Halfway to Oregon

When my mom asked me if I would meet her in Hawaii on my way back to the states, I thought about it for 5 minutes, and then I said yes. I'm now on the Big Island, staying in Kona. My mom will be joining me here in a few days, but for now I’m on my own.

At the ripe age of 27, the guilt associated with tanning and endless sun basking has grown pretty strong. To avoid the all day lounge, I’ve been doing a lot of hiking along the rocky coastline. I’ll admit that until the hikes began, I wasn’t too keen on Kona. Chain restaurants & groups of half naked men yelling at me out the backs of their trucks isn’t my idea of vacation. Fortunately, since the hikes began, the nature and wildlife are turning me into more of a Kona fan.

This island is different from the others because it’s the newest. It’s still pouring molten lava into the ocean. This makes for a very rocky (lava rock) coastline. The lava creates these partially enclosed pools just at the point where the ocean meets the sand or rock. After my long hike today, I tested one of the pools out and gave it an A+!

Things I saw today:

Lots of surfers
4 Hawaiian green turtles sunbathing
A dirty old swimming pool that needs some love and restoration
Lots of lava rock & really cool driftwood
A little bird in a tree
A great sunset – deep orange/red sun, grey/green waves framed with the black & white rocky coast (all I could think about was getting my hands on some paint)

Crafting & Octopus Pancake Balls

I've come to the conclusion that, as hard as I decorate, our apartment is not getting any larger. It's definitely time to slow down, stop decorating, and start crafting. I decided to take Krystin’s advice and start making some stuff. Here we have a camera case and a white summer skirt. Thanks for the push, K-spell:)


I wish I could say that I made the street food! The octopus balls were purchased near Omote-sando, in Harajuku. I know they look terrible, but they were actually super tasty - lots of steam and sauce.

A Nice, Too Short Weekend in Tokyo

This past weekend was a nice one. Friday night we saw a great art exhibit. It was at Roppongi Hills. It was all about laughter and funny art. The first part of the exhibit included ancient Japanese art. My favorite pieces were these 6th century sculptures of characters with big old goofy grins on their faces. It’s nice to know that even way back then, people were goofing around and having a good time. The second part of the exhibit was all new, modern art from all over the world. They explained the exhibit as a representation of a new art movement, a new kind of Dadaism. It was filled with quirky, strange, funny and smart ideas. I couldn’t help thinking of David Neevel, Seth Gross & Eric Mallory. There was a huge installation of wind up doll businessmen crawling over a map of the world, tackling each other over skyscrapers & horses. There was a lot of video, one of which starred a grocery cart filled to the brim with groceries. The cart was alone, bumping into things and wandering through the aisles of a grocery store.

After the show, we went up to the top of the Mori building. This was exciting because it was at night, and the view was outrageous. After exploring Tokyo for a while now, we could look out at the city and see all the places and directions we had been to.

Saturday morning we went for a jog. It was nice, sunny and cool. And I finally got to take Driscoll to my favorite restaurant in Nakameguro. After lunch, we strolled through Nakameguro and happened upon a really great thrift store. It had multiple shelves of amazing, vintage fabric, as well as some really nice vintage furniture. Some friends invited us over for dinner on Saturday, a rare but exciting event these days.

Sunday was spent lounging at home. I helped Driscoll cut some wood for a bed frame, which he actually managed to put together in one day!

I guess we’re starting to get more and more comfortable here in Tokyo. It’s feeling less like the biggest city in the world, and more like a familiar place that’s filled with a lot of the stuff we love. I do miss my people, a lot, but the good news is that I’ll be seeing you all soon!

Warm & Friendly Noguchi Lamp

I think Noguchi’s design of this lamp is dead on. It resembles a very sweet little animal of some kind. It also puts out soft, warm light. I can’t think of a better pairing for a lamp. When I look over at it, I almost feel like there’s a very friendly person or creature in the room with me. Aside from providing its owners with some creature company, it does a great job of lighting up the room. So smart.

Only in Japan

This happened a while ago, but I forgot to post it until now. I’ve gotten in the habit of carrying an extra pair of shoes with me. I do this because we walk everywhere, and sometimes, before you know it, you’re halfway across town in a fabric store or someplace, and you realize you’ve got a blister on your foot, and a long walk home. When we went to Kyoto, I changed my shoes on the train. I left the pair I’d taken off under the seat. I didn’t realize that I’d left my shoes under the seat until we had gotten off the train and watched it bullet away from us. In any other place I’ve been to, that would have been it. My little green walking shoes would have been lost forever. But, fortunately, we were in Japan. My shoes ended up traveling all the way down to Hiroshima, but they were mailed and returned to us within 3 days of losing them! Like I said - only in Japan.

Everyone, Stop What You're Doing

...and go to my 'David - Portland' link. Click on his link 'i went and saw the new david lynch film this weekend.' You've got to see ‘Neevel does Lynch’

So funny.