This is a story about an
international couple raising and home educating three
young boys on a small island in Japan, half living in
buses, engaged in organic, self-sufficient farming in
the middle of a mountain forest while dealing with
climate, cultural, and personal challenges. These pages
are about pretty much anything and everything all guided
by our family motto, Taking Chances, Making Changes,
Being Happy. Thank you very much for joining us on our
ongoing crazy adventure.
Comments or questions about this blog?....message me at
Facebook.
May
6, 2009 - Neither one of us are really online picture
people but trying to be now because of the baby. Anyway,
this picture is obviously of me and Akiko in our home. Akiko
is looking very pregnant now.
Us
again.
Side
view.
Side
view.
May
7, 2009 - Fishing at Ocean Beach.Yup, we bought our
Einstein bagels, coffee, and headed out to the pier. The OB
pier is the longest concrete pier on the West Coast and is
complete with fish cleaning sinks, bathrooms, and a really
cool cafe and bait shop. Today the fishing sucked though.
The waves were really high and fun for the surfers but not
for those of us fishing.
Yeah, looking cool with our fishing shades
on. We are pretty well known at this place and usually catch
something even when nobody else does....but not today. A
couple of weeks ago we caught a lot of sardines. Looking
forward to the real fishing season which really begins
sometime next month.
May
10, 2009 - Mother's Day.We went out and bought lunch and ate at
Mission Trails park, which is about a mile from our home.
This is actually one of the largest urban parks in the
country. The main feature is Cowles Mountain which is the
highest point in the City of San Diego.
We spent a quiet evening at home. We made a
nice BBQ with dessert. No worries everyone. The wine glass
in Akiko's hand is only for the picture. She only gets to
drink like a teaspoon of wine once or twice a week. She
really misses wine though.
May 11, 2009 - Do not buy Farm Raised Fish. Yesterday Akiko and I went to our favorite
Vons supermarket to buy some fish. We intended to BBQ and
now that she is pregnant, we keep a close watch on what she
eats. We know most types of wild fish contain unhealthy
amounts of mercury and have limited meat consumption to
mostly chicken the last few months. Anyway, we bought a nice
piece of "Atlantic Salmon", brought it home, sprinkled it
with butter, garlic, and pepper and then went online until
dinner.
Studying
Japanese - Although
I can speak Japanese, I am still far from perfect. With
other work somewhat caught up, I decided to begin studying
again in preparation for moving to Japan next year. I plan
to use the 1600 page Japanese site I made and add to it as
my studying progresses.
勉強がんばります。
I found a website with old Japanese stories with audio. The
story for today is at this link. 花咲じいさん
May 12, 2009 - Your Obligation to Your Kids. Now I am well into the second week of
working out. Although I am pretty active, now it seems more
like I am on a mission to be in better condition. Why? The
answer is simple....A baby is on the way.
May
13, 2009 - Save the "Chuck" Show.Yup,
I was logging out of Hotmail and lo and behold, there was a
story about which shows will be cancelled next season. NBC,
in its infinite wisdom has decided not to reschedule the
“Chuck” show next fall due to poor ratings. Notice I said
“not to reschedule” as opposed to canceled. It seems there
is still a chance to save the show if fans get out and
initiate some sort of action to keep it on the air.
May
14, 2009 - More Japanese Study. I decided to use an old Japanese
cartoon, which was turned into a TV show, for Japanese
listening practice. The show deals with family stuff and
uses Japanese found in everyday situations. Someone was kind
enough to put tons of episodes online. Sazae
san (さざえさん) shows
I found these videos on the Japan.org site which explain about various aspects
of Japanese society in videos of anywhere from 3-5 minutes. This is the best way
to learn a language since you can repeat the videos over and over until you
eventually understand everything. This particular video is about Bonsai.
Bonsai - Nature's Beauty in Miniature
May 15, 2009 - Maybe Next Time. As "The
best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry," so it is
with fishing plans for tomorrow. With good intentions, I
made ice for the coolers, bought lunch, prepared all the
fishing stuff, and then this afternoon, I began to feel like
crap. What I thought was allergies might be the flu, pretty
much canceling fishing plans for tomorrow. Still going to
try for Sunday though.
May 16, 2009 - Pretty Average Day. Nothing much
to talk about today. Pretty much stayed home trying to feel better. Me and the
wife enjoyed a long dinner outside talking about lots of stuff.
May
17, 2009 - Meteorologists. Question? In what profession can you lie to the public
on a daily basis and still get paid for it? Meteorologist.
Hey I wanted to be a meteorologist for many years and really
feel weird about slamming these guys….but come on. A couple
days ago they said it was supposed to be close to 100 inland
and in the 70’s on the coast today. Then they changed the
forecast. We went fishing really early today and guess what?
It was cold and drizzling at the coast. We ate our bagels,
drank our coffee, and came home without even setting up. We
went back to the bagel shop for more coffee and came home
again. Ah….a couple of disappointed fishing people. We
should get some type of award for our acting job in this
picture. Maybe next time.
Earthquake.
For those of you who don’t already know, Southern
California was shaken, not stirred tonight. Nope, not the
latest James Bond film. This was a 4.7 magnitude earthquake
(地震) centered in the Greater Los Angeles area. The earthquake
occurred at approximately 8:39 pm and was felt in San Diego.
This planet is shaking everyday. Want Proof? Click any of
the following links for more information about earthquakes.
Recent Earthquakes - California, Nevada
Recent Earthquakes - United States
Recent Earthquakes - The World
USGS Education Materials
May
18, 2009 - Another Crappy Fishing Trip. Hey, we went fishing once again. This time we went with
Valerie for a few hours, in the afternoon this time. The
temperatures were barely tolerable and we caught only two
fish. Probably stay away from fishing until next month when
things should warm up a bit. Anyway, we enjoyed a nice BBQ
back at our place.
May 19, 2009 - The Missing Link.
Hey folks, pretty big news in the science community. Even
if you're not into this sort of thing, you should at least
check this out. Pretty cool.
A discovery of a 47 million-year-old fossil primate that is
said to be a human ancestor was announced and unveiled
Tuesday at a press conference in New York City.
Known as "Ida," the nearly complete transitional fossil is
20 times older than most fossils that provide evidence for
human evolution.
It shows characteristics from the very primitive non-human
evolutionary line (prosimians, such as lemurs), but is more
related to the human evolutionary line (anthropoids, such as
monkeys, apes and humans), said Norwegian paleontologist
Jørn Hurum of the University of Oslo Natural History Museum.
However, she is not really an anthropoid either, he said.
Read the full story
Watch the video
May
20, 2009 - Another Picnic in the Park. Yup, recently Akiko and I spend a lot of time relaxing. We
go walking for over an hour every morning after breakfast.
We come home, do a few things around the house, and then
head to the park or other location for a picnic. These days
we are spending a lot of time with friends and enjoy being
able to meet outside. We are hoping to meet friends as much
as possible now before we move to Japan at the end of this
year.
May 21, 2009 - Happy Birthday Dad. I want to take a moment to wish my Dad
Happy Birthday. I learned many things from him and I miss
him very much. I plan to get the old pictures out and post
them this Summer.
May 22, 2009 - Beginning of the Holiday Weekend. Yup, lots of plans for this weekend. Tomorrow our friend is
coming for dinner. Then Sunday is the Food Fair. Monday, it
will be the two of us for a nice BBQ at home. Actually we
BBQ'd tonight. If any of you are stuck for what to make, try
teriyaki chicken. Really easy. Simply mix sugar and soy
sauce in a bowl....add amounts to suit your tastes. Then cut
chicken into small chunks. Marinate in the mixture for a few
hours. Put the chunks on metal skewers. That's it. Easy
stuff and delicious.
May 23, 2009 - Dinner With Our Friend. We went for our walk today then, later in the day, ate
dinner at our place with our friend Masako. Pretty much sticking to
my wine rule....only drinking when guests come over, or when
visiting a friend, or when attending a local function.
Really miss the occasional glass of wine with dinner but
trying to show support for Akiko who misses wine about 100
times more. This will be a BBQ holiday weekend until we
return to our normal Japanese food menu next week.
May
24, 2009 - 30th Annual Ethnic Food Fair at Balboa Park, San
Diego, California. We went to the Food Fair again this year, and as usual, it
was a really nice event. The food was delicious and the
entertainment was fantastic. We ate a combination plate from
the House of India, fried bread with from the House of
Hungary, and eggrolls from the House of China. We saw
Meenakshi Jain and her husband Rakesh at the event.
Meenakshi works with the House of India and coordinates this
event. We met a few friends, came home, and made a BBQ
again.
Me,
Akiko, and Masako sitting on the lawn in front of the
entertainment stage. Still pretty early.
Um,
same picture. We bought food from the House of India.
Ayumi
and Yuka hanging out and waiting to get some food.
This
turned out to be our group. Much smaller actually than last
year. We stayed until 3:00 pm. Some of our other friends
came at 2:00 pm but we missed each other.
Yeah,
Yeah. Too cute, huh?
はい、はい。かわいいですね？
Me
and Akiko eating the fried bread thingy from the house of
Hungry....um....Hungary.
This
is pretty much a standard purchase every year. This is fried
bread from the House of Hungary. The toppings include
cheese, sour cream, and garlic. It was smaller this year but
the taste was still incredible.
Another
standard purchase every year. This is the combo plate from
the House of India. A few of our friends are from India and
I should know the names of these foods but I keep
forgetting. I know the bread is called nan bread. Anyway,
the food is pretty spicy which both of us like.
Me,
and Akiko with our friends Rakesh and Meenakshi Jain with
their two kids. We met Meenakshi a few years ago at a House
of India performance in Balboa Park. We became friends and
spent a wonderful evening at their house last year. Hoping
to spend a lot more time with them in the coming weeks.
Meenakshi is very involved with the House of India and the
lawn program at Balboa Park. Last year I made
several videos of the House of India performances. Definitely worth
watching.
Pretty
much the same picture again.
A
belly dancer performing at the event.
May 25, 2009 - Memorial Day. Akiko and I made a nice BBQ for the holiday. Tomorrow is
back to business and getting ready for many changes.
May
26, 2009 - Stolen Registration Sticker. Really pissed me off. The other day a friend of ours came
for dinner. We all went out shopping together. We came back
home and she said, "Where is your sticker" after looking at
the back of my truck. Someone stole the sticker. It took a
trip to DMV and 18 bucks to straighten it all out.
Additional
Note –
US Mission to the Moon.
A
friend of mine sent an article about the US mission to the
Moon. It would seem the entire mission is now being
questioned in a Russian newspaper. Pretty interesting reading. Full Story
May 27, 2009 - Workout.
Today was back to the regular workout schedule after
taking it easy and eating a bit too much over the
Memorial Day holiday. Really working now to get
those 6 Pak abs back again.
Why?
Because Peyton Manning said it was impossible.
Yeah, when it comes to Mannings, prefer the Giants
over the Colts anytime.
May 28, 2009 - Drama.
Found a site with tons of Japanese movies and dramas
to use for my Japanese studies. This particular drama is a
love story revolving around a bowling alley. The English
subtitles are a bit of a distraction. Full Bowling Drama Japanese Dramas Japanese Movies
May 29, 2009 - Favicons. Really not warm today and we decided to stay in and
finish up a few site projects. Finally installed the
Favicons on the sites. Favicons? This is techie talk for
Favorite Icon. These are basically the little pictures you
see in your favorites list and on your browser tabs when you
visit different sites. Brings a lot more attention to the
sites. Check out the Favicon for this site.
May
30, 2009 - Do You Want to Relax? Before I explain, um....let me explain. Really not
warm again today. Planning to stay in again and finish up
more projects. Kind of recovering from a bottle of Cabernet
last night, not to mention hours of watching a Japanese
drama. Anyway, this company made some pretty cool scenes you
can watch to relax. Click the following link, then click
YORITSUKI on the sidebar, then click ENTER, then click Day
or Night. Be sure to turn up the sound on your computer.
It might take a couple minutes to load. Worth the wait for
sure. Enjoy. Hybrid Scenes From Japan
May 31, 2009 - Cyborg She.
My Japanese studies continue on, this time with a
semi-popular movie called "Cyborg She", starring Haruka Ayase.
I watched this movie last night and decided it was good
enough for me to write about it today. This is basically a love story with a little bit of the
Three Stooges and Terminator thrown in. Really funny,
and even if you are not studying Japanese, the English
subtitles make it worth watching. Besides Haruka Ayase is simply
beautiful. Anyway, the following links provide plenty of
information in English and in Japanese. Note:
The first link cuts out the last few minutes of the movie.
You can watch the end of the movie on the YouTube link. Click to watch the movie, Cyborg She YouTube Version, Cyborg She
Wikipedia - Cyborg She in English
Wikipedia - Cyborg She 日本語で
Wikipedia - Haruka Ayase in English
Wikipedia - Haruka Ayase 日本語で
May
6, 2009
Us
again.
Side
view.
Side
view.
Yeah, looking cool with our fishing shades
on. We are pretty well known at this place and usually catch
something even when nobody else does....but not today. A
couple of weeks ago we caught a lot of sardines. Looking
forward to the real fishing season which really begins
sometime next month.
We spent a quiet evening at home. We made a
nice BBQ with dessert. No worries everyone. The wine glass
in Akiko's hand is only for the picture. She only gets to
drink like a teaspoon of wine once or twice a week. She
really misses wine though.
Studying
Japanese - Although
I can speak Japanese, I am still far from perfect. With
other work somewhat caught up, I decided to begin studying
again in preparation for moving to Japan next year. I plan
to use the 1600 page Japanese site I made and add to it as
my studying progresses.
Me,
Akiko, and Masako sitting on the lawn in front of the
entertainment stage. Still pretty early.
Um,
same picture. We bought food from the House of India.
Ayumi
and Yuka hanging out and waiting to get some food.
This
turned out to be our group. Much smaller actually than last
year. We stayed until 3:00 pm. Some of our other friends
came at 2:00 pm but we missed each other.
Me
and Akiko eating the fried bread thingy from the house of
Hungry....um....Hungary.
This
is pretty much a standard purchase every year. This is fried
bread from the House of Hungary. The toppings include
cheese, sour cream, and garlic. It was smaller this year but
the taste was still incredible.
Another
standard purchase every year. This is the combo plate from
the House of India. A few of our friends are from India and
I should know the names of these foods but I keep
forgetting. I know the bread is called nan bread. Anyway,
the food is pretty spicy which both of us like.
Me,
and Akiko with our friends Rakesh and Meenakshi Jain with
their two kids. We met Meenakshi a few years ago at a House
of India performance in Balboa Park. We became friends and
spent a wonderful evening at their house last year. Hoping
to spend a lot more time with them in the coming weeks.
Meenakshi is very involved with the House of India and the
lawn program at Balboa Park. Last year I made
several videos of the House of India performances. Definitely worth
watching.
Pretty
much the same picture again.
A
belly dancer performing at the event.
