Long Time No Taco

Hello from Koreatown, Los Angeles. I live here now. It wasn't easy, but my sister put Michelle and I up, along with our TWO cats(!), while we searched for a place. Many other beautiful friends helped us get settled here, too. We're almost two weeks in, still a couple days from getting internet in the apartment, but we have food. appliances. and a smattering of furniture! Last night I had a crazy dream, but unlike the crappy stories we've all heard that start with that phrase, I immediately woke up and wrote down every detail! It reads like a person describing a movie as he watches it, and I also watch a film in the dream... so don't get confused! Here goes: Greg goes to see a black&white film set in an apocalyptic future, starring Bill Murray and Whoopi Goldberg - who does the voice for a mythical bulldog with an alligator head. Deciding they need a better home, she takes him to the last stop of an underground train line, which is guarded by only one man. S...

Goodbye New York.  I knew before I arrived, this was not meant to be my permanent home. Still, four and a half years later, I am sad to leave. I lived here almost as long as my beloved Hiroshima. The people - dear friends - especially in Astoria, but also through work, the JET Alumni Assoc., and chance encounters at Crescent & Vine, make my parting truly morose.  From my travels, I leave with the confidence that physical distance will not dampen the meaningful bonds I have forged here.  Everyone asks, "Are you excited?"  I am.  But my excitement is not for the destination. I am excited to turn a page. Diving into the unknown, there are new adventures to be had. Old, beloved characters will certainly resurface to help guide me. Departures and reunions, challenges to triumph over, and achievements as yet unimagined; these excite me.  You were a part of that, or will be, or both. The loyal, the fair weather, and the downright, difficult basta...