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Throwback Thursday!

I was looking through an external hard drive for a particular artwork from college, when I stumbled upon some high school self portraits!

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She’s the best model.

Yes, I hung artwork of my cat next to her cat tower.

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獅子舞・The Lion Dance

朝5時半に起きて、ご飯を食べて、7時35分発の高速バスに乗った。娘と一緒に高松市での獅子舞イベントを見に行った。2人ともワクワクしていた。1ヶ月前垂水の海神社の秋祭りに行ったが、獅子舞は行わなかった。家に帰ってパソコンで娘に見せるため獅子舞の動画を探した。出たビデオはほとんど香川県で撮ったビデオだ。何でかなーと思った。もうちょっと調べたら香川県は獅子舞で「日本一」だと初めて知った。

Got up at 5, ate breakfast, and took the 7:35 highway bus. My daughter and I went to Takamatsu City to see a Lion Dance event. We were both so excited. A month before, we had gone to Kaijinja, a shrine in Tarumi in Kobe, for their autumn festival, but there had been no Lion Dance. When we got home, I looked for some good Lion Dance videos to show my daughter, and most of the videos that came up were from Kagawa. I wondered why. After a little more searching, I found out that Kagawa Prefecture is "#1 in Japan" for the Lion Dance.

確かに、香川に住んだ4年半の間、秋になるとマンションの近くにある神社が獅子舞をしながら神輿を担いで近所を歩き回った。それが特別だと感じていなかったが、神戸に引っ越してから獅子舞は１回も見たことがない。

Of course! I'd live in Kagawa for four and a half years, and every fall a shrine near my apartment walked around the neighborhood, performing the Lion Dance and carrying the mikoshi. I hadn't really thought it was anything unique to Kagawa until coming to Kobe, where I haven't seen the Lion Dance even once.

獅子舞王国さぬきというイベントでは、上演した獅子舞団が香川県と沖縄も神戸市からも来た。神戸市の団体は南京町から来たから、中国の伝統的な獅子舞と似ていると思う。香川の団体は私にとって「普通な」日本の獅子舞を踊った。沖縄の獅子舞は香川の獅子舞とだいぶ違う。本州、九州、四国などの獅子舞は奈良時代に中国から入ってきた。しかし、沖縄の獅子はシーサーに基づいている。シーサーも元々中国の獅子だったが、伝説と特性が本州の獅子と異なる。ネットでいろんなことを調べていっぱい知ったが、このエッセイは研究論文じゃない。😂

At the Shishimai Okoku ("Lion Dance Kingdom") Sanuki event, groups came from around Kagawa, Okinawa, and even Kobe to dance. The team from Nankinmachi, Kobe's Chinatown, performed what I imagine is a more traditionally Chinese Lion Dance. The Kagawa teams danced what I had come to know as "the usual" Japanese Lion Dance. The Okinawa team's performance was totally different from Kagawa's. The Lion Dance came from China to the Japanese islands of Honshu, Kyushu, and Shikoku during the Nara Period, but the Okinawan shisa is the basis for their shishi, or "lion." The shisa also came from China, but its legend and features are different from Honshu's shishi. I read a lot online about these things, but this essay is not a research paper. 😂

娘と一緒に獅子舞を見に行ったという話を友達にして「怖くない？」と聞かれた。全然。娘が可愛いツインテールの髪型を下ろして、獅子みたいに頭を左右に振って鈴の音を真似して「ジンジャリンジャリン」と歌った。このイベントの数週間後、山形県に住んでいる親戚に会いに行ったとき、夫のおじさんがお土産を売っている店で、「何が欲しい？」と娘に聞いた。「これ！」と答えて小さい獅子様を指で指した。その日以来、毎日コートのポケットに入っている。

When I talked to a friend about going to the Lion Dance event with my daughter, my friend asked, "Wasn't she scared?" Not at all. My daughter took down her cute pigtails and swung her head around like a shishi, imitating the bells and drums with her voice, "Jin jarin jarin." A few weeks after this event, we took a family trip to Yamagata Prefecture to visit my husband's relatives. While we were there, we went to a souvenir shop where my husband's uncle asked my daughter, "What would you like?" "This!" she answered happily and pointed at a little shishi. Ever since that day, she's been carrying it in her coat pocket.

Various links to things I read while writing this essay:

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We made shishi puppets! Red one is mine, rainbow one is my daughter’s.

We had so much fun at Ringo Art Club on Friday, and I’m really proud of the kids’ creativity and skills!

The base of each puppet is actually the bottom of a paper milk carton. Cut down two sides and fold in half!

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During our trip to Australia this summer, I found a HP cookbook and was totally dazzled by the many cute and tasty things inside. Today we’re headed to a Halloween Party, so my daughter and I tried to make cheesy, chili powder flying cars, but we also wanted to make snakes and lightning bolts, so we did! Drawing with cream cheese was not as easy as it sounded, but the windows turned out alright. 😅

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Halloween is coming! My daughter changed her mind about being Blizzard Ice Kirby, but I decided to take over that costume and finish the cute hat. It’s not 100% complete, but I already love it.

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最後のユニコーン・The Last Unicorn

When I was a kid, one of my favorite movies was "The Last Unicorn." I watched it many, many times growing up, and in high school I read the book The Last Unicorn by Peter S Beagle. 

子供の頃、「最後のユニコーン」という映画が大好きだった。その映画を何回も何回も見て、そして高校生のときピーター・S・ビーグルが書いた同名の本も読んだ。

In the story, cruel King Haggard has captured nearly all the unicorns in the world and trapped them in the sea beside his castle. He gazes out at the unicorns, who are too scared to emerge from the waves, and he says this is the only thing in the world that brings him pleasure. 

話によると、残酷なハッガード王は一頭を除いて世界のユニコーン全てを捕まえて、城の近くにある海に閉じ込めた。ハッガード王は、毎日怖がて海から出られないユニコーンを見張っている。これが唯一ハッガード王に喜びをもたらすものだった。

There is a lot more to the story, but whenever the sea is whipped up by winds, I remember the scene of white unicorns visible amidst the crashing waves. Even though I have never spotted any unicorns in the sea, I still check… just in case. 

 話はもっとあるけど、海が強風で舞い上がるたびに、白波の中で浮かんでいるユニコーンのシーンを思い出す。ユニコーンを見たことがなくても、じっくり波を見てしまう…念の為に。

I was looking out at the sea today, checking for unicorns, when I saw something jump. “What?! Was that a ray? Can they even jump?” I wondered and quickly whipped out my phone to check. Why yes, rays do jump. 

今日、ユニコーンがいるかどうか確認しながら海を見ている時、水面で跳ねた生き物を見た。「えっ？あれはエイじゃないか？エイは跳ねるの？」と思って、すぐにスマホで調べた。確かに、エイは跳ねる！

Come to think of it, I saw feeding time at Churaumi Aquarium in Okinawa, and I remember seeing the rays shoot like lightning across the surface of the water as the whale shark vacuumed up massive gulps of water and fishy food. The ray I spotted today wasn’t a unicorn, but it was a rare experience and feels kind of magical. 

考えてみると、沖縄の美ら海水族館で餌やりを見た。その時、巨大なジンベエザメは掃除機のように海水と餌をがぶ飲みしたが、エイたちは稲妻のように水面で瞬く間に餌を吸い込んでいく。今日見たエイはユニコーンじゃなかったが、エイを見るのは珍しくて不思議なことだ。

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眠れない・Can't Sleep

眠れない。2時間だけ寝て急に目を覚ました。嵐が来た？猫が遊んでいる？子供が泣いている？トイレに行きたい？いいえ。ただ目を覚まして眠れない。

Can't sleep. I slept about two hours but suddenly woke up. Is the storm here? Is my cat playing around? Is my kid crying? Do I need to go pee? Nope. I just woke up and can't sleep.

明日、しなければならないことが多い。リビングを片付ける、お土産を買う、空港行きバスの時間を確認する。心配も多い。娘は日本語がまだまだ足りない。台風はいつ来る？したいことも多い。姉に電話したい。絵を描きたい。娘のハロウィーン仮装を作りたい。自分のハロウィーン仮装も作りたい。あっ、そうね。昨日、スーパーに行ったのに、あれを買うのを忘れた。頭がうるさいね。眠れない。

I have a lot of things to do tomorrow. I need to clean up the living room, buy some souvenirs, check the airport bus schedule. I have a lot of things to worry about. My daughter still needs to learn more Japanese. When will the typhoon finally get here? I want to call my sister. I want to do some art. I want to make my daughter's Halloween costume. I want to make my own costume. Oh, right. I forgot to get something when I went to the grocery store yesterday. My head is too noisy. Can't sleep.

夫は今どこにいる？飛行機に乗ってヨーロッパに飛んでいるのを知っているけど、今どこにいる？ふむ、夜9時出発だったら、多分中国の上にいるだろう。夫は寝ているかな。私は眠れない。

Where's my husband now? I know he's on a flight to Europe, but where is he now? Hmm, he left around 9pm, so he's probably somewhere over China by now. I bet he's sleeping. I can't sleep.

アメリカの大統領の選挙について考えたくないね。あの人が勝ったらどうする。嫌だ、絶対嫌だ。勝つわけがないだろう。8年前もそう思ったが、結局勝った。4年前に負けたから、今回も負けるだろう。負けて欲しい。あの人が負けても、アメリカに帰りたくない。家族に会いたくても、アメリカに帰りたくない。眠れない。

I don't want to think about the upcoming presidential election in the US. If that guy wins, what will I do? Awful. Totally awful. There's no way he can win. 8 years ago we thought that too, but in the end he won. He lost 4 years ago, so he's definitely going to lose this time, right? I hope so. Even if he loses, though, I don't want to go back to the US. Even if I want to see my family, I don't want to go back. Can't sleep.

猫は本当に可愛いよね。今飼っている猫が世界一かもしれない。耳の形がいいし、鼻が茶色くて可愛いし、目の色が素晴らしいし…この猫が大好き。昔飼っていた猫もとてもいい子だった。ナタリーちゃん。初めてのペットで本当に良かった。喉頭の問題のせいで、ナタリーの「ニャー」が「ギャー」になった。いつも一緒に寝て、朝に起こしてくれた。兄妹3人で森に遊びに行った時、ナタリーも一緒に行った。ある冬、ナタリーが凍った池に歩いている時、氷が割れた。ナタリーが冷たい池に落ちて、私に救われた。よどんで臭い池に落ちたナタリーをコートの中に入れてあたためた。ナタリーのいい思い出のおかげで、眠くなってきた。

Cats are so cute. The cat I have now just may be the best in the world. Cute-shaped ears, cute brown nose, beautiful eyes... I love this cat. I had a great cat when I was a kid, too. Natalie. I'm so glad she was my first pet. She had some problem with her voice box, so her "meow" was more like "gaa." She always slept with me and woke me up in the morning. When my siblings and I went to play in the woods, she often came with us. One winter, Natalie was talking on a frozen pond when the ice broke. Natalie fell into the cold water, but I quickly saved her. She was so stinky from the stagnant pond water, but I stuffed her inside my coat to warm her back up. Thanks to these sweet memories of Natalie, I'm feeling a bit sleepy.

My black cat Natalie・黒猫のナタリー

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Crafty Friday night at Ringo Art Club

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秋の匂い・The Smell of Fall (ハロウィーンの仮装・Halloween Costumes)

コオロギが鳴いている夕方に、娘と一緒に公園を通って帰っているとき、娘が滑り台を滑りたかった。虫を食べているコウモリが頭の上を飛び回っていた。涼しい風で吹き飛んできている落ち葉の匂いを嗅ぐと、「もう、秋だね！」と感じた。

秋はハロウィーンがあるから、毎年私が忙しくなる。ハロウィーンが大好き。ハロウィーンの仮装を作るのがとても楽しい。15歳のときハロウィーンの仮装を初めて作った。ナイトメアー・ビフォア・クリスマスという映画のキャラクターになった。16歳に宇宙の女帝というオリジナルキャラクターを作った。17歳にバットマンのハーレークインという悪役になった。日本に来てから、もっと面白い仮装を作った。例えば、2015年は進撃の巨人の女型の巨人、そして2016年日本の狐像になった。夫が狸像の仮装を着て、私とペアになった。

娘が生まれた年、娘の仮装も作った。最初の仮装は妖精、次か葉っぱの山、その次はモスラになった。今年（2023年）、娘の仮装と自分の仮装も作っている。娘が「手伝うよ！」と言って、一緒にマスクに絵の具を塗った。子供の頃、私も母と一緒に仮装を作りたかったが、母がいつも「大丈夫。私ができるから」と言って、ミシンなどを使わせてくれなかった。毎年完璧で素敵な仮装を作ってくれたが、共同作業したかった。

One evening as the crickets sang, my daughter and I were headed home through the park. My daughter decided she wanted to go down the slide, so I watched the bats swooping overhead, gobbling up bugs. A cool wind blew the smell of falling leaves towards me. I felt, “Aah, it’s Fall!” 

Every year I get busy in the fall, because Halloween is coming. I love Halloween. Making Halloween costumes is so fun. When I was 15, I made my first Halloween costume: Sally from the Nightmare Before Christmas. At 16, I was the Empress of the Universe, and original character I created. At 17, I was the villainous Harley Quinn from Batman. Since coming to Japan, I’ve made even more interesting costumes. For example, in 2015 I was the Female Titan from Attack on Titan, and in 2016 I was a Japanese statue-style fox. My husband went as a Tanuki that year, so we were a great pair. 

The year my daughter was born, I made her Halloween costume. That year she was a fairy, the next year she was a pile of fallen leaves. After that she was Mothra. This year (2023), I’m kiang my daughter’s costume and my own. My daughter said, “I wanna help!” and she helped me shape and paint her mask. Growing up, I always wanted to help my mom make my costumes, but she said, “It’s fine. I can do it,” and didn’t let me even touch the sewing machine. She always made a perfect costume for me, but I really wanted to do it together. 

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Blast from the past! Found this woodblock print from a college printmaking class when visiting my parents earlier this month. I remember laughing so hard during critique when my classmates were discussing what the text and its lack of punctuation meant, because apparently I was the only REM fan in the room.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=aG-GjAIuENc

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This week I finally finished the Nebraska tshirt quilt i started making before I came to Japan. Sadly, 11-years-ago Rachel put a bunch of shirts in a pile and cut them at the same time. The screen printed words were not in the same location all the way down. I couldn’t finish it before coming to Japan, and I hadn’t had suitcase space to bring it until this last trip!

There were so many shirts it was becoming king-sized, so I decided to use the shirts front and back instead of using a different fabric. It’s heavy, haha.

Aww, I will never forget anchoring that amazing 4x400. We already knew we had won the conference championship, but passing that Oklahoma girl on the final stretch sure felt good.

Oh… this is (clockwise from top left) me mostly cut off, my butt, me passing the Oklahoma runner, and me with my relay team getting mega side eye from Oklahoma.

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Mermaids・人魚

暑いというか暑すぎる。まだ8月になっていないが、今年の夏はもう5回ビーチに行った。マンションの近くにあるビーチ、アジュール舞子、須磨、そして須磨海浜公園に娘を連れて行った。娘も私も海で泳ぐのが大好き。娘が8ヶ月から1歳8ヶ月までベビースイミングクラスに通っていたが、娘がそのことを覚えていない。それでも、娘がちゃんと泳げなくても海に気軽に入って遊べる。それを見て嬉しく思う。

私も小さい頃から海、川によく行ったから、水に入るのがとても自然なことだと感じる。子供の頃、私が人魚のように泳げると思った。水中で呼吸できる夢をよく見た。実際にできるようになったら、どうするだろう。「どんな超能力が欲しい」という質問を聞かれたとき、私は多分1回も「水中で呼吸できる」と答えたことがないと思う。溺れている人を救う以外、スーパーパワーとしてそんなに役に立たないでしょう。

スーパーヒーローはいつも人間や人間の世界を救っているが、近年地球が人間から受けた影響がわかるから、エコヒーローの時代が到来！人間が水中で呼吸できるようになったら、地球上の全ての海に浮かんでいるビニール袋やプラスチックゴミなどを泳ぎながら拾って海をキレイにしたい。地球をキレイにできなかったら、氷冠と氷河も溶け続ける。完全に溶けたら、人間は水中で呼吸できるように早く進化しなければならない。

It’s not just hot, it’s too hot. It’s not even August yet, but I’ve been to the beach 5 times this summer. I’ve taken my daughter to the beach near our apartment, Azure Maiko, Suma, and Suma Seaside Park. We both love swimming in the sea. My daughter went to baby swimming lessons from 8 months old to a year and 8 months old, but I don’t think she really remembers that. However, she happily plays in the sea even if she can’t exactly swim. Watching that makes me pretty happy. 

I grew up going to rivers and the ocean, so I feel very natural in the water. I used to imagine I could swim like a mermaid when I was a kid. I had a lot of dreams in which I could breathe underwater. If I really could breathe underwater, what would I even do? When asked “If you could have a superpower, what would you want to be able to do?” I don’t think I have ever answered, “Breathe underwater.” Aside from saving drowning people, what could I even really do with this power?

Superheroes are always saying humans or human civilization, but in recent years as we realize just how much human actions have impacted the planet, the time for ecoheroes has arrived!If humans developed the ability to breathe underwater, we could swim around the earth and clean up the trash we’ve sent floating off on the seas. If we don’t clean up the Earth, ice caps and glaciers will continue to melt. If they melt entirely, well, humans had better evolve the ability to breathe underwater quick.  (Obviously this was written at the end of July... August has definitely happened now.)

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Stealing ideas from my daughter’s preschool crafts!

My daughter made this really cute jellyfish yesterday, and I was really interested by the technique the teacher used! She had the kids color on foil, then sprayed the marker drawings with water, and had the kids press paper on top of it all. Voila! My daughter cried, “I didn’t make the right choice!” because she rubbed her paper around too much and most of the colors blended together, but I promised her we could try it again at home. :-)

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Kitty cat craft time