A bit of explanation...

The purpose of this blog is primarily to keep people informed of the goings-on in the lives of its primary authors: Eric and Mari.


Here's some background: Eric and Mari were married in Hawaii in the summer of 2005. In the photo on the left, we are trying to hide our disdain for the cameraman. Eric looks pretty awful in this photo, probably due to his neck being twisted into an unnatural angle.

But no matter. Here's an action-shot:

As you can see, Mari's relatives are on the left and Eric's are on the right. They've each ripped-up their wedding invitations in howling disgust and are flinging the tattered remnants at the bride and groom in a fit of rage over the anticipated acts of miscegenation which will surely take place in a hot tub later that evening.

Seriously though, they were all pretty great to us.

Since that day, Mari, as a Japanese national, has spent the last two years living with her husband in a snow-blasted, post-industrial wasteland on the edge of the U.S. Great Lake system. As a result, she is sometimes forced to make near-comical adjustments to fitting-in. As you might imagine, this kind of situation can give rise to endless intrigue and minor mis-adventures with the ensuing hilarity taking place on an almost-daily basis.

Come to think of it, Mari's Green Card is up for renewal later this year. That could be a pain in the ass.

At the end of this month, we'll be on a trip to the U.K. to visit Mari's friends. The plan is to visit London, then Somerset. On the way back we'll have a 3-day stop in Iceland, which is a place Eric has wanted to visit since the 7th grade at least. We'll be sure to let everyone know how it goes in mid-June.