Grad school skate - Day 01

On the right  is my gruesome first-ever skate injury. I scraped through 2 layers of skin on the back of my elbow which is not pictured here because I couldn't get a good shot of it one handed.

This session went pretty well. I was practicing in the alley behind my apartment using the open garage area as my first balance practice space. The pole that supports the garage ceiling is great for keeping balance when you first have none.

Below are my tools. Not pictured is my biking helmet. As I am a poor grad student, I can't afford to have more than two items that serve the same function outside of clothing. I look like a tool wearing the wrong helmet but I am also a 24-year-old lady skateboarder, and tool-dom is unavoidable as most of my age group has moved on from this sport.

Tools: Vans skate shoes (inside design by Alien Workshop), ~30" Alien Workshop complete skateboard borrowed from a friend

Big takeaways: learn how to fall, ASAP

Offline Dating

In response to Mr. 91, I am in a relationship with someone, who I just happened to first interact with online. We haven't decided on any plausible lies to tell the friends and family who don't know we were members of the growing masses of young and old who can't seem to find a date IRL, thus resorting to the stigmatized (and rightly so--Hell Is OKCupid) world of online dating.

Theoretically speaking, when a relationship begins, and it is exclusive in nature, one should take herself off the market. For online dating, I could change my status, yes, or I could just disable my profile. That wasn't a very hard decision to make. If you haven't perused tumblrs like Hell is OKCupid, then you should invest 5 minutes and do it.

There are plenty of relatively "normal" people on such websites, but there are also some weirdos that women especially have to be weary of. As I alluded to in Mr. 91, there are certain mental filters that potential IRL meetups have to pass through in order to be considered at all. Because, yes, an auto-character reference, however long or short, is baiting a specific type of fish, (hopefully me?) but is still tremendously revealing about the writer--in terms of content and technical language/overall demeanor/vibe. Discerning between normal and psycho and all the shades in between is daunting at worst. But once you find a potentially great person, it brings a level of euphoria and excitement all its own.

Profiles, pictures, messages, answers to ridiculously ambiguous questions, and IMs exchanged until the wee hours of the morning, what do these all have in common? To start, they are glimpses, flashes, snapshots, a tiny window into an entire person, an entire life. However countless many bits of information you might be granted access to, they will never collectively nor independently define the person you are looking at 100%. Knowing someone your entire life, living with them 24 hours a day, 7 days a week until death do you part is the only way to fully "know" someone. (To that point, how well do I know my best friends? hmm...) But back to my point...

It wasn't until the fourth or fifth date that I knew for sure I wanted to spend more time with this person in front of me. It wasn't until several profound conversations had been had, several adventures had been shared, several misadventures had been suffered, and several long moments of vulnerability that this person I originally met online started occupying a noticeable space in my heart. Even then, it was difficult to let myself fall completely into this persons arms, precisely because I didn't know him.

Searching for a partner online, jumping into a committed relationship, meeting a potential mate in person, all of these activities ask for faith. Faith that you will indeed find someone who is compatible and worth your energy, faith your heart won't be broken in the end, faith that the meetup will not end in a physically dangerous situation, etc.

The Land of Convinience

Japan is truly the land of convenience. First, it was the free push-carts at the airport, then it was the reversible seats in the train (which were heated!), later on I realized paying as you exit the bus is far more convenient and makes more sense if you’re entering from the back of the bus moving forward to your destination…

Now I’ve discovered the glory of Japanese heated toilet seats!… Who would want to leave the stall EVER if your tush (urban dictionary spell check!) is reheated and recharged for facing the harsh Osaka winter under draft coming up from the bottom of your trench coat? No wonder there is always a line coming out of the women’s bathroom… Men don’t have time or the need to discover this awesome Japanese tool…

The Japanese also have these weird contraptions in each bathroom stall that’ll play the sound of flushing if your embarrassed from requiring more “time” than usual… It also has a bidet (spraying water up to your tush to clean up afterwards) and a fragrance release button to cover up your extra “time.”

Now that I think this over (and wikipedia’d “bidet”), it has occurred to me that this is not necessarily a Japanese invention, but something you can find in other countries, like France. BUT! But, this is the first I’ve encountered such a useful contraption. ‘Haven’t utilized all its features, but I’m satisfied just knowing they’re there…

That’s all I think is awesome in Japan to date.