Glasses and more

Thursday Apr 1, 2004

Last November my eyes began to become irritated very easily. At first I just thought it was a simple night of bad sleep or perhaps pink eye. Time passed and the eyes did not return to their brilliant white shine. Sandye suggested that perhaps a visit to the Doctor would be in order. The appointment was made. After sitting in front of a huge fish tank and being surrounded by about 300 men and women with walkers, I was taken in and told that my problem was allergetic and that I was going to need a "contact vacation." I was also given eye drops and was told to use them until the red was out. 4 months later I wear glasses more than contacts and everytime I return to my beloved frameless corrected vision my eyes turn as red as a tomato. I think I'm just going to go get cute glasses so at least I will feel good about wearing them.

I love Los Angeles. I understand this is an extreme 180 from where I used to stand on the issue, but at different times in our lives we need different things. Right now I need a place that has other people my age, warm and comforting weather, and tons of friends for support. San Francisco is simply too old, too flaky, too intermittently warm weathered, and too stressfull for me at this point. Right now I am eager to roll up my sleeves and get to work building a career and a life that I enjoy and want to work hard at. Working in music up here is like running against the wind. I'm more than willing to run up hill, I just want nice weather and other people to run with.

Japan review never was completed. I was rushed in and out of SF for my weekend in LA. Some final thoughts on Japan: Sachiko and I were able to enjoy an onsen (public hot spring bath) on the side of Sakurajima, a beautiful active volcano just to the Southeast of Kagoshima-Shi. The view was breath taking, the water hot, and my robe -- well it wasn't quite tied right. See there was a tie on the inside and the out, and I was not aware of this internal robe securing device. As a result a breathtaking view was being enjoyed by the Japanese business men I was trying to stay clothed in front of. Oh and yes, in case you are confused, we were all sitting in robes in the water looking out at the ocean. Alot of water...Alot of robes.

What else? Well a couple days later we ventured off on a four hour ferry ride to beautiful Yokushima, island of monkeys and old old cedar trees. Here I was the driver!! Which meant sitting on the right side of the vehicle and driving on the left side of the road. We almost died 3 times. En route we were able to see well over 45 monkeys sitting next to the road, hanging in trees, jumping off cliffs, attempting to enter our vehicle, etc. Yes we saw one jump off a cliff. I was asking it questions and it seemed rattled. Everytime I pointed at it, it jerked suddenly. The last jerk resulted in a plummet out of our site of range. The sound of my voice lulled this poor primate to take its own life. Shame.

Besides the brilliant monkeys, trees, waterfalls, deer, there was an amazing Ryoken that we stayed at. It resembled a log cabin, only in Japanese style. For bathing there was an outdoor house with a stone bath heated by a fire. In our room we met another one of nature's friends: what i nicknamed The Japanese Huge Ass Spider. This spider was about the size of your hand and thick like a tarantula. I was not happy about his company. The owner assured us that they were not harmful and were actually necessary to keep the foot length centipedes at bay. I am still getting the shivers thinking about this.

Japan was an amazing adventure and I am thrilled I had the opportunity to go. Sachiko was a great host and we had an amazing time! Top Highlight/Worst Moment time:

Bad News first...The worst moment goes to my return flight. I was aboard United's Asiana Airlines, their Korean brand. I struggled to fall asleep for most of the flight. When I finally did I was awoken moments later by the turning on of the lights and a screaming voice saying something about breakfast. I figured I would at least get something good in my stomach and then fall back asleep. "Monkfish or Shrimpfried rice?" In my head I thought "F. U.!" but instead I just shook my head and went back to sleep.

Top moment/highlight. This is hard because I really loved so much about the trip. I think I probably had the most fun singing Kareoke but I also loved the restaurant we ate at the last night that had Beatles lyrics on the walls. And seeings monkeys was amazing too. So its a toss up.

Alright I feel a little bit more caught up now. Time to get back to work.

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Glasses and more

Thursday Apr 1, 2004