*knock knock*

I'm not sure if anyone has even glanced at this for months; I know I certainly haven't added any content in next to forever. I find myself with a little free time, though, so I'll post a little bit and perhaps this will turn into a revitalization of the page, or at least a link to something new.

In mid-August I uprooted from Kosaka, Akita and now live in Honolulu, working in pursuit of a Japan-focused MBA. It's a tremendously busy program when school is in, but mercifully I am on winter break (HA! I said winter. Because trust me, it gets so cold here. I think the low today is about 70F/20C) right now, so I have a few moments to write. [insert long, thoughtful pause here] That was me wondering what to write next and realizing that virtually no practice at honestly creative writing in the last several months has (temporarily, I hope) shut down portions of my brain. This is no good...

Okay, so if a picture's worth a thousand words, I can turn this into a good-sized essay with a little pretty from my new local surroundings.

Kahala Beach, the closest one to my place that doesn't attract tourists like flies to honey.

Kahala again, looking up instead of sideways.

A bay? Very possibly Maunalua, but I can't remember.

The shores near Makapu'u. There's a lot of good climbing and hiking here, assuming that you don't mind the possibility of serious injury or death on jagged rocks.

Lighthouse SQUISH! I can actually do this with my mind, but it looked cooler with the fingers in the picture.

Sadly, my awesome camera phone from J-Land was stolen within a month or two of me coming here. Apparently petty theft is rampant in Hawaii, and uneducated beach trash will steal anything that isn't nailed down. Moral of the story? Stay in school, kids. It makes people less likely to beat you for stealing their technology that you can't even use in this country, anyway.

I have plenty more I want to write about Hawaii and Japan, too, so I'll update this more regularly in the coming days. Tune in next time...