A Garden of Lights

Kenrokuen isn't the only garden that is lit up for holidays. The Denver Botanical Gardens does an annual "Blossoms of Light" display that grows in splendor and size every year. Since it has been at least two years since I last put in an appearance, I was shocked to see how ambitious the decorations had become.



Elizabeth and I braved some chilly temperatures to take in the scenery. The sights were worth it, but I must admit that she showed much patience with me and my tripod, stopping every few steps to snap a few shots.



Ironically though, the next night when we went to the Zoo's display, people were miffed when I DIDN'T bring my gear, as I hadn't wanted to slow the group down with my incessant shutter snapping.



At least I got some nice pictures from the gardens, I suppose I'll just have to wait till next year to properly document the Zoo Lights.

Happy New Year!

To celebrate the dawning of a chilly 2008, a group of us headed downtown to try something new. Rather than staying home and going to bed at 9:30, we were off to the swanky club, dressed in swanky duds, to usher in the New Year with some style!



Of course, style costs, we had to pay for the privilege of being swanky. The cost was in both cold hard cash, and cold hard ice forming on our legs. It was bad enough in suit pants, I can't imagine how the poor women, in their dresses, must have suffered.



It was a chilly wait for the light rail, at 1 AM, but in the end, it was a great experience, albeit not one I am likely to repeat next year!



As far as resolutions go I've decided to...

Work at keeping up my Japanese level, and see if I can improve it a bit.

Take German classes and see about that.

Polish my photography, maybe take a class or just keep buying and devouring photo books.

Think about Masters programs, see if I can find something I like, here or abroad.

Travel!

A White Christmas

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...

Japan in Sepia

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!

Hard Work

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.

Sunset

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.

A Rock and Roll Weekend!

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,

Well, I'm starting work today!

My re-entry into the world of employment commences in one hour. Wish me luck!

How Many Shopping Days 'Till Christmas?

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!

An idea.

While I was getting some photos developed the other day, I noticed that you can now have a personalized 12 month calendar made using your own photographs. It got me thinking about making up a Japan calendar, as I do have about 10,000 pictures covering my 24 month stay. I dare say I could find 12 interesting images to make a calendar. The question is, would anybody else be interested in owning one of these? Let me know, either through e-mail or comments if you, my loyal readers, think this would be a good idea.

Happy Birthday Elizabeth!

For her birthday I took Elizabeth the girlfriend (not Elizabeth the sister, whose birthday is soon but not now) to Idaho Springs for a dose of mountain air and smelly hot water. We had a great time meandering around the foothills, and lucked out with a bit of impromptu elk viewing.

Happy Turkey Day

Happy Thanksgiving, especially to those still in Japan, the land that turkey forgot.

The view from Lou's

A bit up the road from my Grandparent's ranch sits the glorious abode of their neighbor, Lou Rovano. While he lives in the greater bay area most of the time, he often spends weekends up in the wine country, growing grapes and making his own vintage. We took some time away from sawing and splitting to take a quick tour of his house, and try some of his delicious home made port.

Starry Night

One thing that has been denied to me for too long was a glimpse of the night sky unblocked by light pollution. While it can be fun to hang out in the brighter than the noonday sun lighting of Shinjuku and Shibuya, the omnipresent neon glare doesn't do astronomers any favors.



Luckily for me, my grand parents ranch is two miles from the nearest town, and tiny Hopland isn't exactly a metroplex on the Tokyo scale. Combine distance with a new moon, and for the first time in ages I had a night sky that was perfect for star gazing.



My total count of "interesting objects" for my time in California came up with a single satellite and a grand five shooting stars! One of those was a pretty large fireball that left a trail across the night sky. I was one thrilled little sky junky that night.



Of course I also had the opportunity to dust off my little used tripod and try some night shots. Unfortunately I don't have a remote, so I was limited to 30 second exposures, which isn't really enough time to get good detail. Luckily, photoshop came to the rescue, and with some enhancement and modification I got some interesting detail out of a couple of my sky shots.



I also tried some interesting lighting schemes with my grandfathers giant flashlight. I was shocked that my attempt to write "Hi!" with light was actually legible, but the standout it my "close encounters" aliens swooping down to abduct a deer on the hillside. Even though I was merely holding the light over my head, it looks a lot like a beam shooting down from the heavens!

Falling for fall in the Wine Country.

Huzzah!

I am (or at least will shortly be) gainfully employed once more. I was offered a customer service position with EF Educational Tours. I'll be fielding calls from concerned parents dealing with the company's study abroad trips. The position is certainly entry level in pay, but there are some pretty nice perks, including discounted airline tickets and three weeks paid vacation. I'm pretty excited about the job, and looking forward to earning money once again!

By the way, a big thank you to Alexis for forwarding me the job posting, without her I'd still be scanning Craigslist!

Westward Bound

This past weekend I ventured out to the wilds of Northern California to visit with most of the members of my fathers side of the family. Being that I've been gone for two years, it had been a long time since I had seen any of the California Contingent. I was looking forward to visiting with a lot of good people, and sampling the glorious views and weather of fall in the Wine Country.



Plenty of time was set aside to help my grandfather around the house, and the ranch. With all four of his sons visiting for the weekend, you can imagine that plenty got accomplished, and plenty of beer got consumed!



A very high priority for the boys was this pile of wood the was in need of splitting. A major source of heat for the living room of the ranch is a wood burning stove, and my grandparents will need plenty of wood by the time the winter is over! Luckily, they now have LOTS of wood ready to go. I should know, as I stacked most of it, though certainly that was far from the most difficult job on offer. That would be felling the actual trees...

Love Letter

Kanazawa City
Ishikawa Prefecture
Japan

Dear Kanazawa,

I miss you.

I'll admit, when I first met you, I didn't like you very much. You were cold, and covered in wet, slushy snow. I didn't really know you though, and as the seasons changed and I grew to know your back ways and small bars and restaurants, I grew to love you more and more. Over the twenty months that I lived with you, you really got under my skin. Even now, sometimes I just wander your streets with google earth. Its not that Denver isn't a great city, but she lacks your intimacy and exoticism. I just wanted to write, and let you know that I'll never forget you, and that I'll be back for a visit as soon as I can.

Love,

Grant

金沢市
石川県
日本

拝啓　金沢、

さみし　です。

きみ　は　さむい　いつ　ぼく　は　来ました。でも　雪　の　あとで　きみ　は　きれい　でした。きみ　の　居酒屋　や　お好み焼き屋　や　バー　や　こんびに　すごい　おいしおいしかった　です。　ぼく　は　すぐ　帰ります。ことばじち。

大好き

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