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.