So Much Awesome, So Little Time!

We spent the weekend taking our first little family road trip, in which we went to Yamagata prefecture (next to Miyagi, between us and the sea of Japan) where we watched the clouds of rain descend from the mountains, ate delicious Yamagata Beef, stopped by an odd Turkish building for ice cream and a kebab, visited a winery, and stayed in a fairly lovely little hotel. Julia joined me for the onsen (hot springs) and actually behaved herself really well aside from slipping and falling on her butt a couple of times.
Our second day included a guided tour of a country-side film-set village (for period dramas and samurai movies), a short walk around Sakata (home of a few historical samurai houses), and a long drive home.

The next day was Marine/Sea/Ocean Day in Japan, so Julia and I marched with our friends in the Shiogama International Friendship Organization. Okay so I did the dance (and messed it up a lot) while Julia ran around, chased by my good friend Hana, who was and is a lifesaver.

Today was a much-needed respite. I mostly played Minecraft with friends in Texas. Then we went to the post office and grocery store. Then we hung out until Julia crashed.
And she slept soundly until midnight. Now it's 2AM and who knows when I'm going to get any sleep.

Which leads me to another point.

GISHWHES is coming so I paid for a month of Netflix so Julia might be distracted enough to I can get some things done. I just watched 2 separate movies on Netflix made in the last couple of years that had a weekend-enlightenment-camp-turned-cult as a major facet of the plot. I can only imagine that there are quire a few cynical screenwriters in California who are bored and frustrated with what must be a fad of weekend enlightenment seminars. Both movies were lacking in a lot of ways, but the one thing that got me was how the people talked about the cult beforehand.

And they sounded a bit like me with GISHWHES. "It'll change your life and open your eyes and make you into a new person." I say, and I mean it, too. The thing is amazing, but it isn't a weekend seminar and Misha Collins isn't a cult-leader, asking for your $18.89 to power his extravagant lifestyle. The cost of entering GISH goes mostly to running costs, prizes, and charity.

The thing is a week-long experiment in complete insanity and is beyond anything I can describe well enough to be understood at 2AM.

But it is an amazing thing, and if my overly-excited geeking out about it puts you off, I would like to apologize for not knowing a better way to convey my enthusiasm to you. It's freaking amazing, I think.

But it isn't a cult. I swear. Just a bunch of people all over the globe doing crazy, cool and fun weird things for one week out of the year. Join us. You have fewer than 4 days.

Also, my team is full.