Sunny Day

   Looks like the storm is holding off, so there's some great, sunny weather. I biked home and enjoyed the coolness of the summer wind at my back. As soon as I got home, I grabbed my camera and headed down the street to take some pictures while the weather is great. I gripe a lot about this being the country, but the scenery and colors really are great.

   Read on!

The Gathering Storm

   It's been generally hot and unpleasant for a while, but that's something that comes with summer. The humidity's been really high and I thought we'd get some relief since it rained last night, but apparently it didn't rain hard enough.

   The sky today is gorgeous, though.

Birthday

   Yesterday was my birthday.

   Quarter of a century, yep.

   I had a simple plan; wake up around 5 to shower/clean the apartment a little, catch a ride at 6:40ish to go to the judo tournament and cheer for my judo girls in the prefecturals, then come home and do laundry or something. Nothing spectacular; I don't really celebrate birthdays. Not that there's anything to do out here. Or anyone to do it with.

   So I woke up around five, showered, cleaned, worked on the HTPC a bit more...

   Read on!

Making a Home (Theater!)

    I've never really had a home in Japan, for whatever reason. I've had apartments, but they were generally just places to dump my stuff and sleep. My last apartment was really big, but I only ever really used the corner of it -- that's where I put my futon. I always sat/laid there while I used my computer and that was all I needed.

    Sure, I got a sofa bed and put it in the other room of my old apartment, but that was more of a concession to impending visitors from America and Britain than anything else -- just like the table I bought. When I wasn't expecting visitors, my apartment turned into a giant dump.

    Literally.

    I'm not kidding. I would just dump my stuff on an empty space on the floor, lacking the furniture or some other more organized place to store it. As far as I was concerned, the apartment was just a giant storage shed because I never did anything else that warranted... well, anything else.

    That changed this year.

   Read on!