Ordinary Strangeness

Strange Weather in Tokyo
Hiromi Kawakami

If I try with right amount of effort I could almost see them with their beer or sake, feasting on tuna with fermented soybeans and all those izakaya bar food. The protagonist is 40, and I'm around the same age. I haven't accomplished much but I've been fortunate enough to have the ability to delve maturely into what I'm reading by matching it with an experience. I've tried natto in an Izakaya before and it's an acquired taste. A chilly autumn has brushed my skin. I've seen faces of strangers and it could have been theirs.

somewhere around Shibuya. I couldn't remember the name. It was good place. A famous izakaya to see nomikai first hand. I am thankful to my hosts.

Both the novels I read from Hiromi Kawakami (Strange Weather in Tokyo and The Nakano Thrift Shop) take on ordinary people. The ordinariness is engaging, an effortless joy to read. It's easy to identify with the flawed personalities of their characters. Flaws that forms their charm. "Even a cracked pot has a lid that fits." It's an easy read but it invites you to immerse into the character's psyche, which you will find, is almost a bit like your own. And while the reads are easy and concise, like haikus, it reveals the teeming beauty of ordinary things, prolonged nightfall, a glow in the sky, seemingly gentle feelings that are exploding inside us. Murmurs are so loud.

Little Bells

He descends the stairs to his piano and practices La Campanella by Liszt. He's discovered music in his heart, found out how meaningful it is, what a joy it is to share music. She's awake but she's still sleepy. I scoop her up from the bed and she lays her head on my shoulder to sleep more while I dance her along to La Campanella. She's three now, getting heavy, so I'd like to hold on as long as I can. She's potty-trained now, almost deliberately. She sings her soul out, learning and expressing herself through song. "When you feel so mad, and want to roar, take a deep breath and count to four." 

D. makes us delicious pancakes and starts to prepare lunch. These days, she and I spend afternoons in cafes near our daughter's school. We eat our lunch boxes then books and coffee or milk tea. Sometimes we shop, run errands or some groceries. The two of us alone, holding hands again as if loving is a constant first time. The commute or the drive is not always easy, but the afternoons are all golden.   

The little bells keep playing.

Labu-labong dahilan para hindi makatulog.

Farmer couple shot in Bukidnon
http://davaotoday.com/main/human-rights/farmer-couple-shot-in-bukidnon/?fbclid=IwAR0bhc6fFnpz57uBQWeA3PAqun4vt4B8l1I7dKY7yeuqeY82jajtZsWS93k



Why Do Cyclists Keep Dying in New York City?
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2593062237371112
It’s been a deadly summer for New York City cyclists. Here’s what that means for cyclists across the U.S.

Villanueva says POGOs only 'kill' the local economy
Sen Joel Villanueva said that the growth of the POGO industry will "create a real estate bubble," as rental prices rack up to as much as 140% more.

Casilao: 83 deaths recorded in Negros since last year
Nasa 83 na ang naitalang nasawi sa serye ng pagpatay sa Negros Oriental, na posible umanong pakana ng gobyerno na isinisisi lang sa NPA, ayon kay Defend Negros Movement convenor Ariel Casilao.

Filipino natives forced out of their ancestral lands by Chinese capital
efe.com
The Philippine government says the planned Kaliwa Dam will guarantee a stable water supply for the overpopulated capital, Manila. The project, set to be finished by 2023, will cost about US$232.5 million, 85% of which is financed by Exim Bank, one of China’s many state banks.

What the official narrative leaves out are the loan’s terms and conditions, which allow China to take control over the mineral-rich area if the Philippines is unable to keep up with the payment plan’s deadlines.

Instead

"She has teardrop eyes." Her teacher said.

Thinking of the thousand endearing expressions on her face, I smile at her with an accumulating joy. My heart is full. She sings and dances as if it was just another natural gesture. She sees my pocket and says, "there's a wocket in your pocket!" In the middle of a conversation, she asks, can we play instead?

I wonder how she learned the word "instead."

In our interview for her first school, we were asked how much time we spend with her. 24 x 7 with D., and the same for me, I suppose, except for the hours I work in another room at home, running, or picking up her brother from school.

I wonder about the words she'll learn and how she'll never cease to be fascinating.

A Family Portrait by V. (3.1 years)

Doodles in ink, by I. (9 years)

One of Us Did

When your friends do what you can't accomplish, you feel redeemed. One of us did. And look we're still all hanging out in place that looks like the final shot of a movie. Rambling on conversations without being judged. Otherwise often insightful. Thank you for this happily ever now. 

P.S. Maybe because we'd laugh at anything, at ourselves. Even the old stories and jokes about us are still funny. Eternal recurrence of laughter. 

Tromboned

"I play the trombone." F.,  1年生中学生, told me.

"Oh, do you like marching bands?" I asked, genuinely excited.

"いいえ." (No). She said.

She must think I'm such a nerd.