Serving you hookers and blackjack. Without the hookers. Or the blackjack.
I went to a Family Mart today in search of Dragon Quest slime themed beverages. Since I like to make the most out of my time, I decided to use the bathroom at the store instead of damaging my bladder by waiting until I got home.
There was urine on the seat.
Continue reading ‘The Paper Is There For You To Use’
It’s WiiFit time again, yay!
I’ve finally gotten back on the boat, or off the wagon, or into the dragon’s eye or whatever it is you call it. I’m exercising again, which is half miracle and 93% “Ouch.” Exercising has never been my forte, hell I try to avoid most movement in an attempt to ensure I’m never laying in a hospital bed having my muscles and intestines reorganized. It’s scary stuff.
So this week I’ve been fairly good, starting last Saturday, at getting up and doing a solid 30 minutes of WiiFit. I’m getting a bit more energy back1 and generally feeling a bit better. But today, my body didn’t want it to happen. Today my alarm goes off and my mind is ready but the flesh was not willing. I really had to drag myself out of bed, and my wife not wanting to get up either didn’t help either. We were both basically battling to see who would be the one to make the both of us get up and get moving. She won today.
So I finally get up, but I don’t have enough time to do a full 30 minutes today. Now, I could have passed on the exercise all together, but one day of not doing it is more than enough to get into a pattern of never doing it, so I pushed on. Only got 15 minutes in, but better than just sitting on my ass wondering if my toast would toast itself or not.
I really hate exercise. Not because “Hahaha, moving is for jocks and jerks.” but there’s just so much more I’d rather be doing. But the truth is that I’ll run out of time2 if I don’t live a somewhat healthy life and then I’ll never get done what I wanted to do in the first place. Plus, the whole benefits of not being as flabby and maybe having more energy.
Since moving, I’ve tried to get back into Wii Fit two times prior, but this time I’m at least getting some progress done. Hopefully I’ll be writing an article in a month saying how I’ve been doing it every day, or at least with only one or two days missed.
Driving around Japan you’ll often see adorable signs, some featuring popular characters, which read 飛び出し注意, which makes it basically the equivalent of a “Children at Play” sign. Big difference is a lot of them seem to be home made instead of professionally. Last week I watched a drama which makes these signs now bring a bit of a tear to my eye. Continue reading ‘Do You Really Want To Make Me Cry?’
So I woke up this morning in a surprisingly energetic mood. While Eriko took a shower I got the dishes done and as soon as she was out I got in and out in record time. I was ready for work today before 7:00, meaning I was ready in record time. I drive to work, sit down at my desk and my energy and mood is completely changed.
Today, or perhaps yesterday depending on your time zone, Apple announced the iPad. Now, if you are getting this news from me I feel bad for you, as I am hardly the fastest source of information. In fact, the truth is I only know three things about it.
1. It has a funny name.
2. It is a larger iPhone that is missing features people wanted.
3. You will buy one.
Let’s talk about each in turn, shall we?
1. Funny name, Turd Fergison
If you can recall The Simpsons episode featuring Homer in the B-Sharps, when deciding on the name it was said that the name needed to be funny at first but less so each time you say it. Nintendo struck gold with this method because talking about playing with your Wii is now socially acceptable. The iPad will get its fair share of menstrual jokes but at the end of the day it is a good name. It flows with the Apple iThing naming standard, of course, but also describes it perfectly. It is a fancy notepad. Some have said they preferred the name “iSlate.” Now, I got a C in marketing but even I know that sounds like a rock.
2. It sucks.
I’ve only been a fan of Apple for the past six years, but I cannot recall a time when Apple has made an announcement and the Internet has not had a hissy fit. I’ll be honest, I’ve not looked at the specs of the iPad, but do I really need to? Apple has had a trend of not putting in things that seem obvious but in the end I end up not missing them. This has happened over and over again with Apple products that I’ve bought that it almost frighteningly feels as if Apple knows what I want more than I do. It seems Apple realizes that we as people are much more flexible than technology. We develop our patterns and around technology and not the reverse. What we want and what we actually need are so similar and thus so hard to distinguish. I almost feel that whenever something is left out, after us of the product I find myself wondering why I wanted what I did in the first place. It’s bizarre to be sure, but it has happened far too often at this point to simply dismiss. Were it only Apple products I could dismiss it as fanboyism, but that hasn’t been the case. Whatever it is Apple packs under the hood of the iPad, I’m sure it will deliver the experience Apple wants me to have and the product and I will work out to find the pattern of usage that works for us.
3. You’re gonna buy this thing, like it or not.
I say you and not I because I am poor right now and cannot afford the thing. Now, you may be the kind of person who absolutely refuses to buy Apple products and do not hesitate to tell anyone that you don’t while you boast your Linux running toaster and open software fueled hat. And I’ll never understand you, but I suppose it just wasn’t meant to be. But I say “you” to mean the general public because this will be purchased. The iPod taught us that simplicity is key, and the iPhone has taught us that simplicity can be poweful. And while I will not proclaim the iPad to be a smash success, I am confident that it will, like many Apple products before it, change the way many people do certain tasks.
I was doing real well with my writing up until yesterday when it just didn’t happen.
I don’t know why. I just wasn’t feeling up to it. I guess I don’t have to dedicate every day to writing, but I want to. In fact, there’s just so much that I want to do that I’ve overloaded myself to the point where I’m not sure where I am. I need to get my shit organized, but I can’t force myself too hard in my hobbies because otherwise I won’t get anywhere. Or something. I need to get some sleep, I think.
Picked out the curtains, the table, the tv stand and the cupboard. And that’s it! Sure, there will be a bunch of little things that we will realize we need as time goes on but as of now everything we need for the apartment has been picked and is ready for delivery. It’s stills kind of dream at this point but soon will be a reality.
Well, we picked everything out. Washer, fridge, vacuum, rice cooker, electric range. Holy shit. The price came out a lot less than I was expecting thanks to an awesome sale going on. It will still hit my wallet pretty hard, or should I say our wallet. That’s a new way of thinking that I’m going to have to get used to.
We’ve still got a few thing to pick out for the new place but the big ticket items are done. That is a huge weight off my shoulders, to be honest. It is also nice since I have always bought second hand. Moving into a fairly new apartment and getting new goods which should hopefully last us a long time is really exciting in a way. Hard to believe that a year ago I was dreaming of these sorts of things. I may be worse off in the wallet but o couldn’t be happier.
With my adult class resuming again tomorrow, Winter Vacation is officially at an end. I’ve been away for home for most of the time so I can’t say I feel like I did everything I wanted to do, but I can say I feel a good deal relaxed.
Which is a good thing because soon things are going to get crazy what with me moving and getting married within about a month’s time. I’m hoping to keep a good post record open and get Let’s Playing back up and running once again before long. It is a lot on my plate to be sure, but it feels good to have some plans.
Now it’s action time.
So the New Year holiday has come and passed but my intestinal woes have not. Having lived in Japan for nearly two and a half years, I thought I was able to handle all Japanese food. Then I had a traditional Japanese New Year breakfast.
Various fish, pickled vegetables, shrimp and other foods made up some of the the dishes my soon to be in-laws offered me. There was nothing bad about it but my stomach was not having it. Was so biazarre. I’ve had all these foods before but never for breakfast. And I felt so sick I couldn’t even finish. Wonder why that was.
|
