One Cast for Kerry...

Totally dejected about never having received my absentee ballot, I resigned myself today to the fact that I just wasn't going to be able to vote. I thought I had done everything right-- I even requested my absentee ballot months ago! But, after reading further instructions today, I realized that I had only faxed in a request for my ballot. I didn't realize that I had to mail it too. And unless I forked over a small fortune to overnight the thing, it would never arrive on time. So I thought I was totally f$#*ed. I rationalized, "Well, I did get Jake to change his mind while he was here. That means one less for Bush and one more for Kerry. That's like 2 votes, so that means in a way I voted." I still felt guilty.

Well, while I was finishing up a meeting today, my boss burst in with her usual dramatic flair and proclaimed, "I have a special public service announcement. Jocelyn, you can vote at the embassy. Get your skates on and go NOW! Do the world a favor!" Haha, so I ran down, flagged a taxi, and off to the embassy I went. I felt like they had been waiting for me! I handed security my bag... "I'm here to vote!" The guard urged me along, "They're closing right now! Hurry up and run!" and shuffled me inside. I received an FWAB (Federal Write-in Absentee Ballot), filled out a Fed-Ex slip, and minutes later, my vote was couriered off to Pennsylvania overnight FOR FREE! Now THAT is service!!

I have no doubt now-- John Kerry is our next President !!

Fishing season...?

Well this has been an uneventful week... a full work week of long hours, highlighted only by another "WORST" typhoon to hit Tokyo in a decade. Isn't rainy season over?!

I wish I had something more interesting to say, but all I can do is brace you for an interesting update after the weekend. Just when I thought the pool had dried up and I had to go fishing again, 2 dates have popped up.

JC's DATE UPDATE--Tomorrow night another go with Frenchy #3... we got on so well together I figured he deserves a second chance-- but if I'm not feeling it, I definitely have to make it clear somehow that I'm only interested in being friends-- any suggestions? I am so not good at this sort of thing.

The next date on Saturday night is with the British rugby player/attorney that I met at B's sayonara party (see entry on October 4). Well, I have heard from 2 reliable sources that this guy is not only a rugby player, but a PLAYA-- so I'm not sure how I feel about it. Also, he waited like 2 weeks to ask me out! But I think I will give him the benefit of the doubt, at least until date #1 when we see what this is really all about.

Funny update-- Aussie boy (aka First Kitchen date) mailed me the other night (after maybe 2? 3? weeks) saying, "why the long silence? don't you want to talk to me anymore?" I mailed back saying "Hey what's up" to be polite, but I don't think I'll be wasting my time on this one.
And finally, Frenchy will be here in just about 2 weeks!!! The suspense is ridiculous... I just keep wondering how I'll feel when I see him, and how he'll feel, and what it will be like to be face-to-face with him again, when really I need to start bracing myself for disappointment. Let's be realistic now. Of course we'll probably have a great time, and then he'll be back to London, I'll be here, and it's no fairy tale ending.

More details to come...

A French twist...

EEEEEKKKK!!!
From Frenchy:

you still serious about having me at your place ? looks like FX's gonna be
busy

Enough said. I'm freaking out.

Making connections...

I guess I'll start with Friday's date with Frenchy 3. (he's climbing the ranks, folks) We were meeting for a french dinner in Akasaka, but I got off work a bit early, so stopped into my favorite watering hole (Hobgoblin Akasaka) for a beer. Of course, the bartender is a good friend of mine, which usually means he gives me a little more than a beer at very low cost (meaning free). So maybe it had to do with the fact that even before I met up with the poor guy I was already a bit red in the face. But hey wait! I'm at the station waiting for Frenchy 3, and who is this guy walking toward me? Apparently Frenchy 3 doesn't always wear glasses and even does his hair kind of cool/spiky sometimes...!? Anyway, he looked cute! Dinner was good and then after we went back to Hobgoblin for more free drinks, and Frenchy 3 was well entertained by the manager there, who is also French but doesn't like to admit it. He actually thinks that there should be no countries-- we are all earthlings, so in fact, this should just be one earthling planet of peace. It gets better- the first time I met this man, his eye was swollen like the size of a baseball because he had spent 4 months snorting vodka and absynthe. I kid you not. The look on Frenchy 3's face was priceless when he heard this! So, again, I really like this guy's personality, and he is starting to grow on me... (maybe??) or else he is when I have a few drinks in me... shit! I guess maybe we should go on a non-alcoholic date sometime. Anyway, he is definitely a real sweetie, but I'm not getting anywhere even close to associated/involved with anyone until after the Frenchy visit (in less than 2 weeks).

Which brings me to my next interesting point. So all along I have been saying how I keep meeting people connected to him. Well this one takes the cake. This weekend we just figured out that Px's friend M, who I have also become friends with, knows him as well. Her best friend is Frenchy's Japanese ex-girlfriend, who he dated right before me. So I got some great scoop, including things like, "oh wait-- you mean he didn't dump her like he said he did because she was boring and annoying!? SHE actually dumped HIM because HE was boring and annoying and selfish and acted like a child!?" Seems that Frenchy had his pride hurt a little bit more than he let on to me. I've been telling him when I meet someone he also knows, but for this one, I think I'll just wait until he gets here and sees M's picture all over our apartment. The look on his face could be worth the wait.

The rest of the weekend was spent with friends, including a good friend I studied with at Nagoya who I hadn't seen yet. I was with her during the freaking HUGE ASS earthquake, all FOUR of them in fact! Quite unnerving... they came right in a row, and in the center of it, which was in Niigata, it rated a 6! When I got home, Px was freaking out, which was quite funny to watch, though I know, P, one day your earthquake kits will save my life. Anyway, Saturday I never heard from the English dude who had asked me out for Saturday night, so he gets the write off. I did, however, see none other than First Kitchen Aussie boy handing out water Saturday at the Race for the Cure. He looked good, as always, and I managed to keep a polite and smiling face while making small talk with him. The things I do for charity...

Here's a pic from Saturday night at our place...

Px is wearing a princess tiara from the breast cancer walk. We were the "princess team" and all wore pink crowns. Very fitting. Then we have M, my oneichan and informant of Frenchy and his lying past, Satoshi my new and first Japanese guy friend who Px met through family friends in Brisbane, and finally Matt-o my best guy friend and American partner in crime. Highlights included shoecreams in various creamy flavors, Px's delish dinner (as always), 4 bottles of wine mysteriously emptying themselves, and Orgazmo, a must-see work of motion picture art by the creators of South Park.

Pretty princess pic from the walk...

Playing tour guide...

(pics from my weekend with Jake)

That was this weekend. Jake, my friend / first serious boyfriend from high school came to visit on his way back to California from a business trip to Shanghai. He's a chemical engineer with AbleStick Laboratories (no, I'm not joking, that's really the name of his lab, which fyi, makes semi-conductors, not babies!).

Jake was my first visitor in Tokyo and it was his first time to Japan, so we had to make it a fun weekend in a limited amount of time. I must say I had a great time being a tourist again. I hadn't gone to see anything new since I've been back, because I figured I would do it when I got visitors. So here was my chance. But WOW, I almost forgot how tiring it was to play tour guide/translator... answering questions, being up early to get in a full day after staying out late to show off Tokyo nightlife... intense but fun! Here are some highlights:
Tsukiji Market... I have never felt so uncomfortable around "food" in my entire life. Fish EVERYWHERE, beady eyes bulging out at you from their styrofoam crypt, one minute flopping around, next minute, BEHEADED!

It was like watching mass murderers go after their victims-- but very tasty victims. We ate the best sushi I've ever had afterwards (after waiting 2 1/2 hours to get in... apparently there was a festival in town that I didn't know about).

Imperial Palace Grounds... I had already been here so it wasn't that big of a deal. I do feel like that area, though, is not like real Tokyo. It almost reminds of Washington D.C.-- that very manicured, almost artificial landscape dotted by government buildings. Great running area, though. I wish I lived closer so I could run around there, and then I wouldn't have to pay an arm and a leg to join Tipness every month.

Yasukuni Jinja... obviously a place of great controversy, as the prime minister of Japan continues to visit it every year to pay homage to the war criminals buried here. The Chinese and Koreans do not appreciate it! I don't really know enough about the topic to have strong feelings either way, but I found that even though I want to buy my mom an omamori, I didn't want to buy it at this shrine. I think I was subconsciously biased. Anyway, there is a beautiful garden there, though, and it reminded me that I should come out and take advantage of these places more. It captures what I love about Tokyo-- a very secluded, serene, beautiful garden-- when you are there, you feel like there is no other place in the entire world... yet, if you look up, there is a Tokyo TV or radio tower rising high into the sky. But the images don't conflict-- in fact, they simply illustrate what Tokyo is, a mixture of old and new in the most extreme ways finding a nice harmony together.

The day had to end with a huge group dinner at an izakaya in Shibuya and nijikai at Shidax, the karaoke mecca of Tokyo. We were on the Mermaid floor, and diva-ed out the usuals, Genie in a Bottle, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, Lady Marmalade (w/ my duet partner Px), I Will Survive, etc.

Px and I decided we need to expand our repertoire, though, so we're going to find a boring day and go practice on our own during the day! haha, we are such dorks! But Px has an amazing voice-- Toxic made its debut, and we think it's a keeper. We also had some oldies but goodies because M.'s parent were in from Scotland and came along... I might add they are the cutest older married couple ever! And if I was only listening to her father, I would have thought he was William Wallace (or Mel Gibson in Braveheart). Gotta love the Scottish accent.
We finished off today dashing around Meiji Jingu, Yoyogi Koen, Harajuku and Omotesando, and PHEW! it's my bedtime! Work is going to be super busy tomorrow AND I have to be there early.... iyada.

Bye bye B...

Pics from B's Sayonara Party!! and...
the night before B left us-- my present to him-- a "yellow fever" t-shirt. he has it-- you know you do too! Me? I'm sporting the ADPi comfort look.

This weekend was L's birthday/housewarming party... L is the American girl I randomly met at a bar and became friends with, and after a 1/2 hour of conversing, it came up that she is friends with Frenchy. Small world! Next to her is my Japanese friend Y... we hang out a lot, and it's how I will "leberu-uppu" my Japanese :)

The worst idea ever...

Darling B. left Px and I his "mama-chari," aka his bike with the little basket that you ride to the grocery store, the station, etc. Only thing was, we had to pick it up at his place, which is maybe 1/2 hour ride from our house. No big deal at all, right?

Except how and when to complete this PITA task... we would have to subway to Nishi-Koyama, get the bike and then one of us would ride the train home and one of us would ride the bike... and figure out how in the world to get back using actual roads as opposed to train lines.
And... to accomplish this task before the bike ended up being stolen from its resting place. Theft is a rare occurrence in Japan, but bikes are probably one of the more "stealable" objects, and PLEASE-- Px and I have been waiting for this mama-chari for ages (it even has a COVERED basket!!). So we decided today would be the day...

Unfortunately, we made this decision IN THE MIDDLE OF A TYPHOON!!! Well, there was a break in the rain, and I thought Px really wanted to go today, and she on the other hand thought that I really wanted to go today, so in the midst of our miscommunication, we stupidly went. We got directions from the Koban (police box), and ventured into Nishi Koyama, and found the bike at B's secure, though looking slightly depressed from the shit weather it was made to endure. Unfortunately, by that time, it was POURING, and Px and I were made to weather the shit rain as well. She didn't want to leave me to find my way back home by myself, so we had a splendid idea-- we would return through the storm together-- she would ride the bike and I would jog home.

So we did this-- we rode/jogged almost an HOUR home in the middle of the typhoon. I was wearing a rain coat, but had on jeans and my Puma sneaks, and well, after 10 minutes, I was soaked right through to the bone. No need for a hood, a rain jacket, or any other rain gear, because it only sopped up an extra 10 pounds of water for me to carry with me on my jog. Honestly, all I wanted to do was take off my pants, which were sticking to me and preventing me from even moving my legs in a stride that would take me any distance at any speed-- I didn't, of course, but it wouldn't have mattered anyway... everyone was staring at these crazy soaking wet idiots biking/jogging through the typhoon anyway. Only stopping to a.) get a plastic bag from 711 to wrap up my almost ruined passport and b.) to get under cover once because the rain was stinging my eyeballs, we eventually made it home with the cursed mama-chari.

This was the WORST idea in the world, especially after I found out that this is the WORST typhoon to hit the Kanto region in the past TEN YEARS! How will I remember it? Running an hour through the blinding rain for a bicycle with a covered basket and a faulty right brake. GOD BLESS JAPAN.

Ladies...

Amanda has accepted her nomination! So proud to call her my best friend!

(by the way, this is Halloween. We may be crazy but we don't always dress like devil and bunny, despite all of your sexual fantasies)...

Amanda's Platform:

I proudly accept my nomination to President of the I HATE BOYS Club. If elected your president, I will do my best to further the interest of red-blooded, man-hating women everywhere. For those of you unfamiliar with my platform, please rest assured that I am working for YOU! Once I am elected, I can promise:

1) Men will be forced to talk about their emotions. New legislation will makeit a crime punishable by castration to make a woman feel that her emotions are outlandish or silly. An aggrevated form of this crime occurs when the man in question is feeling the same thing as the woman, and punishment in this casewill be accompanied by immediate balding.

2) Men will respect women. This goes beyond simply not abusing them physically and/or emotionally. They will consider our opinions without rolling their eyes, and they will return our phone calls, emails, and other correspondence within 36 hours. If these conditions are not met, the man will be placed in an all white room, with no form of contact to the outside world, until his depth perception is proven to decay to such levels that the female guard only lets him out because it is fun to watch him repeatedly walk into walls.

3) Men will actually be required to do as they say. Any man found to be inviolation of this rule will be forced to watch every episode of Oprah everrecorded, in marathon form.

4) Men will be required to put women's sexual needs in at least an equalposition (no pun intended!) with their own. Any man found to be in violationof this rule will be forced to watch every episode of Sex and the City everrecorded, in marathon form.

5) Men will be forced to ask for directions when lost. If found in violation,the man will be forced to stare at various maps of the world for 30 days or the until madness sets in, whichever comes later. If the man issues a complaint, the man is simply to be reminded that he "wanted to find himself."

For more information on these initiatives, and many, many more, please visit my website at http://www.amandaforchange.com/. For general information on the I HATE BOYS Club, please go to http://www.ihateboysclub.org/. Don't forget to hit the polls in November!

Thanks for you help, Amanda
*Amanda for Change...because if they can send a man to the moon, they can send them ALL there!*

Members: (BEWARE, they are known to go crazy)

The VP Debate...

Taking advantage of some boring accounting task at work, I plugged in the headphones and continued my discreet debate tracking...

Verdict? Though I hate to say it, I was a bit disappointed in Edwards' performance. It wasn't bad by any means-- nowhere near as bad as Bush's in debate 1, but I think I expected him to get up there and outshine Cheney with his courtroom debate skills and southern charm. In actuality, I tend to agree with this guy Chris Matthews of MSNBC Hardball:

"I think the analogy would be a water pistol against a machine gun. Every
once in a while, Edwards would take a squirt at the vice president, and then the
vice president would just turn the Howitzer on the guy."

There were a few points where Edwards got him-- Cheney never really successfully refuted arguments about his lack of support for sanctions on Iran, or his ultra-conservative voting record:

"When he (Cheney) was one of 435 members of the United States House, he was one of 10 to vote against Head Start, one of four to vote against banning plastic
weapons that can pass through metal detectors. He voted against the
Department of Education. He voted against funding for Meals on Wheels for
seniors. He voted against a holiday for Martin Luther King. He voted
against a resolution calling for the release of Nelson Mandela in South Africa,"

(awful stuff!) for example.

But on the other hand, Cheney made Edwards sound like he was in the wrong ballpark, several times-- his inaccurate figures on the budget for Iraq, his attendance record at the Senate (ouch, that one really hurt!), and the Kerry-Edwards flip-flop on Iraq after Howard Dean was running the primaries on an anti-war campaign.

I don't think it will undo Kerry's win from the previous debate, and perhaps my expectations for Edwards were just very high. For his first national debate, he was not by any means shabby. But I guess for Dick, 12 more years of "wisdom" and a few heart attacks can give a guy some punch.

Frenchy #3 and more...

Friday's "date" was refreshing compared to the last.

Good points-- I must say that the Frenchies are quite good with treating a lady (at least for the first few dates) so I have no complaints. We went to dinner at a popular izakaya in Shibuya and then to a few bars afterwards and ended up staying out until around 4am. Conversation was good (and went on one-on-one for a good SEVEN HOURS or so!), despite the French accent, which was quite strong, but I guess I've grown accustomed to it by now (and like it!).

But there are drawbacks-- As we're conversing, of course it also came up that we knew the same people, for instance Frenchy #2, which I already knew, and THE Frenchy as well. He was noticeably surprised when after a while I mentioned that he was my ex. He then invited me to a Frenchy party Saturday night, but I couldn't attend because of B's sayonara party, which was probably a good thing. I didn't really want to be seen among all of Frenchy's friends "with" Frenchy #3. So, the "connections" don't make for a good situation either. In fact, I think dating other Frenchies just makes me miss the real Frenchy even more. I am beginning to wonder if I will just compare every guy I date to Frenchy until I get over him (there was only one who I didn't, and that of course was Mr. Sweden, which was impossible as well...). And in that case, am I just wasting my time going out with anyone else?

Maybe after my next date I will see, hehe. Saturday night at B's farewell party I met a British rugby player turned attorney at a big investment bank. Very cute, 30, and interested. He asked me out and I gave him my card, so now the waiting game begins. God this is a never-ending cycle.

B is leaving tomorrow morning, and though I've only known him a short time, I am genuinely really going to miss him. He is seriously one of the most amazing guys I have ever met-- gorgeous, brilliant, incredible personality-- he needs to be cloned for every single deserving woman out there.

He is staying at our place tonight and Px is cooking a "last supper" in Japan for him.
Hmm, all sad faces though honestly, that is not how I generally feel! Maybe it's the cold rainy Monday weather getting to me....