another very busy day : )

last day of April

sometimes we sit and think and sometimes . . . we just sit

California poppies enjoying the California sunshine

snack time

sunflowers, blue sky, a new pinwheel and Casiopea

the simple joy of holding a pinwheel in the wind.  the Japanese word for pinwheel is kazaguruma.  here is an interesting video i found about a unique kazaguruma.

blooming near my home

well, i did get a little more done today than yesterday.  EVA Airlines said there is a seat for me on friday's flight from LAX to KIX.  FedEx is helping me return some Crocs that were too big.  i walked to Target for a few things for my trip and then took the bus back to Office Depot for some new ink for my printer.  that sounds like a full day to me.  and i made a little video (above).  the music is Wildflowers by Akira Jimbo.  and Akira Jimbo is who?  he is the drummer for Casiopea (below). i first heard this song about 25 years ago and have the cassette tape to prove it.

cover art of the 1985 album Halle by Casiopea.  their sound reminds me of a warm summer day (or late April) with a pinwheel spinning in the breeze and a sunflowers yellow's petals reaching for the sky.

procrastinate . . . now!

ok, i am going to try and get a few things done today before today becomes tomorrow and tomorrow becomes thursday and so on and so on until my next trip which if all goes well will be on friday.  (is that sentence grammatically correct?)  i will start getting things done right after this episode of Law and Order: Criminal Intent (the one with Goren) is over or at the latest after the next episode  . . . well, there's is always tomorrow.

my philosophy summed up on a t-shirt in Dotonbori

and on a sticker in Loft.

it's a small world after all

and the dance begins

Maiko-san in Kyoto during the Hanatoro

the photos of the Maiko-san (apprentice geiko/geisha) and chochin (paper lantern) were taken about a month ago in Kyoto.  and while thinking about March 2009, i realized it was 20 years ago last month that Steve and i moved to LA in March 1989. my life is almost the same as it was 20 years ago (give or take several pounds) while Steve's life (wife, 2 kids, new job) has changed quite a bit.  and while thinking about that i realized it was 11 years ago that i moved into this apartment where i live now.  i actually have less now than when i moved to LA or perhaps i really have more.

remembering, Japan

home again again again

i took the long way home but i am here and it is a nice and sunny day.  i flew to San Francisco on my airline and then i was able to catch a flight on Southwest Airlines down to Los Angeles.  luckily their flight was a little late as my 5 and half flight to San Francisco was a little late.  i sat beside a nice couple from Houston, Texas who were returning from a wonderful Hawaiian vacation.  and on my flight to SFO, i had the whole row.  it was a short night last night due to trying to do some research on the hotel's computer on how to get home from Philadelphia.  all the flights today (sunday) to LAX, LAS, PHX, and SAN were full but the early morning flight to SFO had 60 open seats.  tonikaku, all went as planned and now i am on "vacation" again until  . . .

Tony sees Fuji-san on the flight to SFO

and speaking of long way home, "congratulations" to my little sister and her husband on running the Big Sur Marathon.  although i do not know how they did, i am sure they did well.

my condolences

upon checking up on Sam Baker this afternoon, i found about the passing of his father Ollie Lee Baker at the age of 89.  

Las Vegas on a Friday night

here are some images from my Friday evening in Las Vegas.  it took awhile but i did find some "live music" finally at Harrah's and O'Sheas Casino. from my hotel (not on The Strip) a nice co-worker and i  walked to and thru Bally's into Paris. Cindy (my co-worker who incidentally had the same last name as mine but no relation) was looking for some place to eat.  i was looking for "live music".  she left me to find dinner and i continued to and over "The Strip" to Bellagio.  in Bellagio i listened to the pianist in the lobby for one song before he went on break.  and then i walked into the beautiful Conservatory and Botanical Gardens which included a nice butterfly house.  i walked back outside as night was falling to watch the dancing waters show. . . something by Sinatra. and then i walked back thru Bellagio and across the pedestrian overpass to Ceasar's Palace.  no live music in Ceasar's.  from there i crossed the street to Harrah's where i listened to The Twins until about midnite.

      

and finally around 1230am i found a live band at the Dublin' Up Lounge at O'Sheas Casino. i listened for about an hour to this very entertaining band before walking back to my hotel around 2am.

world's tallest chocolate fountain

oshigoto

back to work. now i am in Philly. tomorrow in Tampa and then finding some live music in Las Vegas on friday night. back to Philly on saturday. possibly flying to London on sunday. possibly not. more later.

another beautiful day in the south bay

one of the few photos i took today.

since i will probably be leaving for the east coast tomorrow and because i stayed up way too late the last two nights and got up way too early and needed to catch up from my month in Japan, i did not stray too far from the Carioca Gardens.  i did get a few things accomplised like listening to some music, watching the new Kobukuro dvd (birthday present from Noriko), paying a few bills, writing a few emails and that is always a good thing but no walk to the beach, no swim in the ocean, no workout at the gym ... maybe tomorrow before catching the bus to the airport for my afternoon flight.  and i think i only took a couple of photos today.  here are a  few beautiful sunny day images from one of my last days in Japan.

koinobori no sora

koinobori no kage

did i mention there was a lot of soccer fans last sunday?  oh did i say "soccer", i meant sakura (cherry blossoms).  this is the pathway that passes in front of the Zohekyoku (Mint Bureau).  they open up their gates for about a week for the hundreds of thousands of cherry blossom fans.  we are actually moving very slowly along a pathway in between many many different kinds of cherry blossoms.  there are "keibi" (security guards) with megaphones telling us to walk slowly and  . . . please refrain from taking photos.  for a dear friend of mine, it was her first  (and last) visit  there.

summer is here, not the usual endless summer but i mean record hot temperatures all around LA

can you imagine diving into this delicious looking water?

i can.  i did.  and it was SPECTACULAR on this really really warm day in April

 

this is the wave that almost ruined my camera (the Casio not the Canon) but i got a good image of what it was like to be in the ocean today.  the camera got wet but took a lickin' and kept on tickin'.  it became a little cloudy in the late afternoon but it was still warm and still nice to be in the water and still nice to be at the beach.

3 phases of flight

sunset reflection

last glimmer of today's sunset

blue twinkling night with palm trees X 2 

remember where i was last monday?