\hey/
Meet my bouncy buddy Rody
who needs a little more air to regain his bounciness.)
*********************
\hoho/
Meet Mr.Happy
who doesn’t mind being kept inside
a glass cake display.
*********************
\hello/
Prewar kokeshi (wooden Japanese doll)
that was probably sold
at a souvenir shops in Kyoto back in the days.
I found them at an antique store
and I just couldn’t resist
bringing them back home with me.
***********************
How many things with a face
do you have in your room?
Hopefully,
by the time I upload all the photos
I’ve taken in NY,
spring will be here.
Quick quick,
because I don’t have
that many more left.
A warm cloudy day
or
a cold sunny day.
I think I take the latter one though.
Peter Pan Bakery
727 Manhattan Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11211
Mon-Sat: 9 am – 8 pm
Sun: 9 am – 7 pm
Once in a while,
it’s good to treat yourself
to a HUGE donuts that is covered
with frosting.
Right?
**************************
Support local businesses!
I will go support one tonight
here in Tokyo.
Tonight,
in my dream
I
would
like
to
swim
in
water
that
is
neither
cold or warm.
These photos were taken when
my older sister Akiko
came to visit me in NY.
We had never seen so much snow
in our whole life
(except for when we went skiing, I guess.)
that we just had to laugh
at how crazy things seemed.
*******************************
The day she arrived,
we were walking around Manhattan
and we decided to get a hotdog on the street
because that seemed like
a NY-thing to do.
(well, it seemed that way to us.)
So anyways, we got it.
That was the very first thing she had in NY
…and
….it was like
….the most ordinary hotdog you could ever ask for.
It was so ordinary that we just had to laugh.
The expectation we had for
a hotdog bought in NY
and the reality…
Oh the gap!!
And since we couldn’t stop laughing
and since the wind was blowing so hard,
our hotdog started to get cold.
We were so lost in Manhattan
and we were freezing
holding a semi-frozen hotdog in our hand.
It was so sad and funny
at the same time that
we just couldn’t stop laughing.
*************************************
After the laughs,
even the blizzard that
completely changed our plans in NY
seemed like it wasn’t such a big deal.
After the laughs,
even the most boring hotdog seemed
worth our time and money.
(…and it was.)
I’m not saying what’s happening now is
the same as our experience with
snow or the hotdog
but I am going to try to remember
the importance of laughter,
because that is what’s going to
change and improve the situations.
And though this earthquake is obviously
what made me think about what I just wrote,
I’m not just talking about the catastrophe in Japan
but about things that are
happening around the world.
*************************
I’ve been struggling between my mind
that keeps telling me that
it’s inappropriate to be laughing or smiling now.
(So I had been rather frown-y and depressed these days.)
But I know that isn’t true.
People who could laugh should laugh.
People who must cry should cry
until their heart is a little healed than now.
Smiles and laughter are contagious
so…
more and more laughter
to the world
and for the world.
自分に今できること。
節電、節水、募金…色々あるけれど、
でも、それでも
自分は役立たずな気持ちがしてならないね。
そんな時、ふと思ったのは
近くにいる人にもっと優しくなろう、ってこと。
明日からは、
些細なことで
イライラしたりピリピリするのはやめよう。
電力だってそうだけど、
心のエネルギーも
賢く使おう。
「優しさ」や「思いやり」の
波紋は
広がっていくものだから、
一人ひとりの人が、
今自分の近くにいる人をいたわれたら、
それは、なんらかのカタチで
日本中に、そして世界中に広がっていくはず。
「やるせなさ」を心から拭い去ることはできないから、
その代わり
「やさしさ」で心を染めよう。
I used to say
‘spring better arrive here soon
just because I wanted to wear my new dress,
just because I wanted to see flowers blooming,
and just because
I was simply tired of the cold weather.
Now, I will say the same thing,
except this time,
I will say
for all those people who are freezing in the darkness
without heat or light.
So spring, you better arrive here soon.
Waking up.
It’s sunny outside.
So unreal to think about
what’s happening in Japan right now.
I brew some coffee like an ordinary day.
I turn on the TV like an ordinary day
but what I see there
is nothing ordinary.
*****************************
In the middle of the night,
I open my eyes
feeling even the slightest aftershocks.
I wasn’t scared.
I felt calm.
Just opening my eyes
feeling sorry for the people who are
freezing, starving and trembling with fears.
At least I’m at home.
Warm inside my bed.
Somewhere in my mind,
I feel guilty.
********************************
It may be wrong to say this
when so many people are still suffering
but when things like this happen,
I always think that the nature is angry
for we won’t stop destroying the nature.
If we lived the nature-way,
the earthquake would have just been part of ‘living.’
It’s the sky scraper, nuclear plants dams
all the other things we created
that make this kind of event a disaster.
**************************************
Yesterday,
in the midst of the earthquake,
I was thinking how comforting it could be
to hold on to a tree
standing on my feet, on the ground,
instead of a cement ground.
We make houses and strong buildings
to shelter ourselves
but, when things like this happen,
you wish you were in open space
where you could see the sky
and feel the earth.
***************************************
Regardless of what I said,
I really do hope that the situation
starts to look better.
I hope the phone connections come back
so the family could make sure
that their loved ones are safe.
I say this because I know how comforting it is
and how energizing it is
to know that the people you love are safe.
Bewitched 
