I am the Traveling Grant and this is the blog of my life and travels. I have now lived in Japan for three years of the past five, currently making my home in the city of Maebashi outside of Tokyo.
A very Merry Christmas was had indeed. For Christmas Eve the lovely Elizabeth made it to our house from deepest darkest Aurora, and we were also joined by a few family friends. With great company, excellent roast beef and delicious wine, the evening was wonderful.
We awoke early this morning to a flurry of snow, and a gorgeous blanket of white was draped over the neighborhood. While it did keep us homebound for much of the day, it is hard to argue with the beauty of a White Christmas...
I recently obtained a copy of Adobe Lightroom (thanks sis!), and I've been having lots of fun with it. Lightroom is like a stripped down, more intuitive version of Photoshop produced especially for digital photographers. One of the many interesting tools at my disposal is a quick and easy sepia filter that really looks great, in my opinion. Changing photos, especially photos of castles and temples, to sepia never gets old!
It's hard to believe that I have now been employed for over two weeks. Now that I'm not sitting at home all day, time seems to be flying by, which is both good and bad. Monday was my first full day manning the phones, but we had computer problems so much of the day was spent doing nothing. The call volume has been dropping the closer we get to Christmas, I can't imagine many people will call their tour company on Christmas Eve!
So far, I really enjoy the job. I've taken some pretty cool calls, helped a lot of people, and even made money while doing it! Of course it's not as active or as hands on as teaching was, but the company seems better in a lot of ways, and my co-workers all seem pretty cool. I'd have to say that I think I probably lucked out, but only time will tell.
The other day we were treated to a truly glorious sunset. I just wish that I had a better angle for my photographs, it was very hard to do the view justice.
Yesterday I walked into Best Buy and lo and behold saw a single X-Box version of Rock Band.
For those who don't know, Rock Band is a new game where people can form their own virtual band, and using simulation instruments, rock out to over 60 famous songs. Its an offshoot of the famous Guitar Hero franchise, only instead of just guitars you can play lead, bass or drums, and even sing!
After a few ours of faux rock, I met up with Matt, Liz, Brian, and Daria, and we went to see Flogging Molly!
Flogging Molly has long been one of my favorite bands, with their mixing of traditional Irish instruments with the L.A. Punk scene an eclectic yet winning formula. I've seen them once before, and was blown away by the energy of their live show, so I was very eager to see a repeat performance.
Despite the horrific weather and snow, I wasn't dissapointed at all. The band about blew the roof off of The Filmore with the raw rock and roll energy. Everybody had a great time, and I hope they swing back through Denver again soon.
They finished their set with this song, Seven Deadly Sins,
A great way to get in the Christmas spirit is to drive into the mountains, wander the snowy forest until you find the perfect tree, then chop it down and drag it home. And so, that is exactly what Elizabeth, My Father, and Myself did this past Sunday. That we got to stop at the delicious Tommyknockers brewery on the way home didn't hurt. My muscles sure did though, dragging 9 foot pine trees is harder work than you would think!
