I'M NOT DEAD. SORRY.

TODAY IS MY BIRTHDAY! YAY! (waves fingers in the air)

MY 29th, TO BE EXACT... GIVE OR TAKE A FEW YEARS.

DESPITE THE FACT THAT I'M GETTING OLD, THAT AWFUL JOKE NEVER DOES.

TO HONOR THE OCCASION, I THOUGHT, "WHY NOT THRILL THE 3's OF PEOPLE WHO READ THIS BLOG BY BRINGING IT BACK TO LIFE?" YAY AGAIN!

ON TOP OF THAT, I THOUGHT, "WHY NOT SPEND MY ENTIRE BIRTHDAY BY MYSELF AND GO SIT AT THE TOP OF A VOLCANO FOR A WHILE?"

SO I DID. THIS ONE...

THIS IS MOUNT KAIMON. IT IS AS FAR SOUTH AS YOU CAN POSSIBLY GO ON THE JAPANESE MAINLAND BEFORE YOU START SWIMMING. SO FAR SOUTH, THINK OF IT AS A BUMPY BLISTER ON THE PINKY TOE OF THIS FINE COUNTRY.

THIS VOLCANO, HOWEVER, IS NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH MOUNT SAKURAJIMA - THE ASH FACTORY THAT SITS IN THE BAY ACROSS FROM MY WINDOW AND SPEWS FILTH ON MY CAR AND LAUNDRY ON A DAILY BASIS. NO, WERE I TO CLIMB MOUNT SAKURAJIMA, I WOULD NOT BE CELEBRATING NEXT YEAR'S 29th BIRTHDAY.

ANYWAY, MY SPECIAL DAY IS RUNNING OUT, SO I'LL END THIS HERE AND CONTINUE TELLING MY ADVENTURES OF WALKING UPHILL LATER THIS WEEK. UNTIL THEN...