August 8th

So, you're asking yourself why this video? I didn't make it, although I wish that I had. What is so special about August 8th? Well NOFX released this killer album in 1996 "Heavy Petting Zoo" and it helped me in many ways at the time. I remember going to Just Make Money, I mean Just Play Music, with Mom and she agreed to buy a Heavy Petting Zoo shirt for me and I was really surprised. I have worn that shirt at least 2000 times. So, in honor of that song, I wanted to leave for Japan on August 8th. It also was the best day scheduling-wise for me.

Many moons ago, I heard that the reason that they made that song was because August 8th was Jerry Garcia's birthday. But I have since learned that August 8th was in fact NOT his birthday, I have a feeling that it is a joke perpetrated on us by Fat Mike, it is pretty funny actually. I think that musicians often do this, more often than we think, (I mean, have you heard the most recent mars volta album Octahedron? "Copernicus" makes me wonder about everything around me. And I think that Omar wanted it that way.)

So I leave for Japan on August 8th. I am really nervous about it. (The whatifs are crawling inside my ear... thanks Shel). I know that I am going to have an incredible time. Camping in Hiroshima? Noodles in Tokyo? Hydrofoil ferries? OMG. So next week I am doing a special English Camp in Gyeongsan (on the other side of Daegu from me). Mon-Fri, all day every day. They are putting me up in a motel because I am coveted and special. So, I have to prepare for my trip today and tomorrow, and I am a little freaked out. Ok. I need to do laundry right now, ok.