After four months living in Japan, I have returned to the United States. Culture shock has not quite set in yet, but jet lag has. I am glad to be home, though, as much as I miss my friends from abroad.

Now that I am on summer vacation, it is time to bust out my Photoshop skills and make some icons from all the photos I took in Japan. Other art types as well shall be forthcoming, especially once Kristin and I get started drawing our comic.

Today I went to Harvard Square to visit Lush. Kristin introduced me to the chain while we were in Japan; I had known about it before, but never stopped in. The woman who helped me today gave me a free hand treatment, and I bought some deoderant sans-aluminum. It smells like citrus! Yummy. If I'd had a bit more cash to spend I would have bought the lemon and shea butter lotion as well, but after that I was going to pick up my car from the garage, so I needed to keep my money tight.

My car sat in my parents' driveway while I was in Japan. Naturally, after four months of sitting still it needed some tuning up. The poor thing needed parts replaced in the front breaks, which ran me nearly $400. Better to have working breaks than not, though. I have a long drive tomorrow! Some of you may know the radio show Car Talk; it's their garage that fixes my car, so she was in good hands.

As I work to figure out my uses of this journal, I'm considering setting up some opt-in filters for content not everyone would want to read.

First off, filters:

• Meme filter: I like memes. I am not a total meme whore, but I do post them somewhat often. Some people are not so into the meme thing, and I get that, thus they get a filter to themselves. You don't have to be on it unless you like memes too.
• Adult content filter: For all things 18+, nsfw, tmi, etc. Topics would include discussing relationships, sexuality, and fandom-related things with adult themes.

If you want in on either of those, just leave a comment or send a message. I'm going to update my info with these too.

Things that won't be filtered:

• Art/writing: Any comics, stories, animations, pictures, etc., both original and fan work. I won't share everything ever, but I'll post things I want feedback on, or feel were especially successful. I'll also use this blog as a place to look for collaborators, to discuss the creative process, and art in general.
• Travel related blogging: I travel a lot, and while I do write a travel blog as well, I might post about my journeys on here sometimes.
• General fandom: What I'm currently reading, watching, or listening to; questions about fandom; reviews, rants and raves. Icons if I start making them again.

Second, a question!

Do any of you know of a Japanese TV show, drama, anime, book, etc. that involves a girl receiving a complement and trying to turn it down?  For example, someone says she's pretty, and she say something like "No, no. I'm so fat/ugly/dumb." This is pretty common of Japanese culture, and I'm trying to find examples for a project in my Japanese Communication class. Thanks in advance for any help. ^_^