cc search & nishino kana

Today I went to Mt. Vernon (Baltimore) to tour an renovated greyhound building as part of our community center search. Our region's lease at our current location in Arbutus is up in January, and we have to decide on a new (and bigger) location by mid December. Its looking more and more likely that this might be the place.

The building is located on the edge of Mt. Vernon, which is essentially a very nice cultural and historic district in Baltimore, and proabably one of my favorite places in the city. It's three or four blocks north of UM, and a few blocks south of MICA and U.Balt. All walking distance. Young professionals and students are the crowd in the neighborhoods, and the building shares a parking lot with the Maryland Historic Society. Walter's Art Gallery is next door, Penn Station is close, and the Maryland Gen. Hosp. is right there as well. Overall, I really liked the area. There are plenty of restaurants, and everything is in very close proximity to the area. What's more, it's extremely convenient to access for those outside the city, since it's straight on 395 after getting off of 95 North. We're still not sure whether this will be the place, and even less so of thee amount of space we will lease in the building. It's a big building, and there are plenty of rooms and nice area that would probably nice to be the main hall. Here we go:

On a seperate note, I'm really liking music by Nishino Kana. Her songs are pretty predictable but she pulls them off really well. It's like she's not lying to herself - I like that. One song in particular I like is called "BraveHeart" and the lyrics is essentially about not giving up and persevering. Not many American songs lately that have that sort of message. I also like the rapper in here, though I've never heard of him. Check it out below:

Lyrics (歌詞）

(uh huh huh NERDHEAD)
気付いてるよその涙の訳は
でも乗り来られる今は
空見を上げて

君の横で
その思いを感じてる
二人一緒なら強くなれる
負けそうな時こそ自分を
believe yourself 
信じて

(let me flash back my life)
(まるで永遠のようで　本当あっという間　色んな表情してきた)
(and I tried to smile but 殆どの瞬間)
(胸痛いくらいに I was crying)
(泣いてた inside my eyes)
(涙見せないように強く振舞ってた、もし)
(一度でも立ち待ったらそこで game's over)
(二度目はもうないように感じて)　
(and I)
(feel 不安に思う毎日)
(胸に抱いた理想とは程遠い)
(それが人生)
(きっと皆一緒で　辛くあっても耐えて強くなってく)
(時間かかるけど I'll take a chance 'til the last)
(自分信じて just take a little step)
(心配ないだってもう一人じゃない)

君の傍で
その思いを感じてる
二人一緒なら強くなれる
負けそうな時こそ自分を
believe yourself 
信じて

気付いてるよその涙の訳は (yeah, that's how it is)
でも乗り来られる今は
空を見上げて (you ain't lookin' back in the past . . . the past . . . the past)

Don't Run away~
逃げてても見えない (Don't let it fall, let's go)
明日への rainbow

心がくじけそうで　(sometimes)
目の前の reality から run away (that's right, that's right)
 このままじゃダメなのは
分かっているけど変われない
だけどどんな時も自分に
ウソはつかないで (hey, let it flow)
歩きだせる
辛い時もあるけど勇気をだして (keep goin' on and on)
ずっと

君の傍で
その思いを感じてる
二人一緒なら強くなれる
負けそうな時こそ自分を
believe yourself 
信じて

(hey) Keep on tryin' (just try)
tryin' (and try)
just try (we ain't crying もう一人じゃない）
Keep on tryin' (try, try)
try (and try 曲げない your life 何があっても fight back)
(to the top) to the top
(from the streets, from the hood hood) | from the streets
I'll try and try
(曲げない自分次第で) | try, try (変わるはずさ life)

A life
(一度きりの life)
(失敗に失敗を重ねてく life でも)
(最後くらい 笑ってたい)
(I shine) I Shine
(一緒に find and light)
(苦労はなくして明日はない)
(どの次代も山あり谷あり)
(って皆言うだろ　平坦の道なんて存在しない　躓いたらもう一回)
(また)
(立ち上がって歩き出す)
(何度だって　這いつくばってでも run and run)
(息切らしたって進まないと life's a battle)
(自分自身が最大の rival)
[don't lie lie lie] (hey)
[目をそらない] (hey)
[it's my li li li life] (hey)
(my life)
(失敗に失敗を重ねてく life でも)

歩き出せる
その思いを感じてる
二人一緒なら強くなれる
負けそうな時こそ自分を
believe yourself  信じて

その思いを感じてる
二人一緒なら強くなれる
負けそうな時こそ自分を
believe yourself  信じて

Don't run away
逃げてても見えない
明日への rainbow

-end-

P.S. this took me an hour to write out cuz I never write in japanese. Good practice. Maybe I'll do this more often (when I have time)

apocalypse

bad week. First, I got sick so I missed a number of classes, which means that I'm behind in my readings. Second, I wasn't able to finish something I promised a professor I would finish. Then on wednesday or thursday, as my last post reminds, my phone died. My contacts were not saved and I forgot about a few meetings that I had scheduled on my cell phone's calendar. Third, my tire went flat. While I was at the repair shop, I found out that my car's alignment was [legitimately] off. So for new tires and alginment, I dropped 300 bucks. Then, to top it all off, I struck a deer on sunday or monday and it completely ruined the front left side of my car. Listen to this - I was on the highway at 11:30 at night and this deer came gallopping its merry way from across the other side of the highway. And, since I was trying to save money on insurance, my policy was "liability only," meaning that it doesnt cover collisions like the one I experienced with my deer friend (no pun intended). So, anothe $1000 down the drain to cover the cost out of pocket.

I'm not sure what cause I made to have all this happen within the course of a week, but awkwardly, I'm okay with everything. I didn't get too stressed out about any of this, and I just did what I needed to do.

lol I'm not sure what this post has been other than a ranting session, but for sake of getting my readings done, I'll leave it at this for now. Peace!

携帯

My phone has completely died. I have decided that I will never buy a NOKIA again, along with Motorolas (dont' 'hello moto' me!). In any case, I went to Verizon and they're at least sending me a replacement of my old flip by tomorrow via overnight shipping.

But my 'new every two' (the policy that you can get a $100 discount on a new phone every 2 years) ends on December 4, so I am actually in the market for a new phone altogether. I don't have a data plan mostly because my family doesn't need it, but I am thinking of flipping the bill for the data.

Aside from the data plan, which I think I may go foward with, the real question is what phone? Now, I'm sure Julie will kill me for saying this, but maybe the iPhone 4, which is coming out on Verizon around Christmas/New Years....? I can't stand apple products in general, but as I've explained before, two of their product lines are undeniably the best in the market - the iPOD and the iPhone (I severely dislike iTunes, the iPad, and anything Mac related). I wasn't convinced  of their quality until recently. The new iPOD nanos have a clip... which is pretty damn simple but awesome nonetheless. And the iPhones HD video recording and video calling is just is pretty amazing (which is meaningless without a 4g wireless connection, which Verizon is rolling out right now with their 700Mhz LTE spectrum). The form factor is a lot more appealing on the 4. Finally, the touch screen on the iPhones are just amazing; I remember trying out the iPhone's touch screen on Cliff's in Japan and... wow. So in conclusion, I have to admit that the iPhone is too enticing not to consider (btw, I also changed to gmail recently from hotmail. I gave you a chance microsoft, but you failed me).

Anyway, now that I'm consideirng some iProducts, someone answer these questions for me!:
1. What the heck is the difference between a iPod Touch (which now has video calling and acts like a phone) and the iPhone??!
2. How many MBs should I have per month in a data plan? How much do people use usually?

By the way, i was researching some stuff on Verizon Wireless's website, and I found this picture on the GPS page:

If you can't tell, that's SUA.

50th

Last week's weather was particularly pleasing. In fact, it was so nice that I took an unnexpected stroll downtown, and I also took the time to study outside. The fall is upon us!


I also just received th 50th anniversary issue of the World Tribune. The history of Sensei's efforts for kosenrufu in America was so encouraging; it actually made me look at my current struggles in a different light. That is, with a more profound mission in life, things like grades and jobs - while extremely important - become simply mediums through which to manifest value. It's not the grade or the type of job, but rather, the extent to which you create unity with the people around you, and the degree to which you can encourage the person in front of you. To that extent, kosenrufu, lies in our character and actions as human beings. While I'm sure I could have said all of this before, I felt that recently, I am beginning to understand the profundity of kosenrufu and fighting together with Sensei for the prosperity of people. This new found appreciation has, in a weird way, made me feel awkwardly, but rightly, unsatisfied with my goals and my vision. [academic] Prestige is shortsighted and elementary. With a mentor, there are far greater things to fight for, and in that pursuit, unprecedented benefits follow. Thank you, Sensei!

billy bookcases

IKEA is amazing. I'm not sure if it's Swedish in it, but it's hard not to like its simplicity. Take for example, the instructions that came with the sets of bill bookcases we bought a few weeks back.

Just take a look at that. No words, no need for extraneous information. Just a happy man with some doodlies. Don't try this with one person, the picture says. Instead, do it with two people, and pose with your hands on your hips while you're at it. That's revolutionary. And the bookcases went up fine. We're trying to make a "study" out of the living/dining room, so I can idylicly sip my coffee at the coffee table, open my casebook, and start hammering out some briefs. Whether this home furnishing project will finish by the semester end is forever the question, however. Need to change up the studying space occassionally to feel refreshed. Otherwise studying becomes a long, painful austerity.

The thought of having a study, surrounded by books, makes me happy. And for some reason it makes me want to go to annandale and go the korean cafes. Speaking of korea, I could use some soju, or, I want to some soju to try for the very first time. Went to Honey Pig 24/7 korean bbq yesterday, a few min. from my place. Simply amazing.