If you’re reading this it means you’ve either added shawnlavoie.com to some kind of rss reader or you never lost hope that I would someday post again. Good for you! I’m back. Actually, Wayne recently informed me that my site was f-ed, so I had to come (do the bare minimum) and set the theme back to default. While I’m here, check out these things online that I like: Pandora, W00t, S&C, HousingMaps. That’s all for now.
I spotted these three Priuses lined up outside the synagogue last Saturday and felt it necessary to capture the all-American memory. It appears three separate parties happened to park in ’flag’ formation and it wasn’t some Toyota gimmick. Sorry for the poor quality of my camera phone. You get the general idea.
Wow.
Recovering from a spectacular weekend in Kyoto and Osaka, I’m back in Shonandai (Lisa’s hometown) to rest up for tonight’s Mt. Fuji ascent a quiet night at home due to a Typhoon on Mt. Fuji 
. A few teasers to whet your appetite.
New photos of Micah’s Birthday! Express shirt depicted was subsequently retired.
My friend/co-worker Arjan is responsible for this glorious creation. Bless his soul. Then buy books through the site.
Yay! And since I’m being political, watch this awesome video about the scandalous attorney firings, pointed out to me by Lauren.
Went to the REI flagship store in Seattle over the weekend, which happened to be during their anniversary sale. The place has a waterfall, bike and hiking demo trails and a huge rockclimbing wall. It was glorious. I bought the Solomon Techamphibian water shoes in camo using my $40 gift card, given to me when signing up for the REI Visa card. That, combined with the 20% anniversary sale discount and another 10% or so back in dividends made them way affordable. And I’ll look like a badass hiking Mt Fuji.
I made the somewhat spontaneous decision today to buy a ticket to Japan. I’ll be there for two weeks in July. My friend Lisa is teaching English for a year in Fujisawa (Kanagawa prefecture), so I’ll have a place to squat.
I haven’t been out of the U.S. (with the exception of trips to Tijuana and Vancouver) since I graduated from high school in 2002 and journeyed with Adam and Lisa to Western Europe.
I’ll blog later on actual plans during my visit. For now, I’m off to Seattle for mother’s day where I’ll see mother, sister and brother-in-law.
DMA, the Direct Marketing Association, provides a way for consumers to put themselves on a “Do Not Junk Mail” list. It’ll only stop the mail sent to you from DMA members, but it’s a start. You can also opt-out of pre-screened credit offers.