eve of twenty ten

just got in from my walk to the beach for the last sunset of 2009. more about that and the rest of the day but here are some interesting photos i took while waiting on the full moon. i need to some laundry (how exciting on new year's eve). unfortunately, no Kohaku "red and white" show.

love love love

all you need is "love love love" (2000). try not to tap your toes, try not to clap your hands, try not to smile. this song always brings a smile to my heart.

Hirai Ken

forecast did call for misty rain

after about 2 weeks of working and not working out, it felt good to get back to the gym. two hours of cardio and then i walked a couple of miles to buy next month's bus pass . . . i will try not to wash it this time. from there i took the bus back home but first stopped off at the bank to deposit the check i received for "picking up" that trip to San Francisco. by that time the misty messy rain had begun. i choose to go umbrella-less for my short walk home. it felt good to be out in the weather. here a few colorful and raindropped images from my today. and no, i did not call to set up an appointment to have my shoulder looked at. maybe tomorrow.

stillness outside and inside too

an old friend called yesterday during my nap after my long night and day of flying back and forth across the country and i thought it was already today as the night had fallen while i was asleep. now at 6am it is still and still dark as i am getting ready to go the gym. two more days until twenty ten. here are a few photos from a cold night in San Francisco last week.

long distance dedication . . .

before my nap, (and during my nap) and again after my nap i was watching and then re-watching some of the video that Noriko sent me for christmas. the first few hours are a music special. of course, her favorite Kobukuro was on and they sang Stay. but it was Ken Hirai singing one of my favorite (old) songs of his called Love Love Love that caused me to look for the original music video of the song. i found it and will add it one day. however while looking for the Hirai Ken video i found this live version of a classic Carole King / James Taylor song. i dedicate this song to her and her Parents who are going thru a difficult end of the year.

Hirai Ken and Crystal Kay

and speaking of Kobukuro and that FSN 2009 music special . . .

home for the rest of the year

somewhere west of Philadelphia and east of Los Angeles. can you see the rainbow?

long night, long flight home but the key word is home. the sun is a shining. soon i will be a nap, nap, napping.

LAX (noonish)

ittekimasu?

memories of december : christmas lights, rushing here and there and back again.

just about to leave for the airport again. maybe, maybe i will be back tonite. hopefully, hopefully by tomorrow morning or early afternoon

electric tanpopo

no snow, no camera (a little different than no music, no life)

update to my previous sunday update. time to start looking for a new camera. there was no snow in the park where i think i lost my camera. my "lost camera" signs were still up. but no camera to be found. let it go. time for lunch and football (with the sound turned down).

always sunny in . . .

nice and sunny and clear here in Chester, PA. i may go look for my camera one last time as the heavy rain from yesterday washed away almost all of last week's snow storm. i am flying back to LAX tonite but . . . i may not be able to get home until tomorrow because the flight is scheduled to land at 1125p and the last bus home from the airport is at 1135p. and i am scheduled to stay in Culver City not Redondo Beach. it will all work out i am sure. if i stay in Culver City, i will take the bus home in the morning. time for my sunday walk here in Chester. and then maybe a little football on tv.

on the road mata

it was nice to make it home for Christmas and thank you to all who sent cards and gifts. i will properly "thank you" when i get home again. hopefully that will be before 2010 begins. here a few images from my 23rd, 24th and 25th.

home for christmas

just got in from a long day of traveling sounds like a good excuse to take a little nap but . . . i will walk to the beach while the sun is still shining on this christmas day in the south bay.

i just heard this nice line on tv . . . sometimes in Life when you get what you want you find that you miss what you had. (or something like that).

merry christmas, mister christ

and so this is christmas eve (still)

just got in from a nice little walk. temperature in the low 30's. yes, it is cold but i did get some good snowy wintry photos. but no, no luck on finding my "lost" camera. i did put up a few "lost camera" signs near the park where i think my camera is freezing under the snow. time to get ready to get ready to go to the airport. tonite, Orlando. and then tomorrow, home for christmas. how did you like the two versions of Yamashita Tatsuro's "Merry Christmas Eve"

merry christmas eve

ya gotta see San Francisco at Christmastime

it is a beautiful city in any season but it is very colorful during the holidays. time to rest a little before tonite's red-eye back to Philly. oh, and . . . "i'll be home for christmas". i should be arriving sometime in the afternoon on the 25th. and then
leaving again on the 26th.

brrrrr it's cold here in SFO

i am colder now after walking around in San Francisco until midnite then i was walking in the snow around Chester, PA. but, i did take some nice christmas illumination photos. and i saw some trolley cars and heard a possibly homeless man playing "silent night" on a trumpet on a corner near Union Square. i am still trying to forget about losing yet another camera today in the snow. so, that is one camera in the ocean and one in the snow this year. and one at the beach (and one on the airplane two years ago). i will definately put "not losing cameras" on my new year's resolution(s) list. when i get back to Chester on friday morning i will look again for my camera as the snow should have melted. but, i am not holding my breath that it will turn up. i think someone in Chester will have a nice christmas present. time to get some hot chocolate.

33f is what in c?

33f is about .5 c
just got in from a little walk to the market. fortunately most of the sidewalks around here are clear of snow but i did have to step into some foot-deep-snow-footprints made by some brave pedistrian pioneers before me to cross a couple of streets. and by the way 33f is cold. i did get a few christmas lights' photos . . . and that is a priority. i hope to get out for a walk tomorrow for some more snow photos. and then tomorrow about this time i will be on my way to a warmer San Francisco.

snowbound?

maybe i will see some snow today in PHL. gotta go.

no snow

it was a beautiful day in San Diego. and fortunately my flight came from Charlotte so no delays flying back to Charlotte. no snow here in Charlotte and tomorrow i am sure there will be no snow where i am going . . . Jamaica. but, i will only be there for about an hour. if all goes as planned, i will end up tomorrow night in Tampa, Florida. and then back to the "commuter" hotel in Philly on monday afternoon. so, there is still time to send christmas cards and presents as i probably won't be home until the end of the year.

so far, so good

just about to have lunch here in Chester. yesterday i worked for a co-worker from LAX to PHL so she could fly home to SFO. easy flight, nice crew, nice guests . . . well, there was one little incident but all was resolved. time for lunch. tonite i will end up in San Diego so i hope to go for a little walk by the harbor tomorrow morning.

ps. i changed the blog "clock" back to Pacific Coast Time. not that you notice the day or time.

if all goes as planned . . .

we will be on our way to the airport soon. and then to Philly. and if all that goes as planned, tomorrow night we will be in San Diego. it has been almost four months since i was at work. (not including working out). more from somewhere . . .

last sunrise before heading east.

here but soon to be there

well, not there (KIX). was there an Osakan in Ralph's?

the ike (pond) below my window. the palm trees are actually by the pool

tsutsuji or sazanka? ok, class if you were paying attention this should be an easy one.

speaking of Bara no nai Hanaya, i found these two rose petals on may to the market (Ralph's). i hope to finish watching BNNH tonite.

self-portrait, busy. what am i carrying? not one but two uniform pants from the dry cleaners. somebody's finally going to work soon.

and speaking of self-portraits and one of my all-time favorite pianists/musicians . . .

i have this music on cassette from mukashi mukashi. and a cassette is : )

meanwhile back in Japan (2)

i had the wonderful privilege of hearing about and hearing/watching (on tv) this extraordinary Japanese pianist, Nobuyuki Tsujii, last month in Japan. please take 4 minutes to sit quietly and listen. and then check out his web page to learn a little bit about him. tonite after dinner and after putting away all my christmas wrapping paper and christmas cards and after trying to get my apartment just a wee bit neater, i decided to go thru another old un-labeled video tape.

this one was from Japan sometime last year. and guess who was on it? Pan-kun and James? yes. Mathew? yes. SMAP? yes. Eigo de Shabera Night? yes. and 10 minutes about a blind pianist . . . Nobuyuki Tsujii. and that is why i decided to add him to my blog tonite.

and speaking of dinner, i tried a new soup tonite . . . carrot ginger soup from Trader Joe's. not my favorite but a nice change to my usual tomato and chicken noodle. (not tomato chicken noodle)(two different soups at two different times).

where did the day go (part 2)

no, that's not me in the photo but i did finally make it to the post office today. and if you really want to know, i went twice. they say "timing is everything", well the first time i went to the post office, i had to wait about 40 minutes to mail some christmas things. unfortunately one of the boxes i was using was for "priority mail" and it would cost $10 extra to send it. Erwin, the nice postal clerk, tried to find another box to put it in but he didn't have the right size. no problem, i would come back tomorrow. at home, i found the right size box so i walked back about 10 minutes before the post office closed. this time it only took 5 minutes. good timing. one more full day at home. what to do, what to do? when to fly out, when to fly out?

Manhattan Beach Santa skier. the true meaning of christmas in southern california.

can you see the snow on the mountains? i took this photo on my second walk to the post office.

the wrong box. ok, someone knows they are getting something in the mail.

where did the day go

starting with a good workout and then a walk, some shopping, some more walking and then the bus home. if you would have been with me today you might have seen some of these images. it was a mostly sunny day but i don't think the temperature reached 70f. i am sure it will be colder in Philly in a few days. i had good talk with Francisco at the gym. he is the most dedicated to getting into shape and losing weight person i know. hopefully that sentence made sense. i also talked with Matthew who works for Disney. we were doing our laundry at the same time this afternoon. i hope to see some of his art work one day. time for dinner and some Monday Night Football. wow, i had breakfast at 730a and no lunch. and now it is almost 6pm. where did the day go?

if you get a chance, if you like Holiday music, check out this station. they are the official station for your Holiday Music.

sun rays. unfortunately they are hard to see in this photo but they were there and they were . . . . spectacular.

Domo-kun in Torrance

14 shopping days left?

half sun/half shade tanpopo (dandelion). ok, i was causing the shade.

meanwhile back in Japan . . .

one of my last meals. Onabe. and oh, i wish i was having it tonite.

i'm back . . .

. . . said the sun and the blue sky and the tsuyukusa. just got back from a short walk. time for brunch and football. and hopefully today i will finish my holiday cards. i still have a few more tomorrows before returning to work.

early morning blue sky and everyday power lines.

a common sight in Japan the day after a rainy day . . . to see a kasa (umbrella) drying but not so common here. nice shadows from the morning sun.

tsuyukusa and kage . . . 露草と陰 . . . blue day flower and shadow

same flower as yesterday. leftover raindrops. (different camera also).

early afternoon view out my front door.

a good day to stay inside but . . .

it is still raining. hopefully that "still" conveys the fact that is has been rainy, misty, messy the whole day. i was rained on several times . . . on the way to the beach, at the beach, walking to Trader Joe's and then again while walking home. fortunately a bus came by just as it began to rain heavily. i jumped on. not much fun trying to take photos holding an umbrella and a bag of groceries. i did go out again in the rain after i got home to take a few more rainy day photos.

as i told a neighbor who saw me getting wet, "the best time to take rainy day photos is . . . when it is raining". here are a few photos from today.