Wednesday, October 27, 2010

yesterday

with B at Lion
(apologies for my crappy photoshop skillz. i don't get how you can scan something on the same machine, on the same setting, within one minute of the other, and get two different shades like this. pros?)

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Thursday, October 21, 2010

More stuff I did in Oregon

It was really hot one day, and we went to the soapbox derby race on Mt. Tabor. We gorged ourselves silly on vegan pastries from Sweetpea Bakery and sat around in hats amidst scratchy weeds.
We bowled at a benefit for the food pantry where Kelly works, and won all kinds of stupid keychains and slices of pizza.
I played lots of scrabble in bars and parks and living rooms. Represent! I miss scrabble.

Monday, October 18, 2010

ew

The guy standing next to me on the Denento-shitty line (thanks to Saki for coining that name) just picked his nose and ate a gooey booger. Twice.

Saturday, October 16, 2010

I bank at Mitsubishi, and every time I go into an MUFJ (which, be honest, doesn't it just beg you to call it muthafug?), their jingle is playing. And part of it sounds like the hook for the cartoon Rescue Rangers. So every time I go to the ATM, I'm humming, "Ch-ch-ch-chip and Dale! Rescue rangers! Ch-ch-ch-chip and Dale! When there's danger!"
All day.

Friday, October 08, 2010

Breitenbush

When I went to Oregon this summer, I went down to Breitenbush, east of Salem.
Even though I lived in Oregon for a lotta years, I had never been to Breitenbush, which is a hippie hot springs resort in the forest.
This year I was lucky that a good friend was working there, and was able to get us in on a guest pass for a nominal fee.
It's breathtaking in the way that Oregon can't help being, all crunchy and zen-y and chill. Wildlife everywhere, excuse the blurry photo. Didn't have time to change my camera setting before they disappeared into the woods.
Hot springs culture there is very different from Japan. It's a bit more unproduced, and it's nekkid mixed bathing, with no showers beforehand. I didn't feel like baring it all for the bearded men, so I wore a suit, which is also ok.
Did I mention the all-you-can-eat vegetarian buffet? Heavenly.
Oregon is so magical!

Monday, October 04, 2010

sunshine city

 I went to Sunshine City in Ikebukuro, um, a couple of months ago. The object was to go to the aquarium and the planetarium.

I don't usually go to aquariums or zoos, but I broke my rule for Beth. Beth, why are you always making me break the rules?
Well anyway, the fishes were beautiful but things like this are why I don't like to go. I hate hate exotic animals in small cages.
By the way, please don't visit the free Nogeyama Zoo in Yokohama. Giraffes in tiny enclosures, the most depressing thing ever.
But then we got to my favorite part, the planetarium. I love planetariums! Even though I couldn't get all the explanations (my black hole and supernova vocabulary is sadly deficient), they still put on a really good show! They don't allow pictures inside, so you get something from their website.
I also went to the Hayabusa film at the planetarium in Sagamihara, but it was boring. I fell asleep. I love learning about constellations and hearing about ancient philosophers and seeing what different cultures see in the sky, but watching a film about a failed sample collecting spacecraft hovering around a big lifeless rock was not quite what I was hoping for. I'd like to go back and see a different show though.

Oh yeah, and the Sunshine City planetarium is funded by Konica-Minolta, while I think the Sagamihara City planetarium has links to JAXA, seeing as the JAXA campus is right next door, and they launched Hayabusa.

This is also a good indoor activity now that the rain and chill has set in and I want to take a bath with a hot apple cider. If I go outside, I think I'll be going star watching.

Friday, October 01, 2010

wish me luck

Immigration is a pain in the ass...

but the Shinyurigaoka branch office is sooo much more chill than Shinagawa. There are only about 30 people in here and it's a 2 minute walk from the station, and about an hour less commute. �