Freelance Dork

On the Verge

Sun, 13 Dec 2009 18:23:25 GMT

I have fewer than 24 hours left.

I haven't been packing furiously or stressing heavily. I have been tense and I am frustrated that a few non-Japan related things won't be done. However, things have popped up that have gone well:

• I don't get charged for the first two pieces of luggage. At least that's what I gather form the tables on the website. Those, while clear, can also be simultaneously misleading.

• I'll be able to swing a third piece of baggage in the form of a box. It won't be oversized and the company will reimburse me for it.

• I'll have supplemental boxes for later delivery all packed before I go. If I get on the stick, I can have them already paid for as well, so my folks won't have to pay for it. Even if they do, I'll pay them back.

• Making extra clown noses is going well.

• I may be able to catch a matinee of The Princess and The Frog before I go.

I'm debating whether or not I should use my Blogger account as a dedicated blog of my adventures in Japan. I'm also considering doing video blogging either there or on YouTube.

Glee and Gag

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 05:38:01 GMT

Is it me, or is "Glee" kind of shlocky crap? It's a good thing we don't expect TV to be representative of reality because honestly: that's the most diverse group of people in a show choir: a cheerleader? A jock and a half-jock, half-rocker? And everyone is represented: wheelchair kid, black, white, asian, latino, big, skinny –

It's a feelgood parade of tokenism!

I am not the target audience. I understand this. I suppose I should be happy it's not yet another CSI or Law and Order spinoff because that many spinoffs is just being lazy!

Can It Ever Go Smoothly?

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 19:53:59 GMT

Damn it.

Second possible re-rent situation fizzled. This sucks. I work both jobs today, Friday, and Saturday. Faith is at an all-time low.

I suppose for getting a month and a half of advance notice with my contract offer, things have been going about as well as they can be. Except for the fact that apparently no one's looking for a place to live.

Progress

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 20:29:28 GMT

I bought a new (refurbished) McBook Pro fro about the price I paid for my current iBook. That was the model right before they just started calling them all MacBooks and put the dual core processors in them. Yup. That happened two months after I bought it. Jerks! It should arrive today or tomorrow.

I started changing my magazine addresses to my folks' house, where they will forward my mail once a month to me in Japan. I also began taping up boxes so that I can pack them. I believe I'll be starting with books first, then DVDs and games, periodically making note of clothes to keep out to take with me.

I'm still trying to get my apartment re-rented and hope to have that under way before the end of the week. I don't want to pay for December and January. Really, I don't.

On The Horizon

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 19:09:03 GMT

Long story not-so-long:

Three (four now, yet?) weeks ago I hadn't heard from the agent responsible for hiring, so I sent an email of inquiry. My reply was a contract offer to be a clown on Kinoshita Circus in Japan. I now have my new passport and my visa paperwork is in the last stages of processing before being sent to me for completion. I'm in the process of trying to re-rent my apartment and beginning to organize my packing. I'll be gone for six month initially, with an option to renew beyond the end of May, should all parties agree that they like how things are going.

When this event transpired, I made a big decision: I would store my things in Minneapolis. I plan to move back here when I'm done with this gig, however long it'll take. This past ten months has been great. Not always easy, but fruitful and an exercise in patience, flexibility, tenacity, and making a bouquet with the flowers I have. I was settled and anxious to finally get to work on developing material now that my schedule was easing up.

My feelings are mixed. This is a great adventure that fulfills some goals all at once. I'll definitely benefit. On the down side, I'm leaving the Twin Cities again after having found momentum and the means by which I could pursue my goals while living in one place. Some things hadn't yet reached fruition and some were promising returns.

If there's one thing I've learned – and I've learned more than one thing, mind you! – it's that I can return and the Twin Cities will welcome me warmly.

Voice Post

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 22:05:55 GMT

Mark Twain on Traveling

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 20:00:00 GMT

As heard in the Ken Burns Mark Twain documentary:

"The gentle reader will never, never know what a consummate ass he can be until he goes abroad. I speak now, of course, in the supposition that the gentle reader has not been abroad and, therefore, is not already a consummate ass."

Typical of Twain/Clemens' writing, I think this is true and it digs to the core of human nature. In this case, I think it explains the "ugly American" syndrome. I have witnessed firsthand people being consummate asses, acting like overgrown misbehaved children on an unsupervised field trip. I also reflect on the ways in which I can and have become my own version of a consummate ass, although it was mostly in relation to my fellow Americans with whom I shared the travel experience.

Update

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 20:55:45 GMT

Big news is afoot for me that I have not yet acted upon. Update will be forthcoming. I am still reeling a bit.

More importantly, I mass edited my posts to "friends only" until I can take the time to sift through 462 posts that were public and determine which I would like to remain public. This one will remain public, especially since I have friends who are not on LJ who check for posts. I don't hate you, I just decided it was high time to review my editorial preferences and nip certain things in the bud before they actually become issues of hindsight.

Love ya!