Me and My Grandma

Me and My Grandma
Originally uploaded by bonitsky.

Grandma has been through a tough year, and with me in Tokyo I don't get back to Yamanashi nearly enough to visit. When I do, it always reminds me how lucky I am that even though I never had any grandparents growing up, I had one in Japan and I never even knew.

Knock Knock

I have been at work for over 12 hours today. This is not really unusual. Recently I spend too much time at work. Makes me want to... I dunno, go back to the old days when I was a fake teacher, or take up writing again などなど.

This is a picture of me at work during a meeting last week. I look busy. Notice the lack of smile and the ridiculous facial hair. Seriously, what is wrong with me? What am I thinking? Shouldn't I go home?

Weird.

Motosuko Lake Party 2006, August 20-21

Top row l-r: Me, Juri, British Chris, Yoshiko?, Joji
Mid row l-r: Kim, Masa, Andy, Colorado guy, Lt. Mike
Bottom row l-r: Jeanie, Fusai





Masa, AKA Bourbon, AKA Night Sports Kuro Banana Master (brains=miso soup)










Me and Ju

Tokyo Nights

As time goes by, despite my reluctance, I am starting to feel more and more attachment to this city I live in: Tokyo.

Despite the outrageous cost of living. Despite the trains that stop right when the city wakes up.

Despite the anonymous crowds of faces. Despite the despair of the salarymen.

Despite the hodgepodge archetecture. Despite the hodgepodge fashion.

Despite the absence of green. Despite the absence of compassion.

Despite the air too thick to breathe. Despite the smell of millions of people.

Despite the fact that the city poises on destruction with every tremble of the earth. Despite my better judgement.

Un-intelligent Design

Today at work, an American coworker and I were discussing Greek mythology, which in turn led to a discussion of the Theory of Evolution and the science of Intelligent Design. Intelligent design points to the fact that infinitessimal changes in the value of certain fundamental forces and important numbers in physics would lead to a universe where stuff went flying apart and nothing would work properly, which implies that only an intelligent creator could have built such a finely balanced system: a fine argument that would have Sophocles shaking his head in about 2 seconds.

Say what you will about having faith in Intelligent Design, as a scientific theory it pretty much says, "The way things are is because an intelligent creator didn't make them otherwise," which is better paraphrased as, "Things are the way they are because they aren't the way they aren't." Moreover, the theory apparently doesn not explain why if the design is so intelligent, there is war, poverty, and a serious lack of flying cars.

Again, as something to have faith in, I'm all for Intelligent Design. Just...as something to test in Kansas public schools as sound science, it leaves something to be desired (the science part). [Potential multiple choice question on a science test in Kansas: "Who created the universe? A) an intelligent, loving creator; B) a guy named Jeff; C) A flying spaghetti monster; D) a rather foolish and untrustworthy, sort of shifty creator with suspect intentions.]

I am, shockingly, not the first person to point this out. Nor am I the first person to point out the conclusive relationship between global warming and the decrease of pirates in the world since 1800. For more about that, and its implications on the debate over intelligent design, please check out the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

While you're doing that, I'll be fine tuning the stupidly-designed universe I am working on. I can't get the amount of dark matter right, and it keeps expanding infinitely, ultimately filling up with black holes and approaching thermodynamic heat death. Curses galore!

Gimme a Break

One of the things I would miss a lot if I went back to the States is all the quality sweets in Japan that aren't sold back home. No way in America that green tea or sweet bean flavored chocolate lasts very long. I have to say, I am a big fan of wagashi, or flavors such as kuromitsu (molasses...sort of) and kinako (soy flour). Even familiar stuff like KitKat bars can have a new twist. My all time favorite Japan only flavor had to have been white chocolate/Quebec maple syrup flavor. Mmm... tastes like breakfast.
Just because Todd will want to know... here are the flavors of Nestle KitKats (that I know of) available in Japan right now:

• Regular


• Exotic Hokkaido


• Exotic Tokyo


• Apple (Nagano only)


• Fruit Parfait


• Azuki Bean


• Annin Dofu


• Matcha Green Tea


• Yogurt


• Starry Sky (celebrating the 5th anniversary of Universal Studios Japan)


• Ice KitKat


• Bretagne Milk


• Yuubari Melon (Hokkaido only)


• Crispy monogatari (no chocolate coating)

this is not to mention an assortment of mini, big, and other special edition normal Kitkats.

Mmm... crispy. That reminds me, I'm hungry.

Ainu

The Ainu are the indigenous people of Japan, and may be closely related to the first peoples to migrate to North America. Like all minority groups in Japan, they have had more than their fair share of problems caused by ethnic Japanese. Though they once lived over all of Northern Honshu and Hokkaido, their culture is now largely restricted to a few small areas of Hokkaido. Much moreso than Native Americans, they have been overrun and assimilated by mainstream majority culture, and there are very few ethnically distinct Ainu remaining. Recent movements to honor and rediscover their culture have much to do with the influence of the West.



2 Cool things about the Ainu is A) they look sort of like me, and B) apparently Ainu men stopped shaving after a certain age.

For this picture, Juri was told she had to carry a fish that I had "caught" for her, but she wanted the bow and arrow instead (note: there is no way she was gonna hit anything like that...). Still, that's my girl. Go shoot my dinner.