nihon e!!
it's official: planes are booked, trains are pass'd, and ji can get back in the country... i'm going to japan!!
i'm super-excited to commence on even more j-land adventures, this time with a partner-in-crime, at least for the first half. shannon will be venturing with me to snow country niigata, known for its rice and its japanese way for a few days until we go down to hang in tokyo a bit before shipping her back stateside. then it will be off to kyoto and tsuru for me to visit robin and ji and who knows what other trouble i can get into for the remaining week...
in the meantime, besides pretending to be a nihongo no sensei to shannon who's steadfastly starting a sporadic trek into the japanese language, i'm trying to figure out how to best bilk the japan rail system to my best (read: least expensive) advantage. tatoeba (for example): shannon's rail pass for her week in japan will cost just under $150... now you may think that $150 is a lot of moola for a week, but compare that to my minimum of $400 (IF i can really work the system) to over $500... just for trains!

so, anyone have a hitchhiker's guide to japan??

summasummasummatime
had a good ol' fashioned pool party on saturday which was a total blast. i ditched karate and belly-dancing early to laze around in up to 5 feet of murky-ish water with some chill people. food was grilled, several people were hit by flying sports objects of type, margaritas were tragically spewed upon miller, and for a good 45 minutes or so, there was this one guy who was taking his face-down floating practice very serious.

my bestest summer vacation ever considering i don't really get summer vacation now...

ouchowieowww
i have to admit, there has been some pain in my life lately. both internally (though nicely resolved, like adults, i would say. i'm so proud of us.) and more superficially... i'm hoping that the combination of belly dancing on the weekends plus karate 3 times a week plus the latin dance class on thursday night will make me a lean machine for my black belt test decreed to be on december 1st. it's a painful fruition process, as well as a painful end to a means.

what is with me and these masochistic tendencies?? definition part 3 only, of course... at least lately. (kidding!!)

showin'em how it's done
i went out with some girls last night, one of who was a MASTER (mistress?) of scoring free drinks. seeing as these girls also were just barely 21, they weren't well experienced in the ordering drinks area. as one of the girls had just broke up with her boyfriend, it was suggested that a round of "blowjobs" be served up to us. okay, i like baileys. and i like whipped cream. a lot. but i shouldn't be the one to demonstrate the no-hands technique... due, of course, to my delicate laughing trigger...

as i tipped my head back, glass in my lips and drink in my mouth, i hear "she's a keeper." i'm pretty sure every single person around me was wearing whipped cream about 1.2 seconds later.

two thoughts re: work
#1 - eep!
#2 - i'll miss my friend

the lobster and the chicken
sensei says god is punishing me. i'm not sure why, but i think it has something to do with the fact that i actually took some time for myself. i laid on the grass at mission bay, thinking about nothing and enjoying the sensation of the occasional warming sun cutting through the overcast sky sneaking its way over my skin and chasing away the cool breeze swirling around me. little did i realize how possessive the sun can be, branding me red and conspiring with my bikini to make embarrassing patterns on my ass.
wincing with pain at every moment since sunday, i come to find out i'm not alone: my partner-in-burn, marcus, was also at mission, also was victim to the penetrating sting of the sun, and we didn't even know we were same place, same time, same toasting. it's nice to have someone to commiserate with, and my sleeplessness falls on a sympathetic ear. he's red as a lobster, i'm fried like a chicken, and neither of us necessarily appreciate how sumptuous we may be at the moment.

to my fans,
thank you for making this year's bday celebration so loving. i appreciate you in my life.
love, your biggest fan, *britt*.

i was only doing what he asked!
OR: how i came to bite one of the most notorious senseis in modern karate

b*: sensei, i think i should tell you... i bit demura-sensei.
gomez: you did WHAT?!
b*: i bit demura-sensei...
gomez: you bit him??
b*: welllll, he told us to, you see...

at the beginning of the clinic, sensei fumio demura asked everyone to gather round. "i don't bite" he insisted, as i mused quietly under my breath "hehe, i do." sensei demura was making a point about the prettiness versus the practicality of learning karate. he had a rather taller student (demura sensei is maybe my height?) put him in a headlock as he explained why karate kids would never be champion ufc fighters. we are taught to go for the groin, the instep, the face to get out of situations. but in practicality, he explained, it's really easy to get out of the situation YAHHHHHHH.... he latched his teeth onto the headlockers chest and was quickly released. we didn't know whether to laugh or applaud or...? afterall, he is one of the top-rated senseis in the world...?
later on, demura sensei decided he wanted me to be his dummy, and i became his lovely assistant in showing certain techniques. at one point, he tried to show how open my defense was when doing a certain block, and while he reached past my arm towards my shoulder, out came the teeth. except they were mine this time. i lightly chomped onto his arm and he jumped back in surprise. the looks of surprise surrounding me were enough to keep me giggling on the ground while demura-sensei shook his finger at me with a smile, "you very funny, huh?" i nodded in agreement.

high-jinx aside, i still had to let gomez-sensei know about my little, er, lesson? indiscretion? he gave me that special look reserved for me, and later apologized to demura-sensei. "sensei, i want to apologize for my student biti..." demura-sensei erupted in laughter "i like her....". he respectfully kept his distance for the rest of the tournament, though.

airport follies
the sd airport has a new fancy-schmancy terrorist-sniffing device that is a pimped-out version of your usual screening scanner beeping trellis that one has to walk through in order to board a plane. instead of emptying your pockets and crossing a threshold, this little unit has you stand under the arch while glass doors close in front of you to prevent you from rushing the starbucks that you can see just beyond the torturous routine. once all the green and red flashing symbols have settled down, the machine blows quick puffs of air all over your body. rather a fun little dance to watch, until you're the one in the sniffer and all sorts of alarms are set off, and you're corralled inside and everyone in line is giving you the eye for being so evil and the guards the thumbs up for being so patriotic and catching the dastardley criminal. the machine has detected suspicious chemicals, which of course means some giant lady finds it necessary, then, to run her hands all over you while 2 other guards go through your stuff and test out their witty pick up lines on you. 25 minutes (not bad, considering) you're released, and so are, presumably, you're chemicals, to finally get that cup of coffee and deal with your group of friends ragging on you until the end of time for being a threat to national security because you stink.

and then on the way back, your baggage shows up with all of it's handles gone. thick pvc/cloth straps shredded right off. AWESOME.

and it was the swedish girl who got me in the end...
3 events, final count = 2 gold and 1 silver

ps - happy birthday, kristinky! and tami too!