Hopes & Expectations
Saturday, January 31st. 10:27 A.M. Japan.

I'm on the bullet train on my way up to Hachinohe where I will catch my train to Misawa. The train is blazing through snow flurries now as we make our way north, away from Tokyo. I had to spend a night in Tokyo thanks to a bad engine on the plane in O'Hare. We had to switch planes, delaying us over three hours.

The hotel rooms were tiny. Really tiny. Your room is bigger than the bedroom and bathroom combined. You think, "He doesn't know what my room looks like." Doesn't matter. It's bigger. The other guy I'm traveling with and I originally got a room together. It had bunk beds and barely enough space for our luggage. The room was completely full, no space to maneuver. I got my own room.

Within hours of being back in Japan I realized this culture is starting to wear thin on me. It's not that it's bad. The people are nice but I like the extravagance of Americanism. There's so much to love about Asia but its modesty that once allured me now seems so unbearably humble. I like extravagance and living large. Until that wears thin on me, too.

I'm rereading Watchmen now. I started it on the flight back. I had forgotten just how much information is there and how in depth Allan Moore gets. The movie is going to ruin it just like the movies ruin all of Moore's work. Still, it looks awesome and I'm excited for it. I'm on issue 8 of 12 on my reread. I'm reading it slow like a wine taster sipping on a fine wine. It's a great piece of work and deserves to be fully absorbed. If you haven't read it, you should probably get on that. I don't recommend anyone see the movie without first reading the source material. The film will color your perception of Moore's brilliance just as past films of his work might have. No matter how good you think the films are (and most of them aren't), they just can't measure up. Read the books. You'll be happy you did.

While in Jacksonville, I inadvertently got started on this Zooey Deschanel kick. It started when I watched Almost Famous for the first time in years. I saw the DVD for $5 at Walmart and couldn't pass it up. Then I downloaded a movie off a list I keep on my iPod Touch (I add stuff that catches my attention in stores or conversations). The movie was The Go-Getter. It's good and adventurous and co-stars Zooey Deschanel. My friend and I then went to go see Yes Man in theaters. That was funnier than I expected... and Zooey Deschanel was there. Before seeing any of these films, I didn't know Deschanel was in them and I actually had little interest in her after her role in that abominable adaptation of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Now I was finding that I like her characters, or character as it may be. She doesn't appear to have a wide range as an actress but I like everything she does (except, of course, afore mentioned HGTTG adaptation). Once I saw she starred in Tin Man, the Sci Fi Channel original mini series that updates the story of The Wizard of Oz, I knew I had to see it. I wanted to see it before I knew she was in it, anyway. I watched part 1 the day before I left Florida and parts 2 and 3 on the plane. I had high expectations that were let down a little bit by acting and directing that wasn't quite what I hoped but the series is still good. Now I know I will be actively seeking out new Zooey Deschanel material. I saw her on the cover of a magazine at the airport and immediately opened it to the interview. Apparently she has a record or two out. I guess I'll start there.

The snow is pretty. Hachinohe approaches.
***

Apparently Deschanel only has one album out and it's under the band She & Him. Another interesting fact, Zooey Deschanel and Ben Gibbard got engaged at the end of December. Did not know that.

My trip home totally sucked, by the way. Here's the run down:

Both my flights were delayed. The second one was delayed 3 hours. We had to switch planes due to an engine not starting. The delay caused us to miss the last train from Tokyo to Misawa so we spent the night in Tokyo at this shitty little hotel with rooms smaller than comfortable. The next morning when we got to Hachinohe, all the trains had stopped due to freezing (maybe ice on the tracks... I don't know). So there are three of us (we ran into one of our officers there) freezing our asses of waiting for our last train to Misawa when we finally decide to take a cab to CoCo curry house and meet up with some people so we could drive the rest of the way back to base. It was just ridiculous. Due to being jet lagged, I was up at 0330 the next morning and at 0530 I went out and spent an hour scraping a month's worth of snow and ice off my car. Joy.

So being back in Misawa has done a lot to remind me just why I have to get out of the military. I hate being here. I don't really like the people. I definitely don't like the work. I don't really understand how anyone feels fulfilled doing this job. It's all bullshit. I'm suddenly burdened with a larger workload and higher expectations because I'm a second class, which would be fine under normal circumstances, but I'm expected to know things no one ever bothered to teach me. People here assume knowledge is automatic. It's frustrating because I know my job and that's not the issue. It's all the other inane stuff about the command I have to know. Frustrating. I'm learning to write brag sheets and evaluations right now. I hate it. They keep telling me that this is all for me, it's to better my career. They don't seem to understand I don't have a career. The one thing I hope to gain from this exercise is skills that will help me in writing a decent resume on the outside.

It's funny that no matter how much you say you're not going to make a career out of the military they never believe you. A lot of people who think they're getting out sign the contract at the last minute. Fuck that. Besides, I had a couple people from Korea set a good example for me. If I re-upped I'd never be able to live it down. And that's enough of that.

On another note, the cold weather really makes me feel good. I like coming in from the cold and warming up while sipping a coffee and reading a book or watching a good show. Reminds me of being a kid again around Christmas time in Massachusetts. I was so happy that time of year, like life could get no better. As a kid, I guess that really is the best life has to offer.

I'm currently catching up on Scrubs and The Office. Scrubs, amazingly enough, is still hilarious and still has great music. I also want to say that episode 6 of this season's Office was probably the funniest episode of The Office since season 3.

One more random piece of wisdom before I go: Acoustic Lady GaGa on the piano sounds a bit like Regina Spektor. She's like a talented Britney Spears... with better songs.

Poker Face [Live at The Cherrytree House Piano & Voice Version] by Lady GaGa