Heading out to the Post Office, then the Bank, then the Mayu to give Mia her very first experience with the Massage. Have a great day, evening, night! I love you!!

Chicken Sashimi (Raw chicken)

Well today Mia and I walked and walked and walked. Train to Shinjuku, walking. Train to Harajuku, walking. Walking down Takeshita doori, up Omotesando Doori, back to Shibuya walking and looking for restaurant. It took over an hour to find one that wasnt an hour wait...

And actually we walked past the Spanish asparagus restaurant that Mayu and I still talk about!!! 20 years ago we got sick there on a bottle of wine waiting for an hour for our food that turned out to be three pieces of asparagus for $20!!! I told Mia the story.

We found a yakitori place finally and are eating now...

We walked for about eight hours today so the food is hitting the spot. And so is the wine...
I found a store that has tons of Chuck Taylors with the thick running insoles! Wow! Talk about a Chuckgasm!!!

Now we are having green tea ice cream and black sesame ice cream (Stefnee may recall this from our trip to Shirakawa-go). Mia loved the food.

Day two a success! Mission accomplished!

I love you!

Cam

Wining With Mia (in Shinjuku)

It was raining all morning and afternoon so we stayed indoors. I did some work and Mia looked at her guidebook. We finally left for Shinjuku about 2:30 and headed into Shinjuku.

I took Mia around, showing her Takashima-ya (luxury dept store), Tokyu Hands (afforable everything store) and such. Then we walked to Kinokuniya Books in Shinjuku Sanchome where she bought two Japanese cookbooks for her nephew and a bunch of postcards of places we will visiut but never be able to take such photos.

Then I took Mia through Kabukicho where she got a taste of the people beginning to get crowded. We saw violin shops, sex toy shops, yakitori restaurants, bars, restaurants and more.

And now here we are sipping wine, enjoying cheese and having a great talk.

Next we will do some more walking to find a restaurant for dinner and then hopefully find a crowded train full of drunk Japanese salarymen for her to experience.

I love you!

Cam

Made it back to Shinozaki in two pieces: Cam-piece & Mia-piece). Mia unpacked, and is currently experiencing the "Toto System" for the very first time. Next she will get to experience the amazing Japanese bathing system. Stay tuned...

Wow! There are a lot of tall, slim, handsome white men coming through the arrival gate! The only flight arriving is Mia's from Copenhagen, so it must mean the Vikings Have Landed!

BWGasms For Scott

Almost two years ago I visited Stefnee in Stefnee, Kansas and fell in love with her, Scooter, and her kids (and dog and four cats). Since then it has been a rollercoaster ride for all of us in our lives as we grow, live, love, learn and leave our legacies.

When I came back I noticed that I was missing two of my favourite pairs of BodyWild (BW) gotch (underwear). It turns out that Scott found them, commandeered them, and fell in love with my BWs (sounds perverse, but if you knew BW you'd understand, right Scott?).

Since then Scott has requested I send him several pairs. I've even sent some for birthday and Christmas presents. I recall he wrote me one time around Christmas and asked if I could get some. He told me that since he started wearing them, no other gotch will do. And he's right. He even tried other brands but kept coming back to the BWs that he stole from me. And since they were starting to wear thin (yes, when you only have two pair of BW, that's about all you wear because nothing else comes close) he asked me for more.

BodyWild has got to be THE BEST underwear EVAR! I have so many pairs and I keep getting more.

I love the fabric and how they feel on the body. But more than that I love the designs, the patterns and just how damn sexy they really are. I know why women wear lingerie under their clothing... it feels soooo good to have something sexy under the exterior... something that only you know you have on. Even if you never take your clothes off for anyone else (or have your clothes taken off by anyone else) while wearing your sexy undies... just knowing you have them on makes you feel good.

(All you women out there who know exactly what I'm talking about raise your hands! And if you DON'T know... go get yourself some really sexy underwear and find out exactly what I'm talking about!)

The other day I went over to LaLa Port and did some shopping. Back in the first few months of my move to Tokyo (I've been here for eight months now!) I found the most amazing underwear store... I regretted not buying anything at the time. And I kept thinking about it. So this weekend past I had the goal to find that shop again and get me some new really HAWT BWs.

It took about two hours to find the store (they had moved, and Lala Port is huge...) But finally I did. Well, I'll tell you when I walked in, I had a BWgasm! I LOVE shopping for new underwear. Guys, you may not understand this, but I think you girls (most of you) probably will (see above).

I found the three best pair of BWs I have ever seen! And this time, I bought them! And I am soo glad I did. They are "gentei" or "limited editions" and only available in that store, and one other store in Tokyo. They were expensive ($35 each) but oh so worth it. The style, the feel, the fit, and the colours are truly unique, and fantastic.

So Scott, this blog is for you. Enjoy the BWgasm.

Enjoy!

I love you!!

Cam

"The best thing one can do when facing Death is to celebrate Life." ~ Cam Switzer

Harmaceutical's Tokyo

Yesterday on the way to the hospital (Yoyogi Stn) I ran into this fellow. He was asking me for a line to help him hit on the babe behind him.

I told him to ask her if she needs to be saved...

Matt lives in a weird city...

Cam

Vigil for Mayu's Father

Today when I got the news that Mayu's dad had died this morning I lit the candles in my home. For Shinichi.

Farewell, Dad. I love you.

Cam

Mayu's dad passed away this morning (kidney cancer). I'm glad I went to see him Thursday (awake but in extreme pain) and Sunday (not awake, but stable). Now it's Tug's turn to take care of him (until he gets the feel of his wings).

Nike & Converse

I never knew that Converse was owned by Nike. It makes really good sense, though. Converse are soo amazingly popular here in Japan now. It seems that ALL the kids (and Matt & Cam) are wearing them!

I LOVE this photo!

If you are ever interested in getting a higher quality Converse that have thicker removable running insoles in them (to prevent the massive knee pain I get from my beloved Chuck Taylors), leather, etc. take a look at the Jack Purcell models. They are more expensive, but they are also of a higher quality. Very very nice...

Off to Ikea.

I love you!

Cam

This is a good article on how a female entrepreneur is capitalizing on the iPad popularity: iPad After Dark (http://tinyurl.com/22om2pj) Be sure to follow the link on the Entrepreneur Award she got from Newt. You will find that link here: " who has attracted some accolades in the past for her business acumen."

My two week holidays begin! (unless Mia can't come due to volcanic ash of course... then I'm not wasting my holidays and will go back to work.

Full Veggy Burger

Here's a real veggy burger for all you real vegetables out there! May I never have to sit beside you on a late train ride home after you have consumed this beast!

This burger consists solely of garbanzo beans, marofat (?) beans, and red kidney beans. The filler is oatmeal and no meat at all is used!

May you enjoy the subsequent gas that goes with oatmeal and beans as your body does its best to try to digest a food not made for humans!

The one great thing about Freshness Burger (and Stefnee will attest to this) although the burgers are expensive they are not production line things filled with teen boogers (at least that is how it seems...)

Onion rings are great and the beer here was delicious too, right Stefnee?

I love you!!
Cam

Our Mind, Our Life

A lot of the "New Age MumboJumbo Wackhead" stuff I mention talks about Ego and how it controls us. If you can free yourself from your ego, you can free yourself. Period.

It is not an easy thing to do, but with much practice and meditation that suits your lifestyle you can get there. Be it sitting and going "ommm omm ommm" until your legs go numb, praising God while farting into the corner of a wooden pew in a church, lighting a smudge in the trunk of your car to rid it of the bad spirits and finding that the carpet caught on fire, tripping over a root that seemed to leap up and grab your foot when you least expect it as you lose yourself in the beauty of a natural forest, holding your child's forehead as they vomit in the toilet while you do your best not to vomit all over their head from the smell and sound of retching, lying on the mats at the gym after a hard workout, after a good stretch, breathing deeply and focusing only on your breath only to find that the clock has mysteriously jumped forward by 30 minutes, sliding into that really sexy pair of skinny jeans only to find that somebody seemed to have moved the button and hole further apart than the last time you put them on, or breathing in the essence of coffee while sitting in a Starbucks and watching all the women in really short skirts and really high heels walk by as you accidentally pour your latte over the front of your shirt, you too can do it.

Buddha said it very well (probably while he was sitting and meditating as his legs went numb),

“Our life is shaped by our mind; we become what we think. Suffering follows an evil thought as the wheels of a cart follow the oxen that draws it. Our life is shaped by our mind; we become what we think. Joy follows a pure thought like a shadow that never leaves.”

Your thoughts create your life. Your thoughts create your future. Do you want to have a good life? Think good thoughts. Do you want to have a fucking fantastic life? Yeah... you get the picture.

As The Universe always says in his little messages to us, "Thoughts become things; choose the good ones."

I love you!

Cam

The Big Idea — Signature Strengths

I have always believed that so much more comes from focusing on one's strengths and letting the weaknesses slide by rather than obsessing over the weaknesses. Of course I also believe that when you FIND a weakness (like my inability to live in big cities), and you can turn it into a strength (as I am working on daily, living in a big city), you double your goodness, double your "godness", and increase your signature strengths.

The difference can be sublime some times, as some may then ask, "So should I just ignore my weakpoints? Is that what you're saying, Cam?" The answer to that is a definite NO. But the difference lies in how you leverage it. Do you want to dwell on your weaknesses and think that they are holding you back? If you continue to focus on them that way, they will continue to hold you back. And the negative will become bigger than the positive. But by focusing on working on your weaknesses, overcoming your ego's VERY STRONG DESIRE to keep you mediocre, you can increase your signature strengths. (even though you may THINK that your ego isn't doing that... well, ego hates change, and improvement means changing habits to better habits, and that change is resisted by ego. Strongly).

Take my weakness for big cities all these years; it kept me thinking negative things about Tokyo, and kept me from enjoying the weekend outings Mayu and I had over the two decades together. Was that good? Of course not! So now, what I am doing is making the change to make that weakness a signature strength.

Here's something you can take to the bank, from Philospher's Notes...

As my lunch bag says, "Do one thing every day that scares you". Turn a weakness into a strength by changing it. That's pretty scary, but if you step into your fear, you are bound to become stronger, free yourself a little bit more from your ego's iron vice grip, and increase your compassion and love for those around you.

I love you! - Cam

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

“I do not believe that you should devote overly much effort to correcting your weaknesses. Rather, I believe that the highest success in living and the deepest emotional satisfaction comes from building and using your signature strengths.” ~ Martin Seligman from Authentic Happiness

There’s Martin Seligman’s brilliant book, Authentic Happiness, in a nutshell. (Have you taken his free signature strengths assessment yet?!? What’re you waiting for?!!? www.authentichappiness.com ! :) )

Another one of my favorite books on the science of happiness is by a guy amed Robert Sternberg. In Successful Intelligence, he introduced us to this idea that we shouldn’t spend too much time on our weaknesses. His research showed that the most successful among us aren’t those with the highest IQs or SAT’s or GPA’s. The most successful are those who know who they are, what they’re good at and they rock those strengths—spending just enough time to make sure their weaknesses didn’t kick their butt and the rest of the time developing their strengths. Powerful stuff.

Research speaks LOUDLY that we need to figure out what our strengths are and use them often.

So, what are your strengths? What are you great at? What do you most enjoy doing? (Good news is that they all usually go together. :)

Before you cruise over to the web site to take the “Signature Strengths” test at www.authentichappiness.com , let’s take a first pass at self-identifying your greatest strengths, shall we?!?

My greatest strengths are:

1. __________________________

2. __________________________

3. __________________________

4. __________________________

5. __________________________

“You could say that I worked every minute of my life, or you could say with equal justice that I never worked a day. I have always subscribed to the expression “Thank God it’s Friday,” because to me Friday means I can work for the next two days without interruption.” ~ John Hope Franklin

…

“The good life consists in deriving happiness by using your signature strengths every day in the main realms of living. The meaningful life adds one more component: using these same strengths to forward knowledge, power, or goodness. A life that does this is pregnant with meaning, and if God comes at the end, such a life is sacred.” ~ Martin Seligman from Authentic Happiness

Wow it is cold out there! With the rain, and the wind, the temperatures are hovering around freezing. They are predicting SNOW tonight! And if it does snow, it will be the first time in about 45 years that it has snowed in Tokyo in April.

Palladium Baggy Tank

http://www.monomania.jp/popup/baggy-tank.htm
These are the shoes I bought on Sunday.

made a $49 web purchase to download some philosopher notes but the email giving me access never arrived. And writing the owner of the site he says that people in Europe manage that so he has no idea why its not happening and that he would ask them to "check it out". I paid Sunday. It's Thursday. He keeps asking me to be patient... I wish I had infinite amounts of patience... *in... out... in... out...*

The Big Idea — Impossible?

"Eliminate the word impossible from your thinking and speaking vocabularies. Impossible is a failure word. The thought “It’s impossible” sets off a chain reaction of other thoughts to prove you’re right."    ~ David J. Schwartz from The Magic of Thinking Big

If we want to tap into the “Magic of Thinking Big,” then we MUST remove that little word “Impossible” from our vocab.

One way to get there:

Ask yourself: What would I do if I wasn’t afraid?

… (Well, what would you do? :)

“When you believe something is impossible, your mind goes to work for you to prove why. But when you believe, really believe, something can be done, your mind goes to work for you and helps you find the ways to do it.”

…

“You see things and you say ‘Why?’
But I dream things that never were and I say ‘Why not?’”
~ George Bernard Shaw

 

“It’s kind of fun to do the impossible.”
~ Walt Disney

In having fun doing the impossible!

The Philosopher's Notes for Sunday, April 4th, 2010

“Think Big and you’ll live big. You’ll live big in happiness. You’ll live big in accomplishment. Big in income. Big in friends. Big in respect… Start now, right now, to discover how to make your thinking make magic for you. Start out with this thought of the great philosopher Disraeli: “Life is too short to be little.”“ ~ David J. Schwartz from The Magic of Thinking Big

Night Time Sakura

I went out for a walk this afternoon... the day was nice but by late afternoon it had cood down and the sky was turning dark....

I went to UniQlo and bought two new silky dry undershirts. They feel soooo good... very sexy...

After that I headed to the gyoumu-you supermarket near Mizue eki where I do my workouts. I stocked up on lots of frozen vegetables again. It really is amazing how much more I can get for so much less... I decided to try some pre-prepared chicken slices this time. Of course as we all know any food in the supermarket that has been processed is full of additives. And sure enough this chicken has a lot of stuff in it... I didnt like any of the beef that I tried there so skipped most meat.

After filling up my pack I walked back home in the cool night with raindrops starting to fall. As I didn't have an umbrella with me this time I was lucky to find a broken one in somebody's trash so I used that to bring me home.

On the way I passed by a park and took these photos of the sakura at night. I took them on this keitai so they might not be so good... but I thought I'd give it a shot. Or four...

Thanks for the inspiration Matt & D.

Have a great Saturday you guys.

I love you!

Cam

The Big Idea — (Emotional) Fuel Gauges

This comes from my daily "Philosopher's Notes"...
 (www.philosophersnotes.com)

“When the fuel gauge on your vehicle indicates that the tank is empty, you do not criticize the indicator. You receive the information that it has offered you, and you do something about adding more fuel to your tank. Similarly, a negative feeling is an indicator that your current choice of thoughts has you offering a vibration that is so out of harmony with your Source Energy that you are currently disallowing your full connection to that Energy Stream. (You could say your tank is reaching empty.) Your emotions do not create, but they do indicate what you are currently attracting. If your emotions are helping you know that your choice of thoughts is not taking you in the direction that you desire to go, then do something about that: Replenish your connection by choosing better-feeling thoughts.” ~ Esther & Jerry Hicks from "Ask and It Is Given"

That’s really cool. A big theme of the great book, Ask and It Is Given, is the fact that our feelings are a wonderful guidance system to check in and see how closely aligned we are to Source Energy (or Spirit, the Tao, God, whatever you call it!).

Are you depressed and feeling hopeless? Um… That’s a pretty good (actually, make that a definitive) indicator that your “Source Energy tank is on empty” and you need to fill up with some more positive thoughts to get yourself more closely aligned with source!

Are you overflowing with enthusiasm mixed with a joyful desire to create and to serve??!? BINGO!!! That, my friends, is the perfect indicator you are aligned. Your tank is full. You’re ready for a great trip with nothing to worry about! GOD is in the house. (Literally, actually. Did you know the word “enthusiasm” comes from the two little Greek words en and theos? “Enthusiasm” literally means “God within.” How cool is that? :)

Alright. All that’s exciting. But here’s the most powerful part.

Just as you’d never criticize your fuel gauge for telling you that you’re running low on gas, don’t (ever!) criticize yourself and your emotions for telling you that you’re currently running low on good thoughts and Source Energy!

Again, you’d NEVER get upset at your fuel gauge when you see it close to “E.” You’d simply pull over to the nearest gas station and fill up with some gas, right?

OK. So, how about this: The next time you’re feeling depressed/stressed/angry take a look at your “fuel gauge,” notice that you’re running a little low on “Source Energy,” feel as much gratitude as you can possibly muster (!!!!), and pull over to the next Source Energy “gas station“—whether that’s doing some affirmations, going for a run or hike, playing with your baby, doing some volunteer work, dancing to your favorite song, meditating, thinking of all of the things you’re grateful for, doing a random act of anonymous kindness…whatever your “gas station” is, fill up with Source Energy and you’ll be back on the road in no time!!!!! :)

Fun. :)

“Enthusiasm is one of the most powerful engines of success. When you do a thing, do it with all your might. Put your whole soul into it. Stamp it with your own personality. Be active, be energetic, be enthusiastic and faithful, and you will accomplish your object. Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson