today. yesterday. and so on.

from the expert
i spent saturday with my mom at 'artwalk' in little italy. some key highlights included her strapping on her watch after i said i had a clock with me (this is significant later), her reflection on my dating life, including the 3- or 5-date rule (as to when it becomes necessary to sleep with a date) and mens' penis sizes (uhh, right), her declaration of "pshaw, YOU could do that!" at most of the booths at the walk (and not out of earshot of the artists), and her blaming me when she discovered that her watch never did 'spring ahead', and therefore we couldn't get to the tile store before it closed and that it was my fault, i should have told her, and stop laughing, brittan, it is NOT funny.

looking for an adventure? spend an afternoon with mom.

vegas lights


i loveloveLOVE this picture. click on it above to see some more love i'm sharing with the world.

all in a name
i've decided that i'm going to order business cards with the title of "chaos controller" neatly typed in a proud and stately description of what i attempt to do on an almost daily basis. officially i have "fort holder" on the outside of my cube directly below my name. but i feel that "chaos controller" is much more accurate, and implies a broader set of skills and initiative.
on a sadder, more selfish, work-related note: i lost my cubemate yesterday to another department, and with it she took chilly-chinchilla, her computer, and a little bit of my grounding and sanity. after contentedly cohabitating in a 8'x8' space for 9 hours a day for a year + with the other 6-7 heartbeats we took care of (it's petco, you gotta have pets!), it's just kinda hollow in here now. hollow, and roomy enough for a dance party, which is a whole 'nother doorway of opportunity...

time to get creative and DECORATE! glitter is sure to be involved

dear james,
i apologize for being so out of touch lately. being that you were the one who gently nudged me into continuing the streaming commentary i have on the world, i feel some sort of obligation to produce, even on a trivial level. and i'm not even sure if you're still here.

life has been busy lately, james, as expected. i spent last week in atlanta, home of coca-cola and probably a lot of other things that i didn't discover from the confines of my overpriced hotel room. of the little walking around i managed to squeak in, i was offered drugs twice. it's amazing the situations that a few confused words in japanese can rescue a tourist such as myself. this was my first business trip with other people from my work, and it was a great learning experience. i learned a lot about my company and how it's perceived in certain markets and how people behave outside the office walls and what exactly is vegan pizza made out of? i returned to cali with quite a bit of knowledge.

my weekend was busting at the seams with white hot karate action. i had a test on saturday for my last belt before i have to be all disciplined-like and official (aka black belt land). i can't believe i have tested 9 times from an activity that was a filler in my tuesday afternoons. the test went well, though i was admittedly being quite bratty and breaking a few rules (sorry, all) but i felt a little hollywood when i went to accept my menjo for passing the test. there was cheering, and i was excited if only because i'm usually the one losing my voice for others. it was nice to be screamed for.

i was lucky enough to be signed up for a tournament on sunday that was in la and small enough where i was the only one in my division. as usual, the company was pleasant and the awards were bountiful. i now have my first official karate trophy adorning the dining table, and i'm trying to convince my brother that it would look AWESOME on his desk at work.

i finally finished my taxes. i normally have them done as soon as the w-2 hits my mailbox, but this year i'm not sure what happened. after many attempts online, both fed and state, what with all these special secret codes and numbers i was supposed to have memorized from a year or 2 ago, i was able to get confirmation that they ultimately went through... after 3 tries and discrepencies of about $850 of what turbo tax thought i owed the government and what my math said. remember, james, i used to do math tournaments, don't be messin' with my math skillz.

i also got to accompany mister anderson while we indulged miss mcclellan in one of her "i heart tristan" escapades. it's fun to watch people get starry-eyed because it gives you so much ammunition for later teasings, especially when you have to sit through torturous opening acts named 'sophie'.

so, james, there it is. i hope you forgive me for being so intermittent. i try not to let life get in the way too much these days, but it's still a learning process. drop me a line sometime; we'll catch up. smooches.

uhh, eww.
look, i realize it's dry and windy over in these parts nowadays, and that's going to make some people feel a little crusty. and i am certainly used to seeing adults pick their nose with blatant disregard for the social abomination of the practice... at least when i was in japan, it was the norm.

but it's been a WHILE since i've seen someone pick their nose and plant that attenuated finger smack into their mouth. a while, that is, until yesterday, when i happened to glance over at the distinguished gentleman, and his probing finger, in the mercedes next to me.

gyag.