cuttin'

yokoichi01_8, originally uploaded by renfield.

Did some cutting in the basement with Elvis. Lots of silliness, and at least one decent yokoichimonji.
Check out the slide show, or even watch the video.

After cutting Miri fed us at Cravings, then Elvis went to work and Hiroko and I went up to the local kimono place, bought a killer obi for her, and dropped off my kimono for some much needed fixin'.

breakfast of champions

breakfast of champions, originally uploaded by renfield.

keith married!

keith married!, originally uploaded by renfield.

Congrats to the baddest zen buddhist priest in Chicago, shown here completing the bonds of matrimony in Poland.

zest

We had our second and final dinner for all the summer interns at Zest. We took the whole top floor/roof with the nice outdoor open courtyard. Food is perfectly respectable, and the place is cheap. Summer interns seemed impressed enough; I think we've spent more money on summer intern functions (we invite all interns from all the foreign financial firms in Tokyo) than any other bank, and have good officer turnout. We had most of the executive management committee eating onion rings and chatting up the kids. After I wow'd the youngin's with my "What kind of container are you?" speech, I took a leisurely walk home through the soup that is Tokyo's summer night air. Shortly thereafter Hiroko came back from practice sore and tired. Naturally, I abused her because she was so sore she couldn't lift her arms enough to take off her own t-shirt, but unfortunately I discovered that she did in fact have enough energy left to punch me repeatedly.

amen

Thanks Hilary, but you need a clue.

sora mimi

There is something so completely wrong with this. Especially if you understand Japanese, and know 2 Chaneru. And if not...well it's still just insanely amusing.

birthday socks from parentals!

birthday socks from parentals!, originally uploaded by renfield.

Birthday socks! Kinda long. And kinda green. But they sure are sporty!

mama with showgirl

mama with showgirl, originally uploaded by renfield.

Mama went to Vegas for the annual General Federation of Women's Clubs meeting.
Here she is with a showgirl (mama's on the left.)

sushi in ginza

sushi, originally uploaded by renfield.

Went to Ginza with Hiroko to do some random shopping. Ended up buying an absolutely killer summer kimono and a pair of geta. Also got widely assaulted by old women. At the geta/shoe area Old Woman Mrs. Chiba decided exactly what I should by; my opinion was irrelevant.
Then, at the antique fair on the top floor of Matsuya Department Store (right after a fairly burly earthquake that made me feel sorry for the dude selling all that antique glass) I was surrounded and attacaked by no less than five Old Women. One demanded I remove my jeans whilst another wrapped my in a kimono and tied the belt so tight I couldn't feel my legs. In the end they wouldn't let me leave until I dropped the cash for the kimono, but it's all good because that kind of kimono is so rare, and to find an antique in my size simply doesn't happen.
After shopping we lined up at Midori Sushi under the train tracks and stuffed ourselves on good, cheap sushi and then took the bus home. Good thing, too, because many of the trains and subways were still stopped.

Hiroko wrote about this very same day in her blog, too!

distance, timing

If I could ever figure out two things -- distance and timing. That was a lovely sentence fragment, btw, and it describes perfectly my understanding of the two. That is, I have no clue. The whole concept of moving, closing, and striking, shoulders and hips, arms and legs, feet and hands, is still totally beyond me. I think I know what I should be doing, but I have no idea how to do it. Teaching is always fun when I start by showing the wrong way to do it, practicing with everyone, and then concluding with a simple question: anyone figure it out? I sure have no clue.
Big turnout for class tonight, and it was hot and humid, decreasing my move-alot motivation, so we paired up with bokken and took turns trying to reach each other from the neutral tip-to-tip distance of just-outta-reach. The end result was generally not being able to reach at all, or overstretching the upper body and getting way off balance.
In a feeble attempt to connect this movement to some actual iai, we did a few kata and I tried to tie in this movement-from-the-hips (what isn't?) from both standing and sitting. Not sure if any of it made any sense, but I had fun trying to figure out the near impenetrable. Seems like "getting it" is an asymtope: I can get closer and closer, but never actually arrive.

not funny any more

OK this heat is no longer funny. Supposedly the typhoon season is over. Which leaves me asking what happened to all the rain we didn't have.
Went to Jiyugaoka on a shopping mission (failed) and it was so hot we just went to the Tsutaya/Starbucks bookstore in Roppongi Hills and sat around in the cool reading silly magazines and wasting time until the sun dipped.
And what is up with this lack of daylight savings in Japan? I don't get it; for a country so concerned with high energy costs and use, that extra hour in the morning would mean it's not already blazing hot by 6am, and more light in the evening when folks are out and about means less need for lighting. Probably has something to do with the uniqueness of Japanese cows or some assine excuse.

kairi

Hiroko had to work, so I went to the dojo in the morning and then came by her office to play with Kairi. When I arrived Kairi was drawing pictures with Hiroko, but I soon took over and we proceeded to assault the office furniture, play with her colored bricks, and then we discovered the nubby exercise ball behind someone's cubicle. This provided us with hours of giggles as she attempted to stand up on the ball and I grabbed onto it and her and tried to avoid having her experience serious head trauma.
We finished up with a rousing game of hide-and-seek before heading back to Shibuya and saying goodbye. She was bummed and tired (no nap) but I gotta say, as far as four year-olds go, Kairi is the best playmate a dude could have.

yeah, but it's a dry heat

Rode hiroko's bycicle to the dojo in the morning, but it was already 25°C and climbing. Trained for a bit and then after The King showed up we cruised down to Kudanshita for sandwhiches at Subway and some toy shopping at Sakuraya. The Scotland D bought out the place, loading up on gear for his students back home, and I bought the super lightweight hakama and keikogi for summer.
Hiroko was done with work so I came home, got my haircut, and cooked pasta for dinner.
Did I mention it was hot?

one too many in ginza

one too many in ginza, originally uploaded by renfield.

Had a lovely work out with D. from Scotland and ate too much greasy Chinese food afterwards, so decided to walk off a bit of it. Passed this gentleman on the way home and thanked my lucky stars I don't drink. What are the odds he still has his bag, wallet, and shoes when he wakes up? Could be worse; if this was Manhattan, he'd probably wake up naked and covered in spray paint. In New Jersey.

parentals

Barbara and Myron, originally uploaded by renfield.

And now, a moment of parental bliss.

ayu ramen

ayu ramen, originally uploaded by renfield.

Really, REALLY good ramen. Okinawan, the speciality being the full and complete ayu fish. Hint: eat the head first!

hata-chan

hata-chan, originally uploaded by renfield.

Hata-chan wore her purple yukata today, and it goes so well with her knife. She looks evil, don't she?

more kimonoage

IMG_2281.JPG, originally uploaded by renfield.

Went to Ichikawa to Aunt Mari's place and watched as Mari-san spent hours helping Hiroko figure out how to wear the kimono correctly. It's official: my job is to tie the obi (belt) as there is simply no way any normal human can do that behind her own back without having inhuman reversable elbows or something.
I threw on my lightest kimono and as the always styling couple that we are, we took the train back into Tokyo and walked home from Mita Station. And it was hot and humid and nasty.
Got home and I was totally inspired by how cool (at least 5°C cooler than upstairs) the basement was, so I went on a mad cleaning spree. I think I'll drag the futon down there and sleep in cool, air-conditionerless comfort for the rest of the summer!

women's club

My mom is president of the Stamford Women's Club, which has just celebrated its 100th anniversary.

hiroko's wisdom

As y'all may know, Hiroko writes an interestingly random anecdote in her company newletter. Now, we have collected those anecdotes into Hiroko's Hitokoto ("Hiroko's Last Word").