five most important

the five most important things i learned about Japan while i was there:

1) go front to hump


there's still some debate over this issue, however, i believe the best method of approach is front to hump. maybe it's different for guys. what do i know?

2) to get your waiter or waitress's attention, look for the button on the table, and press it


look closely, there's a big blue button hiding behind that salt shaker.

3) seven eleven equals cash


seven eleven is the only place your atm card will work other than the airport or post offices.

4)there are beans in everything


that may be an innocent looking matcha muffin thing there on that table, but look out, there are loads of sweetened beans in side. blagh.

5)deer biscuits taste like wafer ice cream cones


they really do. i tried some. and i had a wafer cone that day.

katy at Nijo-jo Castle in Kyoto

ryan and i on a train

the few times we gave al the camera to take pictures of us together, this sort of thing happened:

ryan and i in Kobe

osaka night vision spin

osaka night vision

ryan and i spent the majority of our trip to Japan in the city of Osaka. we did everything there was to do in Osaka with the exception of the Tennoju Zoo (which had all the standard zoo animals anyway).

one of my favorite nights in Osaka was when we went with our tomodachi Al to the floating observation deck suspended between two of Osaka's tallest sky scrapers.

the sight was absolutely breathtaking.

sakura

sakura is the japanese name for cherry blossoms. here are a few pretty pics of cherry blossoms ^_^


this was our first view of the blossoms in daylight:


from a taxi on our way to the Nijo-jo Castle in Kyoto:


it was very very sunny out, which is why ryan and i appear to be squinting here:


blossoms along the river (on our way to the wedding):


the blossoms on the water made the wedding all the more special:

from left to right: Adam's Dad (David Barker), Adam's Mum (can't remember her name, I'm sorry!), Adam Barker, and Nana (now Mrs.) Barker. Nana looked adorable and beautiful in her wedding kimono.

there really were blossoms all over Kyoto. this is on a little back road:


there weren't as many blossoms in Osaka (further south), but we did see this other type of cherry blossom at the Osaka Castle:


by the time we went to Nara, there didn't seem to many blossoms left at all:

(but there were plenty of dear to make up for the lack of pink in the trees!)

the Japan trip

Hello! Ryan and I just spent two full, stimulating weeks in the super colorful and exquisitely bizarre Japan. 

I took over 1,800 pictures on the trip, and though not all of them will make it up here, I promise to share lots and lots of them. So, the next few (many few) posts are going to be photographic detailings of my recent adventures in Japan. 

I hope you enjoy ^_^ 

and finally

i'm off to bed for a few hours before the long long long day of traveling to the land of the rising sun.

yellow lemons

i can't write poetry right now. i'm too excited! we're leaving for japan in less than two days. we're going out tonight to get the few last needed items and to see my mom and dad before we leave. hugs and stuff, necessary.

so i can't write a colorful poem for these colorful fruits:




but i'll be thinking of them, and maybe i'll write one later.

in the mean time, maybe you could write one. go on, have at it. then leave it in my comments so i can read it ^_^

the list

ryan and i are leaving for japan on thursday morning!

i have so much to do before we go, it's kind of silly. i don't really have time to blog at the moment, but then, blogging is way more fun than writing about blogging. so here's the to do list i told jenni i might put up...

• laundry - there's just one load left in the washer. everything else is hung to dry. given the next 24 hours everything should be dry and ready to be packed up for the trip.


• dishes - always need to do these...


• kitty medicine training - taylor and josh are coming over tomorrow afternoon for their kitty medicine training (sort of like mini med school)


• bank - my bank is good, they always look out for me. sometimes, though, they look out a little too much. i have to let them know i'm going to japan and all the cities i'm going to so they don't stop my card while i'm in a far far away place. fancy this, i also have a check to deposit ^_^


• itinerary - need to print this out at school, but keep forgetting. must remember.


• science class article - ughe.


• dump - am planning on doing this tomorrow am, but if it's pouring out again, then no way. it can wait until ryan's home to help.


• see mom and dad - so guess what... my dad's on facebook now ^_^ the whole family is there. anyway, ryan and i are going to stop by to see the rents before the big trip (need hugs and that).


• bills - make sure all the bills that are in, are paid.


• learn japanese - well, at least relearn some of what i used to know. like the alphabet (two of the three that is).


• purchase goodies - my cousin Andy wants oatmeal cream pies, and my tomodachi Al wants chunky peanut butter. i should also get ryan something to eat in case the plane food is yuckzors.


• passports - where are they?


• cleaning spree - i like to vacuum and clean the bathrooms before i leave. i don't know why. i just do. i guess so that i have a nice clean house to come home to after a long travel back.


• kitty little box extravaganza - both boxes need to be super clean so erin doesn't have that hard a time with them while we're away.


• buy more kitty litter - and kitty milk.


• shark socks - buy ryan shark socks to wear at the wedding.


• wedding card - gotta get one of these


• masha - buy and ship wedding shower gift for bunny. this might have to wait. she could always hold off for a japanese-y wedding shower gift i guess.

gosh, i think that'll do it for now. i think i'll go tackle some of these. like that silly science article.

hey jenni

check out my new superhero costume. and my husband's goofy face.

i just need an awesome name now.







p.s. this is currently a somethingkaty exclusive; not yet available on facebook.

katy

hair cut(e)

we both got one

next to human - another way

playing at

a friend of a friend's blog.

science of blogs

i have to write an article about blogs. i don't want to. i'd rather blog.

next to human

under the moon
we are triumphant
and starving

the blood of animals
stains our hands
and our feet

our ships came
like miracles
to the shores

where your women
danced and cried
like children

stripped naked
from the lust
for our strong men

those white shores
as they were then
are now black and red

and all the animals
that ruled this planet
are dead and eaten

and now we hunger
for more than songs
and victory marches

the warmth of power
is gone from our breath
and the passion snatched

for whom to rule
we have none
but our mothers


Photograph by Eugenio Recuenco

gaston

i will have you little flower
between my trigger finger

and pressed thumb


Photograph by Eugenio Recuenco

red heart and blue

you don't have to exist to remind me
that hurt hardens the skin of the heart

when you pushed your chest against mine
in fighting or in loving we met as equals

growing stronger by some parallel forces
then squabble and clash as the ocean erodes the sand

the sand stops the water short in a storm
like a fist to the face, the storm is a bloody nose

covering both faces with smoke and minor scars
they transend the clusters of sour words

melt between evenly painted walls in big houses
where wall paper has been torn down and replaced

to match something the consistancy of flesh
something that smoke sticks to and hearts beat through



photograph by Eugenio Recuenco

where are all the poems?

there haven't been many poems on here in a while. somethingkaty's been inundated with cupcake mania and bloggy posts. i'll work on this. just as soon as my school work gets done >_<

cute shoes

i can't seem to post modcloth.com stuff on facebook, so i'm going to post wanted items here.

you can add these to the "katy wants" list. an ever growing list of things that i would love to own and wear, but am not sure they're really worth the dollar signs.

Guilty Happy

Two of my best friends are unhappy. Both friends are dear to me for many reasons, one reason in particular though, is that they're also married, and having married couple friends is really nice when you're married. They are both unhappy in their marriages. So unhappy, that both marriages are on the verge of ending. I am so sorry for both of them, but at the same time, I am reaffirmed of my own happy marriage.

The other night I felt so guilty for being happily in love while the people around me are so miserable (medicated, depressed, crying). I felt so guilty that I cried. Fortunately for me though, I had a loving pair of shoulders to shed my tears all over.

I am so lucky, and I never forget it. Ryan is my best friend of all time and we have a really healthy relationship in other marital matters.



We met in person the summer of 2001 - 8 wonderful years ago - and we're still just as happy. Some days I would argue we're even happier than before.



We had a beautiful little wedding. Our wedding day - April 18th of 2004 - is still the best day of my life.

Now, we've got a happy little house, three lovely little kitties, and we make do despite my hesitance to join the real work force (not to say I don't work hard, I do, but we'd probably be a bit better well off if I hadn't gone to school and stayed at the hotel).



It's not just that these two friends of mine are going through difficult times with their spouses (really difficult), but also that some of my single friends are... well... single.

I love my girl friends at graduate school, but they go on about things that I don't find myself fully empathizing with; like swooning over professors. Now, I can swoon, but most of the time I just end up thinking about my boyo.

Is it weird to have a crush on your husband? I just can't help it. Sometimes he makes me giddy like a little girl.



He makes me giddy and happy. He can always make me better. The times I've broken down into tears over stupid little life things are innumerable, but so are the number of times he's been there to lift me back up and make sense of the world again. I know I'd be okay without him, but I am so happy and so lucky not to have to worry about that sort of scenario that my two married friends are facing at the moment.



Ryan is my best friend. He's also my lover. He's kind, generous, dedicated, loyal, sweet, caring... all the things you want your life partner to be. I couldn't be more lucky. I couldn't be more grateful.



Part of what makes us work so well together, though, is how much we share. We share interests, tastes, desires and senses of humor. But most of all we share our time. We plan together and arrange together and talk everything through. We're honest to one another. People who know Ryan and I know that if you tell me something, Ryan is going to find out about it in a short amount of time and visa verse. We talk. We even talk when we don't have anything to talk about (which, erm, if you know Ryan is almost never).

I thought it was simple to talk all the time. It seems not though, as not talking and not being honest seem to be the root of other people's marital problems.



So while my girlfriends are suffering, I am curled up on one of the twin red sofas with my amazing husband watching a scary movie and sharing a soda. He drinks diet soda because he feels bad having regular soda in the house while I'm in an effort to stay fit. My girlfriends are giving themselves up, while someone is giving up things for me. I guess that's another aspect of why we work so well together, because we're willing to make little sacrifices for one another. Hell, Ryan moved to another country half way round the world to live with me... if that isn't sacrifice I couldn't tell you what is.



I am happy. I feel bad about it sometimes. Nights like tonight are difficult, having to hold my friend as she weeps over her husband's most recent decision while my handsome, amazing husband is sat just a few feet away, concerned as much for how I might feel then as anything else in the world. How could I not feel happy to have someone like that in my life?

Ryan is behind my every smile, and even though I feel guilty for being so lucky, I won't refuse a smile. Not from him.

i (don't) wanna ...

mis amigas con blogos have both done a list of i wanna and i don't wanna, so i'm copying them. is my blog turning into a blog blog? oh dear. i need to write some poetries after this post.

i wanna...

i wanna learn how to play the drums
i wanna finish a complete draft of my thesis before i leave for japan
i wanna have a good time at my boyo's bday dinner party tonight
i wanna go over jill's house next weekend for a double date
i wanna go dress shopping
i wanna my bras to fit (sorry for the improper grammary here, parallelism comes first)
i wanna be able to stomach Audition
i wanna cut my hair
i wanna get ryan's hair cut before japan
i wanna take a nap today
i wanna re watch Dark City to wash the taste of Knowing out

i don't wanna...

i don't wanna eat carrots all day
i don't wanna write BWE tonight, and probably won't
i don't wanna apply for real life jobs or go on interviews
i don't wanna read boring articles for science class, can we read about sheep instead?
i don't wanna answer my phone anymore
i don't wanna get stuck on the other end of a crying wife and not know what to say
i don't wanna know what the millitary are going to do with him
i don't wanna call this grad student who wants me to proofread her thesis
i don't wanna check my email
i don't wanna join a gym

1826

someone there is taking a picture.

Cupcake Contest Winners

Winners of the Cupcake Decorating Contest: Taylor and Josh's Shark Attack Scene



First Runner Up: Liz's Tree of CupLife



Second Runner Up: Taylor's Cookie Monster w/ cookie



Best Cupcake Collage: Cookie Monster with Blue Shirt & Oscar the Grouch with Boobs



Most Contrversial Cupcake: TIE: (back of photo) Ryan's Birth and (front of photo) Jill's Failed Attempt at Mickey Mouse (a.k.a. Black Face)



Judge's Favorites: Shark Attack (winner), Tree of CupLife (1st Runner Up), and SpongeBob





BONUS: I took over 200 pictures last night, and a lot of them were fuzzy. Here's just one of many fuzzy photos of all the cupcakes together ^_^