8.7.08
today i bought
a camera
a gps
a mp3 player
a wifi internet browser device
a celluar internet modem
a radio
an ip phone
a personal organizer
a video player
except they are all one device
and that device is a cell phone
with a replacable battery
and
copy and paste

i bought a nokia n95 because my old phone broke
if you think the iphone is hot shit check out the other smart phones


8.2.08
rocks
i can see how it would be easy to start a rock collection
in fact in my life ive started many
life is a series of rock collections

money
if you hate money
it is nice to be able to make it unseen
by putting it somewhere that doesnt even physically exist
it is just a concept that can be quantified on a computer of an atm
if you hate money it is nice to never even touch it
and when you have to use it to never think about it

animals
people look like animals
sometimes it strikes me how wierd it is that we are all wearing clothes
and hiding in buildings
and doing things like
blushing
making myths
working for things other than survival

aji
means flavor in japanese
but is used to describe patena
this rock has great flavor coming out
to make flavor come out of rocks you water them every day
to make flavor come out of a knife you use it every day
flavor is not something you can buy, unless you want someone else's flavor
some people love flavor and value it
other people want flavor to not exist
these are teflon people
faces have flavor
jeans have flavor
toilets
bars of soap
coat hangers
the marks left by repetitive use, however long or short
make up
disposable
most coatings
public persona/private persona dicotomy
air fresheners
these things are anti-flavor

7.15.08
things i fantasized showing a fictional tv show that visits people's houses at random:
how i make yogurt
my book collection
selected bizzare seasonings
knives
a collection of dried fish skin that i had arranged
my herb garden
the contents of my refrigerator
my 100% nutritionally complete breakfast schematic
my object appreciation pedistal
a slab of marble

7.8.08
black rain
rewatch
filmed in osaka
after meeting the location scout
it makes it different after living here
but not very
like LA filmed by the bad betamaxs of NHK

7.7.08
i bought shampoo today
it was really exciting
dont know why
but i really like looking for something
and then finding something that is what i was looking for
and then buying it

if i didnt have to pay rent
i use so little money every month
i get food from the restaurant
i ride a bike everywhere
the shampoo i bought was worth the same as
30 eggs
which would make 15 days of lunch

i kept a list of things i bought last month
trash bags
cucumbers
onions
a bar of soap
a meter of chain
a bottle of beer
sandpaper
and a few other things

all kinds of great stuff comes from people i know
which is just how it works in Japan
what they get in return is work from me
and gifts that i regift in strategic ways

i just need to get rid of the rent

7.3.08
my ideal blog would be
a page that sits on the server that is passoword protected
and can be acessed from any browser
it only has a few functions
new post, delete post, upload image, number of posts to display on main page
it is all text interface
it generates a simple html file that mimicks hand coding
all style related elements are delegated to a style sheet
no templates or fancy bullshit
im working on writing this software
the database is kept in text file seperated by month only


7.2.08

周りの人
the people surrounding me
are very useful
they help me understand things
that cant be understood internally
the price i pay for these revelations
is time
lots of time
they told me i was too honest
that to fit in in japanese cultue
i have to
"put mud on my head"
which in amercia is summed up with the phrase
"it's not you it's me"
so i am preparing various kinds of mud to put on

7.1.08

i went to a far away school today
it was a beautiful day
more than anything i wanted to climb the mountain behind the school
but i was stuck doing busy work
and the children didnt know they were trapped in the school
i remember the distinct feeling of being trapped at school
and thinking about all the great things i could be doing
on a beautiful day
like today

6.29.08
when you learn japanese in the kitchens of osaka
you learn a very specialized japanese that most average people cant understand
and you can amaze people with your knowledge about japanese culture as long as it is related to food
but you can still mess up and mistake one for two
and yes for no
but you can always speak english to people and make them feel how you feel all the time
it is really hard to change from japanese mode to english mode
i dont think i could ever do silmutanious translation
speaking japanese is like seeing a color that doesnt exist to people who speak english
and then trying to describe a color they have never seen to someone
is really hard
you end up have to compromise, or tell them all of the culture behind a single translation
im sure that most translators just give them the best aproxomation

6.27.08

another long/short week
feels really long, but goes by fast
i had a meeting to "tie the roots"
in order to pull a giant portable shrine
they ordered me a happi coat
this is the same connection who introduced me to the cooking job
i owe him a lot
of gratitude
and another friend of mine
who pays millions of dollars in taxes
wants to hang out more
and the govener's cronie keeps calling me
to hang out at his favorite okinawan restaurant
im not sure what i've gotten myself into
but maybe it will mean not having to sell it weekdays for a visa
just to do what i want (work) on the weekends
and have no days off in between

why is your nose so tall?
is something that i get asked all the time
from adults and kids
so tall
my nose

the internet is reaching a point now where it is so useful
that you can be so picky about what you want to find
and still find it
it is making me more of a configurist
but i cant keep up with it
and my creativity is lagging behind it's usfullness
so i'll have to give up configurism and fight back
with minimalism
im already winning
but craigslist still has me beat



6.22.08

i had a bad day at work
followed by a good day at work
it is hard to do pure japanese stuff
it is so alien
i need to keep up my connections
i get in a bad habit of not contacting people
that i want, and should, keep in touch with
im sorry

6.20.08

i had some really good takoyaki just now
they included little crispy bits of deep fried beef back fat
what a great idea
6 for 300yen


6.19.08

the bike parking police stole my bike
cut my 6000yen lock
and charged me 2500yen to get it out of impound
i told them they were bad people
and they should get jobs that are not based on making people unhappy, damaging property, and inconveniencing people

i bought half a meter of "boat chain"
there was no way you could cut it without leverage from the floor and a 80kg japanese man
the guy fell down a few times while cutting it for me
1500yen
i got an ok lock
500yen
then i went to the bike shop and asked for a punctured tube
i put the chain in the tube
and put the lock in some tube so it wouldnt damage my bike
i wanted to lock my bike to the front gate of the impound lot
or report my bike stolen and lead the police to them (with cut lock and bolt cutters! red handed!)

i met a monk on a mountain
he is running a temple all alone
at the top
we exchanged hellos and i asked him
what do you think of money?
and he said
money was made by people but not all things made by people are bad (like money)
why, take roads for example
but animals make roads too
without even knowing it
why, take deer for example
today i want you to meditate on this
if man could make money like deer make roads
he said to me

bicycle seats suck
they are made out of sponges
and when it rains they get wet
so im making one out of leather and silicon
leftovers from the bag

i have tried so many times to keep my place clean. what is the trick exactly?



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