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Alphabet Questions: T-Z (Y: crying is good for you)

March 17, 2015by have you eaten?Leave a Comment

T – Time you woke up?: 2:30

U – Umbrella color?: blue

V – Very best friend?: Archie who is currently suffering from allergy

W – Which celebrity I’d marry?: Jimmy Fallon

X – X rays I’ve had?: chest

Y – Your last time you cried?: Today. I was reading this Japanese book and this one character who is 70 year old cancer patient and has a daughter who is about to be married. He didn’t want to tell her about his illness before her wedding so he was trying to hide it from her. But she knew and he also knew that she knew. That scene.

Z – Zodiac sign?: Libra

personal view

Who is Your Most Wonderful Friend?: Books

March 12, 2015by have you eaten?Leave a Comment

“Books are the most wonderful friends in the world. When you meet them and pick them up, they are always ready to give you a few ideas. When you put them down, they never get mad; when you take them up again, they seem to enrich you all the more.”-Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen

They are also emotional. They can be mad, sad, lonely, happy, glad, scary, apprehensive, shy, wonderful, helpful, merry, confused, relieved, amused, crushed, curious, nervous, fearful, annoyed, hopeful, funny, brave, numb, safe, loving, confident, quiet, blue, angry, stressed, tender and loving.

Sometimes you can’t even handle how emotional they are. However you can never stop being friends with them because you feel alive when you are with them.

Spending hours on reading books at my favorite café with some kind of espresso drink on sunny day or rainy day means contentment to me. When taking a short break from reading and happen to look out to the window of the café, you realize you are the happiest person on the earth. Books are the most wonderful friends because they teach you that life is beautiful like that.

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This Book Made Me Tired: “Saraba!”

February 18, 2015by have you eaten?Leave a Comment

疲れた。上巻を読み終わった時に感じたのはそれだけ。どっと疲れた。私が本を読むのは、現実逃避したい時か、仕事とか、友達とか、家族とか、しがらみとか、やらなきゃいけない事とか、責任とか、そういうもの（特に人とかかわる事）から自分を完全に引き離して、頭も体も休息したくて、酸素の足りないフナみたいになってる時だから、こういう本は読みたくなかったなあ。大きな賞で本を読む訳ではないけれど、（その証拠に、小路幸也の本達は大好きだけど、直木賞も芥川賞ももらってない）参考にはするし、評価されるには理由があるのだから、それは読んでみたいと思って当然だとも思う。シアトルの紀伊國屋の本棚に陳列されてたのを見た時には、「これだけの文字が読めるとはなんて幸せな事だろう！」と思って、心躍ったし。

林真理子の評では、スケールが大きいという事なんだけれど、ロケーションがイランだったり、エジプトだったり、大阪だったり、東京だったり、サンフランシスコだったりするから、その描写は確かに面白い。それをスケールの大きさだというのは、賛成できないし、書いてあることのスケールはちっとも大きくない。家族がどう壊れていくかと、主人公がどう自分と落とし前をつけていくかを書いてある本だからなあ。こんな事があって、あんな事があって、こんな風に考えて、こんな結果になったっていうのを、時系列に延々350ページとちょっと。疲れて当然だ。

さて、これから下巻。全部読んでみせますとも！

books, coffee, movies

Liberal Arts: Worth Every Penny

January 23, 2015by have you eaten?4 Comments

If you are a book nerd, this is a great place to fall in love with another book nerd. http://acornbookshop.com/Acorn_LibartsMovie.html

Below is my favorite movie dialogue from “Liberal Arts” I thought that creators of this movie examined inside my head. This movie is full of stuff that I love about life such as coffee, books, travel, and music.

Ana: I love books. I do, in like, the dorkiest way possible.

Jesse Fisher: Oh, me too. It’s a problem.

Ana: Like, I love trees cause they give us books.

Jesse Fisher: super cool of the trees to do that, Right?

Ana: I’m actually… this is weird. I’m actually trying to read less.

Jesse Fisher: Why?

Ana: I felt like I wasn’t watching enough television. No, l just started to feel like reading about life was taking time away from actually living life, so I’m trying to, like, accept invitations to things, say “hi” to the world a little more.

Jesse Fisher: That sounds scary. It’s going well?

Ana: It’s… okay. I keep thinking I’d be so much happier in bed with a book, and that makes me feel not super cool. I still read tons. I just feel like I’m more aware of a book’s limitations. Does that make sense?

Jesse Fisher: Yeah, totally.

P.S. This is me as well, especially #11. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/beth-bartlett/youre-a-book-nerd-if_b_5374605.html

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books

William Saroyan and Macaroon: and Chihuahua

January 15, 2015January 15, 2015by have you eaten?6 Comments

“Try to learn to breathe deeply, really to taste food when you eat, and when you sleep really to sleep. Try as much as possible to be wholly alive with all your might, and when you laugh, laugh like hell. And when you get angry, get good and angry. Try to be alive. You will be dead soon enough.”

Today is one of those days and I needed that. My head is not clear as it feels like I am underwater, not seeing or hearing anything. My body feels heavy and all I want to do is to go back to my warm, comfortable bed with my overweight 9-lb. chihuahua. It is January in Seattle (=gloomy) so maybe I am affected by weather. Who knows.

It sounds like this quote is written by someone who studies Buddhism but this is actually a quote by William Saroyan. I read “Papa You are Crazy” when I was in junior high and since then I always loved his stories. I found this wonderfully honest quote in my journal earlier today. This is exactly what I want to feel. With that, I am going to get some macaroon (for some reason I am craving for it) after work for dinner, hop on my bed and snuggle with my chihuahua. I will read William Saroyan, might as well.

I am sure I feel I am alive after macaroon, dog and Saroyan tonight. After that, I will really try to sleep when I sleep.

books

Tokyo Bandwagon: this book saved my life

January 13, 2015January 13, 2015by have you eaten?7 Comments

That was only one book I was able to read and comprehend. It was the only book that woke up my brain and all my senses. I was able to cry and I felt the pain for the first time since he passed.

There are 2 things I can’t live without, good food and good books. Sometime in 2007, I was struggling hard. I could not eat and could not read. I tried and tried to open many books and read but my brain was not processing any letters, words, and sentences. But finally I found one that I could read and feel and it is called “Tokyo Bandwagon” written by Yukiya Shoji, Japanese author. I still haven’t figured out why this book was the only one I could read but it really does not matter. The important thing is that this book made me realize that I was alive. I just heard news about the brand new book (8th book of ongoing series) will be published this coming April and my heart jumped for joy. Only 3 more months to go.

I am forever thankful. This book saved my life.

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Library was my safe haven: Infinite Jest

January 12, 2015by have you eaten?Leave a Comment

“That sometimes human beings have to just sit in one place and, like, hurt. That you will become way less concerned with what other people think of you when you realize how seldom they do. That there is such a thing as raw, unalloyed, agendaless kindness. That it is possible to fall asleep during an anxiety attack. That concentrating on anything is very hard work.”
― David Foster Wallace, Infinite Jest

From age 7 to 17, School and home were not safe place to be. Library was my only safe haven and place to, like, hurt. This quote from Infinite Jest is totally needed for my soul today. Digging deep.

personal view

What the hell is water? : my introduction to the new world

January 4, 2015January 4, 2015by have you eaten?Leave a Comment

I LOVE books. I am kind of obsessed with books and reading. My favorite place from age 6 to age 16 was the library, then after 17, it got switched to bookstores. I love everything about books. Smell, ink, fonts, covers, the feel of the pages, insights, stories, emotions, feelings, metaphor…and vulnerability. Book is a powerful thing because it can give you all different kind of perspectives. I grew up trying to get inside of authors’ head. I was (am) a book-nerd. I was raised by TONS of books and Billie Holiday.

A few years ago, I learned a little bit about David Foster Wallace. His masterpiece is called “Infinite Jest” and it is a 981-page book. It sounds intimidating. Then, my best friend introduced his commencement speech at Kenyon College in 2005. My ears had never heard greater thing than that. The first time I heard it, my eyes welled up. He did not say to be a go-getter or be a fearless, mindless, unkind leader of corporate America. His entire message was just this. “Awareness.”

So, here is why I decided to start my blog. As being a book-nerd, I have always wanted to write since I was five but I never tried. Writing my own stuff in this space is new to me. This is quite scary and vulnerable. But I want to get out my comfort zone and routine, then I want to be conscious about my life. His speech starts with this one old fish asks two young fish, “how’s the water?” as he passes them by. Then those two young fish look at each other, then say, “What the hell is water?” I am that young fish in the blogging world. I want to see what’s out there. Not only discovering what’s out there, I want to be aware what’s happening in my world by writing in this space. I just want to know what the hell water is.