Yay! My meishi (business cards) arrived yesterday... Here are pictures:
Front (English)
Back (nihongo)
24 November 2006
23 November 2006
I'm here!
I've gotten to Tokyo, I'm in my temporary apartment, and I've slept! I still love being here, this is gonna be great!
I stopped by Polygon Pictures last night, and met approximately a billion people whose names I've already forgotten. Afterwards, we went to a going-away party for Motoko Mukaiyama, one of the admins at Polygon, who's moving to Vancouver. Thus, ironically, the first thing I ate in Japan was... pizza.
Polygon also got me a keitai (cellphone), so that I can be a functioning member of society ;-). I'm off to dinner at Yoichi's house for tonight. jya --
Leo
I stopped by Polygon Pictures last night, and met approximately a billion people whose names I've already forgotten. Afterwards, we went to a going-away party for Motoko Mukaiyama, one of the admins at Polygon, who's moving to Vancouver. Thus, ironically, the first thing I ate in Japan was... pizza.
Polygon also got me a keitai (cellphone), so that I can be a functioning member of society ;-). I'm off to dinner at Yoichi's house for tonight. jya --
Leo
21 November 2006
And so one life comes to an end as another begins
Well, this is at. I'm crashing at an airport hotel so that I can zip over to SFO first thing in the morning. I get on a plane and move to Japan.
It'll be a great adventure! There are a load of new people to meet and a ton of vocabulary to learn. I'll get by on infinitely less space and eat more sushi and less pizza.
I'll miss a ton of people here. I have found so many people that I like and that I have a great time with here in the Bay Area... I hope I can meet up with lots of you in Asia! Come visit.
Good night... next post probably from Tokyo.
Leo
P.S. Tenacious D was awesome.
It'll be a great adventure! There are a load of new people to meet and a ton of vocabulary to learn. I'll get by on infinitely less space and eat more sushi and less pizza.
I'll miss a ton of people here. I have found so many people that I like and that I have a great time with here in the Bay Area... I hope I can meet up with lots of you in Asia! Come visit.
Good night... next post probably from Tokyo.
Leo
P.S. Tenacious D was awesome.
18 November 2006
There's a lot in the air
So for me, I'm pretty focused on the move-to-Japan thing that's happenning in my life within the next 72 hours. That's going apace, I've almost got all the clothes sorted out. Through Ken and Shin I met Kumi who works at REI - my last-minute clothes shopping there was much more economical thanks to her intervention!
A couple items helped me snap out of the tunnel vision on my own life, though. My friend Lauren took a header off of her bike on the way to work this week and broke both of her elbows -- ouch! "Breaking your elbow" (which actually I hadn't known was possible) means snapping off the little part at the end. They can't actually do much about it, just send you home with slings, but Lauren couldn't bend her elbows very much for awhile (to the point where eating solid food was tricky). She was getting better during the day Friday, but what a way to ruin a week.
Far worse, another friend's father passed away, on my friend's own birthday. That's not a happy coincidence to have in your life. Hugs to Mike.
Tonight we watched Lilo & Stitch at the place where I'm staying. It was a great movie, and the events of recent times made thoughts of families, whether born or made, be much on my mind.
A couple items helped me snap out of the tunnel vision on my own life, though. My friend Lauren took a header off of her bike on the way to work this week and broke both of her elbows -- ouch! "Breaking your elbow" (which actually I hadn't known was possible) means snapping off the little part at the end. They can't actually do much about it, just send you home with slings, but Lauren couldn't bend her elbows very much for awhile (to the point where eating solid food was tricky). She was getting better during the day Friday, but what a way to ruin a week.
Far worse, another friend's father passed away, on my friend's own birthday. That's not a happy coincidence to have in your life. Hugs to Mike.
Tonight we watched Lilo & Stitch at the place where I'm staying. It was a great movie, and the events of recent times made thoughts of families, whether born or made, be much on my mind.
Eternal
As a last get-together, my friends Scott and Dan and I watched Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (which I had never seen) Wed night. What an awesome movie. Intelligent, literate, and yet had both good characters and real heart.
It's humbling to think I work in the same entertainment industry as those folks.
It's humbling to think I work in the same entertainment industry as those folks.
15 November 2006
out of the house
Like the perennial teenager, it took me longer to get out of the house than I thought! but it's done. The tenants are moving in, all my stuff is in storage. the great part about the new tenants is that they're bring new energy to the house -- Tony proposed that if I pay for the flooring, he'll pay for the labor to install a new floor in the kitchen. Sounds sweet to me, I hope it happens.
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the last couple weeks must have been getting to me. i woke up this morning and had NO idea where i was. none at all (i'm staying at a friend's house in half moon bay). i remembered i was in the middle of moving, but really didn't remember driving over the hill late at night.
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yesterday i forgot to eat. when i finished the last stuff i had to do around the house, after the walkthrough with the new tenants, i realized it was 10:45pm and i hadn't eaten anything since breakfast (and i needed to drive to half moon bay) (and i had a car full of stuff -- so i didn't really want to park on the street in SF). it turns out... in-n-out serves until midnight on weekdays. a very happy fact in this case altho i'm not a frequent fast fooder.
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the last couple weeks must have been getting to me. i woke up this morning and had NO idea where i was. none at all (i'm staying at a friend's house in half moon bay). i remembered i was in the middle of moving, but really didn't remember driving over the hill late at night.
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yesterday i forgot to eat. when i finished the last stuff i had to do around the house, after the walkthrough with the new tenants, i realized it was 10:45pm and i hadn't eaten anything since breakfast (and i needed to drive to half moon bay) (and i had a car full of stuff -- so i didn't really want to park on the street in SF). it turns out... in-n-out serves until midnight on weekdays. a very happy fact in this case altho i'm not a frequent fast fooder.
SO tired of moving
I am so tired of moving I can't even explain it. At this point it seems like it's been going on forever...
I got 5+ hours of sleep last night, and only 3 the night before that. Today I was so busy I didn't even have time to eat! At 10:45pm tonight I finished up the last errand o'the day and thought, "Hey, I should eat something, I haven't had anything to eat since the croissant for breakfast!"
Hopefully tomorrow will be the last day of moving (although not of packing). I guess it better be the last day, the tenants are moving in!
Leo
I got 5+ hours of sleep last night, and only 3 the night before that. Today I was so busy I didn't even have time to eat! At 10:45pm tonight I finished up the last errand o'the day and thought, "Hey, I should eat something, I haven't had anything to eat since the croissant for breakfast!"
Hopefully tomorrow will be the last day of moving (although not of packing). I guess it better be the last day, the tenants are moving in!
Leo
Urban Camping, in a way
Last night I camped out in my own house. I had already moved all the furniture out, so I crashed in my sleeping bag on top of a foam pad in my bedroom (which was otherwise empty). The setting definitely made the "change of life" very real. The house was all echo-y.
14 November 2006
Shutting it all down
I just bought my ticket for moving to Tokyo: I fly on Tuesday, 21 Nov! I'll turn the house over to the tenants tomorrow, and deliver my car to the buyer Thursday afternoon. Ella has a new home with Lauren, I miss her already :-(.
That idea from a few months ago of moving to Tokyo is looking pretty real this evening.
That idea from a few months ago of moving to Tokyo is looking pretty real this evening.
13 November 2006
Echoy
My house is so empty. It looks huge when it's empty (and it didn't look small before!).
I am so tired.
I was up til 4am packing, then got up at 7 to go grab some coffee, rent the U-Haul, hire a couple of Mexican dudes down on Cesar Chavez to help me, move my furniture into the truck, drive to San Mateo, move the furniture into the storage unit, drive back, drop off Luis and Angel, drop off the truck, drive home and fill the car with stuff for Goodwill, hit Goodwill and drop that stuff off, then come home.
Of course, all that remains today is to fill the car with the forgotten items (mostly from the garage), plus the Goodwill things that wouldn't fit in the first run, run the first down to San Mateo and the second to Mission and 11th, verify I really have somewhere to stay after tonight, and come back.
Whee!!! Moving!!!
I am so tired.
I was up til 4am packing, then got up at 7 to go grab some coffee, rent the U-Haul, hire a couple of Mexican dudes down on Cesar Chavez to help me, move my furniture into the truck, drive to San Mateo, move the furniture into the storage unit, drive back, drop off Luis and Angel, drop off the truck, drive home and fill the car with stuff for Goodwill, hit Goodwill and drop that stuff off, then come home.
Of course, all that remains today is to fill the car with the forgotten items (mostly from the garage), plus the Goodwill things that wouldn't fit in the first run, run the first down to San Mateo and the second to Mission and 11th, verify I really have somewhere to stay after tonight, and come back.
Whee!!! Moving!!!
Empty House Full of Memories
Moving is always bittersweet. It's bitter because the move itself is, of course, a pain. But it's sweet because it dredges up so many good memories.
I'm sitting here in a packed house, ready for tomorrow's truck to take everything to the storage space in San Mateo. Everything is empty shelves and boxes now, but somehow that's even more evocative of all the good times I've had here. I'm remembering the dinners, the parties, the times hanging out with roommates, the times late at night talking with a friend. I'm thinking of all the friends I've met since I bought this house in 2000, and all the old friends I've seen in it.
Someday I'll come back to this house, and I know it will still be full of good memories for me then.
I'm sitting here in a packed house, ready for tomorrow's truck to take everything to the storage space in San Mateo. Everything is empty shelves and boxes now, but somehow that's even more evocative of all the good times I've had here. I'm remembering the dinners, the parties, the times hanging out with roommates, the times late at night talking with a friend. I'm thinking of all the friends I've met since I bought this house in 2000, and all the old friends I've seen in it.
Someday I'll come back to this house, and I know it will still be full of good memories for me then.
No Kitty
As part of moving to Japan, I had to find Ella (http://picasaweb.google.com/leovitch/Ella) a new home. She's taking her time to settle in over at my friend Lauren's place... but in the meantime, there's no one to greet me at the door when I get home. Profoundly lonely!
I found Ella's kitten pictures today while cleaning up for the move. Must take to Lauren...
I found Ella's kitten pictures today while cleaning up for the move. Must take to Lauren...
10 November 2006
30 October 2006
Leo's News
Many of my friends have already heard this, but it's time to put a note on the board. I'm moving to Japan in the next few weeks!
I've been fascinated with Japan and Japanese culture for many years, and have been keeping an eye out for a chance to move to Japan for awhile. An opportunity came up to help out at Polygon Pictures, a Japanese CG house which is run by a friend through SIGGRAPH activities, Shuzo Shiota, so I'll be leaving my current job and moving to Japan over the next few weeks.
I'm really excited about finally getting a chance to put my (rudimentary) Japanese skills to work, and to learn a lot more about the culture and the people. I'm finishing up work here in the U.S. this Friday, 3Nov06, and I expect to actually move within a couple weeks after that. Stay tuned here for more updates!
Leo
I've been fascinated with Japan and Japanese culture for many years, and have been keeping an eye out for a chance to move to Japan for awhile. An opportunity came up to help out at Polygon Pictures, a Japanese CG house which is run by a friend through SIGGRAPH activities, Shuzo Shiota, so I'll be leaving my current job and moving to Japan over the next few weeks.
I'm really excited about finally getting a chance to put my (rudimentary) Japanese skills to work, and to learn a lot more about the culture and the people. I'm finishing up work here in the U.S. this Friday, 3Nov06, and I expect to actually move within a couple weeks after that. Stay tuned here for more updates!
Leo
22 October 2006
Stuff Going Out
Yesterday afternoon/evening I had a "Come Take My Stuff" party. It was great to hang with the crew and to see a few folks I haven't seen in forever (Karen and KT!) before heading off to Japan.
...I still have most of my stuff, though. Looks like a storage unit for sure!
...I still have most of my stuff, though. Looks like a storage unit for sure!
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