A New Era

Alright you guys, I've been doing a ton of writing lately for the paper, my Japanese blog, and now my new job as a writer for a poker website. Because of all this, the old Todd blog has been getting a bit of the shaft lately.

Well it's time for things to change. It's time for a new era.

It's time for.... (duh, duh, DUH!) ... a new contributor.

That's right, it's not just my show any more. But that doesn't mean the old blog's gonna go down the chutes. No, no. I haven't even told you who it's gonna be yet. That's right, it's my boy Jeff.

Jeff has been my co-conspirator in many a ridiculous adventure, such as The Backpack Party which you may remember from New Year's, or the pillar of glory that is Heidkamping. He also took part in a ridiculous adventure we had on Saturday, but I'll let him tell you about that himself.

A new era is rising.

Nagano Snow: First Post

I'm in Nagano, Japan right now, which I guess is as good a place as any to start something new. I guess this is the result of my excessive free time and my buddy Alex's blogging enthusiasm.

But that's beside the point. Hi. I'm Todd. I go to Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, but right now it's my winter break (thanksgiving to new year's YESYESYES), so I'm here in lovely Japan for 3 weeks rather than at home doing nothing.


Okay, I'm assuming you're back here no less 30 minutes later after trying to beat Javanoid, only to realize there's 12 (I think, it would be embarrassing to know for sure) levels of increasing difficulty. It's okay, much like karate, surgery, Beirut, or any other noble pursuit, there is a steep learning curve. Everybody hurts.

Anyway, all of that is distracting me from my main point, being that it's snowing in Nagano and that shit is TIGHT. I'm here visiting a host family I stayed with in high school. I also came to visit Alex in Nagoya. We tore it up a little already when I arrived last Wednesday, but I'm gonna go back there next week too, mainly to catch my plane. So. Let me tell you about snow in Nagoya.

It's pretty much 非常に美しい、extremely beautiful for those of you not in the loop. Today I was going to head out for my usual jog up and down the mountain, but my knee hurt too much, so I decided to go for a walk and take pictures instead. We live in Yamanouchi (山ノ内）, a town up in the mountains and a pretty substantial drive from downtown Nagano. It's mostly farms and mom and pop shops, but everything is exceedingly beautiful and everyone has that country courtesy you won't find in Tokyo. The pictures surrounding this paragraph are from my family's Japanese garden or niwa (庭), literally 8 feet from where I'm typing this now. It's really amazing that it's just some tastefully arranged plants and rocks. Man, gardening kicks ass, someone had to say it. My host granddad was out there gardening hard in the cold today; I hope I can be as cool as him when I'm his age. I think it's snowing more right now, so I guess I'll put up some snowier pictures of the garden tomorrow. It really seems like Japan transforms in the snow, and I have to say I couldn't be happier. If it keeps falling like it is, skiing is going to be wonderful this weekend. Ha ha, わくわくする！