Extra Ordinary

This week


Somebody special had a birthday.


It rained a lot.


We longed for the spring.


More offers to buy priceless memories filled our mailbox.


Farah performed her nightly ritual, the legs up the wall pose, to keep her legs from becoming "raddish legs." It must be an Asian thing... Actually, she already has them...


My wallet got caught again.


I saw a wall.


And I reparked our baby blue Sentra to avoid a parking ticket.

Cruisin' Midtown

Lately, I've been cruisin' through Midtown on my bike after work (whenever it hasn't been raining) to get a little exercise and to get to know the area a little better. Most rides fall between thirty and forty-five minutes long and depend mainly on two things: how much energy I have and how much sunlight is left at the end of the day. So far, I've discovered the nice and nicer pockets of Midtown, some cool places to shop and eat, neighborhoods to die for, lots and lots of bars, and a handful of places that you'ld have to pay me to go back again... well, maybe not that bad. But I didn't make as many stops to take photos in the rougher areas if that is any kind of an indicator. Midtown alleys are decorated with every color of spray paint imaginable and people seem to like leaving their names and some not-so-nice names on cars, trees, signs, and fences--whatever stands in their way, I guess. All in all, riding through the surrounding neighborhoods and getting a taste of life in Sactown has been a very pleasant experience, something that I look forward to every day. Here are a few quick shots of some of the things that caught my eye while cruising around.

Cory Dynamite

Over the weekend I picked up the Napoleon Dynamite talking doll for a whopping $2.64, one for me and one for Ryan, and Eric got in on the action too. Normally I wouldn't buy something like this because, one, I am not a big fan of the movie and, two, I just don't buy stuff like this. But when we saw that it was on sale for 80% off and that when you press the red button little Napoleon talks (eighteen movie quotes), I mean, who could pass that up?

So I had some fun taking some portrait shots of Napoleon. And I challenged Eric to a shoot off, so to speak, to see who could come up with the best portrait shot. For some reason, he didn't feel motivated to take photos of Napoleon but instead he worked on a way to create a new, improved Napoleon himself: Cory Dynamite!!!
Pretty sweet, huh?

"Just follow your heart. That's what I do."

Missing Japan

It seems that Farah and I are both beginning to miss certain aspects of life in Japan and some of our more negative thoughts and impressions are beginning to fade away, but still do rest beneath the surface--we just need more time. Contrary to common misconception, life abroad is not always a happy-go-lucky extended vacation, yet a genuine encounter with a different way of life that will challenge all that you know. When you live it, breath it, and eat it every day, you will find things, simply put, that you like and dislike. I don't hate Japan. I love-hate Japan! It's quite complicated so don't ask. And before I get anymore sidetracked let me get to the point of this blog post: we miss Japan! I was thumbing through some old Japan photos and thought that I would put together a mini photo collage of some of the things that remain warm, happy memories of life in Japan. Here we go.

Kaiten-zushi was one of our favorite places to go for cheap eats. Sushi and cheap--two words that never appear in the same sentence here in the US, but it is just that. And if I may add, it's pretty darn good, too!

And how can I talk about missing Japan without mentioning tatami? There will always be a special place in my heart for tatami.

The US seems to be a good couple of years (at the very least) behind the cell phone technology in Japan and possibly the rest of the world. I miss the high-tech phones and being able to send an unlimited amount of email/ text-messages. And most of all, I think that I miss cell phone plans that don't charge me for incoming calls and round up to the nearest minute! In Japan, 1:03 minutes of talk time is just that, whereas in the US, 1:03 of talk time is billed as two minutes. You tell me which is better.

Funny English also finds a place on my list. It's not hard to find grammatical errors or just totally random, outlandish things written in English, especially in advertising. After all, English is cool, or so they seem to think so. I found this one in an English conversation book at the school I was teaching at. What do you think? Humor is always a great tool for teaching in the classroom... I guess.

And then there are the elementary school children. So cute!

No matter where you go, kids always try to be in the center. Japanese kids are no different than the rest--they want the attention just as much as we do! The kids would always attack me when I brought out the camera and I love how the girl in this pic is totally covering up her classmate's face with her peace sign.

Kids are just so sweet and innocent.

I don't think that the same applies to my friends in Japan but I definitely do miss them. This is Uji finding a new way to use his chopsticks. What an interesting guy he was...


Not to sound too geeky--we're not gamers or anything like that--but we spent a lot of time playing PS2 in the winter when it was too cold to go out. It was that and movies that helped us survive the cold. (Notice that there are no pics of snow-covered streets...)


Having so much time together to explore the city (and take pics up our noses) and see and experience new things was so nice. There was always something new and exciting to discover...


Smiling ear to ear, Farah loved her shopping!


We also miss riding bikes, believe it or not. With bikes there is no traffic, riding is a great source of exercise, and when you live in the city and everything is right there, then why not? Farah rode a bike with a basket and I rode one with a broken seat and pedal that would always fall off.


There are plenty of things that we miss but most of all it is the people. I wish that Japan was close enough so that we could make a road trip or just drop by for a visit every now and then to see all of the people we left behind but it's just not that easy. In time, our paths will cross again and we will see all of our beloved friends, and until then, we have our memories!

Calling All Cowboys...

I need a favor! I'm putting together a slideshow for my grandfather's memorial service on Saturday and I need some country music to go along with the pics. I'm looking for something done by a male vocalist with funeral-appropriate lyrics (touching but not overwhelmingly sad or depressing). So if there are any country music fans out there or if you just happen to know of some good tracks that might work, PLEASE let me know. Anything to point me in the right direction will help. Thank you much in advance.