Note: All words in red are links
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
page two
i awaken to the suspiciously mischievous movements and glorious smile of my son, Yuune. We get out of bed and start our day. i put some music by Helios on the stereo. While Yuune is playing, i make myself a cup of chai, and feel satisfied with the day's recipe as i sip it from my favorite Latka cup, but then Beau and Bhakti come to mind and i remember to keep trying. All of a sudden an earthquake hits and i grab Yuune in my arms. The Earthquake is over in a damageless instant, but delivers just enough power to awaken Aya and provide quite the interesting embellishment to Helios' beautiful soundscapes.
page three
Aya and i cook breakfast; a tomato omlette and rice (by me) and goya tenpura (by Aya). As we cook Yuune watches an episode of his favorite TV show, 'The Wiggles.' Next, we eat!! After we've finished eating we clean-up around the house a bit to a soundtrack of Curtis Mayfield and M.I.A. . We pack our bags and head out; today the plan is to meet up with Aya's family and go visit her Grandfather's grave near Mt. Takao.
page four
In the car, i put 'In a Landscape' by John Cage on the stereo. It seems to be perfect for the moment, the grey skies, the drizzling rain, both the composition and the weather outside possess a fantastic meditative quality. But the traffic worsens and Aya and i proceed to argue the rest of the journey.
page five
We arrive at the grave. The area is beautiful; the green mountains, the misty rain, the gray skies, the smell of incense in the air, and the millions of fresh flowers decorated in loving adorement upon the many graves by the many families sharing our common purpose. Aya's brother Katsuyuki and cousin Gen clean up the grave (even give it a polymer finish!) as the rest of the family relaxes with snacks and drinks. Yuune finds the cemetary fascinating and tries to check out as many graves as possible. Aya asks why there are so many families at the cemetery today and her uncle (Taojichan) responds that, "Today, September the 21st, is a holiday..." At this point, i finally realize, though i can't quite put my finger on why... that it is September the 21st. Accordingly, i sneak off to our car to retrieve my pen and pad to start the documentation.
page six
The rain starts to come down and we retreat through the mountains and past the aftermath of a recent terrible storm; destroyed houses, mountains, roads. And make our way to Gusto, a family restaurant, for lunch.
page seven
After lunch we continue our quest through the mountains in our four-car-caravan. The rain has let up, but now the fog has set in, the lush greenery of the area making sporadic cameos, peaking through the fog's whiteness. Yuune's favorite album, Utau Ua from the TV show Doreminoterebi, provides the soundtrack and i try my best to sing along... poor, poor Yuune...
page eight
We stop at a dam to admire the view, and it is indeed worth admiring. The mountains, the water, the greenery, the fog, inducing a somewhat celestial feeling. In the car, Yuune and i drift off into napland to the melodic beauty of Tortoise, the returning rain pitter-pattering upon the car's roof providing the perfect accompaniment. i wake up and wander off in a daze to bond with nature through urination, and end up wandering into a phenomenally complex spider web in which i meet the largest spider i've ever seen in my life (of course this could be an exaggeration due to the fact that our very brief exchange of greetings and salutations was made with the spider no more than an inch from my nose). i apologize for destroying his awe inspiring masterpiece and pee elsewhere.
page nine
Next, we decide to go bowling, but upon arrival at the bowling alley, decide, for reasons that may perhaps never be fully comprehended by human kind, not to bowl...
page ten
Instead we hop back in the cars and head off to karaoke. My shinning moments are singing 'The Passenger' by Iggy Pop solo and 'The Pirates of the Caribbean' as a triet (duet + 1 = ?) with Aya and Yuune.
page eleven
After karaoke we make a commemorative purikura (photo booth meets Japan) and head our separate ways. Aya, Yuune, Papa (as we call Aya's dad), and set our sails towards Yakiniku (basically a domesticated BBQ) for a feast of the utmost carnivorous stature. As we wait for our table Aya and i have a splendid staring match that never actually begins due to Aya's hysteric and uncontrollable laughter. It feels nice to laugh. We get our table and proceed to ferociously gorge ourselves, yet all the while, i think about becoming a vegetarian and feel rather confused...
Purikura =
page twelve
After dinner, Aya, Yuune, and i venture back home and take a family shower. i put Yuune down to sleep and end up dozing off at his side for a few winks. i wake up and make a cup of lemon-ginger tea that is somehow neither lemony nor gingery, but tasty all the same.
page thirteen
I feel the urge to play guitar, yet feel some how obligated to play piano; to work on "my album". i decide it best to trust my instincts and get out my my beautiful acoustic, oh how i adore it so! after awkwardly staggering through some rusty melodies (recently i've predominately been playing piano) i find satisfaction in a few harmonic based improvs. Next, it feels right to play piano. i improv for a while and then play through the songs for "my album", but they feel somewhat stale, static, as if they are losing their initial energy. Afterwards, i go on to play 'Now I lay me down to sleep', a piece i wrote with Nate, Darren, and Luis quite some time ago now. As i play, i think about them and wonder how their September 21st is, was, will be. I feel satisfied and decide for another cup of tea, this time a peach tea that i would normally never drink, and am rather surprised as i enjoy it thoroughly.
Luis = Genius (perhaps Deity)
page fourteen
i send an email to Gavin wishing him a happy September 21st and read his reply about how extraordinarily ordinary his day has been. i watch the end of the documentary Sprout again and contemplate life as Aya and i decide to relax with a little okyu (moxibustion). Afterwards, Aya discovers that what i had previously thought was lemon-ginger tea was actually 'Women's Nursing Mom Tea.' Aya asks me how i feel, i check my nipples for lactation, and we laugh as we go to bed. It feels nice to laugh again.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
