Supermodel

♫ ♪ Be My Angel - Mazzy Star

Here is a pretty thing I saw on my way into work. It just sat there and posed for me for a minute, which is an unusually long while for a butterfly, whose very name suggests that we should get nothing more than a glimpse as it is their nature to simply "flutter by"...this one was different.

Yummy

♫ ♪ Oogum Boogum - Brenton Wood

Based on my photos it must seem like I eat a lot of sweets and donuts. Truthfully I eat more sweets than the average person, I need sweets in my life, but I don't eat them constantly. I do however find them lovely and enjoy taking pictures of them before I destroy them. Above, the glazed old-fashioned donut from Mister Donut ("MisDo") and the glorious cream-filled Choco Pie, one of my favorite sweets I have found in Japan so far. I could easily eat about eight of these in one sitting.

Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

♫ ♪ Let's Do It (Let's Fall in Love) - Conal Fowkes

Realizing that the only way to get good pictures is to bring my camera with me everywhere. It's a bit bulky but it's worth it. These are scenes from my neighborhood, and also from the city I work in.

Sweets

♫ ♪ Scarlet Begonias - Sublime

I got a plant for my balcony. There are tons of flower shops lining the shopping district near where I live so it was easy to find something; the difficult part was choosing which flowers I liked best. I went with begonias because they seem easy to care for, and because I love the color of the ones I found. I also find it notable that my Japanese cell phone is the exact same color as my nail polish (Essie "Neo Whimsical"), the flowers on my backpack, and my rug. Sweets and flowers and pink things tend to follow me everywhere.

Welcome to Japan

♫ ♪ I Love Penny Sue - Daniel May

Getting settled this weekend...here are some shots of my new apartment and my neighborhood. My goal for today is to buy a plant for the balcony and maybe a broom, just because I like the idea of sweeping a balcony every morning. Everything here is so clean and organized, it works well for me. As someone who takes pleasure in monotonous housekeeping activities such as doing laundry, washing dishes, and sweeping, caring for my own little space in a country where such devotion to neatness is actually expected is a bit of a dream come true.