Because you probably didn't know that I adore The Guild. Watch the music video! And then the trailer! But first, oh boy, the music video. =)

<br/><a href="http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/season-4-music-video-game-on/y0da39gh?fg=sharenoembed" target="_new"title="Season 4 - Music Video - "Game On"">Video: Season 4 - Music Video - "Game On"</a>

&amp;amp;amp;lt;br/&amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/the-guild-season-4-trailer/y08waqri?fg=sharenoembed" target="_new"title="'The Guild' Season 4 Trailer"&amp;amp;amp;gt;Video: 'The Guild' Season 4 Trailer&amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;gt;

Just a short note of apology to say that I've been feeling really run-down the last few weeks, and I'm still working on getting the right treatment (read: more powerful antibiotics) from the doctor.

Blogging will resume regularly, sooner rather than later. =)

I'm behind on everything, including posts of substance. Bear with me while I catch up on everything--much stuff to do around these parts.

But, in the meantime, I'd like to direct your attention to the fact that my friend Spencer has named his new son, Samwise. Yes, after that Samwise. I think it's wonderful, but then again, I'm still fighting to eventually name a son of mine Severus. The husband's current thought on that: "It will be just our luck that Rowling will write a prequel about Harry's parents and it will be huge, and then our kid will be in elementary school and mercilessly teased because his name is Severus."

Can I help it that I love Snape?

I've always enjoyed reading Catherynne Valente's LJ, and recently she's been blogging every day about something relatively substantial in nature. I thought it was a neat experiment, and so I'm going to do it here too. Thirty days of having to write a decent blog post every day should be an interesting experience and discipline, at the very least.

So let's start, shall we? =)

One of the things that I haven't told you about my time in Japan has been the utter joy of having friends in real life. I had people that I could call up and say, "Want to go get dinner together?", and then, we would actually go get dinner together. I went sightseeing with my friends. I sang karaoke. I played with bunnies. I went out to lunch almost every day with my friend from my Japanese class. I had people who were near my own age, and who had similar interests as me, and I got to interact with them in real life, in realtime, not just seeing them every now and then and mostly being online.

And don't get me wrong, because I sincerely, sincerely love the friendships that I've made online, and then transitioned to real life. I wish I could see those friends more often. I am continually sad that I don't often get to have everyday experiences with them, and that I am limited to e-mails and ichat and infrequent visits at cons or at each others' houses. But for the last five years, my group of online-to-real life friends has been the highlight of my social experience, outside of my husband and my family. I know it sounds sad, but it isn't meant to be.

I live in suburban NJ, right around where I grew up. It's a great place to raise children. But it's not a great place to be an adult in your mid to late 20s, while you're trying to find people who aren't interested in drinking all the time on the weekends. You know, people you'd be happy discussing politics and books and silly anime with on a regular basis. It's also not a great place to live if you can't drive at night, which I can't, due to night-blindness.

The combination of all that resulted in precisely new two friends. One moved to Oregon, and the other one lives 45 minutes from me. I have a scattering of other friends who live in and around NYC, who I see infrequently due to the distance.

So I grew accustomed to not having people to do things with. I grew accustomed to hanging out with my mom. I lived for when my husband came home because I could get him to drive me somewhere and we could do something fun. I tried to plan my days around not being able to drive in the dark, which sometimes worked, and sometimes didn't. And the whole time this was happening, I was lonely in a quietly subtle way.

But I didn't realize how lonely I had been, until I got to Tokyo and started having real life friends again. I started being able to act like the natural extrovert I am, and I was so incredibly happy. I realized that you can have friendships of many different kinds, both online and in real life. And that while I have a rich and varied online life, I don't have that in real life. I am hoping that taking college classes this fall (more Japanese) might help me find more real life friends in NJ, but I'm not kidding myself. The school is over an hour from my home in traffic, and don't forget the whole unable-to-drive-at-night thing. I am temporarily resigned to being lonely again.

But I am no longer resigned to continuing to live like this forever. My husband and I are very, very slowly trying to figure out where we want to move for the next couple of years. I'm lobbying for Tokyo, but it's more likely we'll end up closer to New York City (hopefully, in it), or in California. Maybe we'll end up in Spain or London or Timbuktu. Maybe we'll find more friends together and have more real life adventures with people we care deeply about. Maybe I'll find lots of real life friends wherever I go; maybe I won't.

There's a lot of uncertainties in life, but the value of real life friends is something that never changes. Who knew that it would take going halfway around the world to make me realize that again?

... I'm emerging to tell you that my friend and former assistant, the fabulous Jodi Meadows, has sold a trilogy to Harper Collins. =) I am so proud of her that I can't put it in words.

Read hers, instead.

I should be asleep since I'm set to be on a plane out of Tokyo in approximately fifteen hours from now. But I can't sleep; can't even attempt to think about it at the moment, because I feel like I'm saying a long sad goodbye to Tokyo itself.

I will wholeheartedly admit that I have fallen head over heels for this city. Despite the rain, despite the humidity, despite the fact that I have so many damn bug bites--I will miss this place. I've tried over the last three months to articulate to my parents why I love it here so much, and I think I've failed every time. But just for me, once more, I will try again. Let's do a numbered list!

In no particular order:

1. Politeness is a whole different game here. Everyone is polite to you, even if they secretly hate you. It's damn refreshing.
2. Everything, and I mean everything, is clean. Usually sparkling clean. They dust and polish the escalator handrails several times a day in the train stations, for pete's sake. I can use a public restroom anywhere, and it will most likely be clean and decent-smelling.
3. The clothes are awesome, even though I only fit into some of them still. Fashion rocks, and I never realized I liked it so much. I knew there was a reason I was addicted to my Lucky magazine...
4. The trains come on time.
5. Space is utilized in a million different ways. I've spent the last three months living in a house that's on the top of a hill, and I've seen houses built into hills too. The architecture is diverse, and it tends to vary from neighborhood to neighborhood in the city.
6. Shinjuku, and most particularly, I like Kabukicho. This amazed my Japanese teachers, but it felt so much like Times Square and New York's 8th Avenue area, except, you know, with lots of visible yakuza. =)
7. I have an unfortunate addiction to towel-like handkerchiefs.
8. Melon pan.
9. Omuraisu.
10. Hello Kitty, I adore you!
11. Cute is a huge marketing factor and it appeals to me. =)
12. Being able to walk practically anywhere.
13. My language school, which I will miss dreadfully.
14. All of my friends here, who I'm already missing dreadfully.
15. Getting to hang my laundry out to dry, which I oddly like doing.
16. Takuan--pickled daikon radish, which I adore.
17. The food in general rocks my socks off.
18. The rice is superb.
19. The miso is superb.
20. They make French-inspired desserts; I swoon for mille crepe.
21. Street crepes in Harajuku.
22. Sunshine City.
23. Japanese movie theaters, which are interesting.
24. Book-Off, my dear, dear used bookstore love.
25. Kappabashi, which I could go wild in.
26. The scramble crossing in Shibuya, which I adore.
27. Daikanyama.
28. CHEAP HEALTH CARE even without insurance.
29. People love crafts here. Really, really love them.
30. Everything is Jenny-sized. I am the average size of a Japanese woman. None of my new pants are too long.
31. The fruits and vegetables are slightly pricey, but they're excellent quality to cook with and eat.
32. Shinkansen, baby!
33. Kichijoji
34. Tokyu Hands, which can be addictive.
35. Konbucha with shiso--it tastes like you're drinking the sea.
36. Mugicha, my new fave drink.
37. The way that everyone really takes their jobs seriously. Even at a convenience store, they really want to do a good job. It goes beyond work ethic, I think.
38. The arcades, oh, the arcades. I think they're more fun with a friend though.
    
39. The energy and the life and the purpose that everyone here has. I know people portray Japan as apathetic, but where some see apathy, I see masses of people living their lives side by. Individually, they may be apathetic, but collectively, they're hugely powerful. I love watching everyone just LIVE, side by side.
40. And finally, the three gong-strokes at the local temple, precisely every morning at 6 am.

I will come back here one day, I know it.