Daylight Explosions

Oh, hey there paid LJ. I should use you.

2013-10-05T09:20:14Z

Uhm, I know everyone's kinda migrated to tumblr and all, but I just wanted to say that I'm back in America, currently sitting on my bum (and the money I saved).

I'm trying to get back into the whole site-making things because holy shit the web design scene is booming, and the right side of my brain is mad at my for being unused.

Also, does anyone have instagram? I'm instagram.com/folklores
It's private, but I pretty much add anyone.

This entry was originally posted at altair.dreamwidth.org. You can comment here or there.

Sad first world problem of the day.

2013-05-28T10:34:33Z

I have go on YouTube and look up the top hits from Billboard.com in order to find out what hip and cool on the radio.

Has anyone else fallen head over heels for Imagine Dragon?

Also, I'm returning to Americarand at the end-ish of August. Reverse Culture Shock is going to suck.

No horse in this race

2013-03-02T08:03:45Z

My friend and I were talking about how nice it was back in college. Seriously, college was amazing and I'd relive it in a heartbeat. Then, on second thought, I would not want to be 19 again. I mean, being younger sounds neat, but I thought I was really, really dumb at that age.

I'm sure I'd look back in 5 years and say, Wow! I was such an idiot at 23!

This entry was originally posted at altair.dreamwidth.org. You can comment here or there.

First world problems are hilarious to complain about.

2013-03-01T04:20:22Z

My teacher just handed me a speech to correct, and let me tell you, I've never thought about why teachers bitch about formatting papers until now. Font size is important, but for the love of God, double-space your papers. You might not think your grammar is particularly bad or your thesis is certainly not horrible, but you probably should risk it.

Also, I wish I could go back an apologize to everyone who's had to put up with shit because I procrastinated.

JFC, need new shit to complain about.

This entry was originally posted at altair.dreamwidth.org. You can comment here or there.

Or we could

2013-02-26T17:56:03Z

I'm trying to do this thing where I stop disappearing from the internet because I think there's a lot of people here who are important to me and, well, that's just not fair to them.

Also, posting this on Dreamwidth because if I could crosspost from Livejournal, I so totally would. But I can't.

This entry was originally posted at altair.dreamwidth.org. You can comment here or there.

condensation @ 2013-01-30T12:12:00

2013-01-30T12:12:41Z

Originally published at Wombat Sr.. You can comment here or there.

Stuff that got done (in Japan)

2012-12-13T11:08:44Z

To apologize for being such a shitty LJ friend, here are pictures from places that I went to!

Deer @ Todai-ji, Nara-shi, Nara-ken

Meoto Iwa (the Wedded Rocks) @ Futami-chou, Mie-ken

Ukai (cormorant fishing) on the Nagara River @ Gifu-shi, Gifu-ken

Momijigari (autumn-leaf viewing) @ Arashiyama, Kyoto-shi, Kyoto-fu

Moar momijigari

Japanese Macaque @ Arashiyama, Kyoto

Shinto wedding in Kyoto (at some shrine whose name I forgot)

Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo

Port of Kobe @ Kobe-shi, Hyogo-ken

I have more photos from Europe, but I'll put that in another post... eventually.

So, uhm.

2012-05-22T10:57:28Z

Who has a tumblr again? Let me know so I can add all y'all nice folks.

http://hairpin-turn.tumblr.com

Say...what.

2012-04-17T12:15:19Z

Today during my lesson, my favorite student, Takumi, pulled his textbook out from under the dais at the front of the class. When I turned to the chalkboard to write something, all the chalk was missing. He proceeded to the hanging monitor stand and pulled out seven pieces of chalk. At the end of the hour, he pointed at the English teacher I work with and called her a mushroom.

God, I love my job.

And sorry about those pictures (well, lack thereof). I'll probably cross-post them from another blog I'm trying to set up... eventually.

Also, Legend of Korra is probably going to take over my life. Most likely. Definitely.

Three months later

2012-03-06T13:17:02Z

And I'm finally pregnant!

HAHA, GOTCHA!

Things have been okay at this end of the planet. I've gotten relatively proficient at trolling as of late, seeing as I'm the headmaster at the School of Trolls. Today, I saw that one of my more disobedient third-years had modified his yanki stick to be capable of launching paper projectiles. Fine and dandy and all, until I became an unintentional target. It flew from the courtyard, through the window, into the classroom, and hit me square on the forehead! I was a little stunned at first, but laughed afterwards. My kids are so clever!

Speaking of which, there's this kid who I absolutely adore, Akiike Takumi/"Superboy"/"Tarzan" (he's got a lot of nicknames). Among many of his antics, he kind of likes to speak out of turn. Okay, maybe a lot. So we're correcting exams, and this is kind of how it goes:

Ms. Matsumoto (the English teacher): "Red circles are worth two points, pink circles are worth only one point, so you want to--"
Takumi: "AND BLUE CIRCLES?!"
Ms. Matsumoto: "...THERE AREN'T ANY."

Him and his best friend/boyfriend (there's pictures), Tomoki/"Johnny Depp", like to yell random things down the hall like, "Do you like sex?!" "I have a penis" and "You have a vagina". Most of the time it's just, "Vagina!"

During cleaning time at the end of the today, I finally got him to actually clean instead of drawing weird shit one the board. Finally. But you know what happens 30 seconds before the bell rings? HE FLIPS HALF THE DESKS IN THE ROOM SO THEY FACE THE OTHER DIRECTION. You know what I had to do? Yeah. Turn them all back.

Sometimes, I tell him not to call the other girls "Sandman," "brocolli," and "Luigi" if he ever wants a girlfriend in the future.

I put the broom back in the closet when he leaves it on his desk.

I always have to help tuck in his clothes after P.E.

I also usher him back to his seat when he gets too excited and magically drifts away from his desk.

I make him stop talking so that he eats his lunch faster.

And I've pretty much become his (constantly-facepalming)school-hours mom.

So yeah, other than that, Japan and I are on semi-decent terms now. It's still not my ideal place to live, but my job is awesome, so I don't really have much room to complain. I've also gotten used to traveling a good amount as of late--Kobe, Nishinomiya, Osaka, Kyoto, Nagoya, Tokyo--and I finally went to Ikea! I'm heading down south to Ise this weekend, and in a couple weeks, I'm going to Europe to see family and whatnot. I think the traveling helps a lot because it keeps me preoccupied on not missing home as much.

Sorry that I've kind of been absent as of late. Logically, I should be updating this place more since I'm still paying for the paid account feature. Fail. Hopefully I can get some pictures up next time!

I'm pretty sure that...

2011-12-20T02:42:00Z

...Southern California has the best weather EVER. No snow, no typhoons, and no humidity!

In other news, I'm back in America for vacation, and it's been awesome so far! It didn't really hit me until I saw a commercial on TV for glaad.org. Yup, it's great to be home ♥

Long overdue entry (this time from Japanland), per usual

2011-11-30T09:23:07Z

Hey everyone! I know it's been a ridiculously long time since I've last posted something decent. I usually just promise to make a more "serious" update, but every time that happens, my mind starts to wander off on all the things I've done so far. Which is a whole lot--probably way too much to talk about. I just don't have the time to write entries because I usually don't have any free time whatsoever.

Except for today, because I only have to teach one class for some odd reason.

I'm guess I'll try and give a brief description of what life is out here. But first! I fly back home on the 15th of December, and I'll be on vacation for about a month. I am so excited that if anyone tries to stop me, I will probably stab them in the face (not really kidding about that part). Anyway.

This is how my day usually goes: I wake up at about 6:15 and I'm usually out of the apartment between 7 and 7:20. Some days, I take the bus that stops right outside of my apartment, and most of the time, I bike to a train station to take a different bus or ride the train. It really depends on which school I'm going to. I have two junior high schools and an elementary school that I visit once a week. One JHS is about 600 students, so I'm there most of the time. The smaller JHS is 300, and I'm there six or so days a month, on average.

In school I'm at my desk at least 10 minutes before 8:20, which is when I start. I have between about 2 or 4 lessons a day, and if they're feeling particularly murderous (ahem, elementary school), I can get up to six. Usually doesn't happen often. On average, I get about 15 to 20 minutes of class time, usually to do an activity about a certain grammar point. Some teachers give me the whole period (50 mins), and every once in a while, I teach a new grammar point by myself. I love it when lunchtime comes around, even if it's only 15 minutes.

I technically end by 4:15, but I wait at least 15 minutes before I can leave. When I'm feeling really nice, chatty with one of my teachers, or play sports with the kids, I stay until 6:30ish. Doesn't happen often, though, and since I'm on salary, I get paid the same. I go home, I make dinner, watch an episode of Modern Family/It's Always Sunny/How I Met Your Mother/whatever, and go to sleep around 9 or 10ish. Wake up, repeat.

The job's a lot harder than it sounds; trying to get kids to understand English without actually using any Japanese is pretty tough. Making activities can be fun, but also frustrating. This job involves a lot of trial and error, problem solving, and good people skills. Stress on that last part because people out here can pull some incredible bullshit that you just have to let go and begrudgingly accept. On the working days when I'm not at school, I'm at my desk in city hall with 11 other ALTs; one of the benefits of the particular program I'm in (YEF-JET) is that I received a lot of training and preparation a month and a half before starting school. A lot of my friends in JET told me how horrible their first lesson went; mine actually went really well.

To be perfectly honest with everyone, life as an ALT isn't exactly glamorous; you're in a Japanese workplace, after all. It's fun if you get amazing kids, but when it comes to living as a foreigner in Japan, you get treated a lot differently. It tends to make one bitter and cranky... a lot. Coming from living in super-liberal California all of my life, living in a smaller city in Japan sometimes feels like I've sent back another thirty years, like suddenly social progression hadn't existed (actually, I'm not sure if it really has, seeing as women here are often looked at as cancelled human beings. Story for another day, though). I'm a little bit lucky since I'm Asian and tend to get away with a lot more things and not get stared at all the time. It's nice until someone realizes that I'm not Japanese; after that, most people just assume that I'm Brazilian.

I don't want to turn this entry into a rant!fest because, well, I have a lot of things to say that aren't nice. Probably too many bad things more than good things. Although, I will say that my students put up with a lot of shit that no kid should ever have to go through while growing up (at least, not in 2011). And sorry if I’ve offended anyone so far.

Sena is my favorite student at the elementary school I teach. She's really bright, a good listener, talkative, outgoing, friendly, and kind. She goes outside and plays dodge ball in the dirt, and if she falls down, she doesn't cry. She has that personality that sort of outshines all the other kids; Basically, the cutest kid on the whole planet. She's pretty much the daughter that everyone wanted but couldn't have. Some of the other kids try to shoot her down because her personality doesn't blend will with the standard she "should" be following (not "cute" enough, I suppose), but for the most part, she doesn't let them get to her.

When all the kids were leaving school, I kind of went a little crazy because I couldn't find her. I was on my way back to the teacher's room when she tapped my back and found me instead. Seriously, this girl is the best part of my week. Okay, I admit, I pick favorites, so what.

I think about a couple months in, it hit me that most adults kind of treat each other like utter crap, even though they're seemingly polite to each other's faces. I don't think I've ever met so many good liars concentrated in one place. But then I realized that my students are the only ones who would never treat me anything less of a human being. And that's pretty much the best part of this job, including watching your junior high school kids have a contest to see who can flip their shoes off and over the railings in the courtyard. It's pretty awesome to be there in their last real stretch of freedom.

Adventures every day!

2011-10-19T12:21:40Z

Failure of the day: My junior high school is making me sing with all the other teachers for their culture festival. Shoot me now. Here's some other stuff that happened:

So, I week after I got my iphone, I lost it on the bus in Tsu, a city about a 35 minute train ride away. I got it back at the main bus terminal the next day. This was in, like, August.

Got lost on my way home from Kyoto and somehow ended up in Nara...? The Yamato-yagi kintetsu station is made of stupid, in case anyone else happens to end up there.

I went to this year's Tokyo Game Show, and it was really boring, hot, and ridiculously crowded. All the lines were a three hour wait, which I didn't even bother thinking about. I'm glad I spent that three hours hanging out with my friends in Shinagawa instead.

Speaking of which, I blew A LOT of money on three trips to Tokyo (Shinkansen wut). Fail.

And I'm going to London next spring! :D (hopefully.)

Hello (again) from Japanland!

2011-08-07T16:20:28Z

I'm settled into my new apartment, and I'm kind of still doing some cleaning. I'm also still getting adjusted to the new work setting, which is incredibly strict (a few ALTs that came before me kind of fucked up, so everyone who came after them got the short end of the stick). It's ridiculously humid out here as well, kind of like being stuck in a hot shower all day, and I'm getting all of these insane bug bites! All in all, so far, so good. Except for the peanut butter, which I paid about $5 for (it's okay--it was worth it!)

Tomorrow, I head off for Tsu to attend yet another orientation, and next week I might possibly head off to the lights festival in Nara. I'll take more pictures when it doesn't kill me to go outside.

eta: picture above is from the Yokkaichi festival that passed just this weekend :)

President Obama trolls Donald Trump at the White House Correspondants' Dinner

2011-05-01T09:56:13Z

Better than Prince William's wedding!

Butt if you want moar hat jokes, follow up with Seth Meyers

3 Good Things in life that start with an "A"

2011-03-26T06:53:05Z

1. Good Eats: "Peachy Keen" opens up with a James and the Giant Peach spoof. Take that, Curtis Stone!
2. All of his songs, but "Anonanimal" has a special place in my heart.
3. Lemon, salt, and a dash of cayenne pepper on rainy days (and just plain for all the others times).

making this post just to say...

2011-03-08T04:30:06Z

HAPPY BIRFDAY TODD!!!

yeeeehaaawwww!

lolololol noobs

2011-02-24T03:13:21Z

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

http://whoisarcadefire.tumblr.com/

slow loris

2011-01-23T06:04:55Z

For Nadine! :)

Back from the dead!

2010-12-14T04:24:25Z

Mmmm... done with finals.

Daddy: "Eleanor Rigby" (the classical element)
Me: "Let it Be" (Mom used to play it all the time)

There's a lot of good songs by them, imo. Probably more good songs than I can think of for any other band/musician.

The History Channel had a program on the Beatles the night I came home for Thanksgiving break. We didn't listen to all it because we were too busy signing along to clips of their songs that popped out every once in a while. That, and some of it was overrode with my dad's Great Lecture on why they were amazing (wrote their own songs, made everyone activists, etc. I think he could write a book at this point). A small part of what makes them awesome for me is that they're something my whole family can agree on.

"People are still looking at Picasso ... at artists who broke through the constraints of their time period to come up with something that was unique and original. In the form that they worked in, in the form of popular music, no one will ever be more revolutionary, more creative and more distinctive than The Beatles were"

--Robert Greenfield, former editor of Rolling Stones magazine

The Gift of Nothing

2010-11-04T00:38:16Z

Honestly, just hit the "mute" button and read the slides.

The Gift of Nothing by Patrick McDonnell

Hello again.

2010-10-21T10:46:05Z

Okay, so now that I have successfully disappeared for about a month, I'd like to welcome all the new readers. Hi there, friends! I'm going to talk about what I like/dislike now because ~~it's fun being an opinionated bitch?~~ I have nothing very enlightening to say about myself.

I love the moment of a fast train passing you by when standing on a platform.

The ocean doesn't impress me all that much.

Art is my first wife, music my second.

Modern is cool; post-modern is amazing.

Valie Export and Yoko Ono are my heroes.

I think that Jeff Koons is shallow, overrated and full of shit.

Damien Rice is a god and

Jónsi is my new favorite right now.

I think millionaires singing about wanting to be billionaires is really fucking stupid.

People say repetition is a good form of reinforcement, but most of the time it's annoying and tedious.

Things that are cute and pretty are... nice, but

the dirty, ugly, and overlooked are interesting.

I live for the interesting.

So, have some artwork!

Gabriel Orozco, Mis Manos son mi Corazón (My Hands Are My Heart). 1991.

"The process of recycling, or renovation of signs, alludes moreover to culture’s processes of return and transformation, and to the salvaging practices in countries where waste and shit are part of the life process"

--Jean Fish, from "The Syncretic Turn: Cross-Cultural Practices in the Age of Multiculturalism"

P.S. Before you run off to hug the ceramic god, that lump in his hand is clay.
P.S.S. Those are my favorite photos ever.

I was born in this caravan

2010-09-22T08:31:21Z

Awesome song is awesome.

My new roommate brought some nail art stuff from Japan, which I took advantage of! All I have to say is that I've never spent so much time on my nails. Ever. Posting pictures to show how much I don't know what I'm doing.

Using an old camera, so the pictures make them look kind of funky. They're really sparkly in real life :3

OB-LA-DI OB-LA-DA LIFE GOES ON BRAAAA

2010-09-14T02:16:43Z

LA LA HOW THE LIFE GOES ON ♪

If you would like to play, just comment and I will give you a letter. Name 5 songs you love starting with that letter.

D from lunelight:

"Dog Days Are Over" by Florence + The Machine
"Don't Stop Me Now" by Queen
"Delicate" by Damien Rice
"Daylight Robbery" by Imogen Heap
"Day Five" by Explosions in the Sky

Discussion from the other night on how our Future Husbands should think: Brian Chase Is Awesome or bust.

This is why I don't like your post-hardcore shit.

2010-09-02T07:01:46Z

Convo earlier today with la familia got me thinking...

Music My Parents Made Me Listen To While Growing Up:

Mozart
Beethoven
Bach
Chopin
Brahms
Handel
Tchaikovsky
Schubert
Vivaldi
The Three Tenors
Andrea Bocelli
Jewel (yeah, random)
Frank Sinatra
and The Beatles.

I know all the lyrics to the songs that pop up on the Oldies radio, but I won't the name of it or who sang them. Also, true story: I was once late for class because I was totally jammin' to the Forrest Gump Soundtrack.