Tag: Japan

32 Countries, Islands, and Territories

So far I have traveled to 32 countries, islands, and territories. I recently realized, much to my shock and disbelief, that I accidentally omitted my travels to Japan from this list! I spent over 2 weeks in Japan back in 2006 and found the Japanese to be such warm and gracious people. So, today I have just updated my travel… Continue reading

Profound Sadness

Perhaps because I spent so much time in Japan, in Tokyo and in Arao, in the south of the country, I feel so very sad for the poor Japanese people in this time. I stayed with a Japanese family, laughed with them, ate with them.  They are so gentle and kind, so gracious and hospitable. Regrettably, they trusted the titans… Continue reading

Updated: We’re OK Here

I appreciate the very early morning phone calls (always worries one to death) and text messages. But no need to worry. The coastal area in which I live is only under a tsunami advisory, which is predicted to make landfall here at 8:00AM this morning. I’ll be staying away from the ocean. Additionally, the first ocean-front street is probably about… Continue reading

Never Content

Reflecting back about my recent trip to south Asia… As I’ve mentioned before, Bangkok especially and central and south Vietnam were terribly hot and humid. Shorts and short sleeved shirts were always in order. I was, however, astonished to see so many of the local people in those areas wearing long sleeved shirts, sweaters, and jackets. How could they possibly… Continue reading

Feeling Pretty Good

I’ve avoided shooting people (with a camera or anything else, for that matter) because I don’t want to make people feel uncomfortable–who is he? Why is he taking my picture. (My trip to Japan was very much the exception as the people there love being photographed!) But lately, I’ve been dabbling more with portraits, especially learning to retouch them. I… Continue reading

No Bike Ride Today

Well, with the earthquake in the Pacific, I guess I shouldn’t ride my bike along the coast as we’re at a heightened alert for a possible tsunami. I frequently ride down by the ocean through an area that is labeled as a Tsunami Evacuation Area. While unlikely, the Tsunami Emergency Information being distributed indicates that an earthquake in Alaska could… Continue reading

Ahhh! To the Socialists and Communists Belong the Spoils…

Silly capitalists! Looks like those pesky, truly leftist governments will clean the Right’s clock. I mean, the economies of the socialist nations of Europe, our friends to our north, and communist China long ago recovered from the financial debacle we capitalists caused. Let’s just go ahead and nuke ’em now! Whuduhyah say! Hmmm??? The United States would be mistaken to… Continue reading