It’s March, and I’m so tired. But I was tired and February too so I guess nothing’s changed :) but hey, April is going to be a beauty
This is not a postcard, it’s a cassette tape but hey, it might be traveling from Cartagena to the Carolinas or maybe just to Japan ++ there is a minor chance that the typed liner notes don’t match the actual contents (i started this project before holidays and ended up with a bunch of scattered sheets of different tracklists so I hope I matched the right one up)
Went out for medical treatment today (seitai), had a lovely chat with 2 elder ladies also waiting in tatami mat room clinic, also scribbled some postcards.
Wife and kiddo went for lunch and afterwards, we all went to the park. I sat on the bench.
Now resting in bed.
Noting postcards are mostly for folks who are having a rough time with health challenges themselves. I know how much it means to me when I get a note in the post wormhole so I try to always remember to share a piece of magic paper with a specific thrifty sticker on it with others
I think postal mail c/should be made as though they were generational artifacts. This is not required, just a thought I like to think.
So much fun dropping off letters with the kiddo. Chance to talk about where the letters/cards are going, who the recipient is, and why you’re sending. Geography, communications, empathy, friendship… All in one lesson <3
[Update} Gosh, craziest dreams last night… So vivid and all over the place.
Hit up seitai again and holy smokes… That fccked up vertebrae (lumbar number two) is finally starting to move after a couple years of working around it and today my entire nervous system is buzzing with electricity. Going from my left second toe tracing lines up through my shoulder blade into the back of my skull
Completely wild, I’m trying to lay still but feel like I got jumper cables attached
Just needed to tell someone in case I levitate and float up to outer space
I guess thoughts of passing of a friend combined with seitai treatment, changing of seasons, + medications all cooked up a perfect stew of mental chaos (plus lingering anxiety of leaving in Japan for a trip)
Scenes in Cartegena & Carolinas, various cargo transport airplanes, clues hidden in a smuggled menus, hitchhiking in Spain & meeting up with a band who were partying hard before doing a show at 4 AM at a festival a long way away. Nothing I haven’t done before but still… collaged
Ergo: *finally* getting some L2 nerve compression released after decades of doctors saying “oh it’s nothing, here’s some painkillers” Neural synapses reconnecting is a completely psychedelic & exhausting experience. However i am unable to explain this to my doctor (esp in Japanese)
A picture of the cottage and the tool shed and carport snapped to explain where the solar panels will go but for now… it’s just a picture of the cottage, the tool shed and the car port
Other dis-intermediated maybe semi-related but probably not notes:
Indeed, we’re not “standing on the shoulders of giants” were “leaning against normal sized humans” - like *us* who have just done other things similar before us… Reminds me of cultures passing from shiitake log to shiitake log as they’re leaned up against each other in the woods
(life in Japan is a constant barrage of “wait what? Seriously, they can do that?”)
Just on this day we’d gone to a park with an octopus slide, a medical treatment in a tatami room, a 7-11 for ¥900 lunch/world tour of food, stopped at a bakery that looked like was airdropped in from provincial France… while listening to Wes Anderson’s Isle of dogs soundtrack.
Today saw an oddly placed ramen & gyoza vending machine. no idea how it works nor why *here*
From the van window. We called the van Agnes. Shall I post a zoomed in shot? OK.No, I do not know how this works and I would investigate but the placement is very strange and inconvenient. So we go on
Just a date/time stamp post to remind myself to update my medical diary: went for IV (by bus) 3:30 PM yesterday 2/22/R5
{Also I might need to trim my mustache slightly}
Before the medical appointment, we did a few things around the house, mostly pulling the suitcases out from the barn and errand them out… this is the first floor of the barn is looking these days… Have also started a “emergency preparedness kit“ as well as having the secondary stereo set up and records here.
Realized a couple of beautiful wool sweaters were a little worse for wear as well so washed and hung to dry to survey the damage.
At some point along the way, Ichi dug up some turmeric from the garden.
While getting the iv, listened to @TBeanpod “Valentine’s“ episode… {I guess I’m a bit behind but I always enjoy glimpses into his life and parental wisdom about molding growing kiddos. Thanks for the goodness}
Feb. 21 Typed the “liner notes” (so to speak) for 2 mixed CDs + 1 mix cassette tape… made like last November or December but got stalled out by a rough couple of months. All ready for the post office now, decorated and everything!
Includes a mix of my spoken word poetry/ambient field recording audio collage creations, a few spoken-songs i crafted from loops and samples, songs by musician friends with my words & their music, some spoken word i did on a heavy (Bad Wougar) album, and other DIY recordings.
And yes tracklists are really typed (albeit poorly) on an Olivetti Lettera 34 (like 32 but ¥ key) #Typewriter
Every CD/Cassette is different (because i like to make things difficult) and the liner notes are all original as well.
One time, i made a video of typing these for no particular reason… well I guess it’s because i like the sound and might keep someone company on a lonely day.
2/20 Stopped at a lovely coffee shop after visit to orthotic foot guy and before a visit to a park for picnic.
They even had a tip jar on the counter which I had never seen in Japan before… But it was deliberately filled up to the top so was really they’re just for aesthetic purposes and ambience rather than expecting a tip :-)
Took coffee & sandos to a park and saw a great little “hangout hut“ made from repurposed sake (or maybe miso?) barrel idunno at the best kids playground park I’ve ever visited in Japan… {Like it’s not even close as most playgrounds are a rusty chin up bar, a broken swing and a non-slippery slide}
I did take a couple other snaps of my darlings but for now, here’s a barrel with some holes in the side and a roof…
And I want it in my backyard
2/19 this morning, the two darlings were up early making a drive in the K truck to a bakery for a variety of fresh bread which we enjoyed with hot cocoa for him and coffee for us.
Then we organized his “next round” of clothes as he’s growing out of current stuff. Much tidying!
They headed off to tea ceremony, I watched a bit of a hockey game while eating a Bento, scanned a few tax documents, put away some cleaning supplies and then into dark bedroom with head spinning a bit so uploaded some videos and transcribed some poetry notebooks in the dark.
2/18 darling wife’s band came for rehearsal at the house, there are now 3 kids and 1 more on the way amongst the members! #NextGeneration I made 3 kinds of tea and served on various China + set-up/took a promo snapshot for their upcoming show. I should note that while the band was rehearsing, I snuck out to the kura barn to set up the drum set you may be caught in a previous post. Came back in at the one hour mark to do the tea service and then stealthed away to fiddle.
Later we made pizza & he’s got the skills down solid now – spins the sauce with a spoon, adds toppings like a pro(ish).
So glad we have a full sized oven but still want to make a brick/clay pizza oven in the backyard… eventually. Will be so handy for birthday parties and get togethers.
Redundant notes about the illness
I’m getting closer… Eventually I can be VanGogh’s Postman
After a really rough January, slowlyexpanding my energy envelope little bit by little bit… Trying to get a little bit more stable for the upcoming “BC invasion” (details coming) plus several groups of guests coming to visit in March.
Recap: (as you prob know) I go to Okayama university hospital once a month for a trifecta of treatments (plus there’s always some kind of admin stuff to tend to) then weekly to a local clinic for additional IV cocktail, plus seitai treatments 2 to 3 times a month, although currently the doctor is ill.
++ take various medications, supplements, vitamins, and traditional Chinese medicine concoctions at checkpoints 4x each day. Some of the medications are “off label” usage (not specifically designed for #MECFS) as well as some other new unique “experimental” approaches [neurotrophin] and “ketas” (generally an asthma medication which increases blood flow to the brain… #NotScientificExplanation) neither of the above are “FDA approved” afaik
A note about “ketas” for #MECFS curiosity seekers (from me-pedia) “Drugs such as ibudilast (brand names Ketas or Pinatos or in Japan), an anti-inflammatory drug used for over 20 years in Japan, mostly for asthma and post-stroke dizziness.[7]… Ibudilast can be combined with opioids to reduce chronic nerve pain.[7] Ibudilast is also a phosphodiesterase (PDE) inhibitor, and crosses the blood-brain barrier and suppresses glial cell activation.”
Have also started a “new version” of a somewhat controversial #mecfs medication which i won’t mention yet.
Also use variety of vitamins and supplements… was using a lot more supplements but not seeing significant impact and becomes rather financially difficult to be honest and a lot of work to source at all.
I have also investigated low-dose naltrexone but that’s a no go in Japan.
Thinking of a friend
Drying tree blossom petals while thinking about a friend 😞
Valentines week which means the darling wife and I are going to do some scrapbooking today (Monday) + this week go to Uniqlo to buy raincoats for Canada trip, maybe pop by a secondhand store, sneak in a #MECFS (Thurs) hospital visit for me, maybe even drop off some special recycling #Romance xo
super cute kid’s outfit at Mont Bell (might return here)
Update: a few specific clothing items (sweaters, coats, socks!) and shoes acquired for trip complicated recycling disposed (a CD player and printer cartridges) coffee and lunch together second hand store visited but no purchases + visit to a bakery and a gasoline stand
don’t totally understand the promotion campaign but the great Ichiro and postbox at Uniqlo means, ok, i’m in
Various views of a coffee and cute dessert (at a Brazilian café) Sweet old Japanese lady rocking it solo. Further backstory unknown.
{I didn’t dig into the chitchat backstory as we were there during lunch hour so she had a few other patrons} I suspect we will return although it’s not in our usual area
Think I will set this up as an auto reply “macro” (do people use that term?) to email folks when they send me links to articles about “quirky weird Japan” things that may or may not exist but I’ve certainly never see:
“I’ve never seen {insert this here} but know foreign media enjoys sharing stories about strange/weird Japan like juvenile delinquents abusing sushi conveyor belts, whale meat vending machines, $5000 cases of peaches or strawberries or a watermelon, million dollar tunas, the vending machines with used panties that don’t really exist, and sports fans cleaning up at stadiums, thousand year old businesses, temples which are destroyed and rebuilt “every few years :-)”, the naked man festival, collectible left hand driving cars, etc”
I will also add, “
the things that make Japan really great are very normal like great transportation systems, reasonably priced housing, super healthcare program (works for my chronic complex illness anyhow), possibly too much infrastructure, rare random violence & the things about Japan which are fairly unsatisfactory are also rather obvious and include gender inequality and lack of official support for same-sex/etc. relationships, draconian policies about w33d, and the conundrums of excess plastic and waste, and something about cronyism”
(However, the above don’t make for clickbait headlines so instead we get “oh look, they’re eating insects and horsemeat sushi in Japan serve by robots dressed in s3xy maid outfits to customers to only leave the house in bear costumes”)
{But keep in mind it doesn’t say “Japan expert” in my Twitter bio so you should probably just ignore everything I say because if you don’t put some sort of witty “Japan expert” flex & drop how many years you’ve been here, doesn’t even count}
Haircuts day at a “lost in showa” barber / first time for Ichi-Stan in the chair (usually mom snips him up at home).
*Both of us* look less like eccentric time traveling professors now.
What a trio! Notice the reverse clock, so the right time shows up in the mirror
Barber was a great sport (and has a majestic head of hair himself).
Scenes of the action with the incredible Ryoko in the anchor position
wiped me out, so back home in bed, but hey, we got it done.
Yes, it’s another picture of my face in my shoes, yes, I am very predictable, no, I will not make a coffee table book
{Included some snapshots of the “ambience}
I have some annotations about the well-stocked shelves of yellowing, manga graphic novels, the instant coffee station and ashtrays, the reverse clock (so you can see the correct time in the mirror), and the fading framed photos of Mount Fuji left over from when his dad was the barber… but in all, the shabby chip board counters, the cigarette butts in the arm ashtrays, the forgotten magazines, the broken couch, no cash register (cash on the table only), a few pamphlets for his preferred political candidates, no reservations, needed nor accepted, a squeaky door, a rack of drying towels outside… all contrast with his well-maintained clippers and variety of scissors and the well practiced routine of draping over the smock, tilting the chair just right for washing your hair, straight razor clean up around the edges and ears felt all usually left to another time.
The usual window, if that’s such a thing, to recap a month well…, I’m a bit late, now several days into December and I’m just saying goodbye to November. Regardless, we carry on, ergo:
on the bus with Mr Boris (Borys) into the stretch of 2022
Basically: Planning on lots of letter writing and parcel sending in December but already seeing calendar *filling up* with dentist, tea ceremony here at cottage + Santa at pre-school, more concerts and events. bit too much for me so reminding myself to super careful with pacing. slowly slow!
Poetry: November held promise for lots of writing time in my barn studio and while I did quite a bit some of this project (see: “Circumnavigation, Let’s make a start” + Shodo mantras & “next steps” + “Space out & look at notebooks”) and made a good start, but stalled out a bit with lots of other “usual life” events – hospital visits, IV injections, orthotic inserts, broken glasses, various colds and a busy month for darling wife’s arborist business.
So, as of *today-ish*, pausing on my poetry book project and digging into my favorite part of holiday/festive times which is writing 100s of cards & assembling packages of treats. Lots of visits to the post office! & will be Santa Claus at the preschool (and hopefully not get sick :-)) + requested/suggested to not have “jingle bells rocking at 11” and instead some Silent Night vibes, turn down the light to bed and a little less excitement. Am I no fun? Prob.
Christmas: We will do a little Christmas get together but this year I’m delegating more of the tasks and keeping simpler than last … And then smooth our way into New Year’s with my in-laws taking the lead / and I will spend a lot of time journaling and scrapbooking, hopefully
Honest thought: Also, I suppose I should admit that the stretch front of the year always gets me a little bit anxious… There’s still a bit of a perfectionist/productivity/list-checker in me. I’m just reminding myself that on balance, got so much done this year, especially under the “life administration” category with pensions, taxes, insurance, passports plus other important theme of the year of stepping up my health plan got a top grade. Most important of course was to be a great husband and Papa – have a hunch I passed.
Highlights for the November included:
Pod: Appearance on Writers Read Their Early Shit podcast with Jason Emde – he’s *from* BC and lives in Japan (like me) and also like me, rambled all over the world on literary hi-jinks, odd adventures and seeking the real. This event/dispatch deserves a proper post of its own, and I’ll get there, but in the mean time I really encourage you to take a listen. (you’ve caught Jason in a Beat Sushi video and other mentions of our postcards correspondence).
Blurb:
Gold & Silver (with hats) in them hills &/or in Kyoto // Consider it a listen as I *would love to hear what you think* of the rapid fire riffs about “early days of creative projects including:
Jason welcomes under-qualified window-washer Dave Olson & his fantastic beard & beautiful hands for a natter about punching or hugging Dostoevsky, see-through loincloths, meeting REM, borrowing mustard from Allen Ginsberg, dodgy Greyhound stations, working out the writing life math, and how cheerleaders are people too. There’s ropey Egyptian history, a savage polemic, the details of hippy teacher Mr Boris’s new motorized home, a few bits & Brother Bobs of Dave’s early poetry & prose, & Jason getting his King Tut timeline wrong by only 3700 years. An unnerving—if not terrifying—time is guaranteed for all. Music by the outrageous DJ Max in Tokyo. Many thanks, wherever & whoever & however you are, for listening.
* King Tut mimeographs at Prince Charles Elementary
* BYU student teacher rants from Orem high school high
* disillusionment with academia at Utah valley community college & University of Utah
* getting lost and found  in the leafy campuses on the road on the East Coast
* oh, forgot to mention the nudist elementary school teacher – and his alleged bus – at Harold Bishop
Guest: Also, our first international tourist guest in over 2 1/2 years, we had two lovely guests but technically we’re here on a business visa and sneak away from their official itinerary, and of course we’ve had a few other domestic quasi-internationals through the house, but hardly enough.
don’t worry, Ichiro was wearing shoes until just a minute before when he attacked a puddle
As it goes, our visitor is a friend of many friends and we hadn’t met before but was clear we had so much in common. He is a real Japanophile with a particular interest in archery, ceramics, traditional houses and country lifestyle. We had a very pleasant wood-stove-top cooked hot pot with many vegetables and mushrooms from our garden as well as some duck meat and many delicious side dishes, pickles, sake.
Mac the goat farmer came to visit for dinner, later we spun some David Bowie, Leonard Cohen and REM records. The next day a visit to the goat farm and then a stop at a ceramics museum. We dropped him off at the little Imbe train station (with a fantastic coffee shop) and stood outside the fence waving to him on the platform as he headed off for his next adventure. He arrived just as the rain and cold started and here we are now, extra blankets on the bed heading into December.
December, Jazz: Since we’re here and into December… yesterday we went to the wonderful “Livehouse Bird” (where we hosted our international wedding welcome party) and (where the Mae Maes often film videos) to see Mae Maes members/alum Mitsuko-san with Yano-sensei (on electric bass) and Kazuko-san (on piano) perform an afternoon show with Christmas songs and a few jazz standards.
our trio, bearing gifts and lots of claps
A special hello to us from the stage, darling wife took them each gift bags with handmade wreaths and handmade charcoal and what not.
Ichiro says “hello Santa, please bring me a bulldozer”
It’s kind of cute as Ichiro was the only kid there and I was the only “international”. The hosts/staff of the bar I really fantastic and I’m hoping Akahoshi (*redstar*)-san can come hang out in the correct studio next year, possibly bring his base for some recording poetry jams. Ichiro rocked some snaps with the Olympus camera and then let me capture him with (multi-instrumentalist) Yano-sensei in a Santa hat plus my darling duo with the afternoon’s chartreuse.
Bonus Round, pardon redundancies
Art Flashback (forgot to mention previously, i think)
“Return of the Ancient Gods” by Rogério De Frietas
Oh hey, i scored this lovely collage from a ME/CFS art auction made by Rogério De Freitas in Oeiras, Portugal. Now in the kura barn studio awaiting mounting & framing. The artist included some other ephemera treats too <3 obrigado Rogério De Freitas. {note to self: send him a postcard}
New year cards arrived from printers. Turned out quite good, not *quite perfect* but then I’m a little obsessive about these things.
Big move was digital layout and outsource printing rather than laborious/expensive full analogue & at-home production. Looking forward to posting 100s.
Minor “imperfections” are:
* probably should’ve upgraded to super-premium paper stock
* matte finish is still a little bit smooth for address writing & inking style
* added a “fake stamp“ with our rabbit (it’s his year after all) & didn’t leave quite enough space for the “real stamp”
All of these minor foibles can certainly be excused as was first time ordering from vendor Canva so wasn’t familiar with the paper stock / finishes.
And the special stamps ordered from Japan Post (with the lucky/lottery numbers) are little larger than expected – same with sweeet air mail stamps (Postage stamps of postboxes, very meta).
Today and Vinegar:
Dec. 4: Well, i’m up & out of pyjamas. talked to “wizard of Nagano” for a while, laundry started, dishes catch-up, watched some Canucks while eating leftovers (darlings at tea ceremony).
Was planning on writing letters & making pod/vid in barn but gonna make persimmon vinegar instead.
So many ways to make persimmon vinegar *so many* but i follow this routine since i LOVE this video / sweet lady taking her time, little bit classical music in bg, no hype. this is the internets i <3.
she is Ingeborg Andersson and has 24 subscribers and made the best video on YT
Also need to stock up the firewood. Oh, just took out the compost.
PS “the wizard” is a US Vietnam-conflict-era veteran has lived in Japan (mostly) since medical discharged in early 70s, part of community i met in early 90s living in the mountains in dis-used akiya houses, growing gardens and living trad with loads of arts and crafts and music.
Oh: yikes off to a rough start, glass canning jar blew out while adding hot water to sterilize. no damage to me but broken glass mess. pausing to let heart rate reduce.
Anyhow… December is off to a bumpy start for other reasons so just thinking out loud as I’m trying to bounce up. Next, oatmeal.
Everything old was new again / same as it ever was, same as it never was.
Ergo: L: 1987 trying to look like mix of Mike Mills of REM & SusannaHoffs of Bangles = super cute M: 1982 when basically i had one choice of frames to fit my dashing glass executive bi-focal lenses R: 2022 last week at 130 yr old optical in provincial Japan, comfy as a eccentric renegade poet/papa
Various annotations Nov. 25~27ish
Glasses: my super cool vintage clubman glasses are broken after some roughhousing with kid (and also from being old) / back up pair gives headaches & delicate. This means, going to spectacle shopping again. Yes, I’ve spent approximately 14% of my lifetime earnings on glasses.
these old soldiers, purchased in Guam 1994 with brand-new “transitions” tech, re=fitted last year but alas, the frames too fatigued and broken twice
My back-up pair (purchased in Victoria) never quite dialed in with lenses maybe because wide-ish and so my don’t call me lazy left eye is always pulling to the side ?? the frames were bought with insurance meaning came from the “b-pile” and are flimsy :(
currently wearing these specs, just not *great* though (i am the one on the left)
Circumnavigation: Progress on my poetry book project has kind of stalled out due to some logistical complications of broken spectacles. That said, I did a tremendous amount of work getting a new routine going for transcriptions and definitely have a foundation laid as I’ve sorted out my concept.
current work bench set-up for poetry book project
Visitor: And, hey! we have our first foreign tourist guest coming tomorrow since the “before times“ (we had another international guest but technically on a business visa).
So, i’ll take bus into city to meet up > streetcar to lunch with a view of the castle > coffee in the park > bus back to the house, wife will probably make tea, check out barn studio ++ make a woodstove fire nabe (stew) pot with duck meat. Mac the goat farmer & in-laws will join the festive board.
more sundry tasks of late:
new orthotic inserts for shoes, great!
made chicken stock from beauty beer can roast chicken
ordered new year cards and stamps
IV “cocktail” infusion
brought in firewood
called a friend
Further details
Specs: Ordered new glasses from a very specialized optometrist with a store started by his great grandfather in the 1800s, yes, 130 years ago. Also had an interesting assortment of clocks/watches and a Yamaha hi-fi similar vintage to mine. Head spinning from all the eye tests. Now home in bed resting.
Ole Eye guy put me through extensive battery of tests. Optometrist, ophthalmologist, opticians etc. are always fascinated/amused/amazed by my eyes. Left eye w/ astigmatism and surgery, is my weak eye but also dominant. Eyes constantly switch back-&-forth but never work in tandem.
a variety of uninspiring frames but fortunately i have a “face for glasses” so will work it out
Selection of frames was certainly * not fantastic* but over 50 years of doing this, I’m good at sorting through and finding something unique, utilitarian and features my pretty face rather than specs. Also smart enough to know chasing around to different stores is fools errand.
previous time spec shopping – didn’t buy any of these and instead retro-fitted olden set, sharing to show my consistency with documenting process
PS grew up wearing “executive bifocals” with heavy glass lenses with straight across lines like maybe your grandpa rocked. As such, I truly celebrate all advancements in optical technology. Lenses are so much lighter and thinner now. But still hard getting “centerpoint” dialed in
#daveo50 ~ 1972 / Lansing, Michigan
Have a week to wait for manufacture (incredible variety of coatings, filters and customizations possible now, not to mention the thinness of the lenses!) and then these two will retire to the crate of disused soldiers. Sigh. $10000s spent on finicky eyes. Skimping is unwise.
My prescription is really weird so lenses always come in at waaaay too much + due to the changing nature of my eyes, usually have to swap out every two or three years :( I “joke“ that I bought boats for optometrists & paid for orthodontists for the children of ophthalmologists.
i used to donate old glasses until the opticians & eye doctors told me “don’t bother, nobody is going to be able to use these, nobody” / maybe eventually will make a spectacle spinning mobile.
Park and Trucks (and cheese): While I was doing my thing at the old-timey optical, my darlings hit up a park for a session & a snack.
Now one of them is snoring next to me :)
Tea ceremony: In another topic, my darling wife went to a special ceremony tea today // she was the only one they are under probably 70 years old… They all adore her for carrying on the tradition of making tea, rocking kimono etc. She came home with all sorts of treats including yuzu miso(!)
my tea teacher
this little selfie snapshot hardly does her justice but I just love that she keeps me in the loop with her activities when she’s out and about.
Oh here is wagashi:
yes, wagashi “sweets’ at tea ceremony. plating is important
She’s gonna host her own tea ceremony here at the house this month… I really look forward to her doing more in the future… {Now if we can just get that land and make our own tea house & garden hmmm}
I also told preschool wanna be Santa Claus again this year but have to make a few changes. Last year was lots of loud music, bright lights as well as 1-on-1 interaction with the kids which basically gave me a virus salad that laid me out for a month and a half. :( #delicate
Letters: Two absolutely fantastic and heart-touching pieces of mail today from domestic correspondents, yep, from inside dear Japan archipelago from folks “met” here on beleaguered Twtr. Just read both and a little bit spun out by the thoughtfulness and candidness.
New Year Cards: In a sorta semi-related topic: going to try to keep nengajyo / New Year’s cards to 100 domestic and 100 international this year. Ordering the “special magic number“ ¥63 stamps for domestic + ¥70 stamps for international as post office doesn’t generally have sufficient stock.
2021 Insta-Lindas New Year card
Anyhow, I’ve ordered the New Year’s cards and really looking forward to sharing with you.
2020 Time Traveler New Year card
The “usual“ in that there’s fantastically cute picture on the front and quirky poetry and stamp art on the back / but you know, sort of different, I guess :-) the thing that’s different this year is did them all digital and outsourced printing. previous years made all analog and printed at home running through cartridges and making extra complicated this year is a tiny bit more clip arty but will all be hand-addressed/finished w/ <3
New Years Greetings / 2019 + Reiwa 2
The previous “Linda Lindas/Insta“ and “Time Travelers“ and *pink collage* were pretty solid. I hope it makes its way to your refrigerator with a very nice magnet.
The photo we are using this year has been circulated before but was just too good to pass up the chance for a print run with it :-) #hint
Lit mags: Annnnnd I finally received the poster for my Paris Review subscription (which i bought instead of renewing NHL live :)) / glad it was properly shipped in a tube as well
paris review poster (need to find a quality poster frame plan as i have a lot of posters)
I really love getting high-quality print magazines in the mail. Alas, the postage to Japan often makes us a little bit expensive for a pensioner like me but still…
As for Ichiro: 29 months old now, really understanding he’s learning “two codes“ with a different languages/ we’re reading Tintin books (among many others) and in the bath he asks me to do voices for Snowy, Tintin and Captain Haddock (“Blistering barnacles! Thundering typhoons!“)
my lil superstar, at the optical, wondering when he gets specs
Easier: Nov 26
Dear Wonders,
Caught up dishes and laundry, and took out compost.
Plus had a pleasant phone conversation and transcribed one draft poem.
Now resting in bed eating a dried persimmon.
“Things are gonna get easier…“
Ty, dvo
For you & me “Ooh Child”
Bonus:
My pal Trevor sent me a photo of Maca in his record room {pic taken by his daughter Mary} so I immediately did my best to gaze into the distance in front of records like a good sir might.
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
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
One way is this view along the canal, and then turn around and see…… This is the view in the other directionyup, framed the shot to avoid the tourists… I mean we are visitors as well but there were two or groups with tour guides… The first time I’ve seen this usual situation in a long time — at Kurashiki Bikan Historical Quarter 倉敷美觀地區
Field Notes (brief) Kurashiki day-out during the “Jazz Street“ event (first in-person since 2019) with little pop-up concerts happening in all sorts of venues from tatami rooms to kissatens. Possibly more to follow.
Bikan Historical Quarter is just everything is so fcking cute with canals (complete with sort of gondola boats), rickshaws, coffee shops, cafés and restaurants of all kinds, craft shops, and some spectacular museums.
Ichiro was a great respectful supporter of the bands & especially like players rolling double basses down the lane
Everyone looking extra sharp with dapper hats, sometimes kimonos, musicians rolling double basses down the cobbly road.
Also tourists (mostly domestic but also some internationals… First time seen “in the wild“ for a very long time) heck we even chatted with a Belgian couple briefly. “Good Timing” i said.
Importantly, the tree with wooden supports was a spontaneous emergency repair by wife at a friend’s cafe (it was falling down and she went to work with saw – standing on a restaurant chair – and we pounded the support sticks in with a chunk of wood and tied up with rope. Not “perfect“ but a bit safer… The planter box is too small for the roots yet the tree was very healthy)
One thing about Japan, a lot of the attractions and “things to see and explore” require a lot of stairs which I have limited ability with. I can walk upstairs but just not a lot of them or else I use up all my batteries for the day. But anyway, you can see the branches cut down from the emergency tree surgery
peeked at an art installation, or is it a sculpture? no matter (same artist was the “space cat” from Osaka… the name slips me, hold on, i’ll figure it out)
Moving on… a few more (really didn’t capture any of the actual music or musicians we were there to see , but these just “field notes” after all, not a documentary.
this is me sitting in the breezeway, listing to tunes and goofing with the camera – just so lovely
just perfect, the two of themwhatta place for a gig right?2 view from the same spot: my darlings checking out the koi pond while a jazz combo just finished performing in a classic tatami room featuring our friend Sachiko Kojo // i sat in the engawa (breezeway) where I watched R&I explore the gardenyes they are even cuter in real lifenot sure about this guy though…imagine Belgian tourists just to the left of this lovely scenegorgeous coffe on checked tablecloth (with Belgian tourists nearby) // this is the café that serves coffee, toast with various toppings and curry (raw cheesecake might still be on the menu but I didn’t notice, I was a little spun out by the time we got there)
another stack of stairs to gaze at, ramble to clamber up
{note: these photos come straight off this little ruggedized Olympus camera that I found in the wife’s office while tidying up and I really like it, lots of onboard effects / settings ++ and allows me not to be handling my phone as a camera – on which the cameras don’t work anymore so well, works out extra well}
and back towards our sweet ride, Agnes like we live in a Ghibli film
Preamble from Oct. 31: My sweet goodness, what a topsy-turvy buncha days out in the world. So much sadness, so much hope, so much everything happening all at once. Peace to the memories of the lost ones. Not quite sure how to react except to go wash dishes and fold laundry.
Meanwhile, Nov. 6: Usually, usually usually usually: i like to put a little monthly recap for the previous month – with a picture of a calendar – for some sort of a mental reset routine amidst the anomalies of chronology which, frankly doesn’t make sense (the concept of a calendars and the reasons i recap).
Though, i changed all the calendars (Japan is a great place to live if you love free calendars), i didn’t take a snapshot (my handy pocket robot camera has stopped working) but the photo with me in various hats feels kind of like a calendar and well, the last day of October is a day for dressing up in various disguises so voila!
Note: I don’t care for scary stuff or spooky stuff or horror stuff but you know I’m a fan of hats, costumes and disguises.
So, while we’re well into November, the darling wife and adorable son are off at tea ceremony after a day out a Kurashiki jazz street yesterday in the gorgeous historical Bikan district, and I’ve folded the laundry, still have a few dishes to do and a pot of rice to put on and, for consistency, here are a few notes about October.
my great pal Banghi made this amusing meme with me and hero Tintin, i love it!
Books: Currently reading Tanizaki Junichiro’s “The Makioka Sisters” – story of a once-prominent family in Osaka/Kobe in the (dreamy) Taisho era and enjoying so much. Kind of Tolstoy-esque it’s pleasant pacing & details of family life. Previously read his “Naomi”. Did you read either?
Also reading Murakami Ryu (not Haruki)’s “69” / I usually have three or four books on the go at once in different locations. Right now keeping stacks handy for glances of poetry for inspiration while I work on my book project.
Ichiro has learned the wonders of Tintin books so we’re reading Tintin in Tibet over and over again and we both love it. Also “old farm, new farm” as well as “toot and puddle” – all most excellent.
Also posted a review of Amy Chavez’s book, trying to do this for more books (and have a plan to write something about the new record from The Matinée)
Anyhow, October featured two big “buckets of things”
1) Loads of creative projects wound up, especially:
the Kerouac in Kobe video and related coverage in Rock and Beat Generation and Allen Ginsberg project and loads of dossiers send out into the world / note: followed along with coverage of “Lowell Celebrates Kerouac” event but made sure to not feel blue about missing out
poetry anthology “Muriel’s Journey” and the online reading – which sort of help me reconnect with my former home of Vancouver as well as meet some interesting poets, some of which also have a connection with Japan
interview / convo with Jason Emde for his “Writers Read their Early Sht” pod, coming soon-ish / provided opportunity to surface all sorts of archeology
2) Loads of “life admin” stuff wrapped up, including:
various passports, citizenship and tax matters in several countries
into new medical programs, detailed elsewhere
paperwork for schools & pensions
tickets purchased for a big trip next year (more later)
Next up for November:
the big one is trying to focus on this poetry book that I keep yapping about (its kinda project which is hard to start and stop and start… momentum and pacing is key)
but also:
one more round of absurd disability paperwork for Canada, completely intimidating
getting ahead of the New Year’s card production routine, (I love this but scaling back a bit this year, trimming the list)
doing a big picture hanging funtime (gonna be really fantastic)
a few more things around the yard and garden (did a few already)
plans for festive get together and possible Santa Claus appearances
Bonus: me in fifth grade Prince Charles elementary school in Surrey science fair, and full costume with a (sorta) scale model of Tutankhamun’s tomb complete with gold painted treasures inside, a back light, and a sign saying “see what Howard Carter saw” / also a mimeographed and-out with an essay explaining “the daily life of the young king”
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