Tuesday, June 10, 2003
Friday, May 09, 2003
Friday 9th May
Got up at 6:30 and watched the news as I gnawed on half a grapefruit and crunched a bowl of barn flakes, and that's a brand name, not a generic term for flakes of bran. Sorry, I meant "bran" flakes back there, not "barn" flakes. But barn flakes would have been good in The Onion's list of Top Selling Health Cereal I read on their web site the other day:
1. Frosted Flax
2. Count Carobula
3. High-Fiber Shitabrix
4. Forest Floories
5. Dried Froot Loops
6. Kale-O's
7. Breakfast Bales
I particular liked High-Fiber Shitabrix. I think Barn Flakes would fit in well there.
Five students at Ogawa Tec this morning. Itoh brought me a cup of coffee, which was nice of him.
After the class I went to Ebisu Tully's and was pleasantly surprised to find it not crowded; I even got a window wicker chair, for the first time in a couple of months. So why wasn't it crowded this morning, but every other week it's been standing room only in there? SARS? Al Quida threat? Or was I just lucky in finding a small window of quiet, a customer oasis of low volume turnover, or something.
I sat and sipped my double lattee and wrote a few lines in the notebook on the subject of change.
Yesterday I was complaining that my life was uneventful, and I even wrote be careful what you complain and wish for because you might just get it. So I have had two events since then, one unusual and one unwelcome.
Yesterday I was walking to the station to take the train to AXA. I was waiting for the lights to change near Beckers. An old man comes up to me and starts talking to me. Not in an aggressive way just talking. He was wearing an old baseball cap. I'm usually quite polite to people like this and listen as best I can to what they say, even though, as in this case, they are usually speaking Japanese. I think they expect me to understand. So he is chatting away, I'm catching a little, he Koizumi and North Korea, so I realise he was talking politics. I looked him in the eye and looked as if I was paying attention, a trick I've learned from years of teaching English. The lights were changing to green. He looked for something in his pocket and handed me \150 and said something about coffee. I asked him why, but he was already walking away.
At the station the price of my ticket was also \150. Strange but true.
This morning at the Marunouchi line Ikebukero station I was, as usual, waiting for the train. I like to wait one line to the side, and so catch the next train…if you see what I mean. When the first queue gets on the train the next queue (standing to the right) moves over. Everyone knows the system. So I'm moving over when some fat guy walks as if to get on the train but actually stops at the front of the line, in the place where I should be. I say to him "Are you getting on the train?" He grunts something. I stand in front of him and wait for the train. From being a bit sleepy I am now wide awake and shaking slightly, with anger and the anxiety of confrontation - my parents and upbringing never prepared me well for aggressive confrontation. I sometimes think I should go to boxing club or something to get experience in that direction.
Pushing in like that was an unusual thing to do, and I start to think that perhaps this guy is a bit strange. He is standing right behind me and the train is coming in… is he going to push me on to the tracks! He didn't. I sat down, closed my eyes and tried to forget about him. But when I got off the train at Otemachi I think I followed him up the stairs. But there are so many fat greasy salarimen in Japan and they all look the same, so it was hard to say.
So here we are gain, in the bloody Select office on a Friday afternoon with a few hours of dreariness ahead before I can go home, and watch the weekend melt before me like a mirage in a desert, and solidify into Monday morning…bugger!
And the answer is? Always make sure that the way you make your living is what you would want to do anyway! Painters paint, writers write, climbers climb, runners run. Are they working? No, not really, but they are getting money for what they want to do. Surely they have lives to be envied. Perhaps envied is the wrong word to use, perhaps I mean they show us how life could be. It doesn't have to be an uneventful daily slog leading nowhere and adding nothing to ones personal growth. If that is what your life is then surely you are badly missing the point. While we can't all be painters, writers, climbers or runners we can all lead meaningful lives. I seem to be coming back to logotherapy and the work of Victor Frankl. I think I should read his ideas more carefully. I would like to do some kind of practical logotherapy or therapy or workshop or something, not just reading books about it. But being here in Japan limits me. Or does it?
2:25pm. Outside the sun is shining and it's not as humid ass it was yesterday. It would be a good day for a hike today. Emil was here yesterday and told me that he was in considerable pain for three days after that hike. I know how he felt, I felt just the same after me and William went for a hike a few months ago - we got off the trail and had a lot of hard extra up hill slogging. The week after I could hardly walk down steps, so I know what Emil is talking about. We talked about a summer Fuji trip. Emil said it was something he would like to do but after his experience on the hike I described as medium, he thinks he is dangerously under prepared for such an undertaking. I tried to persuade him that it was as much a mental challenge as a physical challenge. After my experience last year when I felt sick going up and coming down and didn't enjoy and couldn't take advantage of my time on the summit (one of the reason I went was to take lots of digital pictures on the summit). That was my 12th time on the summit…or was it 13th? And it was the first time I had felt sick like that. I must have felt like Jake felt when we went upon 1999. I vowed then, I have vowed before, that it was my last time on the top. Last year I was pretty sure we were leaving Japan and that it really would be my last time, but here I am. But this summer the baby will be born. I don't really want to leave the Harumi alone for a night, and I'm pretty sure she would be too pleased either. So a trip to Fuji this summer is not very likely.
3:05pm. The afternoon drags on, but then again if I was at home I'd probably be just as bored. Although on Wednesday when I had the afternoon off I went for a nice walk around the base. Isn't it just typical though, when I do get the day off I invariably waste it, and when I'm in the office I plot how to get the day off. As I said earlier the role model should be the person who doesn't "work" but does what they do. I work and sometimes do what I want to do, but don't get paid for it.
3:56 pm. Outside the sun is shining, inside it's just me, Yuki and Ayumi, thankfully K is out at a client. A short while ago a new cabinet was delivered - a replacement glass fronted one for the steel fronted one. I like office furniture; it's strong and practical.
4:07 pm. and it looks like the time between times is getting shorter… I'm starting to get sleepy now, mid-afternoon, need a coffee and something to eat. It's starting to get too warm for coffee though.
Outside a fire engine or perhaps ambulance sirens its way through the afternoon traffic. A strident amplified voice tells people to get out of the way and thanks them. I wonder where the fire is?
Got up at 6:30 and watched the news as I gnawed on half a grapefruit and crunched a bowl of barn flakes, and that's a brand name, not a generic term for flakes of bran. Sorry, I meant "bran" flakes back there, not "barn" flakes. But barn flakes would have been good in The Onion's list of Top Selling Health Cereal I read on their web site the other day:
1. Frosted Flax
2. Count Carobula
3. High-Fiber Shitabrix
4. Forest Floories
5. Dried Froot Loops
6. Kale-O's
7. Breakfast Bales
I particular liked High-Fiber Shitabrix. I think Barn Flakes would fit in well there.
Five students at Ogawa Tec this morning. Itoh brought me a cup of coffee, which was nice of him.
After the class I went to Ebisu Tully's and was pleasantly surprised to find it not crowded; I even got a window wicker chair, for the first time in a couple of months. So why wasn't it crowded this morning, but every other week it's been standing room only in there? SARS? Al Quida threat? Or was I just lucky in finding a small window of quiet, a customer oasis of low volume turnover, or something.
I sat and sipped my double lattee and wrote a few lines in the notebook on the subject of change.
Yesterday I was complaining that my life was uneventful, and I even wrote be careful what you complain and wish for because you might just get it. So I have had two events since then, one unusual and one unwelcome.
Yesterday I was walking to the station to take the train to AXA. I was waiting for the lights to change near Beckers. An old man comes up to me and starts talking to me. Not in an aggressive way just talking. He was wearing an old baseball cap. I'm usually quite polite to people like this and listen as best I can to what they say, even though, as in this case, they are usually speaking Japanese. I think they expect me to understand. So he is chatting away, I'm catching a little, he Koizumi and North Korea, so I realise he was talking politics. I looked him in the eye and looked as if I was paying attention, a trick I've learned from years of teaching English. The lights were changing to green. He looked for something in his pocket and handed me \150 and said something about coffee. I asked him why, but he was already walking away.
At the station the price of my ticket was also \150. Strange but true.
This morning at the Marunouchi line Ikebukero station I was, as usual, waiting for the train. I like to wait one line to the side, and so catch the next train…if you see what I mean. When the first queue gets on the train the next queue (standing to the right) moves over. Everyone knows the system. So I'm moving over when some fat guy walks as if to get on the train but actually stops at the front of the line, in the place where I should be. I say to him "Are you getting on the train?" He grunts something. I stand in front of him and wait for the train. From being a bit sleepy I am now wide awake and shaking slightly, with anger and the anxiety of confrontation - my parents and upbringing never prepared me well for aggressive confrontation. I sometimes think I should go to boxing club or something to get experience in that direction.
Pushing in like that was an unusual thing to do, and I start to think that perhaps this guy is a bit strange. He is standing right behind me and the train is coming in… is he going to push me on to the tracks! He didn't. I sat down, closed my eyes and tried to forget about him. But when I got off the train at Otemachi I think I followed him up the stairs. But there are so many fat greasy salarimen in Japan and they all look the same, so it was hard to say.
So here we are gain, in the bloody Select office on a Friday afternoon with a few hours of dreariness ahead before I can go home, and watch the weekend melt before me like a mirage in a desert, and solidify into Monday morning…bugger!
And the answer is? Always make sure that the way you make your living is what you would want to do anyway! Painters paint, writers write, climbers climb, runners run. Are they working? No, not really, but they are getting money for what they want to do. Surely they have lives to be envied. Perhaps envied is the wrong word to use, perhaps I mean they show us how life could be. It doesn't have to be an uneventful daily slog leading nowhere and adding nothing to ones personal growth. If that is what your life is then surely you are badly missing the point. While we can't all be painters, writers, climbers or runners we can all lead meaningful lives. I seem to be coming back to logotherapy and the work of Victor Frankl. I think I should read his ideas more carefully. I would like to do some kind of practical logotherapy or therapy or workshop or something, not just reading books about it. But being here in Japan limits me. Or does it?
2:25pm. Outside the sun is shining and it's not as humid ass it was yesterday. It would be a good day for a hike today. Emil was here yesterday and told me that he was in considerable pain for three days after that hike. I know how he felt, I felt just the same after me and William went for a hike a few months ago - we got off the trail and had a lot of hard extra up hill slogging. The week after I could hardly walk down steps, so I know what Emil is talking about. We talked about a summer Fuji trip. Emil said it was something he would like to do but after his experience on the hike I described as medium, he thinks he is dangerously under prepared for such an undertaking. I tried to persuade him that it was as much a mental challenge as a physical challenge. After my experience last year when I felt sick going up and coming down and didn't enjoy and couldn't take advantage of my time on the summit (one of the reason I went was to take lots of digital pictures on the summit). That was my 12th time on the summit…or was it 13th? And it was the first time I had felt sick like that. I must have felt like Jake felt when we went upon 1999. I vowed then, I have vowed before, that it was my last time on the top. Last year I was pretty sure we were leaving Japan and that it really would be my last time, but here I am. But this summer the baby will be born. I don't really want to leave the Harumi alone for a night, and I'm pretty sure she would be too pleased either. So a trip to Fuji this summer is not very likely.
3:05pm. The afternoon drags on, but then again if I was at home I'd probably be just as bored. Although on Wednesday when I had the afternoon off I went for a nice walk around the base. Isn't it just typical though, when I do get the day off I invariably waste it, and when I'm in the office I plot how to get the day off. As I said earlier the role model should be the person who doesn't "work" but does what they do. I work and sometimes do what I want to do, but don't get paid for it.
3:56 pm. Outside the sun is shining, inside it's just me, Yuki and Ayumi, thankfully K is out at a client. A short while ago a new cabinet was delivered - a replacement glass fronted one for the steel fronted one. I like office furniture; it's strong and practical.
4:07 pm. and it looks like the time between times is getting shorter… I'm starting to get sleepy now, mid-afternoon, need a coffee and something to eat. It's starting to get too warm for coffee though.
Outside a fire engine or perhaps ambulance sirens its way through the afternoon traffic. A strident amplified voice tells people to get out of the way and thanks them. I wonder where the fire is?
Thursday, May 08, 2003
Thursday 8th May
Got up at 6:40, had breakfast and watched reports on the latest movements of the white clad Panawave People. As usual they were in a lay by somewhere on a country road out in Booniville Japan. Left at 7:25 and caught the train…nothing out of the ordinary there. The Yurakucho line was a trial, it really was. It was horribly crowded, and as today was humid the journey to Iidabashi was even less pleasant than usual. So different from when I go to David's on a Sunday morning. Then the trains are nice and empty, I can sit down and enjoy the journey. I tried to keep in mind the wise words of Victor Frankl and his tenants of logotherapy, but it was just too crowded. I wasn't even listening to the iPod; I didn't put it on at Ikebukuro and on the train it was impossible to move.
Surprisingly humid today, got to Hitachi more than a little damp. Four students came in the end. We did the class and then I left. Got to the office at 11:15 after an uneventful journey… well, what else would it be? Eventful? There have no events in my life for quite a while. When was the last event?
And so here we are at the office, until 4:50 when I go to AXA, another uneventful day. Ah, but, John, be careful what you wish for, as they say. Do you want events to occur in your life? Have you ever read the "Monkey's Paw"?
After a long weekend, talking about Berlitz and not having to the office since last Friday, I start to think that perhaps it's not as bad as I thought. Perhaps it was a bit of a storm in a teacup… but then the evil threads of the office miasma start to penetrate my psyche and I realise that of course it is as bad as I thought. Even if the alternative is a Bi-Lingualesque succession of classes in small booths, it has to be at least different to this. I know I don't have a lot of work to do in the office, and that's partly the problem. Familiarity breeds contempt and madness. Get out while the goings good. You asked for an opportunity and here is one in your lap. Help from Barry and help from David, don't say you don't get help, don't say opportunities never come your way. We walk by them every day.
Right, so this one? Got to take a chance, and it's not even a chance. William went almost all the way but in the end changed nothing. Should have called yesterday, had the whole day off, and I have to admit that by 6:00 I was getting bored!
Got quite busy – Mathew and Emil arrived for training by Larry, embarrassing, I could hear it, repeat this, and again, faster, I could hear them cringe and hide it. Then pony tailed and deep voiced Sean arrived for probably more of the same.
I got out at 5:50 thank God and read Gurjieff on the train to AXA.
When I couldn’t see William in the crowded coffee shop I called him and he told he was upstairs in his classroom which is where I found him. We talked about how the fuck we can get out of the trap and out of the clutches of the black widow who sits in the middle. And we talked more on the train home.
Pretty good lesson, a good laugh quotient. Uragami told us about his dream job of a “companion” bodyguard he protected their bodies by day and violated by night, if he is to believed, bastard!
Home, dinner, lots of emails. One of which is from David and he tells me Berlitz is desperate for teachers and they will give white orchids if ask them.
Got up at 6:40, had breakfast and watched reports on the latest movements of the white clad Panawave People. As usual they were in a lay by somewhere on a country road out in Booniville Japan. Left at 7:25 and caught the train…nothing out of the ordinary there. The Yurakucho line was a trial, it really was. It was horribly crowded, and as today was humid the journey to Iidabashi was even less pleasant than usual. So different from when I go to David's on a Sunday morning. Then the trains are nice and empty, I can sit down and enjoy the journey. I tried to keep in mind the wise words of Victor Frankl and his tenants of logotherapy, but it was just too crowded. I wasn't even listening to the iPod; I didn't put it on at Ikebukuro and on the train it was impossible to move.
Surprisingly humid today, got to Hitachi more than a little damp. Four students came in the end. We did the class and then I left. Got to the office at 11:15 after an uneventful journey… well, what else would it be? Eventful? There have no events in my life for quite a while. When was the last event?
And so here we are at the office, until 4:50 when I go to AXA, another uneventful day. Ah, but, John, be careful what you wish for, as they say. Do you want events to occur in your life? Have you ever read the "Monkey's Paw"?
After a long weekend, talking about Berlitz and not having to the office since last Friday, I start to think that perhaps it's not as bad as I thought. Perhaps it was a bit of a storm in a teacup… but then the evil threads of the office miasma start to penetrate my psyche and I realise that of course it is as bad as I thought. Even if the alternative is a Bi-Lingualesque succession of classes in small booths, it has to be at least different to this. I know I don't have a lot of work to do in the office, and that's partly the problem. Familiarity breeds contempt and madness. Get out while the goings good. You asked for an opportunity and here is one in your lap. Help from Barry and help from David, don't say you don't get help, don't say opportunities never come your way. We walk by them every day.
Right, so this one? Got to take a chance, and it's not even a chance. William went almost all the way but in the end changed nothing. Should have called yesterday, had the whole day off, and I have to admit that by 6:00 I was getting bored!
Got quite busy – Mathew and Emil arrived for training by Larry, embarrassing, I could hear it, repeat this, and again, faster, I could hear them cringe and hide it. Then pony tailed and deep voiced Sean arrived for probably more of the same.
I got out at 5:50 thank God and read Gurjieff on the train to AXA.
When I couldn’t see William in the crowded coffee shop I called him and he told he was upstairs in his classroom which is where I found him. We talked about how the fuck we can get out of the trap and out of the clutches of the black widow who sits in the middle. And we talked more on the train home.
Pretty good lesson, a good laugh quotient. Uragami told us about his dream job of a “companion” bodyguard he protected their bodies by day and violated by night, if he is to believed, bastard!
Home, dinner, lots of emails. One of which is from David and he tells me Berlitz is desperate for teachers and they will give white orchids if ask them.
Wednesday, May 07, 2003
Up at 6:15 am this morning. Warm but a little overcast, that cloud would fade away as the day moved on, and later little fluffy white clouds would float in a bright blue sky. At the same time the planet Mercury would drfit like a tiny black dot across the orange disc of the sun. I had lunch, had a nap and had a walk in that order.
Pasta for dinner...again?
Pasta for dinner...again?
Monday, May 05, 2003
Spent an hour on the phone with a Berlitz friend trying to decide my future - stay or go. At the moment going looks better than staying, but scarier. But then growth and change are always scary, aren't they?
We went for a walk in the warm early summer Tokyo sun, which felt especially nice because it was Monday and a national holiday.
I’ve been listening to my 2 new CD’s: The Bhundu Boys – “The Shed Sessions” a 2 disc set of their first 2 albums, and The Four Brothers – “Makorokoto”. Back on the early 1980’s The Bhundu Boys were at the vanguard of the World Music movement. I remember hearing them on John Peels and Andy Kershaw’s shows and really liking the sound. Then I went to visit Sean Best in Zimbabwe and didn’t actually go to see any music!! What was I thinking? I did see The Four Brothers in Bristol though.
Reading the liner notes to the Bhundu Boys CD brings a lump to my throat thinking about those days. A good time of my life in many ways – I had my own place in Bristol, no responsibilities and no thought of them either. If we left Japan next year and lived in England for the next 20 years I no doubt would feel the same about my Tokyo years. Is that how it will work out? It will work out exactly how I want it to, if I really want it to and I work towards it!
The important thing is not to get stuck in a comfort zone. You have to keep moving forward.
Let’s call the man from Berlitz tomorrow, after we have spoken to David and got my resume ready. The trickiest part, as always, is the details. Do I simply tell K I’m leaving, give her 2 months notice and in the meantime do the Berlitz training.
We went for a walk in the warm early summer Tokyo sun, which felt especially nice because it was Monday and a national holiday.
I’ve been listening to my 2 new CD’s: The Bhundu Boys – “The Shed Sessions” a 2 disc set of their first 2 albums, and The Four Brothers – “Makorokoto”. Back on the early 1980’s The Bhundu Boys were at the vanguard of the World Music movement. I remember hearing them on John Peels and Andy Kershaw’s shows and really liking the sound. Then I went to visit Sean Best in Zimbabwe and didn’t actually go to see any music!! What was I thinking? I did see The Four Brothers in Bristol though.
Reading the liner notes to the Bhundu Boys CD brings a lump to my throat thinking about those days. A good time of my life in many ways – I had my own place in Bristol, no responsibilities and no thought of them either. If we left Japan next year and lived in England for the next 20 years I no doubt would feel the same about my Tokyo years. Is that how it will work out? It will work out exactly how I want it to, if I really want it to and I work towards it!
The important thing is not to get stuck in a comfort zone. You have to keep moving forward.
Let’s call the man from Berlitz tomorrow, after we have spoken to David and got my resume ready. The trickiest part, as always, is the details. Do I simply tell K I’m leaving, give her 2 months notice and in the meantime do the Berlitz training.
Sunday, May 04, 2003
I've been doing a lot of work on the new Cargo Cult. web site.
I wonder if the link will work or not...
I wonder if the link will work or not...
Oh...it works...oh!
Errr...well, I guess I should take back all those nasty words I used.
Thank you Blogger!
I never doubted for a second...that you were the one!
I wonder what the problem was? Just shows eh? Be patient, be calm and things will turn out in the end.
I feel embarressed that I lost temper.
Errr...well, I guess I should take back all those nasty words I used.
Thank you Blogger!
I never doubted for a second...that you were the one!
I wonder what the problem was? Just shows eh? Be patient, be calm and things will turn out in the end.
I feel embarressed that I lost temper.
Friday, April 25, 2003
Sunday, March 09, 2003
Friday, February 28, 2003
Tuesday, February 25, 2003
Tuesday 25th February
At the subway station this morning they were testing the alarm sirens. There were two kinds: one that sounded like an ambulance and one that sounded like a cartoon sound effect. After the sirens a voice would annouce that it was only a test. Everyone knows that they are testing because of last week's subway fire in Korea. And I bet everyone in Tokyo thought about that when they were on their own crowded subway trains. According the news the driver of one of the train panicked, took the keys of the train and ran away. Taking the keys meant that the doors stayed closed, trapping the passengers on the burning train. It's alway human error that causes these things. Although in this case malicious human error - mad man wants to kill himself so pours gasoline on a train and sets light to it. Then gets off! Guess he wasn't so serious about killing himself after all.
Seems to have been a lot big accidents recently - this subway fire, the US night club fire and the US night club stampede and crush accident. Maybe this is a case of bad things happening in three's. Or perhaps a case of three bad things happening.
At the subway station this morning they were testing the alarm sirens. There were two kinds: one that sounded like an ambulance and one that sounded like a cartoon sound effect. After the sirens a voice would annouce that it was only a test. Everyone knows that they are testing because of last week's subway fire in Korea. And I bet everyone in Tokyo thought about that when they were on their own crowded subway trains. According the news the driver of one of the train panicked, took the keys of the train and ran away. Taking the keys meant that the doors stayed closed, trapping the passengers on the burning train. It's alway human error that causes these things. Although in this case malicious human error - mad man wants to kill himself so pours gasoline on a train and sets light to it. Then gets off! Guess he wasn't so serious about killing himself after all.
Seems to have been a lot big accidents recently - this subway fire, the US night club fire and the US night club stampede and crush accident. Maybe this is a case of bad things happening in three's. Or perhaps a case of three bad things happening.
Tuesday 25th February
At the subway station this morning they were testing the alarm sirens. There were two kinds: one that sounded like an ambulance and one that sounded like a cartoon sound effect. After the sirens a voice would annouce that it was only a test. Everyone knows that they are testing because of last week's subway fire in Korea. And I bet everyone in Tokyo thought about that when they were on their own crowded subway trains. According the news the driver of one of the train panicked, took the keys of the train and ran away. Taking the keys meant that the doors stayed closed, trapping the passengers on the burning train. It's alway human error that causes these things. Although in this case malicious human error - mad man wants to kill himself so pours gasoline on a train and sets light to it. Then gets off! Guess he wasn't so serious about killing himself after all.
Seems to have been a lot big accidents recently - this subway fire, the US night club fire and the US night club stampede and crush accident. Maybe this is a case of bad things happening in three's. Or just three bad things happening.....
At the subway station this morning they were testing the alarm sirens. There were two kinds: one that sounded like an ambulance and one that sounded like a cartoon sound effect. After the sirens a voice would annouce that it was only a test. Everyone knows that they are testing because of last week's subway fire in Korea. And I bet everyone in Tokyo thought about that when they were on their own crowded subway trains. According the news the driver of one of the train panicked, took the keys of the train and ran away. Taking the keys meant that the doors stayed closed, trapping the passengers on the burning train. It's alway human error that causes these things. Although in this case malicious human error - mad man wants to kill himself so pours gasoline on a train and sets light to it. Then gets off! Guess he wasn't so serious about killing himself after all.
Seems to have been a lot big accidents recently - this subway fire, the US night club fire and the US night club stampede and crush accident. Maybe this is a case of bad things happening in three's. Or just three bad things happening.....
Monday, February 24, 2003
Monday 24th February
A cold wet morning in Tokyo. My boots splashed through the puddles on the way to the station. The city was sprouting with mushrooms of umbrellas that the rain always brings. Mushrooms thrive in wet conditions. The Japanese really love their umbrellas. Everyone carries one - the small child on her way to nursery school, the old man on his bicycle, the office workers dragging themselves to their offices. We have a closet full of them; some I have bought, some have been given to me and some I have found. The best umbrella I ever had was the one I brought with me when I first came to Japan in the summer of 1990. It had belonged to my grandfather. A beautiful black silk, cane handled umbrellas made by Fox of London. One day I foolishly left it outside a supermarket when I went in to do some shopping. When I came out it had gone. For the next few months I looked closely at other people's umbrellas, searching for my lost umbrella. I never found it.
It's a clich$B!&(B but true none the less, that the chances of loosing your umbrella (or leaving it on the train), is linked to it value - the better the umbrella the more chance you have of losing or leaving it. I have never lost a 500 Yen plastic convenience store umbrella, and don't suppose I ever will. After losing the Fox umbrella I never brought another expensive umbrella, and I've never lost another umbrella. (From the Latin "umbra", meaning shade$B!&(Bccording to one of the textbooks I use.)
The train seemed rather empty, even for 9:34 - I should travel at this time every day, unfortunately that is not an option. I thought about reading one of the two books I had in my bag - a book about "Babies!$B!&(Bor Hemingway's "The Snows of Kilimanjaro". But I read neither; I looked out of the window as a gray wet Tokyo speed past the windows. I kept my gloves on all the way to Ikebukuro and only took them off when I went into Andersen's to buy some bread.
Andersen's is one of my favourite bread shops in Tokyo, and the city has some pretty good ones. All the good ones are European, and mostly French. No matter what you think of the French, and we all think something, they do make good bread, and that counts for a lot in my book.
I bought five things - a walnut roll, a sesame roll, a macadamia nut bread ring, a banana and walnut cake and a chocolate muffin. I bought six things, and they came to 546 Yen, and I got two stickers. Yeah, we collect the Andersen stickers; stick them in little books, each book holds 50. Collect enough of them and you can exchange them for "gifts". We've got about 300 stickers just waiting to be turned into "gifts".
Changed lines - got on to the Yamanote and rode it down to Ebisu. Read the Hemingway:
"Now in his mind he saw a railway station at Karagatch and he was standing with his pack and that was the headlight of the Simplon-Orient cutting the dark now and he was leaving Thrace then after the retreat. That was one of the things he had saved to write, with, in the morning at breakfast, looking out the window and seeing snow on the mountains in Bulgaria and Nansen's Secretary asking the old man if it were snow and the old man looking at it and saying, No, that's not snow."
No, not snow, but rain. It was raining in Ebisu when I got off the train, and rained while a walked to the office. And now looking out of the window at the rain coming down and thinking that this is what it would be like every day in England. A small price to pay, you may think.
Yesterday we bought bread at Lenotre; I think it's called, another French bread shop. You really can't escape them. Another thing it's been difficult to escape from in Tokyo recently is the shouting and hard sell of the Yahoo BB people. They stand in every station, and on some street corners, dressed in identical Yahoo BB long white coats. They hold out white bags to passers by containing$B!&(Bomething, and beg people stop and talk about getting Yahoo BB in their lives. Like most people, I try not to make eye contact. But perhaps I am missing something here. I should at least find out what they are offering. I know it$BCT(B some kind of telephone service, and I know that people with Yahoo BB can talk to each other free of chare. If that were the case with international calls them it would be a good deal. But I don$BCU(B know if it does because I$BCW(Be never asked. There is life lesson in there somewhere, I$BCN(B sure there is.
I$BCN(B here in the office all day today, but far from being the long wasteland of time it could easily seem, I regard this afternoon as an opportunity to write reams of stuff which, hopefully, no one but myself will read. Even if I put this up on the blog no will find it, not amongst all those other, much older, well-established, better written blogs. But hey, they say if you want to learn to do something well then you have to practice. I know it$BCT(B true with learning a second language, because I see it every day. So I$BCN(B just going to keep on writing until, in the words of John Lennon on a track on Let It Be, $BE*(B got blisters on my fingers!$B!&(BWhich track was that? $BE0(Bne After 909$B!&(B
Outside the rain has turned to snow.
So, it looks like there is going to be a war $B!&(BAmerica vs. Iraq. I predict an away win for the Americans. According to a report I read on the BBC News website today, they$BCS(Be going to throw about 200-300 Cruise missiles into Iraq on the first day and then again on the second day and every day until the Iraqis decide they have had enough. Then the Americans drive into Baghdad to the cheers of the common people finally freed from the jackboot of Saddam Hussein$BCT(B evil regime, set up a democratic government and everyone lives happily ever after. Hurrah! For America!
I read somewhere that this war is going to cost the Americans one trillion dollars. That$BCT(B a lot of money. Bound to help the economy pick up a bit I would think.
So after they have dealt with Iraq, I wonder who will be next? France perhaps? After all Bush did say, $BE*(Bf you$BCS(Be not with us then you are with the terrorists$B!&(B And the French have been thwarting the Americans plans at the UN. Plus the French have weapons of mass destruction, and I$BCN(B not talking about their cheese. They have nuclear weapons! They admit it!
It$BCT(B so easy to develop an anti-American attitude, and it$BCT(B so easy to forget that the actions of the US government do necessarily reflect the views held by the majority of the people. Vietnam, Iran-Contra, supporting dictatorial regimes when it suits their purposes (e.g. Iraq), there$BCT(B a long list of actions which were certainly not doing $BAU(Bhe right thing$B!&(B did not reflect Christian family values. At least not as I imagine them to be. Perhaps the majority of Americans do support those kinds of actions, or perhaps they don$BCU(B think about them at all. Like the rest of us, they are just trying to get along.
Here in Japan the newspapers and TV news aren$BCU(B giving as much coverage to the coming war as their American and European counterparts are. The story of the baseball player Matsui playing for the New York Yankees is bigger news.
It$BCT(B still snowing out there. 2:30 and soon it will be time for coffee and that chocolate muffin I bought this morning. The heater has been cranked up too high as usual, so I$BCM(Bl be sleeping before the afternoon is through.
Got out the door at 6:33 and was home by 7:30 ready make and eat dinner.
A cold wet morning in Tokyo. My boots splashed through the puddles on the way to the station. The city was sprouting with mushrooms of umbrellas that the rain always brings. Mushrooms thrive in wet conditions. The Japanese really love their umbrellas. Everyone carries one - the small child on her way to nursery school, the old man on his bicycle, the office workers dragging themselves to their offices. We have a closet full of them; some I have bought, some have been given to me and some I have found. The best umbrella I ever had was the one I brought with me when I first came to Japan in the summer of 1990. It had belonged to my grandfather. A beautiful black silk, cane handled umbrellas made by Fox of London. One day I foolishly left it outside a supermarket when I went in to do some shopping. When I came out it had gone. For the next few months I looked closely at other people's umbrellas, searching for my lost umbrella. I never found it.
It's a clich$B!&(B but true none the less, that the chances of loosing your umbrella (or leaving it on the train), is linked to it value - the better the umbrella the more chance you have of losing or leaving it. I have never lost a 500 Yen plastic convenience store umbrella, and don't suppose I ever will. After losing the Fox umbrella I never brought another expensive umbrella, and I've never lost another umbrella. (From the Latin "umbra", meaning shade$B!&(Bccording to one of the textbooks I use.)
The train seemed rather empty, even for 9:34 - I should travel at this time every day, unfortunately that is not an option. I thought about reading one of the two books I had in my bag - a book about "Babies!$B!&(Bor Hemingway's "The Snows of Kilimanjaro". But I read neither; I looked out of the window as a gray wet Tokyo speed past the windows. I kept my gloves on all the way to Ikebukuro and only took them off when I went into Andersen's to buy some bread.
Andersen's is one of my favourite bread shops in Tokyo, and the city has some pretty good ones. All the good ones are European, and mostly French. No matter what you think of the French, and we all think something, they do make good bread, and that counts for a lot in my book.
I bought five things - a walnut roll, a sesame roll, a macadamia nut bread ring, a banana and walnut cake and a chocolate muffin. I bought six things, and they came to 546 Yen, and I got two stickers. Yeah, we collect the Andersen stickers; stick them in little books, each book holds 50. Collect enough of them and you can exchange them for "gifts". We've got about 300 stickers just waiting to be turned into "gifts".
Changed lines - got on to the Yamanote and rode it down to Ebisu. Read the Hemingway:
"Now in his mind he saw a railway station at Karagatch and he was standing with his pack and that was the headlight of the Simplon-Orient cutting the dark now and he was leaving Thrace then after the retreat. That was one of the things he had saved to write, with, in the morning at breakfast, looking out the window and seeing snow on the mountains in Bulgaria and Nansen's Secretary asking the old man if it were snow and the old man looking at it and saying, No, that's not snow."
No, not snow, but rain. It was raining in Ebisu when I got off the train, and rained while a walked to the office. And now looking out of the window at the rain coming down and thinking that this is what it would be like every day in England. A small price to pay, you may think.
Yesterday we bought bread at Lenotre; I think it's called, another French bread shop. You really can't escape them. Another thing it's been difficult to escape from in Tokyo recently is the shouting and hard sell of the Yahoo BB people. They stand in every station, and on some street corners, dressed in identical Yahoo BB long white coats. They hold out white bags to passers by containing$B!&(Bomething, and beg people stop and talk about getting Yahoo BB in their lives. Like most people, I try not to make eye contact. But perhaps I am missing something here. I should at least find out what they are offering. I know it$BCT(B some kind of telephone service, and I know that people with Yahoo BB can talk to each other free of chare. If that were the case with international calls them it would be a good deal. But I don$BCU(B know if it does because I$BCW(Be never asked. There is life lesson in there somewhere, I$BCN(B sure there is.
I$BCN(B here in the office all day today, but far from being the long wasteland of time it could easily seem, I regard this afternoon as an opportunity to write reams of stuff which, hopefully, no one but myself will read. Even if I put this up on the blog no will find it, not amongst all those other, much older, well-established, better written blogs. But hey, they say if you want to learn to do something well then you have to practice. I know it$BCT(B true with learning a second language, because I see it every day. So I$BCN(B just going to keep on writing until, in the words of John Lennon on a track on Let It Be, $BE*(B got blisters on my fingers!$B!&(BWhich track was that? $BE0(Bne After 909$B!&(B
Outside the rain has turned to snow.
So, it looks like there is going to be a war $B!&(BAmerica vs. Iraq. I predict an away win for the Americans. According to a report I read on the BBC News website today, they$BCS(Be going to throw about 200-300 Cruise missiles into Iraq on the first day and then again on the second day and every day until the Iraqis decide they have had enough. Then the Americans drive into Baghdad to the cheers of the common people finally freed from the jackboot of Saddam Hussein$BCT(B evil regime, set up a democratic government and everyone lives happily ever after. Hurrah! For America!
I read somewhere that this war is going to cost the Americans one trillion dollars. That$BCT(B a lot of money. Bound to help the economy pick up a bit I would think.
So after they have dealt with Iraq, I wonder who will be next? France perhaps? After all Bush did say, $BE*(Bf you$BCS(Be not with us then you are with the terrorists$B!&(B And the French have been thwarting the Americans plans at the UN. Plus the French have weapons of mass destruction, and I$BCN(B not talking about their cheese. They have nuclear weapons! They admit it!
It$BCT(B so easy to develop an anti-American attitude, and it$BCT(B so easy to forget that the actions of the US government do necessarily reflect the views held by the majority of the people. Vietnam, Iran-Contra, supporting dictatorial regimes when it suits their purposes (e.g. Iraq), there$BCT(B a long list of actions which were certainly not doing $BAU(Bhe right thing$B!&(B did not reflect Christian family values. At least not as I imagine them to be. Perhaps the majority of Americans do support those kinds of actions, or perhaps they don$BCU(B think about them at all. Like the rest of us, they are just trying to get along.
Here in Japan the newspapers and TV news aren$BCU(B giving as much coverage to the coming war as their American and European counterparts are. The story of the baseball player Matsui playing for the New York Yankees is bigger news.
It$BCT(B still snowing out there. 2:30 and soon it will be time for coffee and that chocolate muffin I bought this morning. The heater has been cranked up too high as usual, so I$BCM(Bl be sleeping before the afternoon is through.
Got out the door at 6:33 and was home by 7:30 ready make and eat dinner.
Sunday, February 23, 2003
Sunday 23rd February
Be Careful There’s a Baby in The House
The big news in our house, and has been the biggest news in our house since the news broke last year, is that we two will soon be three. In July things will be different. Not a guest, not a visitor, but a new member of the family. In fact his/her arrival is really the start of the family. Before we were just a couple. We signed a piece of paper and thanks to the law of Japan we became a single recognized entity. But when the baby arrives we become a family for real. Everything changes then. One part of my life ends and new one begins, and of course I view that with mixed feeling. Change is always a bit stressful, scary, depending on the level of change, and this one comes in pretty near the top. So I’m trying to consciously live and enjoy these last few months of my pre-children life, because this end-of-an-era stuff. A lot of the time though it’s hard to imagine that it’s actually going to happen. It’s just a bump, just a little acorn in her belly.
Be Careful There’s a Baby in The House
The big news in our house, and has been the biggest news in our house since the news broke last year, is that we two will soon be three. In July things will be different. Not a guest, not a visitor, but a new member of the family. In fact his/her arrival is really the start of the family. Before we were just a couple. We signed a piece of paper and thanks to the law of Japan we became a single recognized entity. But when the baby arrives we become a family for real. Everything changes then. One part of my life ends and new one begins, and of course I view that with mixed feeling. Change is always a bit stressful, scary, depending on the level of change, and this one comes in pretty near the top. So I’m trying to consciously live and enjoy these last few months of my pre-children life, because this end-of-an-era stuff. A lot of the time though it’s hard to imagine that it’s actually going to happen. It’s just a bump, just a little acorn in her belly.
Saturday, February 22, 2003
Reading on the Net that Dan Price, the creator of Moonlight Chronicles, has finished his epic trike/bike ride across America. He left Oregon on November 1st and reached Key West on February 13th. Well Done Dan!
Moonlight Chronicles is Dan's excellent 'zine' about his life, travels and observations, illustrated with his drawings. He's been quite an influence on my last couple of Cargo Cult's. A positive influence to be sure.
Moonlight Chronicles is Dan's excellent 'zine' about his life, travels and observations, illustrated with his drawings. He's been quite an influence on my last couple of Cargo Cult's. A positive influence to be sure.
Friday, February 21, 2003
Saturday 22nd February
Tried to find Jake's Coleman bag and Nikon flash yesterday, but without luck. Tokyu Hands had several Coleman backpacks but none of them matched the description Jake gave me in his letter. Why did he change so much money when he came? And why did he take so much back only to post back again? If you see what I mean!
After failing to find the flash in Boc Camera I went round the corner to the Hush Hush restaurant and met Larry, Ito-san and Yamamoto-san. The other came soon after. A nice restaurant with imaginative food.
Tried to find Jake's Coleman bag and Nikon flash yesterday, but without luck. Tokyu Hands had several Coleman backpacks but none of them matched the description Jake gave me in his letter. Why did he change so much money when he came? And why did he take so much back only to post back again? If you see what I mean!
After failing to find the flash in Boc Camera I went round the corner to the Hush Hush restaurant and met Larry, Ito-san and Yamamoto-san. The other came soon after. A nice restaurant with imaginative food.
Thursday, February 20, 2003
Friday 21st February
At a subway station this morning I noticed that they were replacing the fire hoses. I realised this was probably a result of the subway fire in Korea earlier in the week that killed 120 people. I read that the doors of the train didn't open...and that's about as far as I'd like to imagine.
In Tully's after this morning's class I... just drank coffee...
At a subway station this morning I noticed that they were replacing the fire hoses. I realised this was probably a result of the subway fire in Korea earlier in the week that killed 120 people. I read that the doors of the train didn't open...and that's about as far as I'd like to imagine.
In Tully's after this morning's class I... just drank coffee...
Tuesday 3rd February
Ebisu Starbucks – 2:55 pm. To 3:30 pm.
No room in Tully’s for me this afternoon, so here I am slumming it in Starbucks. Never been in this one before. I managed to get one of the comfy armchairs. It’s a long narrow shop. People working on laptops. Conversations in Japanese and English. People updating their personal organizers. 1930’s jazz playing.
I guess that cold walk from the Starbucks in Akasaka up the hill to Columbia really does make a difference. Here the latte is hot and foamy, whereas by Columbia they are usually flat and warm. But still not as good as Tully’s. The guy opposite is on his mobile, and clicking his pen in a particularly annoying way. But it’s the two American speaking Japanese looking women to my right that grab my attention. Spoken English in a public place always seems to carry. “Don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing”. Music excepted. Spoken American English cuts through the air like a laser. I’m not catching every word and so I can’t follow their conversation fully…
“Really, really…
Which, yeah, I know what your saying…
It used to be that it would come from the top…
Big management…
In that way, I mean, for me…
Like, you know…
So from now on…
It’s not easy to…
One day is…I think, like…”
Now I’m listening to them more than thinking my own thoughts, like the ticking of a clock when you are trying to sleep. They’re talking about their company and it functions.
The 1930’s big band jazz plays on
“Right now I think in a way…
what do you think would help?
Better communication…
To make it more fun for yourself…”
Next to them two Japanese guys are talking seriously about pro-wrestling, the sports business of it, I think.
The mobile boy opposite has finished with his diary and is now reading. He sits on the left side of a large brown velvet sofa, room for four. The only other person sits on the far right. She is writing in a legal pad. Above their heads large framed photographs on ethnic coffee themes. The two business girls drone on and on in a nasal American English about training and blah, blah, blah…But I still can’t tear my ears away. Mobile boy puts his book down, leans back and buries his face in his black down jacket. Nat King Cole sings a slow song.
My coffee is almost finished. It’s getting hot in here.
“Considering the budget…
How much percentage do we need?
Donna’s OK…”
Starbucks coffee is much milkier than Tully’s, I can still taste the milk.
They must be American; their English is way too natural, too idiomatic, Californian, the tonal stress patterns and accenting.
“You may want to talk to Sara about all this stuff anyway…
He tried, I know he did…
Friendly, it’s not the same…
Also, I think it’s unfair…
I mean, you know, it’s together…
It’s not really fair…”
Time to go.
Wednesday, February 19, 2003
Thursday 20th February
This morning I had to get up at 6:20 and go to a sub class that didn't remember I had until last night and then went to Ebisu Tully's. When I first looked in it seemed rather full so I went up to Atre and bought a couple of those nice blank note books from Muji. I like to do arty Cargo Cult pages in them. The only bad point is that although they are A5 size that also includes the little holes. So I have to paste them on to regular A5 sheets before I print them. Ah well, the world of small press publishing is rather with the like.
Went to the office and click-clacked on the keyboard until it was time for lunch. Which today was a salad and an onigiri from Seven Eleven.
And now here I am. Stuck in the office on a beautiful afternoon - the grainy clouds skim across a gray sky and a steady cold drizzle wets the roads. I'd rather be out there in the real world than in here in a virtual one.
The afternoon dragged on so badly that I was starting to feel ill – perhaps I was just tired, perhaps that’s how I’ll feel in a few months when Junior arrives.
Met William at AXA and we talked babies for quite a while. Met him after and we talked Hemingway. On the train home I finished The Old Man And The Sea.
Home at 9:10. William called at 10:00 and we arranged that we are going over to see them this Saturday! So we finally get to see little Robin!
This morning I had to get up at 6:20 and go to a sub class that didn't remember I had until last night and then went to Ebisu Tully's. When I first looked in it seemed rather full so I went up to Atre and bought a couple of those nice blank note books from Muji. I like to do arty Cargo Cult pages in them. The only bad point is that although they are A5 size that also includes the little holes. So I have to paste them on to regular A5 sheets before I print them. Ah well, the world of small press publishing is rather with the like.
Went to the office and click-clacked on the keyboard until it was time for lunch. Which today was a salad and an onigiri from Seven Eleven.
And now here I am. Stuck in the office on a beautiful afternoon - the grainy clouds skim across a gray sky and a steady cold drizzle wets the roads. I'd rather be out there in the real world than in here in a virtual one.
The afternoon dragged on so badly that I was starting to feel ill – perhaps I was just tired, perhaps that’s how I’ll feel in a few months when Junior arrives.
Met William at AXA and we talked babies for quite a while. Met him after and we talked Hemingway. On the train home I finished The Old Man And The Sea.
Home at 9:10. William called at 10:00 and we arranged that we are going over to see them this Saturday! So we finally get to see little Robin!
Wednesday 19th February
Up at the crack of dawn again this morning, 6:15, and left the apartment at 6:50. Caught the 7:01 this morning but still got to Carrefour at just before 8:50 and found the door locked, although there seemed to be some people around. I waited about 2 minutes and then one of my students appeared and showed me that in fact the door was open – I should have pulled instead of pushed!
As usual, about halfway through the class, someone came in and asked us to move to another room, so that a bunch of French garlic sellers could have the room to talk a load of bollocks!
I was out of there at 10:00,caught the 10:06 at Tameikesano and just missed a train at Iidabashi – next time must run! Bought some bread in Tobu and got home at 10:55. The bread was very nice. Listened to Home Truths and then at 12:30 had a nap, until 3:15, then got up and did this.
David and Chris should have got their copies of Cargo Cult 7, which I posted to them on Monday. Also Mum and Jake should have got their Japan Trip Report by now. I wonder what they thought. Jake moved recently so he may not have got it, must tell Mum to tell him to check his mail. The international CC’s should arrive by next Monday at the latest.
So far, for Cargo Cult 8 I have done 2 drawing’s, not good enough. I should be trying to produce at least on average a page a day. That would give me a 60 page zine every 2 months, which is a good average. I expect that when the baby arrives there will no time for little drawing and writing. I’ve been reading one of the baby books I bought recently and the chapter on crying is rather sobering. I must talk to William.
Left again at 4:30 and got to Union Tool at 5:45. Today on 5th floor.
Up at the crack of dawn again this morning, 6:15, and left the apartment at 6:50. Caught the 7:01 this morning but still got to Carrefour at just before 8:50 and found the door locked, although there seemed to be some people around. I waited about 2 minutes and then one of my students appeared and showed me that in fact the door was open – I should have pulled instead of pushed!
As usual, about halfway through the class, someone came in and asked us to move to another room, so that a bunch of French garlic sellers could have the room to talk a load of bollocks!
I was out of there at 10:00,caught the 10:06 at Tameikesano and just missed a train at Iidabashi – next time must run! Bought some bread in Tobu and got home at 10:55. The bread was very nice. Listened to Home Truths and then at 12:30 had a nap, until 3:15, then got up and did this.
David and Chris should have got their copies of Cargo Cult 7, which I posted to them on Monday. Also Mum and Jake should have got their Japan Trip Report by now. I wonder what they thought. Jake moved recently so he may not have got it, must tell Mum to tell him to check his mail. The international CC’s should arrive by next Monday at the latest.
So far, for Cargo Cult 8 I have done 2 drawing’s, not good enough. I should be trying to produce at least on average a page a day. That would give me a 60 page zine every 2 months, which is a good average. I expect that when the baby arrives there will no time for little drawing and writing. I’ve been reading one of the baby books I bought recently and the chapter on crying is rather sobering. I must talk to William.
Left again at 4:30 and got to Union Tool at 5:45. Today on 5th floor.
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