2009 is coming to a close, and so is your face!

In 2009 I put a hiatus on tricking, graduated from college, got a job, moved to Japan, bought a motorcycle, and wrote two novels in Japanese.

Hold up. Stopped tricking? Bought a motorcycle?! Wrote two novels…in JAPANESE?! This year has been a year of firsts and a year of growth. If God, or some other celestial being, were to chop 2009 from my timeline, I’d probably be driving around Bellevue in my old, crusty corolla, waiting for Avatar to start. But instead, he was all like, ah, hell no, you’re going to Japan to do all sorts of craziness! And now, here I am, inside my new apartment. Righteous.

The older I become, the more difficult it is for me to swallow the reality in which I live. The dreams and aspirations which filled my mind as a teen have, quite literally, blossomed precisely into their original projections.

Job in Japan Check.
Japanese fluency Check.
Sweet motorcycle Check.
Precise audio set up Check.

This is a concise collection of the ‘must-haves’ of my pre-tricking existence. Always wanted to live in Japan, always wanted a black Kawasaki Ninja, and always wanted a pair of ear massaging headphones. I often use the following statement, but honestly, if the 13 year old me saw himself now, he’d probably laugh in disbelief. If AIM screen name GLDFNGER came across dogentricks.com, he’d warm his trousers with a supple stool. If the Smash Bros champion of my youth saw Kawasaki Monochrome, he’d drop it like it was hot.

All of this made me realize: well shoot, I can really do whatever the hell I want to. Literally. Everything I’ve ever wanted has simply flown into my hands. When I describe this phenomenon to others, they often say, “well, it’s because you work hard blah blah blah.” But in all reality, there’s no hard work to be done. Studying Japanese, getting into JET, moving into my new home–these events all unfolded so smoothly, it was as if someone else had planned it out for me. Hard work? HARDLY!!! LOLOL.

Don’t you see? I am a dream machine! Laughably ludicrous ideas manifest themselves in my mind. They crawl down my neural passageways and embed themselves in the motors of movement. My muscles pump and produce the results of the scenes in the dreams of the dream machine. I am the dream machine! Watch me create the perfect reality!

Based on my life up until this point, I can confidently say I will have and achieve anything I want. Thus, upon exhausting my previous dream databank, these are the next set of fantasies I pledge to fabricate.

Breakdance.
Inspire my students to dream.
Become a published, award-winning author in Japanese.
and last, but certainly not least—Return to the world of tricking.

These are not my new years resolutions–these are my new years realities.

Train hard.

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