buying necklaces for evelyn

briefly: on wrist-tethered timepieces.

schufman — Thu, 06 May 2010 23:41:41 +0000

The last watch I bought was maybe freshman year of college. It was small, and fairly ugly. Serviceable, might be the word. But it was also uncomfortable — a descriptor which fits almost every watch I’ve ever purchased. They’ve all got either tiny leather bands which itch, or the buckle is huge and leaves a dent in your arm, or those metal links, which catch your arm hair and rip — RIP — it out. Which people never ever mention. Is it just me this happens to, or is there some unspoken covenant among the wearers of chain-link watches to not discuss the near-constant pain they’re in? Perhaps after they wear the watch for a period of time, they simply have no hair left, and have a smooth bald spot on their arms underneath their watch. Maybe this sort of thing doesn’t happen to arms or watches when the watches cost hundreds of dollars — is that what all that extra watch money is for? Because I can live with my watch occasionally needing to be moved a minute ahead or behind, or having to wind it. (Winding watches — isn’t that quaint?)

None of this really has anything to do with my final point, which is: I bought a new watch. It’s uncomfortable. But at least this time it’s cute.

dear Apple, IT AIN’T BROKE

schufman — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 16:46:55 +0000

For the most part I am a dutiful updater of software, and have always been. When my computer tells me to update my computer, I download the updates, restart the computer repeatedly and generally believe that the company in charge of my software knows what it’s doing.

So while many sensible people who are more tech-savvy than I am have voiced the “if it ain’t broke, don’t update it” opinion in regards to those automatic updates, in the past I have not.

Let me tell you why I’m switching sides.

In February, Apple told me to update my system. I downloaded the updates and followed the instructions it gave me, then restarted my computer. The problem was, when I restarted the computer, my entire menu bar was gone. That bit at the top of Macs which tells you the time and what program you’re running and your wireless status and enables you to access the higher functions of your programs without any knowledge of code? Straight up gone. I couldn’t even access the internet to see if other people were having the same problem. Finder wouldn’t run. I ended up having to rebuild my computer and losing some data (thank you, backups).

Now it comes to be the end of April, and Apple still wants me to reinstall this system update that crashed my computer. I have steadfastly refused, as I have no desire to spend another day reinstalling the software on my machine and setting up the preferences the way I like them. But I updated the rest of my software, as I was in the habit of doing.

As I am quite dependent on my music, I install a new version of iTunes, which says I have to install a new version of Safari on my machine to use iTunes. I have my own issues with Safari — namely that I made a good attempt to use Safari 4 when it came out, but it has never actually booted properly on my machine and quits itself the second I try to run the program. But I figure hey, I just need to have it installed, right? I get halfway through the install screen and it tells me that to install the new version of Safari, I must download and install that system update. The one that crashed my computer.

So, to sum it up: Apple crashed my computer with its updates, and refuses to let me buy music from them unless I risk crashing it again. I am happy to spend my money at the iTunes store, but I could never even figure out what went wrong and found no mentions of the same crashing problem on the internet afterward. I love my Mac, but this sort of circular, proprietary, you-must-use-Safari-even-though-you-tried-to-install-it-on-four-separate-occasions-and-it-didn’t-work attitude is enough to make me not buy a Mac ever again.

Now we are in Kyoto

schufman — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 22:55:48 +0000

and it turns out our new ryokan (Japanese-style inn) only has internet on one computer downstairs, which I am monopolizing in order to tell you that it is unlikely I will be able to post anything else until I get to Chicago on March 31.

On the plus side, I am sure I will have lots more to tell you about our Japanese sightseeing adventure in half a week. See you then.

nara : day 2

schufman — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 01:51:27 +0000

Since our exhaustion forced us to go to bed very early Wednesday, our second day of sightseeing started bright and early. So early, in fact, that nothing was open for breakfast and we had to wander the streets in the rain for about 20 minutes.

The rain, which continued over from the previous night, had no intentions of letting up on our second day. It was cold and wet — which, we decided, was no reason not to have a good time.

One of the most beautiful stops of the day was Himuro Shrine — we arrived just after 8 a.m., when it was almost deserted and the shrine’s caretaker was just getting up and getting ready for the day. When we passed by it again on our way to lunch, there were people crowding the walkways and the stairs, so much so that there would have been no way to get a picture of anything without half a dozen tourists in it. But early in the morning, it was just us, the caretaker and one other Japanese couple.

We bought a fortune for 100 yen — it is tradition to read it and tie it onto the trees if it is a bad fortune, to leave your bad luck behind at the temple.

The biggest stop of the day was Todai-ji, a huge temple in the northern end of Nara Park. It was the whole reason David wanted to come to Nara, and after going I understand why. The path up to the temple was gorgeous, even in the rain — lined with trees, with groups of deer lingering around the path.

Todai-ji itself is enormous for a temple, and the complex surrounding it was also huge. The gardens were not in the greatest shape, given the weather and the time of year, but two or three weeks from now the grasses are probably much thicker and the cherry blossoms a little fuller.

Each temple and shrine has water and dippers — the smaller temples and shrines have just one, but Todai-ji, being so large and busy, has quite a few. When you come to the temple you are asked to rinse your mouth and hands, cleansing yourself before prayer.

We stopped at many smaller sites after Todai-ji, as well as several outlying buildings that were part of the Todai-ji complex, most of which were equally beautiful, though none were nearly as large.

nara : day 1

schufman — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 08:23:52 +0000

Dave and I have embarked upon the last stage of our day in Japan: vacation.

Having been sick for every long weekend, every scheduled break and nearly every major holiday (and there are a lot of them in Japan), Dave and I have done

no real sightseeing while I’ve been here. So to remedy that, we are taking a week-long vacation on our way out of Japan.

We started in Oguni, and our friend Yasuhiro was kind enough to drive us to a bus station in Niigata. After a very nice tapas-style dinner, we took an overnight bus ride (sleeping like hungry, uncomfortable and very tired babies) to Kyoto, where we took the 06:37 train into Nara.

A Google Map of our travels thus-far

By the time we actually made it to our hotel (we went out of the train station the wrong way and ended up hauling our very-heavy suitcases around for an extra 10 minutes), I wanted nothing more than to shower and take a nap. Unfortunately, check-in time at the hotel was 3 p.m., and we were barely approaching 9. So we dropped off our bags, which the front desk very nicely held for us, and attempted to head toward the giant park where all the beautiful sightseeing is in Nara, hoping to grab some breakfast along the way.

Being that the exit from the train station nearest our hotel said “NORTH EXIT,” we immediately assumed it did, in fact, face north, and in this we made a critical error. We wandered for about 15 minutes before figuring out that the north entrance was actually on the east side of the building, and as a result we were going the entirely wrong way. On the bright side, we found a very nice place to eat breakfast.

After breakfast we started heading actual east instead of incorrect-bearings-from-the-train-station east, and finally found the park.

Did I mention it had been raining since we stepped off the train?

The specifics are best told with pictures. We saw temples, a pagoda, a shrine, a museum, loads of deer and even more tourists.

All in all it was a very busy first day of sightseeing, and searching for a decent umbrella. We finished up just before 3 p.m., and came back to the hotel to do check-in, finally getting in a much-needed shower. After that we went for coffee and dinner, and played a few rounds of Rum 500 (what I had always thought was Gin Rummy when I played with Emily).

Side note: all Japanese children who see me shuffle and bridge immediately think I can do magic. Any idea why that is?

moving out & skype 20 Questions

schufman — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 05:44:48 +0000

Yesterday evening I moved out of my apartment. It was strange to hand over my car and apartment keys, since I’ve never really had my own place before. I’m excited to be coming home, but it was also strange to think that I’d likely never go back to that apartment again.

After that, Yasuhiro put together a very small goodbye gathering for us in Oguni in the local bar, Sahanbi. It was just Dave and I, Yas, and two other ALTs that we like, Jenny and Genba. We also spent a great deal of time talking to the bar’s owner, Master, and the only other employee there, Mika, as well as some of the bar’s regulars. We promised to go back once more before we leave — Master and Mika are really a lot of fun, and don’t mind struggling with the language barrier.

This morning I had great fun with my sister on Skype — I have a sweet surprise to share when I come home from Japan, and although she tried her darndest, 20 Questions on the item got the better of her. If you feel so moved, take a guess at what it could be. Her 20 Questions (and my answers) are below.

01 – Is it Japanese? NO, it’s American and has been Japanese-ized.

02 – Does it need to be frozen? NO

03 – Is it sweet? YES

04 – Does it have chocolate? SOMETIMES

05 – Is it dark colored? SOMETIMES

06 – Did we talk about it in Spain? NO

07 – Does it have wafers? YES

08 – Does it have multiple layers? YES

09 – Are they individual pieces? NO

10 – Does it need to be baked? NO

11 – Can it sometimes be strawberry flavored? YES

12 – Is it Pocky? NO

13 – Is it circular in shape? NO

14 – Can I find it at a convenience store*? YES

15 – Is there chocolate on the wafers? YES

16 – Have I eaten it before? YES

17 – Are the wafers in the style of Nabisco Nilla Wafers? NO

18 – Does it crumble easily? NO

19 – Are they some of those koala bears? NO

20 – Is it in that same aisle with the Pringles**? NO

*referencing the Super America on Snelling and Portland in MN, if anyone was wondering.

**in the Super America previously noted.

winding down

schufman — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 23:39:11 +0000

Since I live in the mountains, I didn’t have to evacuate or even worry about the tsunami, so I had a relatively uneventful weekend. Aside from all the packing and organizing, the only thing I did this weekend was go to Nakatsugawa for their winter festival, Yuki Matsuri. I took tons of pictures, which will be forthcoming as soon as I have a chance to edit them.

I didn’t get to watch as much of the Olympics as I wanted, although I did get to see the Japanese female figure skater: she was one of the categories that the Japanese thought for sure would/should take first, and the skater, Mao, took second place. We watched the competition over lunch at one of my schools, although I didn’t get a chance to see the gold medalist compete. Not that anyone here was really very interested in how anyone other than Mao did.

I’m winding down on my preparations: I’ve got a lot of the gifts bought, and for most of the ones I don’t have bought I’ve got an idea written down. My brother Jojo is the most difficult person I have to buy for: he is really the only blank spot on my list. If anyone (I know) has any (inexpensive) requests for me, I’ll try to get them accomodated before I leave, but I don’t really have any more big shopping trips planned until I start sightseeing, and then it’ll be mostly luck.

If anyone out there was thinking of sending me mail, don’t. I’ve only got about two weeks left in my apartment, and since mail takes 10 days, I’d rather not risk missing mail because it arrives late. I am trying to finish up most of my mail, since I wanted to send a bunch of people things while I was in Japan, but I’m finding it’s more and more difficult to write letters, given that most people communicate so frequently since the dawn of ubiquitous e-mail. There’s only so much I can write in a letter that I won’t talk to my folks about next week, or won’t get an e-mail about in the next two, that it’s a fruitless effort. It’s made much easier when the primary communication is the physical written letter, such as it has mostly been with my friend Ed since we graduated. It’s not so pointless as trying to write long letters to people who I will talk to again before they get the letter. It might be easier if I were the kind of person who could remember the contents of the letter, but I’ve basically forgotten what I’ve said the second it’s been sealed, and I can’t be bothered trying to withhold the information in the letter during my next correspondence.

cute gummies 2.0

schufman — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 02:37:19 +0000

Some more of those deliciously cute gummies from the bakery near my house. The bird is still sitting on the spices shelf, as I feel too guilty to eat him.

Also, I’m not sure what flavor he is, what with being blue and all.

cow-tongue chips

schufman — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 11:18:40 +0000

“For when you want to know what it’s like to kiss a cow that’s eating a potato that’s fried,” says David.

These are cow-tongue flavored potato chips.

I ate them.

They are so-so.

coming home

schufman — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 10:39:46 +0000

With the imminent move stateside, I have been struggling to find the time and energy to blog.

Over the last month, Dave and I have been having a long series of conversations with each other and the company we work for, and ultimately we decided the best decision is for us to leave. So I will be back in Minnesota starting in April, although I will be flying to Chicago and staying there for several days; My family is taking a trip to visit my brothers during the timeframe I’ll be coming home, so it works out really well. I’ll get to visit with family in Chicago before going home.

So the last month has been filled with a lot of back-and-forth, decision making, and contemplating, and the last week (and the several weeks to come) will be filled with cleaning, packing, shopping, planning a fairly short sight-seeing trip, and what letter-writing I can manage. Also, job applications. I will go back to working at Air Traffic — and, I hope, playing a fair amount of disc golf in the summer season, since I really enjoyed it last summer — but depending on the hours I get I may try to hold two jobs.

I’ve also been watching the Olympics, although Japanese television appears to air it mostly during the day (and since I work, I haven’t really seen much of it). It is interesting to be in another country for the Olympics — there is so little coverage of the other nations, for the most part. I never really noticed it being stateside, but then again, I got to see all the people I wanted to root for.