Salutations.

There has been a noticeable absent from my last post, and I apologize for that. I’ve had several projects in the works that I thought would see light sooner, but unfortunately they’re still a week or two away from being fully realized. Once going, they should hopefully lead to some more consistency in my posting, so let’s hope I can get this stuff off the ground soon!

The biggest reason I think for my lack of new information on this site has been, while, a lack of new information. Familiarity breeds lethargy, as the case were, and a part of me felt that no news was better than overly boring news. I moved to a new town over the course of the summer, but for all purposes it was a move to the less interesting. The town itself is much smaller, and the schools, while offering a much friendlier and enjoyable working environment, still work from the same teaching model as my past schools. All this coupled with the fact that I haven’t really gone anywhere, or done anything of particular note over the past couple months has led me to largely ignore my poor underappreciated site. Gomen ne (^^;)

As I mentioned, I do have several projects in the works that should hopefully see fruition in the next week or two, so do check back for that. Also, this weekend will be our school’s annual Culture Festival (bunkasai) which I plan to document both visually and auditorily. The auditory part should eventually lead to an overhaul of this site in that respect, which I hope to address when I return home for Christmas.
Speaking of which…

For those who haven’t gotten the memo (i.e. pretty much everyone), my dates for returning during the holiday season will be from the 20^th of December through the 7^th of January. This definitely beats the pants off of lasts year’s schedule, which had me flying in the day before Christmas Eve, and allows me a little more leeway in adjusting back to EST before the onslaught of holiday mayhem ensues. For those in the area, I look forward to catching up and recounting my latest adventures from this wacky place of raw fish, and more specifically, the hyper-cute mascots of said raw fish. Buying key chains of smiling and winking sushi is a pretty bizarre experience, and definitely brings images of talking bovine from certain restaurants at the end of the universe sharply to mind.

Finally, I’d like to bring to everyone’s attention that the past month was officially beard month here in Saitama, Japan (that’s a blatant lie, but I’m grasping here..), and to honor that most auspicious of occasions, I present to you the Franz Josef in all it’s brilliant splendor! Behold the majesty! Witness the fear it inspires in the masses! Watch as I defy Japanese restraint and traditions of modesty in my pursuit of follicle foibles! The absence of these mighty feats of facial daring-do from modern trends in appearance is one I hope to remedy with my campaign to bring back the Franz Josef, and its woollier cousin, the Friendly Muttonchops. Join me, my freinds, in this most noble of causes! Together we can change the face (no pun intended) of fashion for years to come! Give me liberty, or give me death! And if it be death, let it be one embraced in the warm arms of this most beautiful example of manly facial hair!
 

The Franz Josef has spoken.