Happy Thanksgiving you guys.

this is really cramping my style

I went to the post office to mail a big package, a birthday present to my mom... only to find that, as of November 17th, we are no longer allowed to ship packages heavier than 453 grams (16 oz.) to the U.S. Wha?

The clerk couldn't tell me how long this would continue, but I suspect that it's connected to the recently rigidified airport regulations, what with their full body scans and strip searches. That place is moving more and more into a police state. I really really hope that it's temporary and we aren't just getting mired further and further into the muck.

The ability to write - a root of democracy

I love love love sending parcels and packages and the post office is a regular stop. I guess I'll have to bust out my digital scale and learn the art of small post... but this is a serious bummer.

What speaks like post? Emails are nice, but there's nothing like getting a letter or a parcel. These stamps are just a few from my grandma's extensive and scattered collection. It seems like she kept every letter or postcard she ever received. I'm like that too.

*ヒョウ柄

Learned some new vocabulary that really enriches my life: hyou-gara.

Leopard print. How did I go this long without knowing how to say this?

pretty boys selling mascara

Surely you've noticed this. There are a whole lotta mascara ads out there... featuring pretty femme boys NOT noticeably wearing mascara. Proof:

and

and let's not forget

and last but not least, (*edit) Jun Matsumoto:

What do you think is the reasoning behind this advertising? 

If you wear lots of mascara, you will date a boy like this?

Embrace your inner tranny?

These boys are prettier than you without makeup?

Help.

sweet world

I interviewed Osamu Watanabe, creator of fake cream and strawberry kawaii art, over at CNNGo.

inaccessible

What the hell is the point of escalators that only go halfway up... and make you walk the rest of the way? How is it possible that so many stations lack elevators? In a city that depends so heavily on public transportation, this is a nightmare for people who lack mobility.

flea market tomorrow!

OK, I guess it's a little late for a blog announcement, but Beth and I are doing the flea market in Meiji Park tomorrow, November 7th. It goes from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and there are supposed to be like 500 vendors. The weather's supposed to be sunny and warm (for November!) so we might not even need mittens. Come on down and give us a holler, and take away some of our junk!

Meiji Park, 7 min walk from Sendagaya station or Kokuritsu Kyogijo station

I am a genius!

Today I took my coffee to work in an empty coke zero can. Yes!!!

Who's gonna drive you home?

I dreamed about driving last night. Driving around faceless beige industrial areas in a retro car, like an Oldsmobile or a Dart. Ended up in a freight elevator and got stuck on a platform between levels with no way out. Trying to rig up metal grating as a ramp between levels, trying to use some bogus shifting sand properties that in my dream made perfect scientific sense, even though there was no sand in sight. My dad was there, helping.

When I was a kid, my dad always did the driving. He was impatient, it was about speed and finding close to the front parking, and maybe not even getting out of the car while you ran whatever errand, just let you out and circle and wait and I'll be here, go buy the groceries. My mom could drive, was perfectly capable of driving, but when we were all in the car, he had to take the wheel. Control issues. I learned a lot of my driving habits from him, like shouting at other cars and pedestrians (usually to myself and other inhabitants of the car, NOT usually loud enough to get in a fight or get shot or even a mean look). "Where'd you learn to drive!??" "Well, THAT was an expert move, idiot." "What a fucking douche." These are all just a normal part of my driving experience, I don't even notice I'm doing it. Sometimes people get in the car with me and get weirded out by this, but it just goes with putting the key in the ignition.

Nowadays, it's a little different. He still drives, most of the time, but now we find a parking space at the back of the lot, on purpose, and take a stroll, and stretch our legs. He still has a tendency to want to be dropped off at the loading area of the airport, not have us park and see him off if he's going somewhere alone, but he always parks and takes me as far as security when I go, has some coffee or breakfast if there's time before boarding.

He still sometimes buys cars with no prior warning. I remember one time he pulled up to pick me up from girl scouts in a totally unrecognizable car, probably an Olds or a Chevy, a family wagon, brown. There was wood paneling. I didn't know it was him, he hadn't had the car that morning. As an eight year old, I didn't get to have a say in the big decisions, but I might have gotten an inkling that a major purchase was going to go down. Finally he waved me down, as I was standing there straining to see our white Toyota, and packed me into the new car.

He still drives, most of the time. I've been driving for more than half my life now (especially if you include that time I went joyriding with my friends after stuffing some sleeping bags with pillows in a lame attempt to look like we were still having a slumber party in the living room), and if we're all in the car, most of the time he takes the wheel. But sometimes, occasionally, once in awhile, he lets me drive.

It's the OG

Found another cute organic veggie café in Nishi-Ogikubo.

This place reminds me of one of those sweet Japanese lifestyle magazines like Hanako, or browsing at Muji. All earth tones cream and brown and cute little details.

Holon.

Scorpion Death Rock!

I went to see my friends' band play at Machida SDR.

SDR, incidentally, stands for Scorpion Death Rock. Wicked. I wasn't previously aware of this genre.

Can someone please teach me to take low light band photos with a point and shoot? I hate flash, but if I elongate the exposure, of course everything gets blurry. Thanx.

(p.s. They're playing tomorrow night at Shibuya's Club Kinoto, right near Nagi Shokudo and Sakuragaoka Café. I forsee a delicious night.)