Living La Vida Loca In Japan: Actors

Showing posts with label Actors. Show all posts

August 5, 2016

Friday - Hot and sunny

An okay day.

I got up a little early again this morning and got up. I had some cold tea and a bit later made my breakfast. I had oatmeal again. It was nice!

I made the bed and even threw on a few clothes. It was hot today, so I tried to wear as few as possible and still be decent of course! I wanted to start making something for dinner, but thought F might be on his way home, so I waited.

F didn’t come home, so somewhere around 1:30 I started making caramelized onions in the kitchen. It is a slow process if you do it carefully, like I was doing. Of course, F decided to take a late lunch today so I was in his way, but there really wasn’t anything I could do. I was trying to have my own lunch at the time too, so after a bit F gave up and went out to have lunch. I finally finished the onions and set them aside to cool.

I had wanted to go out today but I didn’t. I was quite upset with F coming home so late. He didn’t call, he wasn’t very talkative when he arrived home, so I really didn’t want to see much of him. I decided to go out, but I never got the time.

I did all the dishes up and then sat on the couch. I mended a pair of pants for F ( I didn’t tell him I did it yet!) and then worked on my crochet. It was relaxing and quite therapeutic. By the time I had to start getting dinner ready I felt a lot better.

I put dinner together and after F came back from work and then the grocery store, everything was ready. We’d planned to have a “junk food” dinner, so I had made two kinds of chip dip, but I also had a bit of a clean out the refrigerator thing going on. We finished up some of the leftovers from earlier in the week and then had some chips and dip. F seemed to enjoy it, and I did too. There’s even some leftover caramelized onions for him to make a loaf of bread with.

F did the dishes and watched some TV. At nine I turned it over to Castle, because…Nathan Fillion… and F took his shower. He went to bed soon afterwards.

I did a little more crochet tonight and started the second panel. I’m only 3 rows in on each panel and it is quite amazing how different they look, just because of the colours! I am thinking of seeing if I can buy a couple of balls of coordinating yarn at the store tomorrow, just so I can have a couple more lighter rows, but since the yarn came from overseas, I’m not sure if I can match the feel or the quality here.

So that’s about it for my day. All in all, it wasn’t too bad. I haven’t been out of the apartment in two days though, so I am really looking forward to going somewhere!

Come back in a bit and see what I get up to. Until tomorrow….

January 14, 2016

Thursday - Snowy

A good day, but sad.

I found out this evening that Alan Rickman died today. I loved his work and thought that he was wonderful in almost everything that he did. My favourite part of his was always Hans Gruber in DieHard, but he was fabulous in the Harry Potter series, Sense and Sensibility, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and of course in Galaxy Quest. The only thing I didn’t like him in was The January Man which was a fairly early, little-seen film he did. I will miss his fabulous voice and his acting work so much.

On with my day then. I got up a bit late again and came through, had tea and breakfast while I read my blog and surfed the net. Once again, I thought that F might come home for lunch, so I put off my exercise. I got exercise, but I didn’t do any in the apartment today.

After 1 pm I decided to walk to the nearest bank machine, take out some money and then walk it over to the post office. I didn’t leave the apartment for a while, but did finally go out. I walked to the bank machine near the grocery store. I debated stopping at McDonalds for a treat, but decided not to do that. I made a quick pit stop at home and then went off to the post office so I could pay for the convention I’m planning to go to in May. I got it done and then came home again.

At home, I put on my fake crocs and went upstairs to do the sweeping in our apartment building. This is our month and I haven’t looked at it yet. F hadn’t done it this week either, so it was a good thing. After that, I went back into the apartment.

I had a very late lunch but that was fine. I did the dishes up afterwards too, no biggie.

F came home around 7 pm tonight. I suggested going to dinner at Gusto. He didn’t want to, but we went there. We had similar dishes. I had a cut steak with foie gras and he had a Japanese set dish that was sliced beef and foie gras. I liked mine, he wasn’t so happy.

We bought groceries for tomorrow. I decided that I’m going to make myself some spaghetti tomorrow. I haven’t done pasta at home for a while. I also got a small salad for myself, plus the usual yogurt and soy milk.

At home I decided to make us some nachos, since I’d made the guacamole last night. I grated some Cheddar cheese, layered it and the chips and then baked it in the toaster oven. F and I had some with salsa and guacamole. It was good but F said he ate too much. My meal was smaller so I didn’t have that problem!

I watched Bones and during a break found out about Alan Rickman. I’ve found out about both David Bowie and Alan Rickman from one friend on Facebook, I might have to stop reading her to stop people dying!

I did a bit more knitting tonight and almost have the ribbing done on my latest hat attempt. I basically need to get it started so that I can take it places with me.

And that’s about it for me for today. I walked a long way today, but it was good to get out of the apartment under my own steam and get things done! I’m going back to the post office tomorrow to mail some postcards, but I hope to do some things in the apartment too. Come back later and find out what I get up to. Until tomorrow….

December 13, 2014

Saturday - Snowy

A not very good day.

We have a lot of snow. It arrived today between 5:00 am and noon mostly and is heavy and annoying!

Today wasn’t a good day. F and I didn’t get on very well. He started in on me before 11 am about where I wanted to eat. The answer was nowhere right then. I took a shower and came back to the living room to find that he wasn’t there. He’d gone back to bed. I left him alone for a while but he came out. He wasn’t feeling well, and basically spent the entire day in that mode.

We went out to the car and had to shovel snow for a few minutes. It took both of us working fairly hard about 15 minutes to clear enough snow in our parking spot.

We finally left for lunch, to the Daiichi Hotel for their lunch. It was nice. F had a beef stew, I had beef cream pasta. After lunch we tried to do some shopping, but didn’t really get much.

We finally went to the butcher’s shop and ordered our Christmas Chicken. It was expensive, but not as bad as the place in the mall. They wanted 3000 yen for an uncooked chicken. Goodness me!

We came home again for a bit and relaxed. F got a delivery and I just tried to relax myself. I wasn’t really able.

We drove out to F’s favourite fish restaurant for dinner. I really wasn’t that hungry but somehow ended up with a huge dinner. Most of it was really nice, but I wasn’t in the mood.

Next, we drove out to Mikawa and got there around 7. I tried asking F what he wanted to do for the next hour, but he wouldn’t answer, he just got mad at me. Then he decided to leave the mall. I stopped him and said I’d like to look at craft stuff. He followed me there and then disappeared. When I was done I couldn’t find him. I sent him a text, which he answered. He said he was in the washroom. I waited outside the most likely one, and when there were only 10 minutes before the show I texted him again and asked him if I should go and get the tickets. He wrote back that he was in front of the theatre. So, he knew I was looking for him and he just buggered off to the movie theatre and didn’t bother to tell me? Nice. I walked along there and met up with him. We almost didn’t go in. Honestly, when he said, “Let’s go.” I thought he mean “Go home,” and I would have been fine with that.

We got our tickets, F got us drinks and himself some popcorn….I was still too uncomfortably full from dinner to have any…and we went to see Gone Girl. By the time I finished in the washroom, the movie had started, so I honestly didn’t want to go in. I HATE missing any of the movie.

However, I really enjoyed the movie. I hadn’t read the book and I had no idea what would or wouldn’t happen. Ben Affleck was just about the right sort of actor to play the smarmy husband! A good film in my opinion.

After the movie, I didn’t bother talking to F, I just left. We were the last people to leave the theatre and he could have talked to me, but didn’t.

I went to the washroom. After that, I waited around the hallway for a minute or two, but realized I had no idea where he was. I thought he’d probably buggered off again, so I left the mall and went over to the car. He wasn’t there. I went back in the mall and was going to text him, when my phone rang and I saw him in the distance. Apparently he’d been in the washroom too. Oops. Too bad, so sad I missed ya!

We drove back to Tsuruoka in silence. We came home and I offered to make tea, which he accepted. We talked a little to each other, but again, he’s “not feeling well” which apparently gives him the right to be a jerk.

I have no idea what we’re going to get up to tomorrow. I wouldn’t mind if we stay home and rest, however he did talk about going to karaoke at one point. I doubt he’ll really want to do that. I need to get ink for the nengajo that we have to send out.

Anyway, I’m done for now. I’ll fill you in on the horribleness of tomorrow when it’s over. Night.

PS...Added later...we spent the first part of the night in bed holding hands.

August 12, 2014

Tuesday - Cooler, a little rainy and overcast

A good day.

I set my alarm for 8ish this morning and actually got up. I was a little late, but I did it. I got dressed and went for a walk. Yay me. I walked to the park and then did a lap and a half before coming back home. It was quiet and quite nice to be there. It was threatening rain, and it was my first day, so I didn't really want to spend a lot of time on it.

I came home, checked my email and Facebook, the usual. There was news all over Facebook this morning about Robin Williams. I'll try and write a little more at the end of this entry about that. I went over to the couch to watch Charmed and read the paper/have breakfast. F called me around 10:40 and invited me out for lunch. I told him I had to shower first, but we agreed to meet.

At a little after noon, I met my husband outside and we went to Marumatsu. It was a little busy for lunch, but we both ordered quite quickly. Then, we had to wait, and wait and wait. It took ages until we got our food. In fact, F had to wolf down his food with less than 5 minutes to spare before we left. He was not impressed, and neither was I. The food itself was good, but the restaurant wasn't that busy. We drove back towards our apartment, but I told F to just let me out on the main road to save him a couple of minutes. He did that, and I walked back home.

At home, I did some laundry, got started on today's dinner (marinating some pork) and the things I always do on the net. I also scanned my cards and stamped and addressed them.

I took them to the post office a little before 5 pm. I dropped them in the box and came home.

F was a little late tonight. I (over)cooked the broccoli in the microwave, sauteed the pork, and put out the remains of yesterday's salad. Dinner was quite good really. F however was really hungry tonight. He had rice with his meal, and then when he was finished, had ramen too. I was quite surprised because he usually says he isn't hungry. Still, I'm glad he had an appetite.

We had a fairly relaxed evening. F watched some Japanese TV. Only some of it was annoying! I put my headphones on and listened to some music. I tried to make up an ever-changing playlist for my iPod. I used to have one and it was great. I'm not sure if I can do that with the new iTunes.

At 11 I watched The Following with was a bit freaky as always. F has gone to bed and I should go soon too. I'm a bit tired from this morning!

Okay…so, Robin Williams. I'm really of two minds about him. He was funny at times, he could act, but often didn't. He used his shtick. At times he was so over the top that the movies seemed to be about him or his character, rather than the story the writer and director wanted to tell. I admire him for the charitable work that he did, for the genuine friendships he seemed to have, and for some of his films. It's funny, but my favourite films of Robin Williams aren't always other people's favourites! He was great in Good Will Hunting and Awakenings, but I liked some of his other films better. It's an extended cameo really, but his appearance in Dead Again was surprising because it hadn't been advertised that he was in the film. Even though I shouldn't like Jumanji, I always find myself watching it, and really enjoying it when it comes on TV.

Before I came to Japan, one of my male friends loved Robin Williams and would always make me go to see Robin's latest movie. Unfortunately, that was in the years when Robin's films weren't that good. I saw a lot of bad films and I'm afraid that I grew to dislike Robin Williams. It is only as I look at a list of his films that I realize that I do rather like a lot of them!

No idea what I'll get up to tomorrow. Come on back and find out. Night!

June 14, 2014

Saturday - Rainy, then clearing, then back to rain.

Much better day!

I can hardly believe that the same man came back from the doctor today. All week F has been rude and nasty and snapping at me, but today someone nice appeared in my apartment. It was a tad odd, but very welcome.

We had a nice lunch at Grado. Both of us had the same dish, roasted duck with ratatouille. I took over a stack of newspapers for them too. After lunch, we did a bit of shopping. I was looking for a rain coat of some kind, so we hit up a larger size shop, but didn't find anything for me coastwise. However, I did get a couple of new tops for summer. Someone picked up the cost of them…a guilty conscience perhaps? We also visited the drugstore for a few things for my trip and the apartment.

We went home to drop off our stuff then headed over to the Chido Museum. They have a small Katana show now and F wanted to see it. It was interesting, although I still don't know much about them. When we finished, we headed over to Mikawa and did more shopping!

First up was Daiso for a couple of little things, then it was over to the mall proper for a snoop. I couldn't find a raincoat to fit me…there was only one I could even find anyway. Hope it doesn't rain next week! We had dinner, then checked out the bookstore. I looked at craft magazines then wandered over to another shop and found UV-Cut hats, so I got one. Yay me. I had one, but it doesn't really cover that much of my face.

Then we went to see Noah, with my darling Russell Crowe. Or should I say my FORMER darling? He was good, it's just that the movie character he played wasn't a nice guy! The movie as a whole was terrible. Of course, I expected the biblical story to be expanded somewhat, but I didn't think it would be padded by creatures who escaped from Lord of the Rings…or would that be Transformers? Either way…just a mess.

We came home the long way. We tried to find a bento shop open, couldn't, tried a convenience store for some, but F wasn't convinced, and then ended up at the grocery store for food. I would have preferred the convenience store but actually I didn't care all that much!

The rest of the night has gone very nicely and even though it is late, I haven't been nagged at or commanded to go to bed, so I'm happy. Tomorrow, providing I get up in time, we're going to a Squid Festival on the outskirts of the city. What does one wear to a Squid Festival anyway? Hmm. Points to ponder! Got to go. Night!

May 28, 2014

Wednesday - Hot and Sunny-Gorgeous day!

A good day!

I got up early this morning. Surprisingly early to be honest. I took an early shower and even watched Bewitched too. Charlie's Angels was in Hawaii today…it was funny seeing how blotched and sunburnt everyone was! And surprisingly on Charmed, one of the guests was Amy Adams, the future multiple Academy Award nominee!

I did my usual things, did a little crafting, and even had a bit of lunch. At a little after 2:00 pm I went out. I rode out to the Machinakine Theater and got lost! Seriously, I went down the wrong road and wasn't sure where I was. I found myself soon enough, but it was funny. I stopped into a bakery for a few things to eat and then went on.

I went to see One Chance, the bio film of Paul Potts. He was the Britain's Got Talent star whose audition for that show became a YouTube sensation. For a lowish budget show, I really enjoyed it. One of my favourite things was that this was real people. Not just real because this was a true story, but real in that they weren't spies, or police or crooks. Anyway, it was fun, the music was great too.

I came straight home afterwards and oiled my bike when I arrived. Yay me. F called a little later to say he was on the way so I made a pot of peach oolong tea to have in the evening. I also made a start on dinner. Even though F offered to cook it, I did it tonight.

I made curry. I know, no big whoop, but it was my first time in a long time. I found a recipe for it in a Japanese Cook Book and basically followed it with a few additions. I had mine on pasta, F had his on rice, and even had two bowls! That surprised me. It was good. There's a bit leftover too, so I might have it for lunch tomorrow. Might.

In the evening I finished up my hot pad and worked on my shawl. I did a couple of rows of that. It's going well too. I'm just wondering if I'll actually make the whole thing of if I'll run out of yarn first!

And that was my day. It was pretty good. I probably won't get up so early tomorrow, at least I hope not, but it did seem to give me a bit of energy. I'm not sure what I'll get up to tomorrow, perhaps a bit of crafting. Come back and see! That's it for me. Night.

December 1, 2013

Sunday - Rainy, clear in the evening for a while

An okay day.

Today when I got up I didn't feel that great. I went back to bed and slept for another couple of hours. Then I got up. F slept for a bit too.

In the afternoon, I had some tea and a piece of bread, F wanted to go out to see a movie. I wasn't too bothered, but didn't mind.

We drove out to Mikawa Mall and had a light dinner (or as I liked to call it, lunch!) then went upstairs and bought our tickets to Captain Phillips. We both thought it was a good movie. Tom Hanks really is a good actor. The Somali actor Barkhad Abdi was excellent too.

After the film, F and I drove out to the bookstore to pick up our nengajo book. We spent a few minutes looking for one and finally got one that we both agreed on.

We came home and have spent a quiet evening at home. I'm feeling better tonight than I did during the day. I had a nagging headache for most of it, but it's mostly gone.

Tomorrow I'm not sure what I'll get up to. I have a few things to do, and I plan to write my Christmas cards so that I can pop them in the mail soon. They must get off soon or else! That's it for me. Night!

October 12, 2013

Saturday - Cool and a little windy

A good day today.

We all were able to get up late today. It made a nice change for everyone.

After breakfast, Van and Zach drove Kate and I into the city. I bought a new suitcase and then they took charge of it. Kate and I had a Subway lunch and then headed off to the LRT station. We boarded a train for downtown.

We got off at Churchill Station and found the entrance to the Art Gallery of Alberta. We paid and went in. We had a great time in the Gallery. There were some photographs of up north, an exhibit of watercolours from the V&A, and a spooky exhibit called something like "The Lady Spider". That was really cool and kind of scary!

After we finished looking at the galleries, we went to the gift store and then over to the mall. We found the movie theatre and found that if we went in right away, we could see Runner, Runner. We did! It was quite a good movie actually. It had Ben Affleck, Gemma Atherton and Justin Timberlake.

When the movie finished, we headed back to Edmonton Centre and looked at the bookstore. I bought Katie a new book and then we started to head home. Kate called her mum to let her know we were on the way, and we caught a train back to Century Park. We were just pulling into the station when Van called to see where we were.

We drove back to Beaumont and Van & Joe made dinner. We had home made healthy chicken nuggets and French fries. It was really nice.

After dinner, we watched a movie, Men in Black 3. I fell asleep a few times, but rallied near the end and stayed awake. After the movie, we all were tired and headed off to our beds. I'll be in bed in just a few minutes! Good night!

October 10, 2013

Thursday - Sunny and warmish

A good day.

I woke up this morning a couple of hours after kicking the covers off myself. I was cold, but that wasn't why I woke up. I had been having a cool dream where I was in the same restaurant or bar as Michael Caine. He was at the next table with some other actors, and waved hello to me and introduced me to his friends. I was so thrilled that he knew who I was that I just woke up!

I had a nice quiet morning at home. I had breakfast and tea, then went out to Edmonton with Van. We went to a craft store, an electric shop and a grocery store. We came back to Beaumont afterwards and had lunch. Van left to pick up Zach and I did more scanning of photos.

I scanned a lot of photos today, I did 40 pictures today, which was rather good. I scanned some interesting ones today, my grandparent's grave, my mother before she came to Canada, my sister and I as children...it was all cool.

After 40 pictures I was tired, so put everything away for today. I had dinner with everyone upstairs. We had macaroni and cheese, plus crackers and garlic sausage and cheese. It was nice. I also did some laundry tonight, and helped Zach a bit with his homework. That was fun!

I came up with the idea tonight that I might take Katie to the Art Gallery in Edmonton on Saturday. Neither of us have been and it would be something a little different to all of the shopping I've done already. If she can get her homework done, then we'll be able to go. We might go to a movie too, if there's a suitable one, and if we have time.

Tomorrow, I'm meeting up with a friend from college in Southgate and we'll do some shopping and lunching. I haven't seen her since my wedding, so I'm really looking forward to it. Come back tomorrow and see how I got on! Night.

September 18, 2013

Wednesday - Warm and sunny, gorgeous day

I got up this morning a little late. I was tired, but managed to drag myself up!

I watched my TV, had some of my yummy bread with yogurt and then got dressed. Around 1 I got ready and went out.

I biked over to the theatre and saw A Room With a View again. Such a great film with so many wonderful actors and actresses, Judi Dench, Denholm Elliott, Maggie Smith, Simon Callow and that's just the "oldies". How about Daniel Day Lewis, Rupert Graves, Julian Sands and Helena Bonham-Carter for the younger set? It has been years since I have seen the whole thing and to see it again on a big screen was just perfect!

After the movie I biked home again, stopping only at a bakery to pick up something for my late, late lunch. I came home and relaxed for a while.

F came home as usual. He did say hello when I greeted him, but that was it. He didn't say anything else to me. He changed into his pyjamas, took a bath and went to bed.

I made my dinner, using the food I had gotten myself last night and it was good. I had some chicken stir-fry, bread and cup soup. I probably should have made myself some couscous, but didn't.

F did appear later on, I'm not really sure what he did, but as usual he had great bangings and clangings in the kitchen. He set the bread maker for himself for the morning, despite insulting me last night when I offered him the bread I made for his breakfast today. Nice move.

After our initial greeting this afternoon, he never spoke to me, and I had no reason to talk to him.

I watched a lot of fun TV tonight, did some crochet and a little bit of writing of my next column. I need to write a letter, which is something I should get on with.

I'm really glad that I went out today. It was a bit frivolous, but it gave me such a lift to go out in the sunshine and see a wonderful movie. Too bad there aren't any more movies to go and see tomorrow. Wonder what I'll get up to? Come back and find out. Night!

September 9, 2013

Monday - Sunny and warm, gorgeous day

A good day.

I got up this morning around 9 am, watched my show and made the bed. That was more difficult than usual due to the blankets and towelkets on the bed. I showered and had a bite to eat while I did my internet stuff.

I went out at 11:30. I biked to the bank, got some money, then biked to the post office. I checked the rate of travellers cheques and then headed off to the Machi-kine Cinema. I went to see Another Country with Rupert Everett and Colin Firth. It was okay, but I found the end to be a let down. It was about boys at a boys school in England and the rampant homosexuality therein, but it was done in such a way that it wasn't very interesting at all. I did like the performances and it was lovely to see three (Cary Elwes was the third) future movie stars when they were young and relatively innocent!

After the movie, I went to the post office again and bought my travellers cheques. It went very smoothly and I got the amount and denominations that I wanted. Hurray for that. The woman that sold them to me did consult a book, but I imagine that she wouldn't deal with them everyday. Still, she did everything right and that made me very happy.

I decided to go to the mall and have a drink, so I toddled off on my bike. I walked around the mall and didn't get anything except my drink at Doutors. I had another raspberry and rose hip tea there and read some of Life of Pi. I've finally picked it up again after 2 months of ignoring it.

I came home and got home quite a bit before F. He had obviously been home in the middle of the day as there were some nice extras in the freezer.

When he came home, I cooked dinner. He was in bad shape. His lower back is really bad and he can barely walk. I feel so bad for him.

Tonight for dinner we had cup-a-soup, tandori taste chicken, salad and green beans. I had some couscous and F had rice with mentaiko, but I don't eat that stuff.

Because he was feeling so awful, I did the dishes while he had a bath. We had a quiet evening. I watched a lot of TV and came over to the couch at 11 for crochet and Scandal. I got a couple of rows done, so I'm quite pleased with myself.

That was about it. It was a lovely day. It actually felt like summer today, even though we're slipping into fall. It was warm and sunny, not humid at all, and it was lovely to be out and about.

Tomorrow I'm not sure what'll happen. I may go to the doctor if F can get half of the day off. I'm feeling a little wheezy, probably because of the dust that we stirred up on Sunday when we moved the bedding. If not, I'll hopefully start work on my next Journal article or at the very least, do some prep for my trip. Got to go. Night!

August 12, 2013

Monday - Hot, sunny and humid

A good day. I did get up a little late this morning, but when I did I took a shower. F and I had some bread and then we went out.

We hit up City Hall first to see about getting the new Juki cards. We each got one. I wanted one that showed my name without my middle name. Here in Japan when you have a middle name, they don't know what to do with it and they smoosh it into your first name. The workers at City Hall hadn't really heard about using nicknames, but we all stuck it out and finally I was able to get a card that shows both my full name and my usual name. Woot.

We left in the middle to give them time to make the cards and then had lunch. We also went to the main post office to pick up some more postcards. Lunch was good, we went to S'kase and I had the dadacha-mame pasta with salad. I added on tea and dessert too. F had udon and sushi and liked his.

We picked up our cards and then went driving. F took us up to Mt. Haguro area, and we even went up to the shrine at the top of the mountain. I had forgotten how beautiful it is up there. Really gorgeous. We walked around, I bought more postcards and then we drove back to Tsuruoka.

F went to take his mother shopping, but she'd already gone by herself. He's going to take her tomorrow for the heavy stuff.

We left our apartment around 7 and went for tonkatsu to the big restaurant. They were really busy tonight and there were too many people waiting in front of us. I suggested another place that does tonkatsu, a one man show kind of place. We went there, and got right in. He made the tonkatsu right in front of us and it was very good. We finished our yummy meal and then we left.

We went to Machi-Kine to see Quartet. It is a little movie directed by Dustin Hoffman and starring Pauline Collins, Maggie Smith, Tom Courtenay and Billy Connolly. It was a lovely little movie about retired musicians. The main cast were all former singers in the movie and were quite wonderful in their parts. We both really enjoyed the movie.

We bought a few groceries after the movie and came home. F made bread and took a shower, I blogged, did a little crochet and relaxed.

I had a great day. It was quite relaxing for a change and yet we got a few necessary things done. Tomorrow I'm going to write some more of my column and hopefully get it done. Wish me luck with that! Night.

July 10, 2013

Wednesday - Rainy with some clear patches

An okay day.

I went to bed and was still put out with my husband. He wasn't sleeping, probably due to the rainy season bothering his back more than usual. I ignored him as best I could, but he tossed and turned all night and just when I'd fall asleep, he'd get up or move around or whatever and I was awake again. Boo.

I had a quiet morning, I watched TV a bit, took a shower and while I was towelling off, heard the door open and someone came home. 10 points if you guess who. I was ticked off. He tried to be friendly, but I wasn't having any of it for a while. I did start being nicer to him, but it was so annoying to see him. He just comes home to eat junk and then he leaves.

He left, I took a nap and then I made my lunch while watching Supernanny. I don't exactly know why I watch that show, maybe I'm feeling smug that I don't (and won't) have the child problems or maybe I just like to gloat over other people's horrible children? No idea. After that, I watched the end of Parade's End, with Benedict (oh baby) Cumberbatch and really liked it.

F was a bit late tonight, but it wasn't a big deal. He came home and worked on sending an email to an author that let him preview her book. When he finished with that, we went out for dinner.

We went to Gusto, so cheap and cheerful. I had chicken and two salads….I was halfway through my first when we noticed a bug on the table. F & I tried to shoo it away, and it flew into my salad, right in front of the waitress! She took my salad away and brought me a brand new one. Yay!

We came home afterwards and I did a little crochet while watching House. I think I have about 20 cm left to do. I'm not sure how many rows that will be. I'd better finish up or the baby will be too big for the blanket!

And that was my day basically. It ended better than it began. Tomorrow I really must do some wrapping and I hope to do a few postcrossing cards too. I finally reached 400 sent cards today. Woot! Got to go. Night.

July 9, 2013

Tuesday - Rainy, muggy and hot

Not a great day. I got up at a good time this morning, made the bed, did some laundry, had breakfast and read the newspaper. I missed watching The Good Wife though, forgot it was on today.

I was enjoying myself in the afternoon, watching a show with Benedict Cumberbatch in it, making a sandwich and congratulating myself on F not having showed up today, when he showed up. Sigh. I don't know what the purpose was. He keeps doing it, and I really wish he wouldn't. I feel like I'm being checked up on.

He left and then I got on with my stuff. I washed the dishes that have been piling up over the last few days, never enough to wash by themselves, cleared and set the table, washed the tomatoes, and sliced the zucchini. F called to say he was going to be late as he had to visit his mother. I relaxed for a bit, watched ER and then after 7:30 sent him a text to see if things were okay. He'd been there for 2 hours and usually he doesn't like to stay that long. He called back to say he was nearly done and would be home soon.

He came home, just as I was kicking dinner prep into higher gear. We ended up having a disagreement over how much gnocchi I should cook, so he grandiosely announced he wouldn't eat anything, took a shower and went to bed. Where he's stayed.

I cooked all the gnocchi, had my share with some chicken, salad and fried zucchini. It was great. Someone missed a nice meal. Too bad for him. I washed all the dishes afterwards and cleaned up.

I spent a few hours on my computer but at 11 I went over to the couch to watch The Following, the new Kevin Bacon show. Wow. It has definite possibilities. I rather liked it, when I wasn't being freaked out by it! I did a lot of crochet too. I even started the third ball of cream yarn, so I can say that I am well past halfway done. Sizewise, I'm close, to being done, but I'd like to do an edging all around the blanket too.

Anyway, that's it for me for tonight. It was a mostly good day, just too bad that someone decided to be a nitwit. Got to go. Night.

March 10, 2013

Sunday - Sunny but cold in Sendai, cold and snowy in Tsuruoka

We're back! We got back a few hours ago and are lucky that we made it. The highway on the way home was awful, there was a winter storm and a big accident on the road that left us stuck in place for half an hour or more. I am jumping ahead again.

Saturday was a nice day. We had a lazy morning, then had lunch at Grado. F dropped me off at my school and I got busy. I spent a bit of time on paperwork and then my student called me just before class time to say she was unable to come.

I called F a little later and he picked me up and we set off on our way. On Saturday the road was nice and clear and we had sun up until the Sagae Rest Stop. Yay.

In Yamagata we had a fun dinner at Bikkuri Donkey and then went to our hotel. We found our room, but were a bit taken back by the gang of unsupervised children we found roaming the halls. The ones that ended up staying next door to us. That spent all night jumping on beds, slamming doors and yelling in the hall. Oh what fun.

We left for a while. I thought we might be able to see a movie, and we could have, but decided that we'd have to pay full price in Yamagata as we don't have membership cards. We decided instead to hit up the Starbucks, have a drink and then head back to the room and buy a movie card for the hotel room. They have a 500 yen card and we can watch as many films as we want for that. So, that's what we did.

We ended up watching Captain America, as it was the only Avenger backstory film that I hadn't seen. We quite enjoyed it. Hugo Weaving got to chew the scenery and was great as usual. I started watching Carnage with Jodie Foster, Kate Winslett, John C. Reilly and Christoph Waltz, but stopped it to watch Chuck. I went back to it later. I enjoyed the movie, the acting was fine, but the story was a bit odd.

I managed to do oodles of crochet while I was watching TV, so that made me rather happy! The clapochet is coming along nicely.

This morning, we had breakfast in the hotel and then headed out to Sendai. We parked near the Apple Store (yay!) and after lunch went in. The guy thought that my computer could be saved, so I ended up buying a back up drive and then later in the day, he walked me through re-installing everything. So complicated. My computer isn't out of the woods though. He said that the Hard Drive does have some problems, so I think I should make backing up a more regular thing.

I also bought myself a new power cord at the store. My computer's cord has been damaged and I didn't want to risk getting electrocuted! Expensive though.

In the time between my appointments at the Apple Store, F and I walked to the Aer building and I bought a few(!) postcards for Postcrossing. I'm feeling very behind as I have now received a few more than I have sent.

We left Sendai around 5:30. We stopped at a highway rest stop for dinner and it wasn't bad at all. We had gyutan on rice, with soup. We made a stop a little later for a washroom break and it was a good thing, because we were stuck on the highway in the snow for ages.

While we were waiting on the road, we saw a lot of highway vehicles go past us, and F said he counted 4 or 5 ambulances too. We passed some of the vehicles that were in the accident, I saw 3, but there could have been more. When we were able to move our car again, the road was covered in snow. It was really bad. Big gusts of wind and snow would come over a mountain and we couldn't see anything. Urgh. Scary.

When we got back to Tsuruoka, we bought groceries for tomorrow and then came home. We had a quiet and peaceful time at home. Whew. The wind is wuthering a bit outside, but we are inside and nice and warm now.

Tomorrow I'll do my best to bring my computer back to life. I didn't want to start tonight as I'm a bit tired and computers and tiredness aren't good things to bring together. I hope that my next update will be from my own computer. Fingers crossed, wish me luck, etc. Night!

February 27, 2013

Wednesday - Sunny and warm

A good day.

I got up rather early for me today and got dressed. F was in the living room and when he saw that I was getting up and was dressed, he was surprised. A bit after 9, we left to go to the doctor’s office. I saw the doctor fairly quickly and I asked him to examine my foot. He couldn’t see anything wrong with it, and he asked if I’d like an X-ray. I said yes, so I had one taken. It didn’t show anything either. Sigh. He did say that if I wanted he’d refer me to a podiatrist in Shinjo, but I would rather not make F drive me all that way just to see another doctor.

We had brunch in Framboise and then F dropped me off at home. He did come in the apartment to change as well. I took a short nap just before he left. It turned into a long nap, but let’s not tell him!

In the afternoon I worked on my column a little and also some other computer stuff. I watched a few minutes of The Glen Miller Story (love the music) and then some of my usual TV. I was watching a Jason Statham movie when F came home tonight. Yay Jason!

We vegged for a while and then went out for dinner. F watched his ramen restaurant tonight but once again, the parking lot was full so we gave up on it. Instead we went to Gusto where I had their new Pasta dish. It was nice, and so far I haven’t had a reaction to the tomato sauce. F had a mix fry thing and seemed to like it. We’re planning to make a nabe for dinner tomorrow night and will buy the ingredients tomorrow night.

We came home and watched a little telly. At 10 I watched Cold Case and then at 11 Private Practice. Tonight’s was pretty good as the staff staged an intervention. Lots of juicy tidbits came out, but it ended pretty much the way I thought it would.

F made bread for tomorrow. He was planning to make onion bread again (and HE was going to caramelise the onions this time!) but I begged him to make something I could have peanut butter on! He set up the bread maker for white bread. Yay.

That’s about it. I did receive 3 postcards in the mail today, but sadly I won’t have time to scan or upload them until next week unless I magically finish my column tonight! And since I’m going to bed soon, that ain’t going to happen.

Tomorrow I will finish my column, maybe throw in a bit of laundry and who knows what else? I’ve got to go. Night.

February 26, 2013

Tuesday - Clear and sunny, much warmer

An okay day.

This morning I woke up to an empty house. F had already left for work and I hadn’t heard him leave at all.

I got up, showered and watched Speed, which was on TV. Oh, Keanu…you and me on a runaway bus…Sorry, where was I? I had decided to go over to my school quite early today, so I had lunch a little earlier than I would normally and left.

Walking to my school wasn’t too bad today. It was much warmer than yesterday, plus it was sunny and clear. Snow was starting to melt in places and I felt quite good. When I got to my school, I grabbed my big snow scoop and moved a bit of snow. My parking space wasn’t too bad considering how much snow we got, but the walkway by the doors and the bit between the parking and the building were quite deep. I did the best I could, I took quite a lot of the snow out of my space and put it in the drainage ditch, and even broke the top off the “wall” of snow in my space. I did leave a lot of the wall up though. While I was there, the snow fell off the roof of the house next door and fell on the parking space next to mine! Scary. There was some ice in there and I imagine if I’d been standing there I would have been hit, and possibly hurt. It’s a bit strange that the house next doors slope goes over the apartment building’s parking area.

All told, I worked on the snow for about an hour and a half. I was busy. No one else in the building seems to do anything as far as snow removal, unless it directly affects them.

I got ready for my class. I had to dry my hair as it was quite wet, but I heated up the water, changed, set out my books, did the usual things even though I was sure my student wouldn’t come. Ten minutes after the official start of the class, my student wasn’t there, so I decided to call her. The phone was ringing and then my doorbell rang. She had arrived! Yay. We had a good lesson, and set our schedule for next month. Hurray for us.

After class I procrastinated a bit. I did my usual finishing up stuff, but I just didn’t want to go home yet. F had been so angry last night that I couldn’t get up the nerve to call him. I read through the 4 newspapers that I had at the school, finished my magazine and then decided that I had to bite the bullet. I left a message, and then he called me back. He said he’d just got home and would come and pick me up.

Tonight I decided to let him pick where to eat so of course he picked a ramen joint. His first choice was closed, the next one he went to didn’t have anything on offer except for ramen. He ate, I watched him. To be fair, he offered to take me somewhere else afterwards, but I really just wanted to go home so we went to the grocery store for some food for me.

We came home and I ate dinner. We didn’t talk a lot tonight. F is either a bit mad at me still or his neck is really bothering him. I can’t tell the difference to be honest. I watched Criminal Minds and then turned off the TV, F went to bed a couple of hours ago.

Really that’s about it for me. Tomorrow he has a part day off, and I think he’ll take me to the doctor. We’re having arguments about which doctor to go to, but we always argue! Got to go. Night.

February 25, 2013

Monday - Snowy, windy and cold

An odd day.

I got up at my first alarm so that I could watch the Academy Awards this morning. I also got dressed right away too. I didn’t want to be looking for clothes if someone came to the door.

I got down to the serious business of Facebooking the Oscars! It was a hoot. An old friend from my university and I make it a date, we comment on the Oscars together and it’s a bit like watching them together. This year we were joined by a guy from my high school and then later on, a blog buddy! 3 people in two different continents watching the same show and “writing” about it in real time. Fun!

I enjoyed the show this year. It was my first experience seeing Seth MacFarlane and I thought he did an okay job of hosting. I was quite happy for Jennifer Lawrence and also for Ang Lee. Adele was amazing as always….and how cool to have Dame Shirley Bassey there for the Bond tribute. She sang Goldfinger. Sing it with me now… “Goldfinggggah”!

The Academy Awards took up all of the morning and some of the afternoon. I was deciding to go out and shovel some snow when the TV started broadcasting a siren noise. There was an earthquake in the middle of Japan. I think it hit Tochigi and was fairly strong. A couple of seconds after the warning on the TV it hit us, but it was very mild here. Still, it was so close to the anniversary of the big one we had two years ago, so I know people are a bit anxious about the whole thing.

I went out after a few minutes and shovelled some snow. I did the doorway of the apartment building, then F’s parking space, and then went down the driveway a little bit. It got darker and the snow started up again, so I gave up and came inside.

After F came home, we relaxed for a while and then went out to my school. I needed to set the heater for tomorrow’s class. We did that, and then came back home.

I got started cooking dinner. I had asked F to help me, as part of a conversation over dinner, but as usual he did nothing. Sigh. He says he’ll do something, but he doesn’t. Anyway, I prepped the chicken, set the table, prepped the soup and heated it up. While we were eating the soup, I cooked the chicken in the microwave. The soup wasn’t hot enough of course, but I followed directions so go figure.

The chicken was good, and so was the salad. I was sure that it wasn’t enough, so I cooked a few hash brown patties for us and served those too. It was quite a nice dinner.

F did most of the dishes, and then decided to make bread again. Yesterday’s loaf didn’t rise properly, but it tasted good. He wanted to make the same type again and did. I took it out after 1 and it didn’t rise again. He thinks that it was the flour. It wasn’t strong flour. I’m ticked because he wasted the onions that I caramelised.

We re watched the Oscars tonight. I enjoyed it without writing all through it, and F seemed to watch parts of it. He took his bath, and while he was there I took out the bread.

We discussed the flour and he was all set to try making more bread. However, starting to make bread at 1:30 in the morning just isn’t a good idea in my opinion and he got angry at me for saying so. He threw the bread pan on the floor I think…no idea if he picked it up. He did some “work” on his computer and then stormed off to bed without talking to me. Good Riddance.

Anyway, I’m done. It was a good day until F started to act stupid. Sadly, I’m getting used to it. Tomorrow I have an afternoon class, but I’m going to have to do a lot of snow shovelling and walking to get there first. Sigh. Night!

Oh, and today was a personal anniversary for me too….a rather sad one, but I haven’t been wallowing as much as I usually do for it. Probably a good thing?

Postcrossing - Incoming

To February 18 , 2013

The cards keep coming to my mailbox, and that’s just the way I like it. Of course, I have to keep sending more out, but I like that part of it too!

If you’d like a better look at the cards in today’s entry, just click on them and if you have any questions or comments, please leave them below. I appreciate all of them!

Marina sent this card from Belarus. I was a little surprised when I registered it as it took 260 days. It was actually her second card to me, as her first one just didn’t arrive. I have quite a few cards that have gone missing along the way too, so I understand how annoying and sad that can be.

Charlie Chaplin

Marina says that she is a student at the Medical University. She likes travel and sweets. I do too!

Charlie Chaplin seems to be a favourite all over the world too, so of course I like this card very much. Thanks Marina!

This very retro card came from The Netherlands.

Thea sent it and writes that she types out her card’s messages and then prints them. She tells me that she is from the nautical town of Hoorn, about 40 km north of Amsterdam. She says that “Hoorn” is a very old Dutch word for “corner”. There is a bend in the coastline near her town. Cape Horn in South Chile was discovered by an expedition from her town and was named after her town!

I feel suitably educated! Thanks for telling me all of that Thea and for sending this interesting card.

When my parents settled back in Canada we lived on a piece of land very far from any big city. We only received two TV channels, of which one was CBC Television. I have good memories of CBC. I watched All My Children and Coronation Street for years on CBC, tons of British Dramas and late night movies. Of course I was also forced to watch Hockey Night in Canada on it, so it wasn’t all great!

That little bit of personal history will help you understand why I love this card so much!

One Family One Nation ad. The CBC Television network
launches their Coast to Coast coverage July 1, 1958.

Shelley sent it from Toronto, and gives me the CBC website address so I can try to watch TV from Canada. She wishes me Happy Postcrossings too.

Shelley also used a new Canadian stamp that is commemorating Raoul Wallenberg. He was given citizenship in many countries posthumously, and Canada was one of those countries. He was a hero and this is one of the many tributes that he has received.

Arigato Shelley!

I was rather pleased when I opened up my mailbox and found this rogue inside. W.C. Fields!

W.C. Fields

Paivi sent it from Finland. She writes that her town is the oldest town in Finland on the southwest coast of her country. Thank you so much!

This lady just “vants to be alone”, but today, she made this grouping of cards.

Greta Garbo

Anna sent me this lovely Greta Garbo card and writes that she lives in a southern city in Russia. She’s an artist and teaches drawing in some children’s clubs.

Anna also used some gorgeous stamps when she mailed this. The lovely triangular one in the corner has a raised texture. It feels rather like a lace tablecloth!

Thank you so much Anna!

The last card that I have for you today is from Germany. Peggy sent it from Jena. She says that she loves travelling but hasn’t been to either Japan or Canada. She says that she will have to change that soon! She asks about the weather in Japan and states that it started snowing where she is and now they have 40cm of snow. That sounds rather like Tsuruoka!

Postcardbook:
Greetings from the Fairy Tale King

Thank you Peggy.

There you are. Now I’m all caught up and so are you! Do you have any favourites from this bunch? I love the movie and actor cards of course, but I must admit that my personal favourite this time is the CBC card! However, it is so hard to choose!

Until next time!

Postcrossing Incoming

To February 12, 2013

I have a great group of cards for you today. I’ve started to receive a lot of cards again, so it is rather difficult to keep these posts up to date. Still, here we go!

From the Ukraine comes this pretty card of what I believe is a town council building. The sender didn’t write very much, just that he hopes I like his postcard and that he sends his best wishes. Thanks Oleg!

Buchach

This next card comes from Malaysia. Waimun sent it and tells me that the wall painting is by Ernest Zacharevic, and is located in the heritage area in Georgetown. I found a neat time lapse video of the painting of this mural on Vimeo, which you can find here.

She also writes that she is Chinese and she is going to celebrate New Year next week.

"This Old Man" Mural

She signs off by wishing me a Happy Chinese New Year and saying that she hopes I like the postcard that she picked for me. I do, thanks so much!

Sari in The Netherlands send me this card with author Eileen Chang on it. I haven’t read any of her works—yet, but hopefully I will one day. Doing research on Eileen Chang I discovered that she didn’t have a very happy life. I felt rather sorry for her to be honest.

Eileen Chang

Sari wrote about her hometown, Deventer. She said it is one of the oldest towns in The Netherlands. More than 98000 people live there and they have many beautiful historical buildings and the river IJssel, which makes her town’s location and surroundings unique.

Thank you Sari for sending a female author card. I’m so pleased to receive it.

This card was greatly appreciated! I love Humphrey Bogart and to receive a movie card with him on it was a huge bonus. This card came all the way from…Sendai, Japan. Yay! I love Sendai, did I ever mention that?

Cecily sent her warm greetings, and told me that it snowed a lot in Sendai a few days ago, and it was hard to drive. She also asked how my life in Japan was and wished me a happy life.

To Have and Have Not

Thanks so much for an excellent card Cecily!

My next card comes all the way from Taiwan. It was sent by a high school girl, but she didn’t write her name in Romanji so I can’t read it. She writes that she loves Japanese culture but she can’t speak Japanese!

Never mind about that, I can’t either!

I received this card before from Singapore. I believe that it was the same person that sent it, he probably has two or more accounts.

He did use a lovely panda stamp, so that was greatly appreciated.

Andrea sent this scenic card of Bremerhaven Germany. She writes that she lives near this city. She works in accounting and her hobbies are reading, travelling and yoga.

Greetings from Bremerhaven

Thanks Andrea! I’m always happy to learn about the people who send cards to me.

Well, there you are! Another group of seven great cards. Which one do you like best? For me, the Bogart card is my favourite, with Eileen Chang a very close second. However, I really like all of the cards!

Until next time!