Wow.
Recovering from a spectacular weekend in Kyoto and Osaka, I’m back in Shonandai (Lisa’s hometown) to rest up for tonight’s Mt. Fuji ascent a quiet night at home due to a Typhoon on Mt. Fuji 
. A few teasers to whet your appetite.
My friend/co-worker Arjan is responsible for this glorious creation. Bless his soul. Then buy books through the site.
Yay! And since I’m being political, watch this awesome video about the scandalous attorney firings, pointed out to me by Lauren.
Went to the REI flagship store in Seattle over the weekend, which happened to be during their anniversary sale. The place has a waterfall, bike and hiking demo trails and a huge rockclimbing wall. It was glorious. I bought the Solomon Techamphibian water shoes in camo using my $40 gift card, given to me when signing up for the REI Visa card. That, combined with the 20% anniversary sale discount and another 10% or so back in dividends made them way affordable. And I’ll look like a badass hiking Mt Fuji.
I made the somewhat spontaneous decision today to buy a ticket to Japan. I’ll be there for two weeks in July. My friend Lisa is teaching English for a year in Fujisawa (Kanagawa prefecture), so I’ll have a place to squat.
I haven’t been out of the U.S. (with the exception of trips to Tijuana and Vancouver) since I graduated from high school in 2002 and journeyed with Adam and Lisa to Western Europe.
I’ll blog later on actual plans during my visit. For now, I’m off to Seattle for mother’s day where I’ll see mother, sister and brother-in-law.
DMA, the Direct Marketing Association, provides a way for consumers to put themselves on a “Do Not Junk Mail” list. It’ll only stop the mail sent to you from DMA members, but it’s a start. You can also opt-out of pre-screened credit offers.
Possibly the best thing to happen to man (since sliced bread and legos) is Guitar Hero II, the new Xbox 360 game. My roommate and I have been rocking out for a week straight since it came in the mail last week. Granted, we’re no good on hard-mode yet (especially when intoxicated), but it’s only a matter of time. Pictures of us rocking out hopefully to follow shortly.
Lauren (sister) and Kenny (brother-in-law) came down from Seattle, Adam came up from Irvine, and we all went (with Micah) to Tahoe for the weekend. Let’s just say it snowed:
Kirkwood has received over 14 FEET of NEW SNOW! The conditions are absolutely epic. The entire resort is wide open — the chutes, the bowls, the steeps, the cliffs, it’s all amazing. Here’s the breakdown; Storm One (2/8) 5.5 FEET; Storm Two (2/21) 2 FEET; Storm Three (2/25) 6.5 FEET!
It took 9 hours to get home on Sunday, 6 of which were spent traveling 4 miles. Good lord. Adam missed his flight but, on the bright side, had a chance to turn my Mercedes emblem into a snowman.