New Findings

You never know what you are going to learn.
I was eating ramen and the owner, a beautiful woman in her 40’s, said, “David, your hair sure grows fast. You must be erotic!”
eh? I asked my friend eating with me and it turns out that in Japanese culture, men with fast growing hair are thought to be more sexual. And interestingly, the opposite is true for women; women with slow growing hair are the perverts. My friend smiled at me and said, "Japanese culture."

Also, this year Japan has had 15 tornadoes, which is strange considering this is the first time in history tornadoes have appeared here. Crazy.

Coming soon: New Thoughts on Persephone

“Things are because we see them, and what we see, and how we see it, depends on the Arts that have influenced us. To look at a thing is very different from seeing a thing. One does not see anything until one sees its beauty. Then, and only then, does it come into existance.”
Oscar Wilde

“Real seeing brings with it this extraordinary elimination of time and space.”
Krishnamurti

New Show, New Function.

You all know I don't like bars. They are smoky and well, you know. Nevertheless, I've decided to have a show at a local bar. It's kind of dark, and a little smoky, but it has great walls, great jazz, and a lively crowd of locals. I thought hey, my art is sitting in boxes in my studio, wasting away. If I can use it in this community somehow, I think I should.

This makes me think of Michaels interview, about the communal body and offering that body whatever gifts we can. I live in a community here in Japan. I should be the artist in the community, and decorate the community’s walls.

This of course brings up an issue of presentation (theories abound about context and art. The recent experiment with Joshua Bell, a very famous violinist, playing on the streets and not drawing a crowd, is one potent example. Art on the walls of restaurants versus art on the walls of galleries…the presentation does matter. A lot.

However, this is a rather nice, classy bar, and so I think the atmosphere and dim lights are not a major problem. From those walls I can still direct the flow of attention into the beauty and importance of the natural world. If one person’s perspective is changed even a teeny tiny bit, then that is enough. Also, having my work on the walls provides for the excuse to have a party Saturday night, drawing people together to connect and inter-act. I like that function of art as well.

Ai and Christmas

I recently realized how beautiful the word “I” is. I think when we usually use it, we think of the letter, which kind of looks like a person, all uppercase, honorable, and standing, and we don’t notice how beautiful the sound is that we designate to mean “my self.” "Ai". The sound “ai” means “love” in Japanese. The word for “my self” is “watashi” or “boku” or “ore” depending on the situation. None of those are as elegant and beautiful and soft as the English “ai." Most of the time the Japanese don't use any pronoun, because the “I” is implied. “I love you” in Japanese is simply the verb “loving.” Aishiteru. The “I” and “you” are implied. However, sometimes they use their own names when speaking from their self's perspective--very "third person," which is kind of profound. In English, we use “I” all the time (which might say something about our culture.) It’s a beautiful sound though…Ai. Ai am going to miss Christmas in Kansas this year a lot.

A few of the things I will miss this year:
Fires. Sitting by the crackling fire, the smell, the warmth. No chimneys in Japan.
The smell of fires outside.
Snow.
Pies. Rhubarb and Pumpkin. With fresh whipped cream.
My snot freezing.
Movies with my cousins
Andre’s gingerbread and zopf. Oh my god, zopf.
Zopf and eggnog french toast.
Eggnog! It’s so gross, the idea, but so good.
My cat playing in wrapping paper.
Wearing pajamas around the house with all my sisters.
63rd street lights.
Working at Andres.
Singing Christmas songs with my uncles.
Listening to Handel’s messiah live with my dad.
Stopping by the Meers’s for coffee.
And many, many more.

However, some friends and I might go to Okinawa, which would be a blast. Spending Christmas on a nice, hot beach. Oh yeah.