Twenty Eleven

America was great times.
Insane schedule though! I came into SFO, family picked me up and headed back down to Clovis for Christmas, then drove to LA to see lots of family, picked someone up at LAX, back to Fresno, back to SFO to send someone off on their flight, back to Fresno, then a drive down to LAX again for my flight. And I-5 and the grapevine were closed, so we took 101 the whole way down, and 41 (one-lane highway) was clogged for half the way.

And now I'm back in Japan.
I was so glad to see family again, so glad to finally feel unanimously encouraged for my decisions for the first time in a long while. Life is pretty much right where I like it, and despite all the busy-ness and difficulties I'm really quite excited for whatever happens next.

In my case, this mostly means work. I really like my jobs, and I feel like I can finally be open about that. I was working in kindergartens until March, and since then I've been working at a real estate place doing web and marketing stuff, geared toward foreigners. (So if you need short- to long-term accommodations in Tokyo, let me know! ;) ) I also have been doing lots of freelance translation work and now that I'm back and have more time on my hands I'm looking to expand. It is not my main source of income yet but I'm hoping to get that way within the calendar year. And of course, if Tommy or Steve or anyone else needs a guitarist or bassist or drummer or keyboardist, I am totally okay with doing work like that.

I will be sharing pictures definitely, probably next week as I try to settle back into my home and work.

The other guys in Chemical Pictures and I are still close, and they have been busy with recording, their new radio show, and tons of lives. The new bassist is Taku, formerly from the Vambie, and he and I got close as I volunteered to coach him and teach him all my riffs and backing vocals, and he is very hard-working so I hope you guys can continue to support them. He is a different bass player than me, but I think he plays much more melodically than I do, which is a plus. Putting aside modesty for a moment, it is very, very rare for an outgoing musician to stick around to train the one to replace him, and the other members' gratitude toward me, plus how fun the experience was for me (plus my relief in knowing that an end was in sight) made the whole potentially stressful situation surprisingly enjoyable. I also helped out on the new mini-album, doing all piano and synth parts, all vocal arrangements--pretty much what I'd done with the last 5 singles, minus actually playing bass--so it feels like a gradual fadeout, rather than an abrupt cut.

Just to get this out of the way: I have no plans to join a band again, nor, really, the desire. That is not to say that the opportunity has not presented itself: once word that I was quitting got out amongst the scene, I got many, many invitations. Some of them would surprise you. They surprised me, at least. But I think my time in visual bands, at least, is over, as is perhaps my time as one of the main members in a band.

Again, as I neglected the blog for so long (as I am not a very good editor of myself, and it often takes me a bit of free-form writing before even I can figure out what I'm really trying to say), I can open the floor for questions again? I know Go wanted to do an interview or something, and in fact I trust him the most to keep me concise and his ability to find something insightful in perhaps the most innocuous of statements. In the meantime, I shall eat breakfast. :)