Immunosuppression continues to be a necessary component of transplantation, despite its association with a multitude of adverse effects. Numerous efforts have been made to circumvent the need for immunosuppression by using various techniques to achieve donor hyporesponsiveness. In this issue of the JCI, Morath et al. take this endeavor forward. Prior to transplantation, the researchers infused recipients with donor-modified immune cells and achieved immunologic hyporesponsiveness. This successful phase I trial also provides a possible avenue for achieving transplantation without the requisite immunosuppression.

The physical integrity of endothelial cells (ECs) lining the blood vessels regulates the inflammatory response. Both innate immunity and inflammatory disorders hinge on the EC-neutrophil interaction. Neutrophil binding, rolling, and migrating along and between ECs is associated with vascular permeability. In this issue of the JCI, Owen-Woods et al. tracked neutrophils in vivo in venules of mouse striated muscle and revealed how endothelial permeability can affect neutrophil trafficking. Strikingly, many neutrophils that migrated between EC junctions were able to rejoin the blood circulation. Further, the chemokine and neutrophil chemoattractant, CXCL1, drove this reverse transendothelial migration (rTEM). This paradigm-shifting study provides a mechanism for distal organ damage as well as an explanation for sepsis-associated acute respiratory distress syndrome.

BACKGROUND Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency decreases the ability of red blood cells (RBCs) to withstand oxidative stress. Refrigerated storage of RBCs induces oxidative stress. We hypothesized that G6PD-deficient donor RBCs would have inferior storage quality for transfusion as compared with G6PD-normal RBCs.METHODS Male volunteers were screened for G6PD deficiency; 27 control and 10 G6PD-deficient volunteers each donated 1 RBC unit. After 42 days of refrigerated storage, autologous 51-chromium 24-hour posttransfusion RBC recovery (PTR) studies were performed. Metabolomics analyses of these RBC units were also performed.RESULTS The mean 24-hour PTR for G6PD-deficient subjects was 78.5% ± 8.4% (mean ± SD), which was significantly lower than that for G6PD-normal RBCs (85.3% ± 3.2%; P = 0.0009). None of the G6PD-normal volunteers (0/27) and 3 G6PD-deficient volunteers (3/10) had PTR results below 75%, a key FDA acceptability criterion for stored donor RBCs. As expected, fresh G6PD-deficient RBCs demonstrated defects in the oxidative phase of the pentose phosphate pathway. During refrigerated storage, G6PD-deficient RBCs demonstrated increased glycolysis, impaired glutathione homeostasis, and increased purine oxidation, as compared with G6PD-normal RBCs. In addition, there were significant correlations between PTR and specific metabolites in these pathways.CONCLUSION Based on current FDA criteria, RBCs from G6PD-deficient donors would not meet the requirements for storage quality. Metabolomics assessment identified markers of PTR and G6PD deficiency (e.g., pyruvate/lactate ratios), along with potential compensatory pathways that could be leveraged to ameliorate the metabolic needs of G6PD-deficient RBCs.TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04081272.FUNDING The Harold Amos Medical Faculty Development Program, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation grant 71590, the National Blood Foundation, NIH grant UL1 TR000040, the Webb-Waring Early Career Award 2017 by the Boettcher Foundation, and National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute grants R01HL14644 and R01HL148151.

Hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) is strikingly upregulated in many types of cancer, and there is great interest in applying inhibitors of HIF as anticancer therapeutics. The most advanced of these are small molecules that target the HIF-2 isoform through binding the PAS-B domain of HIF-2α. These molecules are undergoing clinical trials with promising results in renal and other cancers where HIF-2 is considered to be driving growth. Nevertheless, a central question remains as to whether such inhibitors affect physiological responses to hypoxia at relevant doses. Here, we show that pharmacological HIF-2α inhibition with PT2385, at doses similar to those reported to inhibit tumor growth, rapidly impaired ventilatory responses to hypoxia, abrogating both ventilatory acclimatization and carotid body cell proliferative responses to sustained hypoxia. Mice carrying a HIF-2α PAS-B S305M mutation that disrupts PT2385 binding, but not dimerization with HIF-1β, did not respond to PT2385, indicating that these effects are on-target. Furthermore, the finding of a hypomorphic ventilatory phenotype in untreated HIF-2α S305M mutant mice suggests a function for the HIF-2α PAS-B domain beyond heterodimerization with HIF-1β. Although PT2385 was well tolerated, the findings indicate the need for caution in patients who are dependent on hypoxic ventilatory drive.

BACKGROUND Mirabegron is a β3-adrenergic receptor (β3-AR) agonist approved only for the treatment of overactive bladder. Encouraging preclinical results suggest that β3-AR agonists could also improve obesity-related metabolic disease by increasing brown adipose tissue (BAT) thermogenesis, white adipose tissue (WAT) lipolysis, and insulin sensitivity.METHODS We treated 14 healthy women of diverse ethnicities (27.5 ± 1.1 years of age, BMI of 25.4 ± 1.2 kg/m2) with 100 mg mirabegron (Myrbetriq extended-release tablet, Astellas Pharma) for 4 weeks in an open-label study. The primary endpoint was the change in BAT metabolic activity as measured by [18F]-2-fluoro-d-2-deoxy-d-glucose (18F-FDG) PET/CT. Secondary endpoints included resting energy expenditure (REE), plasma metabolites, and glucose and insulin metabolism as assessed by a frequently sampled intravenous glucose tolerance test.RESULTS Chronic mirabegron therapy increased BAT metabolic activity. Whole-body REE was higher, without changes in body weight or composition. Additionally, there were elevations in plasma levels of the beneficial lipoprotein biomarkers HDL and ApoA1, as well as total bile acids. Adiponectin, a WAT-derived hormone that has antidiabetic and antiinflammatory capabilities, increased with acute treatment and was 35% higher upon completion of the study. Finally, an intravenous glucose tolerance test revealed higher insulin sensitivity, glucose effectiveness, and insulin secretion.CONCLUSION These findings indicate that human BAT metabolic activity can be increased after chronic pharmacological stimulation with mirabegron and support the investigation of β3-AR agonists as a treatment for metabolic disease.TRIAL REGISTRATION Clinicaltrials.gov NCT03049462.FUNDING This work was supported by grants from the Intramural Research Program of the NIDDK, NIH (DK075112, DK075116, DK071013, and DK071014).

Prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) affects at least 10% of newborns globally and leads to the development of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs). Despite its high incidence, there is no consensus on the implications of PAE on metabolic disease risk in adults. Here, we describe a cohort of adults with FASDs that had an increased incidence of metabolic abnormalities, including type 2 diabetes, low HDL, high triglycerides, and female-specific overweight and obesity. Using a zebrafish model for PAE, we performed population studies to elucidate the metabolic disease seen in the clinical cohort. Embryonic alcohol exposure (EAE) in male zebrafish increased the propensity for diet-induced obesity and fasting hyperglycemia in adulthood. We identified several consequences of EAE that may contribute to these phenotypes, including a reduction in adult locomotor activity, alterations in visceral adipose tissue and hepatic development, and persistent diet-responsive transcriptional changes. Taken together, our findings define metabolic vulnerabilities due to EAE and provide evidence that behavioral changes and primary organ dysfunction contribute to resultant metabolic abnormalities.

The editors of JCI and JCI Insight are revisiting our editorial processes in light of the strain that the COVID-19 pandemic places on the worldwide scientific community. Here, we discuss adjustments to our decision framework in light of restrictions placed on laboratory working conditions for many of our authors.

Increased microvascular permeability to plasma proteins and neutrophil emigration are hallmarks of innate immunity and key features of numerous inflammatory disorders. Although neutrophils can promote microvascular leakage, the impact of vascular permeability on neutrophil trafficking is unknown. Here, through the application of confocal intravital microscopy, we report that vascular permeability–enhancing stimuli caused a significant frequency of neutrophil reverse transendothelial cell migration (rTEM). Furthermore, mice with a selective defect in microvascular permeability enhancement (VEC-Y685F-ki) showed reduced incidence of neutrophil rTEM. Mechanistically, elevated vascular leakage promoted movement of interstitial chemokines into the bloodstream, a response that supported abluminal-to-luminal neutrophil TEM. Through development of an in vivo cell labeling method we provide direct evidence for the systemic dissemination of rTEM neutrophils, and showed them to exhibit an activated phenotype and be capable of trafficking to the lungs where their presence was aligned with regions of vascular injury. Collectively, we demonstrate that increased microvascular leakage reverses the localization of directional cues across venular walls, thus causing neutrophils engaged in diapedesis to reenter the systemic circulation. This cascade of events offers a mechanism to explain how local tissue inflammation and vascular permeability can induce downstream pathological effects in remote organs, most notably in the lungs.

Lipid-rich myelin forms electrically insulating, axon-wrapping multilayers that are essential for neural function, and mature myelin is traditionally considered metabolically inert. Surprisingly, we discovered that mature myelin lipids undergo rapid turnover, and quaking (Qki) is a major regulator of myelin lipid homeostasis. Oligodendrocyte-specific Qki depletion, without affecting oligodendrocyte survival, resulted in rapid demyelination, within 1 week, and gradually neurological deficits in adult mice. Myelin lipids, especially the monounsaturated fatty acids and very-long-chain fatty acids, were dramatically reduced by Qki depletion, whereas the major myelin proteins remained intact, and the demyelinating phenotypes of Qki-depleted mice were alleviated by a high-fat diet. Mechanistically, Qki serves as a coactivator of the PPARβ-RXRα complex, which controls the transcription of lipid-metabolism genes, particularly those involved in fatty acid desaturation and elongation. Treatment of Qki-depleted mice with PPARβ/RXR agonists significantly alleviated neurological disability and extended survival durations. Furthermore, a subset of lesions from patients with primary progressive multiple sclerosis were characterized by preferential reductions in myelin lipid contents, activities of various lipid metabolism pathways, and expression level of QKI-5 in human oligodendrocytes. Together, our results demonstrate that continuous lipid synthesis is indispensable for mature myelin maintenance and highlight an underappreciated role of lipid metabolism in demyelinating diseases.

Brown and beige adipose tissues contain thermogenic fat cells that can be activated by β3-adrenergic receptor agonists. In rodents, such drugs both diminish obesity and improve glucose homeostasis. In this issue of the JCI, O’Mara et al. and Finlin and Memetimin et al. report that chronic administration of the approved β3 agonist mirabegron to human subjects was without effect on body weight or fat mass, but improved several measures of glucose homeostasis. Though the mechanisms mediating these metabolic effects are uncertain, the data suggest that β3 agonists could have therapeutic utility in disorders of glucose homeostasis.

BACKGROUND The live attenuated BPZE1 vaccine candidate induces protection against B. pertussis and prevents nasal colonization in animal models. Here we report on the responses in humans receiving a single intranasal administration of BPZE1.METHODS We performed multiple assays to dissect the immune responses induced in humans (n = 12) receiving BPZE1, with particular emphasis on the magnitude and characteristics of the antibody responses. Such responses were benchmarked to adolescents (n = 12) receiving the complete vaccination program of the currently used acellular pertussis vaccine (aPV). Using immunoproteomics analysis, potentially novel immunogenic B. pertussis antigens were identified.RESULTS All BPZE1 vaccinees showed robust B. pertussis–specific antibody responses with regard to significant increase in 1 or more of the following parameters: IgG, IgA, and memory B cells to B. pertussis antigens. BPZE1–specific T cells showed a Th1 phenotype, and the IgG exclusively consisted of IgG1 and IgG3. In contrast, all aPV vaccines showed a Th2-biased response. Immunoproteomics profiling revealed that BPZE1 elicited broader and different antibody specificities to B. pertussis antigens as compared with the aPV that primarily induced antibodies to the vaccine antigens. Moreover, BPZE1 was superior at inducing opsonizing antibodies that stimulated ROS production in neutrophils and enhanced bactericidal function, which was in line with the finding that antibodies against adenylate cyclase toxin were only elicited by BPZE1.CONCLUSION The breadth of the antibodies, the Th1-type cellular response, and killing mechanisms elicited by BPZE1 may hold prospects of improving vaccine efficacy and protection against B. pertussis transmission.TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02453048, NCT00870350.FUNDING ILiAD Biotechnologies, Swedish Research Council (Vetenskapsrådet), Swedish Heart-Lung Foundation.

BACKGROUND Beige adipose tissue is associated with improved glucose homeostasis in mice. Adipose tissue contains β3-adrenergic receptors (β3-ARs), and this study was intended to determine whether the treatment of obese, insulin-resistant humans with the β3-AR agonist mirabegron, which stimulates beige adipose formation in subcutaneous white adipose tissue (SC WAT), would induce other beneficial changes in fat and muscle and improve metabolic homeostasis.METHODS Before and after β3-AR agonist treatment, oral glucose tolerance tests and euglycemic clamps were performed, and histochemical analysis and gene expression profiling were performed on fat and muscle biopsies. PET-CT scans quantified brown adipose tissue volume and activity, and we conducted in vitro studies with primary cultures of differentiated human adipocytes and muscle.RESULTS The clinical effects of mirabegron treatment included improved oral glucose tolerance (P < 0.01), reduced hemoglobin A1c levels (P = 0.01), and improved insulin sensitivity (P = 0.03) and β cell function (P = 0.01). In SC WAT, mirabegron treatment stimulated lipolysis, reduced fibrotic gene expression, and increased alternatively activated macrophages. Subjects with the most SC WAT beiging showed the greatest improvement in β cell function. In skeletal muscle, mirabegron reduced triglycerides, increased the expression of PPARγ coactivator 1 α (PGC1A) (P < 0.05), and increased type I fibers (P < 0.01). Conditioned media from adipocytes treated with mirabegron stimulated muscle fiber PGC1A expression in vitro (P < 0.001).CONCLUSION Mirabegron treatment substantially improved multiple measures of glucose homeostasis in obese, insulin-resistant humans. Since β cells and skeletal muscle do not express β3-ARs, these data suggest that the beiging of SC WAT by mirabegron reduces adipose tissue dysfunction, which enhances muscle oxidative capacity and improves β cell function.TRIAL REGISTRATION Clinicaltrials.gov NCT02919176.FUNDING NIH: DK112282, P30GM127211, DK 71349, and Clinical and Translational science Awards (CTSA) grant UL1TR001998.

Cats. Cats are the best, and I can’t seem to settle down in any one place for too long, so my cats (possibly to their dismay) have had to move around with my silly butt. I don’t own a boat that can cross the Pacific Ocean, so that means taking them on a plane. BUT! While it’s no fun for anyone, it’s not really as hard as you think! Really really! My cats are my family, and if you’re here then you probably also have furry family members, and you are worried about flying with them. I’ve both taken my cats in the cabin and had to check them into the pet cargo hold (to my terror), but they not only survived, they are all flourishing wonderfully. While things do happen (and if something happens, raise a ruckus and make sure that whomever hurt your baby knows it), for the most part, flying is actually pretty safe for cats. Not that you want to take them. It’s just that sometimes you have to. So read on for my personal tips on how to make the flight go as smoothly as possible for all of you! Trust me, you’ll want it to be this way. My cats at the vet for their checkups and vaccinations. 1. Do Your Homework. This might seem obvious, but that being said, let’s put it out there anyway. Know your stuff! There are two things that you’re going to need to find out as soon as you decide to fly with your pets:      a) What paperwork does the airline require for me to bring my cat on the plane?      b) What does my arrival location require for me to bring my cat into the country/state? Usually, a) is the easiest part. It’s usually just a health certificate from your vet, issued less than a week before travel. Just book an appointment at your vet for less than a week before departure, and tell them that you’re flying to (wherever). All of my vets, even my one in Japan, either knew what they needed, or looked it up beforehand. Check your airline’s webpage (my absolute favorite for flying with pets is Alaska Air, btw. You can take two in the cabin by yourself, and it’s the only airline I know of that allows this!), and follow the instructions. I keep all of my paperwork with my passport while flying, so that I can show it to the ticketing agent or anyone else that asks (sometimes, nobody has, but at least I had it). In all of the cases where I’ve flown, my plane required a current health certificate to board, and when I left Japan, they required an inspection from the on-site team, which I just asked for when I arrived in Narita. b) can be easy, or it can be hard. In order to enter the US from Japan, I had to check the US Customs website for the country’s official regulations, and Washington State for its regulations.  The US didn’t have any regulations at the time, but Washington state required a health certificate (same as the plane), and current rabies vaccination, both of which I had done within the week before I left. Funny enough, nobody checked my paperwork after I landed, since it was the 4th of July and the Agricultural Inspections office was closed. When I went to Hawaii, it was another story. It was a long, long, long process (more than 6 months) to get all of my testing and paperwork done for Sansa to enter the state, but I did it, kept all of my paperwork in order, and was able to leave the airport in Hawaii with her in my arms without any fuss! There was a lot to do, but I just made sure that I knew what I needed, did it, and had the documentation, and things were pretty smooth sailing afterward! You should always check the official government pages to make sure that you have the correct information. In Hawaii’s case, it can be found here. All of my cats reacted differently to being examined. 2. Get your stuff in order! Once you have your list of things that you need (vaccinations, health checks, etc), then CALL the airline to make your reservations (you always need to call them in order to add pets to your tickets. They usually cost a little bit extra, and try to get them in the cabin if you can). Then, check your airline’s website to find out what kind of carrier you will need, and whether you will need anything else. When I flew to Washington the first time, and to Hawaii, I only had one cat, so I didn’t need any food (I brought some anyway, and a little bowl in my carryon just in case), and a soft-sided carrier that would fit in the dimensions they specified on their websites (it’s usually in the pet section or the carry-on section, and every airline is different). When I flew to Washington again, it was with three cats, so I needed two large hard carriers that met certain criteria for my babies flying underneath, and one soft-sided one for the baby going in the cabin. The website for the airline was very specific, but it was easy to find what I needed at Petco. Check, check, and check. I had my carriers, my paperwork, and I was ready! When your cat isn’t too happy about getting her shots. 3. Getting ready for the flight. A week or so before my flight (or days in my last case), I set all of my pet carriers out in the living room and set them up how I was going to have them for the flight — I lined the bottoms with puppy training pads (in case there was an accident in-flight), then a towel for absorbency (in the large hard carriers only), and finally, on top of that, a blanket that I had been using a lot (so that it had our scents on it, and would comfort the cats). I sprayed the interior of all of the carriers with Feliway, and left them out for the cats to get used to them. The carriers sitting out for the curious kitties to explore. They all took turns exploring the carriers, and after a few days, got comfortable with them and would lounge around inside, play with them, and rub up against the sides. This was all in order to reduce the stress of travel on them as much as possible. I continued to spray them with Feliway at least once a day until we left. There is no hard and fast rule on this, but I took away my cats’ food and water the morning of the trip, and waited until just before we left to toss out the litter boxes. There was some satisfaction in being able to stuff those nasty things in a giant garbage bag and haul them to the trash without scooping! Hey, take pleasure while you can– you’re about to undertake something pretty stressful! After I called my Uber, I rounded up the cats one by one and deposited them in their carriers. Nobody was particularly happy about this, but just be patient. Two of my babies at the airport waiting for inspection. All of them were champs! 4. The Flight Be calm, patient, and as rational as possible. I know that it’s pretty scary (terrifying, to me) to let your precious babies our of your sight, but once the porter had helped me to the ticket counters (I actually needed two the last time, and I tipped them very well), I just reminded myself that it would all be over soon, and that the calmer I was, the better the kitties would feel. In order to pass through security, you will need to remove the cats one-by-one from their carriers and hold them while the crew puts your carrier through the scanner, or manually scans by hand (two of mine were too large to fit). Sometimes, they will let you do all of this in a separate room so that the cats are calmer, but there isn’t always one available (it will say that you can do this on most websites, but I wasn’t allowed a separate room the last time and had to hold three wiggly cats in the middle of the airport). BRING A HARNESS FOR THIS. I can’t stress this enough. My cats don’t like harnesses, but I fastened one to them before I brought them out of the carrier, and removed it right after, and it brought me a lot of peace of mind. None of my cats tried to run, but I have heard that some cats do, and you don’t want to take that chance. Look for a harness like this one— thick and really hard to pull out of. Better safe than sorry. I only brought one harness for three cats, since I would only need to take out one cat at a time. By the next morning, everyone was already claiming “our” new bed as their own. And that’s it!  Once you’re on the flight, it’s mostly a waiting game. I honestly am not sure whether the cats or I were more stressed about the trip, and they were certainly shaken and scared when they arrived at our new home. However, within a few days, my cats were all behaving as if they’d never lived anywhere else. They rebound quickly as long as you shower them with love and affection. ???? Well, those are my tips for making the smoothest ride possible! It helps to have litter and litter pans, food, etc, sent to your new place before you arrive, as well, so that everything will be easy to set up for you. Make sure that your kitties are confined to one room for at least a few hours, and let them hide for as long as they need to. They’ll get curious and hungry and come out on their own. I hope this helps someone! If I did it, anyone can! Remember, I took three cats on a flight overseas BY MYSELF! Nobody to even drop my off at the airport but an UberXL driver! =^-^=

☆ To see all of the parts in this series, click here ☆ I bet you thought I’d forgotten about this series, didn’t you! I never forget– sometimes I just lose steam, but I’m feeling good now, so lots of writing is coming! So, it was basically my 25th birthday. What did I write in my journal? It’s my 25th birthday in 3 days! :O So old!! I can’t believe that I ever wrote that… and also that it’s been more than ten years and I don’t feel any older. If anything, I feel younger! I have grown in a lot of ways, especially in the way that I relate to people around me and in how I take care of my health, and I guess I’ve matured in my general level of fangirlness…. No, wait. I’m still just as big a fangirl as ever, what am I saying? I’m still stalking the KuroKura tag on twitter every day, watching Lucifer mostly to see when he and Chloe are going to kiss or when he’s going to sleep with a guy again… but I digress! Let’s relive my fun first year in Japan instead! On my birthday, there happened to be a fanclub trip for Nagayama Takashi, the one and only actor whose fanclub I’ve ever been in. I went mostly because my friends A and M were going and to report on it for the internet at large, but it was really, really silly, and really, really fun! Well, silly is basically my #1 criteria for having fun, so that makes sense! We could all use more fun in our lives! The day started super early, and I was too excited to sleep, so I was dead tired. The event was scheduled to begin at 8:30 just outside of Tokyo station, where 288 girls (no boys, funny enough… actually, it’s not really funny) lined up in groups to get on one of the 7 waiting buses. Before that, we had to randomly draw for which tables we’d sit at, and were given this kind of horribly photoshopped and pixellated picture-card of Nagayan in front of Mt. Fuji that we were supposed to wear around our necks to identify ourselves as part of the tour (I wish that I still had it! How hilarious would that be!). On the back of the card were 4 empty squares and a little explanation that you were supposed to stamp them up along the way. Cool, sure! A, M, and I boarded bus 7 and ensconced ourselves in the back of the bus. It felt like everyone was staring at us, but well… we were the only non-japanese girls there. As the bus departed, a tour guide welcomed us over the PA explained how things were going to go. She said a little bit about the stamps, and then passed out fliers that we could use to order copies of the group pictures that we’d take later in the day with Nagayan (Wait, what did I do with that? I remember having a copy at some point). She also explained that our destination was going to be a mystery! Which, looking back, would have been a great setup for a horror movie! And theeeeeeen, we got the video. Oh, this video. Just watch for yourself (sorry for the bad quality, this was before smartphones, guys). There was a a short introduction from Nagayan, and then the song. And the dance. All of which he had created himself and wanted us to learn! The funny thing was that Nagayan is and was a serious actor. Outside of Tenimyu and Burimyu, his roles by and large were of and for adults. But that’s one of the things that makes Japan so great IMnot-so-humbleO– silliness is perfectly acceptable for adults! That given, I was still in the mindset of an American girl and in the beginning, my friends and I just sat there mouthing, “What the f—?” to each other. Sorry, Nagayan! It definitely grew on us, though! At about 10:15, we stopped at a rest stop for a potty break and a scavenger hunt! The tour guide told us to “get out and look for something special,” and that was it. It didn’t take long to find it, though, as by the time we’d wandered to the right location (the side of the building), there were quite a few girls lined up already! At the end of the line was Nagayan, sitting on the ground and wearing a green buddha mask. He didn’t say a word, so we followed the lead of the other girls, lined up, and said our prayers to Nagayan Buddha. For our piousness, we were allowed to choose a Chupa-Chups sucker to keep. It was so cute! Tell me if there is a single actor in the US who would do this? I doubt it! It’s certainly the kind of experience that you can only have in Japan XD Some girls looped around to get seconds, but ‘Buddha’ just pretended to be tired, slumping against the wall noiselessly. Btw, my sucker was a delicious strawberries and cream one!!! ♥ I ate it and tossed the wrapper…. which I wish that I’d kept for reasons that I’ll explain later! A and M on the bus next to me. We got back on the bus and left around 11:00. From there until the time that we arrived, there was no video, but this is where the IQ part of IQ TaiQ Barbequecame in! The tour guide administered us a timed IQ test on paper…… in Japanese! Er, yeah…. Well, I got one right at least!! Yay! Not bad for only being able to read a miniscule part of it. ^^;; I wrote “yomenai” (“I can’t read it” lit.-“It’s not readable”) in hiragana at the bottom, which later on I regretted doing! ^^;; The quiet scenery rolling by. After that, we had a bit of quiet time where I just watched the countryside and lakes go by and fell into a light sleep. At roughly 12:00, we pulled into our final mysterious mountain location! It looked a lot like any mountain location in eastern Washington or Arizona — a bit arid, but lots of trees and hills and of course a nice lake. We were lined up in lettered groups (There was from A to T, I believe. We were in group M) and we got to take the group pictures with Nagayan! It was fun– they had us sit/stand in 2 rows with Takashi in the very middle. Once we were already sitting down, he just kind of appeared and melded in with the group, and it took a while for some people to realize it, ourselves included haha! He asked us all to come closer (no problem!!) and the girls on his right completely freaked out, squealing ???? Japanese fangirls NEVER die. I love it! Right before we took the picture, Nagayan turned and asked if everyone was ready in Japanese, and then he turned to us and said loudly, “are you okay?” in English! Embvaaaarrrrasssing!! So, after that it was on to the BBQ! Outside of the BBQ, there were tables where we could turn in our order forms, as well as a special pocket mirror that you could buy with the Strawberry Meet logo on it. We entered the BBQ area, which was basically in back of a small resort, a BIG picnic-type area with numbered tables. There were 32 tables in all…. 32. Wow! On to the BBQ. To me, BBQ still meant hamburgers and hot dogs, chips and soda. To the Japanese, it meant that we cook our own yakiniku at the table! What a surprise for me at the time! My first time cooking yakiniku. Although I don’t eat meat anymore, I’d like to think that I’m a real pro at grilling eggplant now. ???? The three of us were at table 2 with 7 other girls. At first, it was a little awkward, and they didn’t really talk to us much, but they opened up when it turned out that we could understand a lot of what they were saying (A was especially awesome at Japanese), AND that one of them had done a homestay in America, so her English was pretty good. ^^ It turned out that not only was it my birthday, but it was also the birthday of another girl at our table!! Birthday twins!! So, the idea at this point was that Nagayan would randomly draw numbers and come around to visit and cook/eat with each of the tables. Ours came up surprisingly fast (I think we were the 7th table or so that he visited), and before we knew it, there he was, finding a space across the table from me (;_;) and helping us cook. Apparently we hadn’t been cooking fast enough for his liking, since we still had a LOT of meat and vegetables left, and so he started throwing all kinds of things on the grill. We told him that it was mine and the other girl’s birthday and he was like, ‘really?! Congratulations!!’ (He said it to me in English, but the other girl in Japanese) Then he told us that birthday people get priority, and put meat on both of our plates. Umm, yay. XD Soon after that, he reached over and gave me more and said “Present for me”….. Okay, that was the CUTEST thing I had probably ever seen in my life at the time! We tried to correct his English but I don’t think that he got it since he gave up really fast. He was REALLY cute, and even managed to ask us, “are you okay?” again for seemingly no reason. And then, sooner than we’d have liked, he was gone. ;__; We spent the rest of the BBQ listening to other tables talk to Nagayan and to the background music, which was of course our theme song. Some girls even stood up and started practicing the moves that had been on the video on the bus. Also randomly thrown in between the renditions were “Kokoro ga…” (his first single), and the other original song that he’d sang at his last fanclub event. After a few hours, we were told that it was time to get ready to leave, and to get back on the buses for the last part of our trip. Some girls practicing the dance… they were really good! This last part of our trip ended up being the craziest. They took us to a set of tennis courts (I’m sure this was a conscious choice) where they had us correct each other’s IQ tests. Oh man, this was HARD! But it was fun… if you’d gotten 9 or 10 right, you could get a stamp, although there were only a few girls that did. It seemed that, like me, that most people only had 1 or 2 right………. and they were native Japanese speakers that could read the test. I don’t feel so bad now. They also gave out stamps to people that had chosen strawberry suckers! This is where I wish that I had kept mine, though it didn’t really matter since I had chosen the wrong flavor. I was better suited to taking video at the time. Now, though, I think I would have just gone for it! After this, it was dance time! To my utter horror (I can’t dance ^^;;; except at Anime Expo but that’s another story), we had to get up in groups and perform the dance that we’d ‘learned.’ Nagayan led us each time, which was REALLY cute because he was REALLY into it, but it was still pretty nervewracking. It also took a LONG time to get through everyone. (almost 300 people doing it in about groups of 20). There was a lot of idle time. AND THEN, Nagayan had the best people get stamps and perform again for the little kids that had come up along the side...

Sometime over the summer, I saw a video on Facebook about a little town in Oregon where it’s Halloween all year long. Halloween? OMG YES, I LOVE HALLOWEEN! You’re not the only one dressing up for once, so it really doesn’t feel awkward to let your geek shine! Especially now that “sexy” halloween costumes aren’t the only “cool” option. I mean, as if nerdy costumes were ever less than cool, but I digress. History has been hard to us nerds. Anyways! So, I saw a video for this Halloweentown that made it look really, really cool, and I thought, hey, I have to go!  Guess what? I did! ???? Here is my report.  First off, did you know that this isn’t a Halloween thing, as much as it is a movie set thing?? I had never even heard of the Halloweentown movie until a week before I went, much less that there was an entire series of movies that I guess kids my age grew up with! I was more of an It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown and The Worst Witch kid. Side note: holy cow, why is that movie so expensive now?! Maybe because it’s awesome, but still… So, in order to get myself into the mood, I watched Halloweentown the night before. It was cute, but it’ll still never mean to me what it means to people that grew up watching it. Here’s me and Joanne (my traveling companion — she and my cousin used to be an item, but she’s too cool for him now) at the “famous” gates! We let our Ravenclaw banner fly high all weekend! So, we drove from western Washington for about two hours to get to St. Helens, where all of the festivities take place. From the video, which I had bookmarked and is no longer available(!), it looked like this place would be huge and chock-full of Halloween everywhere we looked. Yay! There were events listed including coin hunts and rides in hearses, and because we went on a weekend in October, some of the movie cast would even be there taking photos (for a price)! It sounded really neat, and we planned to stay the night in the closest drivable town, which was 40 minutes away. There were only a few hotels in town and they were all booked up, boo. So, here’s where I want to mention something… St. Helens is a small town on the bank of the Columbia River. Right across from St. Helens, on the opposite bank of the river, is a town called Kalama. You can stand on the riverbank in St. Helens and look at Kalama on the other side. But there is no bridge. Nada. Nothing! So if you want to drive to that town that you can see happening over yonder, you have to either drive all the way up to Longview,  or all the way down to Portland, and then back. So it’s an hour’s DRIVE to cross the river, and you have to go through other cities to do it. WTF. I don’t understand this at all. Who planned these cities?!?! I just had to say something because it still boggles my mind! Alright, whew! Let’s look at some cute photos to feel better. ???? There was a band performing in Town Square, the center of all activity Halloweentown. Here’s the taxi from the movie. And this big steel pumpkin. It didn’t get crowded until night, but it was still hard to get a shot without people all over the place. I didn’t feel like waiting around, so this was the best that I could do. There was one huge parking lot, and this guy was there to welcome us in… Looks like he’d been waiting for quite a while! City Hall was at the front of the Town Square, and in the movie. This woman is apparently the ideal resident. Someone had a drone, and I thought it made for a cool shot. Looking at Mt. Hood in the distance! I’d love to go hiking there in the spring! Well… to be honest, there wasnt’ actually much to do. There were a few food trucks next to town hall selling noms and running charity drives, a haunted house around the corner, a street full of consignment/used goods shops, and a hair salon selling t-shirts and mugs of the event. During the day, there was also a shuttle to take you uptown where you could do a scavenger hunt and win a commemorative coin. It took Joanne and I over an hour to figure out where the shuttle came, even though you could walk the entire downtown area in 5 minutes, because it wasnt’ on any map and none of the shopkeepers or staff that we asked knew where it came to pick up people! Organization points: 0 We did find it, though, around the corner from all of the fuss, and boarded to do the scavenger hunt. I wasn’t really expecting anything, and it basically was a piece of paper asking us to go into 10 of 15 or so listed shops on the street and find a plaque with numbers on it. If we collected ten numbers and then took them to a certain gas station on the way out of town, we’d receive our coin. Alright, well it wasn’t super imaginative, but I get what they were going for. We did get to see some cute local shops (and I saw my second pot store in a town that takes 1-2 minutes to drive through… I’m not sure I could ever live in Oregon, as I despise any kind of smoking). I also found, of all things, local vegan caramel, so I bought it fully aware that I would try not to eat the entire bag, but would probably fail (I finished them all before I went to bed). It was delicious, though! Soft and chewy and so, so buttery….. yum! Well, after the scavenger hunt, we decided to get the car and drive around a little bit because we had run out of things to do and, guess what? According to a map that we picked up in town, apparently the Twilight series was also filmed there, and all of the locations were mapped! Forget Halloweentown (sorry!), I am a sucker for Edward and Bella’s tale of fated love. I’ve visited Forks and La Push, the real towns that the books are set in, but never the actual movie filming locations. This sort of made my weekend! There were also some old cemetaries marked on the map as places to visit. Both of those things will be in my next posts! After having a bit of an adventure, we returned to the town square to check out the nightly festivities. I think, honestly, that just coming at night to St. Helens would have been enough, because when we returned to Town Square it was starting to get packed. Apparently, at night is when the real town comes alive! Although there still wasn’t a lot to do, the atmosphere was really eerie and the throngs were thick enough that we had trouble getting through. There was a pumpkin-lighting ceremony at 7:30, but it started really late, so we abandoned it to go to the adults-only haunted house. I’m on a perpetual quest to find a haunted house that is actually scary, and this one turns adults-only after 7pm, so I was hoping for something great! Here’s the coin that we got for our scavenger hunt. It was plastic, not metal as I’d been hoping for, but it had been a nice afternoon looking in shops that we otherwise would have probably passed by. Jack was hanging out. You can see how thick the crowd was after dark! These girls had on mermaid-sparkle witch hats. I approve! I wonder whether they attended Ilvermorny. I had to have one of these necklaces. Can’t wait to rock them on halloween! I wore it into the haunted house, which was… well, it was very well done. It was probably the best put-together haunted house that I’ve ever visited in America, but I wasn’t scared at all. So, in terms of usual haunted houses, it gets an A+ rating! But on the honestly-scared-o-meter, it doesn’t register at all. This is probably what most people want, so give it a go when you visit, though! I just have really, really high expectations! Oh, and we did get a photo with Marnie’s actress. She was a real sweetie! Sure, I had just watched Halloweentown for the first time the night before, but why not! So that’s our little visit to Halloweentown! Final Verdict: If you’re nearby and a fan of Halloween, it’s definitely worth a stop! It’s only a half-hour’s drive from Portland, so it’s easy to take a little nip up and check out the festivities! It’s definitely kid-appropriate, and probably actually the most fun for the little ones. If you’re a fan of the movies, this place should definitely be on your bucketlist! Don’t plan for a whole day, though. It’s mostly a nighttime thing. See you tomorrow to share my photos from Bella’s!

I’ve been to Forks and La Push, where the Twilight book series takes place, but I’ve never been to the actual filming locations from the movies! That’s because while the director wanted to film in Forks, when he came to scout the town he realized there was just not enough infrastructure to support an entire film crew– there were literally not enough places to house and feed all of the people who would be working on the movie, and there was no other large town within driving distance! (Yeah, Forks is really far out there) Enter Halloweento— I mean, St. Helens, Oregon! St. Helens stands in for most of Forks in the movies, and a few places in nearby Portland, Oregon make up most of the rest. I ended up nearby by complete accident, as it was only when I picked up a brochure at Halloweentown that I learned that Bella’s house was just on the other side of town! LUCKY!!!  So, we took a short break to drive over to the locations that were still standing, and made a special detour to Portland because how could we leave the Cullen house behind?! I WANTED TO GO INSIDE SO BADLY! It is a real house with real people that live there, and although they encouraged taking photos from outside (according both to a brochure from City Hall and a sign in front of the house), the inside was off-limits. Honestly, it’s not Bella that I particularly love. I didn’t care for her portrayal by Kristen Stewart (sorry!), or her melancholy, passive attitude in the book. Actually, I didn’t care for Edward, either. It was the idea of a love so strong that forces of  nature were pulling you together. It’s the idea of fitting together so perfectly that you can’t do anything without the other that I am a complete sucker for! I said it on my old Livejournal years ago, but Twilight is just a big Mary Sue anyway, so I like to imagine myself as Bella, with a gorgeous (female) Edward out there waiting for me. ???? Like I said, it’s the love, not the characters themselves. I’ll fight you on this (just kidding). ???? Here is where Edward rescued Bella from some catcallers, complete with the mural that the movie crew painted (!) on the building. And the theater that they drove past, that you can’t really see well in the movie but hey, it was on the map!! This is Jilly’s, which supplied all of the dresses in the shop when Bella went to pick out something with her friends for prom. Oddly enough, they had this sign outside but no actual merchandise inside. Go figure. ???? This place, which is a private house now, was the bookstore where Bella went to find out more information about the Quileute myths. And then, though we only had a little bit of time, we drove over to Portland and checked out Edward’s house. I have to say…. THIS HOUSE WAS GORGEOUS. Whew! I would LOVE to live there. LOVE LOVE LOVE! I would also have loved a tour, but it is a private residence, and therefore we kept our distance. Mmm, but it sure is gorgeous! Twilight brings back a lot of memories for me, and it’s special because I grew up (mostly) in Washington. It’s also not the only book series to claim that there are werewolves living amongst the local residents. The town that I spent most of my childhood in also has a series revolving around it! I’m planning to take a trip over there to see my old friends and photograph all of the wolfy places of interest, so I’ll post about it then! Love ya, and see ya tomorrow!

You read that right. Joanne and I visited a Masonic Cemetary. Alone. It was one of the most calming experiences of my life. We were kind of invited, by the town, and when we arrived, we were definitely welcomed by the residents. This all started when, in the brochure listing the “town attractions” that we received in St. Helens, were two cemeteries. The addresses as well as short descriptions were listed, as well as a short missive asking us to please be respectful and not make loud noises. It sounded really creepy and really interesting, so both of us jumped at the chance to drive out there right before sunset. They weren’t what I expected at all… Well, the first one was actually roped off with a “no trespassing” sign hanging from it, so we didn’t go inside. It was right alongside the highway in Oregon, across some old train tracks, visible from the road, and named and marked on a tourist map, yet they didn’t want visitors. I wonder what happened there. In any case, we headed for the other cemetery. This one was removed from the main road, and rumored to be a lot larger. It was also known to be haunted, but visitors were welcome as long as they were respectful. Off the map it was, but when we arrived, it was also gated off. A sad Joanne looks through the gate at the second destination that was cut off from us. Ah, but unlike the other cemetery, this one didn’t have a “no tresspassing” sign. There was a clear path around the sides of the gate, the ground bare of grass and obviously well-traversed. Apparently a lot of people walked around the gate. Maybe they just didn’t want us to drive. We decided to walk. There was even a sign. And a long, winding, steep road through the forest.  It was quite a hike to reach the top of the large hill where the cemetery was supposedly located, but the view was breathtaking. It took us a good ten or fifteen minutes to reach the top, and the road was quite steep. For some reason, to the immediate right of the trail, someone had been excavating land for quite some time, and there was a deep quarry. Why someone would dig a quarry next to a burial ground is beside me. I don’t doubt that the residents were unhappy about it. I wondered if maybe I would feel some spirits, but I didn’t expect what really happened to me. As soon as I stepped off of the road and onto the grass, a calm unlike anything I’ve ever felt descended upon me. It enveloped me in a warm cocoon, and Joanne and I immediately separated and wandered quietly alone between the gravestones. I know, 100%, that not only was I welcomed, but that the residents were happy to have me there. I talked a bit with some of the gravestones, but mostly wandered about, amazed at how much serenity I felt. We must have spent around a half hour wandering quietly alone, together, before we left in order to return to the festivities in town. But I’ll never forget the experience. It was something really, really special. I took some video footage too, but I’m not sure yet whether I want to use it. We’ll see! Someday, I’ll set up a tripod and get a shot of me walking like this. But for now, have Joanne instead. ???? <3

☆ To see all of the parts in this series, click here ☆ Although it seemed as if my little fangirl heart couldn’t have taken any more, the day after the Nagayan Fanclub event, I went to see the Hyoutei myu for the first time. Just in case you’re reading this and going Huh? What’s a Hyoutei myu??, I can summarize by saying that it’s one in a series of musicals based on The Prince of Tennis. Yes, the manga that I ended up working on a few years later. ???? I was such a fangirl! Before I copy/paste my report on that musical, I want to say that the reason that I’m making this public again (they’re long gone now, and a lot of it was written privately) is because I want to show how much of a “silly,” squealing fangirl I was. I went from fan to insider purely because, later on, I took crazy-sounding chances and worked hard. And I sincerely believe that you, whomever you are, can do the same! By the way, all of this is eventually becoming fodder for an online comic that I’ve been formulating for a long time! No release date, though. I’m still working on Denkiki, this blog, my Youtube channel, and a few other things. And trying to put a new life together for myself. ???? In the meantime, let’s get to it! My friends and I ready for our dreams to come true, and our dreams were to see the Prince of Tennis musical! August 11, 2005 Tenimyu ~ Imperial Match Hyoutei!! This is the most detailed report on a musical that I’ve ever written. I’m going to do my best from now on to do the same each time!! (I did, for years) As Seigaku said, ♪♪DO YOUR BEST DO YOUR BEST!! DO YOUR BEST DO YOUR BEST!!♪♪ So far I’ve went to the opening performance of Hyoutei musical last night and to the second performance, which was tonight. ^^ I waited to write my report until seeing it a second time because I took very detailed notes the second time and added things and clarified things that the other people had seen afterwards! We had a tenimyu conference. =D (a tradition afterwards!!) It was a solid conclusion that cast improved a lot between the first and second performances. I can’t wait to see the last Tokyo performance, this Sunday. My bet is that they’re going to be VERY solid before then!! Oh wow. Deliciousness on a stick!! My overall feelings can be summed up in the chant that Hyoutei led, *clap clap* “Katsu no wa – Hyoutei! Makeru no Sei-gaku!!” 勝つのは氷帝！負けるの青学！！ (‘The winner will be Hyoutei! The loser will be Seigaku!’) Well, let’s start at what happened today before the musical!! Being hungry and having little other choice in the area for food, we went to the convenience store down the block from the musical… first off, I stopped and stared at this guy who was about to cross the road– who looked a lot like Ishibashi! But I couldn’t tell for sure because he’s changed his hair recently according to his picture set. He stared back at me, but it might have been because I was a tall red-headed foreigner wearing a Hyoutei jersey and a short black skirt.. ? LOL I don’t know if it was him, but I think that it was! He turned and looked back, and I think that he recognized me? I think.. maybe.. hmm..! He definitely recognized me yesterday, but that story is at the end of this report~ In the convenience store, while we are browsing the food sections, who do I notice has walked up alongside our aisle, but quite a few of the cast members! From what I remember, it was Yuu (Tezuka), Aiba (Fuji), Adachi (Kikumaru), Konishi (Kawamura), and Araki (Inui). Araki was wearing a cute hat so it took a minute to recognize him, and while most of the boys wandered along next to me without trouble in the aisle that I was in, Adachi stayed well away by the magazines. He was wearing a mask– which likely means that he has a cold!! Poor boy!! I only talked to Yuu– because I feel most comfortable talking to Yuu out of that group… ^^;; err, sorta. I (stupidly) shouted too loudly, “Yuu!!” when he came into my aisle, and of course he couldn’t ignore something like that. ^^;;; I feel a little bad, because I think that he gave me one of those, ‘why are you talking to me?’ looks. It’s not normal for a fan to actually talk to an actor here if they see them. I said, “hisashiburi!!’ (“It’s been a while!”) thinking that it’s been a while since I talked to him at all, to which he replied, “kino mita….” (“I saw you yesterday”)… Oh yeah…….. he’d obviously seen me at demachi yesterday (more later), and I felt kind of stupid and like I’d been really fannish, so I smiled and left him to do his things with the other boys. It wasn’t until later that I realized that I should have wished him good luck. Ah well, next time!! Itte yosh~! I probably acted way too familar, since we aren’t friends or anything, but it’s the way that I’ve always been with anyone that I’m fond of, friends or acquaintences. So it naturally carries off to them, without me even thinking of it. ^^; Ah well… in any case, I wish them all good luck for the future and rest of the performances!! On to the myu itself! (again! lol) Tenimyu ~ Imperial Match Hyoutei!! KENN special guest star. For both of these performances and for tomororw’s two shows also, KENN (Yuuta) is the special St. Rudolph guest star!! After that is Shiozawa for the next 3 days and Shinoda for the last day. I have tickets to shows with both of them (Thu and Sat for Shio, Sun of course for Shino), so I’m going to note the differences in separate posts. ^^ I can’t wait to see the differences!! ^____________________________^ This is my favorite~ I think that this is the best of all of the musicals. Hands down. Hyoutei was…. droolworthy. Hyoutei rocked the world, and they didn’t even show up for a little while. I’ll start at the beginning~ Tenimyu tenimyu tenimyu tenimyu tenimyu yaaay! <—— (me) First, as in all of the musicals, the curtain wa down andthere were suddenly the sounds of sneakers hitting the pavement. Cue the excitement level to rise and everyone to quiet down suddenly. The lights went down, and the curtain raised silently. A spotlight appeared off to the side, and onto the stage walks Sengoku (Wada) from the right, who does a short introduction. “Welcome,” etc. From the other side, lit with another spotlight, Yuuta (Kenn) made his entrance. They noticed each other and started to walk towards the center, but Yuuta suddenly stops as his cell phone goes off — with his ringer being Ore wa ore no namae de!! XDXDXD Wada starts to interrupt him, but his own phone goes off — with his ringer being Oretachi Jimi-su from bukimyu!! ROFLOL!! So hilarious!! They both managed to get off the phones shortly and walk over to each other, and began to argue — Sengoku asks Yuuta ‘So, who is the coolest player?’ Kenn begins right in saying that his buchou is the coolest, just look at him! And up above them on the screen appears a rather dorky shot of Akazawa and Kaneda from an earlier musical! Yuuta was embarrassed, saying, ‘ack!! I didn’t mean to put both of them up there!!’ Sengoku corrected him, saying, ‘My team is really cool’ — ‘Hey, who put that there?!’ Up on the screen had appeared a shot from Bukimyu of the Jimis mid-dance! Definitely NOT cool! XDXDXD In the end, they couldn’t decide who was the coolest, because music started up behind them…. Cue them to run off of stage and the second curtain to raise~ Starting with Fuji, all of Seigaku minus Ryoma took their places among the strong opening beats of the new Seigaku fight song, ♪Do Your Best! They did a long typical number for the kind of song- with lots of group singing and solos, the whole team going all out on their dancing just as they’d done for Bukimyu. Then they gathered in the center and Ryoma (Yanagi) was raised above! The crowd went noticeably more silent, this was the first time that Yanagi would be performing Ryoma on his own again!! How recovered WAS he? Yanagi didn’t move too much during this song, but he did do a bit of posing, and tried his very very best at singing. He still can’t sing well, but he’s obviously working on it. Hard. (So basically, he sounded terrible, but much better than he had at graduation myu!) Throughout the musical, Yanagi did very little dancing, and mostly posing. When he walked, he mostly walked without a limp, but there were a few times when it was noticeable, especially in the second performance. He could mostly manage it though, but he could not manage any kind of turns, as he stumbled slightly pretty much every time he tried. ;__;  Ganbarou Yanagi!! He’s improved a LOT!! Though there’s still a long road ahead, I think, he really seems to be trying hard. Everyone talked about it afterward and felt the same, very very respectful of what he must have to face and what he’s going through. What a strong boy~~ After Do Your Best, the lyrics consisting mostly of the team outlining their strengths and how they would try their hardest, Seigaku exited the stage and it all went dark. When the curtain raised again, the ichinen trio were sitting at desks on the left side of the stage, puzzling over the answers to their english test. Horio kept copying Kachiro, who shouted at him for it, and when they noticed us, they started in on another hilarious song, led by Horio, and beginning with english!! Horio belted out, “Hello, good day, how are you?” while Kachiro and Katsuo start chiming in. Kachiro seems to think that Horio is copying too much, so he stands up on the desk for his next refrain, and very very slashily (to me), Horio offers him a hand down. Then…….. they start a tap dance across stage that somehow incorporates the lyrics “A B C D”!! XDXD They have their usual display of awesome and hilarious dancing and suddenly rush off stage in the middle of the test when they realize that they’re about to miss the tennis team’s ranking tournament!! Most of Seigaku’s ranking matches are glossed over quickly, with the actors coming in and out quickly, pretending to hit a few balls or so. They give special attention to Ryoma vs. Oishi, after which Ryoma is congratulated for becoming a regular again. Next is the most important match, however. Inui vs. Momo and Inui vs. Tezuka. They do both matches at once, by having Inui stand on the right in the background, and Momo on the left in the background, with Tezuka in the front center (like a triangle). There is scary data-like music playing in the background (hard to describe.. it sounds like data). Inui is hitting balls and every other time that he hits a ball either Tezuka or Momo hits it. He finishes the Momo match first, and lo and behold ~ he beats Momo, who is no longer a regular because of it. Momo can’t believe it and stalks off stage. Then the Inu-Tez match is stopped, and the stage is resituated for a proper viewing of the rest of the match. The entire team is talking about how scary data tennis is, and I agree after seeing that. Inui is powerful in the musical! On to the real InuTez match. Inui tells Tezuka that he can break him with data tennis, because data doesn’t lie. In fact, after he counters Tezuka’s zero-shiki drop shot with data, he...

Being back in a cold and rainy climate reminds me of Tokyo. No, seriously. Washington has four seasons, just like Tokyo did, and just like Hawaii didn’t. I suppose that’s what has been making me feel really nostalgic these days. I’m in a place with the weather of Japan, but way less awesome. I have seriously owned around seventeen kajillion books about Japan in my lifetime, and I’ve given away, donated, or sold back almost the same amount. Some of them I bought, some of them were given to me, and I even found one or two. But the thing is that I have moved so many times that the only ones I’ve kept are those that I absolutely, positively, do not want to live without. (Well, maybe I could live without them, but then would I really be living?) Anyays! Right now, I only own three books in English about Japan, and these are them, and here is why I really like them:   1. The Otaku Encyclopedia: An Insider’s Guide to the Subculture of Cool Japan Disclaimer: A friend of mine wrote this, but that’s not why I’m recommending it.  Pat has written a bunch of books and papers, and they’re all great, but this is the one that I wish that every single otaku in the world could have. What is it? It’s seriously a dictionary, but not the kind of dictionary that we used when I was a little kid to look up stuff for our school essays. I never had a dictionary like this. You probably know what Hatsune Miku is, but do you know what a Heta-uma is? How about a kuchi-paku? Guess where you can find all of that information that you didn’t know that you needed to have? In this freaking book. I know a fair amount about Otaku culture. I lived and breathed it in Japan for almost a whole decade. But I didn’t know half of the stuff that Patrick wrote about in his book, and that’s why you need it. Plus, it’s got a lot of color, a cute mascot, and some really cool exclusive interviews. You can even learn about Tenimyu!   2. Tokyo on Foot So. I saw this book in the book store in Japan, even though it’s written in English. Maybe that’s because although there is a story in it, it’s mostly drawings and you don’t need to be able to read to get the gist of it. It was written/drawn by an artist that came to stay in Tokyo while his girlfriend was there for an internship. He spent almost every day of his six months there wandering the city with colored pencils and a pad of paper and drawing what he saw. Not only are his drawings aces, I absolutely love his little comments about places and people and things. Right after I bought this book (years ago), I was so enamored that I tried emulating his style with less than stellar results. Me and colored pencils don’t mix, which kind of makes this book even more cool (somehow)! Part of the reason that I really enjoyed this book was because it made me nostalgic for my own first days in Tokyo. I remembered thinking a lot of the same things. I just wish that I’d been good with colored pencils (and had enough confidence to write a book). You can read about my first year here on my blog, though! Honestly, I don’t think that this book is as much a must-have for otaku as the other two, but if art and impressions of Japan is your thing, I think you will love it as much as I do. I seriously only brought two English-language books back with me when I moved out of Japan, and this was one. The other was an ancient copy of The Mysterious Island that my father got when he was a kid and passed on to me.   3. Tokyo Geek’s Guide Aaaaalright. I was really, really skeptical about this one. I’ve seen a hundred other “guides to Tokyo” for otaku, but I didn’t keep any of them. This one, though? I am not only keeping it forever, I am going to give a copy to any of my friends traveling to Japan on their own to go otaku-shopping. Holy cow, I wish this book had existed when I first moved to Japan, because it covers things that it took me years of living there to find on my own! It’s a bona-fide travel guide, minus all of the generic stuff that you can find in a normal travel guide. It doesn’t focus on hotels or nice restaurants. Instead, it lists maid cafes, anime shops, and AWESOME stuff like Swallowtail (don’t know what that is? You need to get this book and find out because it is awesome!). The book is split into districts of Tokyo, and lists otaku-related info about each area along with detailed maps and how to get to all of these places. It’s kind of big and heavy for a travel guide, but it’s seriously the only one that I’m interested in having with me next time that I travel to Tokyo. There are places in it that I haven’t even been to. Oh, and bonus? There is a whole section in the latter part of the book talking about Geeky festivals like Comicket and JUMP Festa. I REALLY, REALLY WISH THAT THIS HAD BEEN AROUND WHEN I MOVED TO JAPAN. It’s 14 years too late for that, but not too late for my next trip, and not too late for yours! It’s also in full color. If you’re reading this, I think that you will probably want this book. GO BUY IT.   This has absolutely NOT been a paid advertisement. I am just a geeky girl honestly recommending things that she likes to you that she thinks you need. :3 See you again soon la la la!

Recently, I’ve found myself thinking more often than not about the past – mistakes I’ve made, where I could have done better, things like that. I think that’s a symptom of unhappiness, really, so yeah… I’m putting a stop to that. It’s a hard and imperfect stop, but I’m not willing to continue to think about things that I can’t change. Instead, I am going to look forward — to my next step and how to make it count! That’s how I’ve been trending, anyway, I hope you can tell! I guess that makes it funny that I roped people into going fossil-hunting with me! Get it? THE PAST. But, I LOVE ANCIENT HISTORY! It’s my first time finding a fossil, and my first time hunting, so I count it as a giant leap forward in this travelogue I call life. :3 Anyways, I found a book in the library about gem hunting in Washington and there was a listing for a site where you could find fossils (!!!!) nearby (!!!!!!!!!!). It’s called Lincoln Creek (there does appear to be a creek somewhere nearby, but it’s not right at the site), and let’s just say that I’ve learned a lot from it, both about fossil hunters (STINGY WITH LOCATIONS) and about fossil hunting itself (by blundering right into it without knowing anything). Thank god there were GPS coordinates in the book, because although I found a lot of reviews on fossil hunting at Lincoln Creek online, as well as a few blurry photos, I couldn’t find any information on how to actually get there or what exactly it looked like. All I had was the GPS coordinates from the book. I know that people want to protect their “stash,” and it comes across as pretty selfish to me, but it really makes it hard to start out as a beginner with only passion to rely on, and I don’t think that being “protective” or “exclusive” is a good way to behave in general. That said, let me help you if you decide to go yourself: – GPS coordinates in Google Maps. – A screencap of the map and the turns I walked to get there. I don’t recommend it, unless you want a really great walk in nature that is also technically trespassing and won’t be disappointed if you find nothing, but if you want to go, go for it and enjoy it all you can! It was only supposed to be a half hour drive or so from my sister’s house to the little logging road that led to the site. But I learned something new that had seriously never once crossed my mind: logging roads can be closed off! There was a gate blocking the main road, so we tried driving for miles in every direction to get in another way, but ALL of those were blocked off, too. There were “no tresspassing, this land belongs to Weyerhaeuser” signs, but we eventually just decided to walk it. I am not sorry at all to say that I have zero respect for companies that clearcut or attempt to think that land can “belong” to them for that purpose. Oh, and they have tried to sue the government to be able to log on lands that contain endangered species. Now, I love paper, but f you, Weyerhaeuser. I’m not at all sorry, and I’d walk these lands again a hundred times if I wanted to. So, we ignored the signs, and walked past the gate all the way to our destination. ALLLLLLLL the two hours. It might not seem like a lot, but we honestly thought that we’d be able to drive right up to the site as it said in the book. Welp, it was an unexpected walk, but super awesome to get back among the trees. Being in the forest and a slow walker anyways, I spent a lot of the time by myself contemplating life and sacred rituals. You know, the usual. Come look at some photos with me, and I’ll tell you a little bit about the journey. ???? When we realized that the road was blocked off, we drove around searching for another way into the deep forest and saw this. You know you’re… oh, wait. It looked like their neighbors a little further down were more my kind of people, though! Here’s my niece, all ready for adventure! I’m pretty sure that these were bear droppings, as they were full of berries. They were also somewhat fresh. There are a lot of bears up here in Western Washington, since there aren’t many settled areas. I never thought for a moment that I’d need to bring bear spray, but I definitely am going to have to buy some for my adventures. :/ It was quite lovely. One of the very few blue, sunny days that we’ve had so far this summer. I won’t be sorry to leave the cold behind, as I’m a desert sprite and being in the cold depletes my magic! But this… it was lovely. There were two clearcut clearings. They made for gorgeous views of the valley, but it was also quite sad. I could feel the souls of all of those trees calling out to me… ???? We delved onto a very overgrown road after over an hour of walking. And there was a huge, recent-looking landslide blocking the path! We weren’t about to turn back, so we picked our way across it. And just a little ways farther, down another overgrown road, this one much more primitive, the fossil site was evident. It was also really, really disappointing. It was exactly where the GPS coordinates said it would be (funny enough, I got better cell signal in the middle of the forest than I do in town), and there was basically a slope of discarded rocks that led up to a little overhang. Oops, I mean a lot overhang. People had dug deep into the cliff, and it looked like the forest above was one hit shy of collapsing in on you. I like adventuring, but I don’t like playing with death. And yet, I still picked for about half an hour, looking for concretions (fossilized crabs in the center of rock balls trapped within the rock, if that makes sense). Supposedly this site was full of them, and there were people online saying that they found 80 within an hour. But we found nothing at all, except for some shells that were indeed trapped in the rock, but looked like any old shell. Fossils, yes, but not really cool. This was supposed to be my “I’m tired and disappointed” face. I guess I shouldn’t have smiled, haha! Guess what, though???? We felt so empty-handed that we decided to see if there was anything in the rock slide, and that’s where I found the concretion!! In the middle of this giant rock that I slowly whittled away at. We must have spent about two hours picking through the debris, and we found a ton more shells, but just that one crab. Still, it’s cool, right? I considered it a win for the day after all, and we decided to get out of there as the sun started to go down. Here’s the slightly-overgrown trail we were on (the panorama makes it look like a circle, but it was a straight path XD). Passed the clearcut areas with the sun much lower in the sky. The fairies started to come out as we entered the wooded paths again in the late afternoon sunlight. We made it home while it was still light out, exhausted and quite sore. Here is my concretion, though! Isn’t it cool? You can barely tell that there was a crab inside when it was formed. I didn’t really know what I was doing, so I think that I didn’t preserve it as well as I could when I cracked it open, but I’m still really proud to have found it. ????   My first fossil. Of many. ????  

This isn’t in the photos, but it’s foggy and cold this morning in western Washington. It’s the weirdest summer I’ve ever experienced — foggy, frigid mornings, cool days, and then freezing nights! It’s not very pleasant for a desert creature like myself, but it’s quite nice to sit inside and write in my blog a least. I have to say, it sure is weird, though. It’s August and I wear a sweater or sweatshirt most of the time and then I’m still cold! ^^; There are a few sunny days here and there, though. I get out on those days, into the wilderness and bright blue beyond. Sometimes, I just drive and drive in my still-unnamed yellow bug, and other times I find something that not a lot of people know about. This is about one of them. ^^ I love to wander, to find all of the nooks and crannies of wherever I happen to be. Tourist sites? Well, they’re usually cool and I want to see them, but it’s the little, hidden things off the beaten trail that really get my soul revving. So, Johns River (no apostrophe, it was named back when apostrophes weren’t used on maps) was one of those things. I found out about it by googling and googling, thinking that someone, somewhere, must have written about something other than the two really traveled trails in Grays Harbor. I mean, this area is the gateway to the wild peninsula of Washington, where according to Stephanie Meyer and Patricia Briggs, vampires and werewolves run wild. I also loooooooove mountain meadows. Johns river is not in the mountains, so I suppose that it mostly qualifies as grassland surrounded by trees? It’s just a little concrete path, and it’s not even a mile (0.6 miles one way) long, but with the river on one side and a huge expanse of pasture to the other side, it took my breath away.   Just look at this. Elk supposedly graze around here a lot, and I didn’t see any since I went during midday, but I bet it’s really a sight at sunset. It’s not far, so I will definitely have to come back. Can’t you just imagine little river sprites lounging on the bank, cleaning themselves? And little fairies flitting through the air? I bet this is a really magical place at sunset.   The little shack in the distance is off the trail. It’s supposedly for hunters (YUCK) and photographers. It would make a wonderful place to watch the sprites from. This shack is at the very end of the trail, and the same thing. It’s boring inside. I didn’t see any geldings, but I saw a few mosquitoes and a spider. If you’re lucky enough to have a horse that loves to take you along on its adventures, you can continue. I was wearing shorts, so I didn’t go, because ticks! But I will come back. Yes, I will come back. :3 Road to nowhere. Ignore the buildings. They’re only there for magical curse removal. Here’s a panorama of wildness. I’m feeling really magical today, can’t you tell? I think it’s because I have Daniel Waples playing in the background, and it’s all foggy outside. That reminds me that I want a handpan so badly. I need to find a handpan that I can afford soooooo badly, because I think it’s a music that speaks to my inner essence. Does anyone know what these gorgeous purple flowers are? They’re not lavender. The River People watch over this creek. Be careful to please them. It’s me. Sometimes I wear bright colors, sometimes I wear pastels. I don’t think that a magical being has to stick to  neutrals. (That hand thing is a shaka, a very cool gesture that I learned during my time in Hawaii that means “hang loose.” I like to think that it also means that you should be yourself and follow your instincts.) I think that I’ll go research handpans again. I should write down how much they cost so that I can be sure to stock my Airstream with one when I get it. ???? Here’s to the future! Excelsior! (Is that a good “to infinity, and beyond!!” kind of quote? If not, what should I use instead? I feel like “banzai!” is overused) Oh, and I’ve been arting on my Tumblr lately. I’ve been writing a serial ficiton that is mysterious connected to my soon-to-come comic, Denkiki on my other tumblr. Go check them out!  I’m going to start using my mailing list soon, too, to keep people updated, so stay tuned and I’ll post the link soon! Or make it a popup, I’m not sure. But I want to offer something cool for when people sign up. ???? Chaoness!

Как сообщают источники, компания Apple ведет переговоры со своим партнером GIS о том, чтобы обновить дисплеи в следующих поколениях iPhone. В частности, речь идет об установке в экраны смартфонов ульт...

Аналитики из JP Morgan in TF Securities в разное время опубликовали прогнозы относительно будущего модельного ряда iPhone, однако их содержание сходится, что добавляет отчетам достоверности. В частнос...