Nothing Gold Can Stay

Let me just blow the dust from this recently neglected blog. It's now a year old as of May 9th. I can't quite remember where I was at the time, these first two weeks of the month being a maelstorm of activity, bringing with it Golden Week and a matriarchal invasion force. I was in motion, something I usually don't do during holiday times. But this year I stepped into the breach, and it went a little sometin' like this (Hit It!)

Sayonara party for Kat which begat long amblin' bouts of silliness with Shell's beau Nate, visiting from America (Fuck Yeah!) which begat after hours karaoke which begat boisterous singing which begat cottonmouth thirst which begat a rainbow of drinks which begat a samba beat hangover which begat vomiting while bathing (a first).

The following night, teatotalling at a party at Kyoryukan in the Kyo. Butoh and jazz and tap, Oh my! Cooling off on the roof, I spied what may have been a UFO over the Imperial Palace, plus a little silhouette of a man running across a roof on the next block.

Hike from Ichijoji over the top of Hiezan and down to Biwa. Deep in the forest, heard the puzzled screams of monkeys, and surprised a couple cuddling at the Buddha's feet.

Multiple meals with visiting friends over the following days. Sunshine means outdoor dining in the Kyo.

Walked the Kamogawa, from Kitayama to Shijo. In Tagh's, ran into Ady, down from Tokyo. Joined the masses in a bar crawl, which led us to Greenwich House. Midway through my first drink, it dawned on me that E-Ma Mari had sung here the week before.

Beautiful afternoon going park to park with Zack, Dana, and Eli. Breaking the (social) law by engaging in "mastication and ambulation" which led to Dana and my keeping the rhyme scheme going for almost an hour. Stacy came down from Gunma for wine, pasta, and Tarentino's surprisingly graphic new film.

A hike up the back side of Takao, with lunch and nap on a stream's small island.

My first trip to Yokohama, fighting the crowds to get to a Chinatown restaurant famous for rice gruel (and well worth the rep). Follow the neon lit waterfront awhile. Pay waaay too much for bad jazz and bad wine in Japan's highest building.

Pick up Mom and Maggie at KIX. My patented jet-lag cure? Wine and conversation in the back garden.

A few days in the 'Nog. Driving the villages of Shimane. Boat trip round Matsue castle. Daisen antiques and Aloe Cafe lunch. Visit to my tea sensei. Plus the usual cuisine, which I only seem to eat when folks come from abroad. Conveyer belt sushi anyone?

Obligatory Izakaya stop. Invite my better friends from the expat community. Number's have dwindled much this year, and sadly, I now no longer have to take off my socks to count them. [Hello Kyoto!].

A few days in the Kyo, with a side trip to Nara. Hit the major tourist spots, many I haven't hit in over a decade. Dodge the students who seem to be everywhere.

Send mom on her way, then walk the Kamogawa again, heavy with water from the week's rain. Bathe in the moonlite.

Watch the Aoi Matsuri procession awhile. Then round third and head for home...


On the turntable: "From Detroit to St. Germain"
On the nightable: Simon Winchester, "Korea"