I saw a guy on a dirt bike going down 31st the other day and it made me miss Toby and the open road. It made me miss this jacket even more though.

I know you were all wondering.  It’s true.  I come from a line of hipsters & hippies.

Nine years ago I up and moved to Japan.  I went to teach English, travel, and really find myself…or maybe I just knew I didn’t want to be in Kansas for another second.  The point being that I went.

I knew that it was an opportunity of a lifetime or something like that.  I bought a camera that required double A batteries as I didn’t want to have to deal with the electricity differences.  Nine years ago the digital cameras on the market where costly and huge.  I could drop $100 and get a little 35mm that would work just fine thank you.  So that’s what I did.  I took lots and lots of photos.  Some of them better than others.  These are all in various stacks and photo albums.

However I have started to digitize some of them.  Of course, this first stack doesn’t have a single person in it.  Nope.  These are some of the better photos from my trip to Kyoto.  My goal is to digitize a lot more of them.  So watch out world.

In the past 5 days I have been reliving all those great times from undergrad. I helped someone move on August 1 which included an hour of wait time while they stood in line to get keys and this evening I attended a birthday celebration at the Sandbar. I feel that I should note that I never actually went into the Sandbar while attending KU. In fact the first time I ever went in was December 20, 2002. Nonetheless it is a KU tradition and I was there this evening.

Of course I’ve also been on campus all summer doing Dog Days. Today was the final day for the summer session. Yes I got my t-shirt and yes I did the run (okay so I walked up the hill–what? it’s steep). I did get lapped by the super fit, attractive guy, but that’s life.

Perhaps next week I’ll find myself at a house party or swilling beer with gutter punks. Life is running in cycles and at least I know what is coming next. This time, however I will not get involved with Neo-Nazis.

Over the last couple of weeks I started cooking. Now that I’m back in civilization, meaning places that come with kitchens and grocers that have more than goya and rice, I remember that I can indeed cook. I’ve actually been making things out of a new cookbook that I have and everything is quite tasty. Below are some photos of some of the dishes.

It’s January.  That means Vampire Weekend is playing shows.  I hit the second of three shows.  The first night was at United Palace.  I went to the more intimate show at Webster Hall.  I, of course got there super early.  I even mucked about for a good long time in order not to be there super early, but alas it’s just how I roll.  I got my spot.  I’m not sure why, but I really like to watch shows from about 5 people back on the right side.  I ended up standing next to a girl with a ridiculously large handbag for 90% of the show.  The encore brought a drunk chick who thought it would be awesome for her to rub her butt on me.  Yeah…not so much.

Overall the show was a lot of fun.  Not as much fun as last years’ but close.  The kids from the L Magazine were there and apparently standing a few people behind me.  They took video.

This New Year’s was a repeat performance of last years without the fried chicken. It was great to see everyone & ring in the new year.

Another year comes to an end. Where have I been the last couple of months? Trapped under a pile of short stories and indie releases? Perhaps figuratively, but not literally. No, instead I’ve been living sans internet connection in ye ole apartment. This means that I have not been farming like a crazy person on Farmville–because I don’t play that. No I will not help you with your lonely cow/sheep/whatever. Nor will I be your neighbor. Deal with it.

So to recap what I’ve been doing includes the start of the college basketball season. This means that you’ll most likely find me at the Pourhouse when KU plays and provided UNC is on directly after or before I’m there as well. Otherwise I’ll be in front of a television somewhere.

I’ve also been to see Artic Monkeys (with Screaming Females as the opener). Screaming Females are awesome. If you like Sonic Youth or similar bands you will definitely like them.

While I really do dig the Artic Monkeys I just didn’t love the show.  Poo on me I guess.  I left before the encore.  Sometimes that happens.  That was the last show of 2009 for me.

My running group, Run To Eat met in mid-December.  Instead of going to breakfast after our run we donated the money.  It was the first time I’d run in freezing temperatures.  It was 26 degrees out and it was great.

Then there was ugly sweater day at work.  It was awesome.  My room is still covered in glittered.

Apparently I got hit on in the bar that evening.  I thought he was gay, but the girls disagreed.

And then it was Christmas.  My mom came into town and it was lots of fun.  I’m all caught up on movies, we saw both Avatar & Sherlock Holmes.  I don’t have a lot of positive things to say about either one of them-sorry.  We also did lots of shopping.  This included the happiest place on Earth, Ikea, Uniqlo, and the Levi store.  I got a kick ass pair of boots:

and a new coat, as well as a scarf.  I’m slowly preparing for the plan adventures for 2010.

That’s right.  I’m going to have adventures.  I’m going to Minnesota in January to go snow-shoeing and hang out with Mr. Kaleb.  Then in February I’m headed to Idaho for a little snowboarding.  According to a member of the NYC Chapter of the Baldwin Elementary Alumni Association that makes me a knuckle-dragger, but I’m okay with that.

What this year end round up will not include is lists.  Mainly because I openly mocked someone earlier this fall for the list making.  So no top ten concerts of this year, no top ten favorite books, not going to do it.  Did I think about it?  Heck yes.  If you ask me I can tell you the number ones.  In conclusion this year was much better than last, but next year will be even better.

Over the past couple of weeks I’ve been fairly busy with life.  Last week I went to the Mets game at CitiField courtesy of corporate America.  Miss Trish landed some tickets through her job so off we went to the box seats.  Now that is how to do a game.

I’ve also been in training for the Run A Muck in October.  My outdoor running shoes have been biting into my feet quite viciously.  I have two nice blisters on my left foot.

Also Jude Law is coming to town for Hamlet.  I purchased my tickets so if you are looking for me October 21 I’ll be doing the theater thing.

Amanda & Caleb are in town.  We hit up the Mets game tonight to see the new stadium and enjoy America’s favorite past time (Yankees were away).  We ended up with pretty freaking awesome seats and had a great time.  During the train ride back to Manhattan I ended up next to the kids from Boiler Room.

That’s just a movie you say.  Those people aren’t real you say.  I beg to differ.  I stood on a train and listened to how one of these gentlemen (no older than 24) has become a light weight with consuming 6 beers and 1 cocktail and being drunk!  Then a 10 conversation about the last time in Vegas followed by a discussion about when they were going to hit up AC.  All the while one of them is covered in what looks like spaghetti sauce and making references to fantasy baseball and internships.  The part that sealed the deal for me was when one of them stated, oh when I take the CPA next month I’ll blah blah blah.  They were not going out tonight but rather returning to Long Island or Connecticut or Westchester or whereever they needed to go.