I uploaded a bunch of street art pics (mostly from the Ryogoku Mural) at my Flickr page. Go check 'em out. That's one of them up above in the middle. The top pic is a cool little piece that turned up at my station this morning, and the other is a beautiful old traditional Japanese-style house just near Kat and Darins place. Love checking it out whenever I go past. A pretty random selection of images for you today.

It's been a little quiet around here, mostly because I've been furiously busy with work and projects and stuff... anyways....

I was mulling over the events of the past 15 months and had a kind of blinding epiphany the other night.

Technorati Tags: japan, life

When Dad died, I found myself on the bottomed-out half of a great big see-saw. As I determinedly dealt with the loss and my day-to-day life in this crazy mega-metropolis the see-saw started lifting up, up, up till it peaked out way up high and, well... the last three months of 2006 were just one crazy, big, long, fabulously hedonistic and irresponsible party. And I fucking loved and deserved every minute of it.

But now, it seems the see-saw has leveled out: the alcohol haze has cleared, my samurai fetish has settled down to a way less libidinous and far more amusing level (especially now my favourite motorbike samurai barista has taken to wearing *faux* spectacles and riding a shiny white poncey bicycle, pah!) and I find myself looking down at the foundations of my life. Such that it is. And seeing quite a few cracks that need filling.

This is the last year of my thirties (did I just hear a collective gasp of shock?) and I am determined to start getting my shit together financially. Because I have nothing. Zilch. Zip. Nada. I live from one pay cheque to the next; I have no retirement funds; no inheritance from either parent; no investments; no rainy day savings..... and the truth is, that terrifies me. But, I refuse to play the kangaroo-in-headlights deal. I'm gonna start educating myself and moving forward.

Last March, when I decided to spend all of summer out of Japan, I started recording all my expenditures in a cool little cash book made especially for this purpose, purchased from yazawaya. For the first time in my life, I knew where my money was going. It was quite an eye-opener. I managed to live on ¥3000 a day for 5 months and saved a lot of money. It was the first time I had approached my savings in such a responsible and well organised way and it gave me a lot of confidence.

So now that it's 2007, I've taken the little cash book one step further, by moving into the realm of personal finance spreadsheets software, found at www.youneedabudget.com, a very cool little site. The accompanying PDF Manual is really helpful and the fella who runs the site actually has quite a funny sense of humour considering that he's an accountant... I've been using the excel spreadsheets he made for a week now and I'm so happy with it that I told Christian I'm gonna buy it for him and Yuiko... and of course, I'm shouting it out to the world here.

But it doesn't stop there... while researching the above software, I found out about a couple of books that I thought I really had to read. Amazon.jp delivered the books yesterday and Charlene and I both immediately settled in the sunroom and started reading excitedly.
Book One: Smart Women Finish Rich
Book Two: Start Late, Finish Rich,
both by some grinning American media-slut/financial advisor named David Bach. Never heard of the guy before now but I've found his books really inspiring so far.

And even more inspiring is the fact that my brother and I have decided to buy a house together in Brisbane some time next year. My first foray into investment... And something really solid to aim for.

Now I've just gotta get the photography department in order...

Roll on 40, I'm ready for ya.