Things to do before I die

1. See the Aurora Borealis.
2. Visit Machu Picchu.
3. Attempt surfing.
4. Go to Carnaval in Rio de Janeiro.
5. Become fluent in Japanese.
6. Marry someone I love.
7. Ride the fastest roller coaster in the world (Kingda Ka at Six Flags in New Jersey).
8. Ride in a hot air balloon.
9. See Sigur Ros in concert.
10. Wear a bikini.


What are yours?

私はイモムシです。

蝶になりたいです。

Realized that I have missed your face. Seems like I've been gone, gone for a long time.

1. I got a $25 Target gift card during my work Christmas Present Party.
2. I baked peanut butter cookies for tomorrow. We are sending a huge batch of cookies to the people who work at the factory in Tijuana.
3. I had an amazing dream last night. I hope it is a reoccurring one.
4. I am going to Rocky Horror tomorrow night. It’s going to be weird not only to see it again, but at an unfamiliar theatre with unfamiliar people.
5. I got all of my Christmas cards sent out yesterday. Hopefully they will make it to the lucky recipients before Christmas!

La lune est près de moi.

I had this dream last night, and it's been haunting me all day.

Have you ever had a dream that you wished so hard was real?
A dream where you know if it were real, you could truly feel happy?

Waking up today was the worst it's been in a long time. I wished so hard to go back to sleep to live in this dream forever. If it were possible, I would have never come out of it.

A Brief Post

Last night was fun. Met up with strangers from the internet again. It was fun. I learned a new awesome (and cheap!) Mexican restaurant n town, Pokez. Yum! We ate there and the moved on to a bar and then karaoke. It was a fun night. If you are curious, photos are up on flickr.

What I *really* wanted to post about was my new purchase. I decided I couldnt stand it anymore, so I went out and bought.... a DVD player! Yessss! And I discovered that Target was having a sale on DVDs, so I bought The Notebook ($4), 3 Harry Potter movies ($4/each), Grey's Anatomy ($9/season 1), and 24 Season 1 ($16). So far today, I have watched *ALL* of season 1 of Grey's Anatomy. I loved it! O, I wasnt sure howmuch I'd like it, since I tend to not get into TV so much... but for $9, I could give it a shot. Glad I did. And I got 24 because David talks about it sooo much that I felt that for such a cheap price, I should give it a shot.

The end!

Happy Thanksgiving!

So, today is Thanksgiving. I know this because I specially made pumpkin bread, and it's only 9am and I've already ruined it! Doh!

I can't be trusted to cook for other people. Whatever dish I bring to this potluck is going to be a disaster!

Anyway, Happy Thanksgiving, y'all. I am sending lots of love your ways!

You've got to change the world

It’s been a while, ne. I have been super busy, but not really. The big news is that I got a job. I m still technically working at the temp agency, still. But, I have been put out o a temp-to-perm project. So, I am working at a company called Jeld-wen. They manufacture doors. Yep. Sound boring? Well, so far, it’s not! I never knew so much planning and preparation had to go into making a door. It’s really interesting. I used to think they were just big pieces of wood we walk in and out of, but there’s a lot more to it. It’s interesting. Also it’s nice to have some kind of schedule to my life again. I work 7-4 each weekday. It sucks getting up so early, but it’s nice to get out by 4.

Other than work, things are good. I spend a lot of time alone, but I’ve been trying to get out of the house more. I went out this weekend to Dave and Buster’s with some people I met online. And it was fun! We just chatted and played video games. And afterwards, we went out to a karaoke bar. (At this point, I discovered that I hate American karaoke. It’s so lame!)

Then, on Sunday, I went to see The Wiz with Clarissa and Lenny. It was a really good play! Very fun and witty. I enjoyed it a whole lot.

So, for now, I am keeping myself busy with work. When I come home, I let Ocha out to play until it’s time for bed. I don’t go out on weeknights much since I have to be up so early, but I try and be social on the weekends. So far, so good. ^_^

And as you all know, this Thursday is Thanksgiving. I’ve been a bit down about that, actually. It really hit me that I am not gonna be home for Thanksgiving OR Christmas this year. It really sucks. It’s nice to have Jackie so close, but it’s just not the same as being with your core unit, you know? I try to keep my chin up about that. Anyway, so Thursday I am going to cook pumpkin bread and sweet potatoes (with marshmallows on top, of course!!) to bring to the Potluck dinner with Jackie and her friends. It’s gonna be fun to be at such a big Thanksgiving dinner, since I’ve only ever had dinner at home that day. But, it’s still just not the same. Ahh well.

That’s all for now. Sorry it’s been so long. I’ll try to be better!

Still hungover at 10pm the next night!

Ever have a night that was so great and you want to tell everyone about it, but remembering the night makes you want to puke… Well, yeah. That was my Friday night. I will make a list of stuff that happened as I remember the evening again. Ha!

1. I went over to the new apartment of Clarissa and Lenny (Jennifer is her real name). There, I ate some yummy eggplant parmesan and drank 2 glasses of Baileys (the new mint kind).
2. After dinner, the three of us drove to North Park to discover some bars. We drove around until we found a lil place called The Office. So, we go there, and the alcohol is SO cheap! So, I had two sex on the beaches (which were seriously unbelievably strong) and a Passion Pomegranate shot. The three of us chatted and hung out for a while, but then a band started playing. It was one of those screamy, loud bands, so we vacated the premises.
3. By this point, the three of us were SOOO drunk that there wasn’t even a chance of any one of us getting into the car to go home. So, we started walking. On the way, we found another bar, which was pretty full. So, we went in. This is the point in my story where it all gets hazy. At this bar, I had a mystery drink from the bartender, another drink (I think), and then a (super strong) shot bought by some girl named Tara. She was cool and bought me the shot to congratulate me on moving to California from Georgia! Haha!
4. As drunk Abie, I gave many people hugs. I don’t know why I like to hug people so much when I am drunk, but I sure do!
5. As we left this bar (totally blitzed out of our minds), Clarissa mentioned that she thought the bartender was really cute and that they “had made a connection.” But then she said she was too shy to ask for his phone number, so.. drunk and bold Abie struck again! I ran back into the bar and somehow in my drunken state told the bartender that Clarissa thought he was cute and wanted his phone number, so he gave it to me to give to her! So funny!
6. And then we began really walking home. We were all three too wasted to be out in public anymore. At some point on the way home, Clarissa had to pee so bad, that she ran off down a side street and peed on the sidewalk!!
7. Eventually, we made it home. This is where the fun began (not really). I went in to the bathroom and began puking (secretly). It’s rough puking alone. Friends are good to have around cuz they bring you water and make you eat crackers… but alone, I would puke, then stand up and drink water from the sink, and then be sick in the toilet again. After a lil bit, I rejoined Clarissa and Lenny, who (in a desperate attempt for comfort food from home) had made French fries and makeshift feta dressing.
8. As I went to lie down on the couch to go to sleep (there was NO WAY I was gonna drive home), I realized I had to puke again. So, I called out to Clarissa, begging her to hurry and bring me something to vomit in. So, she brought me a grocery bag (the paper kind)! Anyway, I proceed to vomit into it for like hours. They tried to get me to eat something, but I resisted. Eventually, I let them shove potato chips down my throat (which were thrown up soon thereafter). Before they went to bed, Clarissa put a plastic bad on the ground under my vomit bag just in case of leaks or anything. So, we all went to sleep. I did wake up once in the middle of the night to throw up again, but after that I slept until morning.
9. This morning, it so happens that the plastic bag had a hole in it, so the puke leaked all over! Gross! Luckily it was all water-puke, since I had puked up any chunks earlier. Also, Clarissa told me that I was the most “elegant puker” she’d ever met. Hahahaha. What a compliment!
10. This morning, Clarissa made me a yummy brekkie of tomato soup and a grilled cheese. It was actually the perfect hangover breakfast.

The end.

We live on a mountain, right at the top

1. I slept in my new nightgown. It is a super soft, blue microfiber. Love it!
2. As soon as I woke up this morning, I put on Persuasion and stayed in bed an extra two hours to watch it.
3. After playing online for a bit, I got dressed and ran some errands.
1. Dropped off Victoria’s Secret application
2. Picked up first paycheck (Wooooo!)
3. Set up a bank account
4. By then, it was lunch time. So, I headed off to Coronado beach. I sat and ate my lunch (Chicken Caesar wraps!). After that, I walked all along the beach for an hour or so.
5. A boy named Stefan walked with me for a few minutes. He was telling me that he couldn’t find any sand dollars, but he really wanted one. After he walked off, I found a sand dollar. You should have seen the look on his face when I gave it to him!
6. Tonight, I am going out with Clarissa and Jennifer. I dunno what we’ll do yet, but it’s sure to be fun! And tomorrow, we are going to the Swap Meet (it’s like a giant flea market!) David – visualize the one we went to in Kyoto, but bigger!! ^_^

Hey remember that time we decided to kiss anywhere except the mouth

Here are a few happies, out of order, from the past few days.

1. I saw Regina Spektor on Sunday night! It was a great show, and she played lots of good songs. I was a tad sad cuz she played mostly new songs…but they were still wonderful. But, I did really want to hear some of the old stuff, too. Then again, it was extra cool cuz she played with her band this time, and I got to hear Your Honor live! It was fab!!
2. I finished up my last day of data entry yesterday! Yessssssssssss!
3. I have an interview at 2:30 today for a receptionist for a company that manufactures fancy doors and windows. Maybe cool? Oh, and it pays $14/hour! Good luck to meeeee!
4. I’ve been drinking lots of English tea lately. It’s very yummy.
5. So far this week, I’ve had chats with Stacey and Melo on the phone! It is so wonderful to be able to talk to friends.

Oh, on another note, everyone leave David messages to help him feel better. He is feeling really sick this week and needs some loveins! <3

I am tired of feeling down. I need an up.

I am looking for a star I can tell my troubles to

So, I am in an awful mood today.
At 11:30am, the temp agency lady, Rebecca, called me cuz she was in a fix. She needed to find some people to do data entry at this real estate appraisal place until friday. As I have no real job yet, I said sure and off I went. I got there at 12:30 and until 6pm, I stared at a computer screen. The job itself was shit, but what was really shit was the environment of the office. The people there were not very nice. I guess they forgot I was there, but (because 6 more temps are coming tomorrow to help out with their data entry crisis) the people in the office started making fun of temp. They were saying how people were temps only because no one would want to hire them for more than a week at a time. Really nasty stuff. I kept my mouth shut, even though I should have said something. If they go at it agian tomorrow, I am really gonna give them a piece of my mind. Just because I am doing data entry does NOT mean I am not an intelligent woman!

I need a hug.

To the world you might be one person, but to one person you might be the world.

1. Well, instead of going out the Saturday before Halloween like a normal person, I moved into my apartment today. It involved a lot of up and down stairs. My apartment complex is a little bit ghetto, but it’s fine. I am nearby to make places; I’m basically 15-20 minutes from everything and anything. So, that’s nice.
2. Ocha really seems to like the new place. I let him out this evening and after a tentative crawl around, he was jumping and dancing. It was nice. The only bad bit was I put on a movie on my laptop, and Ocha got really angry and stomped a lot. He’s never been in a room that a movie was playing before, so I think it freaked him out (all the new sounds, but without smells to go along with it).
3. I went and did my first grocery shopping, too. I got a lot of Abie-foods, for example, mac n cheese, cereal, peanut butter & jelly, and marshmallows! Ha! I am quite a silly person. But, I got some strawberries this morning (Jackie and I went to a farmers market and I got a huge bunch of organic strawberries for $2.50! Yum yum yum!)
4. While waiting in line to pay for groceries, the guy in front of me told me that he felt happy to see me cuz I was smiling. Hehe.
5. I watched Pride & Prejudice to break in my apartment. Soon I am gonna buy a DVD player so I am actually use the TV that Jackie and Dale gave me. Seriously, this TV is HUGE! It took the 3 of us to carry it up the stairs! Insanely heavy!
6. My first night in the apartment, I slept on the floor in the living room next to Ocha’s cage. I needed to not feel lonely my first night here. I think tonight I will sleep in the bedroom. ^_^
7. I had the most FRUSTRATING adventure, trying to find internet access today. I was ready to kill kill kill! It took me hourS to find a place that has Wifi that A. works and 2. isn’t a gajillion dollars. (Yes, that S was capitalized on purpose).
8. After all the money I’ve spent to get my apartment up to a livable position (tons of cleaning products, groceries, etc), I REALLY need that job. I hope I find something soon…I am feeling job-stressed.

You're not just gonna watch it; you're gonna live it.

1. The start to yesterday was ok. I went over to Saturn to get my car fixed. It wasn’t an adventure at all. It was pretty boring. I tried to re-install my Sims again, but it was feeling difficult. I think I need to make more space on my computer to fit it again… 4 hours and $708 later, my car is all ready to go. Sweet Jesus that’s a lot of money. . .
2. I went to Armon’s new apartment to hang out last night. After an ATM drama, we went to his friend’s house and watched an episode of The Simpsons. Then, we went back to his apartment and ate pizza while he played video games. It was cool. I enjoy hanging out with Armon because I don’t feel bad at all just sitting and reading a magazine while he plays video games. It’s such a relaxed friendship. No entertaining. Just chillin.
3. This morning, I woke up way too early, again. Since I woke up, I’ve been keeping myself busy. Today was my last day to have any slight amount of relaxation. Well, I tomorrow and Friday I will be happy, but will be out and about mostly. But today I played with Ocha for a long time. Then, I wrote some emails. Then I did some packing. Etc etc.
4. I am off to the grocery store in a few minutes with my parents to buy supplies for the trip. Nathan and I are both on a budget, so we are gonna be eating cereal and PB&Js most of the trip.

It's all about timing.

1. I woke up early to take Ocha to the vet. His ear is looking a lot better. I got all of his paperwork from the vet so I can easily get set up at a new vet in California.
2. Karl and I went and saw The Science of Sleep. It was pretty good. Very weird, but I have a feeling that the more I watch it, the more I will like it. I do like how off-the-wall it was. Karl and I laughed a lot.
3. We were the only 2 people in the theater watching it.
4. I ate 3 cream puffs today. Bad for the diet; good for the soul.

People still need Zorro.

1. I felt a little bit better today, which was great. I still feel a bit sick to my stomach, but I am feeling better.
2. I finished putting together another package for David today. I went way over budget for it, but I think it will be all gravy. ^_^
3. Mom and I went to Dollar Tree and Wal-Mart when she got home from work. Mom even let me drive!! She usually doesn’t cuz she HATES my driving. She bought some little ceramic containers for Christmas. She gets so excited about Xmas decorations.
4. As we pulled in at the house, Karl pulled up right behind. It was a nice surprise, discovering Karl coming home for a few days.
5. Tomorrow morning, I have to go to the post office, and then clean out my car. In the afternoon, Emily and Melissa are driving down from Athens to visit, which will be lots of fun! I may take them to the Maize Maze if the weather is nice. This time I will wear better shoes for it…

A sigh

Today also doesn’t get a list. I am feeling sick. I’ve been sick the past few days. I have this huge knot in my stomach. I spent about half an hour last night trying to force myself to puke whatever it was up…but it didn’t work. I was supposed to go hang out with Armon tonight, but I just wasn’t feeling up to driving down to Atlanta. I hope I can feel better by this weekend. I’m sure I’ll be fine.

Shake my hand. People do it when they meet each other.

I don’t feel like doing a list today.

This morning, I tried very hard to give Ocha his medicine for his ear problem. Cuz the vet gave me the meds in pill-form, it was impossible to get him to eat it. He bit me twice cuz he didn’t like me trying to get him to eat it. So, I went to Wal-mart and bought an eyedropper and some apple juice. I smashed up the pill and mixed it with AJ and used the eyedropper to make him drink it. It worked much better.

That was my major accomplishment of the day.

In other good news, I went to the mall with Mom yesterday to try and use her coupon at Lane Bryant to find her something cute. We went in to peek around Torrid afterwards. I tried on a pair of size 14 pants. They were too big. The 12 fit. For those of you know don’t know, that is a MAJOR accomplishment.

Bad news of yesterday: I got an email from Torrid. They found someone else for my dream position. Back to the drawing board. I am trying not to get too down about it. Of course, I left myself feel bad last night. And I still do a little bit, but I know that I’ve just got to buckle down in the face of adversity.

I can always change my name if that's what you mean

1. This morning, I got up early to shower and get ready before meeting Stephi-chan at 10am. It was harder to wake up than usual.
2. When I went to get dressed, something weird inspired me to try on some jeans in my “clothes that don’t fit” pile. I had never been able to even zip them up, let alone move in them. But this morning it happened. I zipped them up and felt hot and fantastic all day cuz of that. I guess the weight I am losing is starting to show.
3. After wandering around the dealer’s room, we were on our way to find Mark, and I randomly saw two people from high school. I saw Stevie and Joseph! It was random and a half. It took Stevie a while to recognize me. I had to say, “Hey…it’s Abie…” I guess I look a lot different. Good.
4. After AWA, Stephi-chan and I went to Subway for lunch. Then we went to Walmart to buy some more things for her new apartment. Her place is really nice. I hope I can find something like that in LA. Not holding my breath for that, but hoping nonetheless.
5. When I was playing with Ocha tonight, I discovered something bad. He has a red blotch with black dots in one of his ears. I did research and found out that it is probably ear mites. So we have to go to the vet tomorrow. I hope it’s easily curable and cheap to cure…

She will kiss you till your lips bleed, but she will not take her dress off

I had an amazing weekend, which I would like to talk about right now.

Friday

1. In the early evening, I went over to Jenni’s house. We first looked at random things online, and she showed me beautypluspower.com, which I loved. Then, Nenni made some delicious homemade macaroni n’ cheese for us for dinner.
2. While eating it, we watched the new version of Pride and Prejudice. I didn’t really enjoy the movie, but it reminded me of how much I love historic costume. There were so many things in it that weren’t done right, but the fact that I cared reminded me how much I enjoy it. So it got an A for making me remember my love for costume history, but a D- for the actual movie.
3. Jenni and I also discussed how Mr. Darcy of this movie had gas-face the whole time. hehehe
4. After the movie, we watched a few episodes of Dead Like Me. That show is great. Jenni and I were lamenting that it got cancelled.

Saturday

5. I woke up at a decent hour. I are Special K for breakfast, which was special indeed. Nenni gave me some delicious peanut butter cookies for the road, which I shared with Melo, Emily, and Jenna later in the day.
6. I arrived at Emily’s house around 1pm. We chatted for a few, then headed to Atlanta to steal away Alli and Catie. The 6 of us, finally reunited, went out to Moe’s Sports Grill for lunch. After a few mishaps, we all had the correct food. This moment is when the picture-taking mania began.
7. After lunch, we went o Ikea to meet up with Chris Slack, Amanda, Crystal, and other Jump peeps. While waiting for them in the parking lot, we played with a shopping cart, in a slightly dangerous manner.
8. We met up at Chris Slacks house so everyone could ready themselves for the upcoming evening. I fixed Brooke’s hair in a way that Yoko taught me. It was cute.
9. The Jay show was great. It was amazing to see so many friends at one time. If you go to my flickr, you can see that there were MILLIONS of pictures taken that night. One with everyone’s camera.
10. We all sang Happy Birthday to Chris Slack, which was nice. When I say “we all,” I mean the whole club.
11. The highlight of the show was Crystal singing “Do You Love an Apple?” with Jay. I am so glad I have a video of it. It was amazing!!!

Sunday

12. Slept over at Emily’s house Sat night. Her guest bed was SOOO comfy. I did have to yell at Jenna in the middle of the night, but out of love. ;o)
13. Emily’s mom made us a DELICIOUS breakfast of French toast, which we ate on their back porch. It was a perfect time.
14. We drove over to Piedmont Park to park and get ready for the day ahead. It took a while to find our way around, but we eventually learned. Bless Melo for being such a patient driver.
15. After playing in the park, just the 4 of us, we met up with the crew from the night before. As hungry bears, we all went to find food. Everyone but Melo, Em, and I ate at a Mediterranean place. The 3 of us got fruit juice and a cookie from a healthy shop next door.
16. After lunch, everyone else had to move on to begin journies home. So, we all said goodbye. Then, it was the 4 of us again.
17. We went to play in a playground. It was fun. Emily and I played on the swings and rode the slide some. Good times!
18. After the playground, we headed down to Park Tavern to get a good spot for the Regina Spektor show. We ate dinner. Emily’s dinner was attacked by gnats! Bless her lil heart! After dinner came dessert. Yum! Key lime pie!
19. Eventually after two openers, it was Regina’s turn. Emily and I went to stand by the side of the stage for it. I was literally less than 2 feet to Regina at some points. It was insane. She is such a little person. So cute. And her voice is amazing. And by the way, did I mention that the show was FREE? Holy crap that made it even more amazing!

Don't you dare come to bed with that ambiguous look in your eye

1. Nerd games yesterday were fun. I really enjoyed the group a lot. And Mark is always a fun DM. It gets a check!
2. Last night, I played Truth or Dare online. It was interesting, to say the least. One girl took a photo of herself with her underwear on her head! Ha!
3. I posted a photo online for a few hours of me in my underwear. I can’t believe I had the guts to do that!
4. I went to sleep at 5am. Geebus, that’s late!
5. Today I have some errands to do. I will also do more job hunting... I got my first rejection letter today. *sigh*
   

My Life

I have decided for today to not use my normal numbered style.

I had a very nice weekend. Friday night, Emily and Melissa came down to Woodstock. We ate at Sweet Tomatoes for dinner, then came back to the house to hang out. Saturday morning, we headed over to Three13 Hair Salon to get a new, fabulous look. And in my opinion, it was a major success.

When we got back to the house, we had beef brocolli pie. It's a family favorite. Steve and his girlfriend (and Steve's dog, Deuce) came by for it as well. It was yummy. Emily discovered to not discuss certain subjects with Deuce.

Sunday, I hung out at home all day. In the evening, I went over to Jenni's house. We watched Twin Falls Idaho and ate peanut butter cookies. Jenni and I both got crushes on the main actors in it. They were definitely way cute on Jenni's big screen TV. After the movie, we watched a few episodes of Dead Like Me and then went to bed. Monday, we hung around Jenni's place till 2:30ish, then went out to look at some beauty supply stores to find cute earrings. No luck with the earrings, but Jenni did find a cute shirt for Roberto at Target.

Yesterday I went out to lunch and ate Vietnamese food. It was yummy. For the rest of the day, I just hung out at home. I sent out a few more resumes. I hope someone gets back to me soon.

I have no plans for this afternoon. Tonight I will head over to the nerd store and nerd it up. Woo!

.the end.

Maybe I'm just strange...

Whenever I watch Animal Planet, I cry. I can't help it. It's like I have all these tears in my body that need to escape. And watching Animal Planet and hearing about horrible events these animal have to go through... I just can't help but cry.

And maybe I'm a fool, or just strange, I cry whenever I hear about Steve Irwin. It's not like I knew him or anything...but it's so sad. And I was talking to Jenni about his death the other day, and she seemed to imply that he deserved it. Cuz he put himself in dangerous situations all the time, he deserved it. He didn't deserve it, it's just how it happened.

I cannot breathe

1. Last night I went with Jenni to play trivia in Atlanta at Roberto’s Mellow Mushroom. It was just the two of us…but we lost, pretty badly. Of course, this Mellow Mushroom did happen to be right next to Emory, so there were lots of super smart people to compete against.
2. Today I cleaned a bit. Ocha’s room looks much better.
3. Emily and Melo are coming down tomorrow. I am really looking forward to it!
4. I am feeling a little depressed tonight. I am definitely going to bed early. I hate feeling like this, and I hate that I feel like this so often lately.

everything here is free; everything but you and me

1. I finished reading Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman. I enjoyed it, but not as much as Stardust. I also started American Gods today. It’s starting off very slow, so its hard to get into so far…but I know it will get good, so I just have to stick with it.
2. Last night, I hung out with Bonnie and Jenn. We made up a drinking game for Zoolander and got drunk and ate nachos. It was delicious and fun!
3. Today I played nerd games at the nerd store for a while. I really like nerd games. I don’t care that it’s nerdy or that some people will make fun of me for liking it. I just like it, that’s all. Hey, at least I am not a LARPer. They’re much weirder than me.

Yoko ni aitai!!!!!

1. I got a phone call from Richard (my homie from Japan/New Zealand) this morning! How exciting was that! Rich is such an amazing guy. I’m really glad that he became my good friend while I was in Tanbara. And he and Yoko are gonna call me tonight! I am sooooo excited to speak to Yoko!
2. At Target tonight, I bought a Sims 2 expansion (Nightlife). Hurray! …but, as it turns out afterall, my computer can’t handle it. So after the installation somehow deleting ALL of my sim files… it still doesn’t work. *sigh* So now I cant play any of my Sims games cuz it made them all explode, so I will have to reinstall all of them…
3. I got to talk to Yoko!!!!!!!!!! It was awesome! Richard called me again tonight at around 11, and I chatted to him for a few more minutes. Then, Yoko arrived and I talked to her for almost an hour! It was amazing. God, I miss her so much. Wow, I will go to sleep with a big smile on my face tonight!

You want nothing to do with me

1. The night before last, I was awoken late in the night by a storm. I was too tired to open my eyes and watch it, but I did listen to it until it passed. It wasn’t just any storm. It was an extremely loud and angry storm. I couldn’t believe how loud the thunder was! And the lightening! It was amazing. I wasn’t upset at being woken up by it at all.
2. Yesterday I played with Bonnie for a long time. I went and picked her up at 11am. I was a little early, so I took the log way to get to her house. Then, we took off to North Point Mall. It was an adventure in mall-ing. I bought a new belt (much needed) and two new bras (also, much needed). I didn’t get fun color bras though. I had to throw out my old black and beige one when I left Japan (they’d had a long life already and it was time for them to go), so I got a new black and an ivory. Ooooooh!
3. At the Apple store, we played on Bonnie’s dream computer for a long time. It was fun. I hadn’t realized just how cool Macs are. I want one now. She showed me a cool movie making program that I knew David would go bonkers for.
4. At the Apple store, I had some guy come up to me and say “Hey! Threadless!” about my shirt. Then, I got another compliment from a stranger about it a few minutes later.
5. After the mall, Bonnie and I went back to her place and each bought two shirts from Threadless. Yay!
6. Last night, around 7, Jenni called me and invited me dancing. I went. It was lots of fun. I danced quite a bit, but not as much as Jenni. For some reason, I guess it didn’t help that the venue was underground, I kept getting so claustrophobic. I’ve never been like that before, but it was bad last night. I felt dehydrated most of the time. And the stroke lights made me really freak out. It was like a bad trip, at moments.
7. Some guy named Carlos kept coming up to me. At first, I just thought it was funny. Then, once when I was dancing, he came up behind me and started dancing with me. He had his hands on my sides. I got so mad. I told him off right there. I was like, “I am not interested. And how rude to just come and put your hands on my body. You have no right to do that!” So, he left me alone the rest of the night. Geebus!
8. I was standing outside in the rain for a bit. Roberto came and found me after taking care of his sick friend. We discussed how fun it is to play in the rain. So, I offered that we should jump in puddles. So we did. It was raining SO hard (cuz of the tropical storm coming through). We got absolutely SOAKED. It was amazing. That was my favorite part of the night. I don’t get to stomp in puddles often enough. It really is my favorite thing to do.
9. This morning, Ocha peed on my bed. Damn it.

Marionette, who are you now?

1. I watched a program on Animal Planet today called “Growing Up Zebra.” It was so cute! It did make me cry a little bit though. The poor zebra was very sick for a while. But in the end, it got well and was releases to the wild. A happy ending, after all.
2. I ate 2 mini-Snickers bars and a Reece’s Peanut Butter Cup today. They were delicious.
3. I did my laundry AND put everything away today. Yesterday, Mom and I bought fancy pant and skirt hangers. So now my closet is nice and organized. Ahhhhh.
4. I haven’t left the house at all today, except to get the mail. So, I’ve been playing with Ocha all day. That’s pretty much all. He and I played a fun game earlier. I covered him with blankets and made him find his way out. He kept coming back to keep playing, so I think he liked it.
5. I think my hair looks extra cute today. Mom told me that she hates my bangs. I am not a huge fan of them either, but she always seems to insult my hair on days when I think it’s looking cute. I think she does it on purpose. Silly Mom.

we looked like giants

1. Spent a long time looking for jobs online (with very little luck). While doing that, Ocha came and actually snuggled next to me (!!!), which was the first time he’s ever just came and laid down next to me. It was cute.
2. When Mom got home, we went to Target. On the way there, the sky opened up and there was about 5 minutes of such intense rainfall. It was like the time we drove back from Charleston and people had to put their hazard lights on so people could see your car. Insane-o.
3. I had two bowls of cereal today (Cinnamon Life and Cinnamon Swirl). They were both delicious.
4. After dinner, my dad and I watched Antiques Roadshow together. Unfortunately there were no massively expensive pieces in that show. Only up to $25,000 or so.
5. The Geiko commercial’s lizard has a very endearing British accent.

I wanna be better than oxygen

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on the evergreen

1. This morning, I ran all of my errands (returning something to a pet store, sending in my tax stuff, and asking the manager at torrid a few questions) all before 11am.
2. I watched Twin Falls Idaho, which David had highly recommended. Well, as always, he did a good job. I’m glad that I own it. It was such a beautiful film. And I did cry, but it was so amazing…
3. Mom and I went to WW today. I lost 4.2 pounds this week! And I wasn’t even behaving. All week pretty much I ate over my allowed points. Hurrah!
4. Remember that job that I mentioned yesterday… well, I fucked things up with them. I emailed them my rough draft cover letter rather than my final. Hopefully they will still read through it at least. I was so excited about it, too. So excited. I just emailing them back and explained. We’ll see if I ever hear from them. I feel so stupid about it. God, I am an idiot.
   

It's got to be now or never

1. Today I’ve spent a lot of time with Ocha. He is finally coming around to me. He has never been an attention-seeking rabbit before. Now, he is starting to come up to me and sit with me and let me pet him for long periods of time. Maybe one day he will want to snuggle in my lap. I won’t rush him, though. It has to be on his terms, otherwise he gets grumpy.
2. I went to a store by the Goodwill in Woodstock called Pet Supermarket. I bought Ocha a new carrot holder for his cage. I was going to bring my one from Japan, but I’m glad I didn’t. Carrots are MUCH thinner here, so a thinner carrot holder is necessary.
3. After Pet Supermarket, I went into Goodwill and bought a nice dress skirt for (my future) work and a funky sheer long top.
4. I have many things I want to sell on Ebay, so I’ve been photographing some of the items today.
5. I called and set up an appointment for Ocha tomorrow. He is going to have a check-up at his first English-speaking vet. I just need a general health check-up. I also have some questions that need to be asked in English, so I can be sure to understand the answer. Hehe
6. I wrote a cover letter for a job that looks amazing. Granted, it’s in LA, but it still looks amazing. Fingers crossed.
7. I went to Publix with Mom and Dad this evening. Mom and I bought tons of delicious-looking healthy food. I hope it all tastes good. Tomorrow is our 1 week weigh-in. Wish us both luck!

I've gotta get out of here to find my way again

1. Since I got home around 3am, I slept until 11 today! It was AWESOME! That’s the latest I’ve had a sleep in for a while. It was excellent.
2. I hung around with Ocha and chatted to my friend Katie from freshman year online. Ocha kept trying to walk on my laptop, which wasn’t a good job. He’s just curious, though.
3. I baked some blueberry muffins with fresh blueberries. Yum! Then, with the half a pack of blueberries I had left, I made a Blueberry-Banana-Walnut Coffeecake. Mmmmmmmmmmmm!
4. After that, Bonnie came over. We went to the mall to look for some new shoes for her, but instead all she found was a new (super cute!) pair of sunglasses.
5. As we were leaving the mall to go grab food (cuz I was SO hungry at that point), it started to pour down rain. We made a run for it to her car, which was fun… except we were SOAKED when he got there. It was raining much harder than we’d originally thought.
6. After dinner at Roadhouse Grill, we went to Cost Plus World Mart. I remember when David was here and we went on a mad hunt for custard. Anyway, this place carries imported goods (including custard). It reminded me of the rhubard crumble time. It was so delicious!
7. At Cost Plus World Mart, I bought some PG Tips (English tea) and Wheatabix. David would be jealous. I think the Wheatabix will be especially good for my diet, cuz it’s so high in fiber, which means it is less points… And it’s a good breakfast.
8. I was going to go to a knitting group meetup tonight, but I decided that I am too tired to leave the house again. I am now in my PJs, laying on my bed, with Ocha jumping on and off the bed. He is currently enjoying looking out the window. :o)

yesterday

I realize that I haven’t written anything in AGES. Sorry, everyone. To tell the truth, there has been too much to write about for me to write anything at all.

I am not even going to try and summarize how life has been lately. If you want to know, you probably already do. If not, ask. :o)

Today’s Daily Happy

1. I ate a delicious breakfast of Captain Crunch cereal with soy milk and a small cup of strawberry yogurt.
2. After breakfast, I played with Ocha for a while. He is doing really well here. He is living in the upstairs bathroom in his cage. I built the cage in there, not realizing how big it was. So, it can’t come out of there cuz it’s too wide to get out of the door. Anyway, Ocha is doing well. I have set up a baby gate outside the bathroom door in such a way that half of the upstairs hallway is open to him. I close all the doors down here except mine, so he can run form my room to the bathroom as he pleases. He loves it! He has never had a big AND carpeted area to run on. So, he zooms back and forth, going as fast as possible. He also likes to look in a mirror that is on my floor, propped against a wall. I think he is confused as to why there is another bunny in “the other room.” :o) (In fact, as I write this, I am laying on my bed. Ocha just came up to see what I was doing and watched me type for a moment. He is cute.)
3. This afternoon, I went to a thrift store and bought 3 new skirts. I have decided that for the most part, I hate the current fashion in stores….so I am going to try to thrift as much as I can.
4. I ate Spaghetti-o’s for lunch!!
5. The afternoon was pretty boring. I did play with Ocha for a long time. He likes to poo in little piles RIGHT outside his litter box, apparently. Some training will have to be done to stop him.
6. After dinner, I met up with Jenni. We met at her old Starbuck’s, and then moved on to a gay bar in Atlanta called Blake’s to watch a drag show. It was pretty excellent. I really did miss being around gay people.
7. After the drag show, we went to a bar called Estoria that Jenni and her friends frequent. It was really nice and had such a variety of people in there. It was so weird! I had one girl give me a little flirty wave. I guess I looked extra lesbionical last night? Ah well. I felt cute-ish, that’s what matters.

While I was still in Japan

July 25h, 2006

1. Well, I am out of Tanbara. Officially. For good. On Tuesday, I moved out. I got some surprise money back from my landlord because he seemed to have overlooked the damage that Ocha did on the apartment. So, I got a cool bit of cash, so I no longer need to stress about money for my time in Japan, which is nice.
2. Tuesday I moved into Duncan’s for a couple days. It was weird. But, it was cool. Duncan is such a good friend to me. I’m really lucky to have had him in my town with me.

July 26, 2006

3. Wednesday, I met up with Raul and his mother and aunt for lunch. It was interesting. I have become used to understanding at least some of what goes on in another language (Japanese), but they all spoke Spanish. I was so lost! But it was a nice meal of ham and cheese sandwiches. Raul’s aunt and I had a giggle because both of us put potato chips inside of the sandwich, which Raul and his mom thought was weird.
4. At 2:30 on Wednesday, Duncan and I met up with the Yoko-nator! She took us to this shaved ice restaurant in Imabari which is very famous. Asking our other Japanese friends about it, and they all knew! Even though it was the tiniest of places. I had strawberry and milk flavored shaved ice, which was yummy.
5. After that restaurant, we were like, what should we do? So, Duncan suggested karaoke. To be honest, in Japan one just can’t get enough of it. I felt a tiny bit quiet, so I didn’t sing as much as Duncan and Yoko.
6. When we came back to Toyo, we picked up Ocha. Bless him! He’s had a rough couple of days. The vet fed him WAY too much and Ocha was noticeably fatter when he left!
7. At 7, I met some people at Marubun for a goodbye meal (Yoko, Stacey, Kana, John, Manabe-chan, Sa-chan, K-chan, and Miki). It was lovely to just hang out and chat. Saying goodbye at the end was rough. I was doing ok, but then Kana burst out in tears, which brought mine on. From that point on, I cried a lot.
8. Saying goodbye to Yoko was weird. I didn’t cry nearly as much as I’d expected. I think one reason is that I had just finished crying a ton. Also, I feel like with Yoko, I will definitely see her again. I don’t feel that way about most of the other people I’ve met. It’s sad to say, but it’s true. I hope to see everyone again, but I also much be realistic, you know.
9. When I got back to Duncan’s, I was EXHAUSTED. But, he convinced me to walk with him to Circle K to get a drink. We walked and we talked and stuff. I’ll miss that boy a whole lot.

July 27, 2006

10. This morning, I woke up WAY too early. I had to wake up at 5:15 so I would be ready for Stacey and Jemmy, who came to pick me up at 5:45 to leave for the airport. It was so nice of them to take me! I will miss those two!
11. It’s good we ended up getting to the airport early. There were some problems over Ocha. Apparently he wasn’t allowed to come in the cabin with me. So we put him into one of their cages to ride in the back. Then, there was a problem with that cage, so we had to put him into a small little wooden box with holes in the top! How scary! The whole plane ride I was really orried about him. In the back, there in o protection for his ears fromall the loud airplane noises! I hope he isn’t deaf. He seemed ok afterwards.
12. We flew from Matsuyama into Haneda (Tokyo). From there, we took a mega long bus ride (cuz of the Tokyo traffic) to Narita Airport. I was met, after a little bit of confusion, by the guy who owns Ocha’s pet hotel. He promised to give him enough veggies every day, which is good. Ocha hasn’t been pooing as much lately, which isn’t a good thing.So, then I saw Ocha off.
13. Since then (about 11am!), I hung around Narita airport for many hours. It sucks cuz it’s so far outside of Tokyo that it’s hard to go and come back, with time left to do stuff. So anyway, I was hanging in Narita for a long time. I discovered that this airport has a shower room for only 500 yen! Cheap! So, I took a shower in my own bathroom that was much better than is in most hotels. It was SO refreshing and SO needed.
14. Then around 10:15ish I met up with David, and then came to his apartment. I was so exhausted I couldn’t even get any expression on my face. We watched a few minutes of Sideways, but both of us were sooo tired, so we went to bed.

July 28, 2006

15. This morning, David and I woke up at a reasonable hour, which was nice. No early awakenings! We got out of bed around 10ish. We went to the post office to pick up something for him and my suitcase. It turns out that my suitcase is being sent tomorrow morning. Then, we went off to the grocery store cuz he had nothing food-wise in his apartment.
16. Around noon, he went off to work and out with his buddies for the day. I took a walk down to Kotoni to use the internet at an internet café. I only spent around an hour there. I just didn’t have anything to do online today, I guess.
17. Then, I went to a flower shop nearby and talked to the girl who works there. She was very nice. I bought some nice white and yellow, cheerful flowers.
18. Then, I went to Uni-qlo (a clothing shop here that is similar to the Gap, but not as good). I bought a white shirt, 2 tank tops, and some underwear (to wear tomorrow while I wait for my suitcase to come. They won’t fit well at all, but I need something.
19. In the evening, I went and saw fireworks. They were huge and spectacular! But, I didn’t enjoy them as much as I should have. I was feeling a bit lonely, as I was all alone and surrounded by people with family and friends. It’s ok though. It’s ok to feel lonely sometimes.

July 29, 2006

20. I made a fairly average chicken salad mix for David and me for lunch. Hope he likes it! (He did!)
21. In the evening, we went to the Sapporo Beer Festival to meet up with David’s work colleagues before his night class. It was nice. I chatted to some high school/college aged kids for a while, which was cool. They are taking an intense English class at Berlitz (David’s company) so they can study English in University in America.
22. I went into David’s high school class in the evening. The two girls that were there, Nanami and Rie, are very sweet. They were planning out a movie. I think around the end of the month, they are going to try and shoot it. It’s pretty funny sounding. I can’t wait to see it!

July 30, 2006

23. We spent the morning relaxing. In the afternoon, we went off to the Sapporo Art Park. IT was this HUGE park full of many sculptures from all over the world. Some were amazing. Some made us go, “hmmm.” It was nice, though. Some of the artwork was amazing!
24. After the Art Park, we headed into town and checked movie times. Then, we went to the Sapporo Beer Festival and got some drinks and just relaxed. After walking around the Art Park all day, we were pooped! After drinking our cold drinks, we got a bit chilly. Sapporo is the only place where I’ve honestly been COLD in July. So strange. So, we got some coffee and then headed off to the theater.
25. We saw Pirates of the Caribbean 2. It was ok… I didn’t particularly like it, but I didn’t hate it. But, I won’t pay to see it again.
26. By the time we got home, around midnight, both of us were absolutely exhausted. From what I can remember, once I fell asleep, I slept pretty deeply until David got up.

July 31, 2006

27. This morning, David woke me up with a light kiss on the neck. That was the best was to be woken up, ever.
28. David came home for lunch today between his jobs. I made grilled cheese sandwiches. We just chilled out, listening to some Grandaddy. He was very exhausted, so he relaxed and read my Cosmo for a bit.
29. In the evening, we went out for a yakiniku dinner. Yum!

August 1, 2006

30. David and I both slept in late (9;45ish for me and 10:30 for him!). We hung around the apartment for a while, just relaxing. I watched Battle Royal and David played the Sims.
31. At 4ish, I went to one of David’s elementary school classes with him, which was nice. We learned rooms of the house and a few objects that go in them.
32. After the lesson, David and I went to Royal Host (a restaurant) and both got tacos for dinner. Yum!
33. After Tacos, David had more lessons, so he had to go. I walked around for a long time, looking for some mysterious shopping arcade. I never did find it. But, I did find a store called “Art Box: CRAP” which was funny. It was a store with random crap (true to its name) and a bunch of handmade stuff. When I walked in, the shopkeeper (a really friendly woman named Ikuyo) came up to tell me to try any jewelry I wanted on. I said ok. She was amazed that I’d understood her! So, we ended up chatting for about an hour and a half! It was really nice. I t made me realize just how far I’ve come with my Japanese. It’s almost a waste for me to not keep studying when I go home, you know? We’ll see.

August 2, 2006

34. Today, David worked all day. He left the house at 7:30 or so and didn’t come back until 10ish. He’s been working a lot since I’ve been here. His normal hours plus some. It’s not his choice though. One of his bosses is preggers, so he has to cover for her. It’s really hard for him. He has been super tired the past 3 days in a row. And tomorrow is another long one. He will be out from 8:30ish in the morning and won’t be back until after 11pm. *sigh*
35. Today was a worthless day for me. When I woke up, I headed to a faraway place called Sato-Land Farm Park. It looked neat in the brochure. Unfortunately, when I got there, it was lame. But, I did get to drink the most delicious milk ever out of a glass bottle. Yum! But overall, lame. It took me an hour and a half to get there…and I only stayed an hour.
36. After the failed park fiasco, I went to downtown Sapporo. I walked around for a long time. It’s weird for me because I should want to go shopping, right? But I just keep getting defeated by Japan, where I am of monstrous proportions compared to the Japanese women…that I just can’t buy anything. So it’s no longer fun for me to go shopping.
37. Then, I came back to David’s apartment around 6ish I think. I headed over to the nearby internet café. I rented a booth until 9:15pm. By the time I got back to David’s apartment, it was almost time for him to be home.
38. When he got home, I gave him some presents that I put together for him.
39. Then we watched some of Happy Gilmore and went to sleep.

August 3, 2006

40. I slept a tad late today. At 11, I left for the city.
41. At 11:30, I met David for his lunch break. We had Freshness Burger (which is the closest to a real burger anywhere I’ve found yet). I had a delicious cheeseburger with REAL cheese on it! WOAH!!!
42. After lunch, David had to get back to work. I decided to wait for him to get off, so I spent about 3 hours just bobbing around the city. First, I went and played on the internet for an hour. Then, I sat in Starbucks and people watched. Then, I did some walking, and eventually some shopping. I bought a pair of ugly/beautiful chucks for about $25. Not a bad deal, if I do say so myself!
43. After 4ish, I met up with David again. He took me to this cute little café called “Fab Café.” We had some chocolate drink which was AMAZING!
44. We had to leave around 5:30 because we had a class to teach at his other job. I m allowed to go with him to that job, which is cool. The kids are super good.
45. I met a little Japanese boy (with great English) whose English name is Ralf. :o)

August 4, 2006

46. This morning because it was SO hot, I woke up at around 5am and had to go sleep for an hour on the kitchen floor to cool me down a bit.
47. I met David around 11:30, after his first lesson of the day. Is company is cool and paying him for NOT teaching today. When he teaches children’s classes, they give him 10 minutes free. Then, they wait and add it up all at once. So, it turns out that he got paid for teaching a lesson today when he didn’t have to do it. Lucky!
48. The first thing we did was to go get his haircut. I must say, his new cut is pretty sexy. And he likes it, which is very important. I wish I could have gotten a haircut I loved here. Unfortunately, nope.
49. After the haircut, we went to the Yahoo store. He bought a used laptop for a pretty good price. He also set up internet in his apartment, which will start at the end of the month. What a productive afternoon!
50. After the computer/internet fun, both of us were super hungry, so we went to a “Biking.” A “Biking” or “Viking” is the Japanese word for buffet. We ate SO much, we almost literally rolled out of there. Oh, while there, as an evil game, we decided to play Janken (paper rock scissors). The loser had to eat another bite of food! I lost twice and thought I was going to vomit everywhere! Hehe.
51. After the buffet, we went off and did some purikura. Ahh, I LOVE purikura. We borrowed some super silly costumes from the place and had a costume edition of purikura! So funny!
52. After purikura, we had to go pick up David’s computer, then he had to teach a lesson at his Maruyama school. I went back to his apartment and played some Sims and washed dishes. Woo fun!

August 5, 2006

53. Slept late-ish! Past 9am! Wooooaaah!
54. David had to work in the morning, so while he was at work, I went and did laundry. Mega fun and you know it. While there, I lost one of my favorite shirts and my favorite hang-out skirt. Damn!
55. I met David for his lunch break. I made him a sandwich and we ate lunch on Odori Park. After he ate his lunch, I got us both ice cream to enjoy. Ice cream in the park. Cheesy and fun.
56. After lunch, I took David’s computer back to the Yahoo store to see if the language could be changed from Japanese to English (turns out it can’t!). So, for an hour they told me they couldn’t do it. That’s one thing about this country that annoys me. They can’t just tell you a simple “no.” They go to an extra extent to double and triple check it. That’s nice and all, but when you wait for an hour for them to tell you an answer that they have known the whole time… It is a bit annoying.
57. In the evening, I went with David to his high school class. Rather than having class this week, it was decided that we would all do fireworks together. David burnt his thumb pretty badly (bless his heart) for lighting a group of rockets taped together. It was fun, though. Yay fireworks!
58. After fireworks, David and I headed downtown. We found this delicious izakaya and ate lots of little finger foods and drank copious amounts of alcohol. David drank a beer larger than his head!
59. After food, we went to this super plush karaoke place and we rocked the joint with nomihodai (all you can drink!!!) for a looong time. We sang many classics, including, A Whole New World, Whoop There It Is, and countless other silly songs.
60. After karaoke, both of us were SO drunk and tired, we took a 2000 yen taxi back to David’s apartment.

August 6, 2006

61. After the festivities of the previous night, you may guess (correctly) that the two of us were hung-OVER! Geebus!
62. In the morning when he woke up (hungover), there was a guy chopping wood or something right outside his apartment window. I wanted to kill him! It was 11am (which was a nice lie-in)… way too early for me to be ready to face the world!
63. To cure the hangover…well, not a cure, but something to help, I made French toast for us for breakfast. Yum!
64. For our last day together, we had planned to do lots of things on Sunday. We were going to have a picnic and then climb a mountain to see the amazing view of the city. Unfortunately, both of us were SO ill that we said “Fuck that!” and went to an internet café for the day instead.
65. Internet Cafes rule. We spent 9 hours in a little booth together with 2 computers. I read about 8 or 9 magazines (well, I looked at the pictures, anyway) and David played about as many different video games. Hurrah for spending our day together in a little box away from the world. It was really so nice. I didn’t want to hang out with anyone but David that day.
66. A note about just chillin with David: I love it! Just playing video games with him, watching him play them, watching movies together…whatever! I love it. I just get so much enjoyment from hanging out with my boyfriend.
67. After we got to David’s apartment and got into bed…I had a nice crying session. Not just little tears, but full, big sobs. I needed it. It just sucks so much to have to do the long distance thing. And it’s not that it’s not worth it, cuz it is…but it fucking sucks. And I was in Sapporo over a week this time, so just as I was getting into the swing of things, I had to leave. Damn it.

August 7, 2006

68. Monday morning, I woke up with David and we said goodbye. I am not going to go into details about it, but tears were involved. I am really going to miss him.
69. I made pancakes for breakfast, which were yummy.
70. I took a bus to Sapporo to catch my flight to Narita Airport. Well...when I got to Sapporo’s airport, I found out that my flight had been cancelled! So, they popped me on another, much more inconvenient flight to another airport, from where I took a bus to my original location. Ugh, it was such a pain!
71. When I got to Narita, finally, I met up with Ocha. I took him right up to the quarantine office and entered him in there. The staff were very nice and helpful, which was excellent. His pen for 2 days is HUGE (I think it was meant for a fairly large dog). That must be exciting for him, having such a large place to run around. I hope he likes the cage I ordered for him for America.
72. After getting lost in Narita city for a LONG time, I eventually found my youth hostel. It’s a pretty nice place. Newly redecorated with a “neauveau-asian” theme. I chatted to a Japanese dude named Yas who lives in Hawaii for a while, then went to bed early.

August 8, 2006

73. Today was my last day in Japan. Did I spend it doing Japanese-y things like visiting shrines? Nope. I sure didn’t. Instead, I went to a shopping mall and bought some socks and underwear (I forgot to pack a paid for tomorrow!) and a book.
74. I called David and chatted to him for about 30 minutes before stopping my phone service. God, I am going to miss that boy.
75. I had a discussion with Yas about how mullets are ugly and how so many Japanese men have them.
    

"If your life were a book, what would the title of it be? And what chapter are you in now?"

"Stand still. The trees ahead and the bushes beside you are not lost. Wherever you are is called here, and you must treat it as a powerful stranger, must ask permission to know it and be known."

"The forest breathes. Listen. It answers, 'I have made this place around you. If you leave it, you may come back again saying, 'here.' No two trees are the same to Raven. No two branches are the same to Wren. If what a tree or a bush does is lost on you, you are surely lost. Stand still. The forest knows where you are. You must let it find you."

A step away from the ordinary

Greetings all! I am currently in Sapporo staying with the handsome David until my return to the states.

I won't be posting as normal here, and for that, I apologize. I am, however, working on a daily happy on my personal computer. If I make it somewhere with wireless, I will update then. If not, there will be a very big post to be made when I return to America!

Sorry for the inconvience, y'all! Love ya!

-Abs

It's something unattainable that you can't live without.

1. God it is ROASTING today!
2. So the last 3 days I’ve been cleaning my little heart out! All I have left to do, really, is to sweep up the floor in the kitchen and the genkan…then I am pretty done! Oh, and I have to take a million bags of trash out. Trouble is that since garbage day isn’t until Thursday, I have to walk them over to the dumpster which, I think, is near Duncan’s apartment. Gah! I think that’s the closest one.
3. Yesterday Yoko and I took Ocha to the vet. He is staying there for a few days.
4. After the vet, I met Kana and we went to Ikebana. Awwe. It was so cute! My teacher is so wonderful. She bought cakes for us to eat and we ate cake and drank tea after we set up our flowers. Then when it was time to say goodbye, she cried! Awwe! Bless her!
5. Around 11:30, Manabe-chan came over. She showed me her sister’s wedding pictures, and then gave me copies of the photos from my birthday! They are SUPER funny. She stayed over and we chatted till around 1am.
6. This morning, I was awoken in the worst possible way. My landlord came around 8:30 and just rang the doorbell ***4*** times in quick succession. I was shaking because my body was not able to really wake up so fast! And then I had to run around the apartment looking for a pair of pants while he is ringing the doorbell! Ugh! I told him to come back at 6pm. He was very surprised. I guess he thought I would want to be out early today….
7. I walked my suitcase and a few bags over to Duncan’s apartment. When I was up in his apartment, I stole a banana and some Calpis because I was STARVING and have NO food left in my house at this point. I’ll tell him later. He’ll be cool with it. :o) That’s why I like Duncan. He’s just so laid back.