Karaoke Solves Everything

This is a picture I took in Shibuya, Japan, of the karaoke place that Shane, Maria, and I sang at. You can see his khaki shorts and that little pink bundle in his arms that is Brooklyn on the left.

We had a ward Valentine's Day FHE tonight, and I brought my karaoke machine. Tonight, I finally started to get the appeal. If you think about the life the average Japanese businessman leads, it is pretty confining. Tiny office, tiny house, cramped Metro cars. It's got to grate on you after awhile. It's got to be nice on those days when, with the aid of alcohol, they can kick back and sing their hearts out to a truly terrifying rendition of "Don't Stop Believin'" in the company of likewise inebriated friends. There's something about karaoke that just makes you feel like you are living your childhood dreams of being a rock star, rather than sitting at a cramped desk dealing daily with people you wish you didn't have to see.

And on Valentine's Day, it means a lot of single women singing songs like, "Since U Been Gone," and "I Will Survive." Because when you can sing about it, you WILL survive.

The men seemed much less affected, singing songs like "If I Had a Million Dollars." I think this provides a nice little snapshot into why some of us are still single.

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone.

Almost hit by a mattress

Yesterday, having barely recovered from the raccoon incident the night before, I drove to see my sister and her family. On Pioneer Crossing, which is a flyover connecting west Lehi and Saratoga Springs to I-15, I got behind a Jeep towing a trailer containing a mattress and box springs. It wasn't until the wind picked up and caught these two giant rectangles that I realized that the person driving the Jeep had not anchored them down with ANYTHING. No rope, no bungee cords, not even a massive amount of duct tape. I screamed as they narrowly missed me and wondered how the Jeep owner planned to get them back into the trailer and to their destination without another incident.

I just need to stop going places.

Hit by a raccoon

Tonight, I was hanging out with some people in my ward for the first time (yes, I have lived here for six months, and this is the first time I have hung out with people in my ward) and we were talking about the wildlife in the area where we live. Then, on my way home, what looked from far away like a plastic bag but was running too fast to be garbage, hit the side of my car (just like on Gilmore Girls). I screamed, flipped a U-turn, and came back to try to find it. It was gone. So, apparently, it was okay.

I still shudder thinking about it.