More Engagement Photos

Akiko's Aunt and Uncle that live in Kyoto sent us some more photos of the night I proposed. I was really glad that they sent these to us. It is really nice to have some sort of documentation of that special night. I think that these photos speak for themselves.

Jack

On a change of subject..........


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Here is the final version of the "square" that I was working on for the internal project at work. I also included a .jpeg of the original sketch so you can get an idea of how I translate a sketch into a sculpture.

I got Engaged!!!

I would like to announce that while I was in Japan, I asked my girlfriend to marry me. (She said YES!) So, I am now officially engaged. I am glad that I have found that special someone that I can love, cherish and spend the rest of my life with.

The picture above was taken a few minutes after I "popped" the question. My girlfriend was totally surprised and had no clue what was going on. In fact, I had already asked her Father for his blessing and permission, talked to my Parents and got their blessing and permission and secured the engagement ring a couple months before it was time to leave on our trip. I decided to ask my girlfriend on February 4th, since all of her family would be together for the dinner the night before her brother was to get married. Originally, I had planned to ask my girlfriend on the 11th of February, the last night I was going to be in Japan. Since we were going to be in Japan for her brother's wedding, I did not want to take away any of the attention and celebration surrounding that special event. I felt that the 11th would be far enough away and that it would not compete with that special day. I was very happy that even though I did ask her earlier than planned, there was no competition and it was nice that we were able to share and celebrate with the rest of the family a wedding and an engagement.


Here I am on the train with a box of wonderful Hiroshima cakes. They were very tasty. There is one thing you will notice about Japan when you go there and visit, there is never a shortage of cute characters and bean cakes.


Here I am in front of the CHAX COLONY store in downtown Osaka. For those of you who do not know, CHAX COLONY is a toy store where you can buy all things "GLOOMY BEAR". GLOOMY BEAR was created by the Japanese artist "Mori Chack". The design of the Gloomy Bear character is a combination of cuteness and violence. I have been very infatuated with the character since the very first time I saw him. When I found out that there was a store dedicated to Gloomy Bear in Osaka, I knew it was a place that I had to go and visit. Since we were staying in Kyoto it was only a half an hour train ride to Osaka. I was determined to try and find the store. After walking a couple of blocks we found it, it sure was a wonderful place to visit. I saw so many cool and interesting things. Mori Chack is a genius when it comes to his character design and the marketing of it. I spent way too much money in that store. Just look at the size of the bag I am holding........

Gloomy Bear

Did I mention that it was very cold in Japan? This is a picture of two very cold individuals......

Jack

Japan..... Here I come!!!

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I just finished packing and I am off to my parent's house. I will stay there tonight. From there we will leave for our early flight tomorrow morning to San Francisco. We have a one hour layover in San Fran, then we fly for 10 hours to Tokyo. I am not looking forward to the long flight. Last time I went to Japan, I could not sleep on the plane at all..... I just sat there and read and watched very boring movies..... I could not even get inspired to draw. I guess I was nervous with anticipation. This time I plan on drawing.... not sure what, but I will draw something.

I will say that I am very excited to see Japan again. There are some really cool things that will be happening on this trip. I get to go to a Japanese wedding, I will see my girlfriend's family again.... I could just go on and on.

I am going to try and update the blog while I am in Japan. I am not sure how much computer access I will have. My girlfriend will have her laptop with us but I don't know when or if I will be able to use it....... If I don't update while I am in Japan, I will do a nice long post about the trip when I get back here to Colorado.

I am also very excited that my Mother is going along on the trip. This is her first time out of the country so it will be interesting to see her reactions to the different culture. It will be good to have some Mother and Son time.

The image up above is a sculpture I did about a year ago. This was right after I did my Kabuki horse sculpture. I really like the Japanese theme combined with some sort of animal. This obviously is a rhino, and he is a sumo wrestler in his "Dress" uniform. Not sure why I did this, but I think it turned out nice.

Trip to Japan countdown: less than 24 hours

Jack