Even though I love to collect pieces of papers and brochures everytime I travel, those are usually stashed away in plastic folders, never to be opened. My intentions were always doing something like this – I cut them up into pieces and created a 2-pages memoir… first time, ever! I felt so accomplished when I was done. My french friend told me that Japanese masking tapes are very popular in France these days. The other day, I found some very cute ones, and could not resist buying. Hope they will come useful for my scrapbooking. This new knitting book was added to my library today. The author is a Japanese violinist, who used to study in Europe and was fascinated by the world of…
knitting and slow life in Kyoto
Posts from the “**ENGLISH**” Category
The book was really great. It’s about how anomalies occur, whether it’s a good outlier or a bad outlier. Major part of the book is dedicated to how some people out-perform most of us. Gladwell spends most of the pages describing that outliers occur from dedication, timing, cultural background, social values, upbringings – rather than the inherit IQ that the people possess. It’s very interesting that:(1) He felt the urge to explain how black people and white/asian people are born the same(2) Also he felt the urge to explain why Asian kids do better at maths in school – that it is because of their cultural background, not because they are smarter.(3) The book gave me some insights in Korean culture. I work with…
I am going to be quick today. Didn’t do much except for experimenting with my blog design, cooking, and baking. My original intention was to make a berry tart, but a basket of pears was on sale yesterday, so I decided to go for some pears. It turned out that those pears were just one step from going bad. They were way too soft and I had to cut out a lot of parts. Sorry for the bad pictures. When I finished, it was after 7PM. Today, I want to quickly explain a very easy way to make tart crusts. It only takes a few minutes, believe me.First, measure flour with your food processor on top of a measure. Then, mix flour, sugar and salt…
Categories: **ENGLISH**, 2. Diary
I woke up in a very bright room this morning. The bright sun was cheerful from early in the morning. Since today was a “movie in the morning” Saturday, I got up right away. Feeling the energy in the air, I started photographing everything. 今日は起きた瞬間から部屋が明るくて、空気が光とエネルギーに満ちていて、パッと飛び起きてから写真を撮り始めました。先週買ったお花、バラがしおれてしまったので、ダリアと菊のようなお花を買い足しました。深い赤が気分、何故かって、これを編んでいるので。 Remember I bought a bouquet last week? The orange rose started to fade, so I added a few new flowers to the vase. Dahlia, and a few others which name I don’t know. Deep reds felt right for me yesterday at the florist. Because, I am knitting this. Had a quick breakfast with milk tea and a toast. On top of it is the apple jam I made a few weeks ago. Taste magical without even a sprinkle of…
Brian McKnight’s old album, U Turn, renting. My first McKnight experience was this radio program, New Ground, hosted by Chris Douridas on KCRW several years ago, when the album first came out. Just listen. If it won’t melt you, what are you made of? Me, becoming all ice cream listening to this archive recording now. Even after countless times I listen to it long time ago. CD is good, but it cannot beat the live recording at the studio.
Categories: **ENGLISH**, 6. Music
My accomplishments today:(1) Finished watching all of Grey’s Anatomy 6th season DVD – despite my DVD player broken down along the way.(2) Finished a blue sweater which I had been working on for more than a year.(3) My apartment is becoming less of a mess. I only have to do something about the books now. 今日やりとげたこと(1) Grey’s Anatomyをシーズン６まで見終わったこと。途中でDVDプレーヤーが壊れたけど、なんとか頑張った。でもImport DVDがもうコンピューターでしか見られないのがショック。(2) １年以上前から編んでいた青いセーターを編み終わった(3) 部屋が段々片付いてきて、あとは本をなんとかするだけになった。友達に「図書館に寄付したら」と薦められる。良いかもしれない。図書館から本を何冊も貰ったから、恩返しをいつかしなきゃ。 風邪を引いてしまって、体調が下り坂です。でも今週もあと２日。頑張ります。これ以上悪くはならないぞ。I am catching cold, my condition is sliding down, my hands are cold, my back and neck hurts. But I’ve got to hang in there, 2 more days to go this week, and I have to be better before next Saturday so that I can go watch a movie with my friend. My decision today:(1) I need to start writing more. And I…
Sorry but this post is going to be very long. Please skip if you don’t feel like it.そしてごめんなさい、No Japanese. A friend of mine is in Munich, and he posted his whereabouts on Facebook. So I wrote a brief comment about my last trip to the city. By writing that single short sentence, it felt like I had lost a jewel of my memories. The jewel that had given me warmth over the years, that had been pulling me like a magnet to go back there. But it does not make sense. Sharing some memories does not degrade them. Maybe I feel that way because I am reading the book “Giver”. So, Munich. At that time I was a junior editor of landscape and urban…
Japanese Follows. 日本語は下に。 I found this book on Kelly’s blog (her suggested reading list), bought it, and later found out that Retta’s book club selected it for November. This book is my November, I am going to read one chapter per day. The author lost her father in law for cancer, only after 37 days of diagnosis. That’s when she thought about how to live each day more consciously, fully, and more memorably. Chapter 1 was about “Write to Remember”. The chapter writes:” We are all only one step away from losing the stories of our lives. I write to remember. …. It is also a strategy for learning. And for determining who and what we are — and who and what we yearn…
I realized today was the Halloween after I put a pumpkin pie in the oven. And I also realized that I forgot to put a cup of heavy cream in the filling… Ta da! A pumpkin pie from the scratch. オーブンに入れてから、今日がハローウィンだと気がついた。オーブンに入れてから生クリームを入れ忘れたことに気づいた。。。でも我ながらホッペが落ちる美味しさ！ お菓子作りの記憶と高校の記憶は同じところに格納されていて、片一方が刺激されて蘇ってきたらもう一方も蘇ってきた感じがします。とはいえ、土台もフィリングも混ぜて焼くだけなので、なんのテクニックも要らないのですが。強いて言えば、固いカボチャの皮を剥く根気？ こういう重いタルトは冷やしたほうが美味しい。冷蔵庫に保管して今週は楽しめます。レシピはクックパッドで見つけました。 I think my memories of high school years and my knowledge and experience in baking were stored in the same area in my brain. Meeting a roomful of high school classmates brought me back “baking” too. Today I bought a bouquet of flowers in the neighborhood (my favorite florist!) to celebrate the end of October. I won’t have to blog every day from tomorrow. And I stayed very healthy. Looking back, I got hospitalized twice in October, got sick in October…
I am done! Finished this cardigan in 3 weeks, and I am very happy :) Pattern: Hooray by veera, test knitting so the pattern has not been published yet Yarn: Madelinetosh Tosh Merino DK, Denim, 4.5 skeins (about 1,025 yards) Needles: 4.5mm and 4mm, US 6 & 7, circulars and DPNs Mods: (1) I did I-cord BO all around the front, and the cuffs. Coincidentally, other test-knitter Larisa has done the same, I did not realize until later. (2) Added 3 stitches under arms. The buttons are temporary. I am looking for gold buttons, instead of silver. So, I am happily went back to my previous almost-finishing project. Now I am binding off the edges, and, for the first time, using “crocheted BO” technique.…
Categories: **ENGLISH**, 8. Craft
Sparkles*United 