CONCENTRIC CHAOS COMPILED

Current Location: Sasebo, Japan
Current Mood: chipper
Current Music: HIGH VOLTAGE - ELECTRIC SIX

So I was in Starbucks in the Yonkacho (or as I refer to it, the Yank), drinking my heavily-sugared Cafe Americano and looking for a place to sit, when I notice a seat is open next to this very cute girl. I politely ask her in Japanese if it's okay for me to sit there. She says yes, go right ahead please; so I do.
Already having started consuming my rather bitter beverage (even with almost two tablespoon's worth of sugar) full of potent caffeine, I dare to introduce myself and inquire as to her name - it's Rie - and soon we are involved in a very pleasant conversation, into which her best friend - Tomoyo - sits down with her beverage and becomes immediately involved in. They're both students at Nagasaki Daigaku (University), with Rie studying sociology and Tomoyo wanting to become a teacher.
Upon noticing one of them has an USAVICH cellphone charm, I bring up the subject of the show. The both of them are enthralled I know it, and carefully I touch upon the subject of anime. They aren't otaku, but they do like watching anime and are just as fascinated that I'm into it as well. I get out my cell phone because I recieve a text message and they see my Urahara Kisuke cellphone charm...both apparently LOVE Bleach. I just can't LOSE with these two!
Time moves on, I get closer and closer to finishing my grande cup of coffee, and the two girls tell me that while they are going to college in Nagasaki, Rie has family in Sasebo (and thus is FROM Sasebo) but lives in Kumamoto as well as Tomoyo (but screw Tomoyo, she's already got a boyfriend!) Before departing they give me their cell-mail addresses, and promise to write me after I give them my email. I manage to get one good picture with Rie and then the two leave. Wrote letters to them both, and Rie's actually turned out to be a real one...Tomoyo either gave me a fake or it just ain't workin' with the system.

So let's see here...that's hardly a week into the New Year/Decade, and I've already got two Japanese girls (remember Saki-chan from the New Year's Adventure?) quite interested in me; both of whom are quite attractive, intelligent, and remarkably tolerant of my goofy gaijin personality. I've also become good friends with a nice young couple from church (yes, I still go) who have invited me over to their house later this week.
Let me just say that again: I have been personally invited to visit a Japanese household. If you can even BEGIN to grasp the cultural milestone this is when it comes to the Japanese, you can obviously see why I'm so very pleased with how this year is going so far.

Now all that's left to do is cross the fingers, pray to God I don't fuck it up, and just kick back to let the WIN and AWESOME keep rolling in like delicious waves over me.
 

Current Location: Sasebo, Japan
Current Mood: pleased
Current Music: ROCKET DIVE - HIDE W/ SPREAD BEAVER

It's actually January 2nd here right now. New Year's was yesterday.

I ended up going to my favorite bar, Blue Mile, for the celebrations thing. I say it's my favorite for one primary reason: There are no other Americans going to this bar.
Never really has been, with the notable exception of (of course) me. Thus there is no obnoxious karaoke music with the reverb dialed up to eleven, no obnoxious pinoy bargirl constantly trying to get me to buy more drinks, and best of all - there are no other Americans at the bar getting drunk to the point of making idiots out of themselves, causing scenes, starting fights, getting thrown out, ect. ect. ect. A perfect, nice little Japanese bar.
Rock Bar Rogiq used to be like that...but then all the sailors started turning up, it became "The Spot" for a time, and then one day when I walked in the live band was gone and it was just another photogenic kareoke bar, playing mainly US pop music and becoming more of a hip-hop/rap scene. Took one look and decided it was time to find myself a new bar.

But I digress.
SO I'm drinking at Blue Mile, enjoying myself immensely and flirting with the cute Japanese girls who are all friends with the bartenders from MIDDLE SCHOOL.
How many people do you still even keep in TOUCH WITH from middle school!? Mind-blowing shit, man.

I in fact do end up getting a New Year's Kiss from one of these girls, along with her phone number. I was quite on point that night. Before midnight I did get to eat the traditional New Year's soba noodles, which was cool. At midnight there was champagne and cheering and everyone was happy. Good start so far!  ^_^ 
The bar shut down around 1-2am, and everyone all went to the Hachiman Shrine for the New Year's shrine visit; I bought a hamaya, one of those good-luck arrows, and there was the catching of little goldfish at one of the stalls, then we (we as in myself, the head bartender and his girlfriend/co-bartender, their two guy friends and three girl friends) all headed back to Blue Mile. It was around three or four in the morning by this point.

We play drinking games until it's decided that yeah, it's time to go home at last. Since the bar's located in the Yonkacho (four-neighborhoods-encompassing-covered shopping arcade) it's virtually impossible to tell what time of day it is just by looking out the window....as I stagger down the stairs and out into the arcade street I realize...holy HELL IT'S PAST SEVEN IN THE MORNING!
The girls go back to their hotel, the guys (Keisuke and Hiro) hit up the MacDonald's in the Yonkacho for some breakfast and they end up going to play New Year's Pachinko. I wander around until a little past 12, then go up to the Banshoro Bathhouse for a nice, long New Year's soaking (plus, it's cold as hell out) in the hot hot water; after which I drink two small jars of milk and end up passing out in the group tatami-mat room like a cat in the sun...much to the amusement of the other patrons.
Waking up at about 3pm I wander around some more, realize yep there is NOTHING open today, and go check out a little hotel that always interested me. Crash out there for about two hours, wake up and go sit at Starbucks and pass in and out of sleep there, then finally decide that maybe I should get back to the ship since I have duty the next day (that'd be today).

And that was my New Year's Adventure in Sasebo City, Nagasaki Prefecture, Kyushu JAPAN! ^_^

Current Location: Sasebo, Japan
Current Mood: pleased
Current Music: STRENGTH AND HONOR - IMMEDIATE MUSIC

It's snowing in Sasebo.
REALLY snowing.
It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen...up until this point I've never seen it snow like this before. I've paid off a debt owed, maintained my integrity, and best of all I still have money left in my account (which I shant be touching until the next paycheck) to assist in having a decent New Year's good time.
All in all, yes...this is going to be a GOOD beginning for the new year; the new decade, no less. All things are set right, all things are in perfect preperation for a new start...and for this, I am most thankful.
I'm also thankful I have a family that loves me unconditionally, for through them I learned of unconditional love and the virtues I hold closest to my heart - Honor, Loyalty, Integrity, and Compassion.
I'm thankful I have such friends as I do, who appreciate me for who and what I am, who are willing to forgive me my shortcomings and errors and stand yet by my side.
I'm thankful I have gone through all that I have gone through, learned what I have learned, and gained understanding.

I am ready for 2010. Tomorrow will mark the dawn of not just a new day, a new year, a new decade...but a new beginning in my life.

MY FUTURE STILL BURNS BRIGHTER THAN TEN THOUSAND SUNS!
MY DREAM WILL STILL YET BE GRASPED BY THESE TWO HANDS!
STEPPING BOLDLY FORWARD INTO THE FUTURE, YET NOT FORSAKING THE PAST
STILL YET FULL OF HOPE AND DETERMINATION
ORE WO DARE DATTO OMOITTE YAGARU!?

Current Location: Gainesville, Ga.
Current Mood: okay
Current Music: 21 - Utsushiki Kariudotachi - CLAYMORE OST

Floating through space is a small, nondescript lump of ore; upon which stands a monolithic fortress of utmost basic design. Entirely empty...except for one inhabitant, looking out across the infinite night laced with countless stars as his rock moves through the endlessness of space. For years he had been in exile, and now that he had returned to his castle so much had changed. The field was gone, burned to ashes in what felt like ages ago - and now even the endless road was gone. The entire world had changed, to the point it fell in upon itself. Now there was only his once-castle, a pile of ruins he had propped up to resemble something of a small redoubt.
In the ruins of what was once his castle, the starting point of the Endless Road and now a dead-end, The Oni stands looking out into the vast unknowable future. An unfurled chart lies upon the wreckage of a pillar, with the lump's trajectory plotted out....heading back out towards the exile territory he had only just recently departed, but with a sharp curve showing an inevitable return; even sooner than this one.
He turns to face back towards the home system and sighs longingly.

Well, in but one day's time I will once more be leaving the shores of America. Once more I will journey to the land of Japan for the three years that are left in my contract. I do not know if I will re-enlist, or just say the hell with it all. All I know is that I am at a point in my life where things, no matter how craptacular, have never been better.
And I could never have made it without the help of my friends. Thank you, all of you, so very much; for everything.

The seal is renewed, the planets are changing, and the stars are no longer right. The limiters are restored. 
It is time for Oni to return to the Land of the Rising Sun, from whence he came.

See you again, space monkeys. This series ain't over yet.

Current Location: Gainesville, GA.
Current Mood: determined
Current Music: EVER FREE - HIDE WITH SPREAD BEAVER

So I went to midnight mass, did a lot of thinking. Something became apparent to me that should have been obvious a long while back (yes, this is a "HE CAN BE TAUGHT!" post, please bear with me here)...

I swore that I'd never take anything for granted again. But I have. I took something very precious and took it completely for granted. After a late-night talk that went on until about 2:30am, I became very aware I had fallen victim to the cliche of "Looking for something when it's right in fucking front of your stupid ass".

SO! This is a new year coming up, no, a new DECADE! (Please, no Kamen Rider references just yet!)
There will BE NO CHANGES. There will be IMPROVEMENTS. I started this naval career as a good person, and thanks to The Ghost of Christmas Possible I've realized just how much I've changed in negative ways - this must be dealt with immediately. I was a good person, with a good heart and a good soul. I lost my Tao, I lost my Way, I lost touch with who I was and what I believed in.
But not anymore. Coming back here was a wake-up call - it's time to re-initiate the metamorphosis. I will not tolerate the loss of anyone or anything precious to me anymore. I said I was going to pierce the heavens and grasp my future with both hands, but it seems as though my grip was slipping. Not anymore.

The time for words is at an end. Nothing more on this subject shall be said. Now is the time for ACTIONS.
So let it be written...so let it be DONE!

Current Location: Gainesville, Ga.
Current Mood: lethargic
Current Music: SENTIMENTAL OVER-THE-SHOULDER - MEGAZONE 23 OST

So it's Tuesday. I'm without transportation, and tonight the family is taking me out to eat at a really nice chinese place (P.F. Chang's). After that I was thinking about driving down to see two of my little-sister minions, one of whom is working at a Pizza Hut (why am I suddenly remembering Code Geass??), as I WILL have a transport before going out to eat. This is my 29th Christmas. I'm still finding it hard to believe I'm 29 years old when it seems like just yesterday I was only 24. Even now I can't help but wonder, just where in the hell did the years between now and then go? Back when I first created this thing, I was just 24 years old, had just had a successful job interview at Lake Lanier Islands, and had just returned from the second-to-final Fantasm in the 'Crackhouse Hilton' (which is now a much more reputable place I'm told). Things were looking pretty good for me and my future. The years passed....I ended getting so fed up with the job at Lake Lanier Islands that it drove me to join the Navy. Fantasm collapsed and they turned what ruins were left into FroliCon. Almost half the people I used to know vanished like ghosts of vapor. Time is cruel. The more I listen to the songs that I once listened to when I was younger...hell, the fact I can actually wistfully say there was a time when I was younger, is very melencholic. There's a word for what I'm dealing with right now, the Portugese came up with it: Saudades. Go ahead, wiki it. 

Looking back in a sentimental over-the-shoulder The melencholy of ages pours like a waterfall Pictures only serve as knives into my heart Those who won't be seen again the biggest ache of all Like driving away from places you loved On a one-way highway Watching them vanish in the distance What will make this pain in my heart go away?

Current Location: Gainesville, GA.
Current Mood: gloomy
Current Music: 40th Symphony - Wolfgang Amedeus Mozart

Ever since getting back to the 'states, I don't know WHAT in the hell it is, but for some reason every time I open my mouth or write something down, it gets me into a metric shit-ton of trouble. Now I'll admit before joining the Navy I was rather socially awkward, but now it seems like I'm downright intolerable! What in the hell has the Navy done to me!? What in the hell has the WORLD done to me!? You can't go outside of this country and see the things I've seen, expirienced the things I have, without having something change inside of you. The way you view things, the way you view EVERYTHING, changes. You can't come back and try to be like "Oh, everything's back to how it was before! Nothing's changed, everything's the same!" because IT FUCKING ISN'T! No matter how much you want it to be, no matter how many times you try to tell yourself over and over again, it just isn't. I've seen the world, and it stared right back at me like a wild beast out of a nightmare....and I'm just an Engineman stuck on a ship! I can't even begin to imagine what it must be like for the guys out in the combat zones. I swore before I left that I wouldn't let the Navy change who I was. I don't think it has. The world outside of the United States, THAT has changed me. Walking down dirty Third-World Country streets, THAT has changed me. Parents prostituting their children on the street just so the family can eat that night, THAT has changed me. Girls whoring themselves nightly so they can save up enough to pay the family's medical bills, THAT has changed me. Fake smiles hiding desperation and fear, THAT has changed me. This is an ugly and yet beautiful world, full of horror and wonder, virtually impossible to pass through without some of it clinging to you like spiderwebs you can't pull off. Yes, I suppose I have changed; maybe for the better, maybe for the worse. But I am not the same young man I was when I left America in 2008. And I'm scared, truly fucking terrfied to death, of what I might become once this five year's contract is fulfilled and done with; because I have no one to hold me in their arms, run their hand gently through my hair and whisper into my ear the only words I have ever wanted to hear in complete sincerety... "I love you, no matter what happens."

Current Location: Gainesville, GA.
Current Mood: distressed

Look, I hate to sound selfish, I really do...but I just spent a year and a half on the other side of the fraggin' world and I've only got eight, that's right EIGHT MORE DAYS until I have to go back again for only God knows how long. That's right, there IS NO set determined time for when I'll be able to come back again like this. Might be next Christmas, might be at the end of my contract; which'll be THREE MORE YEARS. So what am I getting at here? I'd have thought the people I call my friends would be a little more proactive in the reunion thing. So far the only person to actually call me has been ehsshinigami and he's in Alabama! He's actually driving over from Alabama JUST TO SEE ME. Now that's some dedication. That's fraggin' admirable. Mike, of course, I'm going to see on Wednesday. That's already planned out. Squid, I don't know when I'm hanging out with since there's no determined set date (which I would highly prefer). Everyone else...what the hell? COMMUNICATION! Doesn't matter how you do it! There's a lot of you I'd love to see but if we can't work something out as to when would be best then what's the point? If you need my home line, ASK! I'll be more than happy to message it to you! The clock is ticking, my friends. Only eight more days and then I'm gone again. Limited time only, act now supplies ARE limited.

Current Location: Gainesville, GA.
Current Mood: cheerful
Current Music: ULTRA-MEGA - POWERMAN 5000

The biggest difference between you and me Is I'm the Ultra-Mega, you just want to be! -Powerman 5000, "Ultra-Mega" And bringing it on back home again I certainly FEEL like the fucking Ultra-Mega! Right back to where I first started out from, and what a change it has been! I've never felt stronger, more confident, or better looking (quite dashing I must say!). I've seen Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Brunei, the Philippines, Australia, Okinawa; I've hung around Yokosuka, Nagasaki, Fukuoka, Tokyo, Akihabara, Shibuya, and Seattle; I've looked down from the Tokyo Tower and the Space Needle. I've come face to face with the real 'real world' and looked it in the eye, refusing to turn away from all it's hideous beauty. I've shook hands with Commodores, Admirals, and ladyboys who were kind enough to buy ME a beer (instead of the other way around). I've dealt with saintly people, and I've endured incredible heights of stupidity and immaturity from others. But all of this pales to the one simple fact that I have returned home!  

Current Location: SeaTac, Washington
Current Mood: complacent
Current Music: SWEET LEAF - Black Sabbath

So in an attempt to salvage what could be salvaged from this wreck of FAIL, I went out on this sunless day to see what I could see. Here's a rundown for yall. 3pm - I head to the transit station and catch the mass-trans rail into downtown Seattle. It's 4pm by the time I'm northbound to the city and it's already dark as night out. Damn this place is DEPRESSING as FUCK. 5pm-8pm - I get off the train in Westlake Station. First stop is LUSH. Buy some new bathing goodies and flirt with the cute girl helping me out. She has black-rimmed glasses and a perky attitude. Nice. I wander around the city a bit, end up taking the bus to the Space Needle. Head up and look around the city, take some pictures, head down to the restaurant for dinner: GRILLED KLAMATH RIVERKING SALMON, with savory corn pudding, braised pea vines, Dungeness crab/bacon fondue, and smoked paprika vinaigrette. Accompanied by Seattle Clam/Corn Chowder and a glass of L'Ecole No. 41 Chardonnay from Columbia Valley winery. I do like to spoil myself, don't I? ^_^ Head back down the needle and catch a bus back to the train station and head back to the hotel. 10pm - Now. Sitting alone in my room watching Matrix Revolution's tail end, wondering what to do with the rest of my evening. Yeah, I probably could have stayed out later. Yeah, I could probably have done some interesting stuff. But I've got a flight out to Atlanta tomorrow and I can't afford to be sleeping in after a long night of heavy drinking and possible screwing-out-of-the-brains. I really should be thanking her. Not only did she allow me the freedom to do whatever I pleased by her absence, she also gave me a free hotel room to crash out in while I stayed here. The journey back would have resulted in much more jetlag if I had flown straight into Atlanta; being able to stop off in Seattle gave me the opportunity to adjust much faster, so that when I do arrive I will be quite awake and alert. I in fact probably would have to say I OWED her one for this. All in all, this worked out rather well for me in the end. Any possible drinking and/or dirty, kinky, wonderfully debauched sex can just wait until I'm safe back home. I'm still the motherfucking ONI! ORE WO DARE DATTO OMOITTE YAGARU!? Trans - Who in the hell do you think I am!?

Current Location: Yokosuka, Japan
Current Mood: cheerful

It’s something I’ve wanted to do since Kindergarten…when they asked all of us kids what we wanted to be when we grew up, most everybody said the usual stuff – I wanna be a fireman, I wanna be a baseball player, I wanna be a model, ect. ect. ect - then they asked me. I thought about all the stuff I could do, all the things I could do, and only one thing truly stood out in my young mind:

“I wanna be a rock star!”

So it’s pretty much been a life-long dream of mine to get up on a stage and pour every last bit of power and energy I have into the crowd, drive them crazy and make them remember there’s some good stuff in life that’s worth living just so you can see it again. I want to throw everything I have into this effort, even if I have to stay up for days on end recording and re-recording stuff…It’s my dream, and I wanna fight for it. I don’t want to be one of those thousands of no-name local bands that only get together on the weekends playing at bars and house-parties. I don’t want to be the kind of one-hit wonder that maybe gets ONE song on the radio and then within months is already forgotten. I want a band that will defeat all opposition!

In the words of an Austrian industrial group, KRAFT EST KRIEG! Art is War! Every band out there, is my enemy. Every band out there, is standing in the way of EX NIHILO’s getting a gold record, maybe even a platinum. We have to be better, more original, more OUT THERE than everyone else is right now. I want the band’s name to be remembered ten, twenty years from now. I want to see school kids with EX NIHILO t-shirts walking around! EX NIHILO stickers tacked up on the walls of buildings, EX NIHILO stencils spraypainted onto anywhere people spraypaint things! EX NIHILO UBER ALLES! EX NIHILO BANZAI!
GOD SAVE EX NIHILO!

Yeah...I'm really that into it.

Current Location: Yokosuka, Japan
Current Mood: crushed

When they only let you off the ship after 1600...and tell you you have to be back at 0159...it kind of sucks that by the time I get down to downtown Tokyo I'm probably only going to have enough time to take a few pictures and get back on the train so I'm not late.

*sniff* My dream...*sniff*....it's getting further and further away....! AKIHAABAAAAAARAAAAAAAAA!!!!!! *sob*