Yeah, it's been a while since I've done one of these...
#3 - Linkin Park.
Whenever things settle into a rut and life feels like it's starting to stagnate, leave it up to the shuffle function on my iPod to give life that caffeine kick it needs! While I was sitting on the train studying kanji, my iPod fished out some Linkin Park from the unfathomable gigabytes of eternity.
I remember being skeptical the first time I listened to them... I'm really not a fan of intentional misspellings. (This was the same reason I was slow to become a Def Leppard fan, although they later became one of my favorite bands.) Anyway, they quickly grew on me. The crisp sound engineering and delicate blend of light, warm, surrounding sounds with cold, hard, thrashing guitars really does it for me. They're kind of like a younger version of Faith No More.
Rejuvenated by this rediscovery, I dialed them up on my iPod after that and listened to them for most of the rest of the day. :)
#2 - Warm summer breeze.
Granted, the air has been getting warmer with the coming of "spring" (actually this is what most people from nations in temperate climates would call summer. As the Japanese are fond of saying, "Japan has four seasons". What they neglect to mention is that these seasons are not winter, spring, summer, and fall, but in fact dreary-and-miserable, summer, unbearable-humid-roasting-inferno, and summer-again-but-with-colorful-leaves-this-time.)
Anyway, the change I noticed today was that the wind on my knuckles as I biked home from the station was quite warm. Soothing. Enveloping. Like taking a long, warm shower after a day of hiking in the cold rain. Like rubbing warm lotion into dry, cracked skin. It was a wonderful feeling. A delicate balance point between the seasons, and I'm sure it won't last for long.
#1 - Anonymous encounter.
This morning on my commute to work, I looked up from my studying while we were stopped at one of the stations I never get off at. A troop of elementary school kids was walking along the platform, identical little yellow hats bobbing past the window.
I watched their faces as they passed, trying to imagine them later in life. Trying to read their thoughts, their opinions of Japanese society. Although a few were joking around and laughing, most of them had dull, uninspired looks in their eyes. They only looked forward and down, making sure they stayed in their proper place in line.
That seemed kind of sad to me, but about 3/4 of the way down the line, one little girl seemed different. She was bouncing along with a sparkle in her eye, and she was looking at the things around her. As the line shuffled past my car, she looked in and saw me. The expression on her face transformed instantly. She was so excited! A real, live foreigner! Our eyes met for a moment through the train window... the glance we exchanged was like a little secret between the two of us, and we smiled at each other for a moment. Then the line began to move again, and just before she was swept away from the window, she mouthed a word to me through the glass.
"Hello."
And she was gone.
3 comments:
When I am not reading a book on the bus or when I just want to be idle, I love playing this game; trying to guess how people are, what kind of life they lead and where they are going.. Its like a bus full of doors; and each door leads to an other universe.. To me, its a wonderful timepass..
Philo, that is such a Philo response! I miss you so much.
Actually, I do that a lot, sort of involuntarily. Sometimes I'll just see someone's face and have a flash of who they are, what their life is like, and what kinds of feelings they are experiencing.
It happened to me the other day in the supermarket. It was a really emotional experience - I was struck by the sadness, loneliness, resignation, and hopelessness (in my imagination, at least) of one of the ladies working at the register, I almost wanted to cry.
By the way, I love your image of a "bus full of doors". Very original!
Only cause you write such Dylan things! ;) :D
I was kind of surprised when u wrote that cause I dont know anyone else who does this! I am also very curious how accurate such a 'flash estimation' can be. Nevertheless its so interesting cause it gives u a glimpse of how an other person might be seeing the world.
Perhaps there is a whole range of these 'games' people play by themselves.
Like for example some time back, a friend of mine was doing an assignment on the experience of traveling by car. While having a group discussion we came to the realization that some of us play a 'tagging game' in the car. Like you spot an object ahead and try to predict when it will pass by your window. A kind of neurotic timing game..
Things people do when idle.. I think one could write a whole book about it!
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