Monday, January 28, 2008

Old Photos and Fun


This Mikel and I at our friends` wedding last summer. They set up a place where people could take their own photo. We were just having a good time and being silly but some turned out really good. Here is another one:


I might call it "Enlightenment by Wedding Cake." It was good cake!


This is an odd view of our sweet ride, affectionately named "The Pink Panther." Somehow I end up looking like a crazy person in photos. Here`s another example:


This Harry Potter was hand-painted and hung in a seriously small Japanese town. Since I spend most of my listening time at home with Mr. Potter, I decided to summon my own magical powers for the picture. I was trying to cast a spell on Mikel (taking the picture)-- a love spell-- I think it worked.


This is an image from a local snow festival I went to. I have a ton of photos but this one is a good example of how visually compact and stacked everything was. The building around them is a Shinto Shrine. The kids in white (on the top left) are some of my students. The festival was a fertility festival that lasted for days. This part of it went from 11:30pm to 9am. I only stayed until 4am, long enough to catch a dance by Kami-sama-- literally translated as Mr. God. Here he is:

His hat is a symbolic penis, detailed right down to the white tassel on the top. He also has a wooden penis in his hand that he uses to touch people`s cheeks with, granting them fertility in all ways. Apparently this festival used to be a massive orgy, although it beats me who would take their clothes off is the middle of January... I resisted my ever present voice telling me I want children NOW, and drove home before I could be fertilized and before I froze to death.
The magic of ceremony in Japan is intense. Even though I don`t understand all of the symbolism, it is still striking. It is good art. That night, I caught another glimpse of what I am searching for in the Craft Land.
Party on!

Sunday, January 20, 2008

Smells

Apparently, Japanese people don`t smell bad or sweat. It is a test to try and find deodorant here at all. I on the other hand, I sweat and smell worse than 78 percent of American men (that is an exact calculation, by the way) AND I happen to be picky about what kind of deodarant I buy (natural, no anti-perspirant, no heavy metals.) I went to the health food store to find some, causing a full-store search by the three people working there. They finally found two kinds, each costing about $25
(¥2600). Anyway, it`s no prob, Bob, because my hubby is in the Land of Products For People Who Are Smell Phobic, like me. For now, I just hope none of my co-workers come near me for their sakes. I feel like I am in junior high, again. Wait, I am!
On the Craft Land front, there is plenty miniature food, fake fur, rainbows, glitter, Glitter Rock and planet-like forms.
More soon...