hear the army

The Fastmail server has been down for 16 hours now so I haven’t received any mail today!! (more…)

Good find (thanks Wendy):
Depressed Over the Election…? Kiss your conscience goodbye and switch to the winner!

What I can’t stop listening to: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

Otherwise, I’m hoping everyone enjoyed Halloween as much as I did! (more…)

This little bit is for any Americans – or those other unfortunates hailing from a country where you have to take both a written and driving test to obtain your Japanese Driver’s License (South Africa, China, Brazil, Africa, Asia, South America, Eastern Europe, and Russia) – who want to get their driver’s license in Japan…or who just want to read about my experience! (more…)

Well – school is in full swing and I can safely say that I’m in way over my head – there is a minimum of 3 hours of homework every night!?! Being that I can’t read 50% or more of the kanji right now it takes me longer most days…why is this language so damn complicated and why – even though I know I’ve improved eons do I sometimes feel worse about my Japanese than I did when I was shite a year ago!?! (more…)

Internet friend rings will be the death of me! Bebo, Mixi, Hiraganatimes, High5, MySpace, Yahoo, etc. There are just too many – and I have one at least one friend who is a member in each one so wants me to join!! Curious: how much time do you spend on these damn things? (more…)

noush: and i’m as glad to see someone is reading my posts!! 😉 as far as the finger goes, here’s the 1 week progress report:

i really tried not to pop it but..it’s on my right hand!! naturally it busted by nightfall. i then proceeded to smother it with neosporin daily – that stuff is magic. (more…)

if you have one – please help!! you see, i bought a gorgeous plant that looked like this

prior to leaving for our honeymoon – upon our return it looked fairly dead. (more…)

a burnt finger!!

pretty gross. no – i really don’t mind trying to cook new things – i’m just too clumsy. last night i was going to be sweet and make fried chicken for isseki but ended up making him mad at me for hurting myself! foiled again! (more…)

It’s the official end of the Obon season in Japan. Every August 13th to 15th Japan celebrates the Buddhist “Festival of the Dead”. Deceased ancestors are welcomed home to visit their relatives and almost everyone returns to their hometowns to clean graves, visit with family, and attend festivals. I married into an unreligious family, however, so Isseki and I just have an extra day off to enjoy each other and for me to give you the scoop on what’s been happening lately… (more…)

Ah – the honeymoon. Never did I realize how much it was a necessity after a wedding – not just a luxury. (more…)

Wow – it’s over! All of that preparation and stress and I can barely remember what happened for nerves and the rush of it all. I’ll tell you what I can recall: (more…)

Living Under Fascism
by Davidson Loehr
7 November 2004

You may wonder why anyone would try to use the word “fascism” in a serious discussion of where America is today. It sounds like cheap name-calling, or melodramatic allusion to a slew of old war movies. But I am serious. I don’t mean it as name-calling at all. I mean to persuade you that the style of governing into which America has slid is most accurately described as fascism, and that the necessary implications of this fact are rightly regarded as terrifying. That’s what I am about here. And even if I don’t persuade you, I hope to raise the level of your thinking about who and where we are now, to add some nuance and perhaps some useful insights. (more…)

Since we are having our wedding here, I thought you might be interested in knowing about Japanese wedding etiquette (never mind the fact that I need to know about it!): (more…)

あけましておめでとうございます！ことしもよろしくお願いします！
Akemashite Omedetou Gozaimasu! Kotoshi mo yoroshiku onegaishimasu!
Happy New Year! I hope we will have a good relationship again this year!

The New Year’s Holiday is probably one of the biggest and most important holidays in Japan. (more…)

Married. 30. Settling down. This is about where I stand at the beginning of 2005…and it’s good. Might I gush for a minute? I am as happy as I could be with married life – every day I realize more and more how I choose the perfect man for me. Not perfect by any stretch of the imagination – neither am I, of course – but perfect for me.

The holidays were quiet but nice. Christmas Eve was a romantic French dinner with my husband where he presented me with my engagement ring – it is breathtaking. (more…)

March: move back to USA from Japan. July: travel to Japan for 3 months. September: return to the USA to move back to Japan. Didn’t I say I was moving back to the USA because I wanted to settle down and have one home for longer than 4 years (my life long record)? (more…)

PLEASE REMEMBER THAT NOVEMBER 2 HAS BEEN DESIGNATED

AS NATIONAL CELIBACY DAY………..NO BUSH…….NO DICK

16(2003)★6/20 (fri) LOFT RECORD PRESENTS ～WAIT FOR THE BLACKOUT～ at/下北沢shelter w/MORGUE SIDE SINEMA→タイガン→25m.FLOATER→manos
and who am i there to see? you guessed it – the girl band! and with good reason – Belters rock (thank you Yuka!)! a night out with good friends – some risking their friday to go see a band i love – others already fans. before we can say pinkeye we are confronted with a wall of guitar and a vocalist that sounds and looks nothing like any local Japanese band. think hair. think fun. think pixies meets weezer. were we dancing?? oh yeah. (more…)

how sweet you all are! come over and i’ll give you each a BIG kiss! thanks to everyone who took time to read and give us congrats and well wishes – very appreciated. good to know someone else found that message from his grandparents humorous – romanticism and practicality together at last.
i’m back home (wait – where is that?) trying to organize an international move, a vacation for isseki including but not limited to a trip here with excursions to NYC and RI, and other life things that must be dealt with. isseki’s band, 25m. floater got a show at the CMJ music marathon – their first in the USA so we are all very excited about that – if you’re in the area it’s at Club RARE, Friday October 15th.
otherwise i hope to see some of you soon!
love love, heather mary

PS – the next book you should buy “Breathing Fire 2: Canada’s New Poets” – check out the much loved and admired Sheryda Warrener within!

I know I’ve been MIA for a bit now but I’m back and armed with a new medium of communication! I just started with this so it’s all in it’s basic form now but hopefully with some time and patience I will make it my own!

After a rough August full of discovery, the subsequent growing pains between Isseki and I, and my grappling with serious self-worth issues stemming from my new role in life – I arrived in September with a more positive outlook, a stronger relationship and feeling like I was falling in love with Isseki again. I began posting my resume on various job sites and researching the job market again. I found a local organization that provides information and assistance to foreigners of all nationalities living in Japan and began volunteering there. I applied for a job working on their newest issue of “Living in Kobe” book. I did a trial lesson for two different conversation schools in the area. Oh the wonders just leaving the house and feeling like you have options can do for the psyche! (more…)