Hello April, it finally feels like spring!
How fabulous is it outside these days? I’ve finally started waking up earlier (thank you sunshine!), which means I can walk to work (no rush hour!) while admiring the cherry blossoms along the river. It doesn’t get much better than that.
March was full of ups and downs. Cold days, sunny days. Fun days with friends, sick days in bed. Sobbing sad days, fabulously confident days. Thankfully though, more ups than downs, which were mostly in my head anyways.
I’ve come to realize that I am not that great at thinking long-term. You know the whole what-do-you-want-to-do-with-your-life discussion? Thinking about it makes me go bat shit crazy at times. I know what I’d like to do next week…but ten years from now? Um, I could be anywhere doing a multitude of things. And I would probably be happy just to be alive and well. But sometimes that answer is just not enough for this tough world. Which brings in the bat shit craziness.
I’m hoping April will bring answers. Or at least some peace of mind. Until then, maybe you can tell me how you deal with things you can’t control in life…like the future?
Looking forward to more warm days outside under the sun! How about you? x
——————————————————-Link Love——————————————————-
– I could use this in my apartment.
– This article about the world of Miyazai Hayao by Priscilla Ahn.
– Hope the sky is clear for the eclipse on April 4th!
– Also, this eclipse song is genius (even though it’s for a past eclipse).
Kaori Square Feet 
I like those swing chairs. With that top one you don’t even need a strong ceiling. I like the third one maybe the most. It’s a matter of headroom.
Your “future” question has me contemplating. From: “Things have a way of working out, until they don’t.” To: The definition of no future—an affair with a married person. (I’m going to leave her soon.” Yeah, if and when a synonym for “soon” becomes “never”).
I am approaching the age when an old comedian who lived to 100 said, “At my age I don’t even buy green bananas.” Maybe my goals are in line with my advancing age. (And yes, I sometimes throw all caution to the wind and really live precariously by buying greenish bananas. But only if ripe ones aren’t available.)
Defined goals are good. Psycho-cybernetics fits in here (as if I ever had any goals). A quote from the link: “…a person's outer success can never rise above the one visualized internally.”
An existential crisis, such as you may be going through, can often be a prelude to…
Hey, maybe you will arrive home tomorrow and find that a distant relative passed away and left you in their will a quaint but profitable bookstore.
Thank you. Thank for the Priscilla Ahn Miyazaki link. I’m looking forward to “When Marnie Was There.” That type of Ghibli movie has been my favorite. Like “Only Yesterday” (おもひでぽろぽろ). And “Ocean Waves,” also known as “I Can Hear the Sea” (海がきこえる). Although I don’t know much about “Marnie.”
We had some of the same kind of 菜の花 blooming around here as in your photo. That’s great how you captured them with cherry blossoms. This is a great time to drive into rural California. The hills look so green and lushly soft before they turn to sere, withered brown scrub like a month from now.
I have been away from Tokyo so long I have no idea where that train is. At first I thought it was a Chuo train somewhere from Kichijoji / Nakano to Chiba. But then remembered that Seibu Shinjuku has yellow trains too. But really, no idea.
As always—nice links.
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The green banana joke had me laughing! I tend to buy green-ish bananas but that's just because I like to eat non-freckled bananas. It's a weird thing I have and once the banana starts to get freckles, I just make banana bread.
“a quaint but profitable bookstore.” Wouldn't that be nice? 🙂
I haven't seen When Marnie Was There either but I did see Priscilla Ahn perform her song live at a Starbucks in Roppongi. I love the way she sings. So glad we were introduced to her voice through a Ghibli movie.
I've never heard of the other Ghibli movies. It says on wikipedia that Only Yesterday had the song The Rose. I LOVE that song. So beautiful and I it always makes me wish I could sing a four part harmony by myself.
I'm not sure what that train is either. So many different lines are connected now. It's very odd seeing the Seibu Shinjuku line train in Yokohama because they are now connected through the Tokyo Metro Fukutoshin Line. But the photo was taken near Higashi Nakano station so I'm guessing the train running the Sobu Line 😀
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I have been away from Tokyo so long now that I forgot the name of the Sobu Line. But, yes, I can see that. I am guessing you must have been facing in the Mitaka direction. I walked by that spot very early one morning when I walked home from Shinjuku. Having missed the last train I was planning on spending the night in a movie theater but the movie happened to be titled Cocktail with Tom Cruise in it. I have never forgiven him. I couldn’t stomach watching it more than the once I suffered through. “Ah. Fresh air and exercise. Yes!”
Higashi Nakano makes me think of the most comfortable restaurant I have ever been in. It was based on a northern Afghanistan tent that resembled a Mongolian yurt. Soft carpets, seating on the carpeted floor/ground, round fabric walls. I really hated to leave. An “iteration” of the place may still be there, but it is different in structure. One of those funky places that now has a top hat like here. If it is still ongoing it is no longer a tent as you can see. I don’t know if they have a vegetarian menu.
I am very conscious of freckling bananas myself these days. An acquaintance mentioned having a NutriBullet so I got one of my own. I like to get organic bananas and lop off a third of a length or so of peel and all and dump it in along with kale salad, nuts, homemade fizzy soda, et al. But something about those black freckles makes me peel the bananas and toss the peels before blending.
Oh. The Rose. Have you seen the Bette Midler movie it is from? The movie is loosely based on Janis Joplin. Rest her soul. I saw her, Janis, but only when she came on stage at a festival (at which I also saw Jimi Hendrix actually perform) to tell us that she would be performing the next day or so. I also saw Joe Cocker that day-to-night (rest his soul, recently, as well). I ever after referred to him as a puppet manipulated by a spastic puppeteer.
Wow. You saw Priscilla Ahn at a venue as small as a Starbucks. What a memory and privilege. It makes me think of seeing Jannie Littlepage at a tiny bakery/lunch spot. Or Jim Messina playing at a local “cool” restaurant (he of Loggins and Messina fame). [I once delivered Kenny Loggin’s groceries he forgot on Christmas Eve. And I met Jim Messina once. He said he liked a poem I had written for his “girlfriend” at the time].
I used to totally butcher Dannie’s Song while bicycling home from that greenhouse job.
That quaint bookshop? I wonder if this would help get you started.
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Sorry to be a bit anal, but that train is the Chuo-Sobu Line. 😉 I use it every day and it is the bane of my existence. Well, maybe out west it is better. I always hate when I am in Shinjuku late and miss the Chuo Line (the orange one) and have to take the Chuo-Sobu to Ochanomizu. Just feels like forever. Plus, the Chuo-Sobu is extremely crowded from Akihabara. Ah, the trains in Japan. I do have a love/hate relationship with them. 😀
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The world is always full of ups and downs and what I learned in HS and University, you just have to say “fuckit”. If the banana is brown, open it up and see if it is still good to eat, or make banana bread or banana muffins. If the banana is bad, then just toss it out and buy new ones. Same goes for relationships. 😉
PS: A Jamaican friend had a completely brown banana and I was surprised to see him eat it. Was still really good inside. Apparently it is very normal down there.
Regarding the future, I am only recently thinking about my future. A bit late but it is necessary now. I used to only think a year in advance, at the most. I had ideas, such as “I'll go home next year or in 2 years” or “I want to go to this place at this time”. I never really had plans on a career or other things. With what I'm doing now, and hopefully I can announce it by the end of the year, I need a 10 year plan at the least. Well, things always go slowly but it is going. Just take things step by step and it will come.
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That's for letting us know! I can't tell one from the other because I try to keep away from the Chuo/Sobu line as much as possible ;D
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My best friend's dad in grade school told me that when the banana goes brown, it eventually crystallizes and turns into brown sugar. I am the naive one that actually believed that for the longest time! Haha. But I still can't eat brown bananas so I'll go with your suggestion and just make banana bread. I have a good recipe 😀
Good luck with your 10 year plan. I've decided I can look into the future, but certain things will always be vague for me. Happy, healthy, and doing something worthwhile. Not sure what HR will say but it's a start for me.
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I just listened to Priscilla Ahn’s album A Good Day. I loved it. I think you prefer female vocalists but somehow I felt that I enjoyed this as much as when I first listened to Donovon’s Sunshine Superman. Jewel at the title track here. And Donovan himself here (I am so sorry for the commercials).
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I fooled a friend into thinking chocolate comes from ostriches. From the eggs or something like that. He was confused, to say the least, and me and my friend were laughing way too hard. Never let him live that one down.
You probably know my 10 year plan now. Although I do know that most plans usually take twice as long as you expect. As they say, one step at a time. First step, where is that next walkpedition/walkabout happening?
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