I Saw Stefnee Tonight

I was out wandering my work 'hood tonight after work to cop a feel of the surrounding fat o' the land, when who did I bump into, but Stefnee!

Hi Stefnee! What are you doing up there?!?

Come on down and let's go for a hug, a chat and a drink!

I love you!

Cam

Seeking Mystery Hill on Stefnee's 38th Birthday!!!

A week or two ago I was on my balcony and happened to see that there was a "hill" off in the distance. I decided that I wanted to get there, but could not find it on my maps. I tried twice to ride through the city to the general direction but ended up on the wrong side of one of the rivers.

So, today I went in the opposite direction, crossed over the Edogawa, then rode back along the river, to Tokyo Bay. I stopped at the end of the road where there were a bunch of men fishing. We chatted, talked, and laughed, then I went home, freezing my digits. I made it home, but am not sure where some of my digits are. I'm typing with my nose right now...

I found the hill; it was a garbage dump. And it's a lot smaller and uglier when you are up next to it. I guess it just seemed so much larger than real life because my apartment is on the 11th floor and the other apartments in the distance must have been smaller. So... it seemed like a hill.

The entire trip to Tokyo Bay Fishing Homeless Guys Location was about15km. Then another 5km back to the Garbage Hill. Then 5km home. So... I took a 25km round trip to do 10km. Some might think I wasted a huge amount of time, but getting out for the couple of hours of ride, photographing, and chatting was definitely worth it today. And so was freezing my digits.

The majority of photos are on flickr, but if you would like to see them as a slideshow, then please click here. (No porn here, sorry).

Have a great Stefnee's Birthday!

I love you!

Cam

Where in the World is Stefnee Lee?

On Saturday I went for a ride up into the mountains on the other side of the river to Niko Niko Gawa (remember that place?). I then sat down to relax and read a book deep in the mountains. A Suzuki Samurai drove past with an elderly couple and as they passed by slowly they stared at this weird sight of a white (terribly handsome... of course) young man in excellent (of course) shape, sitting on the side of the road in God Forbid Fukui, and reading a goddamn book!!!!!! And a GREEN book, no less!

When Stefnee was here I took her up to that place on the very next day after she arrived.

As I passed by, I wanted to take a few photos just to remind her of the wonderful time she had here on Sunday, March 15th, 2009.

I love you!

Cam

Looking downriver from the dam

 

Looking upriver from the dam (low water)

 

Stefnee is supposed to be reclining on these stairs!

 

Stefnee's little Samurai chum

 

Sipping from the Eternal Fountain of Stefnee's Dragon Piss

Green Green Rice of Home

It is 7.30pm and I'm contemplating dinner. I think I shall create the following:

* Thinly sliced strips of beef sauteed with mushrooms in ginger and olive oil.
* Broccoli and bok choi steamed to an "al dente" texture then drizzled with a yogurt-moustarde-soy sauce.
* A simple salad consisting of lettuce, Japanese cucumber (not slimy as you know), tomato and broccoli sprouts.
* A glass of wine, and a glass of water.

The other day as I was heading up for a ride above, over and around my mountains behind the house I found one lone farmer planting his rice. The rice planting season was mainly done during Golden Week, the May long holiday at the very beginning of this month. That will be the Koshi Hikari variety. There is another variety known as Hana Echizen that is also planted. This crop usually goes in a few weeks later so I think that what I saw was the Hana Echizen going in. Stefnee, this is the field right behind my house, so you will remember it all dry and possibly full of weeds.

 

I recalled as I was passing by that during my Rice Cycle blogs last year Stefnee had mentioned that she wanted to see the workings of the rice transplanter machine. The way these machines operate is quite intriguing. Sod-sized pallets of rice seedlings are placed on a back plate of the machine. As the planter moves through the fields heavy with water and mud, wheels with many teeth on the back rotate, and clip off one seedling at a time, then plan in straight rows in the wet soil. You can see the action in this little animated graphic I have included.

 

I did not take my video camera on this day (unfortunately), but I did have my digital camera. So I took these two photos. I hope you can click on them to see a larger size, then zoom into the mechanism at the back for a better understanding of what I am trying to explain.

Now I know that two simple photos are not going to do it to satisfy the desires of Stefnee to learn more about this machine. Coming from an agriculture culture, and possessing a researcher's mind, I have the sneaky suspicion that she needs more.

So...

Here is a little two minute video (in Japanese) with very loud music typical of Japanese commercials (CM) showing exactly how the Iseki Sanae PPZ (Classic) transplanter operates at the back. Truthfully, this is better than I think I could ever provide with my own webcam and reporter skills.

If you would like to see an example of a LARGE transplanter, watch this video.

And although there is no video to show you, many "hand driven" machines are still in use where the farmer walks behind the transplanter and guides it, almost like guiding oxen or horse in a field.

It took me a year to get this information for Stefnee, and I've been thinking and looking into it all year. Well, Stefnee... there you go! I hope this satisfies your wonderful quest for knowledge concerning the Japanese way of planting rice.

And now it is time to cook.

I love you!

Cam

P.S. It is now 8:18, so it took me 50 minutes to put this little blog together. And now. I. AM.... hungry.

Globalized Rug: Home @ Last

Thanks to each and ever one of you who participated in this Globalized Rug venture! It is a wonderful example of how Love can transcend borders, and time. It is beautiful, expressing all of your inner and outer beauty. This rug says to me: YES WE CAN. I don't have the words to express the deep and loving emotion that I feel inside me for all of YOU out there, who have spent so much time investing in my little corner of the world over here in Japan. I owe you a LOT!

Thank you, Stefnee for coming up with this idea, as it was absolutely PERFECT! I love you!

I have read our Globalized Rug Journal a few times and all the letters you all have sent to me... and I am truly eternally grateful. Don't listen to my words... see my love for you in my eyes.

And I say to you,

I

LOVE

YOU!

Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank YOU!

I love you!

Cam

Food for Thought

I had such a delicious breakfast that I just thought I would share it with YOU! I'll be posting this on the LowCarBlog that Stefnee and I work together as well because there it is health related, and that is where we keep these kinds of things as a repository so people don't have to sift through all the naked pictures of me dancing while washing my mountain bike.

Here is one of my many similar breakfasts that I cook daily. It is an ordinary breakfast to me, but it could be lunch or dinner to anyone. I know full well that most people don't have the time in the morning to create what I do, cooking a full meal (working from home has its definite advantages).

This meal consists of meat fried in olive oil, then a citrus soy-juice drizzled over, a salad with lots of tomatoes (fruit carb), two Stefnee-style steamed eggs with melted cheese on top (fried in real butter, not plastic margarine) and some salt-pickled daikon radish. I also had yogurt with frozen blueberries, and now jus realize that there is a bowl of defrosted, steamed fresh spinach still sitting in the microwave. Damn, I always do that!

When I create a meal, I don't think of creating high/low carb meals, I just make what my body wants. In most cases it tells me it wants meat, meat, meat, with some eggs, cheese, vegetables, water, and some yogurt.

By the way, in case you didn't know this, vegetables are pretty useless to humans since we can't digest cellulose (plant cell walls), unlike cows, goats, and those with five stomachs. Many people believe (brainwashed we have been) that we need the vegetables for the vitamins and minerals, but from a truly biochemical viewpoint (which nutritionists and doctors seem to be blind to, and refuse to recognize), vegetables are cellulose, and all of the "goodness" is locked up in the cell walls of the plants. And since we cannot digest the cellulose of plant matter, we can't get at the majority of those "good things". BUT, meat-based animals can. And they absorb and integrate into their cellular structure all of that goodness (vitamins and minerals) that we cannot access. Then when we eat the meat, because we CAN digest meat and proteins, and amino acids, we get all of that goodness into us. It is the natural cycle, one that nutritionists and doctors and lobbyists for agribusiness have tried to make us forget.

I won't even get into the talk about fiber and its total uselessness for us in spite of what we have been brainwashed to believe otherwise. Science has shown, and published, but not talked about in the news (of course), that high fiber leads to a LOT of complications, one of them being mineral LEACHING (i.e. taking away) from our body as the fiber absorbs and passes through unusued. The other minor annoyance is the increase of intestinal cancer, but what the hell, right? We're all going to die of cancer anyways, so it's no big deal.

Did you know that cellulose is the exact same thing as sawdust? Yes. But, I will say this: having vegetables is a nice way to break up the meal and add some other flavour, colour, shape and texture to the plate. It's really too bad that we are not designed physiologically to digest plant matter... 

The only other thing I added (because I had it in the freezer) that I don't usually have is the frozen blueberries. But I saw them, and I thought, "I want them today!" So I did.

And that, dear friends, is the power of our amazing NO DIET eating lifestyle.

So, my question to those of you out there who say that "low carb meals" are too difficult to maintain is this: Is a meal like this undoable? Because it sure tasted damn good to me!

Come for a visit and let me cook for you! You won't be disappointed, and you most definitely will not go away hungry, I promise. (And I have a lot of bourbon and whiskey sitting in my liquor cabinet that I don't drink, so you can sip your way to happiness should you so desire.

I love you!

Cam

Ootnaboot for the Fabric Goddess

Yesterday I headed out to find some more kimono material for Stefnee as she said she is looking for more. She has a slight fabric addiction, you see.....

I went over to the recycle shop across Fukui (toward Sabae) where I collected most of the kimono that people purchased for the Cam2PR Fund. I was looking for some summery yukata (light cotton colourful kimono worn during the summers) but did not find the colourful ones at this store. I did go to another store and found them for sale there, but they were a higher price and were in such a condition that people would purchase them, and wear them, not cut them up into fabric.

If you would like to take a look at all of the eight kimono I found for Stefnee, please visit my Flickr page. You can access a slide show of the kimono here.

In addition to kimono, Stefnee and others have told me that they love my little garden tanuki and that they want one. I have been searching high and low for a plastic one in stores, recycle shops, home and garden centers, even on Yahoo Auction but I can only seem to find tanuki made of pottery. These are beautiful, but generally too heavy to ship overseas (unless people are OK with the freight and then I'm happy to get one off of the auctions for you!) and thus I have been searching for a plastic one. The strangest thing is that nobody believes I actually own one; they have never heard of a plastic garden tanuki! 

Yesterday when I visited the recycle shop where I usually get kimono and other gifts for people for Christmas, etc., I was searching the things for a plastic tanuki. But in its stead what did I happen to lay my eyes upon? A REAL Live Stuffed Tanuki for sale!!!

Holy Moly! I just had to take a photo of this because I've never seen a stuffed one before! I just had to share this photo with you because, to me, this kind of "find" really shows you some things about traditional Japan. For any of you who want to come and visit, I will be sure to give you many more exciting jaw-dropping experiences while you are here! You will not leave Japan disappointed, and that is my guarantee to you!

If you would like to learn a lot more on the folklore of the tanuki, please look to Wikipedia. The images, and the descriptions are quite enjoyable. Also, I think (not 100% sure) that there is a tale of the tanuki in the "Japanese Fairy Tales" book that I left with Stefnee to read to her children. If there is one in there, and if you ask her, I am sure she will give you a video reading!

 

I love you!

Cam

P.S. You will notice that real tanuki do not have the monstrous testicles that the mythical ones seem to possess... I get the feeling that the mythical tanuki was invented by men with "insecurity issues"... wouldn't you say?

TheFabricGoddess on Etsy!!!

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5304787
Stefnee has created the most amazing line of bags that you could ever set your eyes on!

For those of you who already have one of her products, you know what I am talking about.

For those of you who don't, ... well, what are you waiting for? Remember we support our Globalized Love Community Members?

Head over to Etsy and take a look at the amazing collection that Stefnee has completed.

I love my HippyDippy bag, and I take it everywhere. I even use it exclusively on my bike to the bank, and even to the river to swim, sun, and snooze and stuff it full of lots of water, books, pens, IC recorder, towels, sunglasses, bronzing lotion, and so much more!

It has a reflector built into it to keep me safe, not to mention three external pockets, an internal divider, and three other internal pockets (one of which is articulated to hold a water bottle!)

Each pocket is lined with vintage kimono material to give it that really exotic, sexy look. And I asked Stefnee to put a couple of belt loops onto the over the shoulder strap so that it could become, as Scooter branded it, my "utility belt"! Now I can hang my sunglasses, my keitai, or a pen there for easy access to my "stuff". I love my utility belt!

The denim is designed to be ultra strong, and yet the edges are pre-worn so they will gently fray with age and become even more specialized as I continue to break it in. I plan on living until I'm 202 years of age, and I'm betting this baby outlives me!

And so it is. This baby rocks!

Really, the craftsmanship (I'm not going to say "worksmanship" because it is above and beyond that) is phenomenal. It really is.

The prices are really fabulous. I tried to convince her to sell them for more because I truly understand the value of these bags, but humble Stefnee, Little Miss "I'm just me", would hear nothing of it! She wanted to keep them affordable for the entire world, not just us white collar bank robber criminal types who people seem to think have infinite amounts of money to toss around. Well, for a project like this, for usable art (i.e. industrial art), and to support my best friends, I would certainly pay above and beyond these prices. Because I know the true value.

Enough of my blabbing; I'm wasting your precious time. Go see for your self, but be prepared to be "verily impressed" by The Fabric Goddess!

Congratulations, Stefnee! I hope that as time goes by, your shop gets more hits, then a few purchases, then a few more, and then you can turn what you love into an at-home business while looking after your family as well! I am so proud of you for getting this going!

I love you!

Cam

The Globalized Love Collection

http://www.cafepress.com/globalizedlove
Welcome to the Globalized Love Collection of goods and paraphernalia that every Globalized Lover needs to seriously look into in order to tell the world, "IGLU!!" or "I AM" (if you are an Internet Axe Murderer!)

Stefnee & Scooter have taken our Unconditional Love one step further with this Globalized Love Shop of clothing, novelty goods and more!

Take a look at the Globalized Love Community Mascots P1 and P2! Aren't they just the cutest things? These little guys are the offspring of T1 and T2's Penguin Paradise that they have been working on and sending around the world to everyone in our community Don't you love these guys?

Remember how we joke about getting together as Internet Axe Murderers? Well now anybody can "join the club" and pick up a T-shirt or two and lay claim to being a true Internet Axe Murderer. Now you can say with pride, "YES, I AM!!" (in two different ways!)

So please go ahead and support our Globalized Love Community by sharing your love to the world, and giving others the opportunity to ask you, "What the hell are you wearing???" What a great way to "melt the globalized ice"! Global Warming ain't got nuthin on our heaps of burning love!

And at the same time you are Sharing the Love, you can also be supporting the efforts of two of my all-time FAVOURITE STARVING artists : Stefnee & Scooter ... and their perpetually growing (and equally starving) kids!

Keep up the great work, the wonderful dialogue, and OMG I think I'm going to have to buy seven or eight of these things!!!

IGLU!!

T1 & T2s 8th Bday

Happy Birthday to Stefnee & Scooter's twins, Simon and Silas, who turn eight!

I love you!

Cam

Stefnee, Camsas (Memories in Still Motion)

Here we had coffee with Dad

I took a journey.
And what a journey it was.
My life will never be the same....

Stephanie and I did not take one single photo of the two of us... we just didn't even THINK of it! I KNOW! DUH! GAH! Can you believe it?

So... now, I am going through all of the videos we made, and doing screen captures of points in the videos that I feel show the love we have for each other, and the friendship that will always be there, guaranteed... just as your reflection is guaranteed in the mirror.

All you have to do is look...

and there you are!

I love you!

P.S. I have a LOT of video to go through so I will be adding more as I get to them. It takes time to load the video, then go through it and search for the "moments". But oh so worth it, believe me!

Cracking Themselves Up

One day while I was sitting alone outside on the porch with Shasta after she had returned from the pool we were chatting about something... I forget what exactly. And for some strange reason Monty Python came up in the discussion.

Shasta turned this sly eye on me with a half grin that I have seen her mother do in the exact same way and she said to me...

"My mom and dad are so funny. They often go into this own little world of their own and start spouting back and forth conversations from various Monty Python skits, especially "The Holy Grail". They get into the accent, and everything else, and then they end up cracking themselves up and laughing over their own jokes. It's funny to watch."

I can concur with this because the evening we had the curry, most likely as there was not enough meat in the dish we were hungry later in the evening (there were carrots, potatoes and such that we ate which compounds hunger later as these are carby vegetables). So, the three adults headed out to McDonalds for an evening feast on protein.

We purchased eight (8) quarter pounders for the three of us (four for me, two for Scott, two for Stephanie), took them home and devoured them at the kitchen table. On the way to McD's those two sitting in the front seat started singing, "Kam, Kam, Kam Kam.... " just like one of those Monty Python "Spam" songs. It was pretty funny watching them crack themselves up. They pulled out the bastardized version of that Monty Python accent and everything and just went on and on.

They must have been protein deficient at the time (as was I) because they weren't able to stop, nor control themselves as they spun out of control and got louder, more boisterous and funnier the nearer we approached the McDonald's drive through window.

Finally, as we sat enjoying the meat in their kitchen at one in the morning, they came down from their protein deprivation high, and started acting less like crazed python junkies and more like the civilized carnivores I know and love. The meat with the sauces tasted great and we only ate a fraction of the buns. That's the way to enjoy Rancid Ronny's when you need a quick meat fix and don't want all the bloating that usually goes along with the overall experience.

(The iced coffee was waaaay too sweet for all of us, and they blew it on the diet coke order, or so Scott and Stefnee think. I didn't have any so I can neither confirm, nor deny their claim; they are the diet coke pros, not I.)

This was just one more of many wonderful memories of my trip to Stefnee, Kansas. When my brain deems it appropriate to release some of these memories back into my conscious, I promise I shall share them with you.

You have to love Shasta for her sly sense of humour and her enjoyment she gets from sitting back and watching her own parents go a little bonkers. I love that girl!

In the meantime, enjoy some good protein and watch out for that cute little bunny over there!

I love you!

Cam Cam Cam Cam.....

V-Log: Stefnee, Camsas... The Epic Series

My week with Stefnee & Co., in Stefnee, Kansas will be with me for an eternity..

If you care to peek through the looking glass and enjoy a sliver of the joy we experienced during our time together, then please do! Here are 15 (yes, fifteen) videos that were taken over the course of the week I visited Stefnee, in Kansas.

I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

 

• Stefnee, Camsas 1: Starbucks, Daddy-o!
• Stefnee, Camsas 2: Biker Dude, Farmer Dude
• Stefnee, Camsas 3: Meat, the Family
• Stefnee, Camsas 4: Coronado Hi, Birthday High
• Stefnee, Camsas 5: Dining on Stefnee, Kansas
• Stefnee, Camsas 6: Pooling Around with the Goddess
• Stefnee, Camsas 7: Feasting on the Eggs of the Goddess
• Stefnee, Camsas 8: Meat, the Postie, Fabricating Heaven
• Stefnee, Camsas 9: Flyby Anniversary Dinner
• Stefnee, Camsas 10: The Guise & The Girls
• Stefnee, Camsas 11: Globalized Rug, Globalized Love
• Stefnee, Camsas 12: Bowling for Dullards
• Stefnee, Camsas Lucky 13: Leave no Trace
• Stefnee, Camsas 14: Bestest of Best Friends
• Stefnee, Camsas 15: Farewell Garden of Eden, KS

And the Special Bonus Track: Love, Tornado-Style

Globalized Love Rules! I intend to carry on the tradition of meeting those I can in this multiverse, when I can.

Maybe next time, it will be YOU!

I love you!

Cam

Thank YOU from my SOUL

Dear Stefnee, Scooter, Shasta, Spencer, Simon and Silas,

This is just a brief blog to you all to thank you for an absolutely, positively, supercalifragilisticexpialidociously wonderful week and a little bit! It has been filled with so much FUN, so much family, so much EXCITEMENT, so much LOVE, so much BEING, so much GRATITUDE, so much APPRECIATION and so much more that I am having trouble expressing it to you all!

But even if you find me quiet, and thoughtful on the eve of the final night I am here until the next time I return, please understand that I am truly so indebted to you for letting me become a part of your family FOR REAL IN PERSON for this teeny weeny too short amount of time.

I will never ever ever ever forget the things we did together, the time we spent together, the laughs we shared together, the hugs we passed around together, the kisses we lavished upon each other together, and even the quiet times we had together.

I have appreciated each and every NOW moment, each and every single second of our time together. I love our time together, even at this very now moment as I am packing up my luggage, and preparing for the long journey ... home.

I feel that my visit to your family has become one more home for me and all of the kitchen elfy stuff I have done with you like the dishes, the meals, the floors, and so much more is just one part of everything, absolutely EVERYTHING that has just floored me beyond belief.

Scooter - Thank you for giving Stefnee and I the time to process, to talk, to walk, to just BE together, and breathe in the way we do. Thank you also for letting me overclean your home as I love to do. I REALLY REALLY REALLLLLY appreciate the time and the space you have given us, even at this very moment you came downstairs with the twins. THANK YOU. I LOVE YOU.

Stefnee - ... You have exceeded every possible thought I could have ever imagined about you! The way you raise your children, talk with them, love them, educate them, reprimand them... it is so full, sooo FULL of the love that you have for life that I can see how (*tears*) much you adore each and every one of their cells! You are simply the most wonderful mother/friend raising children who are going to carry on your Globalized Love and spread it out into the world. As all the friends in the blog say all the time, YOU ROCK! THANK YOU. I LOVE YOU.

Geek Squad - You four are the coolest kids I know! You may be sassy, you may be inquisitive, you may turn the house into a total mess (close the fridge door, guys...), but know this: you are truly truly truly vewy awesome kids! And Shasta, congratulations on becoming 13! (Don't drive your mom crazy, please? I don't want to be coming back here to a crazy woman, ok? Please???)

Again, thank you all so very much for letting me come and share my time, my presence, my love, and my soul with each and every single one of you.

And I must admit I absolutely LOVED eating out of your fridge until it looked empty. Really. Everything was awesome. ESPECIALLY the meat!

The Universe most certainly did an amazing job of finally bringing us through the looking glass, wouldn't you agree, Stefnee?

*I*

*LOVE*

*YOU!*

Cam

P.S. It has been a very long time since the "last time" we met, and this time will surely hold me over until the "next time" we meet. I most definitely WILL see you then!

Love, Tornado Style

Snacks... snogging... coffee all over my white shirt... whatnot... it was a fun afternoon making that video. And ... our primary video guy was Spencer! (and our chaperone, of course!!)

I love you!

Cam

P.S. Scooter, we saved the snacks for saturday morning so you can be off of pancake duty.... AND the kids can run around all day like sugared-up maniacs pelting us with water balloons and .. whatnots.

By the way... do you like chickory coffee? We are going to HAVE to brew that up and enjoy it (on video) with YOU, Stefnee, Simon, Silas, Spencer, Shasta, Toby, Mr. Skinny Winkles, Skippy John Jones, Lucy, Jackson and Sally ... OR.... Mander!

What? No rabbits? Oh... yeah... right... I ate Tubby & Terence the rabbits for lunch!

Today's Update:  

We had a very late start today (well, not Scooter... he had an earlier start). Last night after we got back from Bunco about midnight, Stefnee started cutting out patterns for my sleep shorts.

Then it got really windy, and the rain started pounding down. Scooter was upstairs TRYING to sleep, and I ran out into the pouring rain and got myself nice and sopping wet turning up the windows. I didn't realize the car windows were way down. Scott came down, and said the car windows were down, so I went back out and closed them up (we opened them up first thing this morning to dry them out as best as possible - still open).

Scooter got Stefnee's Meditation Tapes and went back upstairs. I started drifting off on the chaise lounge as The Fabric Goddess stitched away.

Then suddenly she cocked her head... and ran to the front door saying, "are those the sirens?" And sure enough they were! The tornado sirens!

So immediately she pounded upstairs and got everyone up. They all came running down with blankets and pillows and we dashed into the basement and huddled ourselves far back into the basement away from glass, and stuff in case the tornado came our way.

Scooter brought down the laptop and we sat down there searching for news on the tornado siren warnings. In the end, they found a radio station that said McPherson had some electrical problems and the sirens were a result of that, and not a tornado.

It was amazing to see Momma Bear and Poppa Bear jump into action and all the little Baby Bears following along in perfect harmony, even though it was the middle of the night!

All was well, they sent the kids back up to bed, and life at 3am returned to normal.

Then at that time I think, I finally was able to get my YouTube Tornado video posted (it belched once in an electrical glitch). We used my computer and loaded it up to Stefnee's blog as well.

And as we were sitting in the chaise watching the video to see how it went.... we fell asleep and woke up about 3.30 or 4am or so with my neck killing me because my head was draped over the back of the chaise. Stefnee went off to bed and i went down to the basement cubbyhole to sleep.

So the day today started later than expected. The kids had cereal, and we cooked breakfast of bacon and eggs. Then the kids went off to the pool...

The kids went to the pool but the young uns were still too young to be let in so they came home. We took them back to the pool without towels (they neglected to inform us until we arrived that they had no towels...) and let them play around. A little later one of the lifeguards brought Simon back because he wasn't feeling well. So we brought him back home and set him up with movies and whatnot.

I was feeling a bit burned from the sun  (yes, again) so had a nap. Stefnee worked hard on making me some sleep shorts out of the most awesome material. (I'll have to model them if anyone is interested in seeing her amazing skills in action! - Just let Stefnee know).

When I woke up, she was gone so Simon and I sat out on the porch and chatted a bit. Momma Bear came home with some V8 juice for Baby Bear, and now she is sewing again!

She started to get hungry so I pulled out some sandwich meat, added a half of a tomato and gave her some water... and all was well.

We are going out for dinner tonight for their anniversary (it was yesterday, but so was Bunco). I want to take just the two of them out so that they can have an adult night with me. In addition to that, I really want to give them a good time and show my love and appreciation for letting me be their kitchen elf, babysitter, launderer, vacuum cleanor, bedtime storyteller, cook, and all about playmate for the kids. I have been loving my week here as it is an absolutely FANTASTIC time!

Thanks so much, Scooter and Stefnee. I really really REALLY appreciate you letting me come to Stefnee, Kansas, and share your life with me. I will NEVER EVER forget this journey of being present, alive, aware and BEING!

I love you!!!!!

in..............................

 

out....................................

 

in.................................................................

 

out................................................................

 

(I'm hungry......)

Another Miracle Compliments of the Fabric Goddess

The Fabric Goddess sent me the most amazing bag on the face of the Multiverse! You just have to see how awesome it is! I LOVE THIS BAG!

Keeping the Weight Down

Because I'm so darn tall, my clothes end up taking up so much space all the time. It bugs me, yanno? I mean, when we go traveling, My one pair of gotch takes up about the same volume as a week's worth of Mayu's! It's not fair (and she doesn't wear thongs). Add to that a suit, a sportscoat, dress shoes, dress shirts, etc. for business travel and it all adds up substantially. The ties don't take much space, but still... sheesh! I wish for once I could just travel lightly!

So I am working on my packing list for this trip. Eighteen days usually requires a lot of clothes. Usually I can wash my gotch and socks in the sink in the hotel room so that's not soo bad, but still, it's nice to have enough, and not be putting on damp gotch in the morning.

This time I will not be staying at a hotel. Instead I will be staying at Khanada's flat for the week working in Houston, and then with the ghost for the time I am in Stefnee, Kansas. So I am hoping that they will let me use their laundry machine (ooh! we can fold gotch together! how thrilling!!!) which will cut back some on the amount of clothing I need to take, towels, and hair dryers (with short hair now I don't shed anymore). And of course a facecloth to do my usual eco-showering!

Also, YES is a casual place and Khanada said she often works in jeans. That's good. I'm not a jeans guy as I overheat in them, but it means no suits, no dress shirts, no coach black leather shoes, no ties. That will dramatically cut back the packing, let me tell you.

So, what have we got to pack?

Well, first of all I need to pack the CLOTHING...

• t-shirts (5) - easy to roll up and stuff
• short-sleeved work shirts (3) - don't need to work in long sleeves, can wear out in evening
• long-sleeved dress shirt (1) - just in case
• tank tops (3) - for that holiday heat
• gotch (5) - not a commando guy, and if it's hot, it's great to change into something "dry" after work in Houston
• pj shorts (2) - I don't sleep naked; especially when I'm a guest
• socks (5) - we wear socks in Kansas
• outdoor shorts (3) - I don't wear pants much in the summer at all unless I'm working
• casual pants (3-4) - for work, and going out where shorts are inappropriate
• belt (1-2) - need to hold my pants up as I don't have hips to hang pants on.
• sandals/shoes (2) - getting around
• thin sweater (1) - cooler nights, going out
• jean jacket (1) - in case it's cool on the porch in Kansas
• sports coat (1) - you never know
• airplane slippers (1) - keep feet cool, and fresher
• of course one set of clothes in this list I'll be wearing on the trip, so that decreases the total volume somewhat...

Then we have the TOILETRIES...

• toothrush/paste - fresh breath, clean teeth
• razor/cream - I prefer me without facial hair
• anti-p - necesarry
• just-in-case tylenol stuff - different time zones, different air, different living conditions, long flights... they all add up
• Airborne - to enjoy a "spritz" of effervescent vitamin bubbly once in a while
• YES Supplements - essential travel gear
• pi perfume - because I like it!

Can't forget the travel ESSENTIALS...

• passport - necessary for globalized ootnaboot travel
• airline ticket - obviously
• travel insurance - covers everything that might not happen
• train tickets - $160 to go to the airport and back.
• wallet - yep
• gaijin card - necessary to leave and come back into Japan
• USD/JPY - obviously
• credit cards

And add on to that the SUNDRIES...

• sunglasses - have sunnies, will travel
• lip chicken poop - traveling dries out the lipperoonies
• book to read - have a new one on order, recommended by Abby (more NewAge Wackhead shit)
• gifts - coming from / going to Japan you never ever ever travel gift-free. Ever. Got that?
• carry-on bag - Awesome new Eddie Bauer bag. I love it! best one yet  (see photo at top of blog)
• stefnee sling bag - still waiting for it to come. something to carry books, passport, etc.

Lest we forget the ELECTRONICS...

• computer et. al - must do work (in Japanese), and keep in touch with outside world (this is the biggest pain in the ass of all to travel with - I hate traveling with computers)
• video camera / charger - cam without video? hahahahahahaha
• camera / charger - still shots for those folks still on squirrel dial up
• IC recorder - plan to see what happens when I sleep with a ghost for a week
• keitai / charger - need this for when I return

I think that's about it. Now I just need to pull this up as a checklist next week for travel.

I wonder if I'm going to get all this stuff into one check in bag (my big rolling bright red duffel), and then the other stuff into my carry on day pack, and the stefnee bag...? I hope so. I'm seriously going to try to do these 18 days without two pieces of check in luggage.

If the weather looks like rain, since Mayu will be away when I leave, I will pre-ship my suitcase to Osaka Airport a few days early (by wednesday next week) and then walk down to the local train pickup point to ride into Fukui. It's not a long walk by any means (nothing here is), but not something I recommend doing while pulling a suitcase in the rain. I will just take one of those little fold up travel umbrellas that keep your head and shoulders dry, and that's it.

I love you!

Cam

The Universe Delivers!

Why beat around the bush?

I'm going to Houston, Texas for work on June 14 - 22nd.

I will be meeting the YES gang and talking about "stuff".

I am hoping that I can meet Beth and Rachel when I'm in Houston, working. I know Rachel is a few hours away, but maybe she can meet me on Saturday before I leave? I hope I can hook up with Beth during the week at least once and "catch up" just like Internet Axe Murderer friends who have never physically met, do. Anybody else around Houston?

Then I'm going to Stefnee, Kansas for fun on Jun 22nd - 30th.

I am looking forward to meeting Scooter, and the 4Ss along with Toby, SkippyJohnJones AND their resident ghost. I hope to meet Stefnee's bikerDad and mom. I'm going to be sleeping with the resident ghost so that will be a very interesting experience for me. I am immensely looking forward to it. I'm taking my IC recorder and my video camera especially for those nights (computer too, of course as I have to do work for my business every day while I am there)!

I am hoping to meet Seamus, the hot neighbours, the cranky neighbours, Kent the postie, go to the fabric shop, visit the coffee shop, and hang out and be a bar fly in the evenings when Stefnee is working her bar magic, go to the park, the garden, the supermarket! Maybe I'll even take the kids for a few games of bowling when Mom is working!

I am also thinking of renting a bike in Wichita for the week, and using it to have a weekfilled fun with the kids riding in the park during the day, over to their garden to see where she is planting my seeds I sent, and also going out with her on her night runs, just to enjoy the dark, the cool, the breeze and the time with my Fabric Goddess!

I'm looking forward to a whole lot more, but we agreed to PLAN NOTHING as that is the BEST way to go. I would be more than happy to spend the entire week just sitting on Stefnee's lap on the porch and chatting. I know a ton of things will just flow forth naturally during that week. I am looking forward to it!

Shasta's birthday is on the 24th so I can be there! S&S's anniversary is on the 26th so I can maybe take the kids out to dinner at McDonalds and let the two of them have fun... *wink* vacuuming up cat hair, or repairing computers, or blogging or whatever it is they do. And I can hug them for their anniversary too! And I get to snog Scooter! I KNOW he'll love it (I smell like bacon...) and Stefnee will surely get it ALL on video for you!

And eating bacon, of course. I hope we can eat tons and tons of bacon! Maybe eat bacon at a highway greasy spoon until they kick us out! Let bacon cook on Ben Franklin while enjoying wine and other stuff. Yaaay! Maybe we could even christen Ben with a new name, henceforth known as Bacon Franklin!

Oh, and I'm looking forward to a couple of nights of chatting with Ben Franklin as well into the night as we sip wine, tell stories, and laugh. You know those belly laughs Stefnee talks about?

Maybe... Maybe Stefnee can even introduce me to her Bunco Babes! That would be sooo cool! I'll look into their eyes and see if I can make any of them swoon....

So, that's the story.

Oh yeah, and the insurance for the 18 days... is an insanely cheap $59.00 for amazing coverage. Just like the last trip I took to N.A.

I have wanted this for a very long time. Do you realize that Stefnee is the only Goddess I have not met (except for Amy?) Yep. Carrie, Jen, Paula, Robin... I'm hugged them all and basked in their glory. And finally I get to snog the Fabric Goddess!

Yaaaaay meee!

I took my conscious thoughts, passed them through emotions to my subconscious mind, and got that and the superconscious mind to have a chat so SuperCon could do his thing with the Universal powers and let the Law of Attraction work it's magic. And boy oh boy, did it work out well! I knew this would happen one day, just never ever thought about it being so soon. Believable! Those of you out there who manifest this kind of stuff (Song), you know exactly what I mean.

It's 4pm. Time for lunch. Gotta go.

Damn I'm excited!

I love you!

Cam

P.S. This time the Universe is delivering big time! It's unbelievable. (Believe!) It works! I have said in the past that whenever I leave our drug store, I never have trouble getting into traffic from the parking lot. That's a typical delivery from the Universe for me; the last time I had a big one was meeting with Jenny and Carrie in PR. That too was huge! Meeting with Robin & The Gang was big (but that was before I understood about this stuff, I think). And then there was the one where Paula came to visit. That was a huge one, too. And getting to meet Sheila. That was huge. And going to Snogger-Tease and Woodsnog with Jen to meet Linda! That was huge! And now this!