Ink stamps, a variety, including:
A little batch of postcards, scribbled at the library, maybe on a bus – here and there – with a portable writing folio.
I won’t meander (much) about the details but provide evidence of creation and/or mailing – for the archivists and biographers.
Maybe you’re the same way, you have a small portable pack that can fit into a side bag to keep at hand with a few cards, stamps and possibly three writing utensils, and then have a larger case which contains a much more extensive supply of stationery. Is it just me?
The one shown above used to hold photographic slides (although my wife’s uncle insists that it was once a Mahjong case) and is now held together with decorative tape for practical as well as aesthetic reasons.
So wiped out from the last few days… Tea ceremony, hospital checkpoints, another tea ceremony, garden visits, photo studio, preschool church, naked man shrine, ancient optician… wrangling humans for some semi-festive vibes, ramen was good / almost noon, still in bed, must eat.
Anyhow, usual sundry ad-hoc memos & several innuendos follow:
Another timestamp to remember seitai appointment / this time taken afterwards at a quirky gallery café roaster where I got Postcards spread out on the counter // place has ceramics, cameras, rocks, grinders, a printing press, guitar etc scattered about. I want to do a show here.
As always, questions about my outfit are accepted within reason // @theunabonger will recall my sharp camel jacket as my “standby when have to go legislative lobbying or photo opportunities with Washington state governor” times
Evidence of the above with coordinates for your investigation
I guess gotta get in my head & bones that the holiday season cycle is just different here… Everything builds up to New Year – and finally today, kiddo’s last day at school, (most) cards in the mail, things starting to shut down – is when it all happens // still bewildering.
So, I’m going to eat this non-squished gorgeous cake to help me understand the cycles.
Meanwhile, back at Tsuchida Cottage:
Haul from milk! Records (who are closing up shop) includes:
2x12" + 1x7" + stickers from Sleater-Kinney
2 x7" from queen @courtneymelba
2x12" milk records compilations
1x12" from St Vincent (transparent)
1 Milk compilation cassette
1x10 year anniversary patch
1 personal note and sticker
Related:
Wild Boar Persist: This is the wreckage from the adorable barbecue grill I built last summer from salvaged bricks and roof tiles.
The wild boar came and attacked it – I mean, completely destroyed it. They are tough!
Lesson: everything is temporary if you make it that way
{Investigate the visit from the wild boar trapper for more background and mitigation approaches we are approaching, unsuccessfully}
Today, by Post:
From a lovely lady & her daughter in Nagano or thereabouts:
And mother-in-law did a “sniper mission” back-and-forth to Saga Prefecture (related to transport logistics of a small relative) and brought back this very special sushi made in Nagasaki prefecture
Still…
Gosh, I know it’s the time of year to be all happy and chill but I’m feeling super stressed, confused, don’t quite know how to mop up some projects, or how to even start and have put myself in a bit of a sticky wicket which is “good news” but I complicated due to #brainfog #blerg
And when get stressed, I either/or:
send irrelevant social messages (with unrelated photo attached)
But I’ve got some household tasks that need tended to because it’s the frantic “build up/tidy up” for New Years in Japan and it’s important to look busy (really, my wife is working super hard outdoors so I’m trying to keep the house up)
So making myself a list:
* Get out of bed, change into multipurpose warm loungewear
* Put on music
* Ingest food, fluids and medications
* Rock the dishes, fold the laundry
* Bring in firewood
* Then address and stamp “batch x” of New Year’s cards (the fun part!)
{Just keep breathing}
Also:
* Organize all the packets of medication which arrived yesterday
* Order some new house shoes/slippers
Update:
Because I want you to be proud of me… I organized all my medications // and this is what all looks like in the cute little boxes on the shelf I took over from wifu’s kimono cupboard
Bonus:
Ichiro and I on an outing the other day towards the neighborhood to the shrine (he wanted to climb the stairs, I did not :-)) and ancestor’s grave where we washed the stones, changed flowers, lit incense and said prayers. #TeachTheChildren
When you can’t choose which snapshot is the cutest (him, not me… Well maybe me a little bit :-)) #io
What makes it extra fun is we were visiting his great grandparents grave sites. We clean the stones, light incense, say prayers, change the flowers and romp around his ancestral history.
Today, by post…”hello” – original art by post from AZ, USA to Tsuchida Cottage from a frequent correspondent with a special folio to sort-ganize mostly Richard Brautigan inspired creations.
My intrepid wife did a big service this morning by swinging by the post office (i’d written this lil poem of concern):
Letters and packages
Ready since Monday
Post office tomorrow, maybe
Meanwhile: laundry to fold
Being an angel, she even did the stamps wonderfully and arranged a photo with the addresses discreetly disguised.
Includes: 3 more copies of beloved “Griffin and Sabine” book off to friends in Mexico, Vancouver and Prince Edward County – meant to inspire youth & olds alike making 9 copies of Nick Bantock’s beauty sent so far this run.
The book/series combines art in the form of handcrafted, postcards, variety of handwriting, styles, custom-made stamps –both ink and postal – and a narrative with switches between realms, realities, possibly time traveling, geographic locations / both real and fictional.
You can imagine why this is very much my style. And, I’ve had the pleasure of spending time with the author/artist on several occasions, including on the recent trip, and own many of his books (in English and Japanese), a couple of prints, personalized postcards and letters, and even originals from the book. Yep.
As an aside: introducing youth to books that are enjoyable, mixed media, stretch their possibilities, and even tactile is so important. Though I loved reading from a young age, the books assigned throughout junior / high school were insufferable and I know turned so many off. I made a list of examples if you would like me to include it here:
{Insert odd/curious/underwhelming assigned reading selections here for curiosity seekers}
There are also some signed magazines (with my essay), a custom artwork piece (made from an immigration card), a few postcards etc. in the bundle.
Good luck on your journey sweet dispatches!
With “the illness”, recently having a hard time getting to the post office and just finishing up lingering projects but, today I sent a couple of tender gifts off to some dear pals who lost their dad not long ago.
He was a truly legendary Utah land surveyor who knew by coordinate dang near every corner of several counties.
With that spirit, I made two “finger signs” with the ‘exact’ coordinates of the cemetery in Moab, Utah where he remains.
The wood is from old Japanese fish shipping crates or something & includes distance from one of the brother’s house to the cemetery and the other is a little smaller as that friend is a little bit more on the go so can be adjusted on the fly.
Regardless, I hope they point in the cardinal direction from wherever they are to where their dear dad named “Bing” is resting.
Now up to you postal services with all your complicated forms and customs declarations.
PS while I was out finishing, started a few more signs for what will become the second sign post here at Tsuchida cottage. Each place tells a story and I included a Moab sign of my own with a few festive cedar shavings from an unrelated fire starter project I was working on nearby.
13 more postcards out into the world (14 if you count the one with Juicebox UPC codes taped to it to enter an Anpanman contest promotion) // really doing my best to keep from spiraling down while really struggling with this stupid illness.
Dispatch (again choosing from my special stash of ones that sometimes I can hardly let go of but that’s the whole point) includes: vintage train, Grand Canyon crossings, Japanese fireworks, Yumeji Taisho-era ladies, cats, kimonos and one guitar…
Each card, carefully selected from a red velvet box with some connection to recipient whether it be a vague inside joke, a half degrees step from their own artwork, a story we shared or an experience maybe they remember.
I’m particularly excited when the cards not only have a wonderful design but also elegant paper stock which gives good purchase on the pen making a pleasure to write as it holds the ink and has the tactility i so savour. Plus, white space and ink stamps already included in the design so I can remix with my own stamps. Some of the above were additionally decorated before finally dropping into the postbox. Diligently assisted by Ichiro Stanley who loves the process with me.
Hope the cards bring joy to recipients, I sure do like crafting each one, choosing the card, the stamps, the message and then adding some more fun inkstamps to make truly unique.
Digression: While most of this batch are not my original creations, yet for a special significance of a friend heading on an adventure for a milestone birthday, I dug out a couple of snapshots of crossing the Grand Canyon in 1988, and noting that while many technical advancements have happened in the intervening years (for example: Internet, pocket robots, medical imaging blah blah blah) in this case, “technical outdoor adventure clothing” is the most relevant as here I am wearing two different cotton tie-dyed T-shirts in blistering heat, in fact everything was soaked soggy cotton except maybe for a bit of nylon (likely teal) on the boots (could be leather, I can’t see in the photo in which I am yes, peeing into the Grand Canyon out of anger at walking up the north rim being run down by tourists riding mules who would vacate their bowels in majestic piles around the switch backs – no this is not recommended are acceptable behavior) Because this was the late 80s. Gore-Tex, fleece, polypropylene and whatnot we’re only for the bourgeois skiers at the time. Funny what becomes a time capsule. & Yes, bandannas were appropriate for head covering and dog collars. No gang significance implied despite the era.
I mean, I know no one is really worrying about this or hardly paying attention, but I have a strange obsession with documenting all the inbound mail, as well as often making videos of me simply chatting whilst putting the treats into scrapbooks – which kind of misses the point and I should just spend the time scribbling more letters.
However, i recently sent out six glorious bundles of a book which combines fine art, exquisite paper craft, time travel, astral projection, interactivity, and story of love, love, love and friendship across time, zones, islands, continents, and fictions – and I did it all without taking a snapshot of the luscious stack (which also included inscriptions featuring my new inky stamps). It’s all very exciting to me.
*And* when I went to my local post office – where I used to be a regular visitor however this year I’ve slowed down significantly for various reasons – my favourite employee was there to greet me and help me with significant excitement and enjoyment as we chose the stamps for each one plus, I showed her the well-traveled 11 month journey postcard to India, and she in return, told me about new postal regulations for sending packages to all countries which go into affect September. (Oh great… More complications :(, fortunately does not affect letters and postcards, so I’ll stick with those standards (aerogrammes seem to go missing) so you’re out of luck on international packages friendo.
However, onwards the inbound pile, there’s been so many interesting arrivals so while I am restraining myself from documenting everything and saying to self its fine just documenting a few things. Cool with you? Great. Let’s make a start:
What do Fred Rogers, Andy Warhol, Albert Einstein and the Heinz family have in common? Thanks to Tim Tulloch & family in CT for the great card packed full of stories all interlinked in the most unlikely ways.
A talisman of friendship across continents, oceans – circumstances often running parallel across astral planes. We continue to create in solidarity, collaboration (accidental or otherwise), constant creativity, cross-medium communication and unabashed affection with and from Andrew McLuhan (who has faced significant personal challenges and started/completed/attempted so many multidisciplinary projects, while keeping the legacy of his father and grandfather even more relevant… All of the above for which I have massive admiration)
2 fortunate correspondents enjoying the correspondence from Bowen Island with usual enthusiasm (hooray for ice cream on the dock!)
Ichiro *reading* this dispatch from my birthday twin in Germany, in his words was mostly about “dinosaurs, water bikes and stanely park and the number 7” Danke Astrid-san.
Arriving miraculously timed directly on my birthday, although without that specific intention, came this beautiful envelope from someone who is a semi-professional letter/card writer, stamp creator, community builder, and always includes very enjoyable paper craft in her dispatches from Austin TX (a city I used to visit so often and loved so gently)
And another exceptionally thoughtful friend who’s family faced many challenges from operations to hurricanes over the last, while you took the time to send a birthday card, which hit all the marks with luscious paper, lovely quote, and a glorious tree. Thank you to the palmy desert.
this quirky artwork arrived from a friend. I haven’t met yet (thinking about it, many of my correspondence fall into this category) who also lives in Japan and it seems to have a very interesting variety of skills from sketching to music. {It’s a really fantastic painting and remind me of another, we saw during the van Gogh exhibit in an adjacent gallery… its around here somewhere… oh here it is}
These “Fantastic” stickers were included with a very heartfelt and private typed letter, on luscious letterhead, describing an experience at a regional burning man type event, in which the writer set up a “post office” and delivered analogue communication from various camps to camps… That part doesn’t sound very personal, but anyway, here’s related stickers as a placeholder for this tender letter.
A young –I guess he’s no longer that “young” – Sri Lankan correspondent made a trip to India, I believe his first international adventure about which he was understandabl excited, and from this journey came a postcard featuring the mystic Sai Baba, whose movement/commune/corp makes the exquisite Nag Champa incense.
The same un-young fella sent another card on his return to Sri Lanka, the stamps/cancellation are included for your enjoyment in comparison. Learn more about Rasika and his postcards.
Also, no longer particularly “young” but of course, still youthful and in my eyes always a keen speaker, comes a postcard from Ireland (on a honeymoon with an exceptional decision). {Funny, all the places I’ve rambled, Ireland, and Scotland, and Norway, which are the origin points of much of my heritage are still unvisited. The good news is, those can wait as they’re relatively “easy” compared to some of the places of my rambles.} ty J&V, come visit
From another place, I have yet to visit and probably one not on the usual “tourist trap” these days – comes a lovely message from a Canadian, usually living in Vietnam but at this time in Ukraine (and soon to be in Japan). Note to self: give him a call
This fantastically well-travelled postcard, was harvested somewhere from the internets (Twitter?), but I have forgotten whom to credit so… if this is you, ‘thank you for sharing your remarkable artifact’ which seems to have leapfrog continents and hopefully eventually found a recipient (hooray for the incredible neural net work of postal services!)
My friend Katherine in Vic BC passed along this very cool “4 Sen” stamp from a bundle picked up at Smithsonian Postal Museum – I know that somehow along the way, the yen was all re-valuated as now 4 Sen (which means ¥4000) is about $40 CAD and in the old-timey movies, the money denominations seem to be all juggled up anyway, I just like the stamp. TY
One of us is very cool and nonchalant, the other is may be too excited, but, regardless, this is a fantastic postbox located on the 6th floor courtyard of a department store next to a hidden post office. I don’t understand the story behind at all but I’m always unusually excited when I have a chance to drop something in here and take the obligatory snapshot (you’ll find others with the same cheesy pose elsewhere no doubt).
Bonus!
New inky stamps and visit from a pal led to a postcard making session at a coffee shop (yes, my favourite thing to do) and, since I love trams/trolleys, combined it all with a note from a friend mailed to my own house. Doesn’t everyone do this? {the kanji characters say – from top to bottom: Tsuchida, Okayama, Japan + the postbox might well be modelled on the one above.
Ephemera, snapshots, stamps of all kinds, snippets of poetry, forgotten claim checks, former “safe house” addresses, secret compartments and whatnot all conspire to create a passport – with decoder book not included (consider Lamb’s edition of Shakespeare, without the poetry)
Everything is significant, coincidence is futile
Aug. 6 I tried to clean up some email inboxes, got a bit done, so much behind on correspondence of all sorts. Can’t dare open up Messenger or Messages or DMs or whatever else is lingering. My brain just cannot get going and sleep remain elusive. Did an unscheduled clean of bedroom :( – let’s just say there are challenges involved with not having a foundation on the house
Aug. 7 A new stamp to track how I’m doing as i add different supplements, medications, processes and procedures / today is really tough as to low barometric pressure from a typhoon “somewhere nearby” is crushing my little head.
Kinda doesn’t look like it but did a little bit of a tidy up of the writing & misc desk/bookshelf area which is sort of squeezed in the corner next to the piano.
{there’s probably a German word to say how “every available flat surface quickly gets covered up by stuff”}
And that Kenwood audio deck has turned out to be a great purchase! Plays CDs plus AM/FM (all three of which we use often), also Bluetooth and USB which are used much less frequently. We’re kind of a physical media family. The two record players are in the kura.
Two headscarves (what’s the proper term?), one from Oman and one from Dubai (or is that the one from Jordan?) and a handmade cloth from island of Yap on top of the piano (which, along with the kamidana are next for a tidy up)
Aug. 8 The typhoons don’t seem close to us but a couple clicks up, down rather I guess… or lower or whatever on the barometric pressure wreaks havoc…
and I’ve managed to pick up a lousy cold/fever from the kiddo so I’m just a big pile of grumpiness right now :(
Aug. 9 Not sure I’ve ever seen wife quite as happy as coming into the room to say “with that typhoon, I better cancel the trip to Tokyo”. She & Ichi were going for niece’s 1st birthday but traveling during Obon on holiday is already a drag & torrential downpours won’t make it easier.
Of course she wants to meet wee baby (Rio chan) and also had arranged with her University jazz circle friends to see their big band concert in Yokohama-area but it’s all just a bit too much.
Autumn / winter are her busy arborist seasons so we’ll look for a chance.
{And while I would love to go to see the relatives and whatnot, there’s no way I’m capable of a six hour shinkansen ride and going into the big smoke of Tokyo right now, like 0% chance. I’m in total bed lock mode with crushing head, fever etc}
To clarify, wife is happy because we’re still spinning catching up on projects from a rocky reentry from #BCInvasion + traveling during Obon holiday (when folks return to their home village to clean ancestors graves etc.) is a busy expensive hectic slog + such humid right now
A sweet and wise friend reminded me,
“You don’t owe anyone anything”
which I get however, nothing is better for wee heart and aching head then making creative projects (besides sleep) & have so many in mind from trip + tender words to say in commemoration of humans passed.
But I’m in total bed lock mode anyway so resets my parameters of what I’m capable of… I might do a bit of rough sewing as a lap project.
Also have to send notes to my big-time international accountant (who is quite literally, a legend/rockstar) so I can do in bed too.
And, finally broke down and ordered a foldable bamboo “bed desk” // wanted one for years but thought if purchased, might make me too comfortable and then remembered ‘being comfortable it’s kind of the fcking point of healing’
Memo: I didn’t do either of the above
Aug. 10
Oh my goodness, just learned Robbie Robertson passed on.
What an incredible storyteller // and while the conflicts inside “the band” break my wee heart, the music they created is beyond timeless, redefined genre and the epitome of ensemble.
Onwards to the showdown at big sky.
Royal Robertson requested donations to the Woodland cultural center in Memorial which you can find: https://woodlandculturalcentre.ca/support-us/
Typhoon update: Handy link for anyone who wants to follow real time these two typhoons buffet in Japan… https://www.jma.go.jp/bosai/map.html#4/32.176/136.187/&elem=root&typhoon=all&lang=en&contents=typhoon
Aug. 12 Two days ago was really blustery and the bamboo trees were swaying heavily, but yesterday and it looks like today are just hot humid and sunny.
We will be OK, remember I was a Cub Scout so I have all alarm urgency supplies :) We’re tracking it, the first typhoon has peeled off away from us and the second is slowly making its way towards us but a little bit to the east. Landfall around August 15.
Spruced up the shrine in cottage // family went up to clean up graves, usually i love love love this task but completely wiped out from yesterday’s seitai treatment.
There was also ramen involved, artfully designed shop as well as the ramen (unphotographed because “ramen is not a fashion” but my selection was delightfully fresh, zesty cold variety
Arrived by post today:
