Sounds of a Sunday

Here's some chill music that's perfect for a lazy rainy day like today. Give it a listen...

Track 6: featuring Micro of Def Tech!
Track 8: Japanese J-Lo?
Track 12: Cookie Monster? (listen and you'll understand)

Micro of Def Tech - Aug. 8!!

I want this CD! It's by Micro, one of the two singers from Def Tech. Def Tech is this really great Jawaiin reggae (Japanese Hawaiin reggae) band that I love. Micro has a great voice and I love the melodies of all of their songs...very chill and laid back (as the title implies). Here's the video from the first single (which comes out on Aug. 8th):

hung up on Hung

Realtity TV shows on Bravo...Mmmmm!

I'm totally addicted to them all, especially Top Chef.

Well, I woke up this morning and was watching this week's episode on TV and reading through a few Top Chef blogs (I told you I'm addicted), when I stumbled across Hung's MySpace page.

(Hung is the medium-attractive bisexual Vietnamese-American contestant that I predict will win this season)

Now, I know that most people think he's a bit of a jerk. And he definately is cocky. BUT, he's also a chef at one of my favorite Vegas restaurants, so I decided to send him a quick message to tell him that I like his food and to say "good luck."

Well...guess what! He actually wrote me back! Just a short message saying "thanks for the support" and offering some restaurant recommendations in my area, but still...how cool is that.

Big sigh...

July 19, 2007

Dear Mr. Thomas,

Thank you very much for your interest in the 2008 Monbukagakusho Research Student Scholarship. Unfortunately, I must inform you that we cannot recommend you for a scholarship this year. I hope you understand that the competition for this program is exceptionally keen, and we are unable to recommend as many applicants as we would wish.

I hope that you will not be discouraged and that you will continue to pursue your interest in Japan. I wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors.

Sincerely yours,

...

Consulate General of Japan

Sweden!

Yesterday, I grabbed a bottle of water, some sunscreen, and my passport and headed to Sweden, aka Ikea.

For those of you that have never been to Ikea and don’t know what it is: it’s basically the greatest store ever. Here’s why:

• It has a restaurant and snack bar! With $.50 hot dogs!! And the best cinnamon buns ever!! (Why does my whole life revolve around food???)


• The workers sometimes wear name tags with fake Swedish names like Lars and Thor. Come on…we all know that makes shopping more fun!


• You can buy a 10 pack of batteries for only $.99!!


• It’s a gay, family, and environmentally friendly company. (you have to pay $.05 for plastic bags now, but all proceeds go to replant trees!)


• They have cool furniture and stuff for your house at super low prices.


• It’s a great place to meet single people. (except the one near Boston seems to be a couples only kinda joint…not sure what’s up with that.)

I bought some furniture to finish my sunroom and to almost finish guest room #1. (I’ll post pictures later) But by far, the best part of the whole day was when Amy and I sat down in one of the living rooms in the showroom and had a serious conversation for 30 minutes as if it were a coffee shop or my apartment. Reclining, feet up on the chair, and everything! People kept walking by and browsing, so we moved to another living room, and then to a bedroom. But the other customers kept following us. Finally, with Amy sitting on a bed and me on a chair across from it, the ridiculousness of the situation hit me and I just started laughing. And laughed so hard that I actually started to cry! It’s definitely one of those things that you had to be there to understand, but it was definitely one of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever done.

Still no news yet...

...but, I’ve been doing some thinking, and I’ve decided that’s it’s time to spice up my life a little. I’m just way too bored here, and am a person that needs to constantly be challenging himself to be better and happier. So here’s what I’m going to do about it; my goals for the rest of the year:

Be able to carry on a basic conversation in American Sign Language – (taking a class in the fall!! So excited!)

See another cast of Rodin’s Le Penseur (the Thinker) sculpture – There are about 19 or 20 casts in the world (Turkey, Belgium, France, Argentina, the Netherlands, Mexico, United States, etc…). It’s my goal to eventually see them all, and so far, I’ve seen 4: Stanford Museum of Art, Baltimore Museum of Art, le musée Rodin in Paris, and the Kyoto National Museum. I don’t know why, but this sculpture has always been really powerful and relatable for me.

Get into better shape­ – for real this time.

Double my circle of friends – Yeah, it’s quality that matters, not the quantity. And I do have some really great friends all over the place. But I’d like to have some more in the area.

Learn how to prepare sushi­ - not really sure how or where I’m going to do this, but it’s definitely a goal of mine.

Introduce someone as my boyfriend or girlfriend – okay, so this is more of a hope than a goal. But it sure would be nice. (And preferably someone that is happy to sit around and watch sappy Japanese and Korean dramas with me.)

Learn how to play늦게 핀 사랑 on the violin – I’ve always wanted to learn how to play the violin and there’s no better time than now. It’s a Korean song (pronounced “neut ge pin sarang”) and I think it means “too late” in English. It’s such a wonderful and moving song for me; so full of passion. You can here it here: http://www.520music.com/play/122985.htm

Continue Learning Japanese - (trying to take a class in the fall)

Design and get my next tattoo - I’m not sure exactly what or where it will be yet, but I know that I want and am ready for my next one.

Tomorrow?

Well, I still haven't heard anything about the scholarship I interviewed and tested for over 3 weeks ago...

Having been so long, I began to wonder if maybe they already notified the people that moved forward, and simply didn't let you know if you didn't get it. I didn't want to waste anymore time wondering about it and checking my gmail 9000 times a day if I didn't get it. So, I called the consulate on Tuesday to ask, and they told me that they hadn't made their decisions yet, but that they were aiming to notify everyone by the end of this week.

I didn't hear anything yesterday or today, so I guess tomorrow is the big day! Everyone keep your fingers crossed for me!!