Day 2 Tokyo: Meiji Shrine, Imperial Forest, Tea Ceremony, Asakusa Kannon Temple

Just another morning video :)



I'm doing this on borrowed time. I finally realized that I'm not a travel blogger so my videos will do most of the speaking. This video is upon entry to Meiji Shrine:





Calligraphy class (this is the instructor writing a haiku):



The city:



Tatsumiya Resutoran:




The staff here was very nice and the beer was very good. I ate solo because I wanted to see what the city had to offer besides KFC and Starbucks. The menu was entirely in Japanese (I brought a Kanji book with me to help with the unfamiliar symbols. I did fine) As I was paying, I said "Gochisosama Deshita" ("Thank you for the treat")  and for it I got a very polite bow and a compliment on my knowledge of the language. It's always nice to hear that from a native :)

Anyway, I'm about to head out to the streets of Tokyo and cause a ruckus :))))

Peace!

M.

Day 1: Tokyo (Arrival)

I'm so spoiled by free Wi-Fi. The hotel ran out of packages so I have to purchase time by the hour (and it's not cheap. Not at a 4 cum 5 star hotel) Hopefully I'll find a spot where I can access free Wi-Fi otherwise all entries will be in short spurts.

Anyway, here's a YouTube vid of my first day.

I made it :) YAY!!!

Love, M.



**Edit: 5:20 p.m. (Japan Time) - I think I found a loophole in the system.... hee hee :)))

Take On Me.

So LA was fun.

Driving in after almost 4 hours of sitting. Stopped in Barstow for a minute to stretch my legs.

I went with my mom as a sort of Pre-Mother's Day gift (not to mention my good friends have kids now so we can't really just "up & go" anymore). Spent too much money, but got some cool navy blue leg warmers (which I'm wearing right now thank you) despite that fact that it's 83 degrees in my home and my feet are sweating. 

I went to Little India and Little Korea. Little Mexico and Little Jamaica. Each of them bled me dry.

I did however manage to talk down a light blue Devo sweater (in their classic red hats) from 35$ to 8$. Yeah. I got it like that.

Random rooftop shot. Saw crackheads fighting in the street while I was shopping.

I was in such a rush to get out of the car that I skipped breakfast. We shopped for about 2 hours before I committed the most felonious of felonies: I ate a bacon-wrapped hot dog. It was served with roasted bell peppers and onions though (and mustard, of course), so I sated myself with the fact that I was getting a vegetable intake too.

I'm not sure I've gone into why it's so difficult for me to eat meat. Maybe one day when I feel like typing up what will feel like a 3-page diatribe you guys will all know.

A belt buckle I considered. It's a shame these things are best left to men. Should've got it anyway and rocked it in my own way. Maybe when I come back from Japan...

Around the time I wanted to head back to my car, I decided I wanted some ice cream. I passed no less than 20 ice cream vendors throughout the day, but when I actually wanted some they were all MIA. Go fig. 

Mom said she'd buy me some ice cream at Ralph's, but I wanted a Spongebob pop with blue bubble gum eyes and a chocolate bum. I actually felt my chin quivering with disappointment. It was like I was 6 all over again.

I settled for a strawberry daiquiri instead. This was after I got home of course BECAUSE DRIVING DRUNK IS F*CKING IRRESPONSIBLE.

We drove down Venice & Normandie and I was surprised by how vast the cemetery was yet how the dead seem to be piled on top of each other. Once you're dead I suppose it really doesn't matter anymore, but still.

I wanted to stop by High Voltage Tattoo but my little feet were baking like bread in my Mizunos, so I high tailed it. LA is like a second home anyway. It's not like I won't be back.

Got lunch @ Roscoe's (Very few things are capable of making me drool, but their waffles are one of them) and split. All in all, the trip was well worth it. I picked up some cool things to wear overseas because you know I'm going to be rockin' it hard core in Shinjuku (no one will ever show me up. NO ONE!) 

I'm typing this standing up. I'm giving my ass a rest for what lie ahead of me...

M.

  

Suite Madame Blue

That's it. I'm going to LA tomorrow. I'm sick of this shit.

.

A little bit o'beach and retail therapy always feels good.

I think I'm being sent a message. My work situation has become intolerable; staffing has been reduced to five. Got two that don't talk (onE of them is cool on the rare occasion she does though), one that talks too much (you know wHo you are) and one I had to file a harAssment claim against as of Wednesday.

Doesn't my week sound awesome?

At least I'm still fortunate enough to be weathering this horrible recession.

Thank God.

Normally I would never take a road trip a week before an 18-hour international flight (CABIN FEVER :((( !!!), but I need to blow this pop stand. Work aside, had something hit close to home that I won't share here.

Escapism is not the answer, but it feels damn good while you're gone.

I'll have to be sated with LA for this week, but next week it's Tokyo :)

やった!!

Got my camcorder and I plan to document the whole trip right here. Seriously contemplating taking up an offer to go to London later this year ... and possibly losing my return ticket.

Just because they want to be miserable heifers doesn't mean I have to be.

M.

Mausam & Escape

So I just watched Paper Heart. At Sundance, it was described as "self-indulgent crap".. not far off the mark.

If you're not familiar with the premise, it's about a girl (using the term loosely) who doesn't believe in love. She sets out with a film crew across the US, then abroad, the find out what love means to other people.

I don't know who pitched this idea, Jake or Charlyne, but I have to say that she was the one that ruined it for me. Would it have killed you to at least pretend you were having fun? One of the first people interviewed said it was "sad" that she'd never experienced love.. and that set the tone for the whole movie.

I don't know this girl, and I don't want to get juvenile about it, but maybe if she wore something that didn't drape on her like a tent (1/4 of the movie was spent in a hoodie and it was SO damn sloppy), combed her hair, and wasn't so cynical she wouldn't be in that rut.

Ever hear of conditioner? a skirt? heels? a tad of makeup? fitted clothing? You can't blame a (straight) dude for not wanting to be with another dude.

The side story is the plot line with Michael Cera. I can call it a plot now since they not together anymore. Charlyne went to a psychic in Albuquerque and the psychic told her that he was with her for "business reasons". She also predicted that it would end. Truth hurts, darling. Both her and Jake (director) called her a scam artist afterwards and disputed everything she said. I can't help but wonder if it's true now. I don't really care to know the specifics of the breakup, but it seems totally plausible.

I think what hurt the most is that I can see part of myself in this girl.

I used to dress like that... back when I was trying to avoid dating and not be looked at. It was a means of self-preservation. I figured no one would want a sloppy, unkempt woman.. but apparently someone else got a movie deal and movie star boyfriend (temporarily) out of the deal. I'm cynical, but not so much to the point that I can't just sit back and have fun. Charlyne seemed so miserable, and misery loves company. In the first 30 minutes, it seemed like everyone was having a good time but her and she was trying to bring them down with her. The scene at the biker bar pissed me off.

Overall, I feel like I should've stopped watching when my first instinct told me to. I'm pissed that I wasted 80-some-odd minutes on someone who didn't seem to give a damn how the film ended. I'm incensed, and I wanted to type this up before I had a chance to blow off steam.

The New York Times review might be better written, but the sentiment is the same.

There's only three good things that came out of this: 1) I didn't see it at Sundance 2) I didn't pay for the rental 3) I watched it during a week when all my business is up to snuff so I wasn't (technically) wasting time.

It was between this and Whip It, and I wasn't particularly enthused about either. Hopefully I'll have better luck next time, until then I'll link to some good movies.

You soddy Mother...

Damn, D, you can't even try anymore?

Did you seriously come unshaven and in sweatpants? Nice to see you're putting some effort into it.

Watch season 1. Take notes.

(Thank you Hugo Boss, Giorgio Armani, and Madonna Mann)

I swear blazers are not poisonous, pinstripes work, and dress shoes are not reserved for the Sundays your mom drags you to church.

Play with color, but save the pastels (unless you actually plan to become a playboy, then all bets are off)

Also, socks are required.

The farthest you should ever walk from your house in sweatpants is to the mailbox. NO EXCUSES!!

Riots.

Greetings & salutations, all.

This has been a very tumultuous week. Finally all my business purchases arrived (Thank God), but I lost some co-workers to the recession and a friend was lost to jail.

I'm not familiar with the detention system, but only people on the visitors log can come, and only at certain times, depending on what cell block the inmate is in. Images of "OZ" flashed through my mind. I wondered if I was gonna get shanked in the hallways. I'm posting now so all is well.

Below is one of my screen print projects. I've had this blank canvas bag forever and finally decided on an image I want to tote around. It's reminiscent of early woodblock prints. At first I thought it was a female puppeteer, and I wanted to make the puppet a man. My freehand skills are lacking (and drawing in permanent marker doesn't leave much room for error) so I left it as is. Once the print is made I'll paint in the features.

I like my men on a string :)

I drew a quick sketch of this while watching "Alice in Acidland" Lately I've been obsessed with Something Weird videos. They make those 60s propaganda films and light snuff stuff. Click the link and watch the trailer. I was surprised that Bettie Page was on their roster. "The Wizard of Gore" scream at the 1:48 mark makes me laugh every time :)

I also watched the season 4 ender for Miami Vice. I didn't see that coming, but I'll know once season 5 comes in if they jumped the shark or not. Say it ain't so, Crockett!

Given that bail money had to be available no new projects were started in the last week, but I had the screen print stuff lying around so I went for it... I HATE being idle.

Finished a book, started another. Began a workout regimen I'll comment on later as it progresses. Learned a very important lesson....

"Love is the pursuit of shadows"

Is it a bad idea to pick someone up while on the clock? Who cares.. hopefully I don't go chickenshit...