A Million Vacations

It's Sunday, December 22, 1991, and unlike today in 2012, I am in a good mood. Too much went according to plan - and it wasn't my plan.

I've been in good moods and bad moods while living in Japan.

The only thing that puts me in a bad mood are women. Actually, I don't know if that is correct. It's not a bad mood... it's  a sad mood.

I've just left behind Ashley, who has gone home for the holidays - and she managed to piss me off while doing so.

And while I do get angry, I find that I actually am sad that things aren't working out, and pray to whatever gods there are out there who might be listening to please don't let my life be this way. (2012 Andrew: It is).

But, in 1991, despite women problems, I am ever the optimist, knowing that that glass is half-full. Screw 2012 Andrew and his reversal of fortune. With any luck, I'll be dead by the time it hits 2012.

The 1991 Andrew may be optimistic, but he's also a dick.

I'm a junior high school assistant English teacher (AET) on the Japan Exchange & Teaching (JET) Programme. I arrived in Japan in late July of 1990, and have now been living here in Ohtawara-shi (Ohtawara City), Tochigi-ken (Tochigi Prefecture), Japan for about 17 months now.   

I'm heading to Singapore with my good friend and fellow AET James Jimmy Jive Dalton. I actually call him James.

James is perhaps the funniest, nuttiest person I have ever met. He always has a smile on his face. He's always helpful and kind towards others. He wants to be liked and does his best to ensure that it is happening. He is considerate of other people's feelings. He's a taller, more slender and whiter version of me.
It's how I know he is covering up for a bunch of insecurities a mile deep.

Why would I say something as stupid as that?

Simple. Despite his bravado, physical comedic genius, charm and wit, and decent looks... he's actually quite shy.

He's like I used to be. He obviously likes women... but he's afraid of rejection...
And... because misery loves company... when I am around James... I become a darker version of him. (Darker, not like a Darth Vader-thing. I mean because I have brown skin).

So... the two ass clowns of Tochigi-ken's JET participants are going to Singapore. We already know that we will have a good time, but we won't do anything crazy. Unless, like in Thailand, I find two women that want to screw each other as much as they want to screw me. Since it happened before, it could happen again, right?

Play the video below and read on while it plays in the background!

James and I leave his home-town of Mamada, taking the slow train down to Ueno-eki (Ueno station) in Tokyo and then hop a train to Narita Airport in Chiba-ken (Chiba Prefecture).

We meet mutual AET buddy Tim down there - and we all chat a bit before parting.

Our flight is at 6PM. As we go to sign in, about 10-minutes before take-off, I do not have a seat.

Apparently I got bumped.

But a few moments later, myself and somewhat hefty lady and I bitched and bitched and bitched to the airline... and it worked.

You have to try, eh. You never know what will happen if you don't at least try.  

As it turns out, the two squeaky wheels sat beside each other on the airplane. She was very nice. Her name was pat and she was a writer. Figures. I guess all of us writers have a big mouth and attitudes to match.

She and her friend Karen were going the same route as James and I... but I'm sure they had their own agenda, and I am not one to force myself upon them, unless they really would like us to accompany them - besides... James is asleep and I'm not making a decision without talking to my traveling buddy.

Pat wrote freelance for some vacation magazines. That's so cool. I wish I could do that, but I doubt I have a style any magazine would ever want. She and Karen seem to have traveled everywhere.

The flight is somewhat enjoyable, and I don't suffer any inner ear pain as I did when I first arrived in Japan from Canada or when I traveled from Thailand with my mom back to Japan.

As boring as this all seems to be... I'm going to leave off right here. I'll finish the rest of this tomorrow.

How interesting this is to 2012 Andrew. Here he was presented the concept of being a travel writer back in 1991, and he thought he wasn't good enough to do it. In 2012, not only am a magazine writer in my day job, but I've written comic books, television scripts (someone buy them!) for shows my friend Deb and I have fleshed out, and I've even written a play (wordless) that was performed in Japan, and write this blog, a second one detailing things that I hate, and even a third one that is a survival guide for men (which I'm sure you can see down to the right under "blogs I follow"). And yet... I was either too afraid to try and be a writer, or simply lacked self-confidence in myself.

All pretty strange considering I seem so full of myself when it comes to getting laid. You have to remember... less than 17 months ago, I was a virgin living at home in the basement of my parent's house watching re-runs of Star Trek. I may have some confidence, but confidence can be a fragile thing... easy enough to lose when one feels rejected... which is what I feel right now.

Ashley, Junko... and many more... do I push people away?

And that's probably why James and I are friends. Two ass clowns that enjoy making people laugh and feel good, but have a difficult time actually feeling it themselves.

Screw that. Maybe James and I will have some decent adventures on this trip. You know we will. This is me, afterall.

I'm a weirdness magnet.

At least, even when things screw up or don't go my way, it's never a dull adventure.

Somewhere full of angst,
Andrew Joseph         
In the telephone card up above, that's James Dalton on the left, mutual buddy Colin McKay in the middle, and yours truly Andrew Joseph. James is from Stoney Creek, Ont., Colin from Calgary, Alberta, and I'm from Toronto. Apparently we are pointing to each other as in: I'm with stupid. I'm outnumbered 2-1. Dammit. As well, apparently in the photo, I am growing my hair - it's in a ponytail - but it's still not quite long enough in the front. Aw... those awkward teenaged years when you are 27.
Today's blog title is by iconic Canadian rocker Kim Mitchell. He still rocks on, but also does a day gig as the afternoon DJ on Q107 radio station.  

No Fun

It’s Saturday, December 21, 1991. I’m alone in bed for what feels like the first time in months. It feels good. It feel strange. I don’t like it.

Since I arrived here in Ohtawara-shi (Ohtawara City), Tochigi-ken (Tochigi Prefecture), Japan back in the summer of 1991 nearly 17 months ago, I’ve been lucky with women.

It’s the complete opposite of what things were like for me before back in Toronto, but then again, I’ve kind of re-invented myself over the past few years from a shy, nerdy kid to a shy nerdy kid who is pretending to be an extrovert.

I think I’ve fooled everyone but myself. Or... maybe I have grown since arriving here. Maybe I am more confident. One can actually start to believe one’s own lies until it becomes the new reality. Maybe I am more extroverted – not completely of course.

I still like my secrets.

Now in 2012, I recall my mother telling me back in 1990 before I left for Japan that it’s good to be open with everyone, but it is still important to keep some secrets – secrets that you might share with some people, but not everyone. It seems strange to recall those words of my mother now passed from this mortal coil nearly 18 years ago... especially as I do my own tell-all via this blog. Man, I miss her.

It’s true you know. Boys/men would like to find a woman like their mother. Mine was charming, pretty, smart, and above all funny. I’ve been told I’m a masculine version of that... but I’m not smart enough to believe it.

Back to 1991.

The phone rings at 9:30AM. I’m racing out of bed, for some reason, to answer it. I already know who it is. It’s Ashley.

She’s at the train station and is heading back to Georgia to see her parents. Matthew has already left for Binghampton, NY earlier.

Everyone has gone or is going home for Christmas.

I’m not.

Last year, Matthew & I spent Christmas and New Year’s here in Ohtawara. Not many AETs (assistant English teachers) on the JET (Japan Exchange & Teaching) Programme tend to do that, as they use Japan as a stepping stone to go and visit other countries. Last year, Ashley went to Thailand. I was supposed to go, but we had a massive fight. I lost., as usual, and stayed in Japan.

Ashley has called to apologize for her behavior last night, saying she should have let me spend the night considering we were both freezing during the five minute bike ride from the train station to her place – and I had another 30 minute bike ride ahead of me to get back to Ohtawara.

Yeah... she should have let me stay – especially when I asked nicely. It was her birthday, and I guess she didn’t want me around. No big deal. It doesn’t matter that I bought her dinner and drinks when she was out with her friends. We aren’t a couple anymore.

By the way.... have you, as a man, ever watched how women are when it’s time for a bill to be paid? Cheap! Calculators come out to calculate the tip to the freaking yen. I don’t care. I know you aren’t supposed to tip here in Japan, but I do anyway. They can be insulted all they like, but aside from belching, providing a good tip is the best way to show that you appreciated the attention shown you by the serving staff.

Her apology doesn’t make me feel any better, as I have a tendency to never forget a slight, no matter how small. That’s my own tragic flaw in my character. God forgives. I don’t. Unless there’s a chance I could get laid, in which case, I just put the ‘slight’ away until I am done.

Hey. This blog is cheaper than a psychiatrist.

After she wishes me a Merry Christmas et al and says she will see me when she comes back, I pack up my own clothes and toiletries and ride back out to the train station.

I take a slow JR (Japan Rail) train down to Mamada – a small Podunk of a town and meet James Jimmy Jive Dalton.

We go out for some Japanese food – neither of us can cook real Japanese food – and then watch Scrooged on a video tape of his.

We both get the craps and pass out asleep at 11:30PM.

Even in his sleep, James keeps farting.

I can’t stop giggling at how ridiculous it is. Zzzzzzzzzz-braaaaaaap-zzzzzzzzz. The cacophony coming out of both ends of James last for 15 minutes before I turn over, let out something quiet but deadly and hope that I still have a live traveling companion tomorrow morning.

We’re going to Singapore.

Somewhere looking forward to having fun,
Andrew Joseph
Today’s blog title is by The Stooges, led by Iggy Stooge now know as Iggy Pop who reinvented himself as required. The Stooges are, to me, one of the earliest punk rock groups along with the MC5.

Catching Up With Andrew in Japan

Before we get back to the world of me - the adventures of Andrew Joseph, I thought a little backgrounded may be in order for all of you new readers.

This blog involving my wonderful rife, takes part for the most part in the small agrarian city of Ohtawara-shi--which translates into English as 'Big-Rice Field-Field City', just in case you thought I was making up that agrarian-thing--Tochigi-ken (Tochigi Prefecture), Japan. I lived there starting in late July of 1990 as a junior high school assistant English teacher (AET) on the JET (Japan Exchange & Teaching) Programme team-teaching with a Japanese teacher of English (JTE).

I, despite constant moaning and groaning here in these blogs, love Japan. Not only because I lost my virginity here as a 25-year-old and then became a sex stud (my own not-so humble opinion), but rather because I got out a lot and experienced a wipe array of sights, sounds and smells. I got out and met and befriended many Japanese folk - male, female in a wide range of ages and occupations, traveled a fair bit within the country - but unfortunately not every where. I love the culture, the food, the drink and the personality of the people, which, to be perfectly honest, really wasn't all that different from what I saw back home in Toronto, Canada. 

Screw the stereotypes (though they do exist in one fashion or another), Japan was my home. And home is where the heart is.

Having said all that, this blog is now at Wednesday November 13, 1991 - I believe it is my 481st day here in Japan, and Andrew is not all that happy. Hey, I'm human... despite what you may have heard. Most of it deals with a lack of respect from some of my fellow gaijin (foreigners) who aren't my friends (because I don't know them... hmmm... I guess 20 years later I have a reason why there is no respect), or from my woman troubles.

It beats me why a man who travel all the way to Japan to date an American woman, but that is just what I did. Ashley Benning was and perhaps is 20 years later (I don't know) a super cute chick. She's a couple of years younger than me, but is sharp as she is pretty. There. I said it. It must be true. Aside from her being the first woman to want to sleep with me, we got along pretty well - when we weren't fighting.

I guess she was a loner - or perhaps very quiet and introspective. I was too until I arrived here in Ohtawara, but I said screw that noise and reinvented myself as an out-going extrovert. As such, I would tell you exactly how I was feeling or what I was doing, and was probably the inspiration of the stupid saying "too much information". I call it stupid because it's not too much information. It's simply one person teling another (or in the case of this blog) some 10- to 15,000 readers a month what's going on.

I tell it like it is here. If I look like a jerk, so be it. I try NOT to put words into other people's mouth or thoughts, but instead express my on views on how their actions or in-actions affect me. That's fair, right? I've only changed the name of one person in this blog - at her request... and I asked her about it first. Though I haven't seen her in 18 years, she is still one of my favorite people on this planet.

Ashley, Matthew Hall, James 'Jimmy Jive' Dalton', Colin McKay (you'll meet hm soon enough) are some of the gaijin contingent I like very much and hang around with. Matthew (from upstate New York), U.S., who teaches junior high to schools in the outskirts of this city, lives five minutes away from me in Ohtawara; Ashley (from Augusta, Georgia, U.S.) is a 30-minute bike-ride northwest in Nishinasuno-machi (Nishinasuno Town) and is the boys and girl's high school AET in Ohtawara; Colin (from Calgary, Alberta, Canada) lives in Kurobane-shi and teaches high school, while James (from Stoney Creek, Ontario, Canada) is a junior high teacher in the village of Mamada (I think!).

Other regular characters include: Junko. Man... I could write a book on her. And... I guess I am right here...  She is a very sexy, Japanese woman currently enrolled at Utsunomiya University studying to be a teacher. When she was placed for a week at one of my schools, to say we hit it off would be an understatement. Sex, sex and more sex. She would spend every evening at my place - and night to... ensuring I would get no sleep and would be forced to smell her apple blossom shampoo all day long. It was only supposed to be a week-long fling considering her school was 40 minutes (by car) south of Ohtawara, but she decided to start skipping class and would sit outside whatever of the seven junior high schools I taught at... waiting in her car... stalking me.... not moving... just waiting for a glimpse of me... following me home at a discrete distance... and then wait until late in the evening until whatever person was visiting me that day would leave... and then sex, sex and more sex.  That's all good right? But try not physically sleeping for a couple of weeks and then being expected to perform like a sex gorilla just because I would rip her clothes off when I saw her. We never went out. We never dated. we never left the confines of my three-bedroom apartment. I tried to break-up with her - but only after she told me she was dropping out of school for me. That's not cool. Sweet, but not cool. Despite her ability to speak English like a native, her beauty and brains, I felt like she was not quite right and could use some help. So I got another JTE involved, who arranged for her to be essentially kidnapped and taken back to her parent's house and hopefully get some medical help. A month or two later, I ran across her again... back in school, not hung up on me and with a Japanese boyfriend. Despite us getting caught having sex in an empty classroom at Utsunomiya University, she seemed less hung up on me than I expected. She wasn't stalking me, and I have to admit I missed being stalked.

Okay... maybe I do love Japan because of all of the sex.  

Kanemaru-san and Hanazaki-san are my two bosses (and special handlers) at the OBOE (Ohtawara Board of Education Office). Both are in their 40s (younger than I am now in 2012!?), have families with kids in university and high school and grade school, are extremely generous with their time and money and love, and funny, intelligent hard-working men who like to have a good time. Hanazaki-san speaks far better English than Kanemaru-san, but Kanemaru-san has taken me under his wing and become like a second father to me. He takes Ashley and myself out to kyudo (Japanese archery) lessons once a week... and I must admit I hate it.I'm not that good at it, but I really don't want to disappoint the man by quitting. I did the same thing with my dad and the accordion and piano, and I did eventually become a piano teacher, which helped pay for my journalism school which helped me get here to Japan and then here again to this blog about Japan.

There is also the Ohtawara International Friendship Association. You wouldn't think that an agrarian city of 50,000 would have such a club, but it does. I'm unsure if it was a powerful entity in the city, but they always had a very large presence at every cultural event and always made sure they invited every single foreigner in the city (including the Asian Rural Institute and others over on work exchanges) , though I will say that perhaps Matthew and myself were the star attractions of the maybe 20 foreigners in the area. Matthew and I each teach a night school English class organized by the Association. Matthew owing to his far superior Japanese language skills taught the advanced class and I taught the beginners. Personally, I always felt it should be the other way around. Wouldn't you want someone who can speak Japanese teaching beginners? It beats me why I never thought of that until 2012.

Other making an appearance are: Shoko, the shy but beautiful student of mine in my night school class; Karen Irwin, the pretty, bubbly redhead fro North Bay, Ontario, Canada who would like me as her boyfriend - but for some reason I don't; Mr. Maniwa the old man and pervert pharmacist who is a laugh riot despite him pinching Ashley's ass and trying to grab her boobs; Nobuko Kikuchi who later in this blog I will ask to marry me; the students of: Ohtawara Chu Gakko (Ohtawara Junior High School), Nozaki Chu Gakko, Wakakusa Chu Gakko, Sakuyama Chu Gakko, Chikasono Chu Gakko, Kaneda Minami Chu Gakko and Kaneda Kita Chu Gakko. This last school contained a pack of kids I hated - even one I put in a choke hold and held until he turned blue. I told you I would write about how I could look like a jerk.

Regardless... 2012's blogs will take you from the end of 1991 and well into 2012 of my life in Japan (and even to other countries!). It will be warm, funny, astute, sad, hurtful, sexy and above all perfectly written without any grammatical or spelling errors. Hmmm... I guess that's one new year's resolution already out the window. And... to mix things us, I will continue to post up true stories about the weirdness of Japan; researched looks into various topics concerning Japan; re-posting of links to blogs I like who write about Japan; sporting events; beauty pageants, everything you didn't know about the religion, food, drink, culture, language and society about Japan. Oh... and let's not forget about the haiku (specialized Japanese poetry) I like to write about Godzilla. And to keep things honest, along with all of the great things I will write about Japan, I will also write about some of the not-so-great things about Japan.

My one vow to you, dear reader, is that I will not be critical, but that I will present the facts as I find them and let you make you make up your own mind on things. Okay... maybe I will take the piss out of somethings, but that's only fair, right.

Welcome again to Japan - It's A Wonderful Rife.

Somewhere wishing he could type with more than three fingers and a thumb,
Andrew Joseph

Mistress For Christmas

Merry Christmas! I hope everyone has a safe and wonderful holiday - and for those of you who do not celebrate Christmas  - Happy Hannukah, Krazy Kwanza (on the 26th!) or Superb Sunday to the rest!

As you know - oh regular readers of the blog - It's 1991 and November 12 - at least that was my last entry. Hardly a festive event.

So... let's skip ahead to December 24, 1991 of this year. It's a side bar and shouldn't spoil the fun to be found ahead in the next month and a half.

I'm in Singapore with my very good friend James 'Jimmy Jive' Dalton. I'm pretty sure he didn't give himself that nickname - and even if he did, it suits him to a 'T'.

Singapore is a very beautiful city-state with many beautiful people. Good shopping, clean streets and I have great company... but looking at all of these gorgeous women makes me think of one in particular.

No... strangely enough, not Ashley - my ex-girlfriend who I still sleep with occasionally - just not lately. Not Karen - who would sleep with me if I wanted a girlfriend. Not Nobuko (whom I haven't met yet). No... it's my secret girlfriend, Junko.

Yup... my thoughts linger to her and I wonder just what she is up to right now. Is she thinking of me? Probably. That's just the way she is. Is she having a good time doing what she is doing? I think so. At least I hope so.

Do I wish I was with her here - right now - out in the open where people could actually see us - sure!

But... she is there in Japan... and I am far away in Singapore.

Junko... the crazy stalker university student... who seems to love me - or at least loves being with me - just not outside my bedroom - she drives me crazy.

Wait!

Do I smell apple blossoms??!

I look around the city and have James staring at me like I've gone mad... like I'm suddenly paranoid.

No... she couldn't be here. That would be crazy. Besides... I don't think she is crazy... just nuts about me or something. Okay.... any woman who would drop out of school for me - might be a little nuts - especially after only knowing me for a week... but where is that apple blossom smell coming from? It's her shampoo!

... only it's on a pretty little Singaporean woman (I think it's a woman!) who walks past me swiveling her hips.

No... Junko is safe in Japan.

Although... I'm sure she is here with me. Afterall... I am carrying a pair of her panties with me.

Yeah... I am a freak. But I'm your freak.

Somewhere Ho-ho-hoing,
Andrew Joseph
Today's blog title is by AC/DC - just because.

It's My Life

Today is Friday, November 8, 1991. It's my 27th birthday and I feel old. (Twenty years later as I type this out in the blog, I can see that in 1991 I was a melodramatic effing idiot.)

I live in Ohtawara-shi, Tochigi-ken, Japan and teach English at the seven junior high schools in the city. It's a tough gig, but it's rife. Okay... it's not that tough.

In case my family calls from Toronto, I plug the phone back into the wall.

I ride my bicycle in to the Ohtawara Board of Education (OBOE) office with a mail delivery slip to pick-up a package from my mom.

I don't do anything work-related, and instead write this diary out and write a few stories. It's flowing out of the cesspool that is my mind. And, all is well.

After eating a spaghetti lunch courtesy of the office, I ask Kanemaru-san if he would drive me to the post office. I wouldn't normally ask my boss this weenie little favor, but it's raining like a bastard out there and I don't want to ride my bicycle in the rain and get the package wet - or my hair. I hate having my hair messed up. It's the one vanity I have - that I will admit to.  

Receiving the box, I count out 105 40-cent stamps + one 5-cent stamp on it.  $42.05 to send this box from Toronto to Japan? Wow. Thanks.

As Kanemaru-san drives me back to my apartment to drop off the box, he pulls out a couple of packages and hands them to me.

See photo above: One is a freshly-made indigo hand-dyed scrolled wall hanging of a dragon (I was born in the Year of The Dragon, plus, my name Andrew, when translated into Kanji means "Peaceful-Leader-Dragon") and the other is a framed set of pressed flowers made of folded paper, made by his wife.

I'm touched by his thoughtful gesture, as he struggles to say in English "Happy Birthday, my friend" before slapping me on the shoulder. He even gave me a card, with a hand-written message in English - surely from from Tomohiro, his six-year-old son! I love that kid, and want one just like him if I grow up (and, 20 years later... I do!)

My package from home contains letters from the family, a video tape, a CD, two audio tapes, some books, comics, and microwaveable popcorn. Two bags - because who wants to share? Thanks to my little brother Ben for putting together most of that! There's even a $50 (about ¥4,000) cheque from Grandpa. I have no idea how to change it into yen, and while I appreciate the gesture, I don't really want to take the old man's money.

Kanemaru-san, by the way, was the first person to wish me a happy birthday.

I go back to the office afterwards with Kanemaru-san and read the letters and then draft a few in response.

I ride home in the rain. Ashley is there already inside waiting for me. While she doesn't say 'Happy Birthday'. she hugs me and says 'hi'.

As I get up from the couch to get some Coke, I show Ashley a birthday card Yumiko Ebe (a former adult night school student of mine), who is now living in Ibaraki-ken (Ibaraki Prefecture) sent me. It had some Sesame Street character on it spelling out happy birthday.

As I sit back down with two glasses of Coke, Ashley is in shock as she didn't know it was my birthday. We've know each other for 15 months, and we did celebrate it last year - sort of. Still... I know her birthday (still do, 20 years later - I guess my memory hasn't been wiped clean yet).

Anyhow.. she says she feels like crap because she forgot. Then again, when someone you care about doesn't care enough to remember... well... I feel like crap, too.

Back home in the evening, James (Jimmy Jive) Dalton, a good friend and fellow Assistant English Teacher (AET) who is originally from Stoney Creek, Ontario, Canada - phones. He wishes me, too.I've known him since August of this year.

Then Matthew calls. Matthew Hall was my first friend here in Japan and remains one of my best friends (20 years later). More wishes.

James calls again and tells me we have two tickets to Singapore!!!! leaving December 22 and returning on January 1 for ¥66,000 (~ Cdn/US $883).

Coordinator for International Relations (CIR) Joy Mori calls and also wishes me a happy birthday! How the hell does she know? It doesn't matter. She cares enough to call. She also asks what's up with me, as it appears as though I am shutting out people... wow... she's good. Not one to lie when asked a direct question, I tell her all. She's not pushy or judgmental. Just caring.

Kristine South calls! Then Karen (this year)! Amanda (this year)! And Matthew again! Rob Jones from Toronto calls! Holy crapola! 

As I chat with Rob about life, liberty and the pursuit of easy women (He listens and takes notes), Ashley answers the door for me - letting in Mrs. Matsuda and Yumiko! She came all this way from Ibaraki just see me! Man... if she wasn't married... hell... it's a pity bigamy is illegal. It is illegal, right?

They all meet Ashley. They have some food and a birthday cake for me... complete with my name spelled in the correct Canadian order. There's even the right number of candles! The four of us eat, and have a good time.

They know of Ashley, but had not met her in person before as only Matthew and I teach extra night school for some cash on the side. Ashley needs her R&R and besides, she's as shy as I am pretending to be an introvert. Can someone pretend for 15 months? Maybe this is me? 

Tim Mould calls - but just to talk, as he was worried about me. Then my dad calls and we chat for a while.

Crap.

All these people are making this difficult for me. Even James said "Expletive them all!"

I'm confused.

Maybe I should just pay attention to what my real friends say and feel about me rather than the rest of the rabble AETs. D'uh.     

Anyhow... finally everyone leaves, except Ashley... and the phone finally stops ringing. I'm sure every time it does, Ashley dies a little bit inside. Still... she did just show up at my place out of the blue, and did have a present for me a couple of days ago - just because she felt like giving me something.

We watch a few videos and then have a bit of sex. I still can't finish... is it her or me? Still... sex on one's birthday, when you are in a relationship should be a given... and since Ashley and I aren't really boyfriend/girlfriend anymore, I guess not finishing what I started seems par for the course. She did forget.

Maybe crap like that bothers me more than I realize.

Nope.

I know it bothers me. 

Somewhere this is my rife,
Andrew Joseph
Today's blog is by the Animals. Why not? I started this Japan - It's A Wonderful Rife blog with one of their songs (sic) as a title...