Greetings and salutations!

First off: A big shout of congrats out to Keira and Jeremy Perdue on the birth of their son, Jeremy Dallas Theodore Perdue! God bless you guys and your expanded family! Also a big happy birthday goes out to Dion Roy! Have a good one and God bless you man!

Hello all! Glad to be making an update with my own internet connection! That's right...it's about time. I also bought and assembled a desk and chair today so I figure I'm all set. Just came off 8 days straight of summer school which was exhausting but I got to hang out with a bunch of the other teachers at the beach today which was great!

Be sure to check out the new photos up on the site (hit the TRAVEL PHOTOS link on the left). Especially check out the Tokyo shots. I also noticed that, after several months, we're actually almost at 30 votes so the story may live on...even if Wendell doesn't. To clarify...Wendell Who doesn't actually count so I'll be going with the next most popular.

So speaking of Tokyo, I spent a weekend there and loved every minute of it! The city is fantastic and endlessley huge! There are always things to do and the city never shuts down....millions of people everywhere all night. I got to spend time with some excellent friends of mine and meet a bunch of fabulous people at a church in Tokyo. I've been to two all you can eat/cook your own meat restaurants and they rock! Other than that I just spent time with my friends exploring the city. I hit the metro tower and got some awesome views of the city, some of which you can see in the photos. Speaking of photos, a very interesting process I learned about recently is Infrared Photography. To see examples of this, click here.

There was just a summer festival here in Numazu and it was amazing. This is usually a sleepy city but this past weekend everyone came out of their caves and I swear the city's population tripled! Lots of fireworks and all that good stuff as well. It also reinforced the Cute Theory. Let me explain, in Japan, everything is "cute". The kids are cute. The women are cute, even guys try to be cute, the clothes are cute...cuteness can be found everywhere...and it seems a very purposeful strategy. In contrast, in the west you frequently see people who are, or try to be, "hot", beautiful, and so on....cute is a quality usually reserved for children and puppies. But in Japan, cute is a way of life.

I'm going to leave it at that for now, but I want to mention that I now have an IP Phone number which is way cheaper to call than any other method. The number is 050-1291-4908 (add the applicable country and international codes). My NTT phone number is 055-925-4908. Also, I have finally written a poem here, the first one I've written in a while. Here is is for your enjoyment.

A prayer for those under the clouds A song for the broken masses A lament for lost souls and wounded hearts A wish for the fatherless and the widowed Sanguine ambitions floating on fragile hope Sedate aliens falling from crimson threads Dark pictures becoming fate on canvas Silent songs calling out from shadow Lonely dreamers waking to joy's dawn Faded watchmen recalling the coming storm Joe Armstrong

Turning molehills into mountains, Making big deals out of small ones, Bearing gifts as if they're burdens, This is how it's been. Fear of coming out of my shell, Too many things I can't do too well, Afraid I'll try real hard and I'll fail - This is how it's been. Till the day you pounded on my heart's door, And you shouted joyfully, You're not a slave anymore My mind finds hard to believe That You became humanity and changed the course of history, Because You loved me so. And my heart cannot understand Why You'd accept me as I am, But You say You've always had a plan, And that's all I need to know. So when I am consumed by what the world will say, It's then You're singing to me, As you remove my chains You're free to dance- Forget about your two left feet And you're free to sing- Even joyful noise is music to me and you're free to love, Cause I've given you My love, and it's made you free, Ginny Owens

On a final note, remember that on Aug. 6, 1945, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, during World War II, killing an estimated 140,000 people.

With Hope,
Joseph