Long time no see, guys. I've been exhausting to work and work and work all day long! You know that the Mother's Day is coming? Seems it still popular to give flowers on Mother's Day.... That's why I'm so busy these days!!
I've never found myself to be into photography this much and I think it's because cherries of this spring were so great. I never got bored taking pictures of them.
However, I cannot spent the time taking pictures as much as I want to these days, because I'm working five days a week now and barely be able to go out all day since my weekly holidays are separated.
Sorry for using the same motif again and again, but I just love it.
A long, long time ago... I can still remember How that music used to make me smile And I knew if I had my chance That I could make those people dance And, maybe, they'd be happy for a while
But February made me shiver With every paper I'd deliver Bad news on the doorstep; I couldn't take one more step
I can't remember if I cried When I read about his widowed bride, But something touched me deep inside The day the music died
So bye-bye, miss american pie Drove my chevy to the levee, But the levee was dry And them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye Singin', this'll be the day that I die This'll be the day that I die
And in the streets: the children screamed, The lovers cried, and the poets dreamed But not a word was spoken; The church bells all were broken And the three men I admire most: The father, son, and the holy ghost, They caught the last train for the coast The day the music died
And they were singing, Bye-bye, miss american pie Drove my chevy to the levee, But the levee was dry And them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye Singin', this'll be the day that I die. This'll be the day that I die.
"Find the tiny little man in this picture" by OLYMPUS E-410
I'm gonna write about a place where I used to live, very very freely. It's about Virginia/ DC.
I have lived there for just three months and originally I was not supposed to move out California. The reason why I decided to put myself in another state was because I wanted to see the real America with my eyes for real. Honestly, it didn't matter where it was. First of all, my English teacher in California told me one day, "Your English could be perfect if you move to a smaller town with lesser Japanese people and stay there only six months." Maybe he said that for just encouraging me to study harder, but I took that seriously and started thinking about it all the time. But at the same time, I have no confidence to be out of such a great Japanese friendly city of Los Angeles, so that I asked my agent to find out a lesser-Japanese ESL near Los Angeles...you know it's a kind of impossible.
A few days later, I got two replies from them. One said they would be looking for schools that I asked, and the other was suggested me to move to Virginia. I had already told them that I didn't have enough money to start a whole new life in somewhere else, so moving far was not an idea which I needed. But my very supportive counselor dared to say that I should move out California if I really wanted to improve not just my English but also my skill on living in a foreign country by myself. There were some reliable reasons for me to chose Virginia to stay. Because of the lower living expense, because of the reasonable tuition with high leveled education, because of the free museums and stuff, and because of the almost non-population of Japanese in spite of being a big state next to the Capital.
Sure it did sound great ...but it was way too farther than my expectation. Six hours flying and three hours difference in the same country!? "Where the hell is Virginia?" that what I though first, even though I was in " the hell" just one month after that. Then, I did realize there was a weather, possibilities of not being sunny, on this globe. It was raining on my first Monday , and I already thrown my unused umbrella away when I left a dorm in LA, a.k.a. the sunniest place in the USA.... However, instead of the "weather," all colors in East were so lovely to me. Look at the picture above. That's exactly what you can see in fall in DC. I'm sure I'll go there and see those colors again.
Unfortunately, I could stay in the East for only three months, because of my financial crisis and some other issues...I don't know. The most important thing is, was my English improved? What do you think? You know what, as a matter of fact, I was struggling at the new school in DC. Although I took the highest scores in my former school in LA sometimes, it was really hard for me to catch up with classes and I barely understood what they were talking about. All my classmates seemed to be familiar with using many spoken English which I'd never used before. Most of them were already decided to stay America forever and could speak English like native speakers (of course they just sounded like that to me). What I learned at school in DC was not just English knowledge, but how to used it properly and enjoy complicated conversations with people from whole other countries. On the top of them, I learned how to watch and how to enjoy the American TV shows because my first class used these DVDs as textbook. I can say, those TV programs were my best teachers of spoken English.
So, long story short, I moved to Virginia to watch TV shows all the time in order to train my English brain. Anyhow, moving to Virginia and staying around DC have changed my life. I've got "my life" over there. Seen many stuff which I'd never expected to. Met a best friend who can understand me form my deepest. Well, now I'm really really worrying...which state, California or Virginia, I should be back after I earn enough money to make my dream of returning to America true? Come on, seriously...
Actually, Kyoto's temporary population of foreign people literally skyrockets on this time of year. I felt like I was walking around in a whole other country.
(The very left person's name is not Michel Jackson, by the way.)
I went to Kyoto with a friend from my ex-work this weekend. I kind of hated to go to Kyoto in this "peak" time, because there are millions of people visiting Kyoto from all over the world and it is really unbelievably deadly crowded there.
What I got to know was, there was a reason why it was called as a "peak." Everything just looked most beautiful in Kyoto, on that season.
If I should die before I wake That's 'cause you took my breath away Losing you is like living in a world with no air
I'm here alone, didn't want to leave My heart won't move, it's incomplete If there was a way that I can make you understand
But how do you expect me to live alone with just me ? 'Cause my world revolves around you It's so hard for me to breathe
Tell me how I'm supposed to breathe with no air Can't live, can't breathe with no air It's how I feel whenever you ain't there It's no air, no air Got me out here in the water so deep Tell me how you gon' be without me If you ain't here, I just can't breathe It's no air, no air
Those are which I bought for my mother at my work. Since I had spent out my whole first paycheck on my new camera, I thought she would yell at me on the day where the camera came home. So I used employee credit just for making my mother's madness even. Of course she was so happy to get those popular flowers for free, and also didn't seem to be angry at all. She keeps asking me, " What are you gonna take next with your cool gizmo? " She is such a sweet mother to her children.
I know exactly what you are thinking about. Yes, it really is a typical picture of spring. You are not supposed to take this sort of "classic" with your big special geeky camera. But I'm pretty sure that now you cannot help smiling by seeing this peaceful shot.
I was in Kyoto today, and took some pictures of cherry trees. The purpose of going to Kyoto was to see an exhibition of Japanese painter, Toshio Tbuchi. He draws so-called Japanese art pictures, but I have had no idea what exactly Japanese art was. Does it need to contain something from Japan, like old temples or Mt.Fuji? ...No, maybe it doesn't. After looking at his works, I got to think that our imaginations make the art Japanese. Mr.Tabuchi only used Chinese ink for his paintings and there were no other colors but white and black. ( I would have to say there were many kinds of gray color on his works. ) Even if a painting was titled "Snowy mountains," you couldn't see snow on it, because he didn't draw it properly. But you can firmly feel there are cold snowy mountains, and remember how Japanese winters are severe and beautiful during the snow seasons.
It goes without saying, his art inspired today's my photo trend (!)a lot. I took this cherry's picture, but you have to awake your image of beautiful spring days to see it as a picture of cherry blossoms. See shine from the right side, put blue clear sky on the background, and touch small pink petals with your heart, please.
I'm expecting the spring is coming soon. However, there is a strong tendency of Japanese climate which is known as "returning cold" at the beginning of every spring. You are about to take off your tick and heavy winter coat and put on a light spring jacket instead, but this "returning cold" will punch you up and force to equip those winter outfits again. Not only humans, most cherry blossoms stop blooming during this period. Bummer! Especially this year, we're having a big returning cold here in Japan. Spring is just around the corner, but feel like my house is 12 blocks far from there.
Happy April full day, by the way! Have you told lies yet today? Yes, I lied only once. Because I didn't tell any lies today.
