Woah this picture block is awesome. To create it I actually had to use algebra, a time-consuming activity indicating that my freelance scanning days have come to a bittersweet end, in much the same way as did this delicious bundt coke cake. Ah, the overlapping wheel-of-fortune-esque circles of culinary and office life, how they move us all toward finding our ways on our respective paths unwinding (more here).
















These photos speak for themselves so there's no need to caption. Let me just say that I found it strikingly un-opposite-kegged-milk that my chosen recipe called for buttermilk and, might I add, strictly prohibited diet cola from entering the mix. What would MLKJr say about that?. Nevertheless, despite the cake's confusing ingredients and my failure to flour the pan (which I believe was the cause of its eminent demise of form), it was sweet, moist and delicious and managed to disappear from our counter in a matter of days.

Most importantly? It tasted great with a cold, tall glass of [kegged] milk. Consider it a metaphorical lesson, or don't. Either way, don't be afraid to make your own.

The next time I throw/attend a celebration of Festivus, the two main feats of strength are going to be 1) the locust pose, featured to the left and currently causing some deeply frustrating soreness within the depths of my elbows; and 2) a broken-staple-extraction (a skill I've painfully honed over the past five days) race. Start training NOW!

Wow, nobody cared about my last post. I swear I didn't spend many precious moments over a, say, 48 hour period forcing arguments about the topic with my father, who didn't care either. Ohhhh well.

So I've been doing a little bit of what I like to call "freelance scanning" at my momma's workplace. See, her office is full of accountants unabashedly diving into the fury of tax season like eager beavers gnawing away at a giant redwood. Nobody there can spare the 40 or 50 or 60 hours that it's going to take to scan approximately a millions files (comprised of at least a billion individual pages) into the compy, thus Eliz's emergence as a freelance scanner. Anyway, since my experience workin' in nippon was wholly un-officey (in the American sense, anyway) I am trying to decide if I am enjoying my current office environment or not. I must say I do enjoy the availability of coffee, snacks and discarded hardware. I do not, however, enjoy the prevalence of staples and paper-cuts. NOBODY INVITED THEM. So it's a toss-up.

CDoughe1 recently reminded me of a time when 336 held the biggest cache of calorie-free beverages in the Midwest. I think I speak for everyone when I say I lament the passage of time inasmuch as those days are gone. Alas.

If one is a citizen of the United States of America, and one wants to proclaim one's nationality, particularly to a citizen of another country, which is the correct declaration?

a) I am American
b) I am from the States
c) I am from the U.S.(A)
d) I am from The Americas
e) I am from the Western Hemisphere
f) I live south of Canada and north of Mexico
g) any of the above
h) none of the above

I realize this stretched comparison will probably speak to a precious few, but I was struck after watching the stylings of Will Forte on SNL last night and by reading a little bbc.com that congressional lobbyist Jack Abramoff and one-time fictional Senatorial candidate Tim Calhoun look vaguely similar in these photos. No? But look, look at the thin lips and similar, unremarkable jawline, the hair growth patterns and their asymmetrical swoops. Perhaps this vague likeness is a sign that we can learn more about them both by studying the other.

Today is MLK Jr. Day. I recommend celebrating the achievements and vision of this great leader by toasting some frothy milk straight out of the keg.

In the spirit of MLK Day, though (or at least the part that advocates equal representation/rights), it may be equally appropriate to toast the day with a beverage that is definitely not milk, maybe the opposite of milk (though apparently widely disupted on the web, I feel diet coke may suffice). And the receptacle? Clearly, the keg's most viable container-like opposite: bundt cake pan!

It's just an idea, anyway.

The Bikram Yoga T.C. studio has a 10-days-for-$10 deal, so my mom and I decided to throw down the gauntlet (I cannot speak for my mom's gauntlet's opponent, but mine was thrown at the ungodly temperature. In retrospect, anyway).

It was intense. I had gone running prior to starting, so I was thirsty already; thus I sweated out my entire bodyweight and then some. By the end my body mass was actually negative. I could see the same thing happening to my mom on the other side of the room -- she was barely visible behind her foggy glasses. We were sweaty, and disappearing fast. Hm. Anyway, best get my $10 worth, yeah? So I'm going again today. Hooooah.

My self-imposed deadine (February 1st) for organizing the REST OF MY LIFE is drawing near. Only three more weeks. I may not have time to blog in the meanwhile.* Anyway, today I decided to analyze my schedule as a cross-section of my current existence. I said to myself, "How productive have I been, self? Let us form a prognosis as to whether or not I'll meet said deadline."

[intermission] The photo you're all enjoying is one from the archives -- my 2004 spring break trip to Spain. I recently became reacquainted with these photos; ergo, so shall the internet. Here we have Billy the Blue Ranger balancing on a bilingual dictionary balancing on the railing of our 4th floor apartment in the Vacationing Germans sector of Palma, Mallorca. There are many ways to interpret this unassuming piece, but I believe the most popular interpretation involves knowledge of the fact that this particular Billy is, indeed, a pencil-topper. Need I say more?

[back on topic, topic being prognosis as to whether I will meet self-imposed deadline (after heavy analysis)] Prognosis NEGATIVE!. Nah. Positive. Definitely positive. But I do like that Seinfeld episode. But back on focus: definitely positive.

I just needed to type it out.

*All lies, I love my blog like a cuddly pet.

Hooray, I am indeed almost finished with my 6,798th resume. This spooky amassment is caused by my inability to decide on content, organization, design. On the bright side, I now have many options from which to choose. Huh.

To spur things on, anyway, I took a trip to Office Maxxxxxxxx yesterday to get some new hojas because after consulting Ms. Slobbies, my current HR guru, I found that it is not, as I had originally assumed, appropriate to write my resume in blue crayon on a torn-out dictionary page with the aim of photocopying it onto a filthy piece of looseleaf. Apparently looseleaf is a little lowbrow and, well, crayon melts in photocopiers. Why don't my parents tell me these things?! So now I have some pretty nice sepia toned paper and a usb-to-parallel cable, both of which I think are going to change things for the better. Hooray.

Side notes: I had a really fun New Year's, spent with old old old friends and gin and fresca (which I could never really find over there in Japan), so that was noooiiice. Also noooiiice: finding a cache of Volvic in the "cultural consumables" section at Meijer. My relationship with volvic was sealed on the floor of po-pu-ra in seemingly another place . . . another time . . . Exactly opposite of noooiiice, though, is the fact that the weather is way better in Tokyo right now. I said in my last post that I was thankful for the snow in Northern Michigan, but now there isn't any. Boo.