Arian's Adventures

Going to California With an Aching In My Heart

2009-10-02T08:47:00.000-07:00

I don’t know if I was just dozing off or heading in the opposite direction. I have this faint memory of just a moment earlier, thinking that I shouldn’t have chugged that last bit of water, and that I should not have had that Coke. I have a real aversion to using restrooms on airplanes. No idea why. I was sleepily doing the math: what’s 1 liter + 12 oz.? I think that thought ended – interrupted

Last Day!

2009-04-15T13:50:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I admit... I'm the worst blogger ever! I wanted to post a new blog entry, before leaving Japan, but I didnt' get to it. I will post it - I still have a little more to say about Tokyo! Anyway, since I have to leave to go to Narita airport in about 3 hours, I'll just settle for the following video. This video was taken by my buddy/roommate, Aaron. It shares what I've seen every day for the

Just Another Day

2009-03-29T05:45:00.000-07:00

For the first time in a while I managed to get up fairly early today. The plan was to take Shiela to the Kinokunya bookstore in Shinjuku, so she could get an English-Japanese dictionary. This bookstore is AMAZING! It really makes me wish I could read Japanese. Luckily, at least one of the eight floors that make up this monolithic Barnes & Noble dwarfer is dedicated to foriegn language books. Most

Getting in the Raivu Hausu

2009-03-27T06:13:00.000-07:00

When The Kap’n was here visiting, we pushed it pretty hard. I mean, this city is so dense that by the end of my three month trip I’ll have barely covered the shops, bars, restaurants, cafes, museums, parks, etc., that reside within a five block radius of my apartment. So to try to squeeze in a comprehensive set of experiences in just a week is impossible, but we tried anyway. Combining that with

Battle of Roppongi Hills

2009-03-24T16:15:00.000-07:00

Wow, so much has gone down since my last entry that I don’t even know where to begin! I guess I’ll begin with where I left off in my last entry!So, The Kap’n came out to Tokyo for a visit. This really represented a turning point in my experience here, because showing him around was my first experience with trying to be really self reliant in this country. I pulled it off quite well indeed, if I

Guilt

2009-03-08T14:19:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I was feeling a little guilty that I haven't posted anything recently. I've been working around the clock - literally! I had a few days there where I got back to sleeping from 12am - 8am. It was great. But then I worked from 10am - 10am, and I was all messed up again.I've really settled into a routine here. But, things are about to be shaken up! My buddy The Kap'n is coming out to visit

Between Beginning and End

2009-02-23T23:46:00.000-08:00

The current ongoing adventure is uncontrollable, erratic sleep patterns. But, since that in and of itself is not particularly interesting, let me instead paint a picture of my daily life in Tokyo.I wake up sometime between 9:30am and 4pm. This literally changes dramatically from day to day. I then spend a few minutes checking all my online conduits to the free world (several email accounts,

Japanese Vegetarian Bike Cops

2009-02-05T09:49:00.000-08:00

I had a bit of an adventure today. I’ve been in Japan for less than three weeks, and I’ve already had a run in with the law. We parked our bicycles where we weren’t supposed to, and they were impounded. This is a little trickier than it sounds. There aren’t really very many places where locking a bicycle is allowed. However, bicycles are in heavy use in Tokyo, and they are parked everywhere!

Even Better Than the Book

2009-02-02T11:36:00.000-08:00

Okay, I’m back, and I’m staying back. I wanted to leave some space between my last entry and this one, so nobody would miss the last one. At this point I think all stragglers are in.Now, you get to hear about Japan. Aside from the fact that I’m in Japan, I haven’t really had any “adventures” in the way that I mean that word in the title of this blog. However, this is an incredible place, and I’

Very Special Entry

2009-01-22T18:40:00.001-08:00

Those of you that have been following along will notice that I've just posted several entries at once, in an attempt to fill in the gaps in my adventures over the past few weeks. One thing that's difficult about maintaining a blog about one's daily adventures is that the adventures themselves sometimes interfere with allocating time for the blog. Anyway, we're mostly caught up, except that I've

On the Road Again, Just Can't Wait...

2009-01-22T18:36:00.000-08:00

Wednesday, Jan 7 we finally managed to get on the road (more than a week later than I intended). I stopped for gas about 50 miles into the trip, and discovered a fuel leak (there goes that travel curse again). Luckily we were at a full service gas station, and the fix was fairly simple and inexpensive. Unfortunately, it required a part that we couldn’t get until the next day! So, we got a hotel

Packing Parties

2009-01-22T17:36:00.000-08:00

We slept in pretty late on that Monday, but once we got going we were full steam ahead on the packing. This kept up for all of two days, until New Year’s Eve, at which time we collaborated with our neighbors (friends) to throw a New Year’s Eve party. There was little planning, and we offered next to zero notice to everyone. Naturally, nobody in L.A. has no plans on this day. Well, nobody except

MMArry Christmas Maniacs

2009-01-22T17:27:00.000-08:00

The first full day that we were back in L.A. was Christmas Eve. I think we were both a little cranky from all the traveling, and not at all in the mood to begin packing. I won’t go into details, but suffice it to say that there wasn’t much Christmas spirit happening in our home. However, on Christmas day we rallied. Susan made an enormous and delicious holiday feast, and we enjoyed that along

Susan Sings Songs and Sabotage in the City

2009-01-22T17:23:00.000-08:00

Trip to NY:It’s been a few weeks since I experienced these adventures, so now I guess it just makes sense to breeze through a few highlights. After my hassle ridden flying experience was over, the rest of the stay in NYC was fine. There were a few inconveniences with difficulties catching cabs, etc., but nothing worth writing about at this point.As for the highlights, I got to hear Susan sing

Needs

2009-01-07T00:03:00.000-08:00

Nothing inspires more than moving when it comes to reflecting on the relationship between one and one's possessions. Which is really the owner and which is really owned?I've just finished packing my possessions more than a week behind my intended schedule. I don't think it would be an exaggeration to say that this project consumed more than 300 man hours! I'm sure most of you have had this

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

2008-12-30T01:53:00.000-08:00

“Arian's Adventures” is an understatement this past week. I feel like I really cheated you guys by not being disciplined enough to provide you with a play by play. It was just too action packed. Thus, I've decided to split my entries into two parts until we‘re caught up. The first part will be the current day, and the second part will be a piece of my week that you missed.Today: Susan and I

Flo Spirits Flow

2008-12-19T23:51:00.000-08:00

I'm sorry for the radio silence yesterday. After work we went across the street to Nikki's bar in Venice, for a few holiday drinks. Since it was my last hoorah with these friends - at least for a while - I decided to go on a mission, if you know what I mean. Oh God. I'm still feeling it.I don't have any idea what drinks or how many drinks I had, but it would be best described by the imaginary

I Love It When a Plan Comes Together

2008-12-18T00:51:00.000-08:00

I couldn't think of a clever picture to take to accompany tonight's entry. I concerned myself with it for about 30 seconds before I realized that I'm better off breaking from that pattern now. If it's hard to come up with something on the fifth entry, imagine what it will be like on the 500th entry. Going forward, if there's a picture, great, but we'll also be ready for the fact that sometimes

When the Peppers Hit the Pan: Cooking Zen Mind

2008-12-16T23:34:00.000-08:00

I was not here today. My thoughts were a surging, tangled mess of the future, the past, the alternate imaginary realities that "should" be, and of judgments and labels. If I were willing to allow my ego any more indulgences today, I'd feel shame. Too bad for my ego - I cooked dinner tonight.I won't relay the story of my day conventionally. Instead, I'm going to present it as the patchwork quilt

Flight Or Fight?

2008-12-15T23:34:00.000-08:00

This week is shaping up to be a little more daunting each day. The problem is that I really want to do more than I can. For example, it's nearly midnight and I've not done anything related to my travel plans. I went to work, then I went to the vet to pick up a cone for Berta (she's messing with her sutures), and then I went to my MMA class. I came straight home, showered, made a Vega shake,

Dog Blog from the Procrastination Station

2008-12-15T01:00:00.000-08:00

I got a little bit done today, but I don't think I've had enough of a sense of urgency up to this point. I'm leaving for NY this upcoming weekend for a few days. I estimate that I really need to be mostly packed by then. So far I only managed to get through the books, dvds, and cds. I'm not really sweating, though. Many things are already boxed, and I feel like this is going to be an easy

Moving and Other Stuff

2008-12-13T16:55:00.000-08:00

First, I want to introduce you to my Evan Tanner tribute beard (RIP) - left.So, I've got a bunch of big stuff going on right now that I'm eager to share with all my friends and family. It would be way too many emails/phone calls to make, so I thought it might be fun to start up a little blog to keep track of my activities over the next few months. So, what's the news?I'm moving from Los Angeles