I have always wanted to go to Japan. It is the land of the freaky english speakers (see sign from Japanese hotel below):

I don't exactly know why I have always wanted to go there...maybe because my best friend growing up was Japanese, maybe because I studied Aikido, maybe because of bonsai trees. I really don't know why, but I have always felt the pull.

Anyway, I am still not feeling well, so to pass the time while I try to recover I have been reading books from the library. I got one by Ejovi Nuwere called Hacker Cracker. It is an autobiography of sorts, about how he grew up poor in a bad neighbourhood and got into computers which ended up turning his life around. Except this guy is still young (I figure he is in his 20's), and in general, I usually feel that someone that old has not earned a biography yet. In spite of my strict standards, this was a very good book. I really enjoyed reading it. By the end of the book, he talks about how he always wanted to go to Japan which really resonated with me because as I have said, I always wanted to go, and coincidently, have looked into it very seriously lately (e.g. I am poised to buy some airfare).

So, I will keep you all informed of my journey to the Land of the Rising Sun. Stay tuned!

Some of you may know what I am talking about...

ADDENDUM: I changed the title of my blog. It is just, well, more fitting (yeah, I know what it means! but cleverly, that is not what I mean!). I am conscious of the fact that all actions have consequences and I was worried that this would cause concern to all two of you who link to my site. Then I got over it. You see, I have evolved since I started this blog. I changed my mind. Sometimes we forget that we can just change our minds whenever we feel like it.

I have been feeling a little under the weather lately, and unfortunately I am still not in top condition. Practically speaking, what this means is that I have had little appetite for formulating new universal laws, making keen insights into the nature of our world and drawing supporting charts. In fact, I have been chartless for weeks! Here are some of the things I have been thinking about in the interim:

1. I am reading a book about another book (this other book being "De Revolutionibus" written by Nicolas Copernicus the 16th century Polish priest and astronomer who advocated a heliocentric model of the solar system). It is written by a professor specializing in the history of science, a subject I have never really appreciated. I mean, what kind of new research does one do on the history of science? Hasn't it already been documented? I got the book because I knew I would hate it. I like to do that, because often one finds what they initially thought is simply not the case. So I test myself on my preconceptions, and they end up being wrong about half the time (I know, I know....the statistics here are screaming for a chart!). Of course we like remembering only the times when we are right and therefore we reinforce the idea that are preconceptions are accurate. I like the book.

2. So the whole historical aspect of (1) got me thinking about my history. I started to investigate my family tree. Despite the rumours, I have found no japanese branches to my family tree and a whole set of family anecdotes are out he window. However, I did find one branch that took me all the way back to 1550 with full names, dates of bith, dates of marriage, etc.! I then backtracked a generation and found another branch that goes back to about the year 800 AD. I am serious! The names and dates become less certain but there is documentation and records to prove that this branch is very probable back to around this date. My final line of inquiry along one branch took me way, way back, but the records become questionable if not non existant. The best I could do at the end of that branch was a first name, some guy named "Adam"...

3. The idea that some things belong in the public trust (like school boards, healthcare and utilities). I have to say, my capitalist tendencies make me skeptical but I watched a program where MIT's Noam Chomsky made a compelling case. This is just a rehash of (1) where I knew I would not agree with comrade Chomsky's ideas, but in the end agreed that economists conveniently leave out the role of the public trust in their models. I would like to suggest, however, that the potential benefits to the public will only truly be attained when both the management and labour components of such institutions are in the public trust. Why should the labour side of an organization in the public trust only be accountable to its own members? Doesn't this just give certain labour organizations a monopoly? We tolerate the monopoly on the management side because at least it is accountable to, well, the public!

Item (3) in particular demonstrates how ill I have been feeling. The fact that I came up with this insight is troubling. This is real party killer material people. Like playing Air Supply's Greatest Hits at your pool party. Life goes on, and the healing takes time. You are in my thoughts and prayers. It is that it is.

Even though I fear my blog may start sounding like it is written by a restaurant critic, I feel compelled to write about another food experience. This time, our stomachs depart the cherry blossoms of the Empire of the Sun and head right across the Pacific to the wrong side of San Diego - Tijuana! You got it, today I ate Mexican. Not any ordinary Tex-Mex mind you. I'm talking the coveted chimichanga. For the uninitiated, this dish of, well, questionable nutritional value, starts as a burrito. Ah, but then something very, very special happens. They deep fry it!

It is an interesting corollary of haute cuisine that the simple act of deep frying doubles any dish's tastiness. You could say it is a Law of the Kitchen (I feel a chart coming on, but I will resist). Let's go over some examples we should all be able to relate with: chicken, potatoes, halibut, olives...they are all better deep fried! Ok, maybe not olives. Then again, have you tried deep frying olives??? Who's kidding who, I bet they are fantastic!!!

Anyway, all that goodness on one plate has made me rather lethargic this evening. The fact that my beverage of choice may have gone through a fermentation process at one point also does not help.

Did I mention I just got back from the Big Apple? Of course I haven't (one simply has to read the preceding paragraphs). Anyway, it was simply awesome! First time I have been in Manhattan in ages. Time Square has changed a lot and it was nice to be back. It was a great trip and it was really nice connecting with a few people I have not spoken to at length for a while. It's really all about communication.