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Happy New Year, everybody!

transience in red and gold

Merry Christmas!

It's so easy to forget that the Christmas season does not start on Black Friday, or even on December 1st, but rather on December 25th. I hope you all had an excellent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and that this holy octave finds you filled with peace, joy, and renewed spirits.

coming up...

I have a lot of photos to upload and share with you, and I promise I'll get to it as soon as I possibly can. By way of a verbal preview, there will be some nice late-fall leaf and water photos, and some sparkly Christmas-light pics.

This weekend-- how can it be 10:24pm on Sunday already?-- I went to Matsuyama on Saturday and sat for the JLPT N1 this afternoon. It was a very intense couple of days. And although the test is in a scantron-like format, the results are withheld until mid-February. So yay, celebrate the end of the test and forget about it for a couple of months!

because it's almost friday

I like Matisyahu. At least, I like his music. Much as I chafe at the vagueness of "Happy Holidays," I think this is a pretty good video and a very catchy song.

Happy Hanukkah to all my Jewish brothers and sisters!

prints

I haven't had pictures developed since high school, probably, when I used disposable cameras to capture things like camping trips and high school homecoming festivities--so it felt pretty special to get some of my favorite jpegs printed today.

With winter fast approaching, the sky gets dark around 5pm these days, so I haven't been able to get too many new pictures. Still, I'm always looking for the next opportunity. Some days, a scene just hits me like a great idea, like the harbor photo of November 3rd. I finished work, went outside, and the sky just took my breath away. Sometimes I wonder if I could possibly do well in a field like photojournalism, where you just have to go and get documentation of breaking news, or a field like portrait photography, where you are fairly limited in how creative you can get. (Although, let's face it, portrait photography seems to be well into decline since cheap alternatives abound.) What other kinds of photography are there? Commercial photography is one; it seems like it could be a great fit for someone like me.

But whether or not I eventually use my camera to support myself, it has become an important part of my life and I know I'll always be looking for the next great shot.

king of the lamp-post

such great heights

{{Do not insert favorite motivational quote here.}}

{{Seriously. It's a hawk. That's it.}}

sunset on the harbor

Sunset and evening star

and one clear call for me!

Alfred, Lord Tennyson

standing on my head

...the world is miraculously precarious.

solitude II

XXVIII

How can I then return in happy plight,

That am debarr'd the benefit of rest?

When day's oppression is not eased by night,

But day by night, and night by day, oppress'd?

And each, though enemies to either's reign,

Do in consent shake hands to torture me;

The one by toil, the other to complain

How far I toil, still farther off from thee.

I tell the day, to please him thou art bright,

And dost him grace when clouds do blot the heaven:

So flatter I the swart-complexion'd night;

When sparkling stars twire not thou gild'st the even.

But day doth daily draw my sorrows longer,

And night doth nightly make grief's strength seem stronger.

charge!

Get all the energy you need for the day from these guys.

waiting

something old, something new

many hands

stand steadfast

festival lantern

just hang your shoes anywhere

'tis the mikan season

So they're still a little green... the farmers are bringing crates and crates of them into the sorting plants.

the sea urchin and the rock fish

"i am a rock, i am an island"

"you've got a friend in me..."

100th post

most of them have been small potatoes...
here's to the next 100!

your monday...

can't have been quite this bad. In fact, we all should be thankful that none of us will have to suffer such a fate as these spiny lobsters, who were picked up out of a carton of water and skewered with sticks before being laid on the grill. (They tasted great in miso soup, though.)

solitude

The other day I was reading a daily reflection in the Magnificat monthly publication, in which the author made the case that whereas normal, sinful people get lonely very quickly and are always in pursuit of crowds and noise to distract them from their loneliness, saints are so absorbed in God that they seek solitude to give Him their undivided attention. Again, in other sources, we come across the idea that it is a terrible thing to be afraid to be alone with oneself. So it is.

But I don't think it's quite right that everyone should strive to be a hermit, either. As in the story of Martha and Mary, if everyone sat at the Lord's feet and listened to Him, no one would prepare meals or look after the guests-- the Lord may choose to do this Himself, as He multiplied loaves and fish or allowed the disciples to catch so many fish their nets were bursting-- but we must observe that He chooses to allow regular, work-a-day sweat to see to most necessities. He could, too, I suppose, have designed children to be able to look after themselves, much like fairies and elves in the old tales. But He didn't. So we have to conclude that mundane, annoying, noisy, dirty work is not merely drudgery that slow choosers or latecomers (Marthas) are saddled with, but that it is actually beneficial for a person to be so employed.

In the meantime, what about the Marys? There are numerous people in the world who, though unconsecrated, are single and living alone, and to all appearances they have an ideal life: what have they to do but contemplate the Lord's word and grow in peaceful righteousness, safe from the hustle and bustle of a family, free to dedicate themselves to worthy causes? I would say that though their trials are different, they have just as many as the Marthas. When they can't feel the Lord's love or hear His voice, solitude is a heavy burden indeed. Martha's main cross may be to keep loving her family and stay even-tempered through a never-ending cycle of chores and accidents and squabbles and needs and whining. In contrast, even when she feels unneeded, unloved, useless, foolish, and confused, Mary's cross is to keep faith that there is a God, her loving Father, and a unique reason for her existence.

because it's Friday

Please take the time to enjoy some cute animation to one of the happiest, coolest modern-yet-retro songs I know! I love the YouTube videos that combine this song with Scrubs dance sequences, but I'm not sure if it's entirely legal to spread those around the web.

Tenshing and I went to lift weights again tonight. And I realized that today marks the end of the 8th straight week I've been doing aerobics consistently (at least 5 times a week). Awesome!

*bubbles*

your game face

We've all made a face like this cat's once in a while. Well, the nice thing about most faces is that they have such a wide range of expression. Things would be dull if all we had to show the world was a sentimental and saccharine smile.

It was a long Monday for me, so after dinner and some knitting I took a walk down by the harbor. Even though I am doing aerobics every weekday morning and starting strength training once a week, I think the occasional walk is a good change of pace. I read that slow-paced exercise, like walking, makes your muscles use a higher proportion of fat for fuel (as opposed to more glycogen/carbohydrates).

Be that as it may, I also like walking outside because of the ever-changing colors and smells, and because it seems to be the most natural use of one's body. Think about it. If all a body did was a proportionately small amount of explosive activity followed by long stretches of sitting and then lying down, something is clearly off-balance. It may not be possible to have an office job and a perfectly active lifestyle, but taking a 40-minute walk a few times a week can only be an improvement, I think.

It certainly improves one's mood. Not excessively, like some fake infomercial happiness, but nicely, just the right amount to bring one back into balance with everything.

all about me

Thanks to Sue from Living and Learning!

1. What's your middle name?

Angela

2. What's your favorite magazine?

I haven't been in the habit of reading magazines for years... once upon a time I liked American Girl Magazine and Ranger Rick, though! Nowadays I think National Geographic might be a good source of inspiration for photo composition.

3. What are you wearing right now?

Workout clothes... purple shorts, black tank, and black hoodie.

4. What color are your bed sheets?

Blue.

5. Who was your third grade teacher?

Sister Alma

6. What is the weather like right now?

Dark and cool, with a good chance of rain.

7. Do you know how to ski?

No.

8. What was the last thing you drank?

Cold water.

9. Dream vacation?

I wouldn't really care where I went as long as someone else was taking care of all the logistics, and if we were able to fly first class if it was a 6 hour+ flight. But I'd like to be able to go horseback riding and canoeing, and maybe have an archery lesson.

10. Favorite article of clothing?

Workout clothes.. anything from Powder Blue/Turbowear.

11. Do you prefer baking or cooking?

I don't much like either, but I'll go with cooking.

12. Is your hair above or below your shoulders?

Above.

13. What drink do you order when out?

Water, or hot water so I can use an herbal teabag. A really splurgey drink would be iced cocoa with whipped cream on top and hazelnut syrup.

14. What book are you reading?

The Fitness Leader's Handbook, Third Edition.

15. What did you dream about last night?

It was a vivid dream. I was leading a tour group across a famous bridge somewhere, and one of the group was trying to jump off the bridge, but at that moment one of my real life friends came cycling toward us and fell of his bicycle onto the pavement, and then everyone rushed to make sure he was alright. Then later, I was with someone else and we were trying to hide from some creepy Guy Noir-type character who kept following us.

16. What was the last movie you went to?

I took myself to see the last Harry Potter movie two summers ago.

17. Any injuries at the moment?

No, thankfully.

18. What color is your bathroom?

Yellow.

19. What's the state of your laundry right now?

All done except for one pair of socks.

20. Do you take vitamins?

An iron vitamin, most days.

21. Where do you love to shop?

The TurboKick website, Whole Foods or Trader Joes, Amazon.

22. How often do you buy groceries?

Twice a week, usually.

23. Do you have a pet/pets?

No, but one day I'd like a friendly cat, or a subdued dog.

24. If you are married, when is your next anniversary?

Pass

25. How do you take your coffee and/or tea?

I've been off of both... 

26. Mac or PC? Desktop or Laptop?

Mac for sure! My faithful lappy.

27. Favorite month of the year?

Back home, August. In Japan, May. I think.

28. Do you have a hobby?

Who doesn't? Aerobics, photography, studying (anything), languages, listening to music, writing, knitting.

29. What salad dressing do you prefer?

Raspberry vinaigrette.

30. Live or fake Christmas tree?

I prefer a live Christmas tree, but I'm thankful for the fake mini ones I have at this stage.

31. Did you walk or take a bus to school?

Car.

32. Do you have any phobias?

Mukade, big brown spiders, cockroaches, drunk old guys, travel.

33. What's your favorite snack food?

Fresh fruit or the chocolate "Balance Up" bars my local grocery store stocks.

34. When do you take your shower/bath?

In the morning, after a workout.

35. What time did you get up this morning?

8:49, because it's the weekend!

36. What's your favorite animal?

I guess I would say horses.

37. Have you ever broken a bone?

No, thankfully.

38. Do you wear makeup?

Yes, and I love it.

39. Do you speak any foreign languages?

Japanese.

40. Have you ever played a sport?

What, like officially? For school? The only school sport I did, and that very poorly, was track. 

41. Your last package contained ...

A practice book for the reading comprehension section of the JLPT, and another practice book for the listening comprehension section.

42. What's on your desktop?

An abstract purple/colors swirl. At work, Richard Armitage.

43. What is your home page?

The Apple homepage. Funny, I never look at it, but I never change the settings, either.

44. Extrovert or introvert?

I don't like being put in a box.

45. Favorite board game?

Clue... and I have a vintage old school Clue set here. :)

46. What class did you like best in high school? In college?

In high school, it was either journalism or English. In college, Japanese at my Japanese university.

47. What would you do with an extra hour each day?

Sleep. Or go for a walk.

48. Do you have allergies?

Yes, but the allergen(s) are yet unknown.

49. Are your nails painted?

Nope.

50. Where are you right now?

In my living room.

***

strength

Tonight I got to do something I've been looking forward to for a few weeks now... go to the weight room and start strength training. I was lucky enough to have Tenshing and Brad come along, too, and Ms Abe was there to help me out with the machines.

Now, the first few months I was here, I used the weight room a few times a week. I was convinced that if I just went and worked on the machines, I'd be fine and fit as a fiddle, but it didn't work out that way. My visits became increasingly sporadic, I got bored with the routine, and eventually I convinced myself I didn't really need to build muscle, anyway. So in the end, I stopped going altogether, and I hadn't even achieved any noticeable toning.

This time, I'm convinced that the key with strength training, at least for me, is to get some people in place to hold me accountable and bug me if I start to slack off. I think part of the problem with my initial foray into the sports center was that I expected to meet some other fitness-minded people who might be interested in working out with me; I know better now... the patrons don't really talk to each other, and the staff are either shy or busy doing their jobs. So one has to set up fitness buddies on one's own, if one wants them. I really hope Tenshing and Brad and I can keep each other motivated.

What are my goals?

1. Develop some upper body strength-- be able to do 5 "real" push-ups and 1 pull-up by 2011.

2. Overall toning and tightening.

3. Get rid of the belly bulge I developed this summer.

Honestly, that belly bulge has pushed out people and mechanical failures to become my biggest annoyance. It's no surprise, really: I was in poor health starting in October of last year, leading to a gradual slowing and then standstill to exercise; then in the late winter I had a series of sicknesses that reduced my diet to white toast and honey, sugary sports drinks, and jello. I got a little addicted to that diet, so I stuck to it longer than necessary, and so it's no wonder that one day, the waistbands just got too constricting.

Furthermore, this particular piece of anatomy was several months in the making, so it stands to reason that it will take at least a few months to get rid of it. It's awfully hard to be patient, but I have to keep telling myself it'll pay off if I keep working out and eating well, instead of throwing in the towel and watching movies all weekend with a stash of snacks from the convenience store.

Ultimately, I know I'll get the better of my body, because my big goal is to become a certified group fitness instructor, and to get a specialty certification in Turbo Kick. Other formats I'm interested in teaching are Hip Hop Hustle and Zumba, but I'm going to take them one at a time. I love the workouts, I love that feeling of strength and agility, I love sharing it with other people, and I love motivating people and seeing their radiant smiles after a great workout.

A healthy body isn't built on aerobics alone, though, and that's why I've started strength training. I'll start by going to the weight room once a week, and then build up to two, maybe three times. In the meantime, I'll keep reading the fitness leaders' book Aunt S sent me, and when I finish it I'll think about ordering study materials for the ACE and/or AFAA fitness instructor certification courses.

Why blog about all this? Well, the saying goes that the goals you fail to write down are merely wishes. Wishes are nice and poetic, but I'd rather live a life I love than waste time only dreaming about it. Here's to planning and accountability!

onward and upward!

mountain morning

glimmer of light

A little Welsh village...

named Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.

And according to the internet, it means "The church of St. Mary in the hollow of white hazel trees near the rapid whirlpool by St. Tysilio's of the red cave".

Hah!

This Guy

I'm just blown away by how many useful (or useless, depending on your point of view) things you can learn on YouTube these days. Here's a chap who's put up a bunch of videos all about Welsh for beginning learners. Diolch! ("Thanks")

hahaha

levels

tones and textures

learning

Flash is bad.

I need to learn more about shooting in suboptimal lighting conditions!

Plans for Golden Week

If you live in Japan, what are you doing for Golden Week?

...

It's coming up fast. I hadn't made any plans, because you'd have to be desperate and insane to go traveling during one of the few times in the year when every other person in Japan feels liberated to see the sights.

But I felt a twinge of regret. Then a surge of audacity! The call of the open skies!

I could take that trip to Australia I've always wanted.... or to Alaska... or.. or...

Filled with the feeling of possibilities, I went so far as to hunt down airfares from various websites and travel companies.

And then the dream was over.

Pop!

Golden Week is one of the most expensive times to travel in or out of Japan.

Divine Mercy Sunday

& a prayer for the Polish people.

He is Risen! Happy Easter!!!

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter Vigil and Easter morning!!

We didn't have a Latin Exultet at my parish here, but that didn't stop me from gleefully humming it all the way home. This is the one I always remember, sung by Fr. Zuhlsdorf at the Church of St. Agnes in St. Paul, MN.

Now I can eat chocolate again! Funny, I don't really want it anymore.

The past four days have been an intense and blessed experience. One of the reasons is that in a location where Mass is usually only available once or twice a week, in a place where the only Christians you see are the ten or twenty at your church, it's beautiful to be able to go and to be with all the other believers for this most holy feast.

Alleluia!

Holy Week

Today, Palm Sunday, marks the start of Holy Week!

This is the week leading up to the ultimate sacrifice, the ultimate vigil, and the ultimate feast of the Church year.
It is always intense.

Some of the good advice I've heard for these last days of Lent (these first seven are from a sermon on EWTN last week):

1. Fix your eyes on Jesus Christ.
2. Praise the Lord at all times, especially at Mass.
3. Repent with a humble and contrite heart, and take part in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
4. Wield the sword of the spirit--the Word of God, Scripture. Read it daily. Lectio Divina.
5. Attack the evil one through prayer and especially fasting, according to the guidelines of the Church.
6. Surround yourself with Christian community to avoid becoming isolated in spiritual warfare. Partake frequently of the sacraments, and use sacramentals.
7. Rejoice in the Lord always! Again I say, rejoice!

-Keep your focus. There is a lot of good to be done and a lot of grace to be gained this week if we only pay attention, and refuse to be distracted by temptations to selfishness, gloominess, sloth, etc.

English Camp

Over the last three days (Thursday-Saturday) I went up to the northern end of the prefecture to help out at an English camp for middle- and high school students. Since all the staff had been asked to come up with an English language activity, there was plenty to do every day. In addition, we all enjoyed various cultural experiences, such as making chikuwa, a kind of tube-shaped fish patty roasted over an open fire, and going to a Buddhist ceremony at a local temple. By far my favorite was takekomi-gohan: camp staff had hiked up the mountain and chopped down some bamboo trees, then they taught us how to cut and split the bamboo to make a natural rice-cooker! After rinsing the inside of our bamboo cookers, we added washed rice and water, and then this too was cooked over a sort of barbecue. All the preparation kept us up till the sky was dark and the air was quite frigid, but I often find that the meals you appreciate most are the ones for which you've worked the hardest.

One activity the kids had to do was to create and perform "commercial" skits. I loved my group. They seemed so shy and uninterested in the activity at first, but once we had put something together and practiced, their smiles started slipping out all over the place. We decided to make our commercial about a hip hop dance school, and the best part was that they all learned a routine and performed it together. Even though a local TV station was filming, nobody tripped anyone else or had a meltdown. I was so proud of those kids!

I didn't bring my camera to camp. I know some people have to film, for work/reporting purposes, but I always feel like a camera ruins the moment, or at least makes the kids feel more shy and awkward than they already do.

I think it would be nice to run a camp like this here in inaka-cho, too, eventually. I was impressed with the number of staff that were gathered together, though, and I'm not sure I could pull those numbers off in the immediate future.

Another egg, and a surprise

This egg was about two weeks in the making, since I kept putting it down and getting busy with other things for days at a time. There's a butterfly on the other side, too, but it didn't turn out very well. According to the symbology guide I was sent with the egg decorating kit, butterflies stand for Christ's resurrection. Intuitive!

It's been so cold, rainy, and all around dreary lately that I haven't been opening any windows. And as a matter of fact, most of my windows are frosted glass, anyway. However, today the sun was out and it seemed a little bit warm, so I opened a window a crack to check. It's a lovely day! Now all the windows are open. But imagine my surprise when I opened this window:



Well hello!

It really feels like spring today.

pierogi, hoska, and babka

I made this loaf of hoska and the "babka" cake for an event I ran on Monday. We used pins and wax to decorate blown (empty) eggs for Easter, a tradition from Eastern Europe and Russia, but also, as I learned in the past few weeks, done in places like Germany and Italy. Last year, there were only 8 or so participants for this "Kraslice" party, but this year we got 12! Little by little, the tradition will catch on, methinks.



Thanks for the recipe, Grandma!

I made sauerkraut-mushroom and onion-garlic-potato pierogi this time.

I only made one new pysanka this week! :(

However, I think it's fairly decent. :)

Hopefully I get some more done by next weekend...