Ok, so it’s only a book of poetry, and its self-published, and it’s not very long; but I did it! It’s one of the reasons I haven’t updated the blog much lately, I’ve been busy writing that.
The book is up on Amazon for ~$3. $2.99 actually, which I think is a pretty good deal. I’m quite happy with how the poems turned out and I think it’s really cool that people around the world could, theoretically, be reading something I wrote. Hopefully enjoying it too.
If you’re interested in getting an e-copy of the book (no hard copies yet…maybe eventually if there seems to be interest) then you can find it here . So please, if you’re reading this, follow the link, pick yourself up a copy and enjoy the poems I wrote. If you enjoy them, pass the link on to your friends so they can enjoy them too. Reviews and “likes” would also be super handy because the more positive responses I get, the more likely it is that other people will also look at it.
That’s the cover to the book. I have to thank my co-worker for letting me use a great pic that he had. I really like it. Thanks Clif! (I don’t think he reads my blog heh).
I’ve got to get to work on somehow marketing and advertising the short book. If anybody has any ideas please let me know, or if you would like to post it on your blog or facebook, you can use the following link:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007O4TCRM#
Just cut and paste that and it will go straight to the book. Thanks for everybody who helps me out or who enjoys the book.
Talk to you again soon!
Well, maybe it is. Really depends on how much time you spend thinking about. And, since I realise that I AM pretty awesome, spending a lot of time thinking about me really seems to make sense.
Anyway, I know. I havent posted anything in a long time. Ive been keeping busy and I havent felt like typing a lot. But here I am to remedy that! Are you prepared? Are you eager? Are you sitting down? Is it a comfy chair? My chair isnt comfy. Really. It digs into my back in this horrible way. And the cushion isnt very thick. Im not even sure that its technically a chair. I think it comes from the same line of products as my headset did…
True story. Thank goodness this one didnt come with a lightsaber though. Just your standard run-of-the-mill chair-sword.
Im gonna post some pics (um…real pictures taken with a camera I mean) of …food. Might as well post something, and food is usually pretty interesting, right?
Here we were about to start making Nabe, which is like a bunch of veggies all cooked together. It can have different tastes depending on which kind of soup you use. In this case, we didnt use soup and instead used a few spices and let the flavour of the veggies and meat do the trick for us. I have some more pictures…
This is a lot of the food we actually put in the pot. Veggies, noodles, some meat, eggs, fish (bleh). Uh…MAYBE we didnt put any of the coffee or tea in the pot. Its possible though, we were kinda just tossing things in randomly. They totally said “no” to my suggestion of chocolate though =(.
This is what it looked like while we were boiling it and before it exploded. Im kidding! It didnt explode, it only leaked over a little as it boiled. We had a crack team on the job though!
Just skimming the fat and stuff that was boiling up. This was also a useful technique for removing small objects such as toys which may have accidently found there way in.
Almost time to eat! So hungry =_=. Oh, I should point out that we only have 4 bowls there, but we bought enough food for 5 people. We totally had too much. I blame the 5th person (who didnt come) but totally helped us shop for too much food!
Served! It was very good!
Then we played the game of LIFE: DREAM CHANGE, after. You likely cant see from the picture, but of course its all in Japanese. And it was BLOODY COMPLICATED! We had the instruction manual out the entire game and im still not sure what the heck actually happened. It was kind of fun, but damn…ages 3 and up. Screw that noise.
On a later date…I found Olives! Olives + cheese + crackers = win. Who needs tigers blood?
Later in the week, or maybe the next weekend, we may this kinda cream stew thing. We just bought these dried cubes (sort of) and dropped them in the water with the cooked veggies and VOILA, instant nummies. Well, it wasnt really instead, cutting and cooking the veggies took a while, but it was DAMN good. Can make curry the same way. And…speaking of curry…
Garden Veggie curry! Japanese curry, which tastes different than Indian style (is…that still politically correct? Should I be calling it something else now?) but still very good. Generally not quite as hot and usually served with rice instead of Nan (the bread. One A or 2?)
Made this last night maybe. This one is tomato chilli curry, which tastes just like Chili! Which was fantastic because I havent had Chili since I was in Canada and I am seriously missing it. Add it to the list of things to bring to the airport…along with the Subway sub!…Do they have a subway chili sub yet? Cause like…that would solve both of my wants in one go! Somebody get on that, get it under development!
Onigiri! Ume Onigiri! So gooooooood. Onigiri = rice ball. They are (sorry, were…i ate them all …) sooooo good. Must. Make. More.
Ok, im getting tired of typing now. But, I have one more picture. Watches! Christmas presents! I am reaaaaaally happy with mine, so I am totally posting the picture!
The one on the right is mine.
/Yawn. Too much typing. Enough for now. Ill try to update again soon. Maybe more pictures of food! Have a good on ^_^v.
January 16th,2012
Day to day |
3 Comments
Dont read this if you dont want to hear pointless sappy stuff.
I would like to talk about how fun it was to talk to the peeps back home over Skype (until Tara broke it) or how my own Mom fell asleep while I was talking to her on the phone (I guess im not very exciting) but…im not going to.
Instead, I have some really bad news. For people who know me really well, youll understand why this is such terrible news for me (and my Mom and sister also). I wish I was being sarcastic, I wish this was a joke.
I just called home today and found out that Ma had to put Gaia down. It sounds like the same thing that happened with Ishtar, she got sick and 2 days later she died. I dont have an onion for this feeling.
When I left Canada, I couldnt say goodbye to them (my dogs) because it made me way too sad. Instead, I told them I “would be right back”. Yah, I lied to them and I have felt guilty about it for 3 years. I knew they were getting older and the one thing that I always REALLY feared was that something would happen to them before I got to see them again and apologize. Maybe its kind of stupid, they are dogs and maybe, MAYBE, they dont realize what I did…but I sure do. And…now I cant say sorry to her. Guilt is a terrible thing.
The only picture I have of them. So sad.
Bye Gaia, sorry.
Thats a long time yo! Why? Well, its pretty simple really…im lazy! We all know this though, so its nothing new. You know, I think that if you did a count for the word that has shown up the most in my blog, “lazy” would likely be number 1. Maybe number 2. I like typhoon too. Thats a fun (ho ho ho, tyfun) word.
I guess the other reason is that I really dont have a lot of other things to talk about. I havent done anything TERRIBLY exciting recently. Work has been kinda busy and ive been reading a lot. Read a couple of great books. Very very interesting indeed. Maybe the most interesting one was called “Blink” by Malcom Gladwell. A very interesting read if youre curious about first impressions. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
I also went back to Kanazawa (this time my camera actually had the battery in it!) to go to Kenrokuen and something called the 21st Century Museum. You can take a look at their website here . I totally didnt understand any of the art. Way beyond me or something. The pool was kinda cool though. It was ok, but not as exciting as I had hoped.
Rumour has it that there is a planetarium somewhere nearby, and im hoping to go to that soon. Maybe I will understand a little more! Its …possible.
There was totally something else I was going to talk about, but I cant remember what it is. Im getting old and forgetful. Heh, speaking of that…
Since ive been in Japan, ive totally lied about my age to anybody who has asked. I guess I was a little self-conscious about it. I have my reasons why, but im not going to explain that. Nevertheless, I told most people that I was 22 or 23. Obviously a lie, but it was very funny and deflected the question nicely.
No, nobody ever believed me. Ever. 
Anyway, with my most recent birthday I decided that I would man up and be honest about my age if anybody asked. 
After 2.5 years of lying about it, the staff was understandably surprised when I started being honest about it. Well, thats not quite the punch-line to my little story.
In one of my classes, maybe 2 weeks ago, one of my high-school students guessed my age. She…guessed…40! Yes…40!!!!! 
I had to sit down after that. I had come to grips with looking my age, but…ouch. Cmon, 40?!
Oh, and I totally had an awesome Halloweeen costume, though…i was NOT a Raccoon! I was totally a lesser panda! There was no mask around my eyes. I actually dont have any pics of me in the full…waaait…maybe i can edit it. Please wait.
(Still waiting? Im still trying to edit…)
(Youre still here right? I mean…i havent been gone that long, but I know how impatient folks can be…)
Jeez, thats ACTUALLY a picture of me and not just cop-out. I know you cant QUITE see it, but my co-worker is plunging a needle into my poor defenceless tail! What is it with needles…?
There is a picture on facebook too I think. I cant put a direct link up here though. Sorry, youll have to find it yourselves if you care to look.
Anyway, thats enough for now. Maybe ill see you again in 2 months? Maybe less! Who knows!? I certainly dont…
November 14th,2011
Day to day |
3 Comments
…to post a link to something we talked about in class. So here it is. Mouse Trap game. This video is SO funny…gawd, im crying after watching it. It gets me every time.
Anyway, ill post something more substantial in the near future. Talk to you sooon.
This is just a little hello to say…you know…im still here and stuff. Been working on a few things like…work…which has kept me pretty busy. Im thinking about posting about some interesting things sometime in the near future. I have to get up early tomorrow morning for a Japanese lesson (im …actually studying lately, miracle eh?) so I dont want to do too much writing right now.
Oh, thanks for all the birthday wishes on facebook and stuff. Its much appreciated! Ill post something more exciting soon, promise! Though, maybe not as exciting as the hospital visit…hopefully less needle involvement as well!
Talk to you all sooooooon.
October 6th,2011
Day to day |
1 Comment
Maybe.
Yah, I know what youre all thinking; that im gonna apologize for not posting in a long time. Well, guess what…I dont regret it! Nope! Not one bit! So there. Neener neener.
I actually have been a little busy. 
Im like, working hard and doing hobby stuff. Not gonna tell you about it though! Nopers, boooooring!
That being said, im also not going to include any pictures in today’s post. They take soooo much work and im a little tired. I do have a little story though!
So, I had my first Japanese hospital emergency room visit!
No, nothing serious happened to me and I didnt REALLY need to go to the ER, but im getting a little ahead of myself.
A few weeks ago I started getting a sore throat. The more I talk, the worse it gets. (Surprise huh?). Seriously though, its like my throat is getting agitated by the vibrations caused by talking and then getting tired. Its a strange feeling, and since I spent my whole day talking, it was getting mighty inconvenient.
So…I told my manager that I would be visiting a hospital at some point and and I may need somebody to go with me. She asked one of the teachers (thanks again Hiroko! Youre great! And, you dont read this! 
) But the question was…which hospital should I go to? Well, I teach a few doctors (oh ho, connections!) and one of them just happened to come to class that day. Now, the idea was just to ask him which hospital had some English speakers Ear/nose/throat specialists. He himself is an ER doctor and actually said that if I were to go to the ER at the BIG hospital the next day, he would help me himself. Wow! That was like…super great.
So the next day I got up early, met Hiroko and we went on the adventure to the hospital. Apparently she had never been to the ER there either, cause we had to like…look for it and stuff. Oddly, there werent any ambulances racing in with bloody victims or hunky doctors running around yelling out “STAT”! Nor did I hear “code blue code blue” echoing over the speakers. I guess i watched too many hospital Dramas…
Instead we found one older lady sitting in the ER along with a younger gentleman. The lady seemed to be a patient while the guy was …bringing lunch to somebody. So, I didnt have a huge wait!
Now, I have to admit…I was a little wary. I dont know if I mentioned this, but I have gone to the hospital a few times for various things since ive been here. Well, the first time I went by myself…it got messy. Not only could I really not talk to them…but they took blood! I dislike needles. To make matters worse, shortly after the took my blood, a nurse came over to me with a VERY big needle. It came out on a cart. Pulled by a horse. It took 4 of them just to lift it. The needle, not the horse.
I had thought, at the time, that I would be brave. So…I offered my arm like the strong foreigner I was! She shook her head, “Hip”. 
Something else I should mention. Hip, in Japan, usually refers to “butt”. Thats right, she wanted to stick this needle the size of Tokyo Tower somewhere I wasnt much inclined to having it stuck! I quickly shook my head.
“Arm!”
“Hip!”
“…arm…?”
“Hip!!!”
“…..arm….please….?”
“HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIP!”
Well, when I came to a moment later I was facedown on a bed. 
A second later…sharp pain! And so my first trip to the hospital by myself ended with me leaving with more injuries than I had arrived with. 
Needless to say, I was a little nervous about an ER visit. I was totally expecting to get trach’d.
It was…mostly painless though. I saw a few ER doctors, and I actually feel a little guilty. I mean, I took almost 2 hours of ER doctor time! They asked a lot of questions and did a good background check though. There were a few funny questions though…
So, we were talking about my throat and cough and the doctor asked me if I had any sinus problems. I said I had suffered from allergies for a long time.
“Its pretty common for cocaine users,” says the doctor.
“For…cocaine users?”
“Yes.”
“…cocaine users? Me…?” 
“Yes, like you, caucasians.”
“Oooooh, white people!” 
I have no idea why I heard “cocaine users”. It made for a good laugh. Then he asked Hiroko to leave the room to ask me if I was gay heh. He made it sound so serious when he asked her to go because he had to ask some private questions. I was almost worried. I totally looked for any big needles in the room before I let her leave though!
Well, then they sent me up to the E/N/T specialist. That was kinda exciting. Cept…in the exam room, there were a lot of scary looking metal instruments. And, I was totally seated in what looked like a medieval torture chair. I swear I saw my old headphones nearby, waiting to be used! Then…then…they took me to another room and shoved a 10 foot long camera on a wire down my nose! My NOSE! Not the most fun experience.
In the end though, they sent me home without finding anything wrong with me! Hurrah. They did prescribe some herbal medicine too, which I have to take like 3 times a day. Its soooo tedious. I dont really know if its working either. Maybe. My throat hasnt been bugging me as much.
Thats my story! And no, I am going to go do something that doesnt involve any effort in the least! Perhaps some TV…or a movie…or something! You all have a good day and ill talk to you again soooooooooon.
September 12th,2011
Day to day |
5 Comments
Sorry I havent updated much lately. Im on vacation and ive been super super lazy. Its Obon here again, im sure ive explained it again before, so im not going to explain it again! You know what, looking back…I dont think I DID explain it. Im so negligent.
Im also still not gonna explain it, instead though…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bon_Festival
There, they explain it. Likely better than I ever will too.
I had another near accident at the local convenience store. The floors are SO slippery when my shoes are wet! I am also so careful too until somebody says hello or something to me. Then I get distracted and end up on the floor (or close to it). This time however, oh ho ho, this time there was no Carter vs. Floor action. (PS, the floor kicked my ass last time. I dont wanna mess with it again)
Now, dont be too surprised. Ive been living in Japan for like 2 and a 1/2 years, I had to have learned some crazy ninja stuff right? 
Oh, I do have some bad news. You know how I went out to those crazy fireworks the last couple years? Well, I didnt make it out there this year. Something came up last minute and I didnt get to go. And…they totally had Hello Kitty fireworks! My coworker managed to make it out though, I saw some of the pics on his facebook and ill see about getting copies to post the really cool ones. C/O him of course.
Oh, the heat has been pretty crazy here the last few weeks. 
Its one of the reasons I think ive been so lazy and not doing anything. Its just too friggin hot to do much. I really should though. My vacation is almost over and im reaaaaaaaally bored, but I want to enjoy the last few days. What to do? What to do? Ok, well, maybe I actually do have something to do this weekend, but we’ll see how it plays out.
One thing I dont feel like doing is typing! So, im gonna take a break from it for now and post again when I have something exciting to say.
Ciao~!
PS – I havent gotten anymore Twizzelers yet! 
As the title of the post suggests, I got some Twizzlers. Wild Berry Twizzelators according to the package actually. They are. F.A.N.T.A.S.T.I.C ! 
No, I wont tell you what the acronym means, youre gonna have to figure it out yourself. They are so damn good though. Thanks Ma! My students also thank you for the deodorant you sent!
I think I have mentioned before that the stuff in Japan just doesnt cut it.
So I found out something interesting the other day. This once again proved that im not quite as smart as I seem to think I am. Anyway, I had been under the impression that Typhoons and Hurricanes were different things…I was wrong! Let me show you what I thought the difference was. First…the Typhoon…
So, I thought it was a little bit of wind. Maybe some rain…
And the Hurricane, I thought it was as follows…
Waaaaay more wind! Imagine my surprise when I found out where were actually THE SAME THING! A typhoon and a hurricane (for those of you who dont know) only differ in where they form. Their…uh…physical characteristics are actually the same. Which means they are just as dangerous as each other. It really make me rethink the MASSIVE typhoon that just passed by Japan. Heh..whoops! Here I was just thinking it was a little baby storm. 
My bad!
Oh, I went bowling this past weekend. Im such a terrible bowler…but you know what…its late and im not gonna talk about it this time! Ill talk about it in my next post. Have a good day ya’ll. Be careful, I hear its gonna be hot there for a few days. Be strong, drink lots of water and no wild flash dances anywhere outside with adequate hydration!
Monday Humid with sunshine and some clouds
RealFeel®: 43°C
High Temperature: 33°C
Low Temperature: 22°C
43!!!!!!
Thats what it was here today yesterday. 43 because of the humidity. Its kind of like windchill, but in the other direction. Opening the door and walking outside felt like getting punched in the face with a huge (and very hot) fist.
Hrm…I dont think that first is quite big enough.
Lets see, what else has been going on. Oh, I finally watched “The Happening”. I know that its a little old, but I have seen several of the Shyamalan movies. This one…not his best. They really gave away the “secret” way too early. I guess the movie wouldnt have worked as well if you didnt know what the “secret” was for most of it. Still, it really removed a lot of the mystery that usually accompanies his movies and I didnt really enjoy it as much because of that.
Has anybody seen the new Transformers movie or Green Lantern? Ill probably go see both, though I am not expecting too much from either…
Other than that, not much as been going on here. The weather is stupidly friggin’ hot. 
Work has been reaaaaaally busy. 
I also totally havent been sleeping enough and drinking too much coffee again. 
I think its kind of funny, I never drank coffee when I was back home (except for that one time before the 6am open at future shop…) and now im drinking it like its going out of style. Perhaps…the world will run out of coffee with how much I am drinking!
All of this leads me to one startling realization. I have no idea how I lived without an air conditioner. I mean, maybe I didnt need one back in Canada 
, but there is no way I could survive here without one. Greg was the only person I ever knew who had one. Does anybody else have one now? Japan has the great wall mounted things. They dont have to go in through your window or anything. And they are waaaaaay smaller. Let me see if I can find a picture to show you…
http://www.yamada-denkiweb.com/item/detail.php/543969017
Though, that doesnt really give you any idea on the size…
http://www.yamada-denki.jp/contact/housec.html
That gives a slightly better idea of the size if you scroll down a little to see the guy cleaning it. Yes, I COULD just take a picture of MY air conditioner. But, its white (dirty white, thats the actual color, its not JUST dirty…) on a white wall. And…its waaaaaaay up there. So, like, theres no way I could give perspective on the size of it. Hrm…perspective isnt quite the right word there. What was the word im looking for…? 
Something of something. Oh I hate it when I cant remember a word. 
Oh. I guess I do have a little story. Its, not a big one, just an annoying one. I broke the mic and headset thing I was using. I got it with the little webcam I bought and it was bloody amazing. Comfy and worked really well. It was also stupid cheap. So, after it broke, I figured that I would be lucky enough to get another good one for a reasonable price. Went out and bought one for like…10 bucks. Its…TERRIBLE! 
It literally sounds like its using a pair of tin cans tied together with wet string. Dirty wet string. No, not the colour this time, actually dirty. Because its so bad, and because I only paid 10 bucks for it, I decided to go buy another one. Figured I would keep this one cause it was cheap and it couldnt hurt to have two. Heh…the sentence is funny. Why? you ask.
Let me tell you!
So, I went out and bought another headset. Got a microsoft one because all of the other ones were like..imitation brands or something at the shop. It was a little more expensive, about 30 bucks. The quality on it is pretty good…but uh…I think it might actually be designed after a medieval torture device.
Wearing that is possibly one of the most unpleasant things I have done in a long time.
Anyway, im sure ill be talking to some of you soon using the above mentioned headset. Though, youll have to bear with with agonizing screams that occasionally go along with using said device. And the occasional whooshing sound as the lightsaber goes past…
Thats enough for now. Im going to go check the Japanese Medical insurance policy to see if it covers torture devices, headset injuries or Dark Jedis. Hope you all have a good day!
That’s the cover to the book. I have to thank my co-worker for letting me use a great pic that he had. I really like it. Thanks Clif! (I don’t think he reads my blog heh). 
