I woke up yesterday as normal, called my mama in Florida to wish her a happy birthday, then she asked me if we were okay. “From what?” I asked. “The big earthquake near Tokyo!” she said. “What earthquake?” I replied.

And so it goes. Yet another instance of me learning about what’s going on in Japan from my family overseas.

Obviously we’re okay; the quake’s center was way off in the Pacific, some buildings were rocking in Shizuoka (south of Tokyo a bit), no damage was done, and of course we didn’t feel a thing here in Toyama.

If anyone else is worrying about us, sorry for not contacting you about it! Most earthquakes are very ho-hum over here. Bigger news is all the rain we’ve been having and this never-ending rainy season…

Here’s a brief news report that contains all the facts, and a news report from Fox News! (probably the only time I’ll ever link to them!)

Tokyo Earthquake Guide Notes

A 7.1-magnitude earthquake struck near the Izu Islands, 220 miles from Tokyo, Japan, on August 9, 2009. The quake, which hit at a depth of 188.3 miles, did not prompt any tsunami warnings.
There was no immediate word on possible injuries or damage from the earthquake.

Fast Facts
Date: August 9, 2009
Location: 220 miles south-southwest of Tokyo, Japan
Time: 10:55:56 UTC
Depth: 188.3 miles
No immediate word on injuries or property damage
No tusnami warnings issued or expected

Summer vacation has finally arrived, and I’m back in Toyama for a nice long two-month break. I can hardly believe this- I’ve never had such a long break before in my working life. One of my plans is to get caught up on my video editing. I’ve got lots of great footage from family events [...]

Wow! It’s been a dog’s age since my last blog post. Well, you know the routine- life is busy, blah blah blah. Good news- summer break is in two weeks, and then I’ll be off for two solid months! Wooo hooo! I’ll be making up for lost time then, what with all the good material [...]

Wow, this is way cool: My brother Darius, who works as a park manager in upstate NY, was interviewed on a local news story about the big popularity of outdoor camping this year. The segment is entitled, “Summer Staycations Spiking.” I’ve embedded the news clip below. Check it out! Dotto appears about 47 second in. [...]

Wow, it sure has been a long time since my last post!!! Chalk the delay up to one busy life these days, what with starting a new job and all. I’ll be getting to that shortly, but first I want to catch up on my video clips. Here is a nice one- short and very [...]