sure anyone cared, and I thought most of the views were from me, seeing if anyone is commenting. Nice to know it's not.
Thanks everyone, keep watching! I'll try and get this place looking a bit better
Update:
When I checked the blog page just now, the counter was at 102. It's ok that I didn't get a picture of 100, but I am very pleased to know that there are enough people watching this. There were at least 8 new views in the 6 or so hours since I posted this originally, so it's interesting for me to know. I wasn't sure anyone cared, and I thought most of the views were from me, seeing if anyone is commenting. Nice to know it's not.
Thanks everyone, keep watching! I'll try and get this place looking a bit better
20 April 2007
Rain - UPDATE
it's raining, today. Right now, it's only a little but it was pouring a few minutes ago. This is good, it hardly rained at all this winter, and I've wondered if we were going to get any more at all. I kind of like the rain.
Update:
There's a leak in my room. Water was dripping onto my pillow. I'm glad I didn't sleep in long enough to still be there when the rain started...
Well, I put my pillow in the dryer and a bowl to catch the water, but something will have to be done about this.
Maybe now I don't like rain as much.
Update:
There's a leak in my room. Water was dripping onto my pillow. I'm glad I didn't sleep in long enough to still be there when the rain started...
Well, I put my pillow in the dryer and a bowl to catch the water, but something will have to be done about this.
Maybe now I don't like rain as much.
19 April 2007
Oberek
Before anyone asks about what the URL here is supposed to mean, here's a handy definition:
Oberek: De Oberek is een traditionele dans uit Polen. De dans wordt wel omschreven als een van de meest levendige dansen van de vijf nationale dansen uit Polen (mazurka, polonaise, kujawiak en krakowiak). De oberek is ontstaan in de dorpen van Mazovië, een wojewodschap of provincie in het midden van Polen. De dans wordt meestal gedanst in paren op een driekwartsmaat. De naam oberek komt van het werkwoord obracac się, draaien. Dat is de belangrijkste beweging in dans, de dansers draaien en spinnen rond de dansruimte.
You can read more about it here.
For the few of you that don't speak German, Oberek is a traditional Polish dance involving acrobatics for the man and marching steps for both partners. Or at least, that's what I remember from when I discovered the word back in high school while flipping through a dictionary for interesting things.
Why'd I pick it? It's fun to say.
Oberek: De Oberek is een traditionele dans uit Polen. De dans wordt wel omschreven als een van de meest levendige dansen van de vijf nationale dansen uit Polen (mazurka, polonaise, kujawiak en krakowiak). De oberek is ontstaan in de dorpen van Mazovië, een wojewodschap of provincie in het midden van Polen. De dans wordt meestal gedanst in paren op een driekwartsmaat. De naam oberek komt van het werkwoord obracac się, draaien. Dat is de belangrijkste beweging in dans, de dansers draaien en spinnen rond de dansruimte.
You can read more about it here.
For the few of you that don't speak German, Oberek is a traditional Polish dance involving acrobatics for the man and marching steps for both partners. Or at least, that's what I remember from when I discovered the word back in high school while flipping through a dictionary for interesting things.
Why'd I pick it? It's fun to say.
Official Opening
Okay, bollocks to getting this place looking nice before I tell people about it. I don't really know what to do with the page, so this is going to be the irst official post. Or, something... whatever. I'm going to actually tell people I started a blog now, and see if anybody cares. I know two people already know about it though, and yay for you both. Now spread the word. And if anyone knows CSS, can you help mne out with this thing? I'd really like to use the same script as on StrangeBanana, which would give me a randomly generated page every time, but that code doesn't seem to be available, unfortunately. So, I'd at least like to get the sidebar to be a different color, but that's not in the template options. Thus, everythign is really plain.
Anyway, I'll add things gradually until maybe, eventually, there will actually be somethign owrthwhile here, that people care about, and maybe my life will be interesting enough to write things all the time.
I'm going to Japan soon, that will be interesting.
Well, now to go announce this thing ot people, since I've made this post now. Of course, if you're here, then you already know that I told you about it. Whatever. If you think anyone would be interested in what I write about things, pass the link around.
Anyway, I'll add things gradually until maybe, eventually, there will actually be somethign owrthwhile here, that people care about, and maybe my life will be interesting enough to write things all the time.
I'm going to Japan soon, that will be interesting.
Well, now to go announce this thing ot people, since I've made this post now. Of course, if you're here, then you already know that I told you about it. Whatever. If you think anyone would be interested in what I write about things, pass the link around.
18 April 2007
Driving
I just got home from the DMV, where I took the test for my driver's license.
I passed.
Hooray.
Now I need a car.
I passed.
Hooray.
Now I need a car.
17 April 2007
Crystal's Birthday
It's Crystal's birthday. Yay, happy birthday.
...Yes, I know nobody knows about this thing yet. So why am I putting content?
Umm....
Hey, look over there!
*runs away*
