peace project

i was standing at the bus stop at 9am accompanied by a thick rainy drizzle and the slightest wind that made everything unprotected by waterproof rain gear completely soaked. this morning was dreary.

outside was dreay, and so was i. i was not particularly in the mood to be making the same daily trek to work, and in even less of a mood to carry out my daily work routine of sitting, photocopying, sitting, retreiving books for patrons and more sitting at the reception desk.

but you know, all of this is not that bad. i don't mind my job (for now) and the rain isn't so bad either. it's the routine. the boring ol' routine that sneaks up on you. and for this, i am pretty sure my face was stoney and blank, and coupled with the commuter transit passenger gaze i must have looked dreadful and i sort of felt it, too.

a few stops down the line an old man boarded the bus. judging by appearance he looked as if he needed a nice hot bath and some fresh clothes. he wore a slate blue jacket and pefectly worn brown leather boots. he was carrying with him a dingey white plastic bag, the good sturdy kind that you can't see through. (also the kind my grandmother hoards on account of they stand up to her continual packing and unloading of her gifts of grapefruits, kleenex , spices, toilet paper, etc., that she distributes at her grandchildren's houses. i suppose i am getting older because i truly cherish those gifts.) anyway, so i was wondering if these plastic bags were an old person thing and i realized that i too tend to store them in my kitchen for the same reason, when this old scruffy japanese man begins to dig in his back pocket.

i am getting nervous at this point, and my experience as a bus rider for the last five years begins to make me think, 'great, do i want to know what is going on here?,' so i divert my gaze to the window behind him. i notice that he pulls out of his pocket a small crisply folded piece of newspaper, and he continues to makes a crane. the sort that flaps its wings when you pull the tail. a smile spreads a across his face and he notices that a lady sitting a few seats down from me was watching him craft and he leans over the aisle and gives it to her. he says the word 'peace'. and sort of bows, still smiling.

a wave of cheerfulness hit me. kindness like this is so rare! especially in a bit city. my stoney face softened, i couldn't help but smile. he noticed my smile and he quickly returned to this back pocket and brought out another half folded crane and quickly brought it to life with flapping wings and presented it to me. i accepted the token with the same sentiment of peace and began pulling its tail to animate it.

the old man, noticing that other bus riders were warming up with smiles as he made hist first two offers, continued to pull cranes from his pocket and soon there was a handful of us with his small creations. the recipients all thanked him and wished him a nice day as they trucked off of the bus and onto the sidewalk, still smiling i might add.

the old man pulled the cord before my stop, he thanked the bus driver, his brown boots clunked as he shuffled up the street. i noticed that his back pockets were stuffed with his folded cranes.

i pulled the cord a few blocks away and tucked the crane into my raincoats chest pocket for protection. i thought about how i have been working on folding 1000 cranes, how it was supposed to stand for world peace, how they were strung up in strings of 25 cranes slowly building to 1000. i thought about how no matter how many cranes i fold and string it isn't going to change the world, and i thought about how those five cranes that the old, smiling japanese man folded on the bus probably did.

thelookbook

there are some hits and there are quite a few misses, but i can't stop stumbling through this site.

10

things i will do before i die:
go to iceland
own a little house
raise two children
finish grad school
have a vegetable garden
write something worth reading

things i can't do:
math
tolerate small minds
not mean it
ski

all of this hubbub

cry one's heart out..cut to the heart.. eat one's heart out..find it in one's heart..heart in one's mouth.. get to the heart of..heart is set on..heart misses a beat..one's heart stands still..heart to heart.. change of heart...absence makes the heart grows fonder..by heart..break someone's heart..have a heart..heavy heart..heart of gold..lonely hearts.. heart sinks... heart's contet..warm the heart..pour out one's heart..cold hearted..one's heart in it.. <3

sunsunsun

sea of numbers

mathisfun! i have been frantically adding, dividing and muliplying fractions preparing for a 5th grade math lesson. this is the best site i have found that explains these basic processes in simple terms. i have discovered that elementary math can become more difficult with age, particularly when trying to teach it.

p.s. i am having one of these days:

i love seattle, but i wouldn't mind some tropical zen these days.

tea and sleep.

i love these interiors-- it's like living in a scrapbook where everything has a story behind it.

the first two images are photographed by debi treloar
the bottom image is the interior of caitlin mociun. her spring collection has arrived and it is
beautiful.

sun. 2/1 @ neumos

anomie belle :

lackluster, overdone, and just plain bad. i had hopes for this lady (i like female vocals), but unfortunately i was wishing her off of the stage two songs in, and i couldn't help smirking and rolling my eyes at mpg in disbelief when they played 15 minutes into black mamba's set. her name boasts of an intriguing concept (sorta), [anomie meaning social unrest or normlessness; individual malaise, alienation and purposelessness and belle, a popular and charming woman] but i think this escapes most people, and she certainly gives herself way too much credit, as she entertains the crowd with music from her keyboard and soft moans into the mic.(hardly charming. kinda boring). also, mpg swears her back-up vocalists couldn't keep time. bottom line: lack of professionalism and respect by playing over their time, and no stage presence. i think her name fits her, and maybe too well.
she has a pretty fancy website, see for yourself : http://www.anomiebelle.com/

black mamba :

these guys only played for about 15 minutes. they were an interesting group of hipster folks. i was hesitant to leave when mpg proposed we go to the hotdog cart (but those hotdogs are just too damn delicious). i loved their collection of instruments, with two keyboards, a clarinet and the classic bass, guitar and drums. most of their songs sounded very similar to each other, and to be honest i have sort of forgotten about them already, but what i do remember seems fond.


the album leaf :

http://www.albumleaf.com

excellent. i'm sure it helps that they had their own sound guys, but they had an amazing sound. i was hoping that they wouldn't have the same sound live as they have on their recordings, and they didn't. the visuals behind them on stage were done well and coupled with the music it was easy to get lost-- i even felt like i was floating through a few songs. it was a good hour and 15 min set and i felt full as i was walking back to the car. i sort of wish they had opened more seating at the venue, it would have been nice to have more space away from the incredibly drunk people grouped near the back, but that was my only complaint. they are currently in seattle recording their next record. they played a few new tracks sunday night, and i think the new album will be worth listening to.