Interesting. Every day, Wikipedia has a featured article on its homepage. Today’s article is on the Japanese martial art, Aikido. As I have written before, I used to study Yoshinkan Aikido, but I haven’t trained for quite a while.
Shinjuku. It has its own beauty.
Update: It’s late, so I just planned on posting this picture and going to bed. But looking at this picture, I just remembered that the very first blog post I ever wrote, on blogger.com, I used a picture almost like this one. That was back in May of 2005, I believe, and we had just had a pretty strong earthquake. I was in Yodobashi Camera, a huge electronics store that you can’t see in this picture. It’s in that area, to the right, a couple blocks behind those buildings. Unfortunately, I lost that early blog post (as I explained in my first post), but I will never forget the experience. It was a Saturday, and the trains were really messed up because of the earthquake. I had finished teaching, but it took me hours to get home. I remember riding the Chuo Line, which skips some stations, and seeing tons of people just sitting down on the station platform, waiting for the local train to come. One of my friends was trying to get to a friend’s wedding. I can only imagine what a fiasco that must have been. When the earthquake hit, the clerks at Yodobashi guided frightened customers to the exits. But I remember thinking there was no way I was going to go outside. I would rather be hit by a camera bag or a package of batteries than by a falling billboard! 
I recently updated the website, which broke the sitemap page. If you have checked it recently, you might have noticed it was blank! I just fixed it, so you can once again easily access any page on this site. To access the sitemap, click here or on the “Sitemap” link at the top of every page.
I’ve seen this a million times, but never like this! 
I took this in Shinjuku, on January 2nd. I still have some more pics (including a bunch of Christmas lights!) from that day to put up. I’ll try to get them up in the next day or so, when I have time.
If you have ever considered a DSLR camera, especially a Nikon, here is a good introductory article from Mike Davidson. He discusses how to choose a camera and lens, and why you shouldn’t worry too much about megapixels. This is pretty basic info, but well-written.
I agree with his praise of Nikon’s 50mm f/1.8 prime lens. Although I sometimes find myself wishing I could zoom in/out for a shot, it is a very sharp, fast, and powerful lens–and cheap! I still have a long way to go before I can really take full advantage of what it offers, but I agree it is an incredible value. Personally, i would recommend that anyone considering a Nikon DSLR skip the kit lens and go with the 50mm. Then, you can always add lenses later.
BTW, I have a flickr set of pics that I have taken with that 50mm lens here. It’s constantly being updated, so check back often or subscribe to the feed for my pictures and never miss them!
Here are the snow pictures I promised. I took these near Ichigaya Station, in Tokyo, after my morning class. There’s a Tully’s that I go to sometimes. I had coffee and read for a while. Then, when it was getting close to time to go to my next lesson, I took a few pictures of the small playground and shrine by the coffee shop.
It was snowing and pretty cold, so I didn’t stay out too long, but I managed to take a few shots. Can you believe I had been meaning to go up and look a at the shrine for a long time, but I never did until the day it was snowing? Needless to say, I plan on going back again, and taking more pictures.
But here are a few I took at the height of the snowstorm. (If you can call it that!)
You wouldn’t know it by listening to everyone around here whine about how cold it is, but we have had a relatively mild winter so far. We have had a few cold days, and it does get cold at night, but it is nothing like what my friends and family back home have been going through!
Yesterday (Wednesday, January 23, 2008), we finally got some snow. I had heard we might get some snow, but I was sure it wouldn’t amount to anything. Sure enough, it snowed all morning, but it failed to stick. All morning, the HUGE flakes fell; by afternoon, they had changed into light rain.
For me, it’s been the last couple days. Yesterday and today (especially yesterday) just seemed like nothing could go my way. But I managed to get a really big work project finished this afternoon, so that is a huge weight off my shoulders.
I am so tired. But I wanted to share this picture. I took it on the train at Sendagaya Station, in Tokyo, while we were stopped. I thought it really looked like how I felt.
You have to have a sense of humor, even when Murphy’s Law is prevailing…
(This is the first of a two-part series on RSS feeds, written especially for a few friends and family members who are unfamiliar with what RSS is, and how it can help them manage their time online. Part One introduces RSS feeds. In Part Two, I will describe some of the most popular programs that allow you to take advantage of this technology.)
I have been meaning for a long time to talk about RSS Feeds, and why I strongly recommend that more people take advantage of them, but I keep putting it off. It has always seemed like such a daunting task, and so many other people have done it better already. Today, I’m going to give you a basic introduction, and if you are interested, I will direct you to a few additional sources of information. (See below)
Do you still go to each website, or maybe keep a list of bookmarks that you like to visit a few times a week? How 1999! 
There is a better way. What if I told you that, instead of wasting time going to your favorite sites to check for new updates, you could let that information come to you?
And it’s even easier to use than email.
Well, last night (Thursday, 1/17), when I got home and pulled my computer out of my bag, I realized that I had left my power cord at my high school. So guess where I went this morning? 
Yep, I had to go all the way to my high school, just to get my power cord! That was a waste of about two hours. But luckily I got it, and made it to my other lessons. Then, when I finished, as I was getting of the elevator with everyone, i realized I had left my bag in the classroom. So I went back up to the 6th floor and grabbed it. Then I hurried home.
I hope all of you have a great day. On days like this, I am not safe to be out and about!
Update: I also forgot that I wanted to say this is not the first time I forgot something and had to make an extra trip to retrieve it. There was also this time last year.
