Bitter? Me? NO.

Why is it that whenever I asked why, for example, an ambulance siren sounded higher in frequency when it was ahead of me than when it had passed me, no one ever explained the Doppler Effect? My entire life, literally every time an ambulance, fire engine, or police car passed me I asked that question.

I thought I had a brain defect. My entire life.

Suddenly it seems as though life has changed from shades of grey to technicolour. You know, like that Fantastic Friends song where Adrianne's a clown and then her helium balloons suddenly burst into rainbow colours.

Home

Japan has again wooed me, dull grey buildings, low-lying rain clouds, muggy climate and all.

I'll always love this country, even if its cons may outweigh its pros and it doesn't have palm trees or free drugs. Hawai'i was a great vacation (even if it wasn't exactly a vacation for me, as I was there to help out my grandmother) but it ran its course. I'm perfectly content now to sit back (in front of a fan) with a cup of tea and my chattering family members around me, without any sort of longing to go back. At least, not right away.

I wish I had a digital camera.

Aloha, my children.

I report to you now from an authentically Hawaiian Internet Cafe in downtown Honolulu. Yes, I have stooped to such levels- paying good money to contact the outside world. I feel ashamed and not at all like a tourist.

Speaking of tourism, I've probably spoken more Japanese here so far than I normally would in Japan. There's probably about an equal amount of Japanese tourists to American locals/tourists. I've decided that whenever I speak to my Grandmother in Japanese everyone assumes I'm one of the tourists anyway, I'm just going to embrace my roots and go something really exciting. Perhaps skydiving or swimming with sharks.

That all has to wait. I got my first real taste of the Waikiki Beach today, only five minutes from where I'm staying, and I plan to get really sunburnt before heading off to visit Pearl Harbour and all that. Met some people from Florida who apparently love Japan and are more than happy to officially adopt me into their family. Um, awkward? Don't tell anyone, but I'm kind of scared about when I'm going to meet up with them tomorrow. If you don't hear back from me in two weeks, report me as kidnapped.

(PS: Not only are the Surfer Dudes hot as hoped for, they're friendly as well. Haaa, you're wishing right now that you're me, aren't you.)

(PPS: The cool thing to do these days is renting motorbikes, apparently. Everyone's either driving a spruced-up moped or speeding around on Harleys or Kawasakis. Paradise got just that much better.)

suck it up, lewis.

Let me be the first (second? ...thirtieth?) person to say... sonofaDUDE. Where did that come from?!

Akari's recently unfurled her till-now secretly hoarded singing wings, and has bravely conquered a song that most of us are both familiar with and cannot sing without windows smashing and family members cringing in sympathetic pain.

Of course the same cannot be said for her, as she apparently cannot do anything without rocking at it. Note the above use of 'conquered'.

Listen to her cover of "Bleeding Love", and then go tell her what you think!

To Fly with Swallow's Wings...

GUESS WHAT? I'M GOING TO HAWAIIIIIIII!!

(yes, this warrants caps-lock abuse)

Today I had a very full day. I first dragged my Holy Behind to the Mitaka City Office to put in the official records that YES, I am no longer a City Girl but am now a full-blown Hick, and next to the Sayama City Office for even more tedious paperwork only to be told that where I really wanted to go was to the Kawagoe City Office. (Confused? Yeah, me too.) Next stop was the nearby mall for a little posing for my new passport picture... and then I rushed to work.

My feet hurt and my head's killing me but soon I'll have a brand spanking new passport (GOODBYE, 4-year-old picture of me sans eyebrows!) and I'll be able to escape to the land of Sunny Beaches and tanned surfer dudes.

like so.

Uh huh. So worth it.

So, yeah, it doesn't really bother me that red tape's become my official new BFF. And if you pass me on the street and I'm grinning madly to myself, don't worry: I'm not a psychopath. I've just got The Beach Boys stuck in my head.

P.S.

No, you know what. I recommend everything by George Smed. Especially his original, Rabbit Dew, because it's just. Just. I can't stop listening to it and watching his fingers fly over those strings. You'll know what I mean when you watch it. Go, go!

Oh, Eric...

Heart-wrenchingly beautiful cover of Wonderful Tonight, played solely on a bass guitar. Simple and stunning.

The Result of Too Much Studying

I was thinking this over yesterday... but how come superheroes with the ability to turn invisible aren't blind?

I mean, it's simple physics. Since they're invisible their bodies aren't absorbing light, right? So that means their retinas aren't absorbing light either. So they technically shouldn't be able to see.

I guess it would be a little less cool if Susan Storm started crashing into things whenever she turned on her powers. But still. Just thinking about it makes my brain itch.

Does anyone know what happened to the audio section of the Members Only Site?! It appears to have packed its bags and escaped to lay on some sunny beach with a frozen daiquiri and a buxom native willing to apply tanning lotion...