shopping!
The day after is traditionally a big shopping day, so we headed to the Westchester Mall to personally instigate an economic recovery. First stop: Nordstroms, where I got six shirts, three slacks, and a sport coat for a bargain. Service is great, and the prices were unbeatable. The girls were doing damage in the rest of the mall, and when we regrouped at 4pm, the damage from the first wave was significant. Bags overflowed with post-Christmas bargains, feet were tired, stomachs empty. We finished up a couple last stores, stocked up on pretzels, and headed back home for a traditional dinner of leftovers.
merry christmas
Got up reasonably early to open presents and got a cool flannel robe and behind-the-head earmuffs! Traditional pile of wrapping paper was left on the carpet and then it was time to load into the car and head out.
First stop was Matthew's place. He was alot smaller when he lived next door, but now that he he lives off of Long Ridge Road he's a Tron-watching Ninja Power Ranger with a sweet radio-controlled helicopter that we used to terrorize the backyard trees. I know what I want next year!
Then we headed over to mama's cousins' place, home of Bob and Bobbie. Various people I think I was related to were there, as was a squaking parrot that immediately didn't like me. We continued to eat, more desert and whatnot, before finally leaving Long Island.
First stop was Matthew's place. He was alot smaller when he lived next door, but now that he he lives off of Long Ridge Road he's a Tron-watching Ninja Power Ranger with a sweet radio-controlled helicopter that we used to terrorize the backyard trees. I know what I want next year!
Then we headed over to mama's cousins' place, home of Bob and Bobbie. Various people I think I was related to were there, as was a squaking parrot that immediately didn't like me. We continued to eat, more desert and whatnot, before finally leaving Long Island.
lost in translation
Finally saw Lost In Translation at the State Cinema up the street on Hope. Fabulous, and only five bucks. Scarlett Johannson was great, and I finally figured out that I remember her from Ghost World.
Killed a whole ham (spiral cut! Such technology!) for dinner, and Yuko continues to sleep. She's been out for a couple of days and at this rate her vacation will consist of seeing the bedroom walls.
Killed a whole ham (spiral cut! Such technology!) for dinner, and Yuko continues to sleep. She's been out for a couple of days and at this rate her vacation will consist of seeing the bedroom walls.
grocery shopping
Bagel for breakfast from the parental's exploding refrigerator. But we needed more food! So we piled into Mama's Feisty 4x4 Forester and headed to the supermarket to resupply. We hit Fuji Market first to get supplies for the gyoza feast, then the super across the street. Masa and Hiroko were fine but Yuko was still jet-lagging so she went back to bed while we battled mama's lack of a teflon frying pan and made a couple hundred gyoza. We mixed, stuffed, and cooked for hours, and then ate in minutes.
Mama taught a class at the American Craft Museum (scroll to the bottom) and Auntie Em didn't. Let the feud begin!
Mama taught a class at the American Craft Museum (scroll to the bottom) and Auntie Em didn't. Let the feud begin!
orange alert holiday flying
I will attempt to not make this a political diatribe but this whole terrorist alert crap is really just assinine. Flying three days before Christmas is bad enough without the government scaring everybody, the cops searching everybody, and the airlines slowing everybody down with bag checks, ticket checks, id checks. Not one security protocol I went through made any significant difference for my level of safety, but sure made flying more of a pain in the ass than usual. And the joys of eating airline food with plastic utensils! So safe!
As expected, the plane was full of families who only fly once a year, so they had no idea what they were doing, had way too many over-sized carry-ons, and lots and lots and lots of screaming children. Lots of children. Screaming. The whole time. Screaming. Crying. Shouting. Children.
At least the movie was Pirate of the Carribean, and the five hours just flew by.
Got to the stink of JFK and waited patiently as they announced that luggage would arrive on Carousel 4 twice before my luggage started arriving on Carousel 5. Welcome to New York. Not entirely sure why I bothered getting Priority tags on my bags either, because it sure doesn't make a damn bit of difference as to when my bags finally showed up.
Papa picked me up and the Mighty Myron Infinity battled traffic across the bridge and up the 95 until we got to Stamford.
We got home just as the lasagna was ready and proceeded to feast in style.
As expected, the plane was full of families who only fly once a year, so they had no idea what they were doing, had way too many over-sized carry-ons, and lots and lots and lots of screaming children. Lots of children. Screaming. The whole time. Screaming. Crying. Shouting. Children.
At least the movie was Pirate of the Carribean, and the five hours just flew by.
Got to the stink of JFK and waited patiently as they announced that luggage would arrive on Carousel 4 twice before my luggage started arriving on Carousel 5. Welcome to New York. Not entirely sure why I bothered getting Priority tags on my bags either, because it sure doesn't make a damn bit of difference as to when my bags finally showed up.
Papa picked me up and the Mighty Myron Infinity battled traffic across the bridge and up the 95 until we got to Stamford.
We got home just as the lasagna was ready and proceeded to feast in style.
seminar day 2
Photos
Somehow managed to get up and out of the house around 9am. Most folks were already at the dojo so we got started quick as some people had to leave early. Bujin-boy didn't make it for day two (I think he felt pretty lost day one...either that or his ninja skills were in full effect and he made himself invisible.)
We started with the wakizashi (short sword) kumitachi and managed to run through all five before lunch. Then Officer Crow had to leave so I hopped one one foot to say goodbye, and Neeley, Rob, and BigTony nearly died laughing.
The Arnos made it in for the afternoon session after taking their son to the hospital at 4 am; either it was food poisoning or too many pistachios at Steve's, but after some IV and rest he was doing ok. After a lunch of stunningly good Mexican food we regrouped to practice the five standing kumitachi and do a little bit of tanjo before calling it a day. The Chicago folks had to leave early, and then the toilet decided to start leaking so we pulled a quick emergency response action to pull up some mats and stem the flood.
When things calmed down Diane worked her massage magic and I turned to putty in her arms. Then she did the same to Clay and finally Tony.
We went back to the house, took a break, and then regrouped for Full Moon Sushi. I spoke Japanese to the waitress and sushi chef, evoking responses of disbelief and wonder. The food was good but totally unrecognizable as anything I'd call sushi in Japan. Loved to Volcano Roll.
More folks left after dinner, and the typical crew ended up going back to Tony's for more goofing off before heading home.
Somehow managed to get up and out of the house around 9am. Most folks were already at the dojo so we got started quick as some people had to leave early. Bujin-boy didn't make it for day two (I think he felt pretty lost day one...either that or his ninja skills were in full effect and he made himself invisible.)
We started with the wakizashi (short sword) kumitachi and managed to run through all five before lunch. Then Officer Crow had to leave so I hopped one one foot to say goodbye, and Neeley, Rob, and BigTony nearly died laughing.
The Arnos made it in for the afternoon session after taking their son to the hospital at 4 am; either it was food poisoning or too many pistachios at Steve's, but after some IV and rest he was doing ok. After a lunch of stunningly good Mexican food we regrouped to practice the five standing kumitachi and do a little bit of tanjo before calling it a day. The Chicago folks had to leave early, and then the toilet decided to start leaking so we pulled a quick emergency response action to pull up some mats and stem the flood.
When things calmed down Diane worked her massage magic and I turned to putty in her arms. Then she did the same to Clay and finally Tony.
We went back to the house, took a break, and then regrouped for Full Moon Sushi. I spoke Japanese to the waitress and sushi chef, evoking responses of disbelief and wonder. The food was good but totally unrecognizable as anything I'd call sushi in Japan. Loved to Volcano Roll.
More folks left after dinner, and the typical crew ended up going back to Tony's for more goofing off before heading home.
seminar day 1
Photos
Got everyone up, out, and to the dojo about 9:15. Verdugo went early to open, so when we got there many folks had already arrived. Keith and Joanna from Chicago came down, more Senpokan fools, and even some youngin's so it was a full house.
We ran through all 20 kata, broken up into groups, and the pace was fast but most folks kept up and we had a good day. More In and Out -- double-double -- for lunch, a bit of rain to keep it cool, and it was 5pm before we knew it.
We headed back to Tony's to change and shower before regrouping at the dojo and then going to Steve's place on the beach. His house is right on the water, his racing sailboat docked in front of the house. We had food and bevvies and watched the boat parade of lights and sat by the fireplace when it got cold and goofed off and generally had a great time.
Verdugo's fiancee and kid are adorable, Clay's wife is a charmer, Steve is a fine host with a dog who loves him, Neeley's ex-prison guard girlfriend is sweet enough to keep even him in line, and Bubba is bubba.
At some point Jimmy Crow revealed that after the seminar he's off to eastern Europe to meet the girl he met on the internet. We immediately started abusing him for having an internet girlfriend who was currently vacationing in Transilvania. We were concerned that Officer Crow was getting taken in, but he assured us that they video-chatted regularly so he knows what she looks like. To which Rob replied "Yeah but have you seen all of her? She's not missing a foot or anything?" So the rest of the weekend was spent making one-foot Bulgarian woman jokes at Officer Crow's expense.
Got everyone up, out, and to the dojo about 9:15. Verdugo went early to open, so when we got there many folks had already arrived. Keith and Joanna from Chicago came down, more Senpokan fools, and even some youngin's so it was a full house.
We ran through all 20 kata, broken up into groups, and the pace was fast but most folks kept up and we had a good day. More In and Out -- double-double -- for lunch, a bit of rain to keep it cool, and it was 5pm before we knew it.
We headed back to Tony's to change and shower before regrouping at the dojo and then going to Steve's place on the beach. His house is right on the water, his racing sailboat docked in front of the house. We had food and bevvies and watched the boat parade of lights and sat by the fireplace when it got cold and goofed off and generally had a great time.
Verdugo's fiancee and kid are adorable, Clay's wife is a charmer, Steve is a fine host with a dog who loves him, Neeley's ex-prison guard girlfriend is sweet enough to keep even him in line, and Bubba is bubba.
At some point Jimmy Crow revealed that after the seminar he's off to eastern Europe to meet the girl he met on the internet. We immediately started abusing him for having an internet girlfriend who was currently vacationing in Transilvania. We were concerned that Officer Crow was getting taken in, but he assured us that they video-chatted regularly so he knows what she looks like. To which Rob replied "Yeah but have you seen all of her? She's not missing a foot or anything?" So the rest of the weekend was spent making one-foot Bulgarian woman jokes at Officer Crow's expense.
bubba et al
Woke up still feeling a bit jet-lagged and had a bagle sandwich while flipping through 200 channels of nothing to watch. In the afternoon the Arno family arrived from Sacramento, kids in tow, and we waited for Jimmy Crow before cruising down to Huntington Beach to get a late lunch. Arno's youngest, a 13 year-old cutie with stereotype blonde hair and a finely honed Arno attitude, won 500 yen when she inhaled nearly her entire monster-sized burger and most of the fries. Sometime during the conversation I gave her the nickname Bubba, and it stuck.
After lunch we walked across the street to do some shopping, but food coma + jet lag = Jimmy Crow drove me back to Tony's and we napped.
More folks arrived in the evening; Rob came in, Neeley came up from San Diego, Verdugo and Clay, the rest of the Arnos...and we assembled a fine posse for a traditional strip mall Mexican feast. Tony had a work thing so we were on our own. The food was great but I was stuffed from lunch. Bubba claimed to be stuffed, too, and didn't order anything, but she sucked down half my carnitas buritto.
The Arnos went off to their hotel and me, Rob, Neeley, Jimmy C., and Barbara headed back to Tony's. We goofed off and made fun of each other for a while before crashing. Tony supposedly came in about 3 am, feeling good, but I was so out I hardly noticed.
After lunch we walked across the street to do some shopping, but food coma + jet lag = Jimmy Crow drove me back to Tony's and we napped.
More folks arrived in the evening; Rob came in, Neeley came up from San Diego, Verdugo and Clay, the rest of the Arnos...and we assembled a fine posse for a traditional strip mall Mexican feast. Tony had a work thing so we were on our own. The food was great but I was stuffed from lunch. Bubba claimed to be stuffed, too, and didn't order anything, but she sucked down half my carnitas buritto.
The Arnos went off to their hotel and me, Rob, Neeley, Jimmy C., and Barbara headed back to Tony's. We goofed off and made fun of each other for a while before crashing. Tony supposedly came in about 3 am, feeling good, but I was so out I hardly noticed.
goin' back to cali, cali, cali...
Afternoon flight from Narita so I took my time getting packed, got a cab over to the Westin in Ebisu, had lunch and picked up a few books before getting on the 12:30 bus to the airport.
Was less crowded than I expected and I was soon at the gate, then on the plane. Pretty quick flight, very bad movies, but I managed to sort of sleep a few hours before landing in the blinding sunlight of an LA morning.
Tony picked me up and took me back to his house before going back to work. I chatted with Barb a bit (who was taking the day off) before stretching out on the couch. Immediately my brain shut down and I went into PowerNap Mode for several hours, waking when Barb was back from errands and Tony was back from work. He still had a bunch of stuff to finish up his year-end, so he dropped me off at the dojo and I ran Verdugo and Colin through the kumitachi. After practice we grabbed some In and Out -- double-double with cheese -- and headed home.
I was still fried and after some tv and chitchat I crashed hard.
not at all
No one showed up for practice...expect Naganuma-sensei and Sanno-sensei. So Naganuma-sensei ran us through the basics and a couple of kata. Needless to say I haven't practiced in a while as I've spent so much time recently teaching, and Naganuma-sensei ripped me apart. Watching him move reminds of just how little I know and how much farther there is to go...
beginner's luck
Beginner's seminar, but as Naganuma-sensei and Tanaka-sensei had to work, and Ando-sensei was out, Niina-gosoke ended up running the seminar himself. I don't know if the students realized how lucky they were, but everyone seemed to have a good time and in three hours got alot better!
pink cow
Kevin is going back to North Carolina next week, and Ollie and Chiori are going back to LA, too. So they had a good-bye thing at the Pink Cow, now moved to Aoyama, right in front of Aoyama Park Tower.
Much cooler location, with a full kitchen and a great cook. 2500 yen for all-you-can-eat buffett on the weekends, smoking in the bar only, and comfy couches makes it a winner. Saw everyone; Ted, Ed, Stephan, Tony, Nancy, Jeff S. and wife, B. Zoet...
Much cooler location, with a full kitchen and a great cook. 2500 yen for all-you-can-eat buffett on the weekends, smoking in the bar only, and comfy couches makes it a winner. Saw everyone; Ted, Ed, Stephan, Tony, Nancy, Jeff S. and wife, B. Zoet...
ho ho ho jorge!
Doing some last minute shopping in Shibuya and Hiroko spotted Jorge Santa:
Also Hiroko now finally knows what Thing is:
Also Hiroko now finally knows what Thing is:
sharp
Cutting practice at Akabane. Only 8 people cutting, so we all had lots of targets and took our time. It was pretty cold, so I had a hard time getting warmed up. Tried a few new cuts like tsubamegaeshi (will need BigTony to teach me that one) and ichijin. The former being a total failure (Akama-san almost got it a couple times though) and the latter being a minor failure.
After practice I went down to Machida to Hataya's sword shop. It's a tiny little place crammed with stuff, swords, and all his polishing equipment. I introduced myself as BigTony's friend and asked him how much it would be to sharpen up my cutter. Usually working polishes cost about 50,000 yen, but as I don't care what the polish looks like, I just need it to cut, he sharpened it up for me for 6000 yen. I'll have to tell Tanaka-sensei and bring all our other swords in to get straightened and polished.
After practice I went down to Machida to Hataya's sword shop. It's a tiny little place crammed with stuff, swords, and all his polishing equipment. I introduced myself as BigTony's friend and asked him how much it would be to sharpen up my cutter. Usually working polishes cost about 50,000 yen, but as I don't care what the polish looks like, I just need it to cut, he sharpened it up for me for 6000 yen. I'll have to tell Tanaka-sensei and bring all our other swords in to get straightened and polished.
piola
Haruka is off to graduate school in Hawaii, so to celebrate we had dinner at Piola in Shirogane. Rei-chan came, too, and Yukiyuki. Rei-chan is still doing nothing after quitting Linc 2 years ago, so we'll see if we can find her something interesting to do.
Food was great, but I was still suffering from the effects of Wednesday's drinking and went home early, skipping desert.
Food was great, but I was still suffering from the effects of Wednesday's drinking and went home early, skipping desert.
apple store in ginza
Apple has opened a slick store in ginza. On opening day there was a line to get in. A really, really, really long line.
good news!
Well, I guess that depends on your point of view. Nancy's digital camera was found (she did, in fact, leave it in the bathroom at Inishmore) and the pictures have been recovered.
Not pretty.
Not pretty at all.
Not pretty.
Not pretty at all.
house warming
Chez Guzofski is having a House Warming/Sinatra Day party...Hiroko and I will be a couple weeks late, but our hearts are with them!
gettin' chilly
Borrowed Yaesu practice last night from Miura-san. We had an instructor's meeting but I had to teach because we had a foreigner who doesn't speak Japanese come to check out class. I asked Kiyokawa-kun to take care of everyone else and I taught in English. Not practicing on my own sucks when it's cold. Not practicing sucks, too. The more I teach, the worse I get!
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