I am here! (I think...)

Hello blogosphere! I am in Japan, but I am still waiting for my computer to arrive and to be hooked up to the internet at home. Right now I am in an internet cafe, but Japanese keyboards suck (can someone tell me where the damned apostrophe key is?) and I do not want to write a long e-mail. Plus I am tired and sick and the thought of going home to my bed sounds good.

I will write a substantive post when I am ready. I have a lot to talk about, including two great send-offs and my friend, Matt. Plus, all the crazy life-in-Japan shit (oh yeah, that.).

Hold tight for more details! In the meantime, enjoy this picture of an octopus shaving.

I'm out, bitches!

Unsettling days.

This waiting around business isn't for me. I'd like to say these recent days have been busy and productive, but there's really not much for me to do. At the same time, they haven't been relaxing, either. There's just too much stuff I'm really anxious about.

I started shipping out my stuff this week. On Monday, I shipped out two boxes of indispensable books that managed to avoid the dumpster. I used "M-Bags" from the USPS--a good, cheap way to send printed material overseas (thanks to my friend Aaron for the tip, by the way). On Thursday, I sent out the box containing my PS2, George Foreman Grill, DVD Player, some old writing manuscripts, and other miscellaneous stuff. Together, both shipments cost about $200, and, seeing how I likely have about 2-3 more boxes still left (one of which being the ultra-expensive airfrieght for my PC & peripherals), I'm starting to get very concerned about my available moving funds.

That's why I really need my car to sell. I have an ad out in the paper, but that's only drawn a few phone calls. One guy said he wanted to look at it today, but the bastard stood me up! (Usually that only happens with girls, heh heh.) I've invested a lot of money into it recently: the new igntion lock cylinder, an oil change, a carwash + wax, and some long-overdue hubcaps. I've never had hubcaps on it before (they struck me as extravagent and unnecessary), but they're on there now. My car officially looks better than it ever has, but I still can't sell the damn thing. Once it does sell, I'll feel much more financially secure.

On Monday, I drove a van to pick up some international students from DIA. They're Kobe Kaisei students from the school I'll soon be teaching at, and I and another teacher needed to drive them from the airport to their dorms at Colorado State University via passenger vans rented out from CSU's motor pool.

This other teacher/van driver has disturbed me from the day I met him. He frequently discusses how much he loves all things Japanese, especially the women. I've met plenty of people who prefer Asian women, and I've often wondered if this constitutes a so-called "fetish." But now I understand the difference between preference and fetish. Preference means, I think, a natural gravitation toward a certain type, but nothing so single-minded that others of a different type are immediately disregarded. What this other teacher/van driver appears to have, however, is not a preference, but rather a full-blown Asian woman fetish.

Here's what I mean:

• Before deciding to go with two passenger vans, the IEP was planning on using one passenger, and one luggage van. This guy was quite insistent that he drive the van with people in it. What's the big deal? The exhausted students usually just fall asleep in the van, relegating them to the same sphere as luggage as far as company is concerned.
• When we arrived at the airport, this guy started taking numerous pictures of the students. Japanese girls are, for the most part, far from camera-shy, but they've been sitting on a cramped and hot airplane for the better part of 24 hours. If I were in their position, I certainly wouldn't want some stranger taking pictures of me. (I don't even want to know what he was doing with the pictures afterward. . .)
• Later, this guy started questioning the students about their physical dimensions. Not like underwear measurements, but rather height and so on. Strange, huh?
• When he arrived at the dorm his students were staying in, he stayed a full 30 minutes longer than I did. What was he doing? Well, according to him, he was helping them arrange their closets and double-checking on them to make sure they were OK before he left. How would you like it if some weird guy helped you unpack?
  

Overall, I was quite creeped out, but at least it was an educational experience on the distinction between preference and fetish. A fetish seems to entail an obsession or mania, and this guy definately seemed obsessed. The aggravating part of the whole episode was that this guy could get away with doing creepy things like this because the students, who likely haven't met too many Americans, might assume his creepy behavior is just the way American men are. The alarming part is that he might also be a teacher for several of these students at the IEP, and the combination of a lopsided power dynamic and an apparent obsession could create an awful experience for these students. I was planning on informing someone in power, but someone else who was there that night did the job for me (thanks Jordan!), so I can go away to Japan knowing that this guy will be monitored.

But that's about the only thing I really feel settled about right now. I'm having some mixed feelings about leaving Fort Collins. On the one hand, I love this town. I've lived in it for the majority of my life, and I know just about every neighborhood inside and out. I'm comfortable here. On the other hand, I often feel as if I've worn out my welcome. In spite of living here for years, there's only a small handful of people I'd really consider friends.

Oh well. This could just be another manifestation of the cyclical meloncholy I'm often prone to. Or maybe I'm just jittery about the upcoming flight, and my nerves about this are spilling over into other areas of my life. I really hate commercial flying. Really. Here's the truth: I would rather some guy in a safari hat shoot me a dozen times with a tranquilizer rifle and transport me to Japan in a gorilla cage than fly economy class across the Pacific. I'm dead serious, and if anyone reading this can help me out in this regard, I'd really appreciate it.

Anyhoo, enough bitching from me. I'll end this post with a picture by the incomparable Cyril Rolando. I think it accurately reflects my mood.

So bored, I figured I would post.

Hello. This will probably be a short post as I have little news to report.

My car is fixed--the key will now turn in the ignition thanks to the addition of a new lock cylinder, which, at a cost of over $100, is hopefully a steal. I'd like to say I'm really elated about my exciting and sexy new lock cylinder, but, unfortunately, I'll only be using it for a maximum of two weeks. At least the car will be easier to sell now that it works.

Speaking of which, if anyone wants to buy a sleek and stylish 1990 Oldsmobile 98-Series with 97K miles on it, let me know. My asking price is $1,500, but if you say you read about it on my blog, I'll knock it down to a cool grand. That's what we like to call "The Crepuscular Ray Difference."

I've also bought three new books for reading in Japan. Two are by David Foster Wallace--Oblivion, a book of short stories which I have not read, and Infinite Jest, a brilliant book which I began but didn't finish before letting someone borrow it (stupid me!). I forget who currently has my old copy, but now I have a new one and plan on starting over. The other book is The Sot-Weed Factor, by John Barth. This one comes recommend by Errol, my cell-mate back in high school (and much of junior high, elementary, and kindergarten).

All three books total about 2,200 pages, and their combined weight will probably add another $5-6 to my overall shipping expenses. But it should be worth it--the last time I was in Japan, I had quite a difficult time finding books in English (go figure). I can now add these three books to others I've been reading, but haven't finished, as well as others I've been meaning to start, but haven't gotten around to. With all the reading I'll be doing, I'll likely return from Japan with a massive, pulsating cranium that is even more brutally eye-catching than my current head.

On this freakish note, I'll conclude the post with a 3D piece entitled "My Uncle Cthulu", by Fred Bastide. If you've ever read H.P. Lovecraft (another author on my "to-finish" list), then you might recognize Cthulu, the immortal god of sheer terror and unpronounceable names. Cthulu represents a horror so intense that the mere sight of him (it?) regularly renders those who witness his sick, terrifying majesty utterly insane. Apparently, he's also an avid motorcycle enthusiast and relative of Bastide's.

Enjoy!

Free Stuff! (if you don't mind dumpster diving.)

I just finished moving out of my apartment, and in dramatic fashion. I spent Saturday, Sunday, and Monday throwing all my stuff in the middle of the living room and then separating the 5% I needed/wanted/was-willing-to-ship from the other 95% that I had to say goodbye forever to. This was difficult! I kept thinking about how expensive overseas shipping is, and how badly I wanted to hang on to each item. When it was all said and done, I was on a first name basis with the guy at Savers Thrift Store, and 2.5 dumpsters in my apartment complex were filled with decades of memory-inspiring items that ultimately held no monetary value.

This wanton disposal of personal effects kind of made me feel like a cold-hearted bastard. So-and-so gave me this item!, I'd think to myself. What would they say if they knew I was throwing their gift away? Even worse was the items which conjured up instant memories--my dead grandfather's La-Z-Boy, my Japanese Matrix Poster, my WWI-era bayonet, and on and on. I worry that tossing all that in some sense means that the memories and meanings are, in essence, being erased (ala Kaufman's Eternal Sunshine) and I find this somewhat upsetting.

But that's enough of that. I am in slight danger of violating the dread "No Sentimentality" rule, but the fact is that this stuff is gone, so, in the end, the forces of sentimentality lost. This should please the rulemaker.

Some good news and some bad news:

The good news is that I am now currently able to fit all of my possesions in my Oldsmobile.

The bad news is that my Oldsmobile stopped working today. The key will no longer turn (no matter how much forceful jiggling is applied to the steering wheel), so I had to have it towed to a mechanic.

The good news is that I don't have to sleep in my Oldsmobile (which currently resides in the mechanic's noisy and crowded garage). My friend is letting me stay in her basement.

The bad news is that her basement futon isn't nearly as comfortable as my dearly departed mattress + boxsprings.

The good news is that I didn't have to donate or throw away the aforementioned matress + boxsprings. The same friend who is letting me stay in her basement is allowing my mattress to stay indefinitely in her attic.

The bad news is that I can't sleep in the attic on my beloved mattress + boxsprings. Not enough room; too much uncovered insulation and dust.

Other good news: the lady at the leasing office of my old apartment was quite pleased with the cleaning job I'd done on my old apartment. She'll give me my entire security deposit back.

Other bad news: I won't receive the security deposit for 45 days, when I'll be in Japan and no longer in need of the security deposit.

Anyway, that's the lowdown on the progress I've been making in my move to Japan. Things are shaky and nervewracking and just a little scary. But exciting at the same time! Kind of reminds me of this picture I saw recently. It's by a French (I think) 2D CG artist named Cyril Rolando. I've recently become a big fan of his artwork, which is often thematically-related and of highly symbolic nature (I think). This piece in particular has beautiful clouds--which I've always been a sucker for. Thanks for reading my post, and I hope you enjoy this picture.