Soot and Stars

Gangoru

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 16:56:00 GMT

Since I got several responses from the last post I thought I'd post this video because I think it's a really good segment on gangoru. If I ever find one of these tours you bet your ass I'll drop $40 to do it! XD

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyK66UHcrY4

OK, so gangoru is my favorite Japanese subculture that really died out. When I used to go to mountain parties in Gifu the gangoru girls were always really nice and cute and friendly. They had really toned down the makeup at that point and only wore a little bit of silver around the eyes and on the checks and a silver stripe down the nose. I actually wanted to try that subtle gangoru makeup but I never had the guts to.

Hey yeah!

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 16:14:30 GMT

This is the TEST shipment you asked for

15:34 Practicing poi in a big coat is really difficult! No wonder all the fire spinners are going to India for the winter. #
15:40 Wow! Just thought of a solution for poi space! I can come to work early or stay late! #
15:44 So I'm having Twitter problems. 1)Loud twitter isn't working. 2) Is there any way to get e-mail notifications when someone @ you? #
19:38 I cracked a big part of the mystery in V.! Haha, Thomas Pynchon, you're dense, confusing story telling isn't kicking my ass this time! #
19:44 I find V. very enjoyable, actually. I understand most of it unlike Gravity's Rainbow. I didn't understand the last 1/3 at all. #
01:02 @meowberry yes! I agree! That stuff is the shit! #
01:03 @cafedunoir Try melatonin. That stuff made me sleep like a baby when I was having troubles sleeping. You can get it at organic stores. #
01:04 @cafedunoir ha! I figured it out! No worries! #
01:06 I just generated a #TweetCloud out of a year of my tweets. Top three words: japanese, fire, party - w33.us/5u0o #
01:08 My top three words for the year are Japaense, fire, party. Sounds like my life alright! ;D #
01:09 @japanbrenna That is so cute it makes me want to cry! #
01:09 @meowberry that sounds like heaven! #
01:11 I got hooked on watching Meth Minute 39. I'm like, visually tweeked out. www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTG0ao9dkXk #

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Japan's decline as demonstrated by the decline in fashion

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 13:57:49 GMT

http://community.nytimes.com/comments/www.nytimes.com/2009/12/15/opinion/15iht-edcohen.html#postComment

I agree with this but the opinion article but I think it really didn't convey a lot of evidence that I see everyday to back this up. The idea is good and valid but his evidence just wasn't there. I don't like how he used the word "otaku" to describe the boredom in Japan because he really didn't define the word well. Otaku are the extreme nerds...the weird guys that go to Akihabara to buy porn and Gundam figures or the girls who dress up in maid costumes to pick up boyfriends. There really aren't as many of those as people think. He implies that people fiddling around on their cell phones or DS systems or reading manga on the trains are otaku but that's just normal. Everyone does that. Otaku are extreme with their geekdom and he seems to be saying that most Japanese are otaku, which is false. I think the thing he was really trying to say is that the Japanese are extreme with their hobbies because of boredom. I mean, from what this guy said, even fire spinners who are passionate about their art form fall into the category of "otaku".
So let me bring up a point of evidence to embellish this this writer's idea. I mentioned in my last entry that one of the biggest indicators that points to the decay of the Japanese culture that amused and infatuated everyone over the last 30 years is the decline in Japanese fashion. Call me superficial and flaky but as someone who watches street fashion and subculture fashion closely, the decline in Japanese fashion has been something that is a sign of the times. Japan has been declining for a while, that's true. But when I lived in Japan 3 years ago it was still pretty common to see people wearing amazing, original pieces of clothing on the street or at school everyday. Even the more conservative people had interesting outfits with elaborate bows and lace and long tresses of hair stacked up or teased out to outrageous proportions. Not so much today. A lot of it probably has to do with economics because as the value of the yen sky rockets (the dollar is currently worth 88 yen. That's about 88 cents), people are making less money and they can't afford to buy the outrageous, expensive, crazy clothes they used to be able to afford. A really cool pair of tights or a hair barrette could cost up to $50 in the small boutiques I poke around in. The most fascinating clothes cost a pretty penny and the money to buy those clothes just isn't here anymore. It also costs a lot to dye hair, buy hair products and buy the makeup to cake on your face.
I watched this interesting but sort of outdated video about gangaru girls a while ago. They use fake tanner, and gops and gops of makeup. If you have to put it on everyday, it's going to run out soon and that stuff is NOT CHEAP. So really, I blame economics and the rise of China, which this artist also touched on but didn't elboarte.
But back to Japan. Gone are the gangoru/yamamba girls (I saw a yamamba two weeks ago near my station and I was ESTATIC to see one), the gothic lolita, the visual Kei kids, the Cyber Punk kids...the list just goes on and on of all the fashion styles.

gangoru/yamamba

More below the cut. Image Heavy

Gothic Lolita-- you can still see them around in moderate numbers but not nearly as much as before. This is the style that seems to be prevailing the most.

I believe this is the Visual Kei rock group but people emulate their elaborate style. You may spot a couple in Harajuku cam whoring but there's not many of them.

This is me with a cyberpunk on Halloween. Isolate spottings are possible, usually at huge events that draw people from across all reaches of the party scene. The last time I saw one was Halloween.

Sounds like I'm hunting endangered species!! lol. But it's true. It's rare to see anyone dressed in those fantastic outfits anymore. They were still around when I was here three years ago but they seem to have evaporated. Even the fashion magazines that cater to these styles are absent from the magazine racks. I know because I used to go through those magazines for fun and now when I'm magazine browsing it takes a while to actually find a magazine that catches my interest.
So what are people wearing now? Honestly, a lot of recent fashion trends I've noticed are semi-appalling. People are wearing every gairshih color combination of plaid you can think of. Get on the train and you'll see a see of plaid, plaid, plaid clashing all the way down the line. I've seen this strange red neck style emerging, actually. I've seen a lot of people wearing hunter's camouflage jackets, baseball caps, plaid and white shoes. It's like, "Wow, looks like Kentucky style is all the rage." Women's dress has gown ridiculously boring. Patterns that look like someone barfed up a field of flowers onto a layered, high waisted mini skirt are popular as well as spike heeled shoes. Even the girls who dress nicely in lacy outfits have cut back on the lace and ribbons. The Japanese are adapting a more American style with utilitarian Abercrombie and The North Face being popular brands. There's also more big chains moving into the Japanese market, which I mentioned before, and that's driving down originality because the clothes are more affordable. I mean, what's more lucrative. Mass produce large amounts of mundane clothing for the masses to buy at a low price or mass produce expensive clothes and cater to a small audience that can't afford to wear the clothes in this economy?
My last point on this subject is that kimono sales have also drastically declined. I've read that each year the sales hit all time lows. Each year the sales are lower than the last. I actually just read this fascinating article from an 2007 edition of the Washington post that most kimonos these days are made in China. The silk is made in China and even the sewing of the patterns is done in China. The kimono, I think, is what really drove Japanese fashion. I was into kimono, it used to be one of my hobbies so I used to go to kimono shops and look around at all the kimonos I wanted but could never afford. Most young women don't even know how to wear kimono and I'd actually like to start studying it again because I know that once all the elderly women are gone who teach how to wear it, I could maybe go into costuming. But kimonos are expensive, which is why the they're being made in China. People want cheaper things and if the kimono business is dying, the production has to become cheaper for it to struggle to survive. I have two antique kimonos and two antique Obis that I suspect are worth a few thousand dollars at least because they were 100% made in Japan close to 100 years ago. They were gifts from my host family because there's no way I could afforded them. When I was collecting all the things I needed to wear kimono properly, I spent $200. That includes the under slip, the board that goes across your stomach to keep the obi smooth, the clothes and ties for the obi, the tabi (socks) and the sandles. And I got the cheap stuff. Sadly, the kimono is another a very ancient fashion trend that is dying out because it's expensive, it's difficult to wear and it can be really uncomfortable (I know because I used to wear kimono). Here's a picture of me in kimono, as a sidenote. lol.

I think that obi is probably worth a couple thousand, actually. It's an antique and it's gold.

And so my theory is (and it's a no brainer) is that as a country's economy declines, so does it's style. And I didn't make an argument for this but I do want to mention a topic a student and mine discussed when I was helping her write an essay. She's in 6th grade so I was really shocked she came up with this idea. All the styles that I've mentioned are uncomfortable. As women become more active, they dress more and more comfortably. So another reason why fashion in Japan may be on the decline is that the amount of mothers entering the work force along with the rising number of single parent households due to the rising number of divorces. I'd never met a divorced Japanese woman until this year, which means it is a fresh and increasingly popular trend in Japanese society. Also, young women are choosing to work or travel and not get married. So a lot of the decline in fashion may also have to do with the changing roles of women in Japanese society.
I'm actually sort of interested in what's happening with fashion in China because I really have my doubts that there's a street fashion movement in China, simply because everything is so restricted and I haven't heard anything about any music, which often drives underground style, coming out of China. I haven't heard of any big Chinese rock groups or DJ's and it makes me think that the music scene hasn't developed enough yet to push any sort of style, which can also be linked to rebellion. But I'll be the first to say that I don't know much about China and the only way for me to really find out is to go have a look around, which I may do someday. Actually, I'm way more interested in what's coming out of India because most of the really interesting clothes I've seen/bought recently have come from India. If we're looking at the next place where fashion will develop, I'm calling the shots on India. There's a reason why everyone is flocking to India and I intend to go check it out next year. India has a rich history of fashion and I think that it's probably the next place where we're going to see some really cool stuff happen in fashion. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaand, India also has an underground music scene and I will debate this with ANYONE and win-- mark my words, street fashion is linked to music movement. If you want to meet people who like the same music and the culture surrounding it as you, you dress like that as seen with punk, grunge, hippie and rave styles in the past.
but I think there's hope in the future. There will always be people who want to wear outfits they can't find anywhere else and I think that this will lead to the revival of home made clothes. I was never any good at it, I gave it a try but I failed miserably because I didn't get the mathematics behind it. So on the flip side, fashion has to decline but it'll bounce back once the market is completely devoid of interesting clothing and we'll see a Renaissance in street fashion again. I'll probably be like, 45 by the time that happens, but I'll still go out and take pictures and show the young ladies I meet pictures of all the wacky stuff I used to wear. lol. I mean, we're in a musical Renassiance right now because people who wanted to make music said, "Fuck you," to the labels because they wouldn't record their shit and now the record companies are in deep shit and there's SO MUCH music to hear. I think the same thing will happen with fashion.
And that's my rant on that. I should write an article about this topic and send it into a fashion magazine to make some money. I'm super lazy though. lol.

I wanna read Thomas Pynchon but I gotta put my clothes away, while we're on the topic of fashion. lol.

Ask me anything!

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 13:05:09 GMT

http://www.formspring.me/AlannaLP

I'm trying this out. Ask me a question and I'll tell you no lies :)

Sun, 13 Dec 2009 11:15:10 GMT

My weekend has been really good. Yesterday I went to the fire spinner Christmas Party at Chuge and Hiromi`s house. Genki, Daisuke, Yuta, Yuki, Otapanki (sp?), Janika, Iyoiyo and this guy whoes name I can never remember were there. Hiromi and Chuge were dressed like Santa. I wore a reindeer antlers headband and Janika came as Sexy Santa in a red、velvet, mini dress complete with a garter. Then she busted out stuff to make everyone drinks. Everyone loves Janika because she`s awesome. I wish I could be that awesome.
We did a gift exchange and I got a 30 pack of hand warmers from Chuge. Hahaha. And　they`ve already come in handy (no pun intended)! I used them today at when I was helping Miki sell her artwork　outside! I left the party around 10:30 and headed to Miki`s house.
Miki and I chilled out and colored a picture from my Alponse Mucha coloring book together. This is the picture we colored

It turned out really nice. I wish I could post a picture but the stupid camera on my phone is a piece of shit and only takes pictures in focus at noon in direct sunlight ;p Seriously, I paid $400 for that fucking phone. It should at least have a decent camera. I dunno, fuck Docomo and their lost phone policy.

Anyway, after chillaxing and coloring we went to bed. I slept so well because I actually got to sleep in a bed for the first time in a fortnight. I`ve had to result to sleeping on the floor at the kotatsu or on the couch recently because I can`t sleep in my room without getting a sinus infection thanks to all the mold problem that Hiroko denies. Thanks Hiroko! I have to go to the doctor tomorrow because I have another fucking sinus infection and I have to fly back to America in a week so sinus infection+plane= fuck no.

This morning we woke up early and drove to Kashiwa where Miki was selling her artwork today. The shrine was fairly new but very nice. When we arrived, there were maybe about 10 other booths set up in the small courtyard lining the path to the shrine. Miki`s booth was so nice! She used all kinds of knarled brancehes to make a really neat disply from which she hung her dream catchers and sun catchers. Then she used logs and driftwood and bamboo to display her paintings on the table. They were very small but very nice. The whole booth had a very Miki vibe to it.
The other vendors were also selling very nice things. One guy carved shapes into gourds to make lamps. When the light shines out from the gord, they project the patterns on the wall. I really wanted to buy one for my mom for Christmas since she used to grow gourds but it would have been difficult to travel with :/
A friend of Miki`s stopped by our booth so while they talked Miki gave me some yarn and a ball made　from interwoven twigs and told me to make something to sell. I made a funny little string sculpture. No one bought it but that`s OK. Miki gave it to me and I can hang it up at home :)
I decided to do more coloring while we were working at the market so I picked this picture.

(which is the compliment to the picture Miki and I colored last night)

My coloring actually attracted a lot of attention. Everyone kept coming up to me and saying that my picture was very beautiful and praising my coloring. A little girl and her dad watched me for a long time. The little girl really wanted my picture but I was only half finished with it. I should have gotten her address so I could have sent it to her when I was finished. She stood and watched me for a half hour so I know it would have made her happy but I just didn`t think about it. It was nice to have random strangers say nice things about my art. I stopped doing art because Gio always said that my art sucks so I just decided I sucked too much to do art. But since I moved away from him, I`ve slowly started doing art again and it feels good to do it without anyone critizing me over my shoulder. Miki told me to finish the picture and try to sell it. I did but no one bought it. However, it wasn`t in a frame and the Japanese are really particular about display. ::shrugs::
Miki and I chilled all day, watching the booth, and eating food we bought from the old laidies selling their cooking. lol. It was really nice. I felt really peaceful. The area we went to was really interesting, actually. Miki calls it Shibuya in Chiba. lol. There were lots of people in interesting clothes and interesting places to shop. I want to go back and take some street fashion pictures soon because I think that orginality in style is dead in inner city Tokyo thanks to big chains like Forever 21 and H&M moving into Tokyo and running small, quirky boutiques out of business. It`s really sad because I feel like I`m attending the funeral of Tokyo style. Honestly, if you want my opinion, if you`re looking for the creative street style that made Japanese fashion famous, don`t look in Tokyo. Go to places like Nagoya, Osaka and Kashiwa where the big chains haven`t dug in their roots and the small boutiques are still around. I`ve noticed that Tokyo people have been lacking that flare that I used to love in Japanese fashion recently and it was really nice to see it alive and well in my own fucking preficture today. For the first time in a long time, I actually wanted to take pictures of what people were wearing.
A lot of Miki`s friends and family came by and bought her paintings but her paintings are really nice. She gave me a painting of a sky god embracing the ocean godess in a kiss. It`s a really beautiful picture because　the same vibe the picture gives off I`ve felt while making love before and it`s so nice. All of Miki`s family and friends were colorful and interesting and although I couldn`t really participate in conversations, I listened and enjoyed being able to partially participate. Miki also sold a sun catcher and I`m buying another 2 off of her for Christmas presents. Who wouldn`t want awesome hand made art from Japan for Christmas??
Miki`s friends from high school stopped by and they were hilarious. They`re all wild mama`s who dress in sexy clothes and go out clopping around in high heels with their kids. lol. They`re loud and they seem like they like to drink, smoke and party. All their kids were dressed up in stylish outfits too. Miki said they`re all bad girls and didn`t graduate from high school. lol. They were funny. I would have really enjoyed talking to them but I can`t formulate sentences quickly enough to converse freely with people sometimes.
We finished working the market around 4 and then we ate Takoyaki and looked in some of the shops. The shopping was so cheap! It reminded me of Osu in Nagoya. There was a really good DJ spinning outside of a hippie store and Miki told me he`s a very well know DJ in Japan. He was just throwing down sick tracks right outside of a shop. It was pretty cool.
Miki invited me to spend the night again so here I am, sitting at her house and typing on the computer while she makes pasta for me and Taka. I love Miki and Taka`s house. It`s so peaceful. I`m happy that my friendship with Miki blossomed out of my terrible break up with Masa because they really have the same kind of vibe. Hopefully, someday, once I`ve changed my heart enough, Masa and I can be friends　because I`d really like to be able to chill with him and Miki and Taka someday. I`ve started a journey to really change myself and it took going through a lot of hard shit to take a good look at myself and decide what kind of person I want to become. Life is strange like that.

Anyway, yeah, blah blah. This week is gonna be crazy. I leave for America on the 21st. How fucked up is that? I`m scared...

Fire Spinning Party 2009.11.28ボー燃会＠秦野Nakid Truth

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 12:37:39 GMT

Here's some videos from the last fire spinning party! I know it's been a while since I've posted any but Sven, the Cameraman, left. Actually, I think Yuta took these but I'm not sure. Enjoy! One of me actually made it onto the internet. I was surprised because I suck so hard next to these people ^^ Like, I'm hands down the worst fire spinner in the group ^^ Plus, I wasn't really feeling it that night. I was spinning with my buddy, Kumi, because we wanted to go up together. I think the video was actually supposed to be of her and I just sort of found my way into it on accident ^^

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScE9Ob1KTkM

This is actually a really good summary video of the party. All of my friends are on too. There's two close ups of me, one with poi and one with palm torches.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMHkSFnKrWs

This is the show Janika made. It's pretty awesome! My favorite part is the part she does with the floating stick and she's pretty nasty at poi. She's representing Finland. Check it out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjPId_8ueYQ

This is the first of a beautiful 3 part piece Coco (my teacher, who I'm so lucky to have had the chance to study with), Genki, Togo (he's Yuta's protege and he's supposed to be one of the best up and coming poi spinners in the world) and some guy I've never seen before did.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1Vu8E2sZ1w

This is Genki's solo piece. He said he wasn't happy with it because he was traveling around to different temples for a lot of the fall on a pilgrimage so he didn't practice much. It still looks good to me...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfIJVFfXOuI

This is Coco being amazing. She's truly and incredible dancer. I'm honored to be her student and I hope I can work with her more when she comes back from traveling in Dubai and Africa

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQkHq2k-SFU

I don't know why the fuck this made it on there. Probably because Kumi is awesome. I'm the girl on the right. Can someone please cut me out of the video? I look stupid ^^

Hope you enjoyed the videos! I certainly did ;D

Hey yeah!

Sun, 06 Dec 2009 03:01:55 GMT

13:18 Omg. The lady next to me on the train has a bag full of flowers and it's making me want to sneeze! #
15:34 Haha, I just saw the most awesome Engrish bag."Let the music dance!" Rock the fuck on! #
15:50 I usually get sick of dance music albums four to 6 months after the first listen but I've been stuck on Sensient's Antiforo since March. #
22:51 I'm a winner. Going to a party when I should be studying for the test tomorrow morning. #
02:44 So I'm at this huge party and everyone is dancing ridic. OH JAPAN! #
02:48 Never has marching in place been so good. #
03:07 Whoops, I did it again... #
10:40 First part of JLPT test-ran out of time because there's no clock so I had to rush at the end. NG. #
10:41 I mean, they told us we had 40 min but there was no clock! I wish I'd known that. I would have worn a watch! #

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I'm about to do something really stupid.

Sat, 05 Dec 2009 12:26:42 GMT

I have to take the JLPT test at 9:45 tomorrow morning. I was playing with the idea of going to Womb Adventure at Makuhari Messe because it's in Chiba and I live in Chiba and will be taking the test in Chiba but I hadn't really made up my mind. I told Nic I was thinking about going and he e-mailed me and asked if it was OK if his roommate got a pre-sale ticket for me. Makuhari Messe is HUGE and I know the party won't sell out so I told him, "No, I'll get my tic at the door if I decide to go." I replied almost immediately but about a half hour later he e-mailed me back and said his friend had gotten tickets for everyone, including me. That's fucking $60 that I have to pay and if I don't go, I have to pay AND no one will use the ticket. So now I'm going to the party tonight because I don't want to waste that money. Hum, I hope I can find a boy to play with because hooking up with a hottie would make fucking up the test worthwhile ;p
I pray to GOD I don't flunk the test tomorrow because of this. The test is about 4 hours long and it's broken into sections. I can fly through the whole thing in about 40 minutes and I've never really FAILED a practice test but the thing that's going to kill me is the fact that the whole thing is timed and broken into sections and I have to wait for everyone else over the course of 4 hours. I tried to go to sleep after I came home today but I just couldn't sleep for more than 3 hours.
Anyway, the good thing is that I can easily catch a cab home if I leave the party early and get some rest or study.
Anyway, looks like it's back to my college life behavior tonight-- go to big party and then take a test. Hopefully I'll ace it like I aced all my tests in college. Here's hoping. And if I fail, well, it will be because I'm stupid and I didn't get enough rest or study hard enough and I can try again next summer.
Now I have to get ready for the party. I'm going 100% sober-- no drinking or anything. Getting drunk would be a BAD IDEA the night before a test ^^

Btw, this week has been totally crazy and I had no time to update about it. I can try to update this upcoming week but I have to clean the house because Hiroko wants to come over and inspect and the following week is the last week of work. Then I'm State side again for about 2 weeks.

Damn, this year is almost over. Craziness. I don't even know what to say about everything that happened this year...it's just absurd and bizarre. I feel like it was all just some kind of strange film that I accidentally became the star of...

Hey yeah!

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 03:02:13 GMT

20:48 Wow, this is a week for seeing fashion rare fashion. I just saw a gangaru girl! I've never seen one IRL! #
20:50 Well, I've seen them but never in FULL ON panda makeup and pink haired. Man, I wish I had a camera to get a shot of her! #
20:51 Makes me wish I was in Japan 10 years ago before they went extinct! #
20:55 Oh god, the people next to me are planning their wedding. 吐きそう。 #
22:49 Damn, when I'm in the hall at karaoke and I hear how terrible everyone sounds I remember that I sound terrible too. #
11:37 Bur. Cold rain+kinda hang over+Japanese class= uuuuugh #

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Hey yeah!

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 03:01:14 GMT

12:51 @robolover Ladytron is awesome. I've been reading your tweets and our taste in music is ridiculously similar. I like that ;D #
12:51 @meowberry It gets dark at 4:00 PM here! #
12:53 @meowberry I'm a night person so the longer night is, the better. In the summer the sun would come up at 4:30AM! That's obscenely early. #
13:10 @meowberry I know dude. I wake up at noon on an average day and the sun starts goign down at 3:30! #
13:11 @meowberry But now at least I can see the sunset. I work so late that I usually miss it! Now I can catch it before work! #
15:56 It's always nice when someone answers my questions in stupid Japanese with good English! #
00:35 @japanbrenna please don't get a dog! ^^ I'll be afraid to come to your house because I'm so afraid of dogs! Get a cat! #
00:36 @korpsy Yeah, the resemblance your apartment bore to my dorm in Dubai was stunning! You should try to go to Dubai for a break! #
00:37 @simonlazenby I'm totally a fan of "Not playing Farmville" on FB. lol. #
00:40 Finished 2006 JLPT test. Got a 91%. That puts me in the top 3%. Must bust ass so I can place in the top 1% when I take the real test Sunday. #
00:42 Help! I can't find my lighter and I want to smoke a cigarette (I've only had one today)! Anyone got a light? #
00:45 Good thing I smoke 100's. I can light them at the stove without burning my hair ^^ #
00:50 Things to do 1) fashion and writing contacts and Coco 2) CLEAN 3) Make Christmas online wishlist for Mom. 4) Shower. I have an hour. GO! #
00:51 @japanbrenna Japanese dogs that have been put in a shelter. Oh god, I bet they bite like banshees. I've been bitten by so many Japanese dogs #
03:30 @japanbrenna Japanese dogs are so bad! I dunno, I hate offending people by saying I don't like dogs but it's just the truth ^^ #
03:33 @korpsy I'm taking level 4. It's a snap ^^ Everyone says I should take 3 but I didn't listen. #
03:34 @korpsy And try to muster up some bravery! The ME can be really overwhelming at first. I used to feel weird going places by myself too #
03:35 @korpsy But once I started hanging out with the fire spinners I started going out. You should really meet them! They're your kind of people! #

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Hey yeah!

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 03:01:13 GMT

13:02 So now I'm going to a socialite party for networking. Crazy. #
17:05 Overwhelmed with possibilities. #
18:20 Wow! I just saw a REAL geisha in Shinjuku! That's RARE. #
18:24 The girl in front of me in the bathroom line has the EXACT same boots I'm wearing. We're just THAT cool! #
18:32 FINALLY, I get to go homand sleep! WOW. This past weekend was WILD. #
20:26 Home sweet home! Shower and then I must rest. I heard someone who stayed with our group at the onsen came down with swine flu today! #

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Hey yeah!

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 03:01:06 GMT

13:02 Damnit. Conor failed to show up to work today so now I'm an hour late leaving for the fire spinning party since I covered his classes. #
13:04 I hope he's OK... #
14:56 Man, I've been on the train for an hour and a half and I have at least another hour to go plus a cab ride. #
15:08 But this is the 1st time I've made this trip during the day so I can see outside. #
15:11 I was really confused about the trains and a nice guy helped me. It's so nice to meet friendly, caring people in Tokyo:) #
15:13 Amusing ad of the day: News flash, a Christmas present is now called a "wish square".lol. #
15:36 I'm trying to decide if I should be worried about Conor.This situation is strange. Hopefully he's just being flaky and avoiding my calls... #
15:39 Well, I'll wait until tomorrow before I raise the alert. If I were an airport, I think I'd be at yellow security level right now. #
16:12 Well, I finally got the DL on Conor. Man, what a relief. #
01:28 I can speak and understand Japanese for about 3 hours and then my brain turns to mush and it starts sounding like "blah,blah, blah." #
02:07 Wow, Japan is REALLY trippy when you're exhusted (^Q^)/ #
08:57 Listening to progressive trance and admiring the fall colors in the mountains on the train. #
08:59 But oh my god, the lady next to me is wearing that baby powder smelling old lady purfume and it really makes me wanna sneeze! #
09:05 Thank god another seat opened up on the train! How can anyome on earth think that scent smells nice? #
09:05 @Nitronxi #
09:09 Nice! The end of year fire spinning party for the Japan Crew last night was awesome. You would have enjoyed it!@Nitronxi #
09:52 Damn. The train started rocking and everyone standing almost fell down. #
09:53 When it was over, everyone quietly looked at each other to verify it was strange and then they all looked down at the floor again. #

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Sat, 28 Nov 2009 03:00:57 GMT

23:57 I'm not sure what happened but it was a good thing. #

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Fri, 27 Nov 2009 03:01:22 GMT

13:35 Damn, everyone back in the States is posting about Thanksgiving and I was like, "Oh yeah...today is Thanksgiving, isn't it?" Haha. #
22:34 @japanbrenna Whaaaaaaaaaaaa?!Why weren't we invited :( #

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Thu, 26 Nov 2009 18:20:07 GMT

This week has been fucking crazy and this weekend is only going to make it crazier. I'm already freaking stressed out as fuck thinking about all the places I have to go and the fear of getting lost going to half of my destinations. So yeah, I guess I'll try to talk about the highlights of my week since I've been kind of AFK due to busyness.

Neighborhood Matsuri and Hilarious Ojisan
Monday-- Monday was a riot. It all started when I really wanted pizza and I was thinking about Pizza Hut while I was teaching. Then Conor somehow read my mind because he started talking about Pizza Hut in his class. So then I started talking about how much I wanted Pizza Hut so after class I was like, "Fuck it, let's get Pizza Hut for dinner."
Conor usually takes the train home and I ride my bike so I usually beat him home, thus, I was nominated to order the pizza. I was riding up the street and I heard whistling and chanting. I decided to check it out and delay my trip to Pizza Hut. The neighborhood old men were carrying the big, gold shrine down the street again. Every few months they break out the big, gold shrine and carry it down the street. But this festival was really long and the neighborhood was decorated with lanterns for the event. They also built a large lean to decorated with colorful paper and big paper lanterns. Inside was a pile of dirt with a leafy branch sticking out of it. I stopped to look at it a couple of times and wondered what they were going to do with it the week before the festival.
When I stopped to watch the procession Monday night the old men were lifting the shrine up and down and chanting as they were trying to move the shrine into the big lean to. There were lots of young men in the procession too with white and black painted faces. They had big sticks with jingling metal rings on the top and they were thumping them on the ground to make the rings clang together. Everyone was wearing colorful matsuri jackets which tie in the front like a man's yukatta but they're short and they're usually decorated with elaborate kanji. I was pretty interested in what was happening because there were also Shinto priests-- both young and old (and it's rare to see them, especially young guys) and I wanted to see what they were going to do with the enshrined deity.
When they big shrine was finally placed in the garage, a Shinto priest came out and started offering food and alcohol to the god. It looked a lot like a Catholic Mass, actually, because there was an alter and the priest's back was to the audience and he was raising the food and alcohol up. The resemblance to a Catholic mass was uncanny. After the priest was finished two groups of men went in opposite directions down the street, clanging the big sticks and chanting. They looped around the block and came back to the where the shrine was. The crowd began to disband and I started off in the direction of Pizza Hut.
I was walking my bike through the crowd when I heard an old man say, "There's a foreigner on a bicycle." I whirled around like, "Are you talking shit?" because sometimes the old people in my neighborhood can be really nasty. But this old guy was really nice. He motioned for me to come join his group and he started asking me questions like where are you from and what do you do and where do you live. He asked me if I enjoyed the matsuri and I said I did. That made him happy. He told me to wait because he was going to get a present for me. He went into the ojisan (old man) club house (as he called it) and came back with some pretty Japanese style pouches. He told me to pick one and I chose a blue one with cats on it. Then he started introducing me to all the other old men in his little club. They got a matsuri jacket for me and put it on me. Then they all lined up in front of the shrine and took pictures with me. I was like, "Wtf?" rotfl. They were all really drunk and one old man handed me a bag of 4 beers and told me to take them home.
And of course, the stereotype of perverted, old Japanese men held true. They kept taking turns claiming me as a wife or girlfriend and then they'd call each other perverts and laugh. One of the old men spoke really good English because he's an English teacher. He explained the festival to me. It happens every 7 years and all the shrines in the area come together to worship the deity. It was pretty cool talking to them. My buddy who pulled me into the group told me that he and his friends were going to "guard" the deity all night (i.e. drink and eat). They led me to a little tent behind the makeshift shrine where there was SO MUCH DELICOIUS LOOKING FOOD and lots of beer. They insisted I come into the tent and sit down and eat and drink with them but I had a mission to get a pizza so I told them that my "boyfriend" was hungry and I had to get dinner for him. They sent me on my way and said I was very lucky to have seen the festival because the next time it happens will be in 2015. They said they're all "matsuri baka" (festival nuts. lol) meaning they're old guys who still like to party XD I was very surprised at my Japanese ability during the whole encounter. I was able to make conversations, understand what was said and formulate coherent sentences and even tell a few jokes.
When I got home Conor was like, "Where have you been?" and I told him about it and offered him a beer. "Random," he said and took a beer. We sat down at the kotatsu and waited for the pizza. We turned on the TV and Glitter was on (you know, the Mirah Carry moive). It was the only thing in English so we watched it while we ate pizza. Then Conor fell asleep at the kotatsu and I chilled out by the computer by candlelight. It was nice. I had a good day.
Coming to Terms with Things But Not Letting It Keep Me Down
Wednesday was nice. I met Miki for lunch after Japanese class. We sat in a bread shop and talked for a long time. She asked me about my encounter with Ami at Yoyogi Park. I cracked jokes about how nervous I was because I thought Masa was there. Miki paused for a moment and said that even though I laugh when I talk about him I seem really sad. Then I just started crying. I tried so hard to hold back the tears but I couldn't help it.
"I worry about you because it makes you so sad," she said kindly.
"Don't worry about me," I replied as I tried to hide my face. "It's not like it hasn't happened to me before. It's just hard to stop caring about someone when you care about them so much. I don't know," I sobbed. "One day it won't hurt anymore..." I paused, trying to regain my composure.
"It's OK, you can cry in front of me," Miki said gently.
"Yeah, but it's not OK to cry in the bread shop in front of everyone," I laughed as I wiped my eyes. Then I dried my eyes and changed the subject.
After lunch Miki gave me a big hug. She's a very good friend. I haven't really told many people out loud how much it still hurts and I try not to talk about it on LJ because no one wants to hear about it. I'm sick of it too. I know Miki is going to say something to him about how much I miss him now that she knows how sad it makes me and who knows, maybe he'll tell me why all of this happened so I can finally have so closure because that's what hurts most of all. And it did feel good to finally say out loud to someone how this makes me feel. I keep it all bottled up inside and only cry about it when I'm alone because I'm ashamed at the sorrow I feel from it. Like, people say I should be over it and if I could be, trust me, I would be. These things take time, I guess.
My classes were good on Wednesday and then I met Kyoko for our lesson Wed night. After I met Kyoko I came back to Chiba and karaoked with Conor. We spent the evening together and I fell asleep on the floor while we listened to classical music.
Today was good. Japanese class was productive and my classes were fun. I got a lot done and I feel accomplished.

Tomorrow night I'm meeting Coco and her healer friend for a healing session. I want to try it, just to see if I can learn how to make this pain go away that I feel from all the stupid shit that happened in the summer. It's going to be 3 hours and Coco will translate for me. I'm looking forward to it even though I'm nervous because I'll have to talk about all this pain that I've locked up inside and I know I'm going to end up crying my eyes out in front of them but maybe that's what I need. Even though I feel much happier and I'm really starting to enjoy my life and live with excitement again, there's still this pain etched into my chest like a heart carved into the bark of a tree. It still hurts everyday and I want it to stop.
Saturday is the fire spinning party and overnight at the onsen and Sunday I meet Mary Basket.
Actually, Mary Basket called me this morning. I was all groggy when I picked up the phone because I'd gone to Karaoke the night before and I'd smoked and drank a lot so my voice was raspy. She was calling to confirm our plans and then she said that she'd been collecting things to give to me and she also had contact information for me oO I was like, "WOW." Now I'm really nervous! I need to impress her! I asked her if I should bring anything and she said no but I think I'll buy a gift for her at the onsen.
Anyway, I have a feeling this weekend could change my life because of everything happening. It's exciting and scary.
Well, I may not be around again until Monday so have a good Thanksgiving and a wonderful weekend.<3

Now I really, really need to sleep. No joke.

Hey yeah!

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 03:01:14 GMT

13:49 feels excited and nervous about this weekend because it could change her life... #
13:51 Sitting in the park listening to Royksopp and enjoying the fall breeze and thinking about life. #
13:54 This weekend is going to be intense. Friday-healing session Saturday- fire spinning party Sunday-meeting with Japanese fashion expert. #
13:55 So fucking jealous! I'm waiting for them to hit Tokyo!@robolover #
14:22 Oh for crying out loud. I turn on the radio and they're playing shitty smooth jazz Christmas music. #
14:26 Christmas in Japan is always bizarre. #
21:18 It's hard to believe the Japanese population is decreasing at such an alarming rate at rush hour in Tokyo. #
21:28 たばこを待つ手は、子供の顔の高さだった。Haha, read next Tweet for the hilarious translation of this ad on the train. #
21:30 So this is what it says in Engrish; "A lit cigarette is carried at the height of a child's face." #
21:33 There's 3 stick figures labled adult, child and smoker. The smoker is sticking a huge cigarette in the child's face. Ridic. #

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Wed, 25 Nov 2009 03:01:13 GMT

15:57 My Satan spawn and his demonic mother will come today. I hope I don't snap on that bitch and tell her to get the fuck out of my class. #
17:17 And to make matters worse, my boss isn't here to help me with the family from hell. #
17:19 So I have at least 45 minutes to think of the most polite way to tell cunt mother to leave... #
17:21 yeah,I think the keitai version is brand new because it never worked before!@Japanbrenna #
18:04 Yes! I think the devil family isn't coming today! #
21:06 Well, the devil family did come today but I had a talk with the mother and she actually got him to co-operate! Wow! #

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I've got a lot of catching up to do

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 17:23:21 GMT

OK, so yeah, I'm gonna try to wrap up these stories because it's already almost Wednesday and that means I'm halfway to the weekend and I'll have MORE stories to tell after that. Damn-o, life really does fly by.
Warp 20th Anniversary Party Part II
So I left off when I was listening to Steve Beckett's set. It was pretty fucking good, actually. He was DJing for three hours so at one point Yuki, Nadjika and this guy they came with who doesn't spin poi and I went in search of the bathroom. That was kind of weird because I just stood there while they spoke Japanese the whole time. I understood what they said and I could have jumped in the conversation if I was faster at formulating sentences but since it takes me a while to put my sentences together and they were talking really fast, I couldn't really get a word in. That's OK, however, because we did find the shortest bathroom line. Some of the bathroom lines were so long it looked like it would take HOURS to go through them.
When we returned to the room I lost Yuki and Nadjika and ended up meeting this random guy named Adam from the States. I believe he was Texas because I actually told him that I was born in KY and usually, I don't tell other Americans that because they instantly turn their noses up like I have some disease or they act really shocked like, "WHAT?! YOU'RE NOT AN UNEDUCATED REDNECK?!" I saw Adam and his friend, British friend, Sarah, staring at me spinning and I decided to stop spinning and go talk to them since I was alone. When I came over to them, they got really excited and were like, "OMG! YOU CAME OVER TO TALK TO US! YEA!" They were acting like I was the coolest thing since sliced bread and instantly started asking me questions about poi, which sort of took me aback because I’m just Sarah ^^ I’m not a famous poi superstar like some of the people I hang out with ^^ Adam said he'd recently ordered some glow poi and I was like, "Rock on!" They came down from Saitama or Ibaraki (one of those country prefectures) to see the show and we talked for a long time. They were really cool kids.
I went outside to take a smoke break and got in touch with Conor. We met at the meeting place and then we went to dance together. When we got back inside I noticed the room wasn't so crowded. I've learned to follow the crowd from room to room in Japan because usually, if the crowd in a room thins out, that means there's something awesome happening in the next room.
Conor and I left the Green Room and went to the Red Room. The Red Room was packed. No one could even get inside it was so full. I was like, "What the fuck is going on in here?" I looked at the big projector screens and saw Richard D. James' face on the screen. I turned to Conor and was like, "Omg, we have got to watch this. This is Chris Cunningham's work. He directed Aphex Twin's videos. This is going to be good!" And it blew my mind. From my understanding, Chris Cunningham was VJing and DJing although I could be wrong because I couldn't see a damn thing. He played an incredible remix of the song "Window Licker" by Aphex Twin and also remixed the video for the song (that he created) to match the song. It was very intense listening to his music and watching him remix his own videos to match the music. I love the work of Chris Cunningham. There's something so sinister yet captivating and sometimes almost comedic about what he does. If I had the words to describe how amazing his set was, I would. All I can tell you is to go watch some of his videos and imagine seeing him remix his own videos to fantastic music.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjAoBKagWQA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IApCp2Pl8k

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ug92ciM2Bm4

I was intrigued by the Chris Cunningham set until he started playing fucking Squarepusher. I fucking hate Squarepusher because listening to Squarepusher is a good way to give your self a gods damned headache. I'd rather slam my head in the car door than listen to that shit. Plus, the Squarepusher video was really fucked up. It was some kind of naked, video game fighters. One was a man and one was a woman and it was graphically violent because they were really trying to kill each other and the terrible things they were doing to each other was sick. I was like, "Come on, Conor, let's get out of here."
Bekett's set was almost finished and then Flying Lotus came on. Wow, now THAT was an amazing set. If you haven't heard Flying Lotus yet, I STRONGLY SUGGEST that you download some of his tracks or support him and Warp and go buy his record because he is one of the most gifted artists I have heard in a long time. Flying Lotus is an African American guy with beautiful copper colored skin and a great, big warm smile. He plays the synthesizers like a piano and programs live with grace and agility. Sometimes he would even play with the audience while he was program. He asked us if we were having a good time ( and he added, "I don't know how many of you can understand me. Sorry I don't speak Japanese!") and then he started laughing into the mic, sampled that and then fucked it all up and we danced to it. He smiled the entire time he was playing and his hard, driving bass and dub sound was soul moving. He was, by far, the best act I've seen anywhere this year. I will most certainly purchase his album because I want to support his talent. Conor and I sat on the floor together (I spun a little poi too) for a good chunk of his set and just took in the sound. Yuki and Co. found me towards the end of Flying Lotus' set and asked me if I wanted to go see LFO in the other room but I was like, "I'm really digging Flying Lotus so I'm gonna stay here."
When Flying Lotus' set was over, I stood up, turned to Conor and said, "Well, I don't think we're going to hear anything better than this. Let's go home." It was actually surprisingly still dark when we caught a cab back to our house. We enjoyed the cab ride because for the first time EVER we could go DIRECTLY HOME after a party. It usually takes us about 2 hours to get home from parties but we got a cab straight to our doorstep and we were home in about 10 minutes. It was niiiiice. I totally went to sleep because I was partied out.

Good Meeting Turned Pointless, Karaoke and a Getting a TINY bit of Ass
Sunday was a nice day. I woke up and Conor joined me at the kotatsu. We chilled out all day and Conor fell asleep on the other side of the table while I read Pynchon and listened to Boards of Canada (who I've heard are close to coming out with a new album!!! I can't wait! I love, love, love BoC). Around 4 I left to go to Tokyo because I had to meet Janika and Yuki in Shinjuku at 6. We went to a coffee shop to plan our show. We had some really, really good ideas flowing and I felt like we were going to really put something awesome together. I e-mailed Miki and asked her for details about the space but then she e-mailed me back (after I parted ways with Janika and Yuki) and told me the show was canceled! I was so upset!!! I really, really wanted to do that show! I even delayed my trip back to America so I could do it. I was excited to work with Yuki and Janika, who are both professionals and I had to tell them the first show I've tried to plan EVER is canceled. It makes me look so unprofessional. I'm afraid no one will ever want to work with me again :(
But I didn't know that the show was canceled until after the meeting. I felt like I wasted everyone's time because Janika both took time to meet with me. Yuki even bought a bottle of wine at the coffee shop where we were meeting as a way to kick off our project. ::sighs:: Oh well.
After the meeting I met up with Brenna, Micah, Taylor and Taylor's student and we went to Izakaya. Brenna was drunk and made friends with a Japanese couple at a table not too far away from ours. The couple, Reyohei and Arisa, are both college students who had just finished a day of job hunting. They were wearing business suits and looking very professional. Brenna told me I should sit down with them and so I sat next to Riyohei and he started talking to me. It wasn't long before he was hitting on me hard core. His English was really good but he's not a good person. He kept trying to feed me lines like, "You're so beautiful, I don't understand why you don't have a boyfriend!" and "I want to take you home with me." I was like, "Stop right there. Didn't you come here with her?" and I motioned to Arisa. By this time the table next to them had also merged with our table and Micah and Taylor joined us (Taylor's student left). He told me he "didn't know" how he feels about her and they're "just friends". I was like, "You're lying, because you wanted to take her home with you tonight before you met me. That's not fair to her." The whole time I was talking to Riyohei, Arisa was shooting nasty looks at me. I finally decided to talk to Arisa about it. I had a long talk with her in Japanese about her feelings for him and I told her that it was easy to say tell him how she felt. She was really shy about it but I told her to do her best. I didn't want to make any drama and I felt really bad for what was happening to her because of me. Then I removed myself from Riyohei and Arisa's side of the table and went to sit with Brenna and her new friend, Yuya. Yuya and his three friends are from Osaka and were on holiday in Tokyo. They had picked up a random girl to hang out with but I can't remember her name. Yuya became very interested in me and pretty soon Riyohei and Yuya were competing for my attention. They're both 21 and in college and speak really good English but Yuya was a pot head when he lived in Canada and Riyohei had never lived abroad although he said he had a Thai girlfriend once. That says a lot about the way he thinks of non Japanese women. He seems like a pretty big racist ass hole. He told Yuya and Brenna that he looks down on Brenna becasue she's not full Japanese (she's 1/4). Anyway, I sort of blocked him out after that even though he is cute. He e-mailed me and was like, "Oh, K.I.T. blah blah" but he's not getting down my pants. No siree.
After Karaoke, Arisa and Riyohei left and Brenna, Micah, Taylor, Yuya, Yuya's friends and I went to karaoke. That was interesting. Brenna got really drunk and passed out along with one of Yuya's friends. Micah, Taylor, Yuya and the random girl and I lasted for most of the night. Yuya and I were pretty close physically during karaoke. He kept nudging me with his shoulder which is the total Japanese guy "I like you" body language. He kissed me in the middle of one of Micah's songs and we made out for a couple of seconds until he got really embarressed because Micah and Taylor saw it. lol. But it was nice to kiss someone, even if it was for a second. When we finally finished karaoke and we were saying good-bye to our friends, Yuya grabbed my hand, pulled me to him, kissed me on the lips and then smiled and said bye and walked the other way. It was cute. But I need to stop hooking up with these young, college boys ^^
I decided to go home after karaoke and try to sleep.

Yesterday evening was pretty eventful but I'll try to write about that in a separate entry. Jeez. I wrote a lot today and I still have more to say! XD

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:32:34 GMT

Wow, after reading some of these on my friends' page, I came to realize that some of you may not know a lot about me because I was surprised to read a lot about you. So here we go.

" I said this looks like a job for me; So everybody, just follow me; Cause we need a little, controversy; Cause it feels so empty, without me "
1. First Name
Sarah. It's so fucking boring. My name is the most boring name on the planet. My stupid boss changed how I spell my name in Japanese and now it's all registered wrong on everything. I spell my name se-ra which is how my first Japanese teacher spelled my name and it sounds really close to Sarah. Se-ra also means Sailor, and since I love Sailor Moon, I like having that name. However, my boss wouldn't even consult me about how I spell my name so now I'm Sa-ra which means fucking "plate". I'd much rather be a sailor ;p

2. Age
I'll be 26 in about 6 weeks. Yikes. I don't feel like I'm this old and aparently I don't look it either because no man over the age of 21 has showed interest in me lately. I keep getting approached by all these young college guys and they're cute but they don't know much about the world yet ^^

3. Location
I was born and raised in Louisville, KY and I became a gypsy hippy when I was 19. I've lived in Oberlin, OH; Cincinnati, OH; Nagoya, Japan; Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Chicago, IL; Seoul, South Korea and now I'm living in Chiba-ken Japan. I live in the prefecture next to Tokyo and it takes me at least an hour to get to anywhere interesting ;p Chiba is a shit hole but at least I'm not tripping over people right and left like when I'm in the city. There are so many people in Tokyo, it's phenomenal. I really hated Tokyo until recently because there are just so many people but there is so much to do, so many people to meet, so much awesome shopping and top notch music events. I guess I couldn't ask for anything more.

4. Occupation
I'm an English teacher. My salary isn't so high but my boss thows money at Conor and I like it's play money. We don't have to pay for our house, she covers transportation, she gave me a bike, the house was fully furnished when we moved in and although it makes me sick to stay here because it has mold problems and I'm highly allergic to mold, I feel fortunate to be able to save all this money. I hope to go backpacking next year.

5. Partner
Well, I HAD a Japanese boyfriend I really loved and cared about named Masa but we broke up about 3 and a half months ago and it drove me to the edge of insanity but I'm coming back from that crazy place. I have a lover in Chicago named Giovanni who I've been with off and on for 5 years. When I'm in the States we're together and when I'm traveling we're not. Gio and I have been talking about getting married eventually recently. We've had our ups and downs but he's stuck by me.
Then there's my gay husband, Conor, who I'm traveling with now. Conor and I are very, very close and sometimes we can read each other's minds and we have the same dreams on the same night sometimes too. Sometimes I think we're soul mates but we're not meant to be together in this incarnation so we enjoy love in the way we can experience it now.

6. Kids
I want kids and since my maternal clock has started teaching, I'm really feeling the urge to find a mate and start a family. Gio doesn't want a family so it makes me sort of hesitant to commit to him, which is one reason why we go in and out of our relationship. I felt like Masa was perfect for me and I really felt like he as the man I wanted to have a family with so that's one reason why that break up was so difficult. But honestly, I don't think I could ever marry a Japanese man though. Most Japanese house holds are single mother households and the children grow up without knowing their fathers because they work all the time and then go party with their friends after work. I dunno, sometimes I don't think I could ever find a guy perfect for me.

7. Brothers/Sisters
I have a sister who's smart as hell named Amber. We're yin-yang twins. We have the same face but I have light hair and light skin and blue eyes and she has dark skin and dark hair and dark eyes. She takes after our Lebanese roots and I take after our European roots ;p She also has a more voluminous figure than me and she's really short. She has a witty sense of dry humor and is a typical college girl but she's very internationally minded. She also really enjoys fashion but gravitates more towards conservative and dress down classy while I take everything to the extreme. She does have a good eye for clothes though, even if she is a hipster ;p She studied abroad last year. She's mild mannered and doesn't have fiery feelings like I do. She's going to be a knock out success because she watches me closely and learns from all my mistakes and all my successes. She's like Sarah 2.0

8. Pets
My parents have been keeping my cat for the past 3 years and I miss her so much. Her name is Mauve "Gangsta Mama Cita" Moobie. She was pregnant thug cat when I let her into my house because she was so skinny and hungry and about to become a mommy so I took her into my house and she gave birth to 5 kittens that day. I didn't really know what to do because I was in college and I didn't have time for a cat but I didn't want her to have kittens outside. When the kittens were big enough I gave them away-- some went to good homes and others to not so good homes. I still feel really bad about that. Mauve and I used to be inseperable and she would walk me up the street everyday when I left for school and then sit down and watch me go at the same place every day. She wouldn't stop watching until I was gone. However, I had to give her to my parents because I was traveling so she's kinda mad at me. She gets really excited the first day I come home for a visit and will run to see me but then she ignores me and gives me the cold shoulder the rest of the time ;p I don't blame her. I would do the same thing to me too if I were her ;p

9. List the 3-5 biggest things going on in your life.
Hum, well, nothing too interesting, really. I am meeting with Mary Basket, the Japanese fashion expert on Sunday and I'm not sure what I'll get out of that. I spin fire with the hot shots in Tokyo but I rarely get to do shows unlike Chicago, where I was doing shows all the time. However, I'm learning A LOT from there and I'm getting to the point that even if I'm spinning LED or flag poi people stop in my tracks and watch me and other poi players ask me to teach them. I also do fire fans and palm torches. I'm near professional level with my skills but I'm not there yet or I'd be in a troupe by now ;p I'm also working on getting over my ex boyfriend and that's really tough because I really do love him and would give anything to be in his arms again. Oh yeah, and I have a big 2 week trip back to America coming up at the end of the year and that's exciting. I'm playing with the idea of backpacking after I finish my contract here in Japan but I haven't made any plans yet.

10. Parents?
My mom, Debi, and I are so much alike personality wise it's scary. We used to fight a lot but now we're friends. She accepts my life style even though she's wildly conservative. And even though she disapproves of my pre-marital sex I can talk to her about my boyfriends and she enjoys it when I share music with her, which is cool that she's open to electronic music.
My dad, Glenn, is very popular in our hometown and it seems like he knows everyone. He's very kind hearted so all our pets flock to him like St. Francis. He's a neo-con and it's kind of annoying but he's become more liberal after debating politics with me. lol. He's very quiet at home and we've never talked much. I hate to say it but sometimes I feel like I don't really know him even though I lived with him for 19 years. However, he loves me a lot and would do anything for me and sometimes I feel i need to make more of an effort to communicate with him.
I was raised Catholic and it was a big shock for my parents when I left the church. They would force me to go to mass anyway and sit in the bench during communion while everyone else in church participated. However, they accept my spirituality now even though they don't agree with it.

11. Who are some of your closest friends?
I'm still close with a lot of my high school friends-- Conor, Joy, Carole, Eve, Jacob and Shane. There are some people I don't talk to much from high school like Daisy or Melanie Banzer or Lucretia but when I see them I can talk to them like the old days. I met Gio at Oberlin and we're still tight. From Cincinnati I'd have to say Jake, Alli and Amy. From Nagoya it would be my host family (Tomoko, Yayoi, Takuya and Takeshi) who loved me like I was blood and taught me how to speak Japanese. Brenna and Micah, obviously, who took me in when I came back to Japan and they had moved to Tokyo. I sometimes still talk to my ex boyfriend, Riyo because we used to be close and we're still friends. From Chicago I'd have to say Gio and the entire Chicago Fire Tribe who has done an phenomenal job at staying in touch with me. I totally thought they'd forget about me but they always contact me and everyone is excited to see me on New Year's. That makes me happy. From Dubai I'm still close with Kathy, my angry German friend. lol. In Tokyo my best friends are Nic, Miki and Dan is really growing on me recently. I also feel very close to a lot of my students, especially my private lessons with Luka and her mom, Akiko and 27 year old named Kyoko. And then there's my LJ friends and I love all of you dearly. If you're reading this, you know who you are :)

Hope that answers any questions anyone had.

Hey yeah!

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 03:01:13 GMT

13:56 @cafedunoir It's the best! #
14:09 @meowberry Dude, that party was fucking amazing! You would have had an awesome time. The venue so felt like an old skool warehouse party. #
14:12 @japanbrenna I dunno, dude. It just started working. I think in the website itself, not anything that I did because the login was different. #
14:13 I may have to go to Yoyogi Koen today to work on my the routine for the show but I'm so tired and sore! I don't want to spin ANYTHING now. #
14:15 Aw, Conor looks so peaceful sleeping at the kotatsu. I love lazy Sundays after a good party :) #
14:17 Now it's time for a trip to the vending machine to get drinks! Only in Japan will you find neighborhood vending machines. lol. #
15:50 @japanbrenna what??? I'm confused... #
16:29 @japanbrenna your comment about weather and super heroes... #
17:27 Hey guy looking over my shoulder on the train｢止まらなさい！｣ cuz I dunno if you speak English. #
17:51 Sitting in Shinjuku listening to Bjork, smoking a cigarette and watching everyone go by. #
06:26 Sweet. I can read enough Japanese to navigate the Japanese twitter site. ラ-ク #
06:28 Damnit. My show I was organizing got cancled! How can I tell Yuki and Janika. They're pros and I'll totally lose face. どうしようかな？ #
06:32 And...I had 2 guys trying to get with me and the furthest I got was making out with one. Today was a total FAIL. たいへんだね！ #
06:47 I was totally raving at the Warp Records party!@mitchtv #
06:50 Gods, long early morning train rides SUUUUCK. BED NOW! 寝たいよ！ #
06:51 Just shut the fucking train doors so we can hurry up and gods damn go! #

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Hey yeah!

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 03:01:04 GMT

16:19 Holy crap twitter works on my phone now. I can finally talk trash on the train! #
16:25 Haha, the pretty boy next to me was using the reflection in his cell phone to fix his hair. OH Japan! #
16:28 But he was really cute so it's OK. I'm a sucker for pretty boys;p #
16:33 けいたいを使っているから、日本語も書ける！でも私の日本語はすごいやば󾭘 #
04:28 I am currently getting my face rocked by Flying Lotus at the Warp Records party in Makuhari. #

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I said it on Twitter during the party and on Facebook but I'll say it again

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 20:51:52 GMT

That party fucking blew my mind. Wow. That was a damn good party. The music was top notch for the most part and ridiculously cutting edge and progressive. The decorations and lasers and visuals were also stellar. The venue was big enough to hold everyone and I still had room to poi. Therefore, I give this party an A+

Warp Records 20th Anniversy

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:01:39 GMT

So this is the party I'm going to tomorrow night. Yuki told me I should go and she's never told me to go to a bad party. Plus, it's Warp records-- you know, the label that Aphex Twin and Boards of Canada is on. It's kinda pricey ($95 at the door) but I think it'll be worth it. Plus, I get to spin glow poi with my friends and the party is in Chiba so I don't have to travel for 1 million hours to get there. And if I get fucked up at home, well, I won't have to worry about buying drinks. I usually spend about $100 going out on the weekend anyway so it's not a big deal. I'm wondering what a Warp Records party is like oO I guess I'll find out tomorrow. lol. Hopefully, I don't have another awkward encounter with Masa or anyone who knows him but it's almost inevitable with how big this party is going to be. Thankfully, he's not into IDM so I doubt he'll be there but his friends are a different story ;p

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fm20091113a1.html

Tokyo has spoiled me rotten with the artist I get to see. I can't think of many places in the States besides LA or New York that would throw a big IDM party.

I'm also having coffee with Brenna after work tomorrow. I get to kick it with Brenna, which is something I don't really get to do much anymore and I get my iPod back so that's a win^2 situation.

Hiroko is picking me up early tomorrow so I need to go to sleep soon. Here's a quick run down of my week.

The rest of Sunday-- I stayed as long as I could at the party in the park and spun LED poi with the Shinjuku fire kids. Then Nic, Conor and I bounced. Conor and I had Indian food for dinner and then we watched The Last of the Mowhikins together.
Monday-- Good day with my good class. No complaints.
Tuesday-- Met Nic and Dan for dinner to say farewell before they left for Vietnam. They'll be gone for a bout a week. We went to a delicious, really cheap and ghetto izakaya. The area was really sketchy and it was practically a red light district. Dan was skeptical of why Nic led us there at first. He said, "Nic, this is a place where people come to fuck, not eat dinner with their friends." HAHAA.and Dan, being half Japanese, ordered a ton of delicious food for us and we feasted. It gave me diarrhea but nothing serious so I'd still go back there and eat again. lol.
Wednesday-- I had a really weird dream about Masa on Wednesday morning. I dreamed I went to the train station near where Riyo used to live in Mie to meet Masa. Masa ran down the steps and right into my arms and we fell onto a bench. He was wearing his suit, which I found kind of weird because I usually dream about hippie Masa, not salaryman Masa. We embraced each other tightly and he said, "I'm sorry I forgot the present I was going to give you." I replied, "I don't care as long as you're here with me." When I woke up I was like, "This is retarded. I wish I could get over him. "So that put me in a bad mood for a while and I ended up having a good cry because I've been holding back my feelings about him leaving me lately in an attempt to make it go away. But at least I got to get my emotions out and I felt better after crying. My classes were really good and that also cheered me up. All of my Wednesday classes are very enjoyable because my students are really clever, enjoy learning and like to have fun. Conor and I went to Karaoke after work and we sang a lot of new songs. I sang "Love Shack" and I will sing it again. It's a good song! After karaoke I drank one of the energy drinks that fucked Conor up. It gave me a bit of a head change but I wouldn't type random letters of the alphabet to the ABC song at work on it like Conor claims he would. lol. Conor played a bunch of classical music when we got home and I went into my kotatsu oven. We also had a sing-a-long with some of our favorite karaoke songs. I passed out at the kotatsu and Conor passed out on the couch. Then I had a weird dream in which Conor and I were running through this weird outdoor party that reminded me of UMF in Miami back in 2006. Then we flew up into the sky (I don't know why but whenever I dream about Conor we go flying oO) and there was a meteor shower. It was beautiful. Then we came back to earth and the Queen of Hearts started bitching at us for causing trouble because we made her young son fall down and scrape his knee. She had an army of chocolate bunnies and she was telling them to arrest us. Conor started speaking perfect Thai to the Queen of Hearts but she wouldn't listen and ordered the bunnies to attack. However, I was too fast for that. I grabbed one of the bunnies' arms and broke it off. Then I started smashing the bunnies to pieces. While I was fighting them, I thought, "I wonder what would happen if I laughed at them?" So I started pointing and laughing at the bunnies and they started to explode. That dream was fucking hilarious.
Thursday-- Conor and I woke up together on Thursday morning and that was nice. I miss waking up next to someone, even if he is on the couch and I was on the floor next to the couch it was nice having him there when I woke up. He was in a really good mood and we spent the morning together. Work was actually really good up until Dan's fucking class. All my brats were good sans Dan (he usually doesn't come on Thursdays anyway. I think I'd lose my mind if he always came on Thursday ;p) who I was ready to give him a proper spanking.
Today-- I did a lot of laundry and went to work. My kindergarten class decorated their art projects we started last week. Everyone was happy. My students love me to death. Sometimes they even come early just to see me and I get tackled with big hugs. When they're happy it makes me happy and that class has a very family kind of feel to it because we're all tight. Every other class was fun too. I came home, cooked dinner, did laundry and tidied up a bit. Now it's bed time.

And yep. And yea.

And yea :)

Satan Spawn

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 05:01:55 GMT

I got really angry at work yesterday and almost told Dan's (not my party buddy, my annoying student)mother to get the fuck out of the class room. Dan's mother never
controls him and she always teams up with him and bullies me. Sometimes she will deliberatly encourage him to disobey me and I feel like she comes to class to torture me because no one has fun during that class. I don't have fun. Hiroko doesn't have fun. Dan has fun when he's disobeying me and although his mother has to deal with his screaming and crying and throwing a tantrum like a 1 year old, she keeps bringing him back even though she's made it apparent that she can't stand me. I mean, honestly, Luka-chan isn't even 2 years old yet and she can speak more English and co-operate much better than Dan. If I were Hiroko, I'd tell Dan's mother to put her fucking 4 year old son in the baby class because that's where he fucking belongs. He has maturity of a 2 year old.
I always thought she was a stupid bitch but yesterday she showed me how evil she can really bed. First, she canceled last week's lesson. That's OK. But during Tuesday's lesson she went behind the desk and started snooping around and found my schedule and told me exactly what time she wanted a make up and showed me when I was free. I was shocked. I was like, "What kind of bitch does that?" Conor saw her snooping but he didn't say anything because he didn't want his students to comment oO I would have been like, "Can I help you with something?"
Anyway, yesterday's class was a makeup lesson and she brought THE FATHER. I was totally taken off gaurd. They dragged 2 chairs over and sat them right in front of my table and and they sat there and watched me TRY MY DAMNEDEST to teach Dan like I was on TV. Dan kept
refusing to listen to me or do what I said or repeat after me. And the whole time I was trying my hardest to get him to work with me, both of his parents just sat there and did nothing. They just glared at me. It's like, HOW CAN I MAKE YOUR SON CO-OPERATE. HE'S DISOBEYING ME BECAUSE YOU'RE HERE. When his mom isn't around, he works with me. But they put me on the spot and I felt like I was being mocked and made a fool of. His mother comes to class all the fucking time and never once has she tried to discipline him. I was so ready to grab Dan by the ankel and give him a good spanking. I usually don't think you should lay a hand on a child when you're discipline them but I'm starting to think some kids need it. Needless to say, I haven't felt that embarrassed in a very long time and I know that's exactly what his mother was trying to do. She wanted to embarrass me in front of her husband. I almost want to tell Hiroko that I personally request that they do not come back because his mother is a really a very nasty woman and Hiroko has come to agree with me about that. She didn't believe me at first because she's Japanese and Japanese people are always so polite to each other but she showed her true colors to me right away.
Hiroko told the bitch and her husband to leave when they were staring me down and trying to humilate me because she knows he will co-operate if his parents are there but they REFUSED to do it. I was ready to slam my hands down on the desk, look her straight in the eye and shout, "YOU KNOW WHAT? YOU NEED TO GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE YOU NASTY BITCH AND TAKE YOUR SPOILED, ROTTEN, EMBARRASSMENT, SORRY MISTAKE FOR A CHILD WITH YOU!" During the whole hell hour She
kept smirking at me like, "Aren't you embarrassed?" I gave her a look
back like, "Actually, this embarrassment of a child isn't my son so
NO."
I told Hiroko that I think Dan needs to be moved to a group
lesson so he's pressured into behaving by other students. He's very
spoiled and he acts like a baby because he's coddled too much. If he
were with other children he'd be pressured by the group to fit in with
them or risk being an outcast and risk being whispered about and
humiliated, which is what he needs. If he cried at my group lesson on Friday or refused to listen I KNOW my students would be like, "What the fuck is wrong with him. He's a baby." My Friday kids are all really good and sweet and they have actually disciplined other students who were misbehaving for me by calling them out in Japanese and embarrassing them so I think that's a good place for him. Dan's mom says he knows too much English to be in that class but he doesn't use it so what's the fucking point. He needs a group class because Japanese society focuses a lot ongroup harmony and if he breaks the harmony he'll lose face. Even young
children understand this, which is why group lessons are really easy
to teach. I don't care if I lose the $20 I get from his private if he
moves to a group (because I get paid by the hour, not by the student
number). He is driving me crazy and his mother won't quit. I think she
just enjoys torturing me at this point. Hiroko was really nice about
it though. She knows I'm not the problem anymore. And my student after that class is a total angel so it was good working with someone who actually co-operates and enjoys learning. I don't have problems in any other classes execept that one so I know it's not me. It's that fucking terrible, aweful bitch. Damn, I hope karma bites her in the ass. If she treats me like this, god knows how she treats other people ;p I dunno, I've met some nasty people in my life but this woman is UP THERE on the list.
I have to go to work now. Damnit, I spent too long ranting and now I'll probably have to take a cab to make up for lost time. Shit

Hark! A Mem!

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 03:00:13 GMT

1. I'll respond with something random about you
2. I'll challenge you to try something
3. I'll pick a colour that I associate with you
4. I'll tell you something I like about you
5. I'll tell you my first/clearest memory of you
6. I'll tell you what animal you remind me of
7. I'll ask you something I've always wanted to ask you
8. If I do this for you, you must post this on yours