Ideas and Inspirations

The inspiration tonight should be from Japan. We've rented Yojimbo and ordered in Japanese food. The kids ate their udon and chicken katsu while sitting on the floor. David ate sushi and explained the similarities between Jedi and Samurai to the kids, and pointed our where Lucas got many of his ideas. I had some marvelous sticky white rice and tempura (chicken and vegetable -- is there anything more inspiring than a deep fried sweet potato? Absolutely not). I was reading the subtitles aloud, until the dismemberment started. Then I jumped into the shower. Now Benjamin and David are still watching, but Daniel has taken out Lord of the Rings Risk.

So, the inspiration should be from Japan, but I can't think of anything Japanese that I've read. Oh, well, the kids and I have read some manga -- the kids subscribe to Shonen Jump. And I was a Sailor Moon fan for a short while (the manga is better than the cartoon show). And we love the movies Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke (I hope I spelled that correctly). I don't recommend either for very young children. Both have given me very vivid dreams, bordering on nightmares. When they boys are a little older, we'll rent Akira. It seems exceptionally violent.

The movie Memoirs of a Geisha is coming out soon. But I read the book and do not want to see the movie. If any of you see it (and I doubt any of you will), do tell me about it.

Instead, I’m still trying to compile a list of my favorite magazines. Maybe I’ll give out some assignments and ideas…

TAPKAE… I have a book recommendation for you. It’s called Bicyclopolis, a journey into the post-petroleum future. I believe it takes place 30 or 40 years after peak oil. Actually, the book may not be out yet. But go to: http://www.roadkillbill.com/!Bicyclopolis.html and see some cartoons about it.

Jay… I know you’re a busy lawyer now, doing all sorts of busy lawyer things. But you read as much as anyone I know and have a lot of books to tell us about. Remember? Guns, Germs and Steel. Collapse. Moneyball. Freakonomics.

Tommy… has lots of music stuff to tell us about. And maybe he’ll tell us why Being There is one of his favorite movies (I’ve never seen it).

Marvin Likeness… I dare not give you any assignments because you have too much schoolwork to do.

Moo... Perhaps you can tell us if it does ever rain in California (or does it just pour?)


Oyasumi
M

Dark Lady

The house is unusually quiet. David has the boys out. My mother is with them, too, so no surprise visits, no reprimands. It's just as I need it to be. I need to withdraw from the ordinary world and surrender.

I keep starting posts about the books I'm reading and would like to recommend, even about my favorite and not-so-favorite magazines. But today -- at least right now -- i can only think about Charlotte Perkins Gilman's The Yellow Wallpaper (a short story) and Allison Pearson's I Don't Know How She Does It (a recent novel some would place in the chick-lit category).

I cannot talk about the former. It is too much with me. I am the character in that story today.

I would like to rant about the latter. The story purports to be about how a modern (post-modern?) woman balances work, family, friends and society. But it's not fair. There are too many women who do balance all this -- maybe not as well as they would like and maybe they don't please everyone all of the time, but they do a damn good job. In this story, the woman realizes that she should give up her job and start her own business. Geez. Didn't we do that year's ago with in that Diane Keaton movie -- Baby Boom? -- she's a successful "business woman" who never wanted children and then she finds herself with a baby through some odd means (someone dies, I think, and gives her custody of the child) and faced with the demands of work and baby, she chucks her regular, high-powered, demanding law firm job and starts her own baby food company. In Pearson's book, the woman leaves her high-power, demanding financial-analysis job and starts her own dollhouse company. Lovely.

It's not that I don't think these things can happen. I'm sure they do. I'm absolutely sure there are many, many women who have the means to quit their jobs, start their own businesses and raise delightfully happy children at the same time. But I'm tired of it all. OK. I know that these books are ... well, novels. Not real life, right? Let's willingly suspend our disbelief. I suppose I can do that. But at the same time, can we remember the women of this country that barely live above the poverty level and stuggle to raise kids and go to work? Often working more than one job. Can we remember that they are the ones we should be praising?

Back to being the Dark Lady...pisces full moon. need to retreat. try opening yourself to some hidden realms. I shall meditate, retreat, seek serenity and inner peace.

peace to all of you.