Category: Chillin’

Get in on the steaming hot Dianoga action already!

I totally slept through my appointment at the dentist today. Didn’t even hear my alarm.

Recently, after returning home from work I’ve been hiking up Mt. Magata, conveniently located just down my street. Right now, the cicadas are out in full force and their incessant cries drown out the sound of my own footsteps as I ascend the paved hiking trail. The heat under the (natural, not planted!) forest canopy is quite oppressive, and the mosquitoes dive bomb at fresh meat quite mercilessly, so I usually only hike up and back down again.
Yesterday, though, I was feeling spunky, and after descending halfway down the slope I turned around and jogged another circuit up the steps. I like exercising up there because it’s basically deserted; the only time I’ve seen people other than joggers up there is in the spring, for the majestic sakura bloom. Then it becomes crowded with the drunk and merry – basically the bane of my people-hating inaka existence. So it was with great disappointment that I spotted a young couple ascending the trail as I carefully made my final descent.
As I got closer, I realized that they were high school age, and that they were fighting about something. The guy was yelling at the girl in that ear-grating, wannebe-tough Japanese guy sort of way, and my feelings of resentment at them for invading my territory gradually gave way to pity for the girl for having an asshole boyfriend. More than anything, I did not want them to ruin my mountain vibe.
So as I passed them, I said in a friendly manner, “Hey, watch out – there’s a snake at the top of the stairs!”
The girl actually bowed and thanked me politely for the heads-up, and the guy said excitedly, “let’s go check it out!”
And with that, they bolted off, all worries forgotten.
………….
PS – The question you are burning to ask, it is not the point.

I sat down to play with Illustrator again for the first time in a few years:

Now I’m just being bad.

I walk into his store after not buying any bread for three months and he says, “thanks for coming by last night.” Which makes no sense coming from a normal baker, but this guy usually opens his store at 2 or 3 in the morning so I guess it’s possible, perhaps in a food-oriented bout of somnambulism…
One loaf of homemade bread and a heaping dose of self-puzzlement, coming right up!

Let’s just pretend today is still the sixth. With that in mind:

• Today I ate my favorite dish at my favorite seafood place in town (anago-don at Uomasa)
• I walked to the beach with friends, both old and new
• I washed nary a dish, because we ate out all day
• We watched 5,000 fireworks at the annual show in town, barely 200 meters from the launch area
• We watched Breakin’ and the Last Dragon (Sho ‘nuf!) in a sudden fit of 80’s nostalgia (anybody remember Vanity? Also, we discovered perhaps Jean Claude Van Damme’s earliest movie appearance – as a silent [thank god] extra in Breakin’)
• I received calls and messages from all over the world, all day long
• I congratulated myself for having the foresight to take tomorrow off work – this, if nothing else, shows some promising personal growth

Today was a good day to turn 32 – I feel special things are gonna happen this year. It’s gonna be a great one.
………….
Cultural Point of Interest – Japan’s Economy Fueled Entirely by Cellphone Packet Fees
We watched the fireworks show from Ohama Beach, a ten minute walk from my house. Like I said, we were right by the mortars and the sound was felt more than heard. The fireworks with low trajectories lit up the surface of the sea to reveal a fleet of pleasure craft anchored just outside the danger zone; I saw twenty times more boats off the coast of Sumoto on this single night than I’ve ever seen before. But that wasn’t the most interesting thing:

The fireworks were great, but in the end they are just fireworks…
…
…
Much more impressive was the sheer number of LCD screens lighting up the night as people recorded photos/video on their keitai cameras:

Hey, if a massive tsunami had hit us right then, at least our demise would have been very well documented…
Guess my cynicism isn’t really improving with age…
Or, maybe it is.

– A MESSAGE TO KIM JONG IL –
Bitch, you only have a couple months left to target my island, then I’m the fuck out.
So come on, gimme your best ‘Dong!

When a CNN Breaking News E-Mail Alert says the exact opposite of the anchorman on CNN International at the same time, which one is more credible?
This is not a trick question; either Israeli ground troops have entered southern Lebanon to attack Hezbollah bases (via E-Mail Alert), or they haven’t (CNN International). I know, I know, fog of war and all that, but still…

Taro’s grandmother passed this morning. She was 94, and one of the coolest old ladies I ever knew. The first time we met, she regaled me with her full knowledge of the English language, “Hello,” “How do you do?,” and, “encyclopedia!” We never figured out where she picked up that last one. She will be missed.
I’m on my way out to Nara from now.

I miss big fireworks shows on the 4th of July at the beach every year. Hell, I miss just having the day off from work. Barbecue, longnecks, bottle rocket wars, I miss all of it. Y’all have a good time on my behalf, I think I will go out of my way to buy a bottle of shitty American beer at the convenience store and maybe light off some incense when I get home.
On the brighter side of things, I intend on seeing a natural fireworks show as soon as I get to Thailand in October: The Naga Fireballs
And I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to tell the difference between methane plumes rising from the Mekong and tracer fire from the Lao side of the river.
Speaking of tracers, the first time I saw them in person was down the street from my grandparents’ house in Los Angeles, on the fourth of July. I believe that was the year when a police officer deftly caught in his hand a bullet that fell from the sky and bounced off a car window.
Happy fourth.