parisian elysium

Drowsiness prevails, and thoughts about Paris persist. However, I am almost settled in!

remembrance of things past

I’ve been in a state of flux for about two weeks, and there’s at least two more weeks to go. I think I’ve lost items on the way, and I’m not being metaphorical when I say this. I mean, yes, parts of my persona have probably been shed or altered through my travels, but I’m also pretty sure I’ve lost my beloved, multi-colored Audiotechnica earphones. I miss them a lot.

I dissected a giant squid tonight

I am back. Back as in I now have a working computer (though with a semi-functional return key) and can thus stare at glowing things all day, and also back as in I am in the U.S. for at least a couple of years. I plan to spend the next few years chomping on bagels with cream cheese & lox, stacking books higher and higher (I am going to be a student again), trying to be very disciplined at not talking about Japan all the time, and living in Washington, D.C. Hopefully, I can quell my travel lust by practicing the ukulele and kazoo more often. I might buy myself an accordion to weigh myself down in America.

From Tokyo it was Seoul and then Paris to visit a very good friend I hadn’t seen in two years.

I wielded with me a very large backpacking backpack on my back, a computer bag slung across my chest, and a suitcase the size of a giant squid. The Giant Squid Suitcase had in it two musical instruments wrapped in yards and yards (meters and meters) of bubble wrap and winter clothing.

I undressed the ukulele today, and it is in good condition.

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There’s an interview with me about zines on Tokyo Art Beat that you can read here. Jean Snow even linked to it, so it’s as if I briefly shook hands with an internet celebrity.

koinobori

I went to see carp banners (koinobori) today. The carp banners paint a lovely painting against the backdrop of the sky, and the mixture of colors lovingly mimics the kakigoori I ate, as well. But it’s the rustling sounds the carps make as they fly together that I like the most.

Rustling noises tend to belong to the category of All Things Nice, do they not? The sound of a small woodland animal rummaging through the forest, the swish-swish noises of a ruffly skirt…

Osaka

I couldn’t capture it accurately, but this man was the cutest dancer I have ever witnessed.