Uncharted journey continues...

My usual rhythm has me in the Kyo from Thursday to Saturday, and in the 'Nog the rest of the week. Last Saturday was a holiday, therefore no aikido, therefore no reason to come back here. So six full days in the Kyo this time, doing little more than loafing. And if you got time to lean, you got time to glean.
Here's what I picked up this time:

Met with a new student for lunch at Sarasa downtown. Find out that I'm the first person she's met socially in 8 months. And it's her birthday. So I ask her to tag along with me as I run errands downtown. And it's her 40th birthday. So I buy her pints and dinner at Hill of Tara. As my cab pulls away, I spy the merry bounce in her gait as she heads home. No one should be alone when they turn 40.

Same night, Friday, have Chijimi at Daruma near (secret). The crowd tonite includes a professional jazz singer. The night gets late and a guitar comes out. Luckily, I have a new Indian drum which I bought a couple hours before. Tap away gently to her homegrown J-folk. Am then prompted to sing "Stand by Me" and "Don't Let Me Down," to a full house. Of ten.

Begin Tai Chi lessons once again. Watch my new teacher drop twenty years as she goes through the form.

Find the Japanese translations of two of Sherman Alexie's books in Sarasa Nishijin. Find out that the manager I befriended three years ago, with whom I talked about Osho and Krishnamurti and the Dalai Lama, is still in charge. It doesn't take a guru to see many heady nights in my future.

Beautiful warm Monday in the sun with a book, coffee, and two cats.

Caught Hiros live in Kobe, playing along with Kul Bhushan Bhargava on tablas and Umezu Kazutoki on Bass Clarinet. Small crowd at some sort of art space. A woman bobs and weaves in time as the three men create sounds of the harbor: seagulls, tugboats, steel.

After four months on probation, finally become the 313th member of Chofukan dojo. And I hung up my shingle to prove it.

On the turntable: Shigeru Umebayashi, "House of the Flying Daggers"
On the nighttable: "Granta 48: Africa"