KenTaco Hut and Lessons in Friendship

J and i were discussing fast food joints the other nite and he tells me that in Overland Park in Kansas they have a KenTaco Hut. i thought this was the name of a restaurant but it is more like a food court with a kentucky fried chicken, taco bell and a pizza hut together (apparently they are all owned by pepsi co). i laughed for 15 minutes straight til my belly hurt. J continues saying that its a "nice place; not like those nasty places in New York that have rats running around." more howls of laughter from me. This story was confirmed tonite when my friend D came over and he says that they have them in Philly as well. more laughter.

i feel like even silly discussions like this one sustain me. its fun to just hang out and talk about mindless stuff with friends (jules is my master of lists and ranks -- we always rank our favorite movie stars and movies and tv shows; J is the master of all things pop culture; i pose such mind rattling questions such as 'if hair and nails continue to grow after death, do the undead ever have to shave? did angel or spike ever shave?' Alisa chimes in with, "how about zombies?") and tonite over dinner, i felt connected with the people around me.

i know i always seem to be breaking my resolutions but there are 2 that i've kept: equal effort with friends and limiting the amount of bullshit in my life. the effort one is easy, i spend time with the people i like and if they don't expent the same curtosy to me, then i know we don't value each other on a reciprocal level and i let go. there's only so much disappointment you can take before you stop caring. i've already reached that level with some of my "friends."

the bullshit editing is a bit tougher. it can be hard to separate the crap from the good stuff but there are instances when it it a clear cut case. for instance, i recently had a phone mail chat with this girl that i don't care for. she and i aren't friends (the reasons are irrelevant now but lets just say if i smelled bacon and she said my ass was on fire, i still wouldn't believe her) but we have friends in common. she wanted to chat or make things right or whatever "for the sake of our friends" and she even went so far as to say she was extending the olive branch cuz she was being mature. excuse me, what? so by implication, she is saying that 1. i'm not mature and 2. that she's not interested in making things right with me for her sake or mine; she's just trying to solidify her friendship with her "friends." this leads me to believe that either 1. she feels like she's losing her footing with them or 2. they've expressed to her that the friction between us is creating a problem for them. i was prepared to accept both, though the latter worried me a bit. they certainly spend more time with her than they do with me but that's a question of preference, not loyalty. hey, maybe she's a real hoot to hang out with (though i seriously doubt it). however, if someone has an issue with me, i should hope that they would let me know about it, especially if they are my friends. so tonite i laid it out on the table for them. no beating around the bush, no bullshit. and they said that my hatred of this girl didn't pose a problem for them. and for that, i'm glad. i can only hope that what they told me was the truth, though i have no reason to doubt them.

i find it odd that although im almost hitting my third decade (and some of the people around me are well into their thirties), its still SOOOO much like high school. it's all rumors and gossip and throwing your weight around trying to be the most popular cheerleader or whatever. and maybe i'm old and maybe i'm boring but i'd much rather have lunch and go to a museum with a friend than go clubbing and drinking every night. i don't have it in me anymore. i did that in college and now i'm kinda done. i like going out once in a while but it's not a nightly thing and i'm OK with that. especially since so much of the bar/drinking scenes and the clubbing scenes are mostly bullshit anyways and i've been pretty good about avoiding that so far.

i guess just being yourself can be just as hard as becoming the person you want to be.

A trip to the national science museum with my gay boyfriend

Knowing i was going to be stood up by one of my unreliable idiot friends, i decided to invite my roomie/gay boyfriend to a day at the science museum with me. The national science museum has just reopened the japan wing of the national science museum (but the 600 yen entry fee gives you access to all of the permanent exhibits -- so worth it!) so J and I decided to go check it out. i sense the he's not the biggest fan of museums but he's a great sport and indulged my prepubescent giddiness while we were there.

i couldn't take pictures at all of the exhibits but i managed to get a few. here are some cool looking scientific instruments including the big ass telescope:



and of course i took loads of pix of the ocean stuff.


check out the little crabbies!


Hellooooooo dinosaur!


I even got to be one of the displays!


I think i frightened a bunch of tiny children with this one. the parents just stared at me like i was nuts. but an absolutely fun day!

since his schedule has changed, Ive been spending alot more time with J and i really think he's lovely! he even got me some really pretty flowers to say thanks for listening to his crap all the time.


but hey, no probs! it's included with the rent!

i'll try to keep all of my museum adventures posted since i have resolved to hit one once a week. tokyo has so many of them that i doubt i will see them all. i may skip some of the ones that don't interest me so much like the museum of the sewerage or the salt museum . . . .

thai food, dancing elvises (or is it elvi?), and other general strangeness

Ah, Tokyo. home to so much weird stuff, especially in the late spring as it begins to warm up and all the kooks comes out to play.

the thai festival was on at yoyogi park on sunday and my friends and i went to check it out. we had a good time scoping out the thai food, arts, crafts, goods, and music. i think it's so funny that a lot of the people here totally look down on foreigners (especially stealth foreigners -- you know, looks japanese but really isn't), but they LOVE the foreign food and culture. it's kinda like, thanks for visiting but don't stay. the festival was completely packed. we had a tough time even getting food or getting through the crowds but it was totally worth it. we got to eat some very authentic stuff: green curry, the minced pork and holy basil stir fry, some pork noodle soup, pad thai, and some grilled chicken. i even got to eat some weird ass fruit that i would probably never get a chance to try unless i go back to Thailand: rambutan, dragon fruit, and of course mango which i LOVE! yum yum! a foodie's paradise.

it was so weird to see all these half kids as well. it made me feel like tokyo was more like home. a real melting pot rather than just a city that calls itself that. i saw the one of the cutest kids i've ever seen there.

here are a few shots from the festival. some hand crafted sweets:


and some beautiful melon and turnip carvings:

but i was more excited by my post-thai festival discoveries. i finally got to see the dancing elvises! or is it elvi? these are a bunch of middle aged and older japanese dudes (and a couple of their babes) who go to Yoyogi park on the weekends dressed like rockabilly elvises (think Travolta the Revolta in Grease). they blast their music and they just dance. and it seems awful choreographed but no matter, it was fun anyway. here's a few shots:

Then, we got to see some interesting freaks out by the bridge in front of Meiji shrine. the best of which were the Tokyo circus peeps:

This guy was awesome. without a doubt the funniest dude out there. And he was dancing (or some might call that gyrating) like there was no tomorrow . . .

there were also a few other random freaks (the lolita-goths and cowboy guy and lots of trannies) and freaks who were offering free hugs (suz and i got a couple) but they just couldn't hold a candle to these guys! the only other fun thing i saw were these Jamaican themed post cards that this Japanese rasta wannabe dude was drawing. they kinda looked a bit like elementary school crayon art but i though the engrish on some of them were quite funny:

Ah, good times.

insomnia, the new biz, and a wedding to go to

i haven't slept right for 3 weeks. maybe more. i toss in my new bed for hours until i am completely exhausted and crash out. this usually happens at 3 or 4 in the morning. i watch some episodes of CSI, i read my books (Machiavelli's The Prince which is SOOOO GOOD and Uncle John bathroom reader *did you know Finland has 60,000 lakes?), and i toss and turn and toss and turn. tried sleeping tablets; they worked the first time, but the last few times that i've taken them, i just lay there drowsy for hours on end without actually sleeping. it's a living nightmare.

the good news is, the biznass seems to be ok. i was thinking of moving but real estate in tokyo is exorbitant and real estate people are not very fond of helping gaijins and since my current living situation is not bad at all, i've decided to stay for the moment. i'm making atout 80% of what i made at Nova and i'm only working a fraction of the hours i did there so this is actually a nice change. i feel my life slowing down alot, making time to smell the roses and actually enjoying the lessons i teach. perhaps the novelty will wear off at some point but right now, i'm not complaining at all.

Old habits die hard and i find that i am starting to revert back to some of my old single ways but it's difficult. i think if i was doing that whole, men-suck-and-i'm-through-with-all-of-them-and-i'd-like-to-cut-off-all-their-penises thing, i would be easier to re-embrace the single life but since that's not what happened, i'm at a bit of a loss. i think that's what i've always done in the past but it's not really an option this time. perhaps i should do what miranda did in Sex and the City and watch Jon Stweart and eat chocolate cake all the time. Actually that sounds REALLY good but for the fact that i have to squeeze myself into cute dresses in a couple of months.

Ah yes, the old friend's wedding routine. my beautiful and lovely friend rashmi is getting married to oneof the nicest dudes i've ever met and i couldn't be happier for them. i'm not happier for me who has to shell out almost a grand or more to go home for the wedding. on top of that, this is a for real indian wedding which means everyone will be looking gorgeous and events will be swanky. i've worn the same dress to different weddings and formal/semi-formal events for the past 6 years. it's cute, i like it, i used to think it was fairly flattering on my fairly dense paperweight like body but i think the time has come to suck it up and get something new. or 4 somethings new. there are 4 events to which i have been invited (the wedding invitation was more like a book) which means a different outfit for each one, yes? oh crap, there goes another grand.

i think i am also loathing the "isn't it about time you got married?" looks and questions. i think all of our mutual friends (me and the bride) have just gotten married or are engaged. this is going to be like the wedding in North Carolina but instead of the shrimp and oyster bar there will be a lentils and pakora bar. the southern drawl will be gone but the questions will remain the same. i hope there is no mention of my good birthing hips. i guess we will find out in a few months!