A highly anticipated announcement of unparalleled suspense.

Each year around this time there is E3, the Electronics Entertainment Expo. Held in Southern California it is a whirlwind of lights, sound and hype as the major video game companies announce their new products to the world. Systems like the upcoming Playstation 3, or big games like the next Halo are unveiled amid spectacle and pagentry.

Well in the grand tradition of E3, I too have an announcemnt to make..

I'm getting Married.


Oh wait, no its PAUL thats getting married.. hmm..

well here goes,

I have officially renewed my contract for another year.

Yup, while it was a pretty tough decision to make, eventually I figured that I just wasn't quite finished with Japan yet. I still have things to do. Plus, it didn't make sense to leave just as I was getting the hang of things. I must also admit that I didn't feel like moving again so soon. I mean, I've moved 4 times in 12 months, and I don't want to do it again so soon. So while I do miss my family and friends, and Mexican food and those wide Colorado Skies and the Rocky Mountains and... *sigh*, I'll be gone a bit longer.



Mom left Kanazawa on Monday morning. In the afternoon a new houseguest arrived. One Elizabeth (of no relation to me) from Okazaki. A couch-surfer. Couch surfing ( http://www.couchsurfing.com ) is a dirt cheap way to travel the world in style. Go to the website, make a profile, and ask people to crash on their couchs. Or their spare futon, in my case. Since I had it all ready to go from when Mom was here, and wasn't going to fold it up before deares Liz (of some relation to me) arrived this weekend, I hosted my first surfer. I had a fun time playing host and tour guide, and am totally sold on the concept. I found a guy in Hong Kong who lets people surf with him a lot, and I think I may ask to crash on his couch when I get around to visiting that particular erstwhile British colony. Surfs Up!

Also because I have to have some photos to display, here are a few interesting Before/Afters of things I have modified in photoshop a touch.











Both Images are of Kyoto from the top of the mountain at Fushimi Inari. Notice how much difference a quick modification of Contrast and Color Levels can make. The picture that led off the post was so dark as to be almost black, but some tweaking and it looks quite nice!