Happy Thanksgiving!
Enjoy yourselves, and enjoy your birds…and may the Creator’s blessings be upon you and yours this holiday season Know that I’ll be enjoying your bird (and the fixings) vicariously in this turkey-free land Loco
Archive | November, 2009
Waikiki via Japan pt.4
Waikiki is really beautiful despite the efforts of commercialization! I could almost see what it used to be before it became what it is now. Like the original wood moldings carved by Italian artisans in the late 1800s that resides beneath the atrocious peeling lead-based paint in a Brooklyn brownstone. I would have loved to have experienced that Waikiki. But, [...]
Waikiki via Japan pt.3
The thing is, since I’ve moved to Japan, in my heart and mind, America has become this oasis of tolerance in a desert of bias, a harbor of humanity in a stormy sea of chauvinism and xenophobia, and, at the risk of sounding President Bush-whacked, a beacon of freedom and diversity in a dark, putrid, pit of prejudice and [...]
A strange thing happened on the way to Yokohama…
This morning I was on the train checking my emails when we pulled into the station. It was packed to the teeth and about to get more so judging from the lines on the platform before the door near me. I turned around and braced for the surge. And it came. As usual the surge [...]
Waikiki via Japan pt.2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGPbvOirz8I]
It’s my fault, though. I made a couple of glaring mistakes. The first: Whenever my Japanese friends have told me about their trips to Hawaii, they invariably mention that what held the greatest appeal for them, what alleviated most of their anxiety about traveling to a foreign country, is that Japanese is spoken everywhere. Hotels, shops, police [...]
Waikiki via Japan: pt.1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AepyGm9Me6w]
Me: Have you ever been to America? 1000 Japanese People I’ve spoken to over the past 6 years: No, I haven’t. But, I have been to Hawaii. Me: Hawaii is in America, you know. 1000 Japanese People I’ve spoken to over the past 6 years: You know what? You’re right! Me: (To myself) Damn right, [...]
The shops of Yokohama Station
Convo this morning 11/11/09 8:55am (Mostly in Japanese) Me: (huffing and puffing appropriately) I’m so sorry I’m late! Kumi: Are you ok? I was worried. Me: I’m sorry. I was looking for a locker in Yokohama station for my suitcase. Kumi: That’s right, you’re going away after work… Me: It was very difficult. My bag is [...]
Something Beautiful
I remember the first time I read Toni Morrison’s masterpiece, “Beloved.” (I say ‘first time’ because it took me three reads to fully absorb it.) She changed all my ideas about what writing was all about. She went ahead and set the bar so high I couldn’t even see it. Not to suggest that before there [...]
On the couch #2
continued from On the couch #1: Me: I mean, I like Japanese girls, but then again I like all kinds of girls…. Doc: I thought we were going to be honest. Me: Ain’t I? Doc: I’ve read your blog, Mister…I mean, Loco…I read ALL of it! Every post! Remember you sent me the link? You suggested [...]
On the couch #1
Me: First off, I want to say thank you for seeing me on such short notice… Doc: No need to thank me, Mr….Loco, is it? Me: Yeah, but without the Mister… Doc: Is that your real name? Me: Why? You think Loco is a crazy name? Doc: Do you? Me: I thought it was just kinda cool [...]
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Raw Like Sushi