Country Christmas

It's been 2.5 years since i've been the US. A lot has changed I hear but i haven't seen it yet because I went straight to my hometown from JFK and not a lot changes in, Canisteo, NY. It is super country. But before that I had an epic 22 hours of travel ahead of me.



leading up to my return visit home i had to analyze everything i own to determine if i would need it in the coming years, because who knows when i will be back in the US again. I have accumulated a bunch of precious and priceless Japanese and Chinese stuff in my travels and can't keep moving it to the new places I live so i have to store it at my parents house. I had to do my usual travelling with way too much stuff that was way too heavy and deal with various airport and weight limit crap. first leg, 12 hr flight to JFK



at JFK, a shot of the guys that don't give two shats about your precious and priceless artifacts. second leg, 4 hour layover, 45 min flight to rochester, NY.



My goal on this US visit is to eat all the rib stickin' food i have been missing because i've been eating rice and noodles for 2.5 years in Beijing and Tokyo and they are not rib stickin'. Straight from the airport we went to Dinosaur BBQ and i got this pulled pork, brisket, ribs, baked mac and cheese, chili, and cornbread platter. My pathetic little Japanese sized tummy couldn't take it all. 3rd leg, 1 hr drive from Rochester to Canisteo, NY.



My parents have a new puppy. This is Brody and he is 11 months old and 130 pounds. he is the biggest newfoundland in the history of them owning newfoundlands that they've ever had. He's going to get bigger. There isn't really a good shot here of how massive he is. Newfoundlands are famous for being super gentle and little kids ride on them and stuff. This guy has tons of energy and is as tall as me when he jumps up and puts his paws on my shoulders.





this is the their other newfoundland named Angus. he is a lot smaller, 110 pounds, and he just gets raped and beat up on by the new, young, energetic dog everyday so now he is a super gentle pacifist. I liken him to bob and me to the other dog, same rape and get raped daily thing basically.



super dog hair, super slobber, super dirty, but super cute



bob with the parents ipad. he needs this to fufill his photo assistant duties. We planned a family portrait photoshoot so bob is my photo assistant/assistant. He is also in charge of catering services, and wardrobe assist. Our tight schedule lies within that digital clipboard. Bob is on the edge of being let go because of various scheduling blunders and tasks not completed.



eggs over easy and corned beef hash and cheddar. i've missed it.



hashbrowns and eggs over easy and cheese. i've missed it.



daruma on the right is my dad's, his goal was to win a medal at a shooting competition and he did so he got is other eyeball. daruma on the left is my mom's and her goal is to complete her japanese garden which is in progress.



bonus points for anyone who knows what this is. I found it in our attic when i was poking around. A clue is that it's kind of Japanese related yet totally American.



Met our grandfather for lunch at a local place and had a steak bomber. All the food portions in America are at least 2 times more food than Japan if not 3 times. One of the biggest differences are the fries. you def get 3x more fries than you get in Japan with everything. seriously, at least in upstate NY, it's almost all big boys and big girls here, compared to Asia.



Me and bob at salvation army on a wardrobe hunt for the photoshoot.



the heart of towns across America. If you go here you will see people you know from highschool and so on so me and bob are always a little weary being in here.



the vast lands of upstate NY



2.5 years of magazines that my illustrations have been in that have been mailed to my parents house. this is probably only 5% of the jobs i have done though because usually the clients don't mail me anything.





Who's that i spy betwixt the evergreen boughs? Someone got lucky for Xmas, santa brought a Bob.



the photo things that my mom and I made in tokyo at the top of the Shinjuku metropolitan building. every year we have a new ornament for that year but this year its these things.









this was made a few years ago. it's baby jesus bob with realistic detailing underneath that loincloth that my mom made me sew on because she thought it was inappropriate to have little bobby showing.



a sampling of our wardrobe hunt



mine has shoulder pads. A post with the photoshoot results is coming up soon. stay tuned.