Did you ever have something as a kid, and then just ache for it later when it was long gone and you were grown up? For me it was a jigsaw puzzle of a dragon and a castle. I remember I got it for Christmas one year and me and my Mom put it together. We admired it for a couple days, and I put the pieces back in the box and stuck it up into the closet. We would bring it out every so often and put all the pieces back together again. It's a fantastical picture with beautiful imaginary flowers and a calm blue sea and a white castle in the distance. We wanted to step into that mythical place, to smell the flowers, to feel the coolness of the stone castle, to feel the gentle sea-breeze on our faces.
I don't know what happened to that puzzle. It must have gotten thrown out at some point, and it's made me sad these past few years, not having it. I'd like to visit that place again. Even though I can't put it together with my Mom, at least I can go back there. Maybe she's in that picture somewhere. Maybe when this is all over we get to go to places like that--the places we've imagined and longed for.
Every so often I go to Ebay to look for it. There must be millions of different puzzles out there, and finding my one puzzle is like looking for a needle in a haystack. I've spent hours and hours and years and years looking for that puzzle.
And today: miracle of miracles. Out of the blue I decided to peruse Ebay and my search for dragon puzzled turned up this:That's my puzzle! That's it! I remember those flowers. I remember studying the pieces for color and texture for each of those flowers, and for the scales of the dragon's back and for the little spires on that far off castle! That's my puzzle. And the best part? I won it this evening! If I decided to do a search for something else the puzzle would have been gone forever since there was already a bid on it and the bidding ended this evening. I am so lucky! Hopefully it should be waiting for me when I get back from Japan. I am so happy I found it. And it was only $5.51!! I would have paid fifty bucks for it but I'm glad I didn't have to. Oh it will be wonderful to get those pieces in my hands again.
This week I've been getting up early and instead of checking email and leisurely browsing the internet, I've been going jogging. I wanted to see how painful this will be when I have to do it in Sado in a week or so. I cheat and actually allow myself a few sips of coffee, but then I have to find a t-shirt and pull on my running shoes and I'm out the door with my ipod. It takes me 5 minutes or so to wake up and by the 10 minute mark I'm nice and sweaty. But you know what else?
I'm cranky! That's what I am. Getting up at 6 is hard enough, but then running a couple of miles before the coffee kicks in is downright cruel. The sun isn't even up. My body is tight. My mind is foggy. I can hear my heartbeat inside my ears, and why the @*%# am I doing this again?
By the end of the jog I'm fine and my body is happy and awake and everything feels great and a part of me is saying, I should do this every morning! But we'll see. This was one of the last things I wanted to try to conquer before my big trip, and I think I'm good to go!
It's been a long summer, and I have to say that I am pretty exhausted. I'm not even sure where summer began but what with all the Ghosts & Girls shows, my extra practice sessions, my new song, teaching two levels of taiko, visits from friends, a visit home, drum camp drama, physical training, holding down a full time job, drum repairs, several gigs, and now, the excitement of preparation for my trip to Sado (which is NEXT WEEK), I'm tired. It's more mental than anything. When my schedule is as packed as it is, I like to break things down and figure out what is coming next, and then focus and prepare for that, and then when that is over, do the same thing for the next thing. It keeps me from going insane, but requires copious list-making and concentration. It's like I build this momentum of sprinting from one hurdle to the next and I just want to be able to see the finish line for once. It would be nice to have a little break after Sado where I can go to sleep and not wake up with thoughts racing through my head about what I need to deal with next. But don't get me wrong--I love the excitement and having to prepare for things. It's that journey of having to deliver something that makes me better and more experienced.
Sado is my last hurdle, but getting here has been a long journey.
I think my next goal will be to have the leisure time to read a novel with a cup of tea or watch an episode of a TV show from start to finish.
But first, it's Sado. I've been looking forward to this for a long time.
Gearing up for my upcoming trip to Sado. It's going to be fantastic. Tonight I was on the kitchen floor preparing omiyage for all the wonderful people I will encounter:The suggestion was to bring something that represented yourself, so naturally, I am bringing Moleskine notebooks. I got a bunch of the plain cahiers and I decorated the covers with vintage, royalty-free labels: I was going for the Americana look. They're going to be rad.
Now that I have omiyage worked out, I still need to figure out my own packing. I've been putting all stuff I want to bring on a bench. I think I still need to master the whole concept of travelling light:Yes, it's still unorganized, but hey--I'm more than a week out and at least I'm thinking about these things. It's not that much stuff, actually. Plus we get to bring two bags. I'm bringing one suitcase, and one hefty, but NOT-backpack-across-Europe-sort of backpack. It's more of a large daypack (it's that orange thing under the bench). We have to divide our luggage between our initial arrival and journey to Sado, and then one bag for when we get to Sado and then back to Tokyo. I've been to Japan before, so I know that I need to be prepared to sweat, to be prepared for crowded modes of transport, and that I don't need as much clothes as I think I do. Lightweight and quick-dry ought to do the trick. I'm also bringing one pair of running/trekking shoes (for running up this semi-ficticious mountain every morning), and also my pair of trusty Keen sandals. Last time I went to Japan those sandals took me everywhere. They're the most comfortable things I own besides my birthday suit.
This is going to be an exciting journey. I'll be in good company. I'll be pursuing taiko. I'll be meeting new people and going on great adventures. I just need to figure out if there is enough room in my suitcase for all the bachi I want to bring back. . .
Yes, I love watching the Olympics, but boy is the jet lag getting me down. I love the drama and the visceral emotion of the games. I love rooting for the underdogs and cheering on who we hope is going to win, and the horrible, sore, disappointment we feel when our heroes don't deliver. I hate going to my internet homepage and seeing the results before they're actually aired on late night TV--talk about skipping to the end of a book. I've taken to eating dinner at 11 at night and staying up just a little bit longer to watch the results. This makes it really hard to wake up in the morning and function during the late afternoon stretch. Last weekend I was glued to the Women's Marathon. The Marathon, people! That's got to be the least of leastest action-packed events. But as a long-distance runner can you blame me for being glued to the screen as the commentators pour over every last bit of emotional detail that could possibly be going through the mind of someone whose event lasts two and a half hours, as opposed to, say, a diver, whose event lasts something like one one-billionth of a second? I like the mumbly sound of commentators and the roar of the crowd going off as I take a moment to do something normal like fold my clothes or wash the dishes. Thank goodness for the instant replay.
Took a trip to LA to spend some time with my family. On the auspicious day of 08-08-08, I went fishing with my Dad on a boat out of the Redondo Beach Marina. Fishing is the closest I get to that primal feeling of killing my own food and being on top of the food chain using the ancient tools of hook and line to drag my dinner out of the sea. There is a part of me that actually likes pulling the little bait fish out of the tank and impaling it on a hook and throwing my line out to chance. Here is a leftover fish I found in our gunny sack:They squirm and fight in their own way when you stick the hook through them. For some reason, when I'm on a swaying boat with a bunch of other fisherman, I don't feel remorse for the little fish. You just cover their eyes and they stop squirming in your hand.
I caught a sand bass, which I'm told, is good eating. My friend caught a baracuda, which we're having for dinner tomorrow night.
We don't go far off the coast. On the day we went out they had us anchored just off shore where they have the oil refineries and a large boat the like I've never seen so close to shore: One of the things that makes these fishing trips so nice are the deckhands. They know exactly what they're doing, and what you're doing, even if, like me, you don't no idea what you're doing. When you've got something on your line all of a sudden a salty, bare-chested man is at your side telling you how to pull your fish aboard and clearing the way of the other fishermen so you can get your catch on deck. They are right there with a grappling spear and pulling the hook out of the fish's mouth and bagging the beast. They're nice guys. Total dudes in every sense of the word, but nice. These fishing boats are definitely an insightful glimpse into MAN-WORLD. A neat place to visit, but not where I want to live. But fun.
When we've pulled up our lines and are heading back to the dock, they offer to clean and/or fillet your fish for you. Here is my salty deckhand cleaning our catches of the day:Knife. Muscles. Tatoos. That's MAN-WORLD if you ask me. That's my Dad to the right of him. Man of the Universe, my Dad. That teeny fish Ol' Salty is cleaning--that's my big catch of the day.
But fishing comes with its annoyances. One of the most annoying things, besides tangled lines, are the other wildlife that wreak havoc. First are the seals, which bite the bodies off the bait fish you've got on your hook. They'll leave the heads on, because that's where the hooks are, but then you have to rebait, which is a pain. The other even more annoying things are the pelicans. They're endangered, so you can't harm them, and they also love to eat your bait fish. The problem with the pelicans is that they'll eat the hooks too, so you'll have a darn bird at the end of your line. You have to pull them in and get them off your line. I saw one guy who pulled a pelican in and he just cut the line off, leaving the hook stuck in the poor bird's tongue. There was a little boy fishing who caught a pelican, and my Dad helped pull the bird in and he unhooked the bird, leaving the bird unscathed and unhooked. My Dad is a hero--to me and the pelicans. But he also said that the salt water is so caustic that the hooks dissolve in a couple of weeks, but still. I saw a pelican get unhooked and he went right back again after our bait. They're not dumb, but not particularly smart either. After I saw that I found it hard to sympathize too much with the pelicans. But still, my Dad is my hero.
Here is a video of the pelicans who followed us back to the port as Ol' Salty was cleaning fish and throwing the innards and junk into the sea:
Endangered? Really? Reminds me of an old Hitchcock movie if you ask me.
But it was a fun day. I like getting to participate in my Dad's world. Plus we get dinner tomorrow night. All you have to do is wrap the fish in some tin foil along with some salsa and cilantro and throw it in the oven for 20 minutes. Squeeze a little lemon and serve it with some steamed rice and it's delicious. Yeah, it's good being on top of the food chain.
I was being naughty and checking out Cute Overload at work today, and I innocently clicked on Dramatic Kitty and was on the floor in one those horrible, uncontrollable laughing fits. It didn't help that they posted Dramatic Chipmunk too.
Had a really great Ghosts and Girls show again at RCW. This is the last one for now. The show went smoothly with only a hiccup here and there. We messed up Kai again, but this time it didn't bother me. It wasn't so bad that we actually had to stop, but we faked it a little and there was a minute where I was like, ok, where is this going now? But we made it. Janet apologized to me but it doesn't matter. I think the experience of working on it and nailing it at Born to Drum has offered me redemption and peace of mind for the rest of my life. It's OK to mess up Kai to Ryu because I know that we can play it right.
But the crowd was great. That really makes a difference. There's a line at the end where Brenda says: I don't know how the story ends. Maybe the two lovers got back together and lived happily ever after? And it was funny because people in the audience yelled out "Yeah!" Final Rehearsal
I like the idea of happily ever after too. It feels really good that we ended this series of shows on a good note. Such great and talented people to play with. I'm so lucky and so happy.
That's my puzzle! That's it! I remember those flowers. I remember studying the pieces for color and texture for each of those flowers, and for the scales of the dragon's back and for the little spires on that far off castle! That's my puzzle. And the best part? I won it this evening! If I decided to do a search for something else the puzzle would have been gone forever since there was already a bid on it and the bidding ended this evening. I am so lucky! Hopefully it should be waiting for me when I get back from Japan. I am so happy I found it. And it was only $5.51!! I would have paid fifty bucks for it but I'm glad I didn't have to. Oh it will be wonderful to get those pieces in my hands again.
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