-
Happy Anniversary Adventures
Tod & I celebrated our 24th wedding anniversary in Shimobe Onsen, Yamanashi, this weekend. One night and two days neatly encapsulated two dozen years of marriage. The town is one of the 100 Famous Onsen of Japan, but nobody has heard of it. It’s a one-street village with ten hotels, four restaurants, one bar, a…
-
Autumn Fairy Garden
I planted some bright colors that might winter over in the fairy garden.
-
Mandala Belly
Heather invited me to paint a mandala on her pregnant belly. She’s a mandala artist and I’m not, so it was a little bit stressful. I hoped I’d do OK. It turned out to be very fun and pretty thanks to the gorgeous array of body paints that Tracey gave me for my birthday. The…
-
20 Challenges of Offline Life
Recently I’ve been frustrated with myself for spending too much time online, in front of screens, and otherwise engaged in virtual realities. I’ve given Facebook a little rest but it’s not enough. I still spend too much time online. When I am offline I am so super productive. It’s sort of scary how much I…
-
What’s important?
Tod asked me a difficult question last night as we discussed current events and the state of the world. “What’s important to you?” The question carried an implied “And which of these things are important enough to act on?” which does limit the answers to more than theoretical concerns. I had three main areas of…
-
Here come the Olympics
Tokyo’s Olympic bid for the 2020 summer games won out over Istanbul and Madrid yesterday. I am sure the Games that run in seven years’ time (July 24 – August 9, 2020) will be a success and give a boost to the local economy. Tourism will boom. Bilingual folks in Japan will have lots of…
-
In A Band
After 20 months of study, practice, and carrying my ukulele with me on trips around the world, I’ve joined a band. Maybe it’s no surprise that the band is me and Tod. Ukulele and melodica with me doing some singing. I am so happy to make “a joyful noise” with Tod. A shared creative pursuit is…
-
Hoopiversary #5
It was five years ago today that I started hooping. What a life changing experience. Except, really, it isn’t. I am still me but I dance more. I have always been drawn to creating projects, organising events, choreographing performances. Now I have a great excuse to do all of that – the hoop. Hooping still bring…
-
Summer Survival by Liquids
The summer weather in Tokyo is always brutal. Every year seems worse than the last, but it’s usually about the same – there are a couple of weeks when it is entirely too hot to eat, think or do much of anything. We push through the days without aircon here at home. It’s not a…
-
Precipitation
Geology in action at home. My pyrite is precipitating iron sulfate. If I add water, I can make sulfuric acid: 2FeS2 + 7O2 + 2H2O -> 2FeSO4 + 2H2SO4 Hang on, the weather has been is ridiculously humid. Could the acid have formed formed without direct water? Gosh, my house may be polluted with acid humidity.
Archives