Maya in Gotanda on 12.22. We were there killing time before going to Tokyo Disneyland, looking for gloves for our mutual friend Fabien (to replace a pair of his we had lost at a nightclub).
It was a little bit creepy of me to take this picture, but I thought it was too cute to resist (I did, creepily, ask their father's permission to take it). This was at Tokyo Disneyland on the 22nd. Part of the glow in the frame is from the enormous Christmas tree that dominates the central mall around Christmastime.
Until recently, these were everywhere. I'm not sure if these are properly called kadomatsu or not, but their purpose is to welcome good spirits into the home for the new year.
My freshly organized bookshelf. The door on the left leads into the entryway-kitchen.
My cramped prefabricated bathroom. The bathtub on the right is deep, but so narrow that it's impossible to take a shower without constantly rubbing against the shower curtain.
My desk, with bed and balcony visible.'tis a cold, bleak day in the Land of the Rising Sun, and all around me deadlines are closing in like a determined pack of hyenas. But in the end I am a professional procrastinator, hence this post.
I spent the last few days in a deplorable state of acute procrastination paralysis, culminating in a disastrous attempt to bike 30km+ to Maya's place on the far north side of Tokyo. I figured it was well worth an attempt, since round-trip train fare between our dorms costs something like $17. The satellite images I was navigating by were a few years old, so I was thrown off by some major new construction and missed an important turn. I then muddled my way to the correct road, but from the wrong direction, so I wound up heading south (back where I had come from) instead of north (to Maya's place). In the end, I had traced a 24 kilometer upside-down V shape through southwestern Tokyo, winding up closer to where I had started than where I wanted to go. I finally suspected something was wrong when I noticed a sign for a highway that I recognized, and stopped at a police box to ask for directions.
After puzzling over the wrong section of the map for a while, the officer broke into a laughing fit when he finally realized just how lost I was. "Damn. Well, you're on the right road, but Sasame-doori is way over here. You'll have to go way, way, way up this way, back the way you came," he said, digging his fingernail into the map as he traced the route north, and laughing again. He saw me off with a wave and wishes for a safe trip, and I started biking again toward Maya's place. By this time the sun had set and it was getting cold. I had been biking for two hours and was faced with three hours more.
I called Maya, and she convinced me to just give up and take the train. I found the nearest station (Kugahara) within a few minutes (I love you, Japan). I spent the night at Maya's watching Flight of the Conchords and a movie called Benny and Joon (with Johnny Depp!), and in the morning was treated to a pretty fantastic omelet.
I struggled home in the late afternoon, finally in the mood to get down to work. And of course, as soon as I opened my computer, I realized the internet wasn't working in my dorm. Again. The connection here is always overtaxed, particularly during the early evening. Just about the only times I can get a swift connection are the godforsaken hours between 12am and 8 am.
I needed to use the internet in order to do my work, so in the end I hopped back on my bike, with all of my books, and set out in search of it. I wound up buying a cup of coffee at a cozy, wifi-enabled Doutour near Motosumiyoshi Station, and working (lurking) there for the three hours until closing time, surrounded by my books and papers.
Alright, I have to get to work...
But three things first:
Britain, looking like some scene out of a Roland Emmerich film.
I love this video: A train passing through a Bangkok market.
And some of the most extraordinary CGI I've ever seen. You can search for "The Third and the Seventh" on Youtube, if it doesn't load for you. EVERYTHING in the video is computer-generated. Watch it in full-screen mode ^ ^
More soon...
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