Giro's Shack

20July2010

Dear Blank, Please Blank

Posted by Roland under: Personal.

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15July2010

Full Circle

Posted by Roland under: Personal.

Scratch what I said about July being a new month. Looks like it’s the same stuff all over again.

It turns out the problems that I thought I resolved in the tail end of June were just delayed until they came back around again in July. Not that it was anything I did, which makes the problems easier to swallow…but there are always issues.

And hilariously, there are even more issues coming up, this one being my own doing. Not that I thought the bad times would be coming, but you reap what you sow and I will be digging through the weeds for quite some time.

It’s always a little depressing to see everyone else having fun but yourself. At the end of the day, those who feel bad for hurting me get to go back home to their comfortable little situations while I’m left to pick up the pieces.

Maybe it’s just time to leave the pieces where they are?

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1July2010

Another 31 Days

Posted by Roland under: Personal.

It’s a new month everyone!

June had its ups and downs. Almost destined to go down as one of the worst months in history for myself, it looks like it has rebounded nicely.

I’m ready to put the troubles of the past behind me in this new month and get ready to hopefully enjoy a great summer.

I could do without the Sacramento heat though…but that’s another story.

Tags: july

30June2010

Never change, Takiguchi-sensei

Posted by Roland under: Personal.

By the way, can someone tell me if “ass out” is a hip new saying or something?

Tags: takiguchi·tsuru

15June2010

From “The Simpsons” – Eeny Teeny Maya Moe

Posted by Roland under: Personal.

I keep coming back to this episode every time I feel a bit down. There’s one part towards the end that always gets to me.

Moe Szyslak: [after Maya dumps him, Moe is cleaning his empty bar when Homer comes in] Whatsa matter, Homer?
Homer Simpson: Not a thing in the world.
Moe Szyslak: Yeah, I wish I could say the same.

Homer Simpson: Moe, this is a great thing for you. You went from sitting on the sidelines to getting in the game! Sometime, when you least expect it, you’ll realize that someone loved you. And that means that someone can love you again! And that’ll make you smile.

And to be honest, it kind of does.

Tags: simpsons·smile

15June2010

Wonder Girls – This Time

Posted by Roland under: Music.

Let’s just get it out there, the Wonder Girls have other songs out there besides “Nobody”. Obviously not as wildly popular here (don’t worry, they’re still going strong in Korea) but they have some quality works. Their recent half album release showcased a few more of their songs in English (besides the new song, “2 Different Tears”, there are also English covers of “So Hot” and “Tell Me”, arguably just as catchy/poppy as “Nobody”).

But it was this song, when I heard it at their concert on Sunday at SF that has broken into the spot I usually reserve for songs that I play over and over for days until I’m sick of them. They actually have an English cover and sang it at the concert, although you can only find relatively spotty fan vids on YT right now. For now, let’s enjoy the original MV in Korean (but with English subtitles)!

I think they’ve got the non-pop ballads down pretty well too. More interestingly, this has a (very small) piece of Yubin, the rapper, actually singing on her own, which I think she does super well and they need to incorporate more in their songs.

Tags: k-pop·wonder girls

10June2010

#ourfriendshipendedwhen

Posted by Roland under: Internet; Personal.

I was quite amused to see what was trending as #1 worldwide on Twitter this morning. Obviously, it’s very poignant to recent events in my life, but the fact that it was #1 in the world is quite a feat, no? Are these many people all over the world reminiscing about lost friendships? If you think about it, it’s quite impressive. It beat out such topics as the oil spill in the Gulf, a variety of World Cup related topics (it’s the World Cup, you think it would get higher), the Stanley Cup (I’m sure that’s big news in the Chicago world) and even Google attempt to introduce background images to their search page (like Bing).

So next week, stay tuned for more Twitter trends related to events in my life, such as #whydidieatthatoldfish and #avoidingbeinghitbycars.

Tags: twitter

6June2010

Spitz – Sora Mo Toberuhazu

Posted by Roland under: Music.

For reasons completely separate from the below post  (“Dead End”) this song has entered my current playlist for personal reasons. Feel free to ask me if you’re so inclined.

In any case, I think it’s a beautiful song about meeting someone special, so much so that it gives you the ability to fly up into the sky (the “sora mo toberuhazu” of the title).

Lyric translation is here.

Tags: j-pop·PV·spitz

6June2010

Dead End

Posted by Roland under: Personal.

It’s been an interesting week back in America. Well, not so much in the work aspect, that’s the same as usual (Sacramento, woo hoo) but personal relationships have definitely taken interesting turns. Not since my first trip to Japan in 05 have I thought that nothing had changed when I left to Japan, only to come back and find that everything had changed.

For reasons beyond my comprehension, one of my friendships has failed. Beyond recovery, I’m not sure. But the main problem is I’m not sure about a lot of things because the other party seems fit to block all further communication and attempts at exchange. So I’m trying my best to figure out what happened, but without any actual input from the other side, I know that anything I come up with will just be hearsay. For a friendship that was built on frequent communication, to not even be afforded one chance to talk to learn why, is quite a shock. To have the gate closed so suddenly and without explanation, you can’t blame a person for trying to figure out why.

Not since reading Haruki Murakami have I seen such a scene where a loved one or close friend just suddenly disappears out of a person’s life and without explanation. In fact, most of the stories that involve that theme have the main character go on a journey to find that person, or at the very least, find out why. But unlike those stories, where the character makes some progress (not always a resolution), I don’t think I’ll have that chance after being stonewalled at every attempt at meaningful contact.

With friends like that, who needs enemies?

I was confused. I was sad. I was lonely. I was angry.

But finally, I realized, I’m not completely alone. I have other important people in my life, just as my friend does. As the other side continues to live their life with their friends, I have other people who will be there for me. No more apparent was this then on the same day I got the e-mail canceling our friendship did I get to spend quality time with a very important person to me. It lessened the pain. And like good friends, they were there when I needed it, to make me feel better.

Friendship is a two way street. But if they don’t want to work from their side, then all we have is a dead end.

Tags: friendship

2June2010

Day 16: Too Quick

Posted by Roland under: Travel.

A little sad to wake up in the morning, I now realized my time in Japan was wrapping up quickly. There would be no meeting with people, no fancy meals, no fancy tourist sights to see, I just wanted to squeeze as much time as I could in Tokyo before I inevitably had to head out to Narita and board on a plane back to America. A very depressing thought, I know. I wrapped up things in Asakusa relatively quickly, it wasn’t even really that hard to pack up actually and I said my goodbyes to the owner at the place, although not with a little confusion that I put them through when I asked if they saw an Ipod charger I believe I had left in behind in their place when I stayed with Tom last week (this was not the case, I eventually found it in my luggage when I got back to America).

The only little wrinkle I had about today was when and from where I should leave for Narita. I had briefly flirted with the idea of leaving from Ueno, but the fact that the JR and Keisei Ueno stations were so far apart from each other (I would come in on the JR but leave for Narita on the Keisei) made me hesitant if I could make a tight transfer time between the two. So I instead decided to go from Nippori station, a much smaller one (easier to transfer) but would instead spend most of my morning in Akihabara before then. I dropped my bags off in an Akihabara locker and started wandering around to find things to do. Unfortunately I came a bit too early, Yodobashi Camera wouldn’t open till 9:30 and the used DVD/game stores I wanted to check out didn’t open till 11. So I did my best to scout things out before 9:30 and then spent an inordinate amount of time at Yodobashi once it did open, almost so much that I realized I should get out a look at some other stores that were open before 11.

I would wander the streets of Akihabara then, poking into stores that looked like they would hold gifts of interest to people back home. Nothing really developed although it was interesting to see some of the more tiny shops. The used stores I was looking to open did eventually and I quickly grabbed the games and DVDs I was interested in (at such cut rate prices for Japan…they cost as much as American DVDs! Crazy!) and finished up my Akihabara stay with a stop by the Gundam Cafe and one more Yodobashi walk through before I officially got out of there.

At this point there really isn’t much more to say about my trip. I got on a train to Nippori and then transferred to a train for Narita. Of course there was the bittersweet feeling that your trip is finally over on that train ride when the busy city of Tokyo turns into countryside. Business as usual once I got to Narita, I had done the drill many times. Drop off my phone, check in quickly (thanks Delta status!) and then buy more random gifts for people. I just wanted to burn as much of my yen as possible and did so successfully. Although I wasn’t about to pay $9 for ramen so I settled on my usual meal before I go back to Japan, a fried shrimp burger from McDonalds (this needs to be in America, I’m serious).

My flight was delayed about 25 minutes so my stay at the gate was just a bit longer and gave me more time to reflect on my awesome time in Japan.

My first week was crazy with Tom as we basically hustled our way through multiple cities, multiple sights in such a short amount of time. Of course we had to cram in as much as we could for Tom, because his time was limited and you wanted to see as much as you could. I think we did that in spades though, I’m sure Tom had a great time, sometimes without me too, but I was able to fulfill my goal of getting him around Japan and seeing some great things.

In my second week, once Tom left, my trip took a more dramatic turn as I was now by myself. Not that I was alone, I would see some great people all over the country, but I was definitely now on the less traveled path, by both foreigners and Japanese tourists. Shizuoka was a dramatic shift from Tokyo as the city streets were almost always empty. But I would then quickly learn how much I enjoyed it since I now felt like I had space and truly enjoyed my time with Saori. The same feeling would happen when I met up with Saori’s family and even with Yuko and Maiko. I enjoyed the more intimate get togethers.

You might be asking what was so different about this trip? The first week really was a repeat of my trip with Ajay, just with another person. But I still had fun. Really though, it was getting the chance to meet so many of my Japanese friends, some of them for the first time in person, which really made this trip fantastic. This meeting was more about human interactions than going to a “must visit” trip. I’d seen most of what I wanted to see in Japan. The five islands. The three best sights. Lots of delicious food. Now it was time to meet some great people and I felt like I did.

Eventually it was time to get on the plane and back to America. How depressing. The plane ride was of little note. I watched two movies on the flight but also drank two beers, apparently enough to ensure that I got a good block of sleep on my ride (nothing amazing, maybe 2-3 hrs?). The flight back to America is always quicker than the one to Japan.

Maybe a bit too quick?

Tags: japan·tokyo