The mind once enlightened cannot again become dark.

—  Thomas Paine

I really wish that I had more time to blog these days. During my days as an ALT, I had more than enough free time that really allotted me time to blog, draw, read, and write in my free time, however, these days, work seems to take up the vast majority of time. Despite the fact that I try to refrain from doing work on weekends and after I come back home from a long day, it’s almost as though I become lethargic and don’t really feel like doing anything else. The gym used to be a great past-time of mine, but even finding time for that has been challenging to say the least.

As a hobbyist, I like to dabble in a variety of types of art, but most recently, I’ve taken up the hobby of aquascaping. This is actually my third aquarium in the last few (5) years and is probably one of my best so far. I guess it’s a reminder to myself that despite I don’t have artwork or blog posts to show how productive I’ve been over the years, this is kind of an ode to my artistic side. Of course, that doesn’t mean that aquascaping is taking over for my love of drawing and artistry, but it’s nice to have something take up some of my time.

In other news, I’ve been slowly become more and more interested in the idea of renovating an old Japanese (traditional) house. I think that it’s still a long way from being a reality, as it’s not only about money, but also about having permanent residency status in Japan, as well as committing to the investment of a home or a property. Unlike in the States, houses in Japan depreciate in value, whereas the land that it sit on appreciates. I think that’s why, I’m quite hesitant, unless I intend to actually live in the home. My other option would be to rent it out, however, the type of home I’m most interested in, tends to be in the deep countryside, and they sell for incredibly cheap. For example, I can find a cheap yet large, family-sized home for about $10,000. If I could keep the cost of renovation down, I could easily turn that property into a home, however, finding tenants for it in the countryside would be a hurdle. Oh well, I guess that just means that I need some more time to think about things through. No rush, after all.

At any rate, I have a busy day/week ahead of me, starting tomorrow. Here’s hoping all goes according to plan. Cheers!