Today was a bit of a slow start, but it is finishing up okay. I went out to Jogashima and did some more work on my photography project. Waves were supposed to be higher today, but weren't. Light was completely different... dark and cloudy rather than brilliantly sunny. I got there about 3:30 which would have been perfect for the kind of shadows I was hoping for if it had been sunny. I will have to develop the film. Maybe there will still be some good stuff. Some of the cloud shots...

I asked for a whole bunch of books and dvd's when hubby went on business trip to us last week. And did I score!!!! I got Firefly, a couple of seasons of Simpsons and the WHOLE Buffy series. Let me say this again... THE WHOLE DVD SET!!!!! THat is how many hours of viewing? about 22 episodes per season (45 minutes each) so about 16 hours per season, by 7 seasons... over 100 hours of viewing!!!! and that doesn't even count the commentary! I love commentary as I love to hear about cre...

I suppose it is human nature to harp on stuff that really ticks us off. But, there is also something to be said for knowing when to stop and for being gracious when you get what you want. Case in point, a little... disagreement I had with this old Japanese man on the train. Ok, I had my headphones a little too loud. Sorry. No problem if one at least pretends to have some degree of civility. But no. This guy just starts in and bitches at me. Let me say this. I have a lot of resp...

My intuition is kicking on high gear but I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be figuring out. I hate that. Then again, I'm not sure how reliable my intuition is at this time. I feel a bit stressed and so that often crosses my wires, and I tend not to be the most trusting woman on the block (yet I am sometimes so gullible... sheesh). And other times, I am spot on with my there's-something-going-on-o-meter. Achh... maybe I just need to get some more sleep.

The FDA posted a warning about a possible but unproven (in human studies) about a link between people who use Protopic and skin cancer or lymphoma. People who use protopic generally suffer from eczema, more specifically, atopic dematitis (REALLY dry itchy skin that forms scales, and plaques and generally gets the heck scratched out of it causing scabbing or rash). They recommend using Protopic only as a last resort and not for long term use. Ok. Great. (read heavy sarcasm here) M...

I used to chat on line at the "kitchen table" chat room on Anne Mccaffrey's website. When I move back to Tokyo, I didn't have internet for a while so I got out of the habit. Enough so that the new regulars thought I was a newbie. Hmmph. I was just thinking about that today (while on my Saturday Syndrome Quest for Stimulation) so I went to check it out. Gone! Even the bulletin (i know I spelled it wrong but I'm not getting up to get a dictionary... bulletain?) board is gone! What hap...

Yesterday, I was all filled up with this fire to get moving and get things done. Big plans. Go grocery shopping in the morning, pick up a video to watch while folding clothes, vacuum the house, fold clothes, get to the gym, have a couple quality hours reading a book. I should have known I was in trouble when I got to the grocery store and started to look at the food in a daze. All things considered, I did pretty well not to load up on chips, chocolate and assorted junk food. I got...

Glossy? Semi-matte? Matte? "Real" photography printing paper or regular paper? What about fibre printing? It all depends on your purpose and what you want your picture to look like. Of course, budget plays a part. Photoshop User Magazine did a great article in their Jan/Feb 2005 issue. The article is called, "The Paper Mill" by Daniel M. East. The article doesn't talk about different types of papers. It's about tests on glossy papers according to the following criteria: accuracy ...

It snowed! It's so pretty. Snow can really transform a drab scene into something pretty. I went out with hubby and got him to ask permission to take some photos of this really neat rock garden outside Yutenji station. Private property so you have to ask. THey were nice enough to allow photos, but the old guy shoveled the walk the whole time we did photos and he was sick. I only shot one roll, and he asked us if we'd just take one more shot then leave. No problem. The yard was fi...

I seriously believe that if you build a home for others that is unsafe is homicide. Recently in Tokyo, it was discovered that a series of apartment complexes that were sold do not meet earthquake safety standards. These buildings are only able to sustain half the earthquake damage that they are supposed to. How do these people sleep at night? Being that Japan is particularly earthquake prone (the thinking is a bit more "when" an earthquake happens not "if") If Tokyo were to have an ear...

So the best laid plans aren't going to come to fruition. I had plans to go to a writer's conference in Daytona this May. Been planning for it since last year, took a job that I didn't want to take and really stresses me out trying to keep up with it, and another job that I didn't really want trying to save for it, and stopped taking photography classes (very important to me) so I could save money for it. And now two things are going to prevent it. FIrst, my sister is probably getting...

My decorating angst has been somewhat appeased by finally getting curtains that aren't completely mismatched. They are far from interesting. THey are a cream, rough weave. It makes my room look more like a box when they are closed, but, how nice not to have curtains that clash so badly that they make my head hurt!!! It took me a while to get used to them. After I hung them, I just looked at them and thought,"weird!" Lighting in the room changed by not having yellow curtains on one...

Well, it's the eve of the 25th. It was a pretty nice, but not traditional Christmas holidays. No presents to unwrap but that's okay. We spent the morning house cleaning and it ended up being our Oo-souji (big house cleaning at the end of the year) and then we had a pot-luck open house from 1-10 pm. We had invited anyone we knew that was staying in town for the holidays and hadn't found something to do Christmas Day. Tokyo can be lonely at Christmas, especially if one has just moved he...

How do I describe my place? One visitor asked me, "How long have you lived here?" When I replied, "Three years" she looked puzzled. "I thought you'd just moved in." My apartment consists of two rooms, a kitchen and a bathroom. The bedroom has become a huge closet/den for me because it has a carpet and is bad for allergies so is no good for sleeping. The other room is our bedroom, dining room, tv room or whatever else room. As a system, it's not perfect, but it's what's goi...

I enjoy shopping and giving gifts to people. It's fun, especially when the gift is a hit. I have an excellent track record giving stuffed animals to kids. Usually, it becomes their can't-part-with-it animal. I'm really enjoying the secret santa exchange at work. THough me secret santa reciever threw me for a loop when he wrote, "nothing fattening please" on his info form. I was much easier to buy for. I filled in, "nothing made from internal organs of any species, please." There are so...