Distraction

I haven't been able to study AT ALL today, or much this week. Which is sad, because I haven't had any classes this week, so in theory, it should have been an opportune time to study. My goal for tomorrow is to blaze through a few chapters of my review.

Anyway, the big things that have been distracting me today were mostly e-mails. One big batch of e-mails for MAJET: planning the upcoming Art Show, setting up PR (twitter, e-mails, websites, etc.), taking care of orders for publications by National AJET, handling Micro Grant Fund stuff which was set up in honor of Taylor Anderson.

The other thing that has been distracting me is my car issue. My parents replied back to me regarding my concerns, and my dad gave his advice:

Harold, my advice is for you to dispose of your car due to:
1) age of car is 16 years old - too many old parts that may have no U.S. equivalent for replacements.
2) legality of using wrong-positioned steering wheel on U.S. roads.
3) cost of tariff tax at port of entry.
4) transport cost.

Best to do:
1) Do not make any repairs now - only those necessary
2) Sell car as is to the incoming educator taking over your position or anyone else.
3) start with a brand new car in the U.S.
4) kiss your car goodbye - thanks for the safe rides it provided.

All very good advice. But heartbreaking, because I love my car oh-so-much. Also, got some bad news, Dad. I had to take the care in for its biennial check-up and it needed to get its muffler replaced. Considering all the maintenance it has already experienced, doesn't it mean that the car will be working well in the future? Or does that mean it's "prone to injury" and I should expect damage to other parts if I brought it back to the US? I need to talk to a mechanic about all this; especially one with import car experience.

If I can't/shouldn't bring it back to the US, hopefully I can sell it here. If I were to buy a new car in the US, I've been eying the new ハチロク Hachi-Roku, a.k.a. Toyota 86, a.k.a. Scion FR-S, a.k.a. Subaru BRZ.

Toyota FT86 G Sports Concept

Word of the Day: 注意散漫　「ちゅういさんまん」　"chuuisanman" or "distraction" or "lack of attention."

Long Time Gone

So, it's been almost two months since I've published a legitimate blog post. For this, I sincerely apologize. I can come up with many explanations for why I haven't posted anything in a while, but it would best be said with these words: 申し訳ございません。 It is pronounced "moushiwake gozaimasen," and it means "I have no excuses," both literally and figuratively. Well, more literally, it means "there are no excuses," and the speech pattern is very humble. [My linguistic side just never seems to shut up.]

Anyway, I actually started a few blog posts in the past and never published them. I've taken hundreds of pictures in just these past couple months alone, and I want to show them to you. All of them! But I can't. So I wanted to show you a select few. And I will; I just have to pick them out. Ideally, I would intersperse the blog posts I wrote with various pictures relevant to the text. But I may instead just publish a post with a bunch of pictures. Or upload some to an online photo album (why can't any of them be user friendly?).

Anyway, when I publish the older posts, you'll probably have to scroll down to that month (November, December) to read them. I'll make a new post each time I publish and old one just to inform you of the update.

Time to write!

UPDATE: November 23rd's post!

UPDATE: Thanksgiving post!

UPDATE: The December Issue!

UPDATE: Happy New Year!

Word of the day: 合いたかった　「あいたかった」 "aitakatta," which means, "I miss you." Literally, "I wanted to see/meet you."

Patiently Waiting

Well, today is June 1, 2010. This means I have two months left here in the US before I venture off to explore Japan! Due to popular demand, I have been forced to create this blog to record my various antics. It'll serve as an easy means to convey my stories to people all at once. I'll do my best to update this blog. I'm not very good with updating blogs or websites. Anyone remember my first website, back on Geocities? Then the one on Angelfire? Yeah? No. I'd be super impressed if *anyone* remembers it, but anyway, the point is that I'm not very good at updating things [proof is on my first blog, on Xanga]. Or writing. Because it takes me FOREVER to write something half-decent. And because I hate spending lots of time typing stuff, my posts here will likely have terrible writing and will be annoying to read. Have fun! :-)

So yeah, as I was saying, I'll be departing for Japan on July 31. So you better give your hugs and kisses before then! Keep in mind that this blog will contain only my adventures in Japan. Should I decide to write about things of a deeper nature (my contemplations about life, for example), I'll probably be posting that in a separate blog (maybe that Xanga one; hah!), if I decide to post it at all. Or I'll save it for material for whenever I decide to write my book. Thanks for taking the time to read this, and I hope you enjoy the ridiculous content that I'll be posting in the coming months!