Wednesday, March 29, 2006
kumamoto city - ntt dream center - abusing a free trail system for high-speed internet.
as perusual, i was still taking care of business the morning of my departure and had to run to catch the 1:30 bus to osaka - giving me ample time to find my ferry to kag0shima by 6:00. i made the bus, but a cloud-burst made traffic in osaka come to a standstill and made me 50 min late! then it was a race against 2 subway transfers and a tram to the ferry terminal! it was going to be close! the tram was going to slow that i became sure that i would miss the boat. i began planning "b" - sleep in the terminal and wait 24 hours? but would you know i freaking made it! i ran to the terminal at 5:55 and got in line behind a stupid ass tour guide who needed 70 tickets for 2 rugby teams.. my god, i almost lost it. when i got to the front of the line i blurted out my destination and the ticket lady pulled out a blank piece of paper and started drawing on it. she was killing me. then she handed me her masterpiece and explained how to get to the OTHER terminal. and i nearly throttled her.
late, but not by much i jumped a cab and told him to step on it - maybe they have a short cusion for people like me? in japan - not a chance. the cab driver found my predicament amusing, and told me to just take the 7:30 to Miyazake and take a train to kagoshima tomorrow morning. ah! a 7:30 to anywhere in kyushu was fine with me - i didn't really care where i was going anyway!
the ferry was big and full of the kind of happy people who all end up shipwrecked together - a newly-wed couple, and old man with no shoes on, a soldier with important secret orders, a kid running away from home - i feared the ship would hit an iceburg for certain. luck would have it, i survived and the truck driver in the bunk across from me is the proud parent of a 15lb lung baby!
i took a look and found a groovie famous sakura spot in the city - or out of it really. i took a bus to amaga castle and set up shop. i literally tuned up and before finishing my first song was given 500 yen~ dinner - sweet. on my second song i was waved over by an old lady at a big bbq party! it was a gate ball team out for a mid-afternoon drink-a-thon! they loved me - they fed me, beered me, and eventually kidnapped me! there was no saying no, my bag and guitar were wisked off to kamacha's house and his wife instructed at length of my needs for my "homestay".
then we played GATEBALL!! it's a japanese orriginal sport, like a combination between croquette and billiards. i played the number 5 ball on the red team, and badly. but no matter, after 2 games we ate sashimi and drank beer. some turned in around 9, but the rest took me out for karaoke (country road at request) and beers and ramen and beer. i crashed at kamacha's place and he sent me off with breakfast in me and all of his doubts about my hitch hiking feasability. show's him, in 20 min i caught a truck all the way here - sure i was aiming for kagoshima, but kumamoto was a 250km non-stop free ride! flowers are everywhere, yo. and the driver was a cool guy, we talked the whole way! just the normal fist time meeting someone shit, but i'm feeling good after 4 hours of japanese~
so here i am - fresh in a new city and doing a hell of a job of saving my money! we'll see how i do!
as perusual, i was still taking care of business the morning of my departure and had to run to catch the 1:30 bus to osaka - giving me ample time to find my ferry to kag0shima by 6:00. i made the bus, but a cloud-burst made traffic in osaka come to a standstill and made me 50 min late! then it was a race against 2 subway transfers and a tram to the ferry terminal! it was going to be close! the tram was going to slow that i became sure that i would miss the boat. i began planning "b" - sleep in the terminal and wait 24 hours? but would you know i freaking made it! i ran to the terminal at 5:55 and got in line behind a stupid ass tour guide who needed 70 tickets for 2 rugby teams.. my god, i almost lost it. when i got to the front of the line i blurted out my destination and the ticket lady pulled out a blank piece of paper and started drawing on it. she was killing me. then she handed me her masterpiece and explained how to get to the OTHER terminal. and i nearly throttled her.
late, but not by much i jumped a cab and told him to step on it - maybe they have a short cusion for people like me? in japan - not a chance. the cab driver found my predicament amusing, and told me to just take the 7:30 to Miyazake and take a train to kagoshima tomorrow morning. ah! a 7:30 to anywhere in kyushu was fine with me - i didn't really care where i was going anyway!
the ferry was big and full of the kind of happy people who all end up shipwrecked together - a newly-wed couple, and old man with no shoes on, a soldier with important secret orders, a kid running away from home - i feared the ship would hit an iceburg for certain. luck would have it, i survived and the truck driver in the bunk across from me is the proud parent of a 15lb lung baby!
i took a look and found a groovie famous sakura spot in the city - or out of it really. i took a bus to amaga castle and set up shop. i literally tuned up and before finishing my first song was given 500 yen~ dinner - sweet. on my second song i was waved over by an old lady at a big bbq party! it was a gate ball team out for a mid-afternoon drink-a-thon! they loved me - they fed me, beered me, and eventually kidnapped me! there was no saying no, my bag and guitar were wisked off to kamacha's house and his wife instructed at length of my needs for my "homestay".
then we played GATEBALL!! it's a japanese orriginal sport, like a combination between croquette and billiards. i played the number 5 ball on the red team, and badly. but no matter, after 2 games we ate sashimi and drank beer. some turned in around 9, but the rest took me out for karaoke (country road at request) and beers and ramen and beer. i crashed at kamacha's place and he sent me off with breakfast in me and all of his doubts about my hitch hiking feasability. show's him, in 20 min i caught a truck all the way here - sure i was aiming for kagoshima, but kumamoto was a 250km non-stop free ride! flowers are everywhere, yo. and the driver was a cool guy, we talked the whole way! just the normal fist time meeting someone shit, but i'm feeling good after 4 hours of japanese~
so here i am - fresh in a new city and doing a hell of a job of saving my money! we'll see how i do!
Thursday, March 23, 2006
here's the cover and track-list for the optionals cd, baby!! these guys came from 5 different photos - from 3 different shows - across 2 years - and 2 states~ i went for gray scale and got a great price on 120 of them!
the optionals' self titled album can be downloaded for free at www.theoptionals.net
the optionals' self titled album can be downloaded for free at www.theoptionals.net
am i packed yet?
hell no - rather than sorting through the things i've already filled my room with i've been running around town buying all kinds of new shit i'll need on my trip. (i.e. the perfect pair of outdoor pants - ready to brave homelessness for the next few months, rain and warm gear to survive under any adverse conditions, adaptors and cases for transferring music and digital photos to you guys, and about 12 boxes of guitar strings complete with a healthy supply of new picks.) my other big project was making original art for the optionals tour of japan! it's just me, maybe, but i'll be selling optionals cd's and buttons to help bring in travel funds~
i've also been busy as all get out in an attempt to give heartfelt goodbyes to everyone i've met here. i played my last show with the carburettors last weekend and there wasn't a dry eye in the house.. i'll miss them, truly. i've been teaching last-lessons and stacking up the parting gifts that unfortunately may not make the cut when it comes to shipping my things home. there have been taxes, here AND there. there has been finding new teachers for all my students. there has been last-chance food from all my favorite places. there's been drinking by the river and no sleep and mac donald's breakfast. but, Oh, then there's the big sayonara party this weekend!! we're renting a small live hall at the "practice" price (we know the guy) and bringing in our own cases of beer - making it the cheapest all-you-can-drink, dj-ed, live music, satonara dance party of all time! it's going to be awesome!! and then i'll be on the first train out of town (as soon as i can stand again, that is).
i guess that's in 3 more days.. the weather was nice today after another week of constant rain so i had a chance to wash my bike and go for one last scoot to the gas station. taku's buying it, which is endlessly convenient. but it was good times~
gotta' get packing! -mike!
i've also been busy as all get out in an attempt to give heartfelt goodbyes to everyone i've met here. i played my last show with the carburettors last weekend and there wasn't a dry eye in the house.. i'll miss them, truly. i've been teaching last-lessons and stacking up the parting gifts that unfortunately may not make the cut when it comes to shipping my things home. there have been taxes, here AND there. there has been finding new teachers for all my students. there has been last-chance food from all my favorite places. there's been drinking by the river and no sleep and mac donald's breakfast. but, Oh, then there's the big sayonara party this weekend!! we're renting a small live hall at the "practice" price (we know the guy) and bringing in our own cases of beer - making it the cheapest all-you-can-drink, dj-ed, live music, satonara dance party of all time! it's going to be awesome!! and then i'll be on the first train out of town (as soon as i can stand again, that is).
i guess that's in 3 more days.. the weather was nice today after another week of constant rain so i had a chance to wash my bike and go for one last scoot to the gas station. taku's buying it, which is endlessly convenient. but it was good times~
gotta' get packing! -mike!
Monday, February 27, 2006
the first cherry blossom of spring is affixating in a vase the front window. it's more than a month early - and it's in full bloom. there was no slow thaw of winter, no soft, slow wave of flowers blowing in with warm air from the south - no warning whatsoever. and here it is, choking me to death in the front window.
megumi doesn't hesitate to point it out to me. "did you see my cherry blossoms?"
this can't be right? they're early! how can i be at work? i'm missing it! "no, it's too early - it must be a plum, right?"
"no, it isn't - i cut it from the tree in my back yard. but don't worry, the rest of the tree isn't blooming yet so it's probably just because it's so warm in here."
"yeah."
"well, i guess you'll be going soon, huh?"
"yeah.."
it rained for a week straight and i can't be sure when the earth soaked up spring. i didn't notice until i saw plum blossoms breaking out in the rain on a twisted little tree on the steps of our south-east-asian hangover recovery place. and it hit me hard - a wave of white, fragrant plum blossoms would flash out a warning, and then the cherries would come sweeping across the country - taking me with them and away from everything i've come to love here. i knew i wanted to go. what i realized that morning in the rain was that i didn't want to leave.
then last night i was turning the world over wine with two girls i hardly know and i spilled my whole story - about the hitchhikers and the coincidences and the bright shining truth of it all. and would you believe those girls dug every word? i was jumping up and down in my sock feet just going on about it, like a real live Dean Moriarty and those beat chicks just loved it, man! imagine the three of us on bicycles cutting along in the night, mittened, with cans of beer in our baskets, past taxis and gone japanese and all the red lanterns of a city at night. us stashing our bicycles in the shadows of the castle and crossing the bridge in the moonlight. us jumping the fence and ducking into the bamboo forests of the garden - scared as all get-out that we end up arrested, alert in our state, for what it was worth.. we found that tree - the one i knew would be there, the one that breaks into bloom before any of the others. we found that tree and left deep footprints in the earth at her feet and pulled at her finger tips and took twigs and tiny plum flowers home with us. it was validation that we can be guided by these things - that there's more going on in the moonlight than people realize. and we believed it, then, before morning sent us each off to work to forget everything we had uncovered in the night. but we'll find it yet.
megumi doesn't hesitate to point it out to me. "did you see my cherry blossoms?"
this can't be right? they're early! how can i be at work? i'm missing it! "no, it's too early - it must be a plum, right?"
"no, it isn't - i cut it from the tree in my back yard. but don't worry, the rest of the tree isn't blooming yet so it's probably just because it's so warm in here."
"yeah."
"well, i guess you'll be going soon, huh?"
"yeah.."
it rained for a week straight and i can't be sure when the earth soaked up spring. i didn't notice until i saw plum blossoms breaking out in the rain on a twisted little tree on the steps of our south-east-asian hangover recovery place. and it hit me hard - a wave of white, fragrant plum blossoms would flash out a warning, and then the cherries would come sweeping across the country - taking me with them and away from everything i've come to love here. i knew i wanted to go. what i realized that morning in the rain was that i didn't want to leave.
then last night i was turning the world over wine with two girls i hardly know and i spilled my whole story - about the hitchhikers and the coincidences and the bright shining truth of it all. and would you believe those girls dug every word? i was jumping up and down in my sock feet just going on about it, like a real live Dean Moriarty and those beat chicks just loved it, man! imagine the three of us on bicycles cutting along in the night, mittened, with cans of beer in our baskets, past taxis and gone japanese and all the red lanterns of a city at night. us stashing our bicycles in the shadows of the castle and crossing the bridge in the moonlight. us jumping the fence and ducking into the bamboo forests of the garden - scared as all get-out that we end up arrested, alert in our state, for what it was worth.. we found that tree - the one i knew would be there, the one that breaks into bloom before any of the others. we found that tree and left deep footprints in the earth at her feet and pulled at her finger tips and took twigs and tiny plum flowers home with us. it was validation that we can be guided by these things - that there's more going on in the moonlight than people realize. and we believed it, then, before morning sent us each off to work to forget everything we had uncovered in the night. but we'll find it yet.
Wednesday, December 28, 2005
Feliz Navidad!
i had a lesson just down the street at 11:00 this morning with a new student. she's a fortune teller and is studying in preparation to better communicate with her soul mate whom she met in a dream - oh, and his name is michael too. when she first saw my name posted at the international center she thought i might be him, but then she called me and said that she didn't recognize my voice - so i must not be him. it was a good lesson (a christmas and new years dialog) and when i got home i saw that i had missed a package!
side note - why does eric clapton let these fucking white people CLAP ALONG to the blues.. what the fuck! really! can't he make them stop! i can't listen to that shit - it makes be homicidal.
the third box!! i had been really worried that the customs people might not have let it through or that it got lost or misdelivered. but it was here in okayama! i tried to find a number i might call - maybe i could just go pick it up at some post office? i was pissed that i missed it - i should have still been in my pajamas at 11 something.. i could have been eating mexican lunch! (dad, you gave the mexican food away, but it honestly only intensified my excitement!) i couldn't find out where to go and hiroshi and teresa were calling me out to eat homemade rice cakes and new years stuff for lunch. i hung out with them for a while and then popped back home to practice my bass! i was just working out some stage theatrics on "the midnight train" when the post man slid the door open with my package! he knows me because he delivers taku's lost and subsequently found cell phones every few weeks or so and he's dead friendly. anyway i had my box, but i had a lesson and then band practice, so i didn't actually get to it until tonight. when i finally broke it out i was cooking and eating in such an excited state that i managed to burn myself twice and got a fair amount of food on my shirt~
but OMG, it was AWESOME!! i just ate the end-all-be-all taco feast to-end-all taco feasts alone at 12:30 am on a thursday morning!! man, i'm still reeling. it had been so long since i had refried beans!! they knocked me out! i was spooning them from the can! i could have eaten the whole thing cold - i shit you not! i managed to restrain myself so that they can accompany tomorrow's breakfast, lunch, and dinner! what i hot christmas present!!
side note - why does eric clapton let these fucking white people CLAP ALONG to the blues.. what the fuck! really! can't he make them stop! i can't listen to that shit - it makes be homicidal.
the third box!! i had been really worried that the customs people might not have let it through or that it got lost or misdelivered. but it was here in okayama! i tried to find a number i might call - maybe i could just go pick it up at some post office? i was pissed that i missed it - i should have still been in my pajamas at 11 something.. i could have been eating mexican lunch! (dad, you gave the mexican food away, but it honestly only intensified my excitement!) i couldn't find out where to go and hiroshi and teresa were calling me out to eat homemade rice cakes and new years stuff for lunch. i hung out with them for a while and then popped back home to practice my bass! i was just working out some stage theatrics on "the midnight train" when the post man slid the door open with my package! he knows me because he delivers taku's lost and subsequently found cell phones every few weeks or so and he's dead friendly. anyway i had my box, but i had a lesson and then band practice, so i didn't actually get to it until tonight. when i finally broke it out i was cooking and eating in such an excited state that i managed to burn myself twice and got a fair amount of food on my shirt~
but OMG, it was AWESOME!! i just ate the end-all-be-all taco feast to-end-all taco feasts alone at 12:30 am on a thursday morning!! man, i'm still reeling. it had been so long since i had refried beans!! they knocked me out! i was spooning them from the can! i could have eaten the whole thing cold - i shit you not! i managed to restrain myself so that they can accompany tomorrow's breakfast, lunch, and dinner! what i hot christmas present!!
Saturday, December 17, 2005
table setting party?
what's a table setting party? at first i assumed that table setting, much like making tea or arranging flowers, is considered an art form in japan and there is some strict set of traditional rules governing the "correct" way to set a table..
i recently started teaching a group of 8 year olds! their moms are all friends and rotate lesson hosting duties between their homes. it's good fun really - the kids are alright, and we keep it light. one of the moms studies table setting (?) and invited me to a party at her home after my lesson last friday evening. we did a christmas themed lesson (santa says, all i want for christmas, etc) and then joined a throng of 40 something ladies for evidently a potluck party with one impressive table setting~ it wasn't in fact any traditional art, but a series of creative martha stewart-esque tips and tricks put into practice for an attractive table. impress your friends with a festive holiday table arrangement and a invite a young foreign man! i was happy to go - the food was awesome - and we all exchanged recipes, of course. the kids all fell asleep watching kung-fu movies in the next room and all those ladies got smashed and rode home on their bicycles. unbelievable.
i recently started teaching a group of 8 year olds! their moms are all friends and rotate lesson hosting duties between their homes. it's good fun really - the kids are alright, and we keep it light. one of the moms studies table setting (?) and invited me to a party at her home after my lesson last friday evening. we did a christmas themed lesson (santa says, all i want for christmas, etc) and then joined a throng of 40 something ladies for evidently a potluck party with one impressive table setting~ it wasn't in fact any traditional art, but a series of creative martha stewart-esque tips and tricks put into practice for an attractive table. impress your friends with a festive holiday table arrangement and a invite a young foreign man! i was happy to go - the food was awesome - and we all exchanged recipes, of course. the kids all fell asleep watching kung-fu movies in the next room and all those ladies got smashed and rode home on their bicycles. unbelievable.
Thursday, November 24, 2005
another fast-food thanksgiving in japan.
the "turkey" was of course provided by the colonel as were the coleslaw and a biscuit for good measure. the mashed potatoes were homemade (and damn good, i might add). i couldn't for the life of me find a good pie.. i did find one $10 apple pie about the size of a cd at a posh cake shop - but opted for the mcdonalds variety and an ice cream bar from the conbini~ it may not have been an ideal thanksgiving dinner, but it was loads of food and was consumed with fork and knife!! pretty spot-on!
do you remember watching the parade on tv in grandma's basement? remember green carpet? remember thinking there was a different parade on every channel? remember the kid table and 2 the orange vegetables? remember mom's cranberry bread? remember looking up at orion in the driveway? remember the reflections of dashboard lights on the windows in the back seat and squinting at the lights of oncoming cars until they stretched out in parallel lines that reached up to the sky? remember dad carrying your sleeping sister in from the car? yes? well, then remember that we've got a lot to be thankful for.
do you remember watching the parade on tv in grandma's basement? remember green carpet? remember thinking there was a different parade on every channel? remember the kid table and 2 the orange vegetables? remember mom's cranberry bread? remember looking up at orion in the driveway? remember the reflections of dashboard lights on the windows in the back seat and squinting at the lights of oncoming cars until they stretched out in parallel lines that reached up to the sky? remember dad carrying your sleeping sister in from the car? yes? well, then remember that we've got a lot to be thankful for.
Tuesday, November 22, 2005
getting back to basics
wait a second - i didn't come to japan to WORK!! i didn't move to japan to make money! why on earth did i want that crappy job anyway?! clearly money was not a motivating factor in my leaving my engineering job to teach english in japan. the whole bloody point was to get out there and see the world! live it! experience it! the whole point was to avoid wasting my youth stuck in a cubical! what made me think that i should spend the next few months working for Nova?!
i guess i got stuck in my new shoes - thinking that japan has a good economy on a global scale - that my japanese yen can carry me far in and around asia - that i should be saving it! but that's ignoring the fact that i am already living abroad and there's so much i haven't seen and done here. i guess i just got used to japan. i'm in the groove and i've sunk in deep enough that i'm no longer an awe-struck traveler. but that's all just a state of mind - it's time i used my time better and get out there and love it again!
you might even say that my current situation is optimal. if i'm making any more money than i absolutely need to support myself (and my rock&roll lifestyle) that's just evidence of time spent working that could have been better spent soaking up the experience~ teaching privates and odd gigs is great! i'm only really working a few hours a day and i have total control of my schedule!! how many people in japan can even say that?! i live in a culture where lifetime enslavement to one's work is the norm! even working conditions for foreigners isn't good by any american standard. i've found a loop-hole and i'm self-employed and i love it! sure, a little bit more cash would help me travel around a little bit more and go out more often (it's been a while since i treated myself to karaoke). but i'm the man - i can round up a little cash without working for someone else! of course, it will be difficult if i don't want to play FUCKING SANTA CLAUS!!!
~the kid's alright~
i guess i got stuck in my new shoes - thinking that japan has a good economy on a global scale - that my japanese yen can carry me far in and around asia - that i should be saving it! but that's ignoring the fact that i am already living abroad and there's so much i haven't seen and done here. i guess i just got used to japan. i'm in the groove and i've sunk in deep enough that i'm no longer an awe-struck traveler. but that's all just a state of mind - it's time i used my time better and get out there and love it again!
you might even say that my current situation is optimal. if i'm making any more money than i absolutely need to support myself (and my rock&roll lifestyle) that's just evidence of time spent working that could have been better spent soaking up the experience~ teaching privates and odd gigs is great! i'm only really working a few hours a day and i have total control of my schedule!! how many people in japan can even say that?! i live in a culture where lifetime enslavement to one's work is the norm! even working conditions for foreigners isn't good by any american standard. i've found a loop-hole and i'm self-employed and i love it! sure, a little bit more cash would help me travel around a little bit more and go out more often (it's been a while since i treated myself to karaoke). but i'm the man - i can round up a little cash without working for someone else! of course, it will be difficult if i don't want to play FUCKING SANTA CLAUS!!!
~the kid's alright~
Friday, November 18, 2005
to the free spirit, the future is his most coveted treasure - a beautiful and infinite sea of possibility! it's limitless and good, for he, the free at heart, is also helplessly optimistic. he gazes out over his endless realm of possibility with great satisfaction and spends his days contemplating what might be found just over the horizon.
free as he is, he boldly sails for grand horizons and foreign lands bearing riches beyond his wildest dreams! but to the helplessly optimistic each golden horizon is more grand and promising than the last. he bravely changes courses and chases dreams - he always will - until the day his future dries up and he finds that he hasn't actually gone anywhere at all.
free as he is, he boldly sails for grand horizons and foreign lands bearing riches beyond his wildest dreams! but to the helplessly optimistic each golden horizon is more grand and promising than the last. he bravely changes courses and chases dreams - he always will - until the day his future dries up and he finds that he hasn't actually gone anywhere at all.
Thursday, November 17, 2005
i can't even get a job at NOVA?! they are the absolute shit-ass, bottom-end of crappy big english schools!! they employ any degenerate looser ex-con with a mail order degree and they won't give me a fucking job? what's their problem?
well - fuck'em, i was gona' quit that shit after 6 months anyway.. still, i feel pretty pathetic - can't even get a job at the McDonalds of english schools.. man.
well - fuck'em, i was gona' quit that shit after 6 months anyway.. still, i feel pretty pathetic - can't even get a job at the McDonalds of english schools.. man.
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
we can't see the sky for the clouds!
look at that fucking sky!! the sun is blasting trough fat, full lumps of solid cloud - mostly fair-weather white but a few dark grey, foreboding rain - and they go, they stretch across the sky in every direction, all the way from the himalayas to the dark heart of the pacific! i can't even take it all in! the world is in such full color and sharp contrast, i'm sure i will collide with it. but can you see this sky! i've got to cross the street just to get a better look at the place i was standing before! i have to jump, but the roofs of houses just keep pushing higher, closing in all around me. no one can see it but me, i'm sure - everyone else is rushing, rolling, in long coats and cold cars. can't they see this sky?! how can they be rushing off to work inside when heaven is directly above us at this very moment shining down with all the light of faith and God?! and more importantly, how can I? why am i to spend my life looking down or else buried under the shield we hold against heaven's judgment? we build, we tear down, we build higher, closer, bigger, stronger - human hands carry darkness higher, closing out the sky, power lines cutting it into pieces. we fear it's light, we dash about hiding from the looming truth, avoiding so much as a glance up at the gates of heaven and take safe refuge in our collective distraction until a time we feel it's safe to return home, the sun having set and the dark of night having closed heaven's eyes on us. at least for today..
Monday, November 14, 2005
guilt as inspiration - the pathetic return to blogging
-to those of you who requested it's return, i have already let you down.
i hate looking for jobs. what i really want is my old job back - the one i quit shortly after my last entry more that 6 pathetic months ago - but that is a contract i failed to sign and an unrequited love i've left behind. it was a sweet gig, though i didn't really realize it at the time. i've had my adventure in self-employment and now i just want someone else to pay me for my time and require nothing more than my physical presence in return. i'm looking for the lowest common denominator in english teaching jobs, something so mind-numbingly repetitive that i can do it in my sleep and forget the whole mess the second i walk out the door. yes, i will have to wear a tie for this sort of job, but now i can see it's advantages clearly. the goal is to make enough money to travel, though the specifics of what exactly that entails are unknown at the present time.
it's not that things didn't work out - if i wasn't so fickle and impatient, i could probably see this thing to some reasonable fruition and make a fair bankroll. but the sad fact of the matter is that i'm pretty pathetic when it comes to sticking to my guns. premature decisions when coupled with drastic life change can really restore that vital element of control over one's life. it's a double shot of adrenalin on the rocks - the sweet freedom of youth, the rush of new faces and places, and the euphoria of living in the present moment unhindered by the weight of all one's past and future.
so, i'm looking for a job.. man i hate looking for a jobs.
i hate looking for jobs. what i really want is my old job back - the one i quit shortly after my last entry more that 6 pathetic months ago - but that is a contract i failed to sign and an unrequited love i've left behind. it was a sweet gig, though i didn't really realize it at the time. i've had my adventure in self-employment and now i just want someone else to pay me for my time and require nothing more than my physical presence in return. i'm looking for the lowest common denominator in english teaching jobs, something so mind-numbingly repetitive that i can do it in my sleep and forget the whole mess the second i walk out the door. yes, i will have to wear a tie for this sort of job, but now i can see it's advantages clearly. the goal is to make enough money to travel, though the specifics of what exactly that entails are unknown at the present time.
it's not that things didn't work out - if i wasn't so fickle and impatient, i could probably see this thing to some reasonable fruition and make a fair bankroll. but the sad fact of the matter is that i'm pretty pathetic when it comes to sticking to my guns. premature decisions when coupled with drastic life change can really restore that vital element of control over one's life. it's a double shot of adrenalin on the rocks - the sweet freedom of youth, the rush of new faces and places, and the euphoria of living in the present moment unhindered by the weight of all one's past and future.
so, i'm looking for a job.. man i hate looking for a jobs.
Tuesday, March 15, 2005
life update:
hey! sorry, it's been so long.. i've been busy. BIG news on the way! but first..
in about an hour the amazen hazen should be rolling into okayama on the hikari limited express! for those of you tragically unfamiliar with the man, he's a long-time friend and room mate from university. i'm guessing he's been traveling for 18 or so hours but, knowing the guy, he should still be up for a night on the town!
man, hazen's great - he's always into eating the weirdest possible shit and doing the craziest stupid shit even i've been too embarrassed to admit i want to do.. here's the list he sent me last week (he really wrote this):
- See Basho Sumo tournament in Osaka
- Visit Peace Park (park and museum showing the effects of the Atomic bomb) in Hiroshima
- Beach it, check out the tropical like setting of Okinawa
- Temples, Japanese Gardens, Cherry Blossom Trees, see the Geinra in Kyoto
- Lonely Planet recommends a JTB Sunrise Tour which has the same kind of reputation as the tour we went on back in Germany (remember Boris's tour?)
- Try a public bath house (sento or onsen)
- Stay at a capsule hotel. (* holy shiat! So it really is like sleeping in coffin?)
- Stay at a love hotel?
- Spend a .5 day at Mt. Fuji
- Go to electronic district in either Osaka (Den Den Town) or Tokyo (Akihabara)
- Ride a bullet train (shinkansen I believe it's called)
- Try a bunch of authentic food, meet some new ppl, drink a lot of beer
i love it! i couldn't have imagined a more hazen vacation!
he's hanging here this week so i've made a short list of okayama adventures and challenges to keep him busy while i'm at work.
next weekend alex and eric are landing in tokyo and we'll meet the 2 of them and taku for a 4 day japan adventure via rail! (thanks truly to my dear sweetheart manager for getting me some time off!) i'm totally geeked! i've been so lucky (taku says blessed) with visiters this year! i'll try to give you all the highlights! here we go!
in about an hour the amazen hazen should be rolling into okayama on the hikari limited express! for those of you tragically unfamiliar with the man, he's a long-time friend and room mate from university. i'm guessing he's been traveling for 18 or so hours but, knowing the guy, he should still be up for a night on the town!
man, hazen's great - he's always into eating the weirdest possible shit and doing the craziest stupid shit even i've been too embarrassed to admit i want to do.. here's the list he sent me last week (he really wrote this):
- See Basho Sumo tournament in Osaka
- Visit Peace Park (park and museum showing the effects of the Atomic bomb) in Hiroshima
- Beach it, check out the tropical like setting of Okinawa
- Temples, Japanese Gardens, Cherry Blossom Trees, see the Geinra in Kyoto
- Lonely Planet recommends a JTB Sunrise Tour which has the same kind of reputation as the tour we went on back in Germany (remember Boris's tour?)
- Try a public bath house (sento or onsen)
- Stay at a capsule hotel. (* holy shiat! So it really is like sleeping in coffin?)
- Stay at a love hotel?
- Spend a .5 day at Mt. Fuji
- Go to electronic district in either Osaka (Den Den Town) or Tokyo (Akihabara)
- Ride a bullet train (shinkansen I believe it's called)
- Try a bunch of authentic food, meet some new ppl, drink a lot of beer
i love it! i couldn't have imagined a more hazen vacation!
he's hanging here this week so i've made a short list of okayama adventures and challenges to keep him busy while i'm at work.
next weekend alex and eric are landing in tokyo and we'll meet the 2 of them and taku for a 4 day japan adventure via rail! (thanks truly to my dear sweetheart manager for getting me some time off!) i'm totally geeked! i've been so lucky (taku says blessed) with visiters this year! i'll try to give you all the highlights! here we go!
Monday, February 28, 2005
D: 4 days left says:
should i bring rollerblades?
-mike! says:
hell NO!!
-mike! says:
in fact, you should not own roller blades.. no one should
D: 4 days left says:
no one uses them?
-mike! says:
i've seen a skateboard with two wheels and a motor.. but rollerblades i have not, and will not see
D: 4 days left says:
weird
D: 4 days left says:
ok, thanks for the info
Sunday, February 27, 2005
singing
i can't see the source, even from my perch so high above the world, but have many times before. this is a common (popular?) form of public address in japan: announcement via van-top megaphone - a rather obnoxious and seemingly inefficient system given everything i've come to think i know about japan.
it's a child's voice, yes? a boy maybe 12 years old is singing short phrases of a traditional song or a prayer between more typical, official-sounding public reminders of some kind. i don't understand the purpose of the announcement - no one tells me anything - but can guess it has something to do with the small dolls and decorations that have been appearing in shop windows recently. i feel so alien sometimes, watching these strange communal creatures go about their observances of which i know almost nothing. the boy's song, watercolored in changing direction and doppler orientation, is pouring in through my window bringing with it the clear and the cold i was hoping to avoid by burying myself in some distraction of reading or watching - that is until hunger or the promise of social interaction (any excuse really) drives me from my home. fate, or chance&timing, whichever you prefer, will decide the shape of said distraction. they will call me. i will not call them. maybe i should call them.. (and when i say call, i mean email or "text". no one calls.. that's a lie - sometimes eri calls.)
liberty: "what's up?"
- always the same peace offering always cautious and unassuming. liberty's overflowing with social guilt again and attempts to give me a hurried once-over of email maintenance. i get this same "what's up?" every 2 weeks or so and always respond instantly and at length. i often invite her to join me for coffee or whatever debaucherous exploits may be planed for the coming weekend. she never responds - that is, not for another 2 weeks or so and at what point she simply resends the message seen above. oh, liberty, if you're not going to have a sense of social responsibility, why bother suffering under the weight of so much social guilt?
me: "yo!"
shortest. email. ever.. no response.. ehh - give'r 2 weeks.
i get impatient.. i email everyone i know. here's what comes back:
ayako (long lost street friend): "I am in okayama now! i want to meet with everyone!" (an informal version of "take care" in hirigana, this fat thumbs up man: (o^-' )b )
- she's super weird and that's good! i can't wait for spring to come so we can reclaim the streets!!
robin/lovin (in japanese and some scattered roman letters): "thanks for coming to the show and giving me your cd! this is your band, right? the optionals? (fireworks) are you playing bass or guitar?" (waggling red question mark, waving hand, happy purple winking face sticking out tongue)
- she's has an amazing voice and it's good to pop in and see some live music when i can, better if i know the performers. still, we have to communicate in my wretched japanese.. so..
aki (eri's friend, often served with coffee - bitter): "Hi, yes can be friend.but can't meet you without anothers.let's get together on friday.See you, A-ki"
- she's recently been downgraded to acquaintance by both eri and myself. we agree that she's beautiful, but obnoxiously typical. we will not see her friday.
eri (as usual, eri will be played by herself in un-adultered flowing Forwards): "Very agreeable! Aki and other friends invited me and I refused today. Do you have other friends, Mike? What will you do tonight?" .. "I am staying quiet and relaxed. Investigating by pc, fashion press and jarnalist recruits today. I was still confused myself yesterday with plural directions to consider and decide no regret. I want to pace myself and be clear satisfyingly on what I want to do now on and way to walk. I go out next weekend yo! I be back my world. Zoom zoom zizz! Eri"
- looks like i'm staying in. that's ok - i have a book!
it's a child's voice, yes? a boy maybe 12 years old is singing short phrases of a traditional song or a prayer between more typical, official-sounding public reminders of some kind. i don't understand the purpose of the announcement - no one tells me anything - but can guess it has something to do with the small dolls and decorations that have been appearing in shop windows recently. i feel so alien sometimes, watching these strange communal creatures go about their observances of which i know almost nothing. the boy's song, watercolored in changing direction and doppler orientation, is pouring in through my window bringing with it the clear and the cold i was hoping to avoid by burying myself in some distraction of reading or watching - that is until hunger or the promise of social interaction (any excuse really) drives me from my home. fate, or chance&timing, whichever you prefer, will decide the shape of said distraction. they will call me. i will not call them. maybe i should call them.. (and when i say call, i mean email or "text". no one calls.. that's a lie - sometimes eri calls.)
liberty: "what's up?"
- always the same peace offering always cautious and unassuming. liberty's overflowing with social guilt again and attempts to give me a hurried once-over of email maintenance. i get this same "what's up?" every 2 weeks or so and always respond instantly and at length. i often invite her to join me for coffee or whatever debaucherous exploits may be planed for the coming weekend. she never responds - that is, not for another 2 weeks or so and at what point she simply resends the message seen above. oh, liberty, if you're not going to have a sense of social responsibility, why bother suffering under the weight of so much social guilt?
me: "yo!"
shortest. email. ever.. no response.. ehh - give'r 2 weeks.
i get impatient.. i email everyone i know. here's what comes back:
ayako (long lost street friend): "I am in okayama now! i want to meet with everyone!" (an informal version of "take care" in hirigana, this fat thumbs up man: (o^-' )b )
- she's super weird and that's good! i can't wait for spring to come so we can reclaim the streets!!
robin/lovin (in japanese and some scattered roman letters): "thanks for coming to the show and giving me your cd! this is your band, right? the optionals? (fireworks) are you playing bass or guitar?" (waggling red question mark, waving hand, happy purple winking face sticking out tongue)
- she's has an amazing voice and it's good to pop in and see some live music when i can, better if i know the performers. still, we have to communicate in my wretched japanese.. so..
aki (eri's friend, often served with coffee - bitter): "Hi, yes can be friend.but can't meet you without anothers.let's get together on friday.See you, A-ki"
- she's recently been downgraded to acquaintance by both eri and myself. we agree that she's beautiful, but obnoxiously typical. we will not see her friday.
eri (as usual, eri will be played by herself in un-adultered flowing Forwards): "Very agreeable! Aki and other friends invited me and I refused today. Do you have other friends, Mike? What will you do tonight?" .. "I am staying quiet and relaxed. Investigating by pc, fashion press and jarnalist recruits today. I was still confused myself yesterday with plural directions to consider and decide no regret. I want to pace myself and be clear satisfyingly on what I want to do now on and way to walk. I go out next weekend yo! I be back my world. Zoom zoom zizz! Eri"
- looks like i'm staying in. that's ok - i have a book!
Sunday, February 20, 2005
the naked man festival!
okayama is home to one of the strangest festivals in japan, the hadaka matsuri! thousands of men from all over the country come to compete for fame and glory in nothing but their skin! how could i miss this!
when lola and i arrived at the saidaiji train station (beer in hand) we were greeted by a bronze statue commemorating the event. the upper-halves of several chiseled men erupting from a crowd - the highest one, held up by a comrade, is making a fingertip catch for the win - greatness all over his face! on this night, lanterns hang all around them and thousands of candles twinkle below, possibly commemorating those lives lost in the struggle throughout the years.
we were picked up by a student and a friend of ours, susumu the dentist, and wisked off to his beautiful home in his new RANGE ROVER!! (this car looks about 3 times bigger in japan than it does in the states - it was ludicrous). we enjoyed food and drinks at his place and schmoozed with friends. after a few hours, we all piled into cars and headed back into town! parking was a puddle after 2 straight days of rain and we joined the crowd on our way to the temple - and what a crowd!
walking through town was like edging through a carnival midway! there were lanterns and music, all the sizzling and smells of street vended delicacies. and then there were the naked men! we had to make way for rows of them jogging past. and, well, the truth is they weren't completely naked - they were each wearing a single white cloth wrapped and tied to cover only the most essentials (think sumo diaper).
they've come to march through the streets and drink mass quantities before congregating in a heap on the front steps of saidaiji temple were they will push and shout and squirm to get good position. at midnight all hell breaks lose!
someone, some lucky monk, maybe, throws a single baton into the man mass at exactly 12:00 AM and the crowd is left to it's own devices in deciding who will take the baton across town to the judges, tv cameras, and cash prize. there's a fair amount of naked violence involved in the struggle. most men have formed alliances with others from their local temple or university. some have formed huge teams and developed strategies!
were weren't close enough to see individual punches being thrown, but we could see the heaving waves of flailing men as the baton made its way down the steps and out of the temple. it was a little anticlimactic - like watching the start of a race - but it was worth seeing.
when lola and i arrived at the saidaiji train station (beer in hand) we were greeted by a bronze statue commemorating the event. the upper-halves of several chiseled men erupting from a crowd - the highest one, held up by a comrade, is making a fingertip catch for the win - greatness all over his face! on this night, lanterns hang all around them and thousands of candles twinkle below, possibly commemorating those lives lost in the struggle throughout the years.
we were picked up by a student and a friend of ours, susumu the dentist, and wisked off to his beautiful home in his new RANGE ROVER!! (this car looks about 3 times bigger in japan than it does in the states - it was ludicrous). we enjoyed food and drinks at his place and schmoozed with friends. after a few hours, we all piled into cars and headed back into town! parking was a puddle after 2 straight days of rain and we joined the crowd on our way to the temple - and what a crowd!
walking through town was like edging through a carnival midway! there were lanterns and music, all the sizzling and smells of street vended delicacies. and then there were the naked men! we had to make way for rows of them jogging past. and, well, the truth is they weren't completely naked - they were each wearing a single white cloth wrapped and tied to cover only the most essentials (think sumo diaper).
they've come to march through the streets and drink mass quantities before congregating in a heap on the front steps of saidaiji temple were they will push and shout and squirm to get good position. at midnight all hell breaks lose!
someone, some lucky monk, maybe, throws a single baton into the man mass at exactly 12:00 AM and the crowd is left to it's own devices in deciding who will take the baton across town to the judges, tv cameras, and cash prize. there's a fair amount of naked violence involved in the struggle. most men have formed alliances with others from their local temple or university. some have formed huge teams and developed strategies!
were weren't close enough to see individual punches being thrown, but we could see the heaving waves of flailing men as the baton made its way down the steps and out of the temple. it was a little anticlimactic - like watching the start of a race - but it was worth seeing.
Monday, February 14, 2005
clap my hands!
ahh..
saturday morning: a deep breath of winter air - crisp, sobering - complete and pure - it's my first breath. i step out into the sun. i've never been here before. God, it's so beautiful.. i'm surfacing after a long pull of cold lake michigan water. this is sun, this is air - feel the water run down my body taking with it the campfire, the red wine, the darkness of the night before, the sand, the sweat, the sun-baked tent and the thousands of tosses and turns, the open eyes of the many hours of morning. know and love these things. it's so bright.
pull, and pop! the ringing is gone. how long has that seed been in my teeth? that stone in my shoe? that water in my ear? i can hear everything - this is the first time. the clarity! these overtones! this is joy - and the world is snow melting on my tongue! how long have i been gone?!
i hear a symphony! i'm in the bright, shining world of the living and diana ross is here too! it's music in my head and it's finding it's way into my fingertips, into my soul, and out into the morning - i'm singing as i pedal toward work! hello, old lady! hello, little dog! hello, mitsubishi!
later i will have a joyful reunion with my inner-monologue! always crack'n wise and say'n all the shit i shouldn't. i'm so damn funny, and i've got so much to say - or, at least, i'm always talking. where have you been, friend? these are higher level brain functions! this is not only the automatic pilot that has somehow steered me through these last 2 weeks.. maybe i was worse off than i realized. i was afraid i had just learned to live with my demon as a survival mechanism, but now i know he's gone, destroyed in the fires of my courageous heart!
i'm healthy and i know it - clap my hands!
saturday morning: a deep breath of winter air - crisp, sobering - complete and pure - it's my first breath. i step out into the sun. i've never been here before. God, it's so beautiful.. i'm surfacing after a long pull of cold lake michigan water. this is sun, this is air - feel the water run down my body taking with it the campfire, the red wine, the darkness of the night before, the sand, the sweat, the sun-baked tent and the thousands of tosses and turns, the open eyes of the many hours of morning. know and love these things. it's so bright.
pull, and pop! the ringing is gone. how long has that seed been in my teeth? that stone in my shoe? that water in my ear? i can hear everything - this is the first time. the clarity! these overtones! this is joy - and the world is snow melting on my tongue! how long have i been gone?!
i hear a symphony! i'm in the bright, shining world of the living and diana ross is here too! it's music in my head and it's finding it's way into my fingertips, into my soul, and out into the morning - i'm singing as i pedal toward work! hello, old lady! hello, little dog! hello, mitsubishi!
later i will have a joyful reunion with my inner-monologue! always crack'n wise and say'n all the shit i shouldn't. i'm so damn funny, and i've got so much to say - or, at least, i'm always talking. where have you been, friend? these are higher level brain functions! this is not only the automatic pilot that has somehow steered me through these last 2 weeks.. maybe i was worse off than i realized. i was afraid i had just learned to live with my demon as a survival mechanism, but now i know he's gone, destroyed in the fires of my courageous heart!
i'm healthy and i know it - clap my hands!
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