Random Pics

left: Me with the two kids I tutor at my b-day dinner.












left: Hakuba area, 1.5 hours away from my apt.













left: Hakuba













left: Sunset in Himi (click to enlarge)













left: Start of sunset

Let's Enjoy Hiking Time!

left: Me at the top of Unomaru, about 2,000 meters. Thanks Patti! Click to make BIG!

I went on two awesome hikes this weekend as the weather was absolutely perfect. On Saturday, I went up to Unomaru with Mike, Patti, and Kaden. On Sunday, I hiked up the mountain that is a hop, skip, and a jump from my apartment, Taroyama. Here are some pics (if you want to see more pictures and in larger sizes, go here.)




left: These three kids played video games on the summit of Unomaru. Look at the view they're neglecting!!











left: Japanese hiking fashion for older people. Same hats, same gloves, same packs, same pants, same everything.











left: View looking west toward the Japanese Alps.












left: Mike, Patti, and the little man













left: Start of the trail up Taroyama

















left: Japanese Alps off in the distance













left: Ueda, where I live













left: Some fool

I'm Officially Delaying the Real World

After a few stressful days of answering questions via email about my bicycle trip and one 30-minute phone interview, I just found out that I won the 2007 Delaying the Real World Fellowship. The award pays $3,500 and is provided by Perseus Books, a publishing group that publishes a book called Delaying the Real World. The book is a manual for 20-somethings that describes how to delay (or completely avoid) getting some mundane cubicle job by following their passions.

Yeeehaw! I'm stoked!

Make Your Own Media

left: Saddam post-hanging

Whether you realize it or not, everything you see on TV and read about in national newspapers concerning Iraq and Afghanistan is strictly filtered by governments and media executives. The bleached images we see, images devoid of bloody details, don't accurately represent the horrific realities of war. The articles we read from journalists embedded with troops are censored and sterilized before they are authorized for print.

This website hopes to fill in some of the gaps. Soldiers post videos of what they see on the ground. Insurgents post videos of tanks and vehicles being attacked with IEDs and rockets. Check it out now while you still can--it will only be a matter of time before soldiers and insurgents alike will be prohibited from posting graphic video like this onto the Internet.

4 Hour Workweek?

Rolf Potts recently interviewed author Tim Ferriss about his new book, The 4-Hour Workweek. In the book, Ferriss gives case studies of people he's met throughout his travels who have managed to break away from the standard 35 or 40-hour work week. He explains that some of the wealthiest people monetarily are some of the most time poor people on the planet. By controlling how you use your time and how mobile you are, you can do anything you set out to do. Check out the interview here.