07 November 2005

Blustery Day

There was an intense storm in Montreal this evening, with strong winds and heavy rain that reminded me of the ol' typhoons back in Nakatsu! This storm was the result of the devastating tornado that ripped through Kentucky and Indiana early Sunday morning killing 22 people and injuring 200. Mother nature continues to freak me out!

Once again, I was busy uploading piccies to smugmug today. I managed to upload another 100 or so pics, including all of the most recent ones from Japan and yes...Christmas 2004! It's about time desho? I've still got over 150 pics to add to existing albums. I'll try to finish that tomorrow. After that, I'll start with the Egypt photos (over 300) and of course the ones I've taken since I've been back in Montreal. Then...I'll have to continue working on all the descriptions and captions as well. Hopefully, I'll be able to get everything done before I start working full-time, either this week or the following. It isn't easy when you're working on a computer that crashes, on average, five times a day...taihen desu ne!

BTW, don't be shy about leaving comments on this blog or on smugmug...or both! Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. I know that Candice, Laverne and Isa have been keeping up with all of my hard work, but...anybody else? I know that I've been neglecting my e-mail since I started this project and I apologise for that. I will catch up soon, I promise! I also realise that those of you with keitai e-mail are unable to see any of this, so here's a message for those of you fortunate enough to have internet access...please tell them (the keitai users) what they're missing! Arigatou!

06 November 2005

More smugmug updates...

Well, I've been busy again today! I've uploaded over 100 new photos to smugmug. Actually, some are new and some are old, since I'm updating all of my galleries. I hadn't realised just how much I'd been slacking. I actually still haven't uploaded my piccies from Christmas 2004, not to mention all of the missing pics from loads of existing galleries! Gomen nasai. Pretty pathetic, I know. That's why I'm starting from scratch and revising all the old galleries as well as creating new ones. So, keep checking back for updates onegaishimasu...

Oh yeah, and Laverne will be glad to know that I've added more captions, and yes, the Family category has been completely updated so you can now tell who's who. My, those kids have grown, haven't they? And...Isabelle will be pleased that I've put more piccies of myself up on smugmug...you're right, I'm usually behind the camera! I can always count on you two to pay attention to everything that I put online. Thanks!

Oh yeah, and Angie-dahhhling will be proud to know that I've been catching up on The OC! I'm well into season 3 and soon will have to start watching it when it's televised just like everybody else...rather than watching it on videotape!

Oyasumi nasai!

BTW...anyone hear from Atsushi yet? Chotto shinpai yo!

05 November 2005

Natsukashii!

Izogashii! I've been very busy updating my online photo galleries at smugmug for the past two days. Omoshiroii ga taihen desu! It's not easy working on this s-l-o-w computer of mine. Kono pasukon wa totemo furui desu! Unfortunately, I'm in a bit of a catch-22 situation. I'm trying to get this done now, whilst unemployed, because I have time. However, I can't hook up my newly-repaired, speedy laptop to the internet because I can't really afford the router that I need to do so. Ah...dilemnas.

Soon, my financial problems should be rectified. All of the job hunting I've been doing has finally paid off. I have actually been offered two jobs! Sugoi ne? Firstly, I was offered a teaching position, teaching French-Canadian business people the art of the English language. It pays well...$16/hour for new teachers. However, they can only give me a few hours a week until the new session starts in January. I have also been offered a full-time position as a pre-kindergarten educator. I will be going in for a trial-run on Tuesday, 8th November. I will post my decision next week...so please stay tuned! Of course, once I start working, I won't have as much time to work on this blog or my galleries. Ah...dilemnas.

So, let me tell you all what I've been able to accomplish. First of all, if you scroll down a bit and look to the left, you'll see the smugmug button in the navigation bar. That's where you should click if you want to visit my photo galleries. Now, I've still got loads of work ahead of me, but what I've managed to do so far is...

Create three new categories:

  • Holidays
  • Weddings
  • Celebrations

Create two new subcategories:

  • Candice's Family
  • Japanese Weather

Create a bunch of new galleries within the Travel category:

  • A Day with the Tad
  • Aso
  • Fukuoka
  • Nagasaki
  • Oita
  • Osada Park
  • Osaka
  • Sanko Village

Create new galleries (or modify existing ones in Family, Friends and Weddings categories):

  • California Dreamin'
  • The Fosters
  • The Phillips
  • Mark & Yumi

Update many existing galleries including:

  • Barbeques
  • Garden Bar
  • Western Night
  • The Adventures of Kristen

On a final note...I've written captions for most of the existing pics as well as for many of the new pics, although I'm not quite finished yet. I've also written descriptions for a good number of my galleries...new and old alike. Phew!

I've still got plenty more piccies to upload (including Egypt, of course) so please be patient! In the meantime...in addition to all the above-mentioned new stuff, here are some piccies of my last few days in Nakatsu. I'm trying desperately to do this in chronological order, so that's why I'm focusing on organising and updating the older galleries first. I wanted to share these with you because I'm feeling very natsukashii and sabishii yo!!!!

omedetou gozaimasu
Group Shot at Mark's Birthday Party

aussie legends
Geoff & Pads at Marky's Birthday Party

oishii so
Kazue, Mayumi, Miyuki, Mike & I at Miyuki's family sushi restaurant

sabishii
Kumi-chan, Mike & Miyuki at my Sayonara Party at Tropicoco

natsukashii
Moyai, Shinobs, Lyndsay & Mike at my Sayonara Party

kawaii
Mu-Chan and her sister with Mike & I at my Sayonara Party

chotto hen desu ne
Hide & Atsushi in the lobby at Queen's Echo Karaoke

uta ga josu desu
Atsushi, Mark & Geoff at karaoke

dahhling
Mark & Angie at karaoke

sugoi natsukashii
Pads & I at karaoke...Angie, Geoff & Mark in background


Well, that's all for the preview! Those of you who are waiting for actual prints of any of my photos...shinbou onegaishimasu...I'm currently financially challenged, but I will get it done...eventually...I promise!

In other news...I went to the dentist yesterday and...no cavities! Yay me!

I've just started...finally...reading Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and I must say...I'm simply riveted! I'm trying to savour it as slowly as possible. I'm also very excited for the upcoming film-version of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire being released in North America on November 18th!

I guess that's all for now. It's almost 3:00am, so I best be off to bed...

Mata ne!

02 November 2005

I have issues...

Okay, so I just found this great website called similarminds.com! First, I took a Word Association Test and apparently:




I have issues with...
sex
age
walls
chaos
health
Take Word Association Test


Ha!

Since I'm currently looking for employment, I also decided to take a Career Inventory Test. Here are my results:


Career Inventory Test Results

Extroversion |||||||||||||||||||||||| 76%
Emotional Stability |||||||||||||||||| 56%
Orderliness |||||||||||||||||| 53%
Altruism ||||||||||||||||||||| 66%
Inquisitiveness |||||||||||| 33%

You are a Supporter, possible professions include - nurse, social worker, caterer, flight attendant, bookkeeper, medical/dental assistant, exercise physiologist, elementary school teacher, minister/priest/rabbi, retail owner, officer manager, telemarketer, counselor, special education teacher, merchandise planner, credit counselor, athletic coach, insurance agent, sales representative, massage therapist, medical secretary, child care provider, bilingual education teacher, professional volunteer.
Take Free Career Test
personality tests by similarminds.com

Honestly, I love this stuff! Could you see me as a minister/priest/rabbi? I think not...

Catching Up

One of my latest obsessions is...catching up on all the film and television that I've missed out on while I was living abroad. I've discovered a handy little service called zip.ca. What is it, you may ask? It's Canada's Largest Online DVD Service. They offer members access to an always-growing DVD library of over 36,000 titles. The service combines a simple title selection process, no due dates or late fees, and free home-delivery. With the plan I chose, I pay $24.95 per month and have unlimited rentals. I can only have four DVDs out at a time. As soon as I've finished watching one, I send it back, and they send me the next DVD on my list. Currently, I have over 80 titles on my list. The first three DVDs that I've watched are: Closer - brutally honest and well-acted, The Stepford Wives - a sad re-make of the 1975 cult classic, and Old School - not quite as funny as I had hoped. Some titles that I'm looking forward to receiving are Thirteen, Super Size Me, and Audition.