It was high time we had a holiday, so we picked up our stuff and went to a cottage near Rye for seven days. When we came back, we needed a holiday.
The more things change, the more they stay the same. Who coined that phrase? Because it's rubbish. I've never seen so much change before and nothing is the same.
Step two: Put one life in blender. Spin on highest setting for two months.
Leah Alice Goodwin is here at last.
Kai spends his last days as an only child.
A cottage trip, a new web site, an ongoing pregnancy and tweeting. Oh yes, tweeting.
Joyous news. I can now reveal, exclusively to this web site, that another baby is on the way. I also had a colonoscopy. Uhhhh... let's concentrate on the baby news, hey?
This year has not gone well so far. Colds caught: Innumerable. Gastrointestinal infections: 2 (1 each). Hospitalizations: 1.
A holiday. At bloody last.
We survived one year with Kai. With good luck and a little magic, so did Kai.
Aki's maternity leave comes to an end.
Kai gains mobility and begins to eat food. He is also producing enough saliva to drown a hamster.
In 2004 I wrote an entry called Four Years On when I said goodbye to Japan. It's time to go back.
The biggest snowfall in recent memory, and Kai was still not impressed. Our trip to Japan is just around the corner. If that doesn't please him, I don't know what will. Oh yes I do - flying in the air works!
Kai is crying, squealing, spinning and travelling.
Whoa, what a year this was.
No holiday to Mexico this month. No. Instead, we decided to stay at home and take pictures of Kai.
On Sunday 21 September at 21:50, our second achievement of the year arrived in the Princess Royal University Hospital, weighing 2.88 kg or 6 lb 6 oz. Kai Adam Goodwin is alive.
Not much time left now before two become three. Here be the photo record of our final holiday as a twosome.
The rollercoaster pace of the year continues. A brief stop in Brighton, and finally, the arrival of something we've been anticipating all year. Uhhh... a car.
In mathematics, catastrophe theory is the study of sudden changes. Do you think pregnancy meets the criteria?
The first achievement of the year is almost in the bag. We're moving! Whoa, is it just me, or is everybody feeling a bit dizzy from déjà vu?
Night falls upon 2007 and the sun rises over 2008. What do we think of this year? And perhaps of more importance - what think we of the next?
This month's personal message. No Jen, even though there was one real decent episode I still don't like Heroes!!!
We had planned to go to Scotland for two years. Was it worth the wait?
We went on holiday (again). I got a new job (again). I got a story published (for the first time).
This month, Joel gets to eat cake and Aki is insulted by a road sign. Oh yeah, baby, it's Malta!
I don't have a great deal to show you or tell you. Why you might be compelled to click on this month's update after that resounding endorsement beats me.
Last year was cool. Now let's remember that the years of my life are just like the Star Trek movies. They alternate between good and crap. What would you predict for 2007? Don't be shy.
We went to Dublin and I have to talk about that now. I promise to avoid every Irish cliche in my fat black book, so don't worry about that, oh Danny boy.
Grazie. Buon giorno. Prego. Mi scusi. Ti amo. Do you think I learnt any Italian when we went to Italy?
Not only does this play on words make it look like I'm admitting to some sexual deviancy, but it also looks like I'm quitting the site. I'm so amazing, because it means neither! Bow down little ones to my literary word play. Respect.
There are many unreliable things in Britain. The food at your table. The smile from your waitress. The time of the delivery. The quality of the build. The words from your financial adviser. The news in your tabloid. The honesty of your elected government. The weather, though, wins hands down.
Off we went to the Lake District to see new things for five new days. We took new pictures for you there.
I am unemployed - for just two weeks. I'm spending my freedom wisely, don't you worry. There is one thing I am not doing, though, and that is looking for another job.
Seriously, we're three months into the year, that's one quarter already behind us, and has anything changed? By gum, it has. Read on, my readers, to be amazed, surprised and inspired.
A duck quacks. A dog barks. A parrot squawks. A software developer whines.
Last month it was Portugeuse, this month it's Latin: time is the devourer of things. And Happy New Year to you too.
Japanese exam completed? Check. Holiday on island of Madeira? Check. Christmas tree installed and decorated? Check. Christmas presents bought? Holy shit.
Compelled by a common insanity, they gather at assigned locations dotted around the globe. They meet as strangers, they will leave as strangers. Destiny is here today. The Japanese Language Proficiency Test is at hand.
This is Big Brother. You have been evicted. Please leave the Big Brother house. This is Big Brother. You have been evicted. Please leave the Big Brother house.
Going somewhere? Come back, there is more to see. There's always more to see. And don't blink. Not even once. We'll know.
I've finally got round to doing a sequence on Canary Wharf. This can only mean one thing: my life is so boring, I have no good pictures to draw from this month.
And now for something completely different. A rant about the UK.
I was going to write this month about our new flat and British service, having been blasted off the internet for weeks by bureaucratic incompetence. Then four men with explosives rewrote my stories and those of many others.
Those of you who do not live in the UK will not wholly appreciate the bottomless pit of cultural despair that this country has fallen into. Two words. One of these words is "Frog" while the other is "Crazy".
Where else could you go for tales of exploding vacuum cleaners, self-aware lifts, the beauty of spring and being attacked by police cyclists? Your money back if you're not satisfied.
So we celebrate a year of marriage together and what does Aki go and do? She gallivants off to Japan for a business trip. If I wasn't a man I could legitimately complain that my emotional needs weren't being satisfied. Fortunately I have a job coming up to distract me from my unsatisfied emotional needs.
Now that Aki has a job, I am alone in the flat during the daytime. Will I set about becoming a first-class house husband? Will I lie on the sofa in my underpants, watch This Morning and weep while contemplating the emptiness of my life? No, of course not! I will go out into the great city of London, wander the streets, taking shots of images that catch my eye. Wearing only my underpants.
There has been a sudden 50% decrease in unemployment amongst the population of our flat.
As is usual recently, there is no major news. I just start typing something random which might attract your eyes from a distance as you browse through Google. Blah blah blah. Blah blah. Blah blah blah. Oh I forgot to mention interviews.
A big year comes to an end. What next for our intrepid heroes in the land the Japanese call Igirisu?
March, we got married. July, we left our jobs. September, we relocated to the UK. November, umm, we got a printer. All right, I was just trying to avoid the unpleasant truth that I'm getting into mathematics again.
You know what they call a Quarter Pounder with Cheese in Paris? They call it a "Royale with Cheese".
Aki and I have arrived in London and have moved into a new apartment. We also have mobile phones, which, believe me, is a real achievement for unemployed people with no recent credit history.
This is it, my very last post from Japan. Read it and weep.
So we've done New Zealand, another country to tick off the list of destinations. In other news, Aki and I are getting ready to leave Japan.
Thus far, everything is going according to plan: we are now unemployed. Although most people wouldn't consider "unemployment" a successful plan.
It's night. Looking out of my window, I can see the traffic flow around the towers of Nishi-shinjuku. I really should make the most of this view while I can, because I am leaving Japan very soon.
Far too much time had elapsed since our last holiday, a whole three months, so it was natural for us to go on another adventure in Japan. In May, we went exploring Kyushu.
Having never worn a ring before, it's taking me some time to get used to having a piece of metal on my hand. To date it has smacked rather hard against the kitchen surface, ripped open the rubber gloves I wore while washing some plates and generally caused public mayhem. I bet you that nice Mr.Frodo never had to put up with this.
I, uh, got married. As for your next question, yes, it was to Aki. And with regards your final question, no I have not taken leave of my senses.
Ever wanted to visit Hokkaido in the winter but you were afraid it was too cold? Not to worry, I went there and took pictures for you. I also lost a leg and three fingers to frost bite, but nothing stands in the way of the freelance journalist. In other developments, the entire web site has been renovated. At last.
Seriously, reading this article will bore your socks off. I moan about my exam, I ramble on about the technicalities of my RSS feed and give you a one-line review of Matrix Revolutions. And no pictures!
Fellow BGIer, Punit Mittal, said that he had been told that this site was full of sick jokes and creepy humour. This is the kind of advertising one can only dream of.
This time, the title says it all.
A long time coming, Roppongi Hills has finally opened to the Japanese public. Its office space may remain vacant for some time to come however...
If life were really like Logan's Run, I would have died in the Carousel this week. Life isn't like that though and I completed the 30th year of my life in relative safety.
On Valentine's Day, February 14, Japanese women give men chocolate. On White Day, March 14, Japanese men give women something in return. Plus, presents are also given to coworkers, not only to your beloved. The industry's long-term goal: Joe Public-san buys everyone a present everyday.
As it is February, it seems like an appropriate time to publish some pictures of Christmas in Tokyo. I also have a fever, so that's why none of this makes sense.
The year known as 2002 is finally over - and a new year is upon us all. 365 days in the making, is 2003 all it's cracked up to be? Do I care?
New job, preparing for a trip to the UK, an entertaining event known as the "Level 2 Japanese Proficiency Test" and more pictures.
I went to Kyoto in October. After five days in Kyoto, I came away with nearly 250 photos. Uh, here are just twelve of them.
September was certainly a different month. After nearly five years at Wilco International, it was time to leave. Today's word is redundancy.
Everything was going so well. Children were playing in the streets, animals danced through the forest of joy and all were happy. However, little did they know that September had the potential to change everything. This weekend was a good example. Goodbye Mr. Web Host.
As summer is suddenly replaced by the rain that gave Noah cause to build the Ark, sitting indoors and reading books becomes an appealing strategy.
Been a little busy working at JP Morgan Chase the last few weeks but I've found the time to put together this small update. This week, Daikanyama and more from the Japanese public transport system.
It's about time I introduced you to Ikspiari, an outpost of strangeness located in Maihama, next to Tokyo Disneyland.
Two years on from Intersect's humble beginnings, it's still humble. I decided to revise it anyway and here's the result. Read more if you're interested.