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Tuesday, May 13th, 2008
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7:07 pm - overcommitment
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I had no idea how much time I was spending on doing things for everything other than my own well-being until I took a month to focus solely on it.
Within a few hours of being back home -- after a 10-hour flight during which I hadn't slept, which was after three days running of the only sleepless nights I had in Japan -- I was seeing people. Within a day, I'd suddenly booked the following week solid. And within a week, I was already telling myself that five hours of sleep a night was enough, even though a full eight hours a night ended up being all that was needed for me to clear my mind, reach some peace, and process a whole lot of others' emotional mess that they had pushed onto me and that I had allowed to weigh me down simply because I had not had time to deal with it.
For someone who once took their undesirability as the same kind of irrefutable reality as the effects of gravity on corporeal bodies, I certainly have a lot of people demanding my time.
I think that for the sake of my own sanity, I am going to have to learn the fine art of prioritizing and refusing gracefully (and wisely).
current mood:  exhausted
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[ make a note here ] [ 1 huge success ]
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| Thursday, May 1st, 2008
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12:19 am - argh
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My laptop's display is absolutely unsuitable for photo editing. It'll do in a pinch, but now that I have my CRT monitor available, the contrast and saturation are way off. I'm going to have to redo the majority of the photos to have them even close to looking like what I want them to look like.
I know what project I've got for a rainy day...
current mood:  cranky
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[ make a note here ] [ 4 huge successes ]
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| Sunday, April 27th, 2008
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8:16 am - I'm in Japan...this had to happen
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Today, entirely unintentionally, I ran into a cosplay meetup at the Asia-Pacific Trade Centre in the Cosmo Square area of Osaka. I was actually searching for a flea market I'd read about on the About.com Japan website, but it was nowhere to be found despite my taking care to find the highest vantage point in the area I could reach and then looking around from all angles.
As I was wandering through the trade centre, which was certainly more full than it was the time I accompanied Andrea to the immigration office owing to the Golden Week festivities, I spotted the fellow in the photograph wandering through the building. It seemed to be a good idea to follow him, so that I did, and I found that on the wharf near the ATC was a huge crowd of cosplayers from anime I was mostly unfamiliar with, though I could single out a few I recognized.
For the most part I stood back and watched them taking photos of one another. It seemed that the cosplay was very much for themselves and for each other, and what was interesting was that many of them were using rather elaborate photographic equipment. On a moment's thought it certainly makes sense; what's the point of going to such trouble to look good if one is not going to record it,a nd record it well?
Among the video game costumes I recognized were Bart, Sigurd and Billy from Xenogears, as well as Squall, Cloud and Selphie from the Final Fantasy series. The other ones I recognized were two slightly differing but definitely recognizable Narutos and two Captain Jack Sparrows, who advised me that he makes an appearance in Kingdom Hearts 2. Who knew.
I struck up a brief conversation with one of the Sparrows, who advised me that this cosplay meetup is a weekly thing rather than something just for Golden Week. (![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) tekanji, take note.) He was quite affable and we managed a decent conversation despite the language barrier. His buddy, a rather tall Sephiroth, was quite shy on the other hand, so Jack took initiative and advised me that Sephy had made his own costume. Definitely admirable. (Did I mention that I seem to have a thing for broad-shouldered males who are taller than I am? No? That's because I didn't have a damn clue I did until I went on this trip and the only cue I had for attractiveness was visual, as I lacked the ability to pick anyone's brain in Japanese.)
Note to self: though Sephiroth and Cloud's players were nice and tall, and they had nice broad shoulders, they are most likely actually jailbait and a hands-off policy is always the best to use in cases like these. Since when have I started finding people younger than me attractive in any way, shape or form? Answer: when they started dressing up like completely fictional characters from video games I played as a child. Good grief.
I took a brief break from the blazing sun and the cosplay photography to wander the grounds around the ATC for a bit. There seemed to be a business fair of some kind happening in a nearby exhibition centre, but it wasn't of any interest to me; I was more interested in the Corgi playing ball with his person in the park adjoining the building. There was another Corgi with his person near the cosplayers, and in fact of the dozen or so dogs I've seen in my stay in Japan, fully half have been Corgis and two have been Shiba Inu. (I approve.)
I finally gave up on finding the flea market and packed it in for the day, taking the subway to Shinsaibashi to see if I could get some souvenir shopping done for my family. I really dislike shopping for gifts, because I could make something more meaningful and interesting for less money, but I don't have all my supplies here and people tend to frown upon handmade souvenirs, I hear. I am rather out of touch with the way most people do things, so I couldn't say one way or another. Personally I'd prefer to just take some really awesome photos, mat and frame them, and give those as gifts. We'll see what I end up doing this time around.
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[ make a note here ] [ 4 huge successes ]
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| Wednesday, April 16th, 2008
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1:02 am - oh
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I just experienced an earthquake. A small one, but the building definitely swayed.
There is wind howling down the downtown streets.
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[ make a note here ] [ 1 huge success ]
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| Saturday, April 12th, 2008
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8:41 am - my eye has cleared
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| Wednesday, April 9th, 2008
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9:15 am - I think this apartment hates me
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Either that, or I've got a very particular kind of sinus cold that only shows up when I'm in it. For a time, it would be that standing and walking about would clear my nostrils, but now not even a hot, steamy shower gives me any relief. For that, I must leave for the outside, the somewhat smoggy streets of monochrome Osaka.
A few hours ago, a drunken (probably) man was singing loudly enough to be heard a block or so away. "Think that's a recording?" I asked Andrea -- it is common here to have product delivery vans playing recordings of product advertisements, and the one I've heard most often is a lonely-sounding man's voice extolling a rice dumpling-like treat, which I have yet to try. She wasn't sure, so I ducked my head out over the balcony to check. I didn't see any businessmen stumbling, but it sounded to me like a live voice. "It's probably a drunk businessman. The sound quality is too good." Realizing how absurd that sounded, I added, "Life streams at at least 320 kbps."
(My geekiness does slip over into the rest of my life. I often refer to my brain as having high bandwidth but with occasional server lag. This is nothing new.)
It's raining, but that isn't alleviating my sinus issues. Andrea suspects mould in the apartment, having had to deal with massive mildew issues when she moved in. I will take her word for it. Right now I cannot do anything about the mould or the sinuses, so I hope that I can tire myself out enough by writing and editing photos to be able to sleep despite the annoyances.
This isn't a bad apartment, all told. The kitchen is a bit small for my tastes, but it has a nice enough balcony, the living area is adequate, and the bedrooms are large enough not to be confining. Also, the in-suite laundry facilities are a relief, though Andrea had to buy all her own appliances. Also -- it has a shower room! It occupies about as much floor space as a queen-sized bed, and in it is a tub (which is deep enouh to submerge both my knees and shoulders) and tiled space, which is actually the shower space. This actually reflects the tradition of cleaning off before a soak quite well. I'm more suprised at my lack of surprise at the shower not being in the tub in the Western style; I suppose it goes to show that I am either very quick to place new things in cultural contexts, or I am simply that blasé.
I sleep on a futon in Andrea's spare room, which gets all the sunlight and does wonders for my disposition. The apartment itself is a tenth-floor one in...well, I'd call it downtown Osaka, but honestly this city isn't built like Vancouver so it is hard for me to figure out what constitutes downtown. The Shinsaibashi shopping arcade is a fifteen-minute walk away, the Semba mall is maybe four or five blocks away, and in my amblings in that area (south of where I am staying) I came across at least a dozen kimono shops, if not more; I bought a roll of twelve metres of scarlet banded poly-silk from one such shop, where I communicated in poor Japanese with a shopkeep who communicated with me in poor English. Together we reached enough understanding, and I learned several new sewing-related words.
Having explored the city to the south quite extensively, or at least as extensively as can be explored on foot, without a significant grasp of the language and with a limited amount of time before my feet and back wore out, I struck out toward the east today. Within about three blocks of the apartment I found an area along the riverside that had been cultivated as a park, with cherry trees blossoming all over. Some businessmen were taking their lunches there and I saw no fewer than four stray cats, all of which regarded me suspiciously. A bird I'd never heard before was chirping piercingly in the trees, and I wished not for the first time that I owned a true telephoto lens. (If there is anyone out there who has a lot of money to burn and but needs direction for it, I would simply love a Canon EF L-series 70-200 f/2.8 IS lens. But hey, I'm not picky; non-IS is fine too!)
I crossed the bridge heading east and wandered along the first parallel street there, and what I saw seemed to be more of the same: about a dozen restaurants per block, interspersed with tiny single-purpose shops or convenience stores and the occasional koban. I noticed I had forgotten my cash and other essentials when I came across a fairly appetizing-looking selection at a restaurant, so I ambled back home, pausing to look over the second bridge I crossed, and it was a good thing I did, because I caught a glimpse of two wild turtles swimming around near one of the supports of the overpass! I watched as they swam around each other for a good five minutes, then they suddenly dived down into the water. A few seconds later, a tour boat passed by, turning the relative calmness of the water into frothing green-and-white waves.
After I retrieved my things, I decided to head out in a new direction. I decided to walk west to the first major street, then north to the next river and cross there. I was rapidly coming to realize that Osaka is a city of rivers. And restaurants, don't forget the restaurants. I eventually made my way to...well, nothing really significant, honestly. This is a city where every available bit of space is being used to advertise something, and because I cannot read the language it takes something quite distinct to catch my attention. What with everything shouting for my attention, to me the signal-to-noise ratio is abysmally low, and it is difficult for me to take everything in. I decided to see if I could find myself back at Umeda station, which is where the airport bus left me and where the immense Yodobashi Camera electronics store is located.
I do know my walking eventually got me to the overpass near Umeda, and there I caught a young man setting up a drum kit. This interested me enough -- especially after having missed the chance to see a street performance a couple of days ago -- that I stayed through the entire 40-minute process of setting up, which included his bandmates filtering in and going through their sound checks. At street level behind me as I faced the band, I noticed another band with a more upbeat punk style was playing as well. Around 6 p.m. Vincent Rain finally started the performance, and got through about three whole songs before an avuncular policeman politely informed them that they had to leave. Looks like someone had forgotten to obtain a performance permit...
During this time I had struck up a conversation of sorts with a friend of the band. She was handing out flyers and (I think) requesting comments from passersby, and she noticed me with my camera and my mp3 player/recorder. She (in poor English) asked me what I thought, and I (in poor Japanese as well as English) said I liked what I heard, and that they reminded me of Coldplay or U2 in guitar style. She did not seem to recognize either of those two bands, which shocked me; I could understand not knowing Coldplay because they're comparatively upstarts, plus I did not alter my pronunciation to fit Japanese syllables (Ko-do-pu-re-i?), but not to know U2? Ouch, especially after the way the lead guitar seemed so obviously influenced by the Edge.
I said my farewell to the band and headed down the steps toward the subway, past another band that seemed to be an R&B a cappella quartet vaguely reminiscent of Boyz II Men back when they were popular, across the huge crosswalk and into the labyrinthine network of underground malls that surround the subway stations. I wandered past a takoyaki stand and my mouth watered at the scent, but I saw no takeout boxes, nor did I see a place to sit, so I opted out of buying anything and instead made my way home. I successfully navigated the subway system to get myself back to Hommachi, and intending to see if I couldn't convince Andrea to have dinner out, bypassed all the food stops on the way home.
Alas, when I arrived home, it turned out Andrea had already eaten, and so I made up a quick vegetable stir fry with rice, and consoled my stomach with the knowledge that tomorrow will bring protein, hell or high water. I think I even remember where the takoyaki place is -- but if not, I'm sure I'll find another.
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[ make a note here ] [ 4 huge successes ]
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| Saturday, April 5th, 2008
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7:50 am - oh god
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| Thursday, April 3rd, 2008
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7:00 am - whee
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In Osaka. It's 11 p.m. now. I'm starting to get over the jet lag but in reality I'm ready for bed right about now. I wrote a good chunk on the plane here and this morning, when I was up at 6 a.m. because I'd slept at 8:30 p.m. or so the night previous. Because the flight followed the sun all the way over here, it fooled my mind into thinking that it was perpetually afternoon (I left at about 1:30 p.m. Vancouver time and arrived at Kansai International Airport at about 4 p.m. the following day, officially). However, my body had not been fooled.
On the way in over the bridge connecting the airport and the city, I was reminded of the drive in to Vancouver from Richmond, and the cloudy, somewhat muggy weather only served to further reinforce that idea. The highway system around and over the city was multilayered and at the route the bus took was at times passing over one or two other overpasses. The cherry blossoms are coming into season rather later than usual, and as the bus drove by, I noticed a park in which cherry trees grew alongside palm trees and pointed this out to Andrea as we went by.
The bus stopped at Umeda station and Andrea and I wandered over to an electronics store for a while. The store -- Yodobashi Camera -- has, like many large Japanese chains, a theme song, and this song seems to be a cover of the Battle Hymn of the Republic, and I cannot even guess how many times I must have heard that song since I first set foot in that store...
The way home from Yodobashi was uneventful. We took the subway from Umeda station to Hommachi station and walked seven or so blocks to Andrea's apartment. By then, the sun had just set and the sky was a deep blue-grey, and the streets were showing their night-time finery with their lights. Businessfolk were walking home along one-way streets barely large enough for two cars to go abreast, and honestly I have never seen that many suits in one place in my life. I must confess that I do not find the aesthetic unattractive, though of course wearing a suit is, as well as an indicator of a somewhat respectable occupation, a surefire mark of conformity and acceptance of the Man. Then again, in a culture that values one's ability to fit into one's place in society and harmonize with one's peers, the three-piece suit's message is a unilaterally positive one.
Today was a day of shopping. We walked to Sakaisuji-Hommachi station and caught the subway back to Umeda for more Yodobashi goodness, this time to complete our signup for the Internet and pick up a router. A good deal of shopping was in the cards that day, actually; Andrea needed some things for the house and so we headed to the Hankyo and Hanshu department stores. One thing I noticed about the subway was that it integrates seamlessly with a series of underground malls -- the areas we spent the most time in today all looked like the Skytrain level of Pacific Centre in downtown Vancouver. The department stores, in similar fashion, reminded me strongly of the Bay, except with more incense and kimono.
Oh, the kimono. So pretty. So bloody expensive. I'd like to hit up some antique/vintage shops to see if there is anything affordable there, but I somehow doubt it. I would like to buy unworked kimono fabric and bring it back home to make something with it. That would likely be less expensive and more worth it to me, as I wouldn't wear a kimono -- though I would display one -- but I certainly would wear something made of its fabric.
I had my first real Japanese sushi meal today. I cannot remember the name of the store we had gone to, but the quality was excellent and the cost moderate. Instead of serving the standard green tea I have come to be familiar with in Vancouver's sushi restaurants, this establishment served matcha, though far more dilute than the thick stuff used in the tea ceremony. It was a good meal all around.
Apparently Japanese public toilets rarely provide hand towels.
Among our purchases today were green tea with toasted wheat, a cranberry-hibiscus herbal tea concentrate, and a blood orange juice concentrate, the last of which was sold to me by a saleswoman who spoke English with only a moderate vocabulary but an almost perfect West Coast accent, as opposed to the Japanese-accented English most people here would use when speaking to me. It turned out she had spent some years living in the United States, and there she picked up the language.
Today I walked more than I have walked since I was still in high school with no car and no real need to hurry in what I did. We left the house at 11 a.m. and returned at 6 p.m., and though I was aching and sore all over -- a heavy backpack did for the upper body what walking and standing for hours did for the lower -- I had certainly gained a sense of accomplishment from it. I still could walk all day and not cry uncle. I still had it.
This morning as we were walking along Bingomachi-1 toward the station, I saw what I thought was a fabric shop. Andrea has her welcoming ceremony at school tomorrow and I think I will wake naturally at about the same time she will. I know I will at least need to do some grocery shopping because our fridge is bare. Perhaps then I can check out that shop as well.
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[ make a note here ] [ 3 huge successes ]
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| Thursday, March 27th, 2008
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4:18 am - best. birthday. ever.
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Saturday night, karaoke at the Army & Navy Veterans Hall. I almost didn't show up because so far my experiences there have been lacklustre, and a chance encounter the week previous with a fairly obnoxious regular sealed my decision to not come at all. I knew Cat had been really keen on seeing me there, but I just wasn't doing it. Peter had called me up the day before to tell me he was driving me so I could drink as much as I wanted to, and I broke the news to him. "Oh. I'll tell Cat. Right now," he said, and then hung up.
A few minutes later the phone rang. It was Cat. "So, I hear you're not coming to karaoke tomorrow?" she said cheerily. I advised I wasn't, and explained the situation to her. "I wasn't supposed to tell you this, but...um...it was supposed to be your surprise birthday party."
Let me tell you, I was certainly surprised by that.
After the glowing embarassment passed, I agreed to show up for as long as I could, as I'd double-booked for the evening. I'd gotten used to karaoke there being more or less a waste of a night, and so I'd made up a plan to make sure that I would get something out of my Saturday. Because the plan involved good friends, I was not going to skip out on them, so I had a time limit.
I arrived early, and the obnoxious fellow was there, so I steered clear and decided on my songs, and waited for my friends. Eugene and Peter were the first two to show up, then later Cat and company arrived. By then I'd done a passable rendition of "Stuck in the Middle With You" (a double scotch does very well to keep my body from getting the stage fright shakes I managed to acquire when I was fourteen or so. Eugene and Peter fought over who would pay for it, and I never did find out who eventually did). We spent a good amount of time bickering about what songs to do, as we usually do. The trouble with karaoke is that they never have the songs I know...
We'd had the ceili the week before and Cat hadn't gotten everyone to sing for me as she had done last year, so I thought I was safe this year. Not so. About midway through the evening, the DJ made an announcement, and everyone sang, and there I sat with a blazing angel-food-and-fruit cake, biting my lip and staring daggers at a Cat who was taking great enjoyment in my discomfort. I was so flustered I blew out maybe half the candles, and clapped the rest out. It was a damn good cake.
I stayed long enough to hear most of my people sing. James sang the first Depeche Mode I'd heard anyone do at that venue ("Everything Counts") and Cat redid "Mr. Roboto," for which I dragged Herminia onstage for backup singing. Tristan tried his hand at "Peaches" and my second song was "Particle Man," but we didn't manage to get Herminia and Peter singing anything.
But what really took the cake, so to speak, was Eugene's performance. He'd tossed around the idea of doing "She Bangs" à la Will Hung but was convinced that the usual crowd of country and rock singers would crucify him for it. He eventually settled on telling us he would sing that song if we paid him to do it...so I just took the sign-up slip from his hands and passed it on to the DJ without bothering to humour him. He swore a lot at me, but when they called his name, he climbed onstage, and proceeded to sing and dance in a way that had our entire table howling with laughter to the point of tears, and the rest of the bar completely and utterly shocked. His fake Chinese accent was so thick that the DJ was actually helping him with the words...
The rest of the evening there was largely anticlimactic, though still good. We passed slices of cake to the regulars and DJ, and the waitress advised me that a gentleman sitting near the stage wished to buy me a drink. I eventually accepted it for politeness' sake, though I didn't actually drink it as I was to be heading out soon. It was a nice thought, though.
It was very sweet of Cat to organize this for me. She has known for years that my birthday has always been a time of depression and loneliness for me, so putting this together was an effective step toward correcting that. Also, she rather prudently avoided the actual day itself, which is when the usual depression tends to hit. She's warned me to avoid evading her events in the month of March, in case I happen to nearly ruin her plans for me in the coming years.
I think I can do that.
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[ make a note here ] [ 6 huge successes ]
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| Wednesday, March 26th, 2008
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3:56 pm - oh god
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| Sunday, March 23rd, 2008
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12:30 pm
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| Wednesday, March 19th, 2008
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12:26 am - hah
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| Monday, March 17th, 2008
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11:50 pm - yes, it is what it looks like
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I'm crying
:D