On Foot or By Train

We have been on foot and train now for six days:

I have bruises on the bottom of my feet.
Blisters on the tops of my feet.
Allergies - which, buying drugs in a foreign country is just a smidge scary
I have eaten pork, turkey, cheese, couple things I am not to sure of
My body hurts....bad.  Real bad.

These all may be true but I am having the time of my life. Japan is my new favorite place that I never knew that I was suppose to see. 

Ok, time is running out.

Love,
C

It's Only Been 4 Days....

We've been here 4 days and we've been on the go non-stop.  I can't even put words together to describe what we've done/seen.  This is partially because its 5:00 am and I'm mostly incoherent but it could also be because there are just no words to describe breathtaking beauty, kindness, generosity and hospitality of Japan and the people here.  

When words fail me, the next best course of action is obviously lists.  So here are your highs and lows:

Highs: 

• Eating black eggs at Mt. Fuji
• Stroll around Imperial Palace Park
• UNESCO World Heritage Site Shrines and Temples of Nikkō, Futarasan Shrine and Tōshō-gū shinto temples and Rinnō-ji, the buddist temple.
• Onsen - hot soak and scrub down
• Bullet Trains
• Japanese cowboy street performers
• Senso-ji Temple at Askakusa
• My sister
• Perfect weather
• Menus with pictures
• The food: soba, gyoza, rice, pickled everything, ice cream 
• Blossoms everywhere

Lows:  

• Backpacking.  Maybe I'm carrying 40lbs of my personal belongings. And maybe it's really effing heavy when you're tired and sore.    
• Body aches and pains from backpacking.  

We leave Tokyo in a few hours to head to Takayama and then on to Kyoto.  After Kyoto we're off to Osaka and then up to Misawa.  All via bullet train at 200 mph.  Could it get more amazing?  

I'll update the next time I have insomnia and internet access.

Miss you all.    

Love,

C

Just Try Me

Names you probably shouldn’t call me before 5:00 pm today:

• Babe
• Sweetie
• Girly
• Hun

 All of which have happened before 9:00 this morning already. So, really, just try me…

Happy Freakin' Tax Day.

Inspired

This Week:

• It's National Public Library Week. This makes my heart skip a beat and inspires me to do what I really want to do.  Baby steps, I'll get there.
• Had Book Club last night with a great discussion about The Big Short. Plus, I talked to a woman who went back to school at the age of 51 and had the time of her life.  She inspires me.  
• I got a card from the woman who I consider to be my second mom just saying hi and letting me know she was thinking about me.  We haven't talked in months. She inspires me. 
• I got an email from a friend half-way around the world wishing me luck this week.  She inspires me.
• I talked to a friend who absolutely loves his job.  He's excited to go to work in the morning, the day flies by, is sad when the day is over and he has to go home. Then does it all over again. He doesn't make a lot of money but you can hear the joy in his voice. He inspires me.   

Guys, its been a rough, oh, four weeks.  I'm so very very tired. But I am so very very inspired.   

Overheard in the Office

Co Worker 1: You see the light at the end of the tunnel?
Co Worker 2: No, my tunnel is closing and it's pitch black.


CW: Hell yeah we have a sense of humor around here. It shows up around April 16th.


CW To Me: Do you want me to experiment with you?…..awkward pause. Hold on, let me rephrase that.


CW at about 6:00pm: Shoot me in the f*cking face. 


CW: “When I was an undergrad, when I still thought it was ok to be a drama major…”


Neighbor: You look like you put some effort in getting ready this morning.
Me: Wow, that’s only mildly insulting.
Neighbor: It was suppose to be a compliment.
Me: Well, you failed.


CW: Do you want to touch the end of my mixer? (Twice)

Neighbor holding a handful of candy out to me: You can have it all, except for the skittles, because that’s fruit. Obviously. Same for the gummy bears. (I took the chocolate obviously)


One week to go folks.  Do your taxes.

My dear Mr. President

April 9, 2010

My dear Mr. President:

Having concluded that it would be in the best interests of the Court to have my successor appointed and confirmed well in advance of the commencement of the Court's next Term, I shall retire from regular active service as an Associate Justice, under the provisions of 28 U.S.C. § 371(b), effective the next day after the Court rises for the summer recess this year.

Most respectfully yours,
John Paul Stevens
 
 
Don't you just want to hug him?

Musical Life Complete

I’ve seen Stevie Nicks sing Landslide. Live.
I’ve seen Elton John sing Tiny Dancer, Levon, Daniel, and Mona Lisa and Mad Hatters. All live.
I’ve seen Chicago sing 25 or 6 to 4. Live.
I’ve seen The Eagles sing Take it to the Limit, Desperado and Wasted Time. Live.
I’ve seen Tom Petty sing Free Fallin’ and Mary Jane’s Last Dance. Live.
I’ve even seen Styx sing Come Sail Away. Live.

I thought I had seen the best of the best. That was until Thursday.

The first time I saw Patty Griffin was in a NFP used book store in Soho, sitting on a hardwood floor, crammed up against adoring fans. That was four years ago. That concert changed my life and the subsequent album that came a couple years after that, also changed my life.

Now I’ve seen Patty Griffin sing Heavenly Day and Up to the Mountain. Live. Live, in the flesh, from Row B, center at the Moore Theatre.

My musical life is pretty much complete. I’ve musically peaked at 27. It’s downhill from here folks.

*Apologies to SH for making it uncomfortable when I started to cry. It happens.

Word for Word

Under used words for the week:  

• alacrity
• genesis (the non-capitalized noun version)
• jeepers

Speaking of words, I was researching the etymology and definition of the word “homonym” today, like you do, and was a little shaken. It was like Wikipedia was trying to blow my mind and prove me wrong all in one swift motion. After momentarily thinking that I had been using the incorrect word my whole English speaking life, turns out, I’ve only been partially wrong. *Gasp/Phew*.

Check it out:

“In linguistics, a homonym is, in the strict sense, one of a group of words that share the same spelling and the same pronunciation but have different meanings usually as a result of the two words having different origins. Examples of pairs of homonyms are stalk (part of a plant) and stalk (follow/harass a person), and left (opposite of right) and left (past tense of leave).”

Don't fret, you probably thought the same thing I have been thinking and you'd be partially right, as demonstrated here:

“In a looser non-technical sense, the term homonym can be used to refer to words that share the same spelling irrespective of pronunciation, or share the same pronunciation irrespective of spelling – in other words, they are homographs or homophones.[1] In this sense, pairs such as row (propel with oars) and row (argument), and read (peruse) and reed (waterside plant), would also be homonyms.”

 I have always used homonym is the broadest sense, unaware of the more detailed divisions. So, in the “strict sense” I’ve occasionally missused the word homonym, when I should have used heterograph, heteronym, homophone and alike. Here’s this helpful graph the explain the difference. PS. When you can Venn Diagram the English language its like two worlds colliding to make delicious…something, I don’t know...pie?

Moreover, it also turns out, Dr. Evil was right. Who doesn’t think of this line “I like to see girls of that... caliber. (comedic pause) By "caliber," of course, I refer to both the size of their gun barrels and the high quality of their characters... Two meanings... caliber... it's a homonym... Forget it,” when you hear the word “homonym?”

Speaking more about words, proper nouns will NOT be allowed in Scrabble contrary to some of the latest buzz, and as reported by NPR. Sigh.of.relief.  I had a boyfriend who was a Scrabble cheater. I believe it may have been a contributing factor in our demise. Kidding. Maybe.

Ok, that’s enough words about words for now. If you’re looking for more to read, you should check out David Brooks’ latest column, Roger Cohen’s latest column, and Wallance Stegner’s essay, “Everything Potent is Dangerous.”  Then let’s discuss.

Sew What?

I've really been itching to learn how to sew.  So I enlisted the help of the very talented LL to assist me in the endeavor.  After scouring crafty blogs, I found a skirt that even a monkey could do.     


And the results are in:

Lots of ironing and $8.97 later, I have myself a new skirt.  Just don't look to close at the hem line....

Your Friday Funny

Brought to you by the letter "Let's make fun of Cara"

I was trying to explain to my cube neighbor what happens when I faint, what starts it, etc.  He exclaims, "Is it like this?!"



Yes, it's a lot like that, just less funny.