I was an asian stegosaurus for Halloween. What were you?

Post-Halloween days have consisted of:

• Experiencing a sudden chocolate fixation
• Writing papers and thinking about writing papers
• Fixing any drawings I have made, and pounding my fist in frustration
• Inarticulation (Sometimes I think English was not meant to be my native language)

I’ve also decided to buy a sewing machine with the extra PayPal money I have.

Life has gone vroom vroom, and rainbows are practically coming out of my eyes, as evidenced my this picture I took with my newly-acquired & very lovely iPhone (If you are reading this, Thank you, Cala!).

The crucial word right now is lots — I am reading lots and lots, staring at the computer quite a lot, and thinking somewhat a lot, and lots more. However, I wish I could say I was finishing a lot. I wish I could say I’ve finished that zine with Rei’s story, and I wish I could say I have been drawing a lot. I guess I’ll have time on the Thanksgiving break, though I will probably be terribly lazy and sit around thinking about big turkey legs instead.

(I’m stealing the “big turkey leg” quote from one of my roommates, BigZom25, whose picture is featured above)

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This is me with my new melodica. Unfortunately, I have discovered that I am a crummy melodica player, but I am trying.

It’s my favorite season – so much anticipation heightened by the crisp air and crunchy leaves. This year, I suppose the crispness and the (slightly) crunchy leaves have spurred some musical energy in me — I’ve been playing a lot more ukulele, kazoo, and got a few toy instruments, and I’ve been writing some songs that perhaps one day I will put up once I get over my shyness.

Having had some extra money in Paypal, I purchased a melodica on impulse. Of course, despite this recent purchase and being the greedy little girl that I am, I am currently daydreaming about loop pedals and Telecasters.

Otherwise, this new October has found me in a flurry making mountains out of colored paper to decorate my wall. I moved in about a month ago, so I suppose I have had to time to make myself a proper room, and yet these mountains are solitary figures on my wall. This means this week will be about better time management and finally moving out of my sandbox bed, hopefully.

PS I got a job at FashionablyMarketing.Me! I will bury myself in fashion blogs as well as academic essays like the good chinchilla that I am…

Peter and I drew this.

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Let me share a few textual tidbits about adjustment:

a) My body/brain has fully adjusted to my time zone, and now I go to sleep at four in the morning like I used to. This is an example of something in between Good Adjustment and Bad Adjustment.

b) My brain/mouth/limbs have not adjusted to having awkwardness. If they did adjust, I wouldn’t be awkward anymore, I guess. This is an example of Bad Adjustment.

c) Yesterday, I realized that I can actually sleep in my new sandbox bed for more than four hours at a time, though I cough when sand gets stuck in my nose and mouth sometimes. This is an example of mostly Good Adjustment.

Here are some hats that Ghadibalo (Yes! They have been named!) men wear.

. . .

I am going to make lots of changes to my homepage with Indexhibit soon. I have plans on making myself more organized, and let’s hope this isn’t just another big dream of mine.

Drowsiness prevails, and thoughts about Paris persist. However, I am almost settled in!

I’ve been in a state of flux for about two weeks, and there’s at least two more weeks to go. I think I’ve lost items on the way, and I’m not being metaphorical when I say this. I mean, yes, parts of my persona have probably been shed or altered through my travels, but I’m also pretty sure I’ve lost my beloved, multi-colored Audiotechnica earphones. I miss them a lot.

I am back. Back as in I now have a working computer (though with a semi-functional return key) and can thus stare at glowing things all day, and also back as in I am in the U.S. for at least a couple of years. I plan to spend the next few years chomping on bagels with cream cheese & lox, stacking books higher and higher (I am going to be a student again), trying to be very disciplined at not talking about Japan all the time, and living in Washington, D.C. Hopefully, I can quell my travel lust by practicing the ukulele and kazoo more often. I might buy myself an accordion to weigh myself down in America.

From Tokyo it was Seoul and then Paris to visit a very good friend I hadn’t seen in two years.

I wielded with me a very large backpacking backpack on my back, a computer bag slung across my chest, and a suitcase the size of a giant squid. The Giant Squid Suitcase had in it two musical instruments wrapped in yards and yards (meters and meters) of bubble wrap and winter clothing.

I undressed the ukulele today, and it is in good condition.

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There’s an interview with me about zines on Tokyo Art Beat that you can read here. Jean Snow even linked to it, so it’s as if I briefly shook hands with an internet celebrity.

I must apologize for neglecting this blog. Soon, my friends, I will have regular internet access and a working computer. But until now, it’s こち亀がいいじゃん