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I just finished day
I just finished day 2 of a five day drawing class at Right Brain Research and my brain is switched over into R-mode; the logical left side is almost shut down. I see the shapes of everything–it makes it difficult to type because I notice the spaces between the keys and the pattern of letters
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We broke the toilet
We broke the toilet seat. Maybe it was already broken and we just noticed it. Or perhaps (most likely) it was about to break and our big, gaijin butts were the straw that broke the camel’s back and cracked the plastic seat. Having just moved into this new building, I figured I’d better ask the
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Just around the corner
Just around the corner and down the street from us is the Japan Shiatsu College. The founder of the school, Tokujiro Namikoshi, is also the the father of the shiatsu. Namikoshi is depicted in a larger than life bust in the front. He looks so happy. There’s an interesting article about him written by Shirley
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A million yen sounds
A million yen sounds like a lot, but doesn’t go far when you’re doing taxes. My gross income was just over a million yen which makes my taxable income about 450,000. Subtracting out the deduction of 380,000, I should be taxed on only 70,000 yen of my income. (That’s about $500). I’ve already paid about
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It’s tax time here
It’s tax time here in Japan. National, city, and metropolitan taxes are due on Friday. Do I have any of mine done? No. Last Friday, I went to our ward office to pick up forms but got so confused that I left with one form but no instructions. Trust me, you can’t do this two
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When I’m not in
When I’m not in my office, I’m often at DigitalEve Japan events. Here I am with Satsuki at the registration desk of yesterday’s Photoshop workshop. The workshop was a great success from my point of view. I ran around and played classroom assistant while Cara Dailey did the teaching. She covered clipping paths, layers and
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This is the most
This is the most loved room in our house–the office. There’s no denying that it is the hub of our home. I spend most of my waking hours here. Tod is normally found at his desk (pictured to the left) or tinkering with his computers in the rack. At parties, guests usually migrate to the
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This is Brendan, the
This is Brendan, the crazy proprietor of Pizzakaya (he hates it when I call him that). Behind him are Zahid and Juri, two of my favorite Pizzakaya staff. Brendan’s trying to look less crazy than usual. He was featured in this February’s Journal, a publication of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan. The article
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Gaia is a wonderful
Gaia is a wonderful natural foods store. Ironically, we found it on our way to Kua Ai’na, a hamburger restaurant near Shin-Ochanomizu. Tod calls it the “deadhead yaoya” because of the music they play, but I think of it as another one of the “crazy food stores” we’ve enjoyed since our friends introduced us to
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There’s not too much
There’s not too much to say about our new kitchen. There’s not too much of it! It’s a small galley with the fridge and a washer/dryer against the opposite wall. There’s not much room for excess, so our counters are bare and the extra appliances are in the pantry closet across the hall. I like
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