“I thought of the long ages of the past during which the successive generations of these things of beauty had run their course. Year by year being born and living and dying amid these dark gloomy woods with no intelligent eye to gaze upon their loveliness, to all appearances such a wanton waste of beauty. It seems sad that on the one hand such exquisite creatures should live out their lives and exhibit their charms only in these wild inhospitable regions. This consideration must surely tell us that all living things were not made for man, many of them have no relation to him, their happiness and enjoyment’s, their loves and hates, their struggles for existence, their vigorous life and early death, would seem to be immediately related to their own well-being and perpetuation alone”

- Alfred Russel Wallace

Both times karaoking in Kyoto, our friends played this over and over.

Now its one of our favorites.

“Choo Choo Train” by Exile. Listen to it. Best song to karaoke to. Si.

Almost every night in Kyoto, my brothers, our new Japanese friends around our age, my Japanese brethren (family friends since birth, same age as well), and our newly adopted Russian sister went out on midnight strolls. They usually started after 12am. Sometimes lasted till 5 or 6am, when the sun came up. Through rain or storm, nothing mattered. The only reason was to get to know each other, become closer. Whether become closer like family, or become closer like.. something more.

Time for another midnight stroll.

Listen to “Blue Ridge Mountains” by Fleet Foxes.

You won’t be disappointed. Well, probably not.

Tokyo. Kyoto. Nara. Osaka….Here I come.

21.

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince at 12:01am.

Props to Christina Yu for getting all them tickets. And for her and Sabz and Gonica Mandhi for waiting in line for 5+ hours. Finished my paper for behavioral on kin selection and cooperation in Hymenopterans and…wild turkeys. Different.

3 hours of sleep. Breakfast = 2 green tea pills + Cinnamon Life in a ziploc bag. Last breakfast as a 20 year old and I celebrated it with a bang. woo. Behavioral class on honest and dishonest signals in animals..hm. Showed us a video of the Superb Lyrebird. Always amazes me. Hybridized Costusaceaes, transplanted Costuslettes. Gym.

Walked home and right when I was walking past the cows surrounded by the golden brown fields to both sides I played some Empire of the Sun. Blasting in my headphones I closed my eyes and looked up and felt one of the most intense forms of euphoria, a happiness that was self-induced because I knew I had no worries, just an amazing week to come. And hey, it was my last day as a 20 year old.

YuTube and I went in the pool when I got home, chilled in the jacuzzi. That “jacuzzi buddy” that Spicy Chai pointed out was there and talked to both of us a lot. Different. Made some dinner for the kids. Now I’m here, anxiously anticipating when I go to the bars in 2.5 hours. Weird. So. Soon.

3 hours of sleep. Behavioral ecology as unbearable as an unscheduled hangover, not even counting the unnecessary awkwardness of the “professor”. Photo shoot of some Costaceae. 16’d home, mini grocery shopping. Walked along the tracks home with Empire of the Sun. Pesto + chicken = bombastic. Yu and I taking hostages for more Green Tea pills. Fight Club. Study party to ensue. 21 in 3 days. Succulents that look like marine animals.

“Let the chips fall where they may…”

And so it begins.
My welcoming into the next (and another) social black hole that is… Tumblr.