Froggy

Look who came to visit us tonight!

Moonlight Mile

!!Good movie alert!! We actually saw a movie worth sitting through last night.

Perhaps Moonlight Mile doesn't appeal to those who need a bunch of explosions and plot twists to enjoy a movie, but it definitely appealed to my intellectual and emotional sides. The problem with renting movies in Japan is you never really know what you're getting. Stuff that's on the top 10 here may have never made it to the theaters in the States. So, movie selections are often based on the cover and the actors I recognize. This one had Dustin Hoffman and Susan Sarandon, so I figured it wouldn't be too bad (though I can never base my selections on actors alone - see Basic and Ballistic for prime examples of recent famous actor movie flops). Moonlight Mile was an excellently acted movie dealing with the process of grief after a loved one dies. This sounds like perhaps it could be a morbid movie, but with inserts of witty humor, good cinematography, and strong character building, the movie kept me awake for nearly a full 2 hours after my bedtime (we finished at 3 AM). I really appreciated how it showed the different perspectives and reactions of those who were affected by the death. Usually movies focus on the death itself - how it happened, what retribution is taken, etc., but this movie concerns itself more with those who are left behind. Anyway, don't take my word for it, check it out for yourself! I highly recommend it.

Reconstruction

Please bear with me while my site undergoes some reconstruction. At least you can still read the blog text! =) I'm redoing my site as a means of procrastinating a paper I should be writing. Isn't that how life always goes? Well, I've gotta go and do something other than what I should be now....

life and death

During the past year, I have gone through the morning of more deaths that I have ever experienced before. First my cousin, then a family friend's daughter, and just yesterday I received an email saying that a friend from Kyoto who had recently returned to Santa Barbara had died from a brain tumor. When she left last year, she didn't even know she had a brain tumor. Oddly enough, this is not the first friend I have had die from a brain tumor. I had a fairly close friend that I met during a debate meet who also died from brain cancer. Why do I write such depressing things? It's not to gain sympathy from those who read this site. It's to express the appreciation for those people who I do have relationships with, no matter how big or how small. I am aware that everyone on this earth is here only for a limited time. We don't know when God will choose to end our time here, but in the meantime, our earthly life is the season for us to enjoy being with one another. Ecclessiasties comes to mind. God designed humans to desire relationships, love and happiness. By striving for a fulfilled life and working towards strengthening the relationships that I do have, perhaps we are accomplishing a part of God's will that we might be satisfied with the time we are given.

Recent thoughts

It's been two week since we've returned from Greece and time is ticking by quickly. For family/friends interested, here's the upcoming itinerary of plans:

May 31 - last day at our house in Japan. This is important because our address will no longer be valid! From now on please send all correspondance to my father's address. If you don't know this, email me and I'll give it to you.

June 2 - Fly to Hong Kong and hang out with Momoko

June 6 - Fly from HK to Chengdu, China. Here we will be meeting 4 other people for our hiking trip around China. We'll be travelling around China for the next 3 weeks.

June 30 - Go back to HK, then fly back to Japan.

July 1-3 - stay in Japan with some friends and go to a friend's wedding.

July 4 - Return home to the States!!!! Save some BBQ for us!!

********Important news: I will be changing my email address soon due to an overwhelming amount of recent spam/viruses. Please give me any name suggestions you have =)**********************

Yesterday was very fun because I went inside the Golden Pavilion, which is one of the most famous temples in Kyoto. Why is this so good? The pavilion was built for the Shogun to sit and view the beautiful pond and surrounding gardens, and the pavilion is only open once every 5 years for those who have special tickets. I was lucky to have a friend who seems to get her hands on these sorts of special tickets and invited me as a going away present. It was a real treat!

I have also been preturbed lately by all the happenings in Iraq. The Abu Ghraib prison is appauling, followed by the sickining retaliation from Al Queda. I am disturbed that everyone wants to fend off blame and not take responsibility for direct human rights violations. Even if those prison guards at Abu Ghraib never did receive rules and regulations from their supperiors, it is sad that they have not been instilled with common values that should clearly determine when they have crossed an ethical line. I have nothing even slightly positive to say about the entire situation, except I do agree that we cannot judge the entire Army or nation by what a few power-happy idiots do. It's just sad, that's all.

In more cheery news, I finally got my black and white pictures back from Greece, a few of which I am particularly proud of. I'll post them as soon as possible, which may not be until later this summer unless I find the time to scan them in before we leave. I have been having a problem with overexposing some of my black and white pictures, and if anyone has any suggestions about how to deal with this problem, please let me know. It does not seem to take too well to bright light.

craigslist and DC synopsis

We're getting closer and closer to moving to DC. I had an absolutely wonderful experience with the American University listserve ... I sent a question to a girl who was looking for an apartment and seemed to know the area. I wanted to know more about the area since we're coming there soon and have *no clue* about anything there. She returned my mail with an amazingly thorough synopsis of the various areas of DC. I'm posting it here because it was so helpful that maybe others may use it too:

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You definitely want to avoid anything that is not in NW (the North West quadrant of the city), as it is all more dangerous/dirtier/etc... except for parts of Capitol Hill, but that is a LONG haul to campus.

AMERICAN U/FRIENDSHIP HEIGHTS - A quieter, more suburban area of DC that borders Maryland. The people here are mostly young families with yards and garages, although there are a lot of apartment buildings that cater to students. The area is hilly and tends to feel way less like a city than a suburb.

GLOVER PARK/ CATHEDRAL HEIGHTS - Very similar to AU area, but closer to GTown and feels more like a city. Fun place, but definitely more of the late 20s/early 30s set.

FOGGY BOTTOM - George Washington University home base, located in the flat area between the White House and Georgetown. Pretty uneventful and expensive.

GEORGETOWN - Quaint, great shopping and restaurants, no parking, lots of yuppie happiness! GTown is a great place to spend a sunny afternoon but not so great for living... 2 bedroom apts go for around $3600/month, there is NO parking, it is pretty inconvenient to metro. There are buses, but you would have to transfer to get to school and it would take about 45 - 90 minutes. Plus you have to hang out with old money and college kids almost exclusively. :o)

DUPONT CIRCLE - Another expensive area, but VERY nice and hip. Dupont is the center of gay culture in DC and a hub of business and law firms. Great restaurants, bars, shopping, etc. It is also the most centrally-located area of the city (bus lines and metro abounds). The only problem is that it is REALLY expensive (second only to GTown).

U St/ ADAMS MORGAN/ LOGAN CIRCLE/ MT PLEASANT/ COLUMBIA HEIGHTS - These are the areas that are considered to be the up and coming, hip areas of DC. That means that they are still a little sketchy, very ethnic, and have a lot of culture. I would stay away from Columbia Heights unless you knew exactly what you were getting into as it tends to be more dangerous than the others. AM can be pretty expensive. U St. is very gay. MT P is full off huge old Victorians... so it is mostly big groups houses. Anything smaller than a 4 bedroom is going to be an apartment or an English basement... which can be really great. I would stay away from AM if you are interested in quiet as it is THE place to party in DC and the streets tend to stay busy 24-hours a day.
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Now wasn't that the coolest thing ever? It's so great to have nice people who give you solid info.

Next on my list of community resources is craigslist. No, this is not my Craig, but it is an excellent message board that hooks people up in different neighborhoods. Check it out if you want to find anything in a major city area!