All About Liberty

You know, I feel like bragging on my sister Liberty a bit today. Don't get me wrong, my other sisters will eventually get a full blog post devoted to them too, but today it's for Liberty.
Almost regularly and for quite some time now, I’ve been receiving text messages from Lib. These messages are just casual conversational stuff, things she was thinking about, worrying about and etcetera. As I responded to one of the more recent messages, I had an awakening of sorts. An awakening, or remembering, however you wish to view it.
Throughout my life, I’ve found myself in many a situation where I needed some sisterly advice, some counsel, or what have you. When I was in my earlier years, I would turn to Liberty. Wise beyond her years, I’d always receive the advice I sought and an additional story of Liberty’s own experiences with something similar. I’ve come to greatly trust and appreciate my sister’s input. Her advice, comments and suggestions are always noninvasive, spoken in a gentle manner and always worth heeding.
When I was younger, I would always consider Liberty as my “favorite” sister. Sure, brothers are not supposed to have a “favorite” sister, but Liberty was/is pretty darn special to me. I still remember one occasion, while living in North Logan, on which I went down to my sister’s room and slept next to her. This particular memory sticks out in my mind for two reasons, first, because it was a wonderful bonding experience between my sister and me, secondly, because I was accidentally pushed out of the bed in the middle of the night. I suppose the only reason the second note was worth remembering, is because I managed to land on her large pile of CDs and her radio, which was laying next to the bed. In addition to that, the commotion caused my sister to awake, at which time she inquired, “what happened?” my response was, “I fell out of the bed. It really hurt.” Then, with the utmost amount of sisterly love and compassion, she replied, “No you didn’t.” and fell back asleep.
Though in all seriousness, my sister Liberty really is wonderful. She seeks to be a part of my life in such a personal, nonintrusive and caring way, that I’m quite impressed with her. She has always been here for me. She was there for me to talk to before Whitney and then after her. She’s always been such a wonderful friend and sister.
I look at her (figuratively) now and I’m impressed at how awesome she is. I always laugh at how she is so humble and self-conscious about herself. I must admit, when she is complaining when pregnant about how “big” she looks or what have you, I think to myself about how lovely she is. Sure, she may not be little miss Whitney, who looks like she’s just hiding a ball under her shirt, but my sister Liberty is such a beautiful pregnant lady (if I can call my sister a “lady” in that fashion). Not only that, but the fact she runs her own zoo at home, with her boys as wonderfully crazy as they are, merely adds to her awesomeness factor. She’s such a great mom too. I’ve always been impressed with how great she is at parenting. It always seems to come so naturally to her. Even when her kids are being brats, or not eating or just giving everyone a headache, she handles them so well. I’m sure Kit realizes the treasure he managed to find, but I concede to the fact, if I happen to snag a girl even half as wonderful… I think I’d be the happiest husband in the world.

You know, there is a saying, “Do as I say, but not as I do.” It’s a wonderful saying that applies to many people, Liberty herself has thrown it at me a few times, but the funny thing is that I’m perfectly content with following not only what she says, but how she acts. She’s always been such a great example to everyone around her and I, as her little punk brother, have always looked up to her. Sure, like everyone else in the world, she has her faults and etc, but those are what have shaped her into the wonder she is today. I am very fond of throwing this quote around (seeing as how I wrote it), but I feel it really applies to Liberty, "Each person in the world begins life like the artist's untouched marble. Remember, the marble has to be beaten, chipped and cut before it can become something truly spectacular." My sister has had a life full of experiences that have helped shape her into the person she is today. They have shaped her into something “truly spectacular.”

Thank you for everything Liberty.

**Writer’s Note to Whitney and Stephanie: Just because this is all about Liberty, doesn’t mean I don’t think you guys are wonderful too. It’s just that this post is all about Lib.

Happy New Year!

It is common belief that the way you spend New Year's Eve into the New Year, is a bit of a precursor for the way your year will go. I find this statement to be a bit disheartening for many reasons. Foremost of which, is the manner in which I just spent MY New Year’s Eve. Below attached are a series of photos that show the slow, degeneration of my room, and the fashion in which I celebrated this grandiose holiday. Though, I must concede to the fact I just had an epiphany of sorts. The way I spent my New Year was, in fact, the exact same way I spent my Christmas. It’s a remarkable thing, really. So, perhaps, the belief holds a bit of truth after all. Though I fear it is due to a series of behavior characteristics, or habits, and not quite so much the way you spend a single night.




This would be my work station. It houses my computer, my peanut butter, and empty bottle of Ginger Ale, my cell phone, wallet, and a series of other crucial items.



This is my little Draenei hunter, Longwei, with his pet Ravager, Tianlong. Longwei's home is in an online game known as World of Warcraft. It currently has over 11 million players. I seem to find myself standing strong alongside my WoW addicted brethren, proudly waving our faction's flag. All hail the great Alliance! Hoorah!



This would be a bed. Trust me, I know it looks nothing like it, nor is it habitable at this moment, but somewhere, buried deep under all of that non-bed stuff, there is a bed, kind in nature, just wishing to be loved and slept with. It's odd how inanimate objects can, so often, have the same desires and characteristics as many humans.



Lastly, this is my valiant kitchen area thing. Cluttered may be an understatement, but it has served me well. I've come to find I am a genius at concocting any variety of Ramen. Oft times it is the most delicious food I've ever ingested. This is usually because I've not eaten in 48 hours and I cooked meat into it. Though that aside, I'm a master Ramen chef, especially when all I have to do is throw it into boiling water and it practically cooks itself.


Thusly, I conclude today's musings. It's 1:25 am January 1st 2010 and I have many frivolous things to waste my time on for the subsequent three hours. To all, I wish you a good night.

Cutting your own hair is like most things...much easier to do in theory than in practice

Recently I took a short trip to a park here in Matsumoto. It was a rather enjoyable experience. I went with a lovely little friend of mine named みさき(Misaki.)We had a pretty good time. Sam bailed, claiming to be sick (he had a minor sore throat) even though we ran into him walking around with Daniel on our way home. It's all good. He made a point to emphasize it was him giving me the opportunity to work on my wooing skills and Japanese...but mostly Japanese. So we walked across the city and made it to the park. Ran around for a while and then came back. All the while communicating in butchered Japanese, decent English and a dash of Spanish. It was pretty fun. Below will be photos I took and small explanations. I owe you guys a few photos I believe.





This one is primarily for the Alabama Apples-Folk. These would be Jos's snow monkeys. Sure the park doubled as a zoo, so they're not wild, but I'm sure they'd try to eat you if you got into their area. Hope the little ones enjoy that one.



I must admit, for this photo and the next couple, I really felt strange taking photos of animals I'd shoot and eat, or see sitting in a tree normally back in the States...in a ZOO in Japan. It was pretty cool. They also had Raccoons and ducks and such, but those ones didn't turn out too well.



















This would be a museum. You had to pay if you planned to do anything other than look out of the tower thing...so naturally that's all we did. It proved interesting due to the fact while I was up there I was mildly molested by a 60+ year old man (I think he said 60...but again, my Japanese blows). He thought it was hilarious that I was an American who was skinny, so he made a point to keep putting his hands on my stomach and then making the "fat person" motion, by holding his arms out in a circle in front of him. He also commented on my being very young, white and hairy...not that I didn't already know all of those things. Though he did think it was pretty cool that I was living in Japan on my own at the ever-so-young age of 21. I just kinda laughed about it until I could sneak away and pretend to take photos so he'd rant to Misaki. I was rather awed by how much respect she showed him. He struck me as an interesting, ranting, old man. Then again, I suppose if I spoke Japanese I'd have been intrigued by his recount of the places he'd traveled (Misaki told me that's what he was talking about later). Though she was very respectful of him and talked for a good twenty minutes after I managed to escape to the other side of the circular tower thing...six feet away.



I'm assuming these mini houses served some higher purpose than just sitting there...but I really don't know. They're kinda cute...in an architecturally cute sort of way...



This last one is the Westish view from the top of the above mentioned museum thing. It was spectacular, but the photo does have a bit of a glare because I was shooting through the glass.

It was a totally awesome experience that lasted about four hours in total. I took lots of photos and had a blast.

Alright...that wraps up this post. I'll catch all of you guys later.

Peace out.

P.S. The haircut turned out fine.

It's about time eh? Oh wow...I better not be turning Canadian...

This is my update. I am perfectly aware of the fact I fail miserably at keeping people up to date and posted. Simply put, if you want to know what's been happening from the time of my last post until now, check Sam's blog out. In fact, the primary purpose of this post is to tell all of you that you can email my phone. Yup. That means with your computer box (Personal computer) or your little boxy mini phone things (cell phones, Blackberrys in particular) you can send me one of those electronic messages (emails/texts) straight to my boxy mini phone thing (my cell phone).

My email address: unknowneden@softbank.ne.jp
Primary functioning hours for shortest reply times: ~5:00 p.m.-7:00 a.m. (Times in Oklahoma)

Please feel free to email me. I'll happily respond to anything I receive. It will almost be like it was in the states with my texting addictions and etc.

Note: Don't worry, it doesn't cost me anything and I don't think it costs you guys to email me. ^_^ It's just email, after all.


On an additional note, be happy. I have been bragging on you guys (family). I mean, really, I was fortunate enough to write about some of you in a paper I wrote in Comp. class. I'll copy and paste it...see if this works...


私の家族

私の家族は8人です。りょうしん4人のあねとあとうとかいます。わたしのかぞくはおおきです。わたしたちはアメリカにすんでいます。
わたしのちちはとても優秀で、ええごとちゅうごくごはなします。香港で住んでいました。じゆういでじゆういがくをおしえています。ちちは52さいです。わたしのおとうとは19さいです。モビルにすんでいます。とてもしんせつです。しゅみはうまにのることです。わたしの4人のあねはとてもきれいです。
私の家族は気軽です。私たちは一緒にいるときに愛があります。

I included photos of you guys that I either stole from the Internet or took myself (which means I stole 4/5 of them), though none of them copied onto here. Oh well.

Though yes...this concludes my post for the day. I'll make an effort to do little ones everyday, but then a big one every once in a while. Be happy. ^_^

ENDING COMMENT: AGAIN, I HAVE EMAIL ON MY PHONE. THAT MEANS SEND ME A MESSAGE ANY TIME. I WILL RESPOND THE MOMENT I HAVE A CHANCE. FOR OPTIMAL SENDING TIMES, NOTE THE ABOVE STATEMENT. THANK YOU, THAT IS ALL.

たいまつ祭り (Also known as the Taimatsu Matsuri [Torch Festival])

So, to appease the masses, this post is about the festival. The Taimatsu Matsuri is a very peculiar festival. It's considered one of Japan's three dedicated to Taiko dumming and, ultimately fire. People parade through the streets carrying large bundles of straw (torches) There are often more than 100 torches being pulled through the streets. These torches are usually very large often as much as 3 meters in diameter. These "torches" are then pulled by families, friends, business mates, etc. up a long road to a mountain shrine. These are then dedicated to the shrine. One thing to keep in mind, if you are sensitive to smoke, bring a mask of sorts, or a wet towel to cover your mouth. The streets are filled with smoke and ash. In fact, one of the customs is to smear another person with ash (if you're one of the people pulling the torches), it's actually supposed to bring good luck. That's why all of us have a large amount of ash smeared on our faces. Then later, we were able to actually participate thanks to Bregt (Belgian Girl on the left in the earlier post) asking for us. Sam and I got into a group of school kids. They were awesome. Them and the adults made a point to ensure both of our faces were as black as theirs. That would be why you can see the progressive darkening. Well, that's pretty much my explanation. I'm not particularly motivated to write this one. I'm actually late for a meeting of sorts. So I'm going to post a large number of photos from the festival and call it quits. I hope you enjoy them. Peace out.

Ugh...Finally...

Tonight I finally received my Internet. I've been looking forward to it for quite some time and apparently it's been rather reluctant to make it's way to my home, but it is now here. Quite simply put, I'm really not in the mood to post anything grandiose. I do not plan to write any long and eloquent post. I plan to post many photos and short explanations. This is primarily due to a series of stress sources and irritations I've recently had tossed onto my overburdened shoulders. So I expect all of you to enjoy this post, say wonderful things about it, comment with positive messages and keep any negative comments/thoughts to yourself because I will not react or respond to them in a favorable light/fashion. Thank you.

Beginning of the First Day in Japan



Train Station while En Route to Matsumoto



My Room







The Taimatsu Matsuri. (Three of the greatest girls in Japan [who would kill me if they knew I posted this photo]) Sam and I doing our part.







Exploring Matsumoto. Mountains close to our home.










That's all I feel like doing for today. I'll add more tomorrow if I feel up for it. If not, it will be shortly thereafter.

The Matsumoto Saga pt. 1

After a very long flight (~24 hours of travel time) Sam and I landed in Japan. It was a surreal experience. We landed around 17:00 and the sunset from the plane was the most wonderful one I've ever seen in my life. We touched down in Nagoya and swiftly made our way through customs and etc. We ran into a very helpful woman who, upon realizing we really had no idea how to navigate the train system (with an expression of virtual horror for us), proceeded to give us the names of the places and trains we need to take to get where we wanted to go. We purchased the needed tickets and made it to our train right before the doors closed. It was pretty exciting; especially because we weren’t 100% sure it was the right one until almost the end of the ride.
At the end of about 30 minutes we found ourselves in the Nagano Train station. In all honesty, it was very intimidating. Not only were there hundreds of Japanese people running around, but we were completely lost. Just for the record, I speak no Japanese. However, due to the size of Nagoya many people spoke enough English to get their point across. After about a twenty minutes of aimless wandering, we found the ticket booth place that was not automated (because we looked at those ones…yeah all in Japanese and only had the rail numbers…no way to know what it was telling us). After waiting in line for a while Sam and I finally got to the counter. The man there was really nice, which seems to be a trend, he helped us figure out which tickets we needed to buy. We accomplished this rather rapidly, however there was a catch. The guy looked at his watch and then at us, it suddenly became rather apparent that there was a large problem. There weren’t any more trains to Matsumoto that night. We went ahead and bought tickets for the next morning.
A wee bit lost and dazed, Sam and I made our way outside. We set up against a wall. I’m sure we were quite the sight; two Gaijin sitting against a wall outside of the train station with enough luggage to hide three bodies in, looking moderately crazed and hungry. I was perfectly content to sit against the wall and sleep in shifts, but after two hours, Sam decided it would be best to alter our plans a bit, you know by adding a hotel room into the mix or something…
To shorten things a bit, Sam and I got a hotel room and dropped our stuff off, allowing us to explore the city and such, which we did. Later than night, we returned to the hotel and fell into a fitful quasi-slumber. We woke up at about four and messed around until it was time for our train to come. We made our way to the station and away we went. It wasn’t too hard to figure things out. The trick is looking at numbers and matching Kanji. If it looks like what your ticket says, do it.
After a wonderfully scenic two hour train ride, we found ourselves in Matsumoto. This would be the train station and view surrounding it at about 9:00 when we arrived.

Lovely isn't it?

Anyway, Sam and I soon found ourselves meeting up with Daniel, an Oklahoma native who’s now teaching English at a high school near Matsumoto. He’s been a huge help in getting us to our hotel and showing us around the city a bit. He actually took us to a nice little restaurant that was way more food than I could eat for a grand total of 500 ¥ which is the equivalent to about $5.20. Mind you, here, that is fairly cheap. Most places give you half the food for the same cost.
Eventually Daniel had to bolt, so Sam and I opted to explore the town a bit. It is a beautiful city. It’s absolutely stunning. I’m sad I haven’t gotten too many shots of it yet, but I’m sure there will be more.

Sam and I are staying in Smile Hotel. I get a kick out of the name, though it really does live up to it. The workers here don't seem to stop smiling, but it could be becuase they're humoring the poor gaijin who can't speak Nihongo yet. Below are a few shots of the hotel and Daniel, so you get to see a bit more of it.

Those first two images are of Sam and me triumphantly displaying our first ever purchase in the JASCO mall/store/thing. It would be our feast. Yes, the feast of kings. (i.e. Bananas, bread, and some juice.)

Anyway, to end this blog swifty, because it has already become the evolved form of an uber post, indeed the SUPER UBER POST (note: SUPER UBER POST must always be written in CAPS or it ceases to be a SUPER UBER POST and thusly reducing its awesome and potentially destroying the universe) will be to share photos of the park near our hotel, Agata no mori.

This is merely the entrance. The park is astounding. It has a playground, a walkway over a small pond with Koi and crazy awesome pidgeons...

Thus ends my SUPER UBER POST. I hope you all enjoyed it and will be sticking with me throughout my sporadic posts and such.