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October 31, 2005
Bellevue and Olive
"She could walk there, but it's uphill and not in a nice neighborhood. And that bag she was carrying looked heavy."
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October 27, 2005
Then and Now
Wow, Death Cab for Cutie is in Raleigh today.
D: What is Disco Rodeo?
A: Some new place, sounds like. Maybe they redid that place we saw the Genesis tribute band.
D: Really? That was really far from everything.
A: Everything in Raleigh is far from everything else, Dちゃん.
I found out about the Death Cab gig from a newsfeed from Independent Weekly, the paper we used to read back in the day. This picture is one I took for their Front Porch section. Butterfly museum, Durham.
Neat to read a band from here is going to my hometown. A small surprise, but a welcome one, to see then and now intersect.
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October 25, 2005
Happy Diwali
I was in Delhi for Diwali once. Talk about color and light.
It was on the way back by train from somewhere south of Goa. I switched to a city bus and got a box of sweets from a corner store. They were for my relatives. When I walked up to the gate, I felt a strange sense of being home.
"Happy Diwali!"
The days leading up to Diwali in India are like the days leading up to Christmas in Ireland. Except, of course, for the millions of firecrackers and dancing in the streets. But in both places, store clerks and street vendors are happy. Wrapping gifts. Tis the season. And joy.
For those who are wondering, Diwali is the festival of lights. Also called Deepavali. Hence the common names Deepa, Deepak and Deepika, also spelled with an "i."
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October 21, 2005
Three Lines from Susan Wheeler
Get out there and do it for yourself. Be afraid of nothing and nobody. Fear is the thing that holds people back.
.
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October 19, 2005
3rd and Marion
"So you can imagine the scenarios running through my head, right? I turn the car right around and zip home at 80 mph. Know what she says?"
"Whad she say, dude?"
"'My cell phone's broken!'"
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October 17, 2005
Tea + Shakuhachi
This tea place we found is like a salon: they'll work with so you get exactly what you want.
"Are you an oolong person? Any preference, strong or weak?" Bits of loose leaves come flying out of bags. "Smell."
This guy says he can tell you what part of Taiwan a sample comes from, if not which exact mountain.
"Stop by Saturday," he says, all smiles. A couple will play the koto and shakuhachi, a Japanese bamboo flute.
Date: Saturday, October 22
Place: Floating Leaves Teahouse, Ballard
Time: 4 pm and 7 pm
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October 14, 2005
Busyness
The summer 2005 issue of journal on Social Research is a navy blue volume titled "Busyness." It's tagline? "Busyness as the Badge of Honor for the New Superordinate Working Class."
Here are some references from the articles therein.
1. In his book The Ugly Civilization (1929), Ralph Borsodi writes: An earn and buy economy is causing us to measure men we know by what they earn, measure the life we have to spend in terms of money. But time is not money at all. Time is life itself.
2. In Russian, the word for busyness is suyeta, the same as for vanity. (I've just dashed off a note to a real Russian person to confirm this. Hi I!)
3. In his book, Tyranny of the Moment: Fast and Slow Time in the Information Age (2001), Thomas Eriksen writes: Growing numbers of people are becoming accustomed to living in a world where colorful fragments of information flit by, lacking direction and cohesion, and do not see this as a problem. Computers undermine the pleasures of slow time, like fishing or savoring a skill, and create instead the tyranny of the moment.
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October 12, 2005
A Line from Enzo Mari
Try to work and live in a way that is not alienating.
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October 11, 2005
NE Belmont & 16th
"Walmart."
"They are bad, man."
"They sure have good deals, though."
"Do you know that they don't sell anything made in America? That's right. All Chinese stuff. That's why they're bad."
Portland was rainy. It felt exactly like Seattle, except maybe with fewer drugs.
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October 10, 2005
Irish Breakfast?
A number of months ago at a wine bar in downtown Seattle, I met a guy I’ll call Kieran quietly enjoying a glass of wine.
At the time, I was just back from Ireland, and had that conversational style of the sort that people do over there.
He tells me his parents are Irish.
Really?
Yes.
So, you would know then.
Know what?
Where I can get a good, I mean a really good Irish breakfast.
Ah. A fry-up, you mean.
Yes!
For that you’d go to Molly Maguire’s. It’s in Ballard.
Oh, yeah? What’s Ballard?
Misremembering Kieran’s tip, this weekend I showed up at Murphy’s, an Irish pub in Wallingford. No Irish breakfast, but they do have some interesting looking boards for darts.
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October 7, 2005
First and Seneca
Just overheard on the #10: "Ew. Somebody smells like mustard."
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October 5, 2005
500 More Miles
Didn’t make it to the Proclaimers gig (pair of Scottish lads, two pairs of glasses, I'm Gonna Be 500 Miles). Tickets are gone. I know this, but head over to Ballard yesterday hoping for a shot in person.
“Sold Out,” they tell me curtly. Even a “Sorry, love, can’t help ya,” would have been more nice. Give up immediately. Get home via Wallingford. A grocery store with big fluorescent letters tells me where I am.
What’s weird is this isn't the first time I've missed the Proclaimers. This is the story:
Sold out at Tractor Tavern, Seattle (2005)
Gave up on the way to Crocodile Café, Seattle (2004)
Too far to drive to Killarney, Ireland (2003)
Carless when they came to Cat’s Cradle in Chapel Hill (1993? God, has it been this long?)
They were even in Minneapolis the same weekend we were very recently. Bizarre star alignment there, huh?
Guess I'll just have to go another 500 miles to see these guys. Maybe more. They play the Olympia in Dublin in December.
When you goooooo, will you send back
A lehtah from Ammmerika….
Side story: Today there’s this guy fixing a typewriter-like gadget, tools spread everywhere, but neatly. What are you doing? I ask. Is that a printer? Yes, he says. Making the print clearer. [pause].
Are you from Scotland?
[surprise] Yes. [pleased]
Where?
Glasgow.
Oh, yeah. I’ve been there.
Really?
Yes, really. Beer and sawdust on the bar floors, right?
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October 4, 2005
Five of D's Favorite Cafes
Essential Bakery and Cafe. Because they have nice crepes. Go early, though, before the big families grab all the newspapers and tables. Then again, seeing little kids and elderly people gather ‘round is kind of nice, too. But loud.
Cafe Casbah. For when you are wandering randomly in Belltown, though I’m not sure why you would be doing that.
Bauhaus. For when you are walking up from downtown and need to break the journey. Also for when you want to watch people staring at their laptop screens.
Cafe Allegro. For when you decide to get the heck out of Capitol Hill and hit the U District. Space it out, though. You could become one of the permanent collection.
Cafe Europa. For when you feel like a walk through nearby Volunteer Park. Don't stop by at the end of the day, which is when I noticed the cops do. Very unrelaxing.
Posted by Dipika at 7:26 AM | Comments (0)
October 3, 2005
イチローの兄弟
あ：『スズキ』は一般的な名前だからね。
D：そうか。だから名字を抜いて、『イチロー』にしたっていうこと？
あ：そう。
D：もし子供が二人目だったら、『にろう』ってよぶ？
あ：ちがう、ちがう。それは『じろう』て言います。
D：あ、そうか。それはちょっと寂しい、ね。
あ：寂しいか。何で？
D：『ゼロ』って似てるから。英語で、『Zero、』 ね。
あ：ふん。（日本語でもゼロだけど、な。）
D：...
あ：あのね、三郎、四郎、あとは五郎という名前もあるよ。
D：君の犬...
あ：ゴロ、ね。
D：そう。ゴロくん。
あ：六郎っていうのは、珍しいね。どうやっていうのか、わからない。
D：「ろくろうさん。」
Posted by Dipika at 7:37 AM | Comments (0)
October 2, 2005
Chinese Duck
So today to get out of the rain for a minute I go into Value Village, this chain thrift store with a major outlet a few blocks from us. What I find on the third floor is a Chinese duck.
Well, I hear about it before I see it.
“This is a duck,” this guy says to this girl. They're young and probably got their outfits from the first floor, where stripey skirts and floral shirts hug TJ Maxx-style racks.
He's holding a small object I can’t quite see yet. I'm three steps away from their floor, and a bit distracted. Was that duct tape patching the carpet on the landing? I think it was. But his confident tone grabs our attention. "But it’s also a letter opener.”
I have to get back there and examine the piece in question. To kill time, I make a round of the dish section and sidestep a kid going "hello" into a blue plastic receiver.
How observant! The tiny bird has a long tail that doubles as a tool to retrieve envelope contents. On the belly, there is a sticker. MADE IN CHINA, it says. $0.69
Posted by Dipika at 1:44 PM | Comments (0)