Les enfants de la Place Hébert (1957)

I bought myself a 2010 calendar of Robert Doisneau photography....

2 more resolutions:
- drink more water! (seriously...i sometimes go days...)
- be more on time to things (seriously....this is a real problem!!!)

love,
p. ahn

these are a few of my favorite things...

A small, handmade, hanging planter for wildflower discoveries. Handmade by the shopkeeper's sister at Jizo, my new favorite shop in Kyoto.
My new adorable corkboard! Seriously, this corkboard is probably only 5"x6". Kawaii! Another Jizo creation.
The tiniest vases I've ever seen. Just having these inspires me to go on walks and pick new tiny flowers off of other people's property. Once again, Jizo.
My new ridiculously small soy sauce holder. Hard to tell, but it's tiny!
More Jizo hanging vases. These make me want to install a kiln and take up pottery.
Some Japanese condiment holders. I'll put some yuzu kosho and togarashi in these bad boys.
The three on top were handmade. The 2 white saucers held sake from the gods, which we drank happily on our visit to a shrine for the New Year.

and we're back...

What a trip.... so many photos, so many videos. I'm being good and waiting to look at all the photos with Mike, who is currently conked out for the night. I, on the other hand, took a 5 hour 'nap' today after we unpacked all of our new Japanese goodies. Jet lag always gets me the hardest when I travel West for some reason.

By the way, my New Year's resolutions:
1. Be in the moment
2. Love more
3. Trust more
4. Be good to myself (we all deserve to be joyful)
5. Practice meditation
6. Don't check my emails first thing every morning.

Things on my Christmas List that I actually got this year!:
1. A pajama onesie (from Koream Magazine)
2. New flower vases (pics to be posted soon!)

Anyway, now it's time for some bagels and lox, warm herbal tea, a book, a sleeping pill, and bed.

Kyoto!

I was about to finally upload some photos from my camera onto my computer so I could make a decent blog post. But I forgot my camera cord! It's still in Tokyo.... so you'll have to wait. I'll just paint a picture for you....

Mike is in bed reading about sushi knives and kinds of crab that Kyoto is famous for. I just took a detox bath, and was admiring the needles that the acupuncturist left in my back today. It was our first time getting acupuncture, but we went to a dear friend's trusted sensei. He was so amazing!!! He touched my wrists and hands, and could tell that I'd been coughing a lot (the air is so dry here right now!) and he also felt that I was very delicate and cared a lot about other people, to the point where I care too much*, which could lead to stress and tension. We walked through a place where they had shrines for all the different Chinese zodiacs, and then walked through a long food market (that we'll be revisiting again tomorrow). After a delicious dinner--comprised of BLOW FISH (!!!)--we walked through Gion and below all the Geisha houses.

It's been a pretty bad ass day for us: acupuncture AND blowfish!

Pictures soon to come... I have dreams in stilted Japanese now. I also speak in stilted English. Oyasuminasai! (goodnight!)

- p. ahn

* I think that's a nice Japanese way of saying I'm a control freak and I need to loosen up! ;)

Off To Japan

I just wanted to say a quick goodbye before I shut down my laptop and get a few hours of sleep before we jump on a plane to Japan. I'll be taking lots of pictures, and posting them here as I go....

Goodnight...

My Xmas Mix

I know there's not a lot of variety here...but this mix is intended for people I know who might not have a Sufjan Stevens record, or Vince Guaraldi Trio records--but love Charlie Brown...ya know? It's good tree decorating, gift wrapping, wine sipping, getting excited for the holidays music.

1. Holy, Holy, Holy -Sufjan Stevens
2. Holy Holy, etc. -Sufjan
3. O Tannenbaum -Vince Guaraldi Trio
4. My Little Drum -Vince "
5. Skating -"
6. Hark, The Herald Angels Sing -"
7. Christmas Is Coming -"
8. The Christmas Song -"
9. Christmas Time Is Here (Vocal) -"
10. Oh, Good Grief (Vocal) -"
11. Charlie Brown Theme -"
12. Angels We Have Heard On High -Sufjan Stevens
13. Sister Winter -"
14. Away In A Manger -"
15. Joy To The World -"
16. The Little Drummer Boy -"
17. Star Of Wonder -"
18. Once In Royal David's City -"
19. That Was The Worst Christmas Ever! -"

It's Because Of People Like You

Obi Best "It's Because Of People Like You" Official Video from Social Science Recordings on Vimeo.

I love this song, and this video is so silly and yet...cool.