The doodlings of the day - the thought, beauty, and excitment of the day..... or just something I scribbled.
...... January 3, 2009 ......
There are 2 days out of a year that I really dread. One is the 4th of July, and another is the new year's eve. Those are 2 days that people go nuts here in Hawaii with fireworks, legal ones as well as illegal ones. It's not that I don't like fireworks. I like the ones beautiful and enjoyable. But those that people do here on the streets for those 2 days are nothing but continuous loud explosive noises and smoke.
On new year's eve, I tried to get home from work as quickly as possible but it was half past six when I finally got home. I could see poor Tori-san all stressed out. Freakin neighbors must have been lighting up all afternoon. Poor thing was so tired, he came out of his cagy, climbed up on his usual spot on the dining table, and fell right to sleep with relief that I was there. I dread these 2 days.
...... December 12, 2008 ......
I like drawing animals (including birds, reptiles, etc.). For that matter, I like animals. I like them because they are just very content and live along with nature. (The only time I find myself not liking any animals is when they are wrongfully trained or not trained by uneducated owners.) Animals are very funny. They have good sense of humor. I'm sure they laugh, but not the way we do. Can you imagine how it would be if human could hear them laugh? Everywhere we go, there'd be laughers because animals most certainly are laughing at us humans.
...... December 1, 2008 ......
It's already December, 2008 is almost over... How fast times passes nowadays. It's time to reflect the year and I feel like I just did that for the previous year. So it seems like life has not changed much for me... I'm supposed to be drawing this "daily" cartoons and kept falling behind because I just have no time. It's really not easy trying to find time to do things if at least 40 hours a week of your life is confined in the office. In normal weekday of 24 hours, 8 hours spent at work, 8 hours to sleep, 3 hours for meals, 1 hour to commute, 1 hour spent in kitchen, 1 hour spent in bathroom and shower - if I'm not missing anything else, that leaves me 2 hours of "free" time, which I'm normally too tired to do much. Ok, ok, no excuse... One of those days, I'd love to be a full time cartoonist so that I'd have 8 hours a day of drawing time. Did someone say, "The best part of achieving one's dream is the journey to get there" - I'm not sure if I believe that fully, but I do think there's a truth to it, so I dream on, try to squeeze the drawing time until the day comes, because nobody knows - it may just happen someday.
Totally unrelated subject... people in Hawaii are so used to exposing their skin and natural body shape. It's too hot to wear tight clothes but loose clothes seem to let the "natural" to expand only outward. And why men like to go strip clubs? Why so many of them in Hawaii where people are halfway naked anyway?? Sometimes I miss wearing snow boots.
...... November 17, 2008 ......
Plovers are migratory birds that fly between Alaska and Hawaii. They do have to travel awfully long distance twice every year, but still the life they have - spend winter in Hawaii and summer in Alaska - sounds very attractive. As far as Hawaii is concerned, however, I do feel sorry for some of them whose vacation homes (i.e., natural habitat) here have been taken over by humans. They also are chased around by stray cats which moved in the area with thoughtless humans who feed them. Wild animals are the most helpless victims of selfish humans. Nobody want to have our homes taken away by somebody else. So what can we do for them?
There is this kids' game called "Daruma-san ga koronda" in Japan. While one kid, who is designated as "Oni", counts ten ("da-ru-ma-sa-n-ga-ko-ro-n-da!") facing the other way, all the other kids run from a distant line to approach Oni. But when Oni turns around at the end of the count, the running kids have to stop and be still. If Oni sees anyone move at this point, they are taken away as "prisonor" to Oni.
Anyway, the way Plover moves always reminds me of this "Daruma-san ga koronda" game. They run fast, fast, fast, then stop and stay still for a while. I'm guessing they must move like that to protect themselves from predators. It's a serious business of survival out there! Nonetheless, they bring smile on my face.
...... October 29, 2008 ......
Here are some more of Tori-san. He is so funny that he's always so eager to learn new phrases. He already knows over 200 phrases but always comes to his "lesson position" in his cagy and listens in when we pick up his lesson note. His phrases are mostly in English and Japanese but some French and Spanish, too. Most recent ones are: "Happy Halloween!" "Trick or Treat" and "Happy Birthday ... to you!" (with good rhythm and emphasis).
He also does some tricks. He can flip his swingy in different angles, ride on the white-out bottle like a circus bear. etc. He's very vey social. He likes to come out of his cagy at meal time, or any other time when we sit down together. He would not miss any social occasions. Another thing he does - he likes to help me draw and write. One day, I was making a grocery list on a piece of paper, and here he comes, down my shoulder through the arm, helping me write by chasing the tip of the pen. So I flipped over the paper and started drawing lines while he chased and pecked. What came out is the drawing below. I colored it, of course, but the lines and dots are by Tori-san.
...... October 19, 2008 ......
I used to go to beach every weekend but lately it has become much less event. The biggest reason is simply lack of time. One of those days when I don't have to dedicate 40 hours of my week day in the office, there will be more time to draw ... and do all kinds of other things that I don't have time for right now.
...... September 19, 2008 ......
I was very lucky to receive the Best of the Division Award at "Digital Manga Grand Prize" as well as Kyoto Mayor's Award and Wacom Award. I made a quick trip to Kyoto to attend the award ceremony. The ceremony was such a big deal - with famous cartoonists Machiko Satonaka, Monkey Punch, and Tetsuya Chiba present. Manga (cartoons & comics) is a part of the culture in Japan, and much more respected than here. I was very happy and honored to be there, and was thankful for all the people who supported me in many ways.
Besides, I had not been in Kyoto for years, so decided to spend a couple of extra days to enjoy the old capital city. Looking down into Katsura-gawa river from Togetsu-kyo bridge, there were many fish, about a foot or longer, all facing the same direction. Of course, fish swim up the river, but these bunch looked like they were still. And they looked really cool in there. Standing on the old bridge, early September sun still felt strong.
On the way back, I was half asleep in Narita Express. At one point when the train made a turn, I saw something big, round, and red, and thought I was still dreaming. ... It was the Jugoya full moon.
