I love you, Emily! Happy Birthday!

Okay, I know that Emily's birthday was on the 19th of September, but if I didn't believe in "better late than never", I couldn't get out of bed in the morning.

I miss you terribly and I hope your birthday was absolutely fabulous!

I've missed tons of other birthdays this month ... I'm sorry!

Here are two of my most favorite photos of Emily and I and our always fun bathroom mirror shots:

The first one is from when we went to the Fuji Rock Festival in 2004 ... Incredible!!! (tequila, anyone? Em? Em?)


And this second one is from Claire's Snowball Party last December in 2005.


Later, I cried uncontrollably when it really sunk in how many of my best friends aren't actually within hugging distance anymore...

Meditation space: Apartment for Rent in Hiroshima

Meditation space: West room detail, originally uploaded by flogently.

See details in previous post. Clicking on the photo will take you to its flickr page.

If you're not experienced with using flickr, here's some how-to information:

There are 3 main ways of looking at these photos:

1. You can view the photos as a slideshow by going here and clicking on "view as slideshow" on the top right.

• If you want to see the title and description of each photo, click on it and the photo will become smaller and the description will appear on the right. The description appears quickly on some computers and more slowly on others.
• Scroll to the top of the viewer to make your controls visible and to the bottom of the viewer to see small thumbnails of all the photos in the set. Scroll away to make these disappear.
  
• The advantage of slideshow viewing is that you will see the photos larger and in a narrative sequence without having to do any clicking.
• However, the disadvantage is that the hover notes are not visible at all and the descriptions might take a while to come up on your screen if/when you want to see them.

2. You can also view the photos as a set and in the order of your own choosing.

• You can see each photo's title by hovering over the thumbnail image.
• If you double-click on an individual photo, you will see it a larger size with a description beneath it. This larger size also enables you to see any hover notes I've written.
  
• You can see any hover notes I've made by scrolling over the photo.
• At the top right of the right photo is the "Apartment for Rent (Set)" link which will return you the Set page with the thumbnails all on one page.
  
• "browse" below the thumbnails will also return you to the Set page.
  
• You can also choose to continue viewing individual photos with titles, descriptions, and hover notes by clicking on the thumbnails to the right or "more" below the thumbnails.

3. Going to "flogently's photostream" takes you to all my photos, where you can see medium-sized versions (with titles and descriptions, but no hover notes) in random order.

• The number of hover notes per photo is indicated below each photo.
• Double-clicking on a photo takes you to a larger version of the photo with hover notes visible.
• If I post more vacation photos, these apartment photos may no longer be on the first page, they'll be on later pages.

Apartment for Rent in Hiroshima

About us and the tenant we are looking for:

You want someplace quiet, with all the benefits of living in the city, but without the hustle and bustle.

You'll keep the place clean because you want to reciprocate the positive energy that has been invested into your new abode before your arrival.

You appreciate wabi-sabi.

We believe in the honor system: if something breaks, you'll tell us. And if it was your fault, you'll own up to that fact.

The two of us lived here for 5 years and it was great.

We're not making any money off of this: we kept the apartment even after we moved because we think it's a great location and believe that there are good people out there who would also enjoy this apartment, but who can't/don't want to pay all the key money, etc.

It's a fully-furnished apartment in Eba-Higashi (see the green arrow), Naka-ku, Hiroshima City, Japan.

It's a 15-20 minute bicycle ride to the Sogo Bus Center/Pacela and a 20-25 minute bike ride to Hiroshima Station. It's less than a minute West of the Honkawa River and it's about a 5-minute walk East of the #8 Eba/Yokogawa and #6 Eba/Hiroshima Station streetcar terminus. In the neighborhood, there are both large and small grocery stores, small okonomiyaki shops, a sento (public bath), and a coin laundry if you want to use a dryer.

It's on the top/3rd floor of a 9-unit building, on the Southwest corner -- so there's only a neighbor below and to the East.

There are 2 6-tatami mat rooms next to each other. Each has its own door leading to the kitchen.

Both rooms have double sliding window/doors, making up the whole Southern wall of the apartment.

The Southern exposure provides lots of sunlight.

There's an excellent cross-breeze because the apartment is very close to the river.

You can just see the river and a small hilltop temple from the Southern balcony.

The Southern balcony is just big enough if you wanted to put out a small table and chairs for two.

The front (Northern) balcony entrance is decorated -- and has plants and a goldfish.

The apartment is fully equipped with furniture (sofabed with bedding, futons, cushions, vanity, low tables, floor desk, bookshelves, drawers, full-length mirror), appliances/electronics (refrigerator, stove, toaster ovens, coffee pot, rice maker, blender, juicer, washer, a/c unit, heaters, fans, TV, DVD players, VCR, stereo w/quadrophonic speakers plus bathroom speaker, lamps, hair dryer), kitchen essentials (dishes, glasses, cutlery, pots, pans, teapot), and other necessities like towels, etc. -- I've included notes on the photos in my flickr set.

Rent is 70,000 yen per month.

Bills are your own responsibility.

The apartment is ready for broadband internet.

There's a bicycle for you to use, too.

Ideally, you'd be able to stay in the apartment for a year or two, but please let us know and be up-front if you are interested in shorter-term rental (a week, a month or few).

We're also open to making the apartment available for a day or a weekend.

Please send me an email or comment if you're interested.

You can see photos by going to my flickr set.



If you're not experienced with using flickr, here's some how-to information:

There are 3 main ways of looking at these photos:

1. You can view the photos as a slideshow by going here and clicking on "view as slideshow" on the top right.

• If you want to see the title and description of each photo, click on it and the photo will become smaller and the description will appear on the right. The description appears quickly on some computers and more slowly on others.
• Scroll to the top of the viewer to make your controls visible and to the bottom of the viewer to see small thumbnails of all the photos in the set. Scroll away to make these disappear.
  
• The advantage of slideshow viewing is that you will see the photos larger and in a narrative sequence without having to do any clicking.
• However, the disadvantage is that the hover notes are not visible at all and the descriptions might take a while to come up on your screen if/when you want to see them.

2. You can also view the photos as a set and in the order of your own choosing.

• You can see each photo's title by hovering over the thumbnail image.
• If you double-click on an individual photo, you will see it a larger size with a description beneath it. This larger size also enables you to see any hover notes I've written.
  
• You can see any hover notes I've made by scrolling over the photo.
• At the top right of the right photo is the "Apartment for Rent (Set)" link which will return you the Set page with the thumbnails all on one page.
  
• "browse" below the thumbnails will also return you to the Set page.
  
• You can also choose to continue viewing individual photos with titles, descriptions, and hover notes by clicking on the thumbnails to the right or "more" below the thumbnails.

3. Going to "flogently's photostream" takes you to all my photos, where you can see medium-sized versions (with titles and descriptions, but no hover notes) in random order.

• The number of hover notes per photo is indicated below each photo.
• Double-clicking on a photo takes you to a larger version of the photo with hover notes visible.
• If I post more vacation photos, these apartment photos may no longer be on the first page, they'll be on later pages.