Thanks for kind words, letters and picking up the phone recently.
Got out of the #mecfs ditch for a couple of days / now back in bed *crashmode* while family (w/ visiting nephew) is heading off to a sword museum outing i planned. Feeling super low but hey, at least my toes are painted cute #selfcare
Alt: A pair of moderately-hobbit-looking 27cm feet with unprofessionally but enjoyably painted blue toenails, shot from recumbent height level against a turquoise tencel bedsheet with a Japanese translucent glass sliding door as background
OK, I need to disappear again, eye fatigued after a :20 reentry. Ice bags on neck, coffee and water on hand.
im here, really
You are all more beautiful than you were yesterday if that’s even possible.
Back on the bus, feeling like that beat up $20 bill you hide in your shoe when on a renegade hitchhike. Battered, bruised, tattered, diminishing in value however, I’m still up and at it, heading to medical appointment, (looking super cute ;) ha
And I shouldnt cover up my snappy new haircut with a hat but a bit chilly out
For the record, these bus stop photos are not an exercise in vanity. (obviously), snapped as date/time reminders so I can keep my diary of medical appointments accurate, (if I forget to scribble in a note)
Sometimes the bus service has “free days” once a month. Did I tell you I love this bus service? Yes I know I did.
Two iterations of flower arrangement at the seitai doctors entrance, and the new Kojima calendar in the elevator Two iterations of flower arrangement at the seitai doctors entrance, and the new Kojima calendar in the elevator
Scenes on the street: Momotaro bundled up & a highway sign & what seems to be a very complicated address, or some sort of artistic statement
Back on beloved Uno bus with Wi-Fi service (my current phone doesn’t have data nor phone service. It’s basically just an iPod touch, but with a Sim slot, 2 actually, but neither operational)… Makes it a little tricky to time buses.
Yes, lousy snaps of adorable & eclectic range of rolling stock – some practically brand-new & others probably just after war, all using same tracks.
Had a bit of time to wait after checking the paper schedule at the stop sign so hit up the 7-Eleven for hot milk tea, steamed pork bun, and some gloves as it’s quite chilly out. Read Murakami Ryu’s “69” on a bench wactching street cars.
IMO Street cars are best all-around public transport when considering building/operating cost + ease of use, charm & accessibility.
This week is also back to the Okayama university research hospital // they are doing a really nice job with me, but my goodness, the anxiety ramps up as it’s a hectic day out and then a couple days of recovery :(
Really feeling tattered, battered and discouragement recently to be honest.
Importantly/subtext of all of this is: slow down, work on my mental health as well as physical health.
So much is wonderful but I just can’t seem to find any kind of the rythm & spark.
My wife is sensational, my kiddo, exceptional, my in-laws, fantastic, our home is generally all right (always something to be done & often bit messy because life but you know,…) and so much I want to do creatively, but I suppose I’m just tired of being tired #MECFS
Anyway, I’m home now, going to warm my dog bones in a hot bath, maybe hit some turpentine brandy / as such, this concludes this episode of: “excessively translucent and vaguely mundane musings from a somewhat-washed-up, but generally good-hearted pal in provincial Japan”
fondly, dvo
Technically, from a different bus ride, but one that didn’t get documented due to the whole website debacle – didn’t get a chance to document that properly but it’s hardly interesting and really quite stressful
Bonus: arrived home to the little fella waking up from his 38° plus fever nap, and having a messy throw up :( got that cleaned up with mama just in time for the groceries to be delivered. Whew, a bit of a whirlwind,… now about that bath.
Words by Dave Olson with Mikael Lewis written in Pokhara, Nepal
Music, vocals, guitars Mikael Lewis, recorded in Utah, USA
##
Wildflower (for Foster)
Foster can you tell me
where the hell you left those tapes?
I was riffing on my first guitar
you were mouthing poetry scapes
I’d go to visit your gravesite
but I’d hate to waste that precious hour
you don’t belong in flat mown lawn
when you are a wildflower
Recorded in my parent’s basement
our earnest, green, unflinching truth
unaware that three short years later
you’d be cashing in on your youth
Don’t need to pour one out for you
or leave a fat one rolled
I’ll just light the signal fires
To make sure your story is told
The tale of the wildflower
I ignored their useless platitudes
self-serving, cliched and quaint
You and I both know what the truth is
And so I share this brief lament
I visit you atop the mountain
Where freedom lives and truth is found
When morning light first hits that meadow
I’ll have proof that the wildflower lives
April 1 & 2, 2017
Words by Dave Olson and Mikael Lewis
Music by Mikael Lewis
Tip 3 for beating the blues: cappuccino and a desk full of stationery and postcards, Sending treats to friends and strangers hoping it will transmit a virtual hug, via Airmail.
Today’s batch includes Latvia, Singapore, Olympia, Logan, Mexico and who knows where else… Oh and also Provo, Norman (place not person), Coquitlam, Kelowna…
How are you feeling? Do you need a treat? If so, fill out the “postal club” form.
Continuing on with Kerouac’s San Francisco Blues, DaveO strolls down The Mission reading Jack’s choruses written on the same street in 1954 while observing butter trucks, museums and tolling bells, then listening to Clayton the Seabus busker sing about going home.
In San Francisco on an early morning stroll sporting a French-curled tie, Dave performs contemporary reconnaissance of an intersection described by Jack Kerouac in San Francisco Blues and discusses Kerouac’s motivations and system for creating these Blues poems.
Geographically speaking, the additional observations include bridge commuters, urine puddles, hot dog and motorcycle tire shops, beer-signed parking lots, a VA condo, a flock of tie wearing folk, and apartments with 24 hour concierge service.
