下北沢

Where I've been

2007-01-24T19:31:00.000-08:00

Not so much in the "Blogosphere".

But I have found Ethiopian food in Tokyo.

And gotten inspired, fluxed my way through unknown tomorrows

And gotten myself involved in International Education somehow.
Go figure.

My afternoons revolve around a small International School in Tokyo and some sushi.

I'll share them both if you bring me some Burt's Beeswax.

Two things without cheese

2006-04-05T01:02:00.000-07:00

Right about now (official Tokyo Time)
It's:
01:02:03 04/05/06

That's kinda cool. If you're into that sort of thing.
Also. In stupid irony news, I spent two years in South America and nothing bad ever happened, no mugging, no theft, no violence (toward me), no kidnapping, etc. South America is supposed to be one of the most dangerous places ever, mind you. I move to Japan, supposedly one of the safest places in the world and what happens???
My IPOD gets stolen!!
.
.
By Peruvians!!!
Jonny is sans music and full of irony.
Have a silent miserable day.

Tokyo and Astronaut

2006-01-24T10:53:00.000-08:00

Headless disconnected understanding
misinterpretted intention
overcompensation for lack of fear
with overstimulated esthetic
Found Hiding Places
unexpressive stares and rock formations
mascarading as personality
Competitive hipness richness shyness newness slimness
Harness whatever meaning you can find
in lost fishbowl souls who will one day
attain contentment
Realize anecdotes are no substitute for experience
Not everything in the universe can be reached
with the Tokyo Subway
But on brisk Japanese evenings
punctuated by cold beer and solitude
looking everywhere for some hidingplace to
coil up in beside some hot green tea and
bodies more hip rich new slim
than i will ever try to be -
It feels like even the moon
is on the Yamanote line.

P.S. New Pictures Up:
Cambodia / Vietnam / Tokyo / DesignFesta

Ch Ch Ch Ch Changes Continued

2006-01-14T06:00:00.000-08:00

The things in my life, basic every-day blase.
The times, the days, the commuting routes and cityscapes
They are a changing.
Bob Dylan would be proud.
More as the concrete hardens.

p.s. It's cold as fuck in tokyo.

SouthEastAsia

2006-01-09T05:54:00.000-08:00

Wandering through Vietnamese Mekong Delta highways on raggedy busses and climbing angkor wat temples steep cliff jagged history
Thai nights dancing hip hop gorging myself on my wet dream of thai food come true and
even Bangkok is full of good people if you know where to look
Cambodia lies still in a special little place in my heart
and after all the history, all the genocide, coups, kidnapping, violence
comes a country -Finally-
a country with a heart, whose Cambodians realize what is important in life
and is not trying to be Koh Disney-Hilton the way Khao San Road has dwindled
into a lonely planet on europe's shoestring.
Even I got sick of myself haggling over 20 cents while buying a shirt.
And all I have to show for it, (18 days in this part of the world) are mosquito bites, a shaved head, and a slight (unnoticable except in the correct lighting) tan.

what

2005-12-06T02:36:00.002-08:00

It's cold all of the sudden.
Japan seemed to forget about autumn
there was only one week of hoodie-weather and now all my layers
aren't enough.
I'm keeping busy, working 45 hours every week. I don't not like it, but it's wearing on me.
Double negatives and design festas full of designers from all over the world.
Annie-chan and I went to a waterfall at the base of Mount Fuji
when we arrived, it was snowing.
Ate hot soba noodles and tried to hitchhike back to Shizuoka.
December feels distantly constraining.

What Life?

2005-10-27T06:13:00.000-07:00

Tokyo. 2005.

Here I am.
Teleported to the land of superlatives.

I somehow ended up in the largest metropolitan area in the world. The population of greater Tokyo is over 34,000,000.

The most expensive city in the world. Expect to pay $6 for a cup of coffee at a non-chain cafe. 10 minute taxi ride: about $30. Spending $200 in a DECENT (not extravaggant) evening: easy.

The most dangerous city in the world in terms of risk of natural disasters. (Considered more than 4 times as vulnerable than #2 on the list: San Francisco).

Avergage commute time for Tokyoites: 47 minutes.
Jonathan's commute time: 51 minutes exactly. (More Tokyo than most Tokyoites)

There are 21,000 Ramen restaurants in Tokyo. (who figured that out?)

Tokyo Disneyland is the most popular theme park in the world. Every year it attracts over 16 million visitors! (as a comparison, 2.8million people visited Tokyo, 4.5m to New York, and 11.5 m to London)

Most seizures ever caused by a TV Program: 700 kids had to be hospitalized in December 1997 for seizures caused by an episode of Pokemon. Broadcast on: TV Tokyo of course.

I like it here, it feels new and breathable and between the medicoracy (or is that genius?) of the design and fashion and style, myriad sushi and other inklings of culinary marvel (such as whale, jellyfish and blowfish) whenever I desire, and immense learning, both language-based and life-based, I'm not planning to be bored anytime soon. I have a great job(s), and though I work a lot, I'm quit happy here in superlative antfarm land. However, having my designing/sewing and writing projects is definitely a necessity.

Though I miss affordable fruit.

(this melon costs $200 DOLLARS!! Damn. I could live in Bolivia for 4 months for that much.)

But It's sooo Perfect....

Colombia>Guatemala>Mexico>USA>Japan

2005-06-14T11:34:00.000-07:00

Hola. I'm in Bogota and having doubts about ever wanting to leave Colombia.
Supposedly, I am moving to Japan. Truth be told, second thoughts and doubtful daydreams and Latin paces and a hauntingly radiant woman...
Scott and I just got back from the Carribean coast, where scuba diving and fresh fruit jucies and loud reggaeton and vallenato music and heat, que calor!, ebb back to today's overcast Bogota, cooking vegan food and Scott is quickly becoming a Colombian celebrity after his debut on national television yesterday, and I was offered a job here in Bogota for Red Bull yesterday, and emotion is playing hopskotch with thai food and an ironic faux hawk. And planned meeting with brother Daniel in Guatemala postponed but only until soon, and nihongo going slow to call myself Japanese but where do I really want to be and why is the sky falling on the head of nonsense and if I set my mind to it, could I really make it happen.
New Colombia fotos posted and languages rearranged,
between new dreams concocted and my itineraries reframed.

Of Sleepless Weeks and Linguistic Deserts

2005-05-07T13:34:00.000-07:00

In Bolivia with Scott Lucas after a wonderful time in Buenos Aires and Northern Argentina and mmm... Cordoba! Between early morning desert mountain hikes, never ending parties in Cordoba at houses of random people we met, and all nighters waiting for the Bolivian border to open, freezing cold in our hoodies in an abandoned prison turned into a bus station waiting room trying to avoid 80+ loud Argentinians, Bolivians, and Israelis playing Jack Johnson on guitar and reading aloud their lonely planets, I haven`t gotten a good night sleep in weeks.
My Brain is learning how to work in ways it never has. Scott and I speak an equal mixture of Portuguese and English, and in public especially, people tend to not rip us off and are much nicer to us if we are speaking portuguese. My day though revolves around Spanish in this part of the world, and the fact that I am currently reading a Bukowski book translated into Spanish. Additionally, I am spending at least an hour a day learning Japanese. Between my Japanese on Tape (now in IPOD form) and my Learn Japanese for Spanish Speakers book I picked up in Buenos Aires and subsequently left on a bus yesterday in Potosi, Bolivia, I`m learning how to write a few characters and tell people that I don`t speak Japanese.
It`s one thing to learn a language, but when your mind switches between four languages on an hourly or sometimes minutely basis, it`s exhausting.
I`m flying to Colombia next week from La Paz, reallly looking forward to being back there. It`s a long road through Colombia, Guatemala, and Mexico until I can even begin to ponder my move to Japan in July, but it`s not so bad.
Saudades.
Oh and New Pictures up (Lots of them) on Argentina2005 and Brasil2005 Albums.

Leaving on a JET plane

2005-04-03T11:39:00.000-07:00

Well.
I´m moving to Japan.
I have some mixed feelings about the whole thing, but it seems like a thing to do.
On the other hand, I am very happy in Brasil.
But after much thought on the issue, I´ve decided that Japan will be an interesting change after nearly 17 months in South America.
So, the job is with the Japanese Government, called the JET program (Japan Exchange and Teaching). I won´t find out where in Japan I´ll be living for another month or so... But the application process fot his job was very competitive, so I´m happy to hear that I´ve been accepted. From Brasil to the Middle East to Asia to you.
tchau.

Nothing to Fear, Nothing to Doubt

2005-03-23T11:36:00.000-08:00

14 months in South America
and then I go to California for one month
and get really sick.
Damn irony.

São Paulo

2005-02-10T09:34:00.000-08:00

Home at last. After a fantastic and bizarre Carnaval in São Luiz de Pairatinga (interior of São Paulo state), I´m hooking up my cellphone, meeting with some prospective employers, and eating sushi like it will never go out of style. Which is true.
Oh, and rumor has it that there is a vacation planned back to California real soon. Jonathan declined to comment on this story and his publicist dismissed it as there is no way Jonathan would go to San Francisco in the winter when he could be in Brazil in the summer.

Well.... I Can´t Really Complain

2005-01-27T13:32:00.000-08:00

Life is not THAT bad.

I´ve now hit my path from last year. The black line is my trail.

(I´m in Bahia. There´s New Fotos from the Guianas and Brazil. Boo Yah.)

Pipa!

2005-01-23T11:11:00.000-08:00

Back in Pipa. I was here last year, actually the same week, and it´s

familiar and HOT and fun and swimming with dolphins and dancing

to reggae music and forro and being tan and old friends from

Sao Paulo and new friends from aroud the world and peixe and

camarão and açai and it´s been a beautiful week.

Where am I?

2005-01-09T14:20:00.000-08:00

For this is surely not South America.
It took forever and 3 days to get here, busses, jeeps, hitchhiking, angry bitch-ass Guyanese imigration officials, a bunch of boats, and a few beers. Passed through Guyana for 5 days, think Africa-India in the Carribean, but speaking Creolese, which is close enough to English, and incredible Indian Food everywhere! My Guyanese surrogate family cooked me the best curry dinner I've had in ages.
Now, I've made it to Paramaribo, Suriname. Think Guyana, but heavily Indonesian and Javanese, just as expensive ($$$$), better food perhaps, speaks dutch, and everyone drives mercedes' and nice cars. And now, there are some white people, because of the influx of Dutch tourists who want to go to "South America" while still speaking dutch. Go figure. I hadn't met anybody else who had ever been to Suriname. This has been a personal goal of mine for a while. And now I'm here and well... I wouldn't say under-enthused... but where is my marching band?
So I'm feeling better, it rains every hour on the hour, but only for 10 minutes. Crazy place. But nice. But expensive. So I'm a thinking about going on a little adventure. More on that another time. ha. Oh, and although these computers are muito slow, I've uploaded some more pics into the Colombia (a ton), Venezuela (New Years) and Guyana/Suriname folders.

Outtie

2005-01-03T09:39:00.000-08:00

Well, an interesting and dare-I-say fun New Years on Isla Margarita, Venezuela. My second New Years in a row on an island, and my third New Years in a row in South America. Looks like I have a streak to uphold... Chilled with Taal and Carlos and random internationals from all over... but... I`m sick. Estoy muy gripado. I`ve been in bed for a few days, and figured if I was going to sleep all day, might as well do it on buses. So I just left Isla Margarita, and have 3 solid days of travel, vertically crossing Venezuela, thru the North tip of Brazil, and then a 14 hour jeep ride from the bottom of Guyana to the top, through the jungle. Should be an interesting trip. Ha. My New Year`s Resolution, by the way, because I always get overly philosphical around New Years, is to be more careful with my own heart and other people`s hearts. Happy New Year.

Still in Colombia?

2004-12-26T13:08:00.000-08:00

Waking up in familiar Taganga, with loud Ballanato music playing from one side, reggae from the other, merely steps from my own beach. I walk down to the beach for my twice-daily fresh fruit juices with names like Nispero-MaracuyÃ or Borojo or Zapote-Corumba, served blended with ice in a bucket. not a cup. a bucket. My Colombian visa expired about a week ago and I am going to deal with this soon. Chilling, partying, swimming, and scuba diving with my good friend Carlos, whom I met in Buenos Aires, although he lives in San Francisco and goes to Burning Man and we have friends in common even. He only has a few weeks here in Colombia and wants to see a bit of it, so who am I to blow against the wind?

We just returned from a Scuba Safari, where we lived on a deserted carribean beach in Parque Nacional de Tayrona for 3 days, scuba diving and building bonfires and eating good food and kayaking and snorkelling. I got to go and dive (remember, I`m broke?) in exchange forn cooking and cleaning. Not a bad deal, eh?

Anyways, we`re off either tomorrow night or Tuesday morning, com certeza, to Venezuela, where we`ll be heading to Isla Margarita for New Years, hopefully Taal and Elana (already there) have found a place for us all to stay. Otherwise... Who needs to sleep?

But then again, if Carlos doesn`t want to leave yet... it wouldn`t be that hard to convince me to stay in Colombia. Damn, I love this country.

¨Where is the gold at the end of your rainbow?¨

2004-12-20T18:39:00.000-08:00

One year ago today, I made possibly the best decision of my life. Jumped out of an airplane with a parachute in California, packed my bag, and a few hours later, walked out of the airport into the Amazon Jungle in Manaus, Brazil. It`s been a year to the day that I boarded that plane with a one-way ticket to South America, and only now, still learning to salsa in Colombia, I don`t view this as an accomplishment, where I could ¨close¨ some metaphorical ¨door¨ on this ¨chapter¨ of my life, but rather as a huge humungous door (possibly made of chocolate), that is just beginning to be pried open.
366 Days (thanks Feb. 29th!), 9 countries (will be 10 in 2 days), 2 languages, 2 bad haircuts resulting in needing to shave my head, llama steak, fried ants, grilled rabbit, guinea pig, fried intestines (all edible), and llama fetuses (not edible... i think), 0 robberies or violent situations, 1 near arrest/detention (damn Paraguay), 3 names (Jonathan, Jonny, and sometimes Jhon-a-ton), 1 advanced scuba diver certification, only one piece of clothing left that I began my trip with, wonderful new friends, more doors open in my life than closed, experiences enough to fill a few books (in progress), and no regrets.
This year has given me, among everything else, innumerable perspective. Certain unnamed people were and still are confused or opposed to the path I choose to follow. I have a hard time responding to this. ¨Where is the gold at the end of your rainbow?¨ somebody very close to me recently asked. My only reply is that I am not looking for gold. If I was, I`d be working in a lab. Lines do not have to be the easiest distance between points A and B, and I have found far more interesting things at rainbow ends than gold. I smile and watch the sun set over the Carribean, it rained a bit earlier today and there is a bright rainbow hitting the hills to the south. Reggaeton music is blaring, fishermen come in with full nets, children are playing futebol, scuba divers are testing equiptment, birds are chasing other birds which are chasing snakes which are chasing their tails, beautiful women are dancing salsa on the beach only because there is music playing, and every day is a new starting point.
This is so much better than gold.

Rainy Colombian Afternoon

2004-12-09T14:25:00.000-08:00

Back in Bogota, after my vacation to the Colombian Coast. Scuba Diving and hiking and rumbas and fried fish and fresh fruit juice and playas and friends and... It`s really cold here (unlike the swealtering ¨I want to take off all my clothes and go swimming in the clear Carribean ocean¨ coast), but it feels good to be back. It´s rainy but alive and I could live here for quite a long time. But alas, teaching Portuguese isn`t as fruitful monetarily as I had hoped, and I have decided, rather than sleep on cold wet Colombian streets, to move back to Sao Paulo and work.
Life is exciting these days, I`ve achieved an interesting balance bewteen discovery and familiarity, and I`m going to miss Colombia a lottt. But I know I will be back.
In other news, I have a new website (which you are currently reading), I put a bunch of my fotos from the last year online (see links on the left), and the FauxHawk is back. with a vengence.