Care Package / Human Nature

My family sent me the best care package ever!

Peanut butter snacks! Taco seasoning!

My favorite face lotion! A necklace!

Vintage sheets!

Peanut butter is not equally adored the world over. Japan has peanut cream but it's much sweeter than typical American peanut butter. Japan also lacks a wide selection of cereal and Mexican food. As for vintage sheets, I love old sheets. Some people find this gross but I love the patterns. And, like, I wash them.

Thrifted clothes!

Japan also lacks garage sales, right? My mom got each of these dresses for 25 cents. There are like 5 more, a slip, and a jumpsuit.

Boooooks! AH, MY NORTON'S IN TIME FOR WINTER!

The box arrived the day after I unexpectedly burst into tears while video chatting with my mom and brother. Guess what, I love living in Japan, and I've never felt more unstable. I'm not the sanest person anyway and I went crazy in Yamagata. Since I've been in Tokyo it's just been nuts. I don't wanna recycle hyperbolic lines about this city but it's definitely a place that will do all kinds of things to you if you let it, and I just have more yes in me than no. I like living this way, but what usually feels like a great project can sometimes look like a huge mess.

I seriously don't have a worry at the moment, though. This package was so thoughtful and well-timed and cheered me right up. Then today I got this email from my mom:

Subject: dare you to be in a bad mood with this song
Body:


Hahaha. ILU Mom.

The Battle of the Fangs

This is my younger brother Tommy

and when he sends books he doesn't fuck around.

I'm way, way thankful for my family. No kiddin.

I'm Thankful for Yakitori

Amanda and I grew up in the same small town, but were a couple years apart and only became friends while working the same summer job when we were 18 and 20. We attended the same university and had the same friends, and were a pretty tight team for awhile. She graduated and moved to Japan a few months ago. It's so weird. We got together in Oregon this summer, and then I came back to Japan and she was here just like, "Hey." So weird! But awesome. She came up this weekend for early Thanksgiving.

Ayabean and I even got pumpkin pie at our favorite kissaten while Amanda had green tea cheesecake or something and tried to make up for the horrible photos she always takes of me. In retrospect midnight military confetti and leopard print tights were not the most harmonious pair. Winter gets me all confused.

Aya, how's the pie?

Amanda and I decided that she and Yusuke should covertly follow me on an evening in Shinjuku. It only lasted a half hour but it was classic. I want to try it again...

Hahaha!

OOF

I feel like this today!

This November 22, I...

...wondered who messed up my room.

...went to Harajuku for my dream dress. Sat on a curb with hot coffee in a holiday cup. Why's this girl wearing my Minnetonkas?!

...met Amanda and Yusuke, took them to my favorite jazz bar because they're in my club.

...moved to Shinjuku to meet

...this guy.

SUNTORY
A GLASSFUL OF DROPS
EACH DROP IS TOMORROW'S DREAM
SIP YOUR DREAMS BY DROPS

...

Where do we go?

So recently I've learned that a lot of people don't believe Axl Rose was ever hot. ARE YOU KIDDING ME.



The guitar solo? Watch that fucker move! If you can get through the entire second half of this video without hanging up your hipster cred long enough to call a fine piece of ass when you see it, WELLLL HAVE FUN IN LIFE, DICKHEAD!

P.S. A few weeks ago I got home from an early-morning shift feeling all punk rock and decided to stick it to the man by having a salad and a whole bottle of wine for brunch. I was blowing tunes into an empty bottle by noon, and then I started watching Guns N' Roses videos and getting really worked up, at which point I wrote this entry and saved it as a draft (probably on accident) and totally forgot about it until just now. Hahaha. That was a great day.

Again With the Gyaruo

Gyaruo in Asakusa, photo by Whitney.

(Japanese friend: "Why are they at a TEMPLE? Are they even INTERESTED?")

My gyaruo fixation is no secret. My friends here generally grimace at my mad respect for gyaruo (and gyaru). But gyaruo have made their own world and they're SO over everything else. They don't care that everyone thinks they're gross and stupid. They've got their tans and pointy boots and air-headed slang and trance music and nanpa and they always look totally satisfied with themselves. I have been all about gyaruo since I moved to Japan. Sometimes I go to the 109-2 in Shibuya to plan my own dream gyaruo makeover and flirt with the clerks. True story.

Oh, don't be so judgmental. You know who hates gyaruo? Anyone in Japan who isn't a gyaruo. It's nuts. So of course once I realized that I got all loud about it and stuck my fingers in my friends' faces and went "THAT'S CLASS DISCRIMINATION!" or whatever and made it my mission to make gyaruo friends. Easier said than done. I have dated my share at this point but so far they have lived up to every ridiculous stereotype. But I can't quit yet, or I'll be left with all my hipster friends going "Didn't we tell you?"

I'll show you all. Somewhere between me and gyaruo there has to be a connection. Somehow we will transcend the cologne/trance music/cheesy date ideas/horrible summer fashion and form a bond between our worlds. Then I'll introduce my gyaruo friends to my non-gyaruo friends and buy the world a coke.

A lot of people find my blog while looking for information on gyaruo, which I respect very much, and the only reason I haven't posted about gyaruo before is that it's so hard not to ramble on and on. I AM LEAVING SO MUCH OUT!