...And I apologize for that! There has been a LOT going on here, and I just haven't had the time to update! I will certainly do so soon, though it will probably have to be filtered down through the more secure tiers for privacy reasons. Can't have everybody knowing EVERYTHING, can we? ;)

In the meantime, I wanted to show you an animated video I stumbled across yesterday! For those of you who maybe have not heard 僕が一番欲しかったもの, or "Boku ga Ichiban Hoshikattamono," since the time I made my attempt at translating it (uh...a very very BAD attempt, as there was a rule very unique to the Japanese language which I did not understand at the time, and it changed EVERYTHING about how I understood the lyrics!!!), now you will have your opportunity!

I am posting here a lovely animated video, done by someone who must've just liked the song enough to create it out of a labor of love, but the feeling of the song is SO there. As a matter of fact, the actions of the little character in the video pretty literally trace the actions as described in the lyrics, so it's really helpful if you're trying to figure it out!

In the end, the song is about GIVING. It's about a person (let's say this little character in this case) who has been searching for, and found something really cool, and is happy to have it. Suddenly, he sees someone else who not only would like it, but really NEEDS the thing he found. So he gives it to the other person in need, and they respond with much happiness and joy! So again, he goes on, hoping to find the great thing he's looking for again, finds it again, and again - sees another person in need of it, and though at first he hesitates, he gives it away - again, making the other person (in this video's case, the flower, having being given the water and BLOOMS beautifully!) happy and grateful!...In the end, he decides that the thing he's been searching for is the happiness that comes from having given a precious thing to someone in need....It's so wonderful!!!! ^_^ Please watch this animated rendition of this song...Simple though it may be, it's right on target, and captures the spirit of the song wonderfully! ^_^ Enjoy!:

...If you ever get the chance, please listen to this song. YES, it's another Makky great. DO NOT pay any attention to the SMAP version, which is by far the most popular, since he originally wrote it for those dimwits to perform (SMAP is an insanely popular pre-fab, no talent, boy band of the type Japan seems to love to manufacture and crank out whenever they think it'll stick). Naturally, thanks to the talent behind it, it became an instant hit. Though shamefully, many SMAP fans don't even realize it was written and arranged by Noriyuki Makihara - It is now my duty to inform YOU! ^_^

This song, in romaji: Sekai Ni Hitotsu Dake No Hana, has a proud history of having become an anthem for peace when the US went to war in Afghanistan. How proud that it was a 日本人 who brought such a beautiful song to the world! ^_^ It combines the Japanese traditions of cherishing nature, and wishing for peace, and makes such a wonderful representative for the nation of Japan during such a chaotic time. It was also even used as a wake up call on one of the Space Shuttle missions!

A dear friend of mine made a quick translation of the lyrics for me, and here they are, so you can get an idea. Every time I hear this song, now understanding its meaning, I become more and more happy that I left L.A!:

There are so many different kinds of flowers in the flower shop.
Each flower stands proudly in the bucket,
and they dont even try to compare which is better.

How come we always try to compare who's better?
Each individual is different in a special way,
but still we want to compete!

That's right, we are different, and everybody is only one flower in this world.
So, why dont we just concentrate on making what we have better and grow?

There are small flowers and big flowers, no flowers are the same.
So, you dont have to try to be Number 1.
You are special just the way you are!

Since there is no Makky video for it, and I refuse to give credit to SMAP (like everyone else is so eager to, without looking deeper), I have posted here a video of a really sweet piano version of it. Not much to look at, but you get the idea by listening to the melody, what a lovely song it is. ^_^ Score another one for Makky!!!

You know...I've really decided that one of my goals when I learn enough Japanese, will be to translate all of his music to its most beautiful English equivalent! Japanese, being such an organic, direct and emotionally uncomplicated language, can be translated with so many liberties to English, it will really take some sensitivity to treat this music with the feeling it deserves! I truly hope someday to be able to do it right!!! ^_^ Enjoy!!!

So....Happy New Year, everyone! あけおめ！ことよろ！ ^_^V

My first post this year will be about how I spent this New Year Celebration.

Again, we are at the Year of the Rat, so I will need to pull out my old Disney style golden rat statues I bought in L.A.'s Chinatown from the last time it was Year of the Rat.....I've come such a long LONG way since then...

And yet, I find myself missing the place, a bit. Today in the Chicago area, the snow is falling. It's absolutely beautiful, with that muffled silence that comes from the ground being insulated with snow....Lovely. Frikking freezing cold, but lovely to see! I am happy. ^_^ At the same time, this New Year's morning, I am watching the Rose Parade, back in Pasadena, and the place I left barely 6 months ago. Funny, I never really cared all that much about it when I lived there for 12 years, but to be able to watch it from a distance and see the comfortable Southern California weather through my TV screen, I can now truly appreciate it for what it is.

I have a memory connected to the Rose Parade that I will have with me all my life. I lived in Burbank all those years. Some of you may know that Burbank is very close to Pasadena. Every year (unless I had been at a severely intense party the night before), I would be jolted from my sleep by the sound of the Stealth Bomber flying overhead from Pasadena into Burbank at the start of the parade. Some years, I'd let that start my new year and turn on the parade. Other years I would just go right back to sleep afterward. ;) I'll never forget it, though, all my life. Maybe now, as a result of all of this, I will make a point to seek out the Rose Parade on TV, just to acknowledge the memory of something somewhat pleasant about my time in L.A.

Meantime, back to Chicago...

Last night was a quiet NYE. In preparation for what will hopefully be the most joyful year of my life, I did some traditional Japanese things to try to bring on some good luck for the year ahead! I made a bowl of Toshikoshi Soba. Soba noodles are supposed to represent long life, and are meant to be eaten before the new year starts. I was unable to find a good recipe translated to English, so the one I made ended up having far too rich of a broth, and having learned from that, I'm going to list the way I'd do it better here now for future reference:


Enough all wheat flour soba noodles for a large bowl full
2 cups of fresh, first dashi (a traditional broth made from bonito flakes and konbu seaweed)

EASY on the Shoyu and Mirin. This is NOT like making the dipping sauce for cold soba. I think I'd add it sparingly. Maybe a quarter cup of each ONLY. You don't want to overwhelm the delicate flavor of the fresh dashi you put so much time into making! Just get it to where it's a palatable jiru that will taste pleasant with the soba.

Kamaboko pieces
I used some pieces of Chinese broccoli for a bit of texture
Finely chopped green onions
A dash of Shichimi Togarashi

For dessert, I had bought some Strawberry Shortcake from Hippo Bakery at the Mitsuwa...It was...Ok. I only bought it because of the nostalgia of having eaten some in Japan. Since I was there right before Christmas, there was Strawberry Shortcake all over the place, and we went to one of the finest little bakeries in Osaka to get ours. There was just no comparison, sadly....But that's the quality of Japan for you...*sigh* I miss it so much...


Later on, K called me to help me greet the new year, as I had done with him far earlier in the day (remember, if you live in the U.S. - it's ALWAYS tomorrow in Japan! ;) )

This morning, I made a version of Ozouni, traditional Japanese New Year's soup you make for breakfast. This time, I made it K style. I used some of the dashi left over from last night's preparation and heated it up, then toasted up some of the square mochi I bought in the toaster oven, and tossed it in with a few pieces of kamaboko and there it was! A very simple ozouni to start the New Year off right! I made some steamed Chinese broccoli on the side, topped with some tonkatsu sauce, the way they used to prepare it at my favorite Dim Sum restaurant in L.A.'s Chinatown. Here's a photo. Sorry it's so cloudy looking - by this time, the mochi had really melted into the broth:

So there we have it! Another new year begins.....2008, everyone! A safe, happy and prosperous new year for all of you, I hope!!!! Now to go and take my first shower of the year! ^_^

またね！

Ok boys and girls! I've got a special treat for you today! Allow me to introduce what must be currently the gayest TV drama in all of Japan!

Ready? LET'S BEAUTY TIME!!!!! ^_^V

One afternoon in Osaka, I turned on TV Tokyo to find this thing....Yeah yeah, we've all seen "Queer Eye," but when it's Japanese it's SOOOO much better! Also, this isn't a reality show - it's a DRAMA, so you've got all that AND all of the cheesiest scripted bitchiness and bishonen beefcake shots you can handle! WOOOHOOOO! I have to say, I was fascinated, and captured within seconds of the opening....Which looks something like THIS:

I mean...What healthy woman could resist a line-up of hottie little J-boys on a lonely Wednesday afternoon? ;)
Ok...Now for the premise. Each episode basically consists of this:

Once upon a time, there was the perfect beauty salon by the name of CELEBRITY:

Women from all over the world wait to get an invitation, their chance to become the most beautiful woman in the world, in order to contribute to peace and harmony in the universe! - GAAAAH! Don't'cha love it already?!? CELEBRITY picks only the most important women to help achieve their goal (though...we're not quite sure exactly what the prime qualifications would be....but NO MATTER!). Our main characters make a colorful cast and consist of:

The Concierge, who runs the place and takes orders from the boss, who is...well....a painting. He also makes really interesting attempts at tossing out the odd French phrase or two with an excellent Japanese accent!

But now, the good stuff.....Here are our fabulously bad-ass, while still flaming as can be - Byuutee Boysu!!!!











Ohhh yes, my friends.....These Boysu are going to make you a STAR!!! Now, let's talk about how they operate....

The way it works is that, Mr. Painting picks some poor, unsuspecting dweeb to come on down...Oh, by the way, we're supposed to think this girl is ugly:

....Yarite.

Anyway, Poor Unsuspecting Dweeb enters the salon and is given the royal "-sama" treatment by the Concierge, after which, she proceeds to be harassed by the Beauty Boys in an excruciating interrogation - demanding she tell them why she's there (even if she has no idea), and then calling her a liar if they don't like her answer...かわいそうね？



While this goes on, the other members of the team look on and laugh right behind PUD's back about how pathetic she is...Evil, yes, but ya gotta love their style! ;)

Once they get down to business on the poor thing, whoever it may be, the fun begins! Watch, as the Beauty Boys amaze you with their astoundingly mad scissor skillz!



(...Actually, this girl ran away the first time, after Kei chopped all her hair off...OMAEGAAAA!)

In the end, she apparently becomes more beautiful, but not without a lesson to be learned (I think...), my friends! Let's take one last look at our fabulous Beauty Boys before wrapping this one up, shall we?

Yeeahhhhhhhhhhhh......... ;) I was lucky enough to actually find the first two episodes of this, lovingly fansubbed by a couple of people. Not sure if any more will surface, but in the meantime, it's certainly worth checking out (if...you're into this kind of thing)! I give it a million stars for effort and beefcake quality! It just doesn't get anymore bishonen than this outside of anime!!!

BEAUTY BOYSU OUT! ^_^

Friends, let's take this Christmas Day to celebrate and be ever thankful for the beauty and wonder of what is the best hairstyle ever created for Asian male hair - naturally, displayed by our illustrious Makky.

Thanks to a very thoughtful friend, I received in the mail this Makky single:


I have already very much admired the cover of this single, but once I realized there was a VIDEO contained within the CD, I discovered even more delight in finding THESE images!!!:









Since so much time was taken in this video to admire the styling, I'm guessing I'm not the only one who thinks of it as perfectly aesthetically pleasing! ^_^V

Enjoy, and Merry Christmas to all!!!

P。S。すごくさびしいよ。。。圭ちゃん、愛してる。。。だきしめたいとキスしいたい！　MERRY CHRISTMAS あなたの愛はあたしの宝ものです。*hugs* ずっとずっとあなたに愛をもっています。。。いつも圭ちゃんは一番男まえです！ *^_^*

In Green Days mode. ^_^

ww ^_^ Just thought I'd throw this in there....Yeah, it's a "had to be there" moment, but I know that all of you who HAVE been there will appreciate it! ;)

A week to go, and I'm すごくうれしいよ！ ^_^

In fact, I'm so happy, I think I'll bore you all to death with some lyrics that have been making me smile lately! Yes, another of the wonders of the amazing 槙原敬之。

But before I do that, I'd like to announce that during the visit, I intend to update this LJ on a daily basis (if and when possible, and it will be very likely to happen during the week, while 圭太's working). Be sure to stay tuned in! I'll upload a ton of photos and make this the ultimate Osaka/Kyoto/Hiroshima/Otakutown journal! Wheeeee! ^_^

Meantime folks - have a GREAT Thanksgiving! I know I will!

There's a place in the back of my memory
I used to call home,
and everything seemed right there,
nothing really wrong,
but I never could fit in - It just wasn't me!

Like a thief in the middle of the night
I left without a trace!
Searching for my dreams in some far away place
with this quest and my will to survive
to keep me alive.

The road is long
but I will find my way,
I'll follow my heart
across these dusty plains
to a land i'll call HOME!

Hey! Hey! Show me you're a cowboy!
Gotta do it NOW, boy!
The truth'll set you free - and it feels SO GOOD!
Hey! Hey! Just another cowboy
in search of freedom,
trying to make his life understood!

He's stronger than a mountain,
free as a running stream!
Means everything he says
and he says what he means

No secrets, no lies, no ties -
Just a (sic) smile (I'll have to check the insert later ;) )

And he won't give up -
he'll keep fighting,
Until the very end!
Any task that he's got to do,
he's gonna do the best he can,
this much I know is true!

The road is long
but I will find my way
I'll follow my heart
across these dusty plains
until I find HOME!

(I love how he sings in English, btw) ^_^

More soon!!!!

I love this photo, though!....Some people just look and sound better with age. If you look at some of the videos from when he was a young pop idol in the 90's - yeah, he's cute for a young guy, but nowhere near as attractive as he is now that he's grown into his features. His voice has also deepened and become more soulful, which, to me, makes him sound even more interesting and appealing! Anyway, as requested, the non-video for "Hon no Sukoshi Dake." うたはきれいいよなあああ！ ^_^

THIS would be my haircut!!! Oh MANNNN!.....Maccky gets cuter every time I see him! LOVE that profile! I'm currently completely obsessed with the song, too....Isn't it a lovely melody? The way this one is produced makes his voice sound like peals of sunlight, poking through a cloudy sky to splash through the ocean's glittering, gentle waves! I think I shall make Californiamaki today, seeing as how it is my day off. ^_^ ENJOY THIS!:

Good GOD, I wish I could find some torrent downloads for this guy...I can't afford to buy any right now, but I'm totally addicted! His songs are catchy and sweet (though I have to admit, I still like 裕之さんのおんがく better! ^_^). I love this video, too! おもしろいよ！

It's playtime! I'll be the doting but dominating, やきにく-loving maid, and you can be....um...er.....
....Ah well anyway - A silly, playful photo to share from my kitchen! Yaaaay! ^_^

We have been talking about how a coworker of his makes great Ebikatsu sandwiches...I don't have an incredibly precise recipe yet, so here I am, fretting over not knowing how to make one yet... ^_^

Let's never forget this beautiful image.....Such a lovely anime. This picture brings a tear to my eye when I see it. I am full of deep love today. *^_^* *sigh* Godwilling and our desires will be made possible... I love. Always. I want this happiness to last forever...

I can't help asking whoever it is with the untrackable IP to step forward and let me know who you are. At least, if I know who you are, I can safely assume it's NOT my creepy ex (who has recently been jailed, btw, for putting his hands on his latest ex - I'm so so SO glad to hear that!). Whoever you are, your location on my Maploco shows up as just a space between commas, United States.

PLEASE let me know who you are if you're my friend, so I don't have to wonder if it's the nutball. You know how to contact me privately, when you do.

Thanks, I really appreciate it.

I can't really write for too long tonight because I have to study with what's left of tonight, so I can get up at 6am for an Algebra quiz, then study most of the rest of the day so I can relax tomorrow night before going back to work on Thursday. またく！
The easiest way for me to describe what I've been up to is in pictures for now, so that's what I'll do...

Here is the last of a special line of Kitties we got in just when I started working at the store! At first I thought I'd sold the last one to some idiot woman who actually had the gall to come into the store and say, "Have you got anything ASIANNNN in here?" And I, being the Sanrio and Japanese culture geek that I am, explained everything about the manekineko to her brightly, half expecting her to be too stupid to really get it and assume that maybe I was just throwing a clever (but not clever enough) sales pitch at her....No such luck. I ended up finding, completely by accident in the understock, a smaller version of one of them and snatched it up as quickly as I could! :) ここです！：

Another adorable thing I was able to snatch up before some smelly, disease-ridden, unappreciative kid bought it, was the last of the very first taste the U.S. has gotten of the Mashimaro line! The little ones around it are cosplay Cinnamoangels, also Japanese exclusives! Sooo soooft....so fluffyyyyy....... ;)

I really wanted メロンパン today, to I went over to Mitsuwa and picked this up....though on closer inspection,
bizarrely, it looks as though it's only meant to be the topping for it that you put on top of another sweet bread that's already made.....I will make them by hand tomorrow, I guess, and use this for that purpose. I also bought a bottle of melon flavored syrup to help the flavor...We'll see if they turn out as wonderfully as they do at the Hippo bakery!!!....I'll still never forget the wonderful taste of the freshly baked メロンパン I experienced the weekend of my birthday from 山崎パンヤ in Little Tokyo this past May. Such delicious memories....Anyway, here's the box:

And before I forget, and this is long overdue: Here is what my shelf in my room looks like! Enjoy! :

And with that, I'd better go, or the grease from my nasty dirty sweaty hair will drip into my eye and blind me for life! おやすみなさい！　じゃまた！

I've been so busy with work, I haven't even had a chance to sit down and type! I can't even really do it now, because I have to bring my son to his new school in a few hours and finish some other chores before that. Never fear, though! :) I have LOTS to talk about!!!

Until then,
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

P.S. Like my new user pic? :)

Yeah.....Sorry for not updating in awhile. I've been kinda freaked out over this. I initially posted about it over at my DA page, so here's the transferred info from there to here for those who may not have already heard. To give a quick bit of background, I lived in this building for 9 years, and only just moved away from there barely 3 weeks ago. I knew all of the people involved. It's a quiet street in a quiet, nice neighborhood, so it's unbelievable to me that something like this could happen. It's just such a shock...

First of all, here's a link to a news source that posted the most thorough article about the attacks, including some video: http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=local&id=5558239

I really want to give an inside look at this horrifying situation that happened Thursday, since there are some important details that the news hasn't mentioned, and other personal details that only I would be able to tell...

The man who did the shooting was a neighbor of mine whose family's parking spaces were right next to mine. I saw them almost every day going to and coming home from work and on the weekends. They seemed to be a very nice family, and my son got along well with their son and the shooter's wife. We all just minded our own business and didn't cause trouble for each other, like typical decent neighbors.

One day - recently - the day I was going to give my exit inteview at Disney, in fact - he stopped me while I was getting into my car. He started rambling about how horrible our building's on site manager was. He ranted about how the manager had 5 parking spots in the garage to himself (we all usually had one or two assigned to us), and that the guy was trying, along with another woman in the complex, to drive out all of the long time residents of the complex for some monetary reason I still don't quite understand. Then he started ranting about the woman. She apparently didn't have a job and spent most of her days hosing down the tiles in the courtyard and smoking. The shooter accused her of spying on everyone in the building and poking her nose into everyone's business. I knew well who this lady was that he was referring to, but never suspected anything like that. To be totally honest, he sounded almost paranoid about them. The whole conversation was not only making me late for my exit interview, but was creeping me out more and more, so I went along with him, basically acting surprised to hear it all so I could get the hell out of there as soon as I could.

Truth be told, the building had really fallen into disrepair over the year or so before then. The manager and this lady, who were supposed to be taking care of it, seemed to have abandoned their posts. The laundry room would go unattended and littered with lint balls and garbage piled high for weeks at a time. Most of the machines were broken on a pretty consistent basis - I couldn't even tell you how much money they should owe me for that - and the manager was almost never home. People were always dropping cigarette butts all over the place, and there was a broken window at the front of the building that hadn't been fixed for months, making the place look like a slum. To make matters worse, in recent months, whenever I needed help with some appliance that broke down, it took the guy forever to check it out, and the week before I moved out, my sink clogged up. A few weeks passed by and the guy never did show up to fix it. So.....Several of the shooter's complaints were completely valid. We were ALL pissed off about how the management was letting the building decay and become a total shithole. Before then, it had been a nice place to live for all those years. The neighborhood itself was a very quiet, nice area of town. It was expensive, but I kept us there so my son could attend the schools.

Yesterday afternoon, from what I've been able to find out from the news and our old neighbors today, this neighbor of mine who had been ranting to me out of nowhere a few weeks back, got into it with the manager down in the garage. I don't know what they were talking about, but my guess is that it started with a comment about all of his parking spaces. Apparently the argument ended when the manager and his adult son went off to the store to pick a few things up. When they returned, this neighbor was waiting with a gun. He met the manager near his front door in our courtyard (which was very close to where we were living, just feet away from our front door on the 1st floor) and shot him dead. Then he went for the manager's son, shooting him in the shoulder. At that point, his son ran across the courtyard to the woman's apartment who used to hose down the tiles, making her an easy target. The shooter then shot her dead, while the manager's son managed to escape. A few seconds later, my neighbor ran upstairs to his apartment and shot himself dead in front of two of his children....

The police arrived almost immediately, even before my neighbor had killed himself, and evacuated the building, sending all of the residents off to the police station to give witness testimony.

So there it is...

The whole thing is still a shock. I knew all of these people for 9 years, and even though we weren't best friends, it still feels somewhat personal to me. I interacted with the shooter and the victims on an almost daily basis in some way. I'll try to keep this the last thing I say about it, unless something really different comes up about it. I feel terrible for the shooter's family, though....They seemed like some genuinely nice folks. I hope they end up ok.

Well, sorta in Chicago. It was technically in Arlington Heights, which is a suburb of Chicago, and mercifully extremely close to where I now live!!! I say mercifully because it was always such a pain in the ass to have to shlep it down to Little Tokyo for these things back in Smell-A, by comparison. The Mitsuwa out here is super close by! *gleeeee!*

At around 1pm, my niece and I started preparing to get out to the matsuri. We helped each other put on our yukatas (sans geta, sadly, but still ok) and here were the results! :



It was a comfortably overcast day, in contrast to the heat wave we've been having. The festival was crowded with all kinds of folks. I think I may have even seen the gothic lolita group there, though I expected to see them more dressed up, I guess. *shrug* Here was a cute guy selling tea:


They also had that balloon game that you see in all kinds of animes featuring festivals. I took a yo-yo home from it (though I lost), but here's a photo from that:


We enjoyed takoyaki and some fatty yakitori (I guess fast food's kinda nasty wherever you go) and watched a Ramune drinking contest. They forced us to be in a fashion show, too, heheheh. I'm going to look into the taiko group and see if I can be a part of it. I've always wanted to!

Anyway, we ended up leaving before the Bon dance, unfortunately, but before they were going to have it, it had started raining, so I'm not sure how that ended up turning out. Hopefully we'll see some pictures soon (they took some of us as soon as we got there!). Can't wait! :)

Ok, off to bed with me - Gotta wake up early tomorrow morning!!!
Oyasumi!

So...I'm finally here, in the Chicago area. Without going into too much detail - the northwest suburbs, to be exact. I've already staked out and made my first full fledged grocery shopping trip at the Mitsuwa (I believe there are only 3 in the country) and am currently preparing to join the Obon festival they will be having this coming weekend.

Most of last week was spent unpacking and trying to just settle in. Yesterday we spent the day cleaning out my sister's garage and making way for many of my endless boxes...Ugh...I feel terrible taking up so much of their space.

I love the fact that I can smell the trees, the grass, the AIR. Everything here is alive! I've seen raccoons, bunnies, squirrels, heard scads of cicadas, painted turtles, snapping turtles, leopard, bull and tree frogs, a hawk, an owl, a turkey vulture, FIREFLIES - everything you can expect to find on the midwestern prairie! I AM HOME.

I went out today to collect some job applications, and found an eager manager of a L'Occitane, so interested in possibly hiring me that we already set up an interview appointment for next week!!! Please wish me luck! I need a little SOMETHING to help me not go broke so soon!!!

Now I need to go bikeriding, so I'll be back later with more!
Til then,
Ciao, baby! :)