Natsukashi Lane

懐かし Natsukashi...is such a wonderful word.  i don't think we have such a word in English.  "nostalgia" is close to the meaning but not to the feeling.  or at least not the feeling i get when i hear the word "natsukashi".  or when the word "natsukashi" comes to mind.  and that is the difference. to hear something, taste something, smell something, see something that brings back a happy or a sweet (possibly bittersweet) memory..."natsukashi".  recently i was asked about the word. recently i wrote a little about my memories of Japan.  and recently while watching the movie Ima, Ai ni Yukimasu (thanks again to Mark and another thank you for doing some research on my Canon camera problem), i thought about a little book that was made for me by a sweet young woman named Yukiko. she was an art student in Tokyo and she made a book for me called Sakura Story. it was about us. it was about our meeting ... it was about saying goodbye. no one had ever made a book for me. i read Sakura Story again this morning. natsukashi.  this old photo was in it. nastukashi. it was the last time we ever saw each other. natsukashi. where is she now? natsukashi.

(everything changes...i no longer wear orange socks)

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930pm

i didn't make it to the Palos Verdes Street Fair as i changed my plans and went to the Carnevale in Venice Beach.  it took me three buses but i arrived in time to hear/record/photograph some good music and interesting looking people (if you know Venice Beach, you know there are some very interesting people there).  i had to leave before the costume contest and final band because of having to take three buses to get back home.  i did hear some good Latin/Brazilian music complete with a couple of samba dancers.  and some Reggae music.  some rock. some blues. and finally, The Bonedaddys.  here is a sample of their music.

"all my bags were/are packed . . .

. . . and i was ready to go."  i should be on my way Ireland tonite but i called in "sick" early this morning.  a couple of days ago, i started having the same problem i experienced in Kyoto in 2004. and if you remember that, it was not a good thing but it finally went away.  i thought perhaps it was a food allergy. . . beer with okonomiyaki.  and i don't even drink.  but, being the "good guest" i drank some Asahi with home-cooked okonomiyaki.  and that is when the problem with my throat started.  eventually i got over it but it happened again a couple of weeks later at another friend's home (some of Noriko's relatives in Nara) when i had the same combination of beer and food. (i love okonomiyaki and beer really does taste good with it).  that was when i was staying about a month in Kyoto to see the autumn leaves... aki dakara which is Japanese for "it is autumn, and that's why i am here."  i had some very long night's not being able to sleep in my simple 6-tatami mat room   skip forward to a couple of mornings ago when i started having the same problem.  skip forward to this morning when i choose to stay home for a few more days and rest my throat.  it does feel better now.  if it gets worse, i will see a doctor. (yeah, right).  if it feels better, i will be on my way to Ireland on tuesday night.  so, that is why i am home now with my bags packed and not in Philadelphia getting ready to check-in for my crew briefing for the 910p flight to Shannon.  as for yesterday, my favorite pair of flip flops broke as i was hurrying to the bus in Santa Monica.  actually only one flip flopped but it was a little awkward walking with one flip on and one flop off.  perhaps i should have bought this pair that i took a photo of earlier in Venice Beach.

and why was i in Venice Beach on a thursday afternoon?  i was rollerskating to Santa Monica pier to see The Bonedaddys in the first concert of the Santa Monica Pier Twilight Dance Series.  they were very entertaining as was the first band, the Crown City Rockers.