The past 16 days...

Right now I am at Haneda Airport in Tokyo.  I arrived here at 10PM and my flight to Osaka is at 630AM.  I should be arriving at 740AM and need to be ready to work at 12PM in Kobe.  I had the most enjoyable, long, boring flight (yes, I'm a moron, oxy) from San Francisco.  I watched Crazy, Stupid, Love & Shawshank Redemption.  I played Tetris, Solitaire, and Chess on a control that was the same as a controller for the Wii.  I continued reading the biography of Steve Jobs. 

In 16 days, I have been on 8 different planes, waiting to get on the 9th for the last leg to Osaka.  I gladly spent time in the1derful, the Ville, and San Diego.  I met my niece, who became my Goddaughter, was together with my whole family for the first time in 7 years, had a dope week with my lady, and created more memories with the homies.  This will sound corny, but it was fun to see how much we have grown in the past year.  Life moves so fast for all of us that we forget to take a step back, breathe, and reflect before we tackle tomorrow.  I'm thankful for my family and friends, even if they don't know it, who remind me of who I am, where I come from, and what I stand for.  Every man has to stand for something.

The most common question that I had to answer during this vacation was "How's Japan?"  Haha.  Even writing it makes me laugh.  I didn't know how I was supposed to answer it.  Maybe "The food is great", "the train system is crazy", "You can pay all of your bills at the convenient store".  When I wanted to try to be funny, I would say "There are a lot of Japanese people there."  But mainly, the response was "It's good."  Answering the question of "How's Japan?" in a small talk conversation, a place where I have spent the past 11 months is unpossible.  Yes, unpossible.  I'm sure this can be said for anyone traveling anywhere, and I know this is just a way of opening the conversation, but it is a complex answer for a simple question.

2012 is going to be a good year.  As my homies and I say, this is "The year of the come up."  In some way, shape, or form, we are going to come up from where we are and get to a better place.  I have a few New Year's resolutions that I AM going to fulfill.  I have been very guilty in the past to have a resolution that I forget about before the end of January.  This year they will be resolved.  If this really is end the of the world, I'm going out swinging.  I and we are going to have fun.

The music note for this post is a song that I discovered during the vacation and is as catchy as they come.  I feel it is a great reminder for all of us to be young, wild, and free because that's how it's supposed to be.







And the Beat Goes On...