Married
January 29, 2006
What a trip that was. Just reporting in after a couple of days back in Japan.
Thanks to everyone who came!
Photos and stories to come.
Spirit Man
January 17, 2006
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You fit in with: Spiritualism Your ideals are mostly spiritual, but in an individualistic way. While spirituality is very important in your life, organized religion itself may not be for you. It is best for you to seek these things on your own terms. 100% spiritual. |
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An affidavit
January 11, 2006
One thing I found out most recently is that to get married, I needed an affidavit declaring my eligibility to marry. I guess it’s not ok to have prior wife/wives or any other reasons why I can’t get married again. So off to the Canadian Consulate we went and with five freakin thousand yen (for a piece of paper), and a silly application form, I got my first ever piece of legal declaration. I bet working in the consulate must be one of the cushiest jobs. The hours they’re open are from 10:00 t0 12:00, then 14:00 to 16:00.
Here’s what the affidavit looks like, with some edits to identifying information and signatures. I’m sure the Consul of Canada doesn’t want her signature all over the internet.
For 50 bucks, that’s one of the most expensive pieces of paper describing myself I’ve ever bought.
Watch Your Tongue
January 07, 2006
An orange is an orange. Unless someone else tells you they think it’s an apple. Then to you, that orange is an apple. Or was it?
One thing that I hope my friends can attest to about me is that what I say and what you see is what you get. “I think you’re treating your puppy badly,” will mean that I think you’re treating your puppy badly. I don’t hide secret messages. For the sake of not hurting people’s feelings, I tone down my messages but I would never imply things I wouldn’t say to you. I don’t work like that.
Sometimes I forget that not everyone is like me. Sometimes people read hidden messages in my words that aren’t there. It’s really annoying when that happens because then I have to explain that I did not try to hide any messages. “I like your hat,” becomes “I don’t like your head or your shirt or your pants”. Somehow things are inferred that were completely out of my thoughts. While I can understand how such conclusions were reached, it’s not in my character to do such things. When words such as principles and morals are thrown into my face, it makes it even more frustrating as my principles and morals are so rock solid that I would never consciously do things that were somehow inferred from my words.
While I honestly can understand how this comes about, the net effect of all this is that once I learn you’re the kind of person who would doubt my character and project your own weakness in thinking onto my own messages, it just makes it so much harder for me to communicate with you. I will now have to watch every word that comes to my mouth and screen it for all possibly controversial signals. In effect, communication with you is no longer true as I’m NOT saying what I really mean now. I’m holding back and it’s going to cost us in the long run.
Perhaps I should become more diplomatic and considerate of all angles, no matter how absurd they can seem to me. Or perhaps we should all throw away our old hang ups and pettiness and take words for what they are.
Himeji Castle: The White Heron
January 03, 2006
One of the few remaining historical structures that wasn’t firebombed in WW2, Himeji Castle was built in 1346 and was consequently upgraded by the Toyotomi and Tokugawa Shogunate as a defensive fort against local Daimyo uprising. Today it is regarded as Japan’s most spectacular and well-preserved castle. The castle is also known as the White Heron due to the white plaster used on the walls and because it’s supposed to look like a heron in flight. Those guys were smoking something good when they thought of that. It is also another UNESCO world heritage site.
Happy 2 to the 006
January 01, 2006
What better way to ring in the new year than with an upgrade to WordPress 2.0? The GUI is much nicer but I really hate collapsing menus. The functionality seems to have been untouched but some plug-ins that worked in 1.5 did not work in 2.0. In particular, Redirectify didn’t work for me but Pages Links To does (it’s making my photo page redirect to an external gallery). I’m still having trouble with slow log in times with 2.0 but I have a feeling it’s because of the plug-ins I’m using.
We had a quiet countdown and we’re off to our regular hatsu-mode tomorrow morning with the lady’s family. I’m going to really get off my buttocks and get some information about the wedding in the next few days. Then, we’re finally planning to go to Himeji Castle one of these days as well.
Greetings from Japan!
