Today I forgot my public transit credit card, and when I asked about the fare, I was given the "grade school and high school student" discount.

So, maybe 24 isn't as glamorous as I'd thought.

In other news, weather reports indicate that we should be watching for freaking snow flurries today. Last night, I checked in on the Phoenix weather for my upcoming visit, which is expected to range from a balmy 65 to an unbelievable 90+ while I'm there. The packing process has taught me that I can't quite understand what this means from my particular vantage point in frozen Chicago, as I kept setting aside sweatshirts, wool sweaters, and wool socks. Hopefully, I will meet with more success tonight as I try to repack with more tees and sandals, rather than the parkas and boots that I set aside yesterday...

This is it, kiddies. We're headed off to the Opera (for free!). We'll be sitting just behind the Mezzanine boxes, and I am thrilled at the excellence of our seats. :) Thank you, my unknown friend, who, though unable to attend, offered his tickets to my coworker. (And thank you to my coworker, who knew that this would make my life). :)

After we had a few chilly mornings, and, to be more realistic, after I survived biking to work through them, I made a goal for myself of biking until November. Now, with the swift change in hours of daylight, and with the swift change in the wetness of the road, I'm thinking that I won't be able to make it each day until November, but, after biking on a wet and chilly day like today, I realized a few things that may or may help me with this goal:

My brakes are worthless when their wet. I might as well drag my feet. (get some shoes with industrial soles?).

The helmet can only withstand about a 1/2 mile of rain before the water makes its way to my scalp. The visor on the helmet is a big freaking joke after 30 seconds of rain. (purchase shower cap, I am so jazzed about this idea).

While I have my back end covered by a basket, I have little protection for my legs and feet up front. (Get a fender).

My jacket is not waterproof.

But, thick winter gloves are excellent at keeping the water and cold out.

Cold water on one's ass, no matter the circumstances, is truly unfortunate.

Waiting for the rain to stop is like waiting for paint to dry. (Note: find some wet paint to watch dry instead. Much dryer).

Today, I had a hiatus just long enough to partially dry, catch a chill, and then have to face the sad, drippy music of getting back on the bike in the rain. I would have preferred just standing in the rain the whole time. (Plus, all I got for my drying time was a wet ass as soon as I got back on my bike - guess who forgot her plastic bag?)

Also, biking 9 miles ill-equipped in the rain, in my estimation, is roughly equivalent to being dropped fully clothed 30 ft. into a lake, and then being told to bike out.

On a happier note, when returning home from said journey, I came across another young woman on a bike. When we saw each other and realized the unnecessary, terrible ordeal that we were sharing, we both cracked up, and I'm pretty sure that no one who could see us missed our smiles or our laughter. It was fairly absurd to be on a bike today, and for whatever reason, seeing her made me realize that I am a complete nut job.

So, it's October 2. It's chilly here, barely over 60 during the day, and down in the mid- to low-forties at night. I've been doing my darndest to ride my bike to work in spite of the weather (long johns!), and to stay cozy when I can. We've gotten out our wedding quilt, and the tell-tale ominous non-rain dark clouds have moved in for that unpleasantly grey color that is so characteristic of Chicago (and Cleveland!) winters.

Our apartment has been getting colder and colder as this happens, and it only just occurred to us (and by us I mean Mendon) that because we have a new landlord, and now that our faithful servant Christine isn't around, and now that our landlord isn't living on the premises, that perhaps we need to call and request, pretty please, will you make it warm for us?

I did so this afternoon. By 3 pm their "guys" had left, but there was a shimmery promise that, though they would not be by today, that I would be called back so that I could know when the heat would be on. So, at 5, I call back, neglected and confused, to find that the office had been empty for an hour (you told me that your hours were until 5, not 4! You said you'd call!), and that there would be no returning of calls today.

What a tall glass of disappointment! It's cold here, and even the city takes issues with these temperatures (there are regulations, and our apartment is currently in violation of them). Holy tamoles, I will be righteously pissed if we have to go the weekend with our apartment getting progressively colder. And what really gets me frustrated is that Mendon and I are hearty young things, and I know that there are plenty, plenty of people in this apartment who are not so hearty, who could really suffer were they to get sick from the cold.

So, while for Hirsch Management this is a business, I encourage them to remember that they are directly responsible for the health and well-being of numerous lives. My lovely neighbors are not a phone call that can be taken tomorrow. Dammit.

I had plans for this sale, this 8:30 am on a day off sale. I could do it, I could win!

And I did:

The key for those of us who might follow along in my little life follows.
Labradorite, blue and green glowing rock
agate, fancy black rock
Moonstone, surprise, blue glowing rock
More of the Labradorite, but this time tiny, cut, and more expensive!
Silver beads

So, after said investment, I squirreled away my acorns purchase into my purse, and zipped home like I had the Golden Ticket. I told Mendon about how really, life is about happiness, right? And so, it's OK to sometimes not be all about the 401K, right? Sometimes, we need to buy glowing rocks like a kid with a Dark Crystal fix, right?

After retiring to my mess of a beading space, I looked at my Preciouses and realized that they were awfully... grey. While this realization might have allowed the briefest bit of regret, it took a whopping nanosecond for me to remember that the stones are glowing and consequently cement my love for them.

See self-promoting advert on the side bar, that is my store. It is the means through which Mendon forgives my "investments."

Wednesday night, we were scheduled to have Mendon arrive back, to host Feast, and to pick up my mom from the airport. While Wednesday night was a wee bit of what I might call stressful, it was completely worth it to get my mom into town and start a mini-vacation for myself. Little did I know that this mini-vacation would become in my brain my last chance at summer. Everything that I wanted to do for weeks and weeks of working full time and teaching and not seeing the light of day came out full-force once my mom arrived.

Sorry, mom.

In spite of it all, I made it into work on Monday on my feet.

While one might assume that we used the week to catch up and rest a little bit, the truth of the story is that today (Friday), I’m barely able to sit up in my chair I’m so exhausted (by this, I mean that I might be able to, but it feels risky to try).

In the interim, Mendon started school. Organic Chemistry and Physics.

And, I think to myself, Oh, right, this is what it felt like to be in class all through university. I’ve resorted to trying to drink water to keep myself awake. Awesome!

Me and my Reese's puffs were bemoaning that I teach violin in my own home, and we were longing for a day when (1) I didn't have to clean twice a week and (2) there would be fewer distractions in my teaching space. Number two has really been getting to me - we have these giant windows in our living room, where I teach, plus all of our art, our furniture, my husband getting home from work, making tea, forgetting his tea and letting the water boil, etc, etc, etc. But, alas, I have not the money for a second rent for my own studio.

:(

And then, me and my Puffs realized that, holy tamole!, who the heck am I kidding? If I were teaching in a school, or a shop (which is feasible), I would be fighting trombones, percussionists, and (urrrr) vocalists. Now my apartment seems a sweet baby lamb next to the beast of an electric guitar lesson in the next room, with nary but a (haha) fortified cardboard divider between.

Tonight after the summer camp faculty recital, I saw my first lightning bug of the season. It pleased me so very much. It also made me wonder a bit about myself that one well-placed bug can either end/make-all-right-with the world.

I've been working full-time, freelancing for weddings mostly, teaching 3 (now 4!) violin students a week, practicing, and trying to sleep. But, the studio grows, and I am optimistic about its development, and my consequent employment.

Every day at lunch, I leave my building immediately. I head to the beach and either walk up and down the park paths, or sunbathe on the rocks near the lake. Today's highlights were: One (1) wandering black collie, a jewel-toned rainbow sail boat, a light breeze, and the bluest, bluest lake water I've ever seen. Today, I fantasized that I was on vacation in Florida, rather than on lunch break in the Midwest. That, dearies, is what we call an over-active imagination.

Over and out.

PS. I do still really, really want to write about Japan.

With comments, many have been uploaded to my flickr site:
http://flickr.com/photos/44351041@N00/

Think of it like conveyor belt sushi!

We arrived later on Sunday evening. I have decided that we successfully maneuvered Narita Int'l airport (the International airport for the largest city in the world,kids) because we were able to find Rebekah in a different terminal, from a different airline, through a different customs line. Needle in a haystack. From there, we also found our way through the subway to our "ryokan" (read: Japanese-style hostel), and cried because of our jetlag until we were able to go to sleep.

Day one was pretty slow at first. We were getting our bearings, getting money, train tickets, food, and sleep. It was not until noonish that we headed to the Studio Ghibli museum, which was absolutely delightful. My favorite room was the first that one comes across - it is filled with film and animation tricks that were magical. Next best was the robot from Castle in the Sky, who sits atop the roof. No comment on the food there, because we didn't sit down to enjoy it. But, I will point out that Mendon, Rebekah and I are all coming home with 3 sections of film from Miyazaki movies (Mendon has Castle in the Sky - the chase scene when Dola and Pazu are making a made dash for Sheeta in the military base, Rebekah has Calicfer's reclamation of his demon status, and I have one that no one could ID and for which the language barrier could not be overcome).

That evening, Mendon passed out, and Rebekah and I ran off to the temple complex and the shopping district. It was great. Pictures to follow. Then we headed out to the TMG observation tower. This part of our evening was laughable. We circled the building several times, following signs in Japanese (haha), until we were able to find an entrance that was open. This, under regular circumstances would be uneventful, but seeing as Mendon and I were (are) both jetlagged, and had been on our feet, all day, in the sun, we were barely scraping our feet one in front of the other. By the time we made it to the top, we were barely able to stand, so I hope the pictures are fantastic. Went to hostel, passed out.

Day 2, which is today, has also been good. We spent this morning returning to the Tokyo temple complex, finding food (absolutely great!), and trying to make a reservation for another hostel for later in our trip (we figured we should wait to see what $30/person/night would get us). Adventure: I decided that I should make this call. I've been doing all of this kind of work thus far, and I unfortunately thought that I should continue it. So, I get directions to, and mosey down to the nearest greenhouse of a payphone. I put in my money, dial the number, and pull my money from the coin return. Great. Several more tries, several more variations later, I start to think that this is not a case of user error, and probably phone malfunction. So I started wandering, asked for directions, got a bunch of Japanese back, and continued to wander towards where the shopkeeper had sent a few glances, which luckily yielded a pay phone. So, I call, actually got an English speaker on the other end (yay! absolutely gracious of them!), managed unawares to have a credit card on my person, and have sufficient coinage to keep up the phone connection. Feeling like some pretty hot and savvy stuff at this point, I started my trek back. Not a block from the hostel, I heard a dainty ping, and instantly knew that I had lost an earring (haha go figure), but could not see the damn thing. So, down I go, onto my hands and knees, hoping to find an elevated, purple pearly bauble in the midst of Tokyo. No go on the earring. Fortunately, I couldn't see it elevated because it was safely tucked into a crevice of a water main cover, which, fortunately was on the side walk, which fortunately, I managed to find. Humbled, thank you.

From that point we headed out on a bullet train to Kyoto, and arrived here in the afternoon. Again, we successfully navigated a transportation system that is largely offering instructions in Japanese. I would like to take a moment to suggest to anyone going to Japan that you NEED to have subway maps before you arrive there, in your native language, with any other relevant directions (to your hostel/hotel/ryokan of choice, for instance). This afternoon, we went to the Kyoto handicraft center, which was quite the expensive market that inexplicably has a reputation for being cheap.

On our walk back, we took a detour through the Geisha district (ie. tourist central. Sooo many white people). We saw one geisha on our walk, and poor woman. As soon as she appeared, a mob of camera-wielding tourists pounced on her. No pictures were had on our part, and no other geisha were seen. For now, we are resting in our new Kyoto hostel (which is amazing... absolutely awesome), having some cheap rehydrated miso soup, and playing board games.

Seeing as little mention has been made of it thus far: we have yet to sit down and have a truly Japanese meal. Mostly, our food has been gotten on the run, and has been a supplement, rather than a focus of our trip. I imagine that this will change soon enough, at which point you'll hear me rave about the whole thing, I'm sure.

Pictures and more updates to come.

Monday, Tokyo, the Ghibli Museum, walking tour.

Tuesday, super-bullet train ride! (I'm not really this excited about more travel) to Kyoto!

Wednesday - Friday, more Kyoto, Hiroshima, Nara, and maybe Osaka and Himeji.

Saturday - return to Tokyo.

Sunday - fly home.

Monday - bright and early, get a lot of coffee and work until I drop.

:) Hopefully we'll have time to update you along the way, but if not, there will be plenty of pictures to see when we return.

Love to you all,
Kristen

PS go read Mendon's blog. It's really beautiful and wonderful and I'm glad that Papa Dornbrook came to visit.

As I was riding my bike into work, singing "It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood.. a beautiful day in the neighborhood..." with my zippered cardigan in tow, I was thinking of the only care in the world that I could muster in such a state of bliss: the waste of an amaryllis that we own, which is determined to flower only when Mendon and I are out of town and will miss it's short-lived bloom, even if this means blooming 6 whole months after season. Ya hear? This is the second time. This is all we've ever seen of our investment, which on a rare, wintry occasion, should become this.
Not bitter Not bitter Not bitter.

Oh well, hope you enjoy the bloom, Andrew and Jeremy!

And, from this great height of cardigan-loving neighborly love, I couldn't have predicted that I would be running around my neighborhood at night, playing vigilante, calling the cops, and trying to find the desperate and screaming woman that sounded like she was being attacked, to be mild about it.

Our home is a funny place for us, because we really love it, but there are also some very big concerns that we face here, too. It's beautiful and quiet, we have peaceful, kind, and friendly neighbors, but we also have a certain amount of gang violence that is spreading into our neighborhood, and it's not so uncommon to hear gun shots or some other evidence violence at night. (By the way, the woman last night was uninjured. It sounds like she had gotten a ride home from a cab, there was a dispute over the fare, and she must have felt threatened by something in the situation. I can think of plenty of options). And, even though I'm also distressed by having gang violence move our way, it also feels good to know that our community is just not interested in tolerating any shenanigans. Last night, not only were Mendon and I calling the police and making a dash towards the woman, but several other of our neighbors, some of them, ahem, armed, were also doing the same. In addition to being willing to save our community in such a fearless way, we've also had meet-ups and rallies with the police to improve the state of things.

While, of course, there are skeptics and critics, I think I love my community even more for adamantly refusing to be badgered by young men who still live with their mommies and happen to have some anger/territory problems.

1. Look to your right! A link to my etsy page, where I sell my jewelry! There's a sale going on RIGHT NOW, as you read this -- super! But mostly what I'm really thinking is: Yay! Pigs are flying -- I managed to do something fancy on this blog! Hence the ! (it stands for surprise).

2. I would really like to add some links to this page. Considering that I'm a little bit innernets-challenged, could someone point me to the proper plug-in, or send me some script that I can tuck in somewhere? I couldn't find anything earlier today, and I might be able to fake something, but 1. it would probably look like poop, and 2. with my luck, it might result in a computer melt-down. And Mendon, that means no more video games. Then what, huh?