Fitness
Fitness
At the infamous middle age of 40, Stu came down with a painful disease named "shingles". This disease is much like a version of chicken pox for adults, and consists of a rash throughout parts of half the body (either the right or left half). The pain isn't for the faint of heart, and the symptoms typically continue for a few weeks. This was in the summer of 2008, which was a very tough time for Stu. His company TOKYOPOP was going through layoffs worldwide, and the Tokyo and London offices were being shutdown. The Great Recession had hit retail hard, and books were being returned to TOKYOPOP by the truckload. The stress was unfathomable. Stu's doctor advised him to "get off the couch" and begin exercise. After a discussion with his good friend Ray, he realized that walking daily would be a good start. Those daily walks became runs, and after a year Stu ran his first marathon (the LA Marathon). Stu has since run 6 marathons including his first Boston Marathon (and PR time of 3:18) in April 2014. He has also participated in multiple triathlons, trail races, relay races, and even a 50-mile ultra-marathon. His birthday (August 24) in 2014 was the date of his first full Ironman triathlon, clocking in at 11:41:41. Needless to say, fitness has become a passion for Stu.
As a simple hobby, Stu uploads fitness videos to his SUPER 40 channel. These videos are almost exclusively in Japanese and feature how-to instructional videos, runs in various cities throughout the world, and some v-logs. It's certainly not a revenue stream or a professional endeavor, but it's a way of experimenting a bit with the world of online video while documenting some of Stu's fitness endeavors.
Music
Music
Stu absolutely loves music, and while his career has not ventured into the professional arena of music, he has flirted a bit with music as a semi-professional hobby. Stu has written songs for a number of TOKYOPOP's projects, especially "Princess Ai", as well as created music simply for fun. While Stu is the first to admit that he is a devout amateur, the songs are available on iTunes, Spotify and other music services under Stu's nom de plume "D.J. Milky" or project names such as "Princess Ai".
Here are a few links to check out the songs:
Photography
Photography
Stu has loved photography since he was a dark room-dwelling youngster, developing his own black and white images. In the era of digital photography, it has become easy for everyone to become an amateur photographer, and Stu enjoys uploading his iPhone pics, along with some more thoughtful work from his Canon 5D. While these slide shows aren't organized in a particularly artful fashion, feel free to browse around. Also, a lot of fun photos are available at Facebook as well.
Photos at Flickr
Photos at Instagram
