Day Off

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I’m so happy it’s the long weekend! It’s funny that a day off from work that happens every year always seem to creep up and surprise me. This time because of some things at work, I knew that we have Monday off, but still, the free day doesn’t seem to sink in until Saturday comes around. I don’t really have any plans but just the thought of a free day gets me in a good mood. Maybe it’s the anticipation or open possibilities of things that we can do that excite me… even the option of doing nothing but catch up on TV shows is a positive.

In the not-too-distant past I used to have a more negative frame of mind when I have a free day. Maybe not really negative per se, but I would kind of feel like I would be wasting time or missing an opportunity unless I have something planned. These days I like to just enjoy the fact that there is no plan. It’s ok not to have everything worked out in advance!

I think I may have mentioned something like this before regarding vacation planning (more specifically the lack of planning), but now I also like when it happens on a smaller scale, such as just a single day off. It’s a nice change of outlook and the stress reduction is amazing. Life’s too short to be stressed all the time! And taking time off just relaxing and reducing stress it definitely time well-spent!

Sputnik Sweetheart

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Sputnik Sweetheart
Sputnik Sweetheart Paperback

I finished a book! I feel like I am on a roll! Haruki Murakami has been one of my favorite authors for a long time; I think I started reading his books in 1994, starting with Dance Dance Dance and Wild Sheep Chase. My latest Murakami read is Sputnik Sweetheart, which is typical Murakami (a good thing!). It’s got a flawed but likable main character, a mysterious friend, elusive romance, and a little mysticism thrown in. I don’t have too much to say about the actual details, but I will say that I loved the ending!

*SPOILER ALERT*

I thought for sure that Sumire would be lost forever and K would kind of just go on with his life, so when Sumire called K at the end of the story, I was really happy! How unexpected!

I also enjoyed the setting of Greece. I recently finished Murakami’s “What I Talk About when I Talk About Running” and in it he talks about running the original marathon route in Greece. I am guessing his time there is connected to writing of Sputnik Sweetheart. The hot, dry climate and intense sun painted an amazing picture that gave Sputnik Sweetheart a truly immersive experience. I loved it!

First Sight (Love at)

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Print Club circa 1996
Print Club circa 1996

First Sight – Whether a person, a pet, an object, or a place, write about something or someone you connected with from the very first second.

This is an easy one! The person I connected with from the very first second is my wife, Mariko. We met in 1996 in Japan and within 2 months we were married and on our honeymoon. It really was love at first sight! After 17 years we are still going strong and I am looking forward to our future. There’s a lot more to the story, but I will save that for another time.

This post was prompted by The Daily Post from WordPress.