Tag Archives: books

Personal Musings

Diary: sparking tiny fires

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Fresh tray of fire starters made from paper egg cartons, sawdust, wood chips, dryer lint, soy wax // not the most aesthetically pleasing batch I’ve made but they’ll keep us going through the winter / One match is all you need

Diary notes:

Saturday included: new orthotic inserts, made on site to order, plus reviewed/evaluated big bag of shoes for sturdiness and arch support / very diligent and serious practitioner

had ramen with my duo after shoes dealio / such kind folks + Ichi was charming (also hit up a park & community centre in wife’s childhood neighbourhood)

Also recently:

mixed CD arrived by post, looking forward to enjoying

packet mailed to Kentucky river region came back with “address not found“ hmmm

postcard from India received, my attempts to reply have been denied so far

did I mention that 2 Canadian passport with middle name “Thorvald“ arrived?

Mac the goat farmer came for oden dinner couple nights back /he forgot his pickles gift but remembered signed/stamped poetry book

expecting a pleasant guest from Vancouver on Nov 28

Family Ramen time / dang they are cuuute

read Tintin books, watched Country Bears, practiced English with Ichiro

previewed a pod im a guest on taking about writing “early sht” {oh my!}

limited project on the #Circumnavigation book this week as interrupted by medical appointments and recovery but still, 90+ pages drafted in so far

Re: books

finished Tanizaki’s Makioka Sisters (making a note to watch the movie adaptation during New Year’s)

now working through:

  • Alex Kerr, Heart Sutra
  • Murakami Ryu, 69
  • e.e. cummings, 100 selected poems
  • (sorta) DT Suzuki, Zen & Japanese Culture
  • Deep Kyoto Walks, various (ed. Ted)
  • Tokyo Van Nuys Express, Rick Lupert
  • various others

tomorrow (probably):

hanging family photo corner, bringing in some firewood, maybe harvesting some persimmons, and making ginger/turmeric syrup

Carrying on:

“yesterday’s tomorrow, is right now”

And I love waking up to the sound of rain / I live in the sunniest prefecture in all of Japan (really!) but still, I’m (partially) a #cascadia human/Sasquatch

Did some tasks:

  • Recycling (plastic food trays) done (mostly) // As “rebellious“ as I get these days is overfilling the plastic recycling bin at the grocery store that we don’t necessarily always shop at (90% of our groceries are delivered through the Co Op) / Yep, it’s a wild lifestyle
  • Hung buncha great family photos / more to say & the location, lighting & wall are hardly ideal, but we’ve made a start!

Further annotations:

For the record: im never sarcastic, very rarely cynical, mostly sincere, often enthusiastic, frequently curious, enjoy offering compliments, and always (try to be) kind

Buddha Annapurna – Annapurna Sunrise
Be rich when “poor” by giving more

Also noting it’s great seeing more kids/toddler/babies out and about… The first couple years of our kiddos life, we hardly saw any other parents out with their kids that we could do that “I know what’s up with this“ nod with

Asked darling wife what she would like for a Christmas present(s). The answer “a chainsaw and/or a sewing machine“. Sums her up. (Oddly enough, you could maybe buy both of those from the same brand but seems Husqvarna doesn’t make sewing machines anymore)

A trio of great poems by Jason Emde (of Gifu rock city and creator of the “writers read their early shit“ podcast) in “hole in the head review”. High-quality writing (and yes, I’m a guest on his next episode in which I reveal *way too much*) mentioned above

{While not as well known and heralded as some others}, “Ken Sanders Rare Books“ in Salt Lake City is one of all-time favorites book shops. Sometimes, i browse around and fill up carts but then again my nemesis: shipping fees comes to thwart the plan :( kensandersbooks.com

Ahead:

Monday Morning is grocery delivery & order + garbage out.

Backing up twtr in case, locked down to be tight & tidy, security hygiene.

(Hopefully) back to barn to finish packet to Gary S. & notes for The Matinée, more poems & stories for book. Tuesday meeting at pre-school + wife’s band comes to rehearse. No scheduled medical appts! Oh order something for festive dinner & work plan for card (design, quantity, production).

Just talked to my brother who happens to be in Muscat, Oman. However, he did not use this #payphone

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Book + Writing Ideas / Fragments

Poetry book scheme (working title: “A Circumnavigation, of sorts”

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time traveller, allegedly, wandering widely to find poems for you

Good night wonders,

I’ve got some ideas in my head for this book project, tentatively called “A Circumnavigation, of Sorts”.

Generally: freeverse poems + letters snippets, a few lists and musings and diaries / also some black and white images (hazy lomo &/or scribbled originals) and other personal archeology and/or cartography.

A bit of a creative almanac of elsewhere.

xo dvo

PS thank you for your anticipated purchase

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Japan Cottage Musings

Poetry & Design from Several Small-ish Books

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let’s hang out and enjoy some poetry and whatnot

“In the studio barn, anxious on account of an impending medical and other “life admin” project, Dave reads from a variety of slim-sized (mostly) books of poetry, discusses book layout, design and publishing styles and pathways, relates some anecdotes about writers & how the books came to be here. Plus a few musings and projects of his own – while trying to calm a weary head and body.”

Maybe I’ll make you a mix tape

(I will add a proper list of books and writers, soonish, not right now, but of course if you just watch you know about the books cause you’ll hear all the poems)

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Notes to Future Self, Writing Life

Quote: “a book is…” Baudelaire

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What’s on your shelf?

“A book is a garden, an orchard, a storehouse, a party, a company by the way, a counselor, a multitude of counselors.”

Charles Baudelaire

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Collections of Artifacts, Personal Musings

Book, by post: Amy Chavez + chats, patch, tunes, poetics

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Arrived, by post “The Widow, the Priest and the Octopus Hunter” by Amy Chavez. Lovely “just out” hardback edition from Tuttle.

Amy Chavez shares stories from a secluded island, quite nearby

Stories from an inland sea island (relatively close to Tsuchida cottage) by a long time resident and very interesting human it seems.

Noting: Amy arrived in Japan in 1993, shortly after my “Japan 1.0“ era, and years later, when reminiscing about my long distant past and curiousity about the inland sea, came across her writings (in Japan Times and other outlets) and some podcasts and whatnot… Little did I know that years later, I would end up in the area again (really couldn’t have guessed).

So far, the book is absolutely exquisite both in the design and the emotional yet somehow compact and efficient prose. I’m trying to read it slowly because I want it to last a long time.

Other activities/annotations:

  • Pleasant conversation with friend Neal in Metchosin, Plus a new local friend name Trevor stop by for a quick visit
  • Wrote 6 page letter to Ichiro for 2nd birthday #io
  • Sneak preview listen to The Matinée’s new music (yes!)
  • sweet Jerry Garcia designed Keen masks arrived
  • edited videos of ambient scrapbook sessions (trips to Shimane & Kyoto)
  • now dishes & laundry

Various evidences & annotations of above:

I figure 2+ years into all of this, might as well have a mask with a bit of flair. Acquired unused but secondhand from a shoe brand I used to use a lot and designed by a guitar player I listen to very much alot.

Noting, for various reasons my videos aren’t “monetized” just for mine/your amusement so playing records in the background (which thwacks the algorithm anyway ;)) hooray for punk rawk scrapbooking hangouts

Besides a sneak preview of their music, the Matinee segment from the tracks and tracks rock ‘n’ roll train is now out… {will post, natch}

While in the barn studio, started a new scrapbook with poetic letters and extra special correspondence…

It’s almost time to make another big batch of the scrapbooks, like the scrapbook themselves as most from last batch made on Ceningan are filled up or gifted

Of course all correspondence is special but some go into postcard folios, others into a special book for festive greetings, in this case, longer/larger form items from Topsfield, Victoria, Gifu and so on.

Typhoon weather

or thunderstorm, severe or otherwise

regardless, I’ve somehow become incapable

of even the most minor tasks

Pardon my delays i’ll try again

eventually

Also: Sprucing up the jacket with a Cascadia patch. Bioregionalism seems like a pretty good idea right about now doesn’t it?

there are some other patches on this jacket I’ll show you sometime

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Collections of Artifacts

Books, by post: Kerouac, Snyder, Rimbaud, Murakami Ryu + Bowles, Proust, Dylan

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Books, arrived by post, including:

Jack Kerouac “on the road” 2 more copies (I have several)

Gary Snyder “axe handles” (yes another, this one is second printing with dust jacket)

Arthur Rimbaud, selected poems and letters

Murakami Ryu (mot the *other guy* :)) “69“

Plus a Marcel Proust biography, a Bob Dylan reader, selected stories from Paul Bowles, and a novel called “three martini lunch“ thrown in.

Thanks to Infinity Books, Tokyo.

Great books, lousy photos for documentation purposes only

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Personal Musings, Post'd (cards + letters)

Items, by post (from Diego Garcia, Gifu, Tōkaidō highway, and “no country”

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1) Stamps from British Overseas Indian Territory Diego Garcia, thanks Cmdr

items, arrived by post

2) Postcard re: podcast “writers read their early sh!t” from an affable gentleman boxer in Gifu / Tip: he’s featured in a “beat sushi“ video

3) Kurt Vonnegut’s “A Man Without a Country” – pleasing to the feel hardback

4) small collectible card from Tōkaidō highway which came packed with satchels of seaweed and seeds to make a sort if savory rice porridge. Working on the series

+ etc

Pleasant chat with dear sensei Larry Harper in Utah this morning. Grateful for his kind words and to hear steps forward with his health and housing.

near Ken Sleight’s pack creek ranch
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Japan Cottage Musings

Musing: Painted into corner (of a blank canvas) #video

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Spontaneous riff with usual lousy video and dodgy audio but solid stories

Diary musings including: brain fog; trips to Shimane and Kyoto (Minka Summit); pals Ted and Ed and a big dog; recent books (Alex Kerr, Robert Whiting, Miles Copeland, Dave Bidini) + classic Japonica books; ++ sorting out my head about “what comes next” (answer equals anything; seitai treatment; MECFS awareness (and other awarenesses month); sortganzing ephemera; new records, old records; how are you? etc – all from kura barn a spontaneous rambling blur on another sunny day in Okayama.

Accidentally features Leonard Cohen and Mxmtoon.

Did you notice my sweet black globe and green ship lantern?

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Collections of Artifacts, Writing Life

Books (recent): Kerr, Whiting, Fitz, Gaiman, + usual Kerouac et al

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4 pack of old, new, new to me / Japan, America, Jazz

4 books by post from Infinity Book’s ∞, Tokyo. Alex Kerr, author of two of these, it’s going to be an event later this month… Yes, I’m planning on leaving the house in subsequent months. Started into Dogs and Demons and it’s really exposing colossal buzz kill of modern Japan… {I have to be careful about what I process because I’ve chosen to live here forever, and certainly know that everywhere has its faults but have to take honesty and reality in small doses}.

The F Scott Fitzgerald is a beauty little edition as well. And so many of my friends freaking love (&/or in one case are pals with) Neil Gaiman so getting on board. Thanks Kat C for encouragement.

“Spy book” – I am already suspicious (is it strange to get to know somewhat embarrassed to be sharing this?) and Japan from the long timer

2 more books arrived, not my usual type maybe but, i enjoy Robert Whiting’s nostalgic-without-being-sentimental gazes at Japan and want to support his diligence + i like “spy craft” but without cheese and violence so curious if former agent’s nom de plume is logistically accurate and, if it’s about “running as in managing agents in the field” rather than an “agent running rogue in the field” as the former is much more interesting to me. (Am i a snob to say I’m *almost embarrassed* to show this?) No answer required.

Jack, Neal, Allen – all in one mighty tome

Also in the bedside stack: Reading first editions in bed. After all, books are for reading as well as collecting, sharing (and sometimes accidentally using it as a place to set coffee #NotRecommended). Nice to see a book by Jack Kerouac about Neal Cassady (Cody Pomeroy) with forward by Allen Ginsberg – quite a trifecta.

on hand, side of bed for respites and dreams

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Writing Life

Notes: Ken Babbs’ “Cronies” book + chapbook & Doug Peacock

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Ken Babbs’ chapbook “We Were Arrested” a preview of “Cronies”

Here’s a hilarious fresh, sharp interview with Merry Prankster/Marine vet/farmer/writer and *the* Intrepid Traveler Ken Babbs talking about his new book “Cronies, a Burlesque” with basketballer/Deadhead Bill Walton (dialed up to 11 as usual) on a Powell’s (Portland) Book Store show with a cute young host holding on for the ride.

{Sorta continuation from my “hero dossier / meet the beats” video a while back with namechecks & stories with Neal Cassady, Jack Kerouac, Ken Kesey, Grateful Dead, Merry Pranksters on Furthur bus, Acid Tests etc et al & more#plug #notaplug.}

Note: I bought from Tsunami Books/Press in the “super early support pre-release” to score a signed copy… but the shipping to Japan is rather expensive, so I get stuff sent to a friend in Olympia who is/was planning to visit – I’ve sent so many books to him (I did a lot of support of the Beat Museum and Ken Sanders Rare Books during the pandemic that I’ve amassed a small medium-sized library at his house – so eventually will ask him (and another friend in Pacifica, CA) to send out via M-bag if the borders remain closed for another year or so. This is just a long way of saying “no I haven’t actually read the book but eventually I will“.

Aside: I’m just finishing up a literary critical biography of Hunter Thompson (David S Wills’ “High White Notes”), and a series called “Letters of Note“ which is compiled by Shaun Usher (beautifully in a hardback book) interesting correspondence from throughout history. [more: books recently] and its companion “Lists of Note”.

Update: Tuns out, I have *sort of* read (some of) it as, whilst going through my bookshelf to freshen up the bedside stock, I found an advance copy chapbook called “We Were Arrested” with one of the chapters, printed on hemp paper(!) and signed to me from Mr. Babbs himself along with a doodle of his face.

For Dave {insert face sketch} Ken Babbs – thanks past-Dave for ordering this

Was made by Tsunami Books/Press to generate interest/attention for the now finished book. It’s about Babbs (Intrepid Traveler), Kesey, Cassady, George Walker and others starting the Acid Tests, formation of the Warlocks>Grateful Dead and (obviously) getting arrested. It was really nice little artifact and journey that led me to finding it.

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