Jack's Lighthouse

Follow me back in time, to about two months prior...

weeooooeeeee

At my old apartment in Cincinnati, Ohio, I awaken to the sharp sound of small objects hitting my window. Goddamnit. I slept through my alarm. Or I never set it. Or the battery in my phone died. I don't know. All I know is I've come to absolutely despise the sound of rocks smacking against my window. It is grating in the way only a smoke alarm - set off by my shitty toaster and poor air circulation - can challenge.

Fuck. I wanted to wake up early so I would have time to pack. Instead, I am now in a hurry. I rush out, invite my dad in while I stuff some clothes in a bag to prepare for the trip to my grandparents', where we will pick up an old car they no longer use so that I can take the Buick when I move to Washington. I briefly entertain the idea of packing up my camera, but Daddy-o is clearly pissed I wasn't ready, and I'm going to Tell City. There's nothing particularly fascinating. Once on the road, I regret my decision. I fantasize taking a walk through my grandparents' neighborhood with my camera in tow, just for fun. Oh well. I'll be back some day, I'm sure. I hope.

An uneventful trip follows. Fa la la we are there. The magic of sleep sends time careening out the window my dad never rolls down. God knows why. Fresh air is always more appealing to me than the goddamn air conditioner. Ah. But we're there.

Hi Grandma, hi Grandpa. I am incredibly tired so I am going to hug you hello and go downstairs and take a nap. Ahh, refreshing. It is amazing how little sleep you get sleeping in a moving vehicle. At times, it feels as if it actually drains you further. Ahh.

The night is likewise uneventful. Briefly, once again, I regret my decision to not pack up Charlotte, the DSLR, a Nikon D5000 that (for this one tiny paragraph) I just named.

The following morning: I wake up. McDonald's for breakfast? NO! Yes. The grand'rents love it. I was hoping for some of mamaw's biscuits and gravy. That shit is gooooood. Secretly I am happy for the lack of it because it is even more unhealthy than Mac. I am trying to get in better shape. Shhhh!

Time for lunch. Where are we going? Hmm. This is an interesting place. The food is crummy. I guess Grandpa likes it. Nice view of the river, though. Nice... photographic opportunities. Hah! Oh, there's more, Grandpa?

He wants to show me and Dad the lighthouse. A lighthouse? On... the Ohio River? Really? I... well, okay then.

The short drive begins, and it begins uneventfully. But I'm building up this lighthouse as a great thing in my mind. Not in the way you might think, though. I just want to take pictures of it. Whatever it is. A couple. Not much. But in my mind, it is a great PHOTO OP that again I am missing. Ahhh, why am I such an idiot? I am. That is it. Why ask why?

I am completely unprepared for what lies ahead.

We arrive. Man that thing is tiny. What is it, five foot? (Disclaimer: it is three stories, plus the way-up-there fourth story wherein lies the theoretically present but factually absent light.) Grandpa introduces us to Jack. He's an old man, as is to be expected of all people my grandfather knows as well as he clearly knows Jack. While Jack and Gramps ramble in each other's direction as old men are wont to do, my eyes wander.

The lighthouse has a strange architecture. It is, from the outside, tiny. As already mentioned. Facing the front it looks sort of like this:

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..................................____........
.............................._|..........|_....
.............................|...............|...
................._______\________/....
................|..............|.............|.....
................|..............|.............|.....
..._______|________|________|.....
..|.............|..............|.............|.....
..|.............|......._.....|.............|.....
..|_______|____|_|__|________|.....
....................................................

Or something similar. Drawing it would be easier, but I don't have time. It's against a hill, I think? The lighthouse, as pictured, is to the right. There is a squarish building to the left. The bottom floor is the not as large as you might think, as most of that wall there is just solid cement. There is a particularly grand, old door. The only door in the figure, because it is the grandest, and also the door we entered. Balconies are on the left building and at the top of the lighthouse. Behind and above the wall on the far left is a pool sans water. What's it for? No idea.

Jack enters a door on the bottom right, and exits the grand door. (Is grand really an appropriate word for this lighthouse? you might ask. Answer: Probably?) We approach, and I get a closer look at this door. It is straight out of a movie with a medieval castle! Only it is smaller than a medieval castle door would likely be. Or so I imagine in my head that has long been filled with fantasies about living in a medieval fantasy. Medieval. It is also completely homemade.

I spy a mannequin. She is a sailor, garbed in the blue and white of the Navy. Jack has words: "The best part about her is she doesn't talk!" Ahah! Jack, you slay. The mannequin remains silent, as promised, despite the incessant leering. The Nestenes are biding their time. We enter.

First thing I notice: literally the first: this is not a joking matter: there are boobs everywhere. Revealing paintings, bare-breasted faux-(possibly real, but I suspect not)-marble statues, more mannequins than you can shake a stick at - Jack has a thing about the female figure.

But, enough about breasts. There is also a mad scientist behind bars in one corner of the room.

Okay but really there is an almost obscene amount of boobage in this room. Also the ceiling is literally covered in old-style water skis. Or, rather, the water skis are covered by the ceiling. Or, rather, the ceiling is the water skis.

Thus ends our tour of the first room, which I mentally labeled the boob room. (Technically every room is a boob room, but this one doubly so.) Jack regales us with tales I have since forgotten. This saddens me. He was an odd fellow. I have a strange desire to go back one day and just... interview him. Write an article about his life. Get it published in TIME MAGAZINE. I'm only half joking here. Jack fascinates me.

We enter room the second, which is part of the actual lighthouse: boats. The walls are lined with boat memorabilia - those boat wheels that I swear have a name (I am at a loss), literal pieces of boat frames, things from what I believe must be the Captain's quarters, and more. Too, there is a fully constructed boat hanging from the ceiling, which is taller than the first room. Also worth mentioning is another mannequin. Again female, again Navy, again worth mentioning because! Jack chooses not to draw attention to her, for whatever reason, but as I am a literate American, I can read the name tag, upon which is printed several words, including: "semen". Could Jack be so crass? Clearly a typo.

Up the stairs to room three: the diving room. Within are diving helmets of various age and style, as well as a complete old-fashioned style diving suit. Big Daddy would feel at home. In the middle sits a pant-less mannequin (male), smoking a cigar. This one is... probably also Navy?

Next up: pirates in room four! The first thing I see as I reach the final step to this floor is a life-sized female pirate wearing what might as well be a hand towel for a shirt. Her breasts are particularly enormous. Also present: another female mannequin (man alive (well, obviously mannequins aren't alive) he has a lot of mannequins). She is wearing a black and red dress in the style of an old-fashioned bar wench. Would? As I spend more time in Jack's Lighthouse, I find myself becoming increasingly sexually infatuated with the plastic half of our species. Would. To the left of the wench lies a pair of replica blunderbuss pistols. To the left of Big Breasts lies a replica blunderbuss.

The top: the fifth. Lo! The Ohio River, observed for all time by a mannequin in a wedding dress. It is a classy dress. No cleavage. (I remember these things.) Also in this room is a wide assortment of... junk. There is a compass affixed to the insides of a box, as might be seen in old maritime fiction (and non-fiction!). No doubt it has a very specific name.

There is a poster explaining the meaning of many different flags a sailor might hoist.

A red X on a white background. - "I require assistance."
Three horizontal stripes: blue, white, blue. - "I am on fire and have dangerous cargo; keep clear."
Two vertical stripes: yellow, blue. - "I wish to communicate with you."
Two vertical stripes: white, red. - "I have a pilot on board."

A pilot, huh? (I know you are impressed I was able to recall these. Sadly, I cheated, and I am certain the codes on the poster were different, at least in description.)

Then Jack wheels out the most impressive item in his arsenal. It is literally on wheels. It is a giant pair of binoculars. Huge. He says he uses them to look out over the river. He says he got them from an old Navy guy. He says they came from a mother goddamn WWII-era Japanese destroyer. He has the papers to back up this claim. They are in Japanese. I futilely try to read it. Kanji - my greatest enemy. But it looks legit. How would someone amass all of this crap? A fair question, I think. His answer: he buys things on the cheap, every time he finds something that even remotely interests him. A packrat to the extreme, he finds it impossible to throw it away. He has many more boxes full of junk in storage that has long been forgotten, but will one day be discovered again. Many more boxes. He claims.

Outside on the balcony of the top floor, a bee. It is flying around my head. Annoying bzzzzz. Around the back is a winch. The winch was used to pull up the glass doors that protect the inside from Mother Nature. Of note: the walls are stone. Some stones have engravings. The floors are bleachers. They were taken from a high school when said high school threw them out. Jack built this entire structure single-handedly. He claims.

Time for the final room. It is a bar room. A tavern? Tavern sounds more appropriate. It is the sixth. There are more mannequins, there is a hunchback statue in the corner garbed as an executioner might be, there is a TV from a prison (the casing is transparent so the prisoners cannot hide Things), there is a pair of hands in a barred hole above the entrance, there are large metal keys everywhere, there are more faux-marble statues giving it their all to distract me, there are tables, there are chairs, there is a dog (a real dog), there is a wife (a real wife), and there is a huge pile of finished puzzles atop which lies yet another puzzle still being assembled.

From this room, I can look outside to see a few more strange things. The pool sans water. A group of bare-breasted (of course) mermaids sunbathing. Other objects are likewise cemented into the ground.

I sign the guestbook as if I have already moved to Washington. It feels good. We leave. Goodbye, Jack. May we meet again some day, when I haven't foolishly decided to leave my camera behind.

Catching up with myself.

So, it has been almost two months since I last spoke of my life on this web log of mine, not counting the Teegip just below this post. What to talk about...

For Christmas, I received a sketchpad and some drawing pencils. I made an effort to draw every day, and kept up with it for a whole eight days! Then my apartment got messy and I got lazy. I dropped out of that short-lived habit.

For Christmas, I did not receive my so-desired Nikon D40 DSLR with which I had planned to photograph any wild number of things for my viewing pleasure. My fam's po' so I gotta wait 'til tha cashflow begin again, y'know.

For Christmas, I did not make light bulb terrariums for my mother and grandmother as I had planned to do. Moss is a surprisingly hard thing to find in the dead of winter. Alas!

After Christmas, and after New Year's Day, classes began anew. Only six months left until I graduate, if all goes well. I also took the GRE in an effort to get the ball rolling on my application to DigiPen.

Over Martin Luther King, Jr. Day weekend, I went to New Hampshire with ten other members of the mountaineering club. Despite my doubts I could make it to the top of Mt. Washington, I let my friends talk me into going, and I had an extremely good time of it. I did not, in the end, make it to the top. But I will some day.

Last weekend, I went to an overnight thing at the Cincinnati Zoo, hosted by a friend. Normally it is a thing for little kids, but... so what?! It was a cool look behind the scenes at the zoo, and she is probably the best tour guide under which I have had the pleasure of touring. I was hoping to get a little more up close and personal with some of the animals, but I also knew that was hoping for too much. It would be dumb to let just any person get that close.

That about sums up what I've done. Now for what I plan to do!

The first priority deadline for DigiPen's application process is February 1. I now simply await the deliverance of my transcript and letters of recommendation, and everything will be there. Nothing to do but wait, and hope that if they do accept me, they also offer a scholarship. It's about the only thing in my life in which I no longer have an active role.

Next week on Tuesday I will go on a night hike. Excite! I hope it is not cloudy. Nothing worse than a cloudy night. Especially when you make the effort to get outside the city to an area where the sky is free(er) of light pollution!

Every day for the past week or so, I swore to myself I would start falling into the habits I want to follow. I want to write something on this blog at least once a week. I want to draw something every day, to get better. I want to start running, or doing something active, every day. I want to stay up to speed with my studies instead of lagging behind horribly like I did last quarter. I want to start cooking meals instead of nuking them; I want to make that damn egg salad and mabo dofu for which I have had the ingredients for weeks. I might even want to start practicing the bass guitar a little every day! I do not have it in my apartment, though. I should make a note somewhere to get it from mom...

Habits are hard things to start, and harder to stick to if they are still new!

Tonight I drew some crap in my sketchpad. When I say crap, I really mean I drew some stuff that is not good. But there is only one way to become good. At the moment, I am following this book that my grandmother got me with the sketchpad. It is supposed to teach me how to draw graphite landscapes. Some of those techniques are far more difficult to perform than I thought they were. I think I am getting better?

I have been sick lately (again), and so did not go to class or work out today as I had planned. Before going to bed, I might to try out this burpee thing I read about... it is supposed to be pretty good workout, and without lifting any weights or anything. I might not, though. As I mentioned, I'm pretty sick. I feel terrible. C'est la vie.

Interestingly, I do not have that strong desire to play video games I thought I would have all my life. I still enjoy them immensely when I have the time to play them, but... I just do not have that time, anymore. Not with everything else I want to do. And everything else I have to do for school.

I am a busy man, apparently. When the hell did that happen? D:

WHAT UP, KIDS

Back in the swing o' things, m'self.

That is to say, back in the swing o' not really bein' in the swing o' things. It makes perfect sense if you think about it. I promise.

Two weekends ago, I went backpacking. One weekend ago, I partied with some friends I haven't seen for a long while (with the exception of two: one who is in a few of my classes and the other who I saw not long after I returned to America). The party was fun. Cops were called. We were too loud, I guess.

But the backpacking was the real trip! Pun not intended, but most definitely acknowledged. We went to Red River Gorge and stayed one night.

I mean, prior to backpacking, the last outdoorsy shindig I was involved with was climbing Mt. Fuji. We all know how that went. This was on a whole a much more pleasant and enjoyable experience. Everything I did, I did with people of a like mind, but it was also a beginner's backpacking trip. Perfect for people like me, who maybe went camping a bunch as a young'un but haven't been around a campfire for years (bonfires don't count), let alone slept outside!

I need to make a habit of this shit, yo.

Naturally, I took my camera. Here is my favorite picture...

Happy days

Now here are some anecdotes from the past few days. I hope it will be a thrill ride for the ages. But I expect it will be more like a slight bump in the road while traveling at five miles per hour.

Please to be enjoying my story(s)!

I've spent the majority of my freetime lazing about my apartment. Just kidding, I was being productive! Here's my proof: all the graphics I made for a game! It is called Ijaspy, which stands for It's Just a Simple Platformer, Yo. Because I am creative.

---

On Tuesday evening, though, I went up to Kameido to join Robert and Matt at the Kameido Tenjin Taisai. (Annual Summer Festival of Kameido.) There were supposed to be 1,100 lit lanterns. I did not count them. But it was pretty cool! A very small and quiet "festival". At least on that night. The lanterns, though, were one of the things I wanted to see before I came to Japan. They're in like everything Japanese that I've ever seen in some fashion. And I finally saw it! Lanterns, lining the river! Well, okay, a pond. Shut up.

It was every bit as awesome as I expected. And by that I mean it was a feast for the eyes, but not much else. A night well spent.

---

And last night, I went to Odaiba! While waiting for Matt a Crow sat beside me. I've been trying to get a decent shot of these things since I arrived. I AM SUCCESS.

Matt showed me around the place a bit, and I went and saw the big ol' Gundam, which comes down August 31. It was crowded! At 7pm, the show began. The Gundam turned its head back and forth and steam erupted from mysterious origins!

The Gundam was built for a Green initiative. Environment stuff. In an effort to prove this that didn't involve a giant plastic Gundam model, there was a tent full of trees and beetles. I didn't go in, because it cost 300 yen, but I was able to stand around the back and look inside. The children! They were vicious! One boy picked up a beetle by the head and squeezed the pincers together to pick up another beetle. Jesus! So cruel! There was a pile of beetles where two or three kids kept trying to get the beetles to... I don't know... fight? I guess? Man.

They were big beetles, too. Not like the kind you get back home. If your home is my home.

And then we went to the mall to get something to eat and what did I find but a Jump Shop. Jump is one of the big manga magazines. Home to my personal current favorite: One Piece.

I bou' a li'l su'm su'm. Well, I bought the Laputa robot statue which is in the box and basically impossible to see in Kamakura pre-Kyoto. The Ponyo pins below it came free with the statue. It's a music box! And off to the side is a Chopperman capsule toy I failed to capture in the shot.

And furthermore!

Odaiba has some of the best night shots I've seen since coming to Japan. Man wow.

On the way back from Odaiba, some chick fell asleep on me. Because she was cute and not a big fat smelly mouth breather like the last person who decided I was a pillow on the train, I suffered it. Ohoho. Also she was considerably smaller and at least made an effort to sit up every once in a while, unlike the aforementioned big fat smelly mouth breather who decided I wasn't worth the trouble of being considerate, even when I nearly elbowed him in the side of the head.

When I got off the train I'm not sure how but I sent her cell phone flying. I quickly grabbed it and handed it to her, but she was still half-asleep and would have dropped it if I hadn't given her time to get a good grip. I am so nice! Our gazes locked and nothing else mattered in the world. Then I got off the train.

Not enough time

Because I am a moron, I didn't plan near enough time for Hiroshima. I very much regret it!

But anyway, here is what I did manage to do in Hiroshima: wandered around the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, visited the Genbaku Dome, and took a short trip to Miyajima Island.

I did the park and dome last night, after checking into my hotel. too late to visit the museum, but not too late to walk around and absorb things. Tons of memorial statues in and around the park. Lots of origami cranes - I'm not sure if it's always like that or if it's just This Time of Year. It's still pretty close to the anniversary of the bombing, so I dunno...

I could say I was disturbed or deeply moved by the bomb dome. And I kind of was.

But...

Despite my fascination with history, I like to think of the past as the past. We learn from our mistakes and try not to make them again, but is there really any sense in dwelling on them? It was a terrible thing, and certainly the everlasting evidence of past devastation amidst an otherwise thriving city is a juxtaposition of epic proportions. (Is that a sentence or is that a sentence?) But I don't really think we need a reminder of it in our everyday lives.

Eh.

On a more positive note: the area around the dome seemed to be a bit of a romantic spot, ironically. I spied a number of couples sitting on the stone path along the adjacent river. One man seemed to be serenading passersby with a song about I-have-no-idea-it-was-in-Japanese, and another strummed his acoustic guitar beneath the bridge.

Also I figured out how to take night pictures that don't turn out blurry and/or noisy! There's an automated setting just for that! It requires makeshift tripods - a couple coins here and there, a bottle of water to lean against - but if you get the angle right the pictures turn out much better than any I'd taken prior.

I just wish I knew how to do it manually instead of using the automated setting. Or if you even CAN do it manually.

Today, however, was all jove. I went to Miyajima Island! It was... well, I guess it wasn't all jove, because like I said earlier, I didn't plan near enough time. I am disappoint! I walked around the island a bit, ate me some udon, and went to the temple that's built on water. Well, when the tide's high, anyway.

I thought about taking a boat ride to go up close to the tori gate farther out in the water, but moneyyyyy! Instead I took a picture. And while taking that picture, I accidentally pressed a button... wait what my camera has auto-bracketing? SHEEEEIT.

Auto-bracketing is a tool that helps immensely when making HDR photos. Low, normal, and high exposure. Three pictures. Then you do some fancy schmancy tricks in Photoshop or somethin' and put 'em all together for an HDR photo. I love HDR! I used it for the gate. At some point in the future I will attempt to create an HDR photo. I do not know if it will work well because the lighting wasn't too hot, anyway, but!!

Ahem. I would've loved to spend more time there, climbed the mountain (or at least gone up the ropeway), etc. Unfortunately, I simply couldn't. Idiot, idiot! Live and learn.

And now I'm back home. Or, what amounts to my home in Japan, anyway. Tomorrow will be a fabulous day of relaxation and probably working on art for a game!

Desire to improve

I've been very, very slowly uploading pictures from my first few weeks in South Korea...

They kind of suck. ): It occurs to me that I was focused too much on simply getting a picture, and not getting the picture. Which sounds dumb when I think about it, but that's the way things are.

In an effort to improve, I've been looking at photos all over the world wide web and reading about photography in general, especially at Ken Rockwell's personal website. I'd never heard of him until I started researching what new camera I might want, but he's apparently a pro and seems to know his stuff! I have no real desire to be a professional photographer, but I figure reading tips from one will help me to improve.

Actually, that's not really true... I'd love to be a professional photographer, but I know that it's just not something I could do... maybe. At any rate, it's a little late to all of a sudden change my life goal. And besides, being a non-professional gives me more freedom... right?

Back to the main point: I want to get better.

I definitely feel like I've improved since arriving in Japan (which signaled the beginning of my photography adventures). However, looking at those pictures of random food stuffs makes me second guess that improvement.

Granted, packaging isn't all that exciting to look at in the first place. I know this. I also know that the pictures I take with more interesting subjects almost always turn out better. So maybe I should just stop taking pictures of food packaging!

Ah, but even so, when I look at pictures from more skilled photographers, I can tell they are way better than me when it comes to setting up a good shot... lighting, angles, etc. Way, way better.

Maybe I should just go out one day with the singular goal of finding and taking good photos. Usually I am distracted by something else during my trips: people, destinations, food... anything. If I remove those extra goals, maybe I can take the time to experiment and find the photos I want to take, find out how to get the right picture. Which would then enable me to get those pictures even when I'm distracted. Hmm.

Hopefully I will improve.

I plan to get a new camera, but I'm well aware that doing so won't automatically make my pictures better. New gizmos make everything fun!

F U, Ji (cont.)

(I wish I could say I come up with this title. Alas, I stole it.)

Now that I've calmed down from the devastation of losing the only digital copy of my memories (aside from the blog post detailing my adventure), I will finish the story. Not that there's much more to say!

So, yeah. I will continue from the very spot I quit. It is in your hands to connect the two halves. Here goes!

--- my misery! The landscape below me was half visible through the haze of the slowly fading cloud. Then a gust of wind brought the cloud back in full force! Oh no! Misery returned.

Just kidding; I went as fast as I could to get below cloud level permanently. A grin of epic proportions consumed the lower half of my face the first time I saw the full view! It was fucking beautiful. A large and knobby light green shape in the sea of green was next to a slightly smaller blue shape. Off to the left and way off in the distance was cityscape and city skyline, respectively. I knew the blue to be a lake, and I suspected the light green was a rice field. Later, this was confirmed to be true. And I could still see SOME clouds below me. The puffy white kind, not the ugly, sinful gray kind. Exactly the kind of thing I like to see!

If I was the kind of guy who skipped, I would've skipped the rest of the way down the mountain. Instead, I took my sweet time, taking breaks as much as possible, even if I didn't really need to anymore. Seriously, it invigorated me to such an extent that my exhaustion had nearly dissipated entirely! Never have I enjoyed such a wonderful feeling from simply looking at something. It's true that I always, always love looking at landscapes, and nature, and cities (especially from high above), but going from such a low as I had been at the top of the mountain to this high was amazing.

I don't know if I can say I'd do it again (I can only take so much pain), but it was totally worth it, in every way.

And then I reached Kawaguchiko 5th Station once again and took the bus back to Kawaguchiko, where my exhaustion set in once and I started hallucinating. But it was a good kind of delirium, this time.

Happy endings for all!

Except you, SD card. I'd like to break you to tiny, tiny little pieces. Grr. But not until I'm absolutely 100% sure that there's no chance whatsoever of getting my photos back! I've chosen to remain optimistic for now, even though I know logically the chances are pretty low.

So that's my story.

F U, Ji

Saturday morning, I left for Mt. Fuji. It was a grueling and terrible trip, with not one, not two, but six train transfers! But, no, it wasn't really grueling because I decided to start reading Red Mars, finally, and it is awesome.

I thought I was going to be late, because I technically took the wrong train once, and then missed another train and had to wait extra long. I was supposed to at Kawaguchiko by 4pm! Luckily, I was still the second one there, at 4:30pm. Ish. Everyone else took the bus and got stuck in traffic. Har har! (Except the one dude who had arrived the night prior.)

All in all, I am clearly the winner, because arriving the night prior is paramount to cheating.

So after we arrived and caught up on the haps... Everyone was interested in my Korean adventures, of which I sadly had little to say. Such is me! But, yes, after catching up and resting a bit, we went on our merry way to the bus which would take us up to Kawaguchiko 5th Station, which is I guess 2303m above sea level. So, 1476m to hike past that. Doesn't seem like much OR DOES IT.

Upon arriving at the 5th station, we all bought doodads. Some of us bought gloves and walking sticks. Gloves for warmth, and walking sticks to get marks at various stations proving you made it there! I, of course, bought both. 'Cause I rock. We donned our Warmth Suits, got our picture taken, and began the hike.

It was, of course, dark by this time. I can't remember if we left at 7 or 8pm. Probably somewhere in between. We left at this time in order to see the sunset from the top. Honestly, I wasn't keeping track of the time simply because that was not my priority. I was focused entirely on the climb at that point. I knew it was going to be tough for me. I am, after all, pretty out of shape. Rotund?

Well, that focus lasted for all of about five minutes until we first got a good view of the city below from our height. With all the flickering lights and the lake surrounded by flickering lights and oooh it was nice. I got some pictures, but alas, they were rather poor. Again, foiled by low lighting! Stupid grainy pictures grr. One o' dese days...

Nonetheless. Beautiful stuff.

If anything, this view invigorated me. It gave me purpose. I climbed without complaint for a long time. I had my doubts I would be able to make it to the top, but I knew that I wanted to, at the very least, and that was enough to keep me going for the time being.

We climbed, we took breaks, we climbed some more. Eventually we separated, as some wanted to go faster. I was in the slowest group, with Matt and Nisrene. (I created the slowest group!) I was getting tired. My right leg was hurting. Sharp pain in my right thigh and foot with every step. I had to sort of... throw my leg, instead of lift it. I wanted to give up so many times. But they wouldn't let me. Bastards!

I pushed on. At nearly every station, I would say, "I'm not going any further. I'm not going to make it." 'Cause I'm a quitter, I am. But every time, they'd convince me to continue on. Then we made it to a station and decided to get something hot to eat and drink. Lo and behold, the other group was in there! While Nisrene and I waited in line, Matt went and met them. Then abandoned us!! Oh, the humanity! As we sat and ate, he took them and ran off! Later he says, "I thought you guys were giving up!" Oh, sure. Sure. You just got tired of me holding you back.

But anyway, we kept going. Pushing on and on. I surely would've given up had doing so not left Nisrene alone. I would've felt bad. Such is me! We reached the last station before long, waiting in many a slow, slow line. Lines! To climb a mountain! Can you imagine? Let's just say, it was a little crowded, eh?

Protip: Do not climb Mt. Fuji on a holiday weekend. Please! Listen to me!

Finally we reached the last station before the summit! I could feel it; we were getting close. We'd be there soon enough. But then we saw Kira and Tyler sitting inside the station! We said hello and they had informed us that they gave up! I scoffed at the comment: "But we're so close!" Adamant in their decision to remain inside, we went on. I couldn't hold it against them, anyway. I desperately wanted to give up, and I wasn't even the one with altitude sickness! It was merely a weak mind and body responsible for my misgivings. Thanks to my last remaining climbing partner's encouragement, however, I soldiered on.

The line was slow and we'd by this time entered cloud level. And there was a cloud. SO MUCH FOR THAT SUNSET, HUH? It was cold. Soon enough, she started feeling sick and decided to turn back. I didn't want to give up at this point because I thought we were close to the top. So I kept going.

Turns out I was wrong. And the line was slow. And it was cold. And wet. And I was breathing cloud. And it was windy as hell. In short, as time went on, I grew more and more miserable. Every breath, every step, I wanted to turn around. But I kept thinking I was close! Like, within an hour's time, I'd be there!

IT DIDN'T HAPPEN.

In an about hour and a half, I saw a tori gate. HELL YES I'M FINALLY THERE. And then I got closer. ALMOST. And then I reached the tori gate. And above, I could see the line going further into the cloud. Shiiiiiit, man. I'm going to die.

Misery. Absolute misery. By this time, I was far, far beyond my physical limits. Have you ever been so physically exhausted that it starts to affect your mind? Neither had I. Pain, moisture, cold, wind, pain. It wouldn't fucking end. I dreaded every step. And what slow steps they were! The goddamn line was so slow. Pain. I was on the verge of tears, crying out for mommy! I wanted nothing more than to give up and just fall asleep. But I couldn't do it. I wouldn't give in.

Why? Fuck if I know. I was getting pretty delirious. I don't even know if I was really conscious of what I was doing after a while.

It was so cold.

At one point some girl passed me by as I was resting and asked if I was okay. "Wh-?" I mumbled. "Oh...mhm yeah." She acknowledged my response and walked on. I sat there wishing I'd had the balls to say no so I could get some help. What kind of help she could have given me, I don't even know.

I got up. Walked on. Walked more. Waiting for the line, walking, waiting, one step at a time, walking. Cold.

If this seems a bit rambly and mad, then I'm getting my point across. If not? Well, I'm trying. Forgive me.

After what seemed like a fucking eternity (such a cliché, but now I know what it really means), I found myself at the final tori gate. I could see the shrine above. Halle-fucking-lujah.

Make no mistake. I wasn't exactly happy. I knew I'd still have to walk back DOWN the mountain. Ffff. I walked around a bit, took some pictures (not even madness can keep me from a good photo!), got my staff stamped, bought a couple souvenirs, sat down, and pondered just what the hell I was going to do. I knew in my heart there was no way I'd be making it down the mountain in my condition. I was past my limit three times over.

I needed warmth. Ordered some hot ramen. It was fucking delicious. Gave me a little pep, but not enough.

Ahhh, fuck. I had to go eventually. Might as well be now, right? I went, down the other path.

Still cold, still wet, still miserable, but I just kept walking. Eventually I put on my iPod. Turns out even music wasn't going to help me this time. Music has never failed me before! Whenever I'm down or angry, I listen to something, anything, and I feel at least a little better!

The only thing music did for me this time was give me a rhythm to hike to. Which was at least a little helpful, I suppose.

The pinnacle of negativity! You have no idea.

I tried as hard as I could to simply focus on the music for as long as I could. It sort of worked except not really at all.

But then, I saw something that blew me away and instantly cured me of ---

well i was going to write about how seeing the view of the city in the daylight instead of at night after i got below the cloud line rejuvenated me instantly but i just went to get some photos off my sd card to show in this blog post and the card got fried somehow

so fuck it

Enough negativity!

Yesterday I went for a stroll around the COEX mall in Seoul. I never actually went inside, just walked around the outside. They have a big aquarium there, though, so I think I might go in at some point. I love marine life.

At any rate, as I meandered the border of the mall, after eating some super delicious super spicy hot seafood soup, I discovered a festival! Purely by chance. Intrigued and excited, I decided to go into the middle of it all. Only... I couldn't!

I walked the perimeter of the giant crowd of people surrounding the booths and couldn't find a clean entrance. I could've squeezed through some tight crowds watching a performance of some sort, but it would have been quite an adventure.

That and people kept staring at me. It was kind of unsettling. Eventually I stopped behind the huge crowd of Koreans watching the performance (although at that point it was just some guy talking at a podium, words I couldn't even begin to understand). This old lady kind of stared at me for a few seconds, then turned and whispered to her friend. Then the friend turned and gawked, wide-eyed at this behemoth towering over her.

I just laughed.

Even so, that wasn't the first or last stare I would get. There were a few friendly hellos - in English, even! If I was a more outgoing guy, I might have stopped and talked to them about the festival. But for the most part people just looked at me like "what the hell are you doing here?" I never got these looks in Japan; only the curious stares of children. Kids are cute, though, so it doesn't bother me.

I think the festival was some sort of Korean pride thing, so people just generally had no idea what the hell I was doing there. Either way, it was awkward, so I got the fuck out and went back to my hotel room.

I love curry.

Which is weird.

Before I came to Japan, I'd tried Indian food on about four different occasions at different restaurants. Curry three of those times. Always hated it.

Then I came to Japan and had some Japanese curry. I like it. It's pretty good!

Then we found a Nepali curry place in Sangubashi. OH MAN. Wonderful!

And then this gem: pumpkin and chicken curry. During my last week of class in Iidabashi, we discovered an Indian curry restaurant. So. Good.

I love curry. I love nan. Maybe one day I'll venture elsewhere in the wide world of Indian food.

I have a problem.

And its name is Katsudon.

This is already the second time I have had tonkatsu in some form this week. Monday, katsudon. Tuesday, curry. TODAY, KATSUDON.

"What is katsudon?" you ask. Well, let me tell you, friend! Katsudon is nothing more than fried pork cutlet on rice, topped with a raw egg that cooks from the heat of the pork and rice below it.

I love this shit. Easily my favorite Japanese dish!

Henceforth, however, I will make a concerted effort to consume New and Interesting Foodstuffs.

Ahh, but it's so good. Can I do it?

I've got a flickr, too.

As time goes on, I will likely link to pictures on my flickr and talk about them if they're of particular interest to me at any given moment in time. The link is to the right for now and will always be somewhere on the front page!