Thank you to all those who commented on the last post. I haven't heard from my uncle about what happened after that incident but I'm assuming no news means good news. Hell, I'll be able to ask him in person in a coupla days.

Which leads me to mention that this will be my last post for the next little while. I'm 80% packed and have a few loose ends to tie up like getting rid of my bed and exchanging dollas for yen. All that will be taken care of tomorrow. Big ups to my buddy Steve who helped me mail the bulk of my crap back home this afternoon. I'm left with a pretty barren apartment and a conflicting sense of excitement and fear. Someone slap me already.

I'll be back in a little bit.

TAK

My mom calls me at 2 in the morning yesterday asking me whether I had just called my grandma in Tokyo. I groggily say "no" and explain I've been asleep for 4 hours trying to get an early start the next morning and that this wasn't helping. She responds by telling me someone had just called grandma saying "It's me, I'm here and I'm coming over tomorrow." No name, just "it's me". She naturally asks if it were Tak since I had called her a week prior to let her know I was arriving in 2 weeks and the caller says "yes". By this time my uncle who lives in the same house senses something odd and picks up. He asks where the caller (fake Tak) is calling from but no straight answer. I'm not sure how the call ended but my uncle said the voice was similar to mine and that he repeatedly stated he was coming over tomorrow.

Now, this sort of thing is a common fraudulent tactic in Japan where an anonymous caller would make a house call, hook onto any information given up by the person answering (i.e. name of a nephew, a cousin, a child) and state that they were in trouble and needed cash. If you fell for it, you would be racing to the nearest bank to deposit a requested amount in an account somewhere and never see it again. No harm done, really. Just a sour taste of being a sucker when you realize you've been had. Whatevs. But in this case, I'm hoping it was just coincidence that this sort of call came a week away from my arrival. That's what's really creepin' me out.

Duping people out of money happens in any country and in a meriad of styles but this sort of shit is below the belt, man. Seriously. My grandma's 84 and is blind in one eye. She was stressing over what to make for dinner when fake Tak arrived the next day. My uncle assured her he wasn't coming.

Fuck you, fake Tak. Fuck you.

TAK

Unloaded a bunch of furniture just an hour ago. I'd just posted a notice a couple hours prior so it was a pretty good turnaround. A couple from the 8th floor dropped by and picked up about half my stuff and, so, I'll wait another day or two before I call the local thrift shop and have them pick up the rest. I still have my bed and a big couch to get rid of. Damn it.

My place is looking more and more like the empty room I excitedly moved into a few years ago which is forcing me to reflect on what I actually gained from moving to Vancouver. I'm not really sure to be honest. I had the fortune of living next to a downtown beach and not have to deal with East coast humidity (which was nice), did some snowboarding in Whistler, caught a Jays game in Seattle, went fishing on the Fraser, Climbed a few mountains and drew lots of comics. Not bad. I don't think I'd ever live here again but I'd definitely visit or come back to hang.

I saw Casino Royale the other day. Wicked movie. Daniel Craig played a super buff and gritty Bond which was a great change of pace from the recent pretty boy versions. The guy kicked some seriously righteous ass, man. Like, take-no-prisoner style. I really appreciated how it got away from the campy gadgets and groan-worthy one-liners. It's akin to how they rebooted the Batman franchise. Nice. The film was a bit too long but I can't complain. It was entertaining.

TAK

Today, I woke up and jumped in the shower to find I was bathing in water that smelled like dirt. I flushed the toilet and it still looks like I just took a pee. I only have 2 weeks to go...

Motherfucker.

TAK

I hit the gym this morning and had the workout of the century. Now I can't move. I put on a few pounds after I quit smoking (the rumours are true people) and decided to get my ass into gear. I refuse to become a lardy comicbook guy. Not yet anyway.

Oh, I bought a webcam last week. Most of my buddies had one so I figured I should join in the fun. I invested in a pretty good one costing me about 150 bones. It's surprisingly smooth and crisp and well worth the dollas. I was thinking of encoding a live feed or something on my site once I'm in Japan. Not of me but of the view outside or something. Who the hell wants to see me?

I think I'm done with LOST. The last few episodes were just too... whatever. Plus, the 4 month hiatus is a little much. I realized this after the big cliffhanger didn't make me care. Sorry, LOST. You lost me.

I started work on issue 15 of SMLMJ yesterday. My final issue. I'll see how I feel about it after I'm done.

TAK

Very few posts lately. Don't mean to ignore my site but there's not much going on to be honest. I've been locked up working like crazy for the past 2 weeks and doing little else. I'm almost done SMLMJ 14 and in the next couple of days I'll be on to my last and final issue. Bittersweet? Yeah.

Oh, I quit smoking. That's been somewhat of an achievement. Like, finally. I've been substituting it with drinking lots of green tea. haha. I wanted to quit before I moved. My dad quit when he moved to Canada 30+ years ago so I figure I owe it to him and myself to do the same.

Anyway, yeah.

TAK

I handed in my last rent cheque this afternoon. Sweet crikey did it feel good. Exactly 1 month and I'm outta here. 1 month!! It'll be nice to get some nice winter weather for a change. Instead of, well, this:


TAK