it's the end of november already. recently it seems like everyone i know has massive events going on in their lives, good or bad, and the stress is driving us all a little insane. sleep is becoming a rarity.
happily, i watched my friends play an awesome show last night and heard that some of them are moving to tokyo next year (they're wasted in my town) and confused a lot of people who were wondering why the locals were chatting with a couple of foreign women fearlessly.
also, i am slightly disappointed that the really awesome weird honey-apple mentos have been replaced in stores by nasty plum mentos that taste kind of like eating pine trees.
also also, i bought a bass and am learning how to play it because no one needs a vocalist and if i don't get back to performing music soon i might go a little more crazy.
also also also, i need an apartment with more than one room. i can't work in the room that contains both my computer and my bed.
if people want to see what i've been drawing, the links are as follows:
http://www.pixiv.net/member.php?id=3564797
monstermadam.deviantart.com
they've got pretty much the same stuff on 'em. all the work is drawn and painted postcard size because i have no room to work larger.
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Friday, October 7, 2011
almost my birthday
hey! so i've successfully ignored this for two months, so i guess i should write something. recently work's been pretty good (also exhausting) but the teachers i work with are getting easier to coordinate with and the kids are unreasonably excited to see me, so that's nice. i'm also still playing in the band with the old guys and playing taiko and drawing a hell of a lot and now i am also starting a new, non-old-dude band with my friend tomoyo.
hurray!
i like being busy, but some days i kinda over-do it and then when i finally sit down, i DROP. today i taught at two schools, went straight from the second one to teach a conversation lesson with a private student, and straight from that to practice. now i'm just waiting for my brain to cool down a little so i can let my body sleep.
next week is my birthday, for which i am doing not much verging on nothing, and then some friends of mine are coming to watch me play taiko and listen to some bands. i promised to cook for them, so apparently they're very excited. once i realized they were excited, i started getting nervous. i can definitely cook, so it shouldn't be a problem, but it probably won't be what they're expecting. the idea of american food is 1) hamburgers 2) the size of your head 3) covered in cheese and sauce. this will be none of that.
i'm also totally making apple crumble.
in unrelated news, the temperature dropped 10 degrees C in less than a week. thanks for that, seasonal weather changes. i really appreciated the warning. at least i like fall- i've got some friends who are suffering from summer-withdrawal already. personally, i'm counting down the days to when i can go snowboarding again. snowboarding is the only sport i have ever voluntarily sought out. probably because it's not so much as sport as it is an excuse to fly down mountains and play in the snow while doing quite perilous things. all of which i appreciate. best sport ever.
next month, for about 5 days, some of my drawings are going to be in the foreign artists' exhibition in nagoya. i'm pretty excited- i have no idea which pieces i'm going to send though. i've got a few i really like... but nothing spectacular just yet. i'll work on some new stuff since i have a little time left.
arright, i'm gonna vanish into obscurity for a little longer. bye!
hurray!
i like being busy, but some days i kinda over-do it and then when i finally sit down, i DROP. today i taught at two schools, went straight from the second one to teach a conversation lesson with a private student, and straight from that to practice. now i'm just waiting for my brain to cool down a little so i can let my body sleep.
next week is my birthday, for which i am doing not much verging on nothing, and then some friends of mine are coming to watch me play taiko and listen to some bands. i promised to cook for them, so apparently they're very excited. once i realized they were excited, i started getting nervous. i can definitely cook, so it shouldn't be a problem, but it probably won't be what they're expecting. the idea of american food is 1) hamburgers 2) the size of your head 3) covered in cheese and sauce. this will be none of that.
i'm also totally making apple crumble.
in unrelated news, the temperature dropped 10 degrees C in less than a week. thanks for that, seasonal weather changes. i really appreciated the warning. at least i like fall- i've got some friends who are suffering from summer-withdrawal already. personally, i'm counting down the days to when i can go snowboarding again. snowboarding is the only sport i have ever voluntarily sought out. probably because it's not so much as sport as it is an excuse to fly down mountains and play in the snow while doing quite perilous things. all of which i appreciate. best sport ever.
next month, for about 5 days, some of my drawings are going to be in the foreign artists' exhibition in nagoya. i'm pretty excited- i have no idea which pieces i'm going to send though. i've got a few i really like... but nothing spectacular just yet. i'll work on some new stuff since i have a little time left.
arright, i'm gonna vanish into obscurity for a little longer. bye!
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Oidensai was awesome. Obon is probably my favorite holiday in Japan, so it was nice to celebrate it by exhausting myself along with a lot of other people who are as close to family as it gets over here even if i didn't spend it with my blood relatives. i still haven't gone to see any fireworks this summer (not in person, anyway. it's impossible to miss them- they fill half the sky).
in the absence of my closest friends this summer, i've been drawing and drinking a lot of coffee and driving all over and singing karaoke and getting ready to have my band's second show in september. and playing a LOT of drums, although that's calmed down a little now.
for all that summer's not my season of choice, i do kinda love summer in japan. even though it's hot and gross and sticky and all i want to do is go snowboarding and eat an enormous ice cream.
the rice fields have all gone electric lime green, which is gorgeous.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
OIDENSAI
arright, so now it's august suddenly, i'm back in japan, and i have to figure out what to do for a month before classes start up again at my schools.
this means:
lots of music
lots of drawing
...roadtrips?
that's the plan, anyway. as it is, this weekend is completely full of taiko. in fact, sunday is ENTIRELY full of taiko, as in 10 hours or so of my day is practicing drums. outside, in the 90 something degree heat. next week, on the 13th, is my town's big obon matsuri and i'll be playing in that, so i need the practice. my group will be carrying shrines and playing drums and carrying more shrines and, considering the people i play with, drinking and carrying shrines and playing drums.
hurray!
my band's got their next show scheduled, we'll be playing mid september at the same place in the middle of nowhere as last time. this time though, it's looking like my friends (who are talented and have a REAL band with actual CDs and stuff) are also gonna be playing! awesome! i'm super excited about it.
i'm trying to get around 25 pages inked and (maybe) colored by the end of the month, plus a couple standalone pieces. we shall see if it is possible. i'm gonna try, anyway.
as far as roadtrips are concerned? there is apparently a town filled with statues of monsters. why would i not go there?! also, BEACH. also also, OSAKA. these are all places i'd like to waste some time this summer. oh! and there's a full-day hardcore and punk show in shibuya in late august which looks extremely tempting, so that would be cool too.
mannnn if i can get half this stuff done, i will be awesome.
this means:
lots of music
lots of drawing
...roadtrips?
that's the plan, anyway. as it is, this weekend is completely full of taiko. in fact, sunday is ENTIRELY full of taiko, as in 10 hours or so of my day is practicing drums. outside, in the 90 something degree heat. next week, on the 13th, is my town's big obon matsuri and i'll be playing in that, so i need the practice. my group will be carrying shrines and playing drums and carrying more shrines and, considering the people i play with, drinking and carrying shrines and playing drums.
hurray!
my band's got their next show scheduled, we'll be playing mid september at the same place in the middle of nowhere as last time. this time though, it's looking like my friends (who are talented and have a REAL band with actual CDs and stuff) are also gonna be playing! awesome! i'm super excited about it.
i'm trying to get around 25 pages inked and (maybe) colored by the end of the month, plus a couple standalone pieces. we shall see if it is possible. i'm gonna try, anyway.
as far as roadtrips are concerned? there is apparently a town filled with statues of monsters. why would i not go there?! also, BEACH. also also, OSAKA. these are all places i'd like to waste some time this summer. oh! and there's a full-day hardcore and punk show in shibuya in late august which looks extremely tempting, so that would be cool too.
mannnn if i can get half this stuff done, i will be awesome.
Friday, July 8, 2011
... it's july?
i can't believe it's july already. O_o what have i been doing for the last two months?! other than working and playing taiko and joining bands and practicing kanji and working and planning visits to the states and sorting out my apartment and working.
not much, really.
the semester's almost over for my students- just two weeks and then they're all gloriously free for a month and a half! i feel bad for the junior high kids though- they're forced to join a sports team (well, a club, really- but the only clubs available at my schools are sports) and then have to spend all their weekends, evenings, and vacations practicing. it makes me really happy i never had to deal with all that nonsense... i have a feeling i wouldn't have shown up. >_>
my band's first show is a week from sunday- this week and next it's going to be a little insane around here. i have practice twice this week, an open class where my boss is coming to watch (at my weakest school. whyyyy) taiko practice, a friend's band's show, and hopefully i'll get to sleep at some point. then the weekend hits, i play my OWN show, i have an event in nagoya the next day, two days of work and then i catch a plane at an obnoxiously early hour and fly back to the states for ten days.
it's gonna be nice to see everyone for a little bit before i head back to japan.
also, it's gonna be nice to buy jeans and shirts that aren't glittery.
in some ways, this feels like the world's most expensive shopping trip O_o.
let me know if you wanna meet up while i'm in philly! i don't know when i'll be back next. it's too expensive to come back very often.
not much, really.
the semester's almost over for my students- just two weeks and then they're all gloriously free for a month and a half! i feel bad for the junior high kids though- they're forced to join a sports team (well, a club, really- but the only clubs available at my schools are sports) and then have to spend all their weekends, evenings, and vacations practicing. it makes me really happy i never had to deal with all that nonsense... i have a feeling i wouldn't have shown up. >_>
my band's first show is a week from sunday- this week and next it's going to be a little insane around here. i have practice twice this week, an open class where my boss is coming to watch (at my weakest school. whyyyy) taiko practice, a friend's band's show, and hopefully i'll get to sleep at some point. then the weekend hits, i play my OWN show, i have an event in nagoya the next day, two days of work and then i catch a plane at an obnoxiously early hour and fly back to the states for ten days.
it's gonna be nice to see everyone for a little bit before i head back to japan.
also, it's gonna be nice to buy jeans and shirts that aren't glittery.
in some ways, this feels like the world's most expensive shopping trip O_o.
let me know if you wanna meet up while i'm in philly! i don't know when i'll be back next. it's too expensive to come back very often.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Hurray!
I finally did it- after several trips back and forth, I have my brand-new Japanese license. Yayyyyyy
now i don't have to take the bus anymore! exciting!
in other exciting news, i'll be in the states for about a week at the end of july, right after the semester ends. hopefully i can see some of you then!
in other, other exciting news, i'm singing in a band. as of sunday. and as of yesterday, apparently people want me to sing in a second band. so i have two bands now...? maybe? and four of my illustrations will be in a gallery show with a lot of very beautiful paintings of the things that elderly people often like to paint, since the rest of the exhibitors are rather elderly. they favor ships and flowers, except for one delightful woman who likes to paint disney princesses.
now i don't have to take the bus anymore! exciting!
in other exciting news, i'll be in the states for about a week at the end of july, right after the semester ends. hopefully i can see some of you then!
in other, other exciting news, i'm singing in a band. as of sunday. and as of yesterday, apparently people want me to sing in a second band. so i have two bands now...? maybe? and four of my illustrations will be in a gallery show with a lot of very beautiful paintings of the things that elderly people often like to paint, since the rest of the exhibitors are rather elderly. they favor ships and flowers, except for one delightful woman who likes to paint disney princesses.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Obviously I Forget About This All The Time
hey guys, sorry it's been so long. i'm so tired when i get home that i really don't want to do anything but crash.
the new schools are going well! i love my new students, although i miss my old ones very much. i see some of them from time to time wandering around, and reactions vary from extreme excitement (hurray andrea andrea andrea andrea) to extreme embarrassment (oh god that's a teacher this will RUIN my rep). i really wish i wasn't taking buses every day, but hopefully that'll be all over soon and i won't have to worry about it anymore. i'm taking my japanese driver's license test on monday! wish me luck!
i hope i don't forget any of the several million pieces of paper i need to bring with me. that would be a frustration and a half.
i may be teaching a demo lesson next month. i shall keep you posted. it's a 3nensei class in junior high, so the equivalent of 9th grade. 14yr olds! far too cool to be interested in english (during class, anyway.) if i get a chance to teach i'll have to think of something nice and impressive to do. maybe my students will oblige by being awesome in front of an audience.
in completely unrelated news, it hasn't stopped torrentially raining since about 6 this morning. this does not seem fair.
the new schools are going well! i love my new students, although i miss my old ones very much. i see some of them from time to time wandering around, and reactions vary from extreme excitement (hurray andrea andrea andrea andrea) to extreme embarrassment (oh god that's a teacher this will RUIN my rep). i really wish i wasn't taking buses every day, but hopefully that'll be all over soon and i won't have to worry about it anymore. i'm taking my japanese driver's license test on monday! wish me luck!
i hope i don't forget any of the several million pieces of paper i need to bring with me. that would be a frustration and a half.
i may be teaching a demo lesson next month. i shall keep you posted. it's a 3nensei class in junior high, so the equivalent of 9th grade. 14yr olds! far too cool to be interested in english (during class, anyway.) if i get a chance to teach i'll have to think of something nice and impressive to do. maybe my students will oblige by being awesome in front of an audience.
in completely unrelated news, it hasn't stopped torrentially raining since about 6 this morning. this does not seem fair.
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