Tonight marks the end of nearly a full week of national holidays in Japan, and I return to work tomorrow morning. As I do during most holidays, I went into full hermit mode this past week, doing little beyond catching up on sleep, watching television, and checking email. There was more than one day where I limited my outdoor activity to a short walk to the soft drink machine on the corner.

However, I did get out on Sunday afternoon to finally visit Jamie and Natasha at their home. They invited several of us out for a barbeque, and the weather was just wonderful. In addition to myself, Kit, Mark, Maggie, and Mary showed up, as well as a few others I had the pleasure of meeting for the first time. Most people brought their instruments, so we had many guitars, harmonicas, voices, and bongos. We entertained (??) the neighborhood with drunken music well into the night.

I’ve finally figured out how to use my mp3 player to make recordings of my live music. The quality isn’t good (although it could probably be improved dramatically if I decide to invest in a good external mic), but it is sufficient for recording my rehearsals.