blakerson.com

I apologize, dear reader, if I've failed to mention it before, but:

I'm starting grad school this fall.

I'll be getting a Masters degree in International Relations focused on Japan.

I'm signing with a school pretty soon, and I'll post the full skinny once I'm done with that.

Hello, reader! Merry Christmas to you. I'm so glad you stopped by.

I've had a very topsy-turvy year, full of ups and downs. And as such, I'm thankful to be having the quietest Christmas ever with just my mom, here at home, with a minimum of presents (both of us didn't really want anything of consequence), a pinch of holiday-esque food, and my favorite holiday tradition, now in its fourth year: Bond movie marathons on TV.

The utter silliness of the old Bonds, punctuated by drink-refreshing commercial breaks, started as my only way to get excitement during a month-long break from the college atmosphere and evolved into something much more pointless. But it's still great fun and beats the hell out of Christmas Story and It's a Wonderful Life marathons.

Tomorrow's supposed to be 75 and sunny, and I couldn't be happier about that. Sure, it seems un-Christmasy, but around this time a year ago I was exposed to so much snowy cloudcover that I had convinced myself I had Seasonal Affective Disorder, and I hadn't even seen any pharmaceutical commercials in months by that point. It's a bizarre thing to be excited about, I admit, but I'm happy about it nonetheless.

It's kind of like when you see a dog that's clearly been abused, and all you want to do is spoil it for the rest of its life. I'm definitely not a victim on the same level as a dog like that, but I am a little sensitive about the whole 'lonely winter' thing after enduring it for a season.

So Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good day!

that I live in a place that's not conducive to walking.

I spent four years walking around the UT campus, and then I had the chance all over again to wear my legs out every time I visited Tokyo last year. Every time I felt like my legs wouldn't carry me anymore, they just kept on going.

I miss that sensation.

I can't even walk to a 7-11 from here. That's not a complaint about inconvenience, and it's certainly not a complaint about the opportunity to drive, but it does reveal just how little I could accomplish by walking from my house. I can't get a snack, a loaf of bread, or anything, really.

Chances are good that's a statement about life in a Texas city more than anything.

Going to grad school will grant me another two years of walking-induced health and weight loss, and hopefully after that I'll have the fortune of living somewhere where I can walk to get something done and save the driving for when I really need it.

I recently put so much energy into thinking about old age that I forgot to write about the serious fun I had over the last week. Here's a quick run-down, mostly for my own sake so I don't forget due to the imminent meltdown of my brain:

1. Dinner with Mom. She took me to our fave restaurant in town, one of Arlington's few chef-run joints called Olenjack's. Highly recommended. And an iTunes gift certificate definitely satisfied my sudden need for new music and lots of it.

2. Drinks at Arlington's new Dave & Buster's, with my driving amigo Alex, better known as Mexellent; Sarah, my Plan II bud better known as "OMG must jump my bf right now," and an old Oakridge friend Mai, who always tells me how much of a lush she is and yet barely drinks in front of me. None of these 3 knew each other before coming out, but the conversations were fun nonetheless.

3. A night of drunkenness in Austin with two of the classiest gentlemen I know, Adam and Mikey. For the first time ever, cut off by a bartender. (Well, it was their rule, you're done after two Mexican Martinis.) Moved on to another restaurant and continued drinking. And those gents even picked up the tab - what sweethearts.

4. A night of old-school goodness, as the core of the Japanese Association circa 2 years ago reunited in Austin to crash the club's meeting and then head out for dinner and drinks. It was a long, festive night with some people I've had the pleasure of hanging out with on all sides of the world. It gave me a lot of faith in the continued success of the group, and the 'family' feeling that's sure to survive even after the departure of us senior citizens.

5. The first time in a long time I actually had fun on 6th Street. I swore the place off last time I was in town, but when you pull your old bar-hopping buddies back into the mix, the magic comes back. I can't imagine I'll have that opportunity many more times in my life.

Despite all that, I managed to have a productive 48 hours in Austin, zero hangovers, and a refreshing revival for my social life, which had slacked a bit as Internet Work got more "serious."

6. I closed out my birthday season by joining The Japanese Group in Dallas on Saturday night. I didn't know what to expect from people gathering at a Japanese bar late at night - especially when invited by a dude married with a kid - but it turned out to be the best thing to hit my social life since returning home. I made a slew of Japanese friends, got to know a couple people at a couple nice restaurants, and basically found my way into a brand new social circle with a regular time and place.

I wasn't sure I'd be able to follow up on last year's birthday. And while nothing will ever top that, I had a surprisingly sweet set of celebrations.

Thanks to you, friends, old and new!

It's quite the experience to return to Seattle after roughly a decade or more.

I came here several times as a kid, as my dad's best friend from college lived up here. I barely remember the experience of being here, much less knowing what to look for in a city, but strangely enough I had a lot of things feel familiar upon my return.

First thing I noticed - the scent of Seattle is etched in my brain. I didn't even know it was. But whatever gives this city its unique air - I guess it's the pine - is very well known to my nose, much to my surprise.

I'm actually out in Bellevue, the northern suburb on the way to Redmond, but this town is so technological that it's got its own downtown section full of office towers. I'm in the midst of that, but on the way here I got just a taste of the 'industrial' version of Seattle - somehow it's nicer than other cities. Old, but well-preserved.

Holy mooooooly, there are tons of Starbucks here. It's like the Louis Black routine, except in real life and on every block.

I'm in Bellevue to visit Valve, the guys who made Half-Life. I'm previewing their new zombie-themed shooter Left 4 Dead, and it's entirely sweet. Highly recommended. They like to splurge on game journalists, so it's a snazzy hotel with corner suites and room service and all that jazz. I'm just happy the internet access works.

I could make this a post about how I'm 'living the dream' - traveling on company dimes, playing games for a living, etc. But my life isn't really that. It's just writing about games all day. That said, I do love my job and I think that, more than the gaming part of the equation, is reason to be proud. It's a job that fits me perfectly, and I'm happy to have found that and have snagged the job after just one year out of school.

It makes for an awkward conversation on flights sitting next to strangers. The "what do you do?" conversation starts with some blah job that somebody else does and ends in me having this perfectly fitting, awesome job I'm satisfied with. I'm afraid of it being a depressing thing for most people, because I can't relate on the "work sucks" angle.

I just hope it inspires someone. After all, it was my mom's own Office Space-like work situation that made me commit to doing something I enjoyed everyday.