From spring to summer in 2009, I made compote or jam every week. I started making my own for two reasons; store-bought jam is too sweet for my taste and buying from shops means more empty jars to recycle. Although 90% of my production was consumed by my husband, I still enjoyed the process of turning fresh fruit into something a bit more lasting.
My new mutant name was announced when I started talking about making fruit leather, homemade oil sardines and smoked bacon.
"If you were a Sesame Street character, " said my husband, "you would be called Preserve."
Cookie Monster: Ohhh! Cookies!!! Yum yum yum yum...
Preserve: Wait, you blue fluffy thing, let me preserve them first.
Elmo: Lalala...lalala...What are you doing, Preserve?
Preserve: I'm preserving your goldfish. You'll be able to be with him as long as you live.
Elmo: ....(fainted)
Big Bird: Have you seen Snuffy?
Preserve: He's over there. I've preserved him.
Big Bird: Are you saying you've stuffed my best friend!?
Preserve: No, I mummified him.
The Count: One bat, hahahahaha! Two bats, hahahahaha!
Preserve: So they say you are a vampire.
The Count: Me? No, I am the Count.
Preserve: And you are a vampire.
The Count: Um....I suppose I am.
Preserve: So you're dead.
The Count: Well...
Preserve: You don't need to be preserved then.
I think Preserve belongs to the Simpsons rather than Sesame Street.
This reminds me of The Landlady, a short story by Roald Dahl.
I can't and will never be able to understand what is so good about stuffed animals. I'm not a big fan of preserved flowers either. Unlike preserved food, they seem pointless to me.
The obvious difference; preserved animals or flowers are there just to get dusty.
But when it comes to food, time improves its quality; pickled, marinated or cured.
27 Jan 2010
15 Oct 2009
Venus
She is not slim but she's not fat either.
She doesn't seem to be very young.
In fact, she looks like a woman in her 30's with some familiar plumpness.
She has round arms and soft fat tissue around her abdomen.
This is a statue of Venus.
This was the idea of "beauty" in ancient Greece, and I love that.
I stood in front of her and stared at her.
She has sexy knees but she looked quite ordinary.
And yet, she was exquisite.
She doesn't seem to be very young.
In fact, she looks like a woman in her 30's with some familiar plumpness.
She has round arms and soft fat tissue around her abdomen.
This is a statue of Venus.
This was the idea of "beauty" in ancient Greece, and I love that.
I stood in front of her and stared at her.
She has sexy knees but she looked quite ordinary.
And yet, she was exquisite.
20 Aug 2009
The Summer Beauties
I'm calling it; time of death, eleven hundred and twelve seconds, July 20th, 2009.
I gave up on my tomato plant a month ago.
The herbs have been doing really well in the windowsill trough.
But the tomato plant, despite my love and care, didn't make it.
Apparently, most part of England is too cold for growing tomatoes.
So where do these beautiful tomatoes I purchase at the green grocers every other day come from?
Spain, perhaps? Or south of England, probably?
No airfreight, I suppose.
Anyway, this summer I'm making the most of seasonal vegetables and fruit.
Especially tomatoes. There is no day we spend without a tomato in our bamboo basket.
I can't believe I was buying them in the supermarkets all the time last summer.
The ones in our local green grocer smell and taste 10 times better, and cost half as much.
It makes me content to smell the riped red beauties on a vine as I place gently in the basket.
Oh, the joy of the summer!
This year we've been quite lucky with the weather.
We have enjoyed a fair amount of sunshine.
Even on a cloudy day, I would think "It's at least dry."
And when it's warm and nice, I'd think, "There's no place like this."
10 Jul 2009
Escape over the Himalayas
These children, including a seven-year-old, climbed over one the tallest mountains in the world.
Why?
Because they needed better education.
Because it was their parents' will.
Because if they didn't, their identity would be lost, perished and extinct.
So they kept walking in the snow for weeks, suffering from frostbites, risking their fingers, toes and sometimes even life.
What was worse was the fear of getting caught.
With the world's most influential country being in debt of one of the richest, it has become even more unrealistic for these children to be able to go back to their own contry again.
The children now live in India.
KIKU Website
Why?
Because they needed better education.
Because it was their parents' will.
Because if they didn't, their identity would be lost, perished and extinct.
So they kept walking in the snow for weeks, suffering from frostbites, risking their fingers, toes and sometimes even life.
What was worse was the fear of getting caught.
With the world's most influential country being in debt of one of the richest, it has become even more unrealistic for these children to be able to go back to their own contry again.
The children now live in India.
KIKU Website
25 Jun 2009
Parents' Evening
I was sitting in the chair in the school dining room one evening, next to a woman who was wearing a sleeveless shirt and a pair of Birkenstock-like sandals.
"It's horrible. But there's no better way to do it. At least this time the room is smaller so it's not too noisy."
I nodded to her, pressing a handkerchief gently on my forehead . I was sweating.
"You know if you call the teachers beforehand, sometimes they can tell you when they are free. I have three children and there's only one left in here, so I learned my tactics."
she continued and I started asking her questions that I already knew the answers of because I didn't know what else to talk about.
Soon, it was her turn and I was free from a small talk with a stranger.
Everything is so different from Japan in the UK, but the school system here is almost the biggest culture shock.
Parents' Evening for instance.
You have to go to the school during certain time on a certain day and queue up for each teacher's unit for a brief updates. Things they tell you is nothing out-of-blue or new, they would just repeat the same thing they had written in the report cards.
Last year I spoke with only two teachers;PE and art. Most of other queues were ridiculously long, plus my husband and I arrived there too late. And some teachers, to my surprise, weren't even there.
This year I went to my son's school early by myself and got to speak with 7 teachers. I even spoke with some learning support staff.
All of them said the same thing.
Some of it hurt ever so slightly.
Oh, parenting,
this freaking ride in a twirling coffee cup.
"It's horrible. But there's no better way to do it. At least this time the room is smaller so it's not too noisy."
I nodded to her, pressing a handkerchief gently on my forehead . I was sweating.
"You know if you call the teachers beforehand, sometimes they can tell you when they are free. I have three children and there's only one left in here, so I learned my tactics."
she continued and I started asking her questions that I already knew the answers of because I didn't know what else to talk about.
Soon, it was her turn and I was free from a small talk with a stranger.
Everything is so different from Japan in the UK, but the school system here is almost the biggest culture shock.
Parents' Evening for instance.
You have to go to the school during certain time on a certain day and queue up for each teacher's unit for a brief updates. Things they tell you is nothing out-of-blue or new, they would just repeat the same thing they had written in the report cards.
Last year I spoke with only two teachers;PE and art. Most of other queues were ridiculously long, plus my husband and I arrived there too late. And some teachers, to my surprise, weren't even there.
This year I went to my son's school early by myself and got to speak with 7 teachers. I even spoke with some learning support staff.
All of them said the same thing.
Some of it hurt ever so slightly.
Oh, parenting,
this freaking ride in a twirling coffee cup.
19 May 2009
Don't Die, Don't Die
In November 2007, I learned about Norman Mailer's death in a newspaper article. He was 84.
I had never read his book but the small article somehow drew my attention. Just then, I received a text from my husband saying "Norman Mailer died." He was looking for empathy and he got mine.
I felt as though some part of me was plucked off without warning when I learned that Yoko Mori had passed away. She was only 52.
Among the few albums which I carefully chose to bring to the UK with me were three Yo-Yo Ma albums. One of them is Bach's Unaccompanied Cello Suites. The whole album is more than two hours but I hardly notice the time. For me, it's a kind of music that makes me stop doing whatever I am doing and just listen. Yo-Yo Ma gives me the illusion of more than a single musical instrument.
It's absolutely mesmerizing.
In the Guardian Weekend issued on 2 May, the US comedienne Sarah Silverman answers 20 or so short random questions in the interview. For the question "Cat or dog?", she says: Dog. His name is Duck and he's 15. All I can think when I'm curled in bed with him is ,"Don't die, don't die."
I had never read his book but the small article somehow drew my attention. Just then, I received a text from my husband saying "Norman Mailer died." He was looking for empathy and he got mine.
I felt as though some part of me was plucked off without warning when I learned that Yoko Mori had passed away. She was only 52.
Among the few albums which I carefully chose to bring to the UK with me were three Yo-Yo Ma albums. One of them is Bach's Unaccompanied Cello Suites. The whole album is more than two hours but I hardly notice the time. For me, it's a kind of music that makes me stop doing whatever I am doing and just listen. Yo-Yo Ma gives me the illusion of more than a single musical instrument.
It's absolutely mesmerizing.
In the Guardian Weekend issued on 2 May, the US comedienne Sarah Silverman answers 20 or so short random questions in the interview. For the question "Cat or dog?", she says: Dog. His name is Duck and he's 15. All I can think when I'm curled in bed with him is ,"Don't die, don't die."
The other day, I found myself reading the liner notes of the album to check Yo-Yo Ma's date of birth. He was born in October 1955.
"Still got time."
I was actually saying that aloud.
I wasn't curled in bed with the world famous 53-year-old cellist but I guess I was having a Silverman moment.
Don't die Yo-Yo, don't die.
12 Apr 2009
Nostalgia
It's spring.
Like all flower loving folk around the country, I've been gardening.
We live in a rented terraced house and there's only a tiny garden in the teeny-weeny backyard, so it's not such hard work.
I wasn't always a gardener. My only experiences of growing plants are looking after morning glories as an assignment during summer vacation in elementary, or trying to grow some dandelions and Chinese milk vetch in my parents's place about ten years ago (which I succeeded in, but my grandmother weeded them being unaware of my intentions).
I'm still not a devoted gardener; I am rather a Sunday gardener, but I really enjoy it.
The best part of it is sticking my fingers in soil, getting my nails dirty and not caring about it at all. The smell of the soil takes me right back for years.
It reminds me of the bed of Chinese milk vetch I used to lay myself on when I was a little girl.
The butterflies above my face in the blue sky.
Listening to the buzzing sound of the honey bees as I was comfortably falling asleep.
I could almost smell the sun of those days when I pull out the weeds around my hydrangea that survived the long winter.
Someday, when I have my own house and land, I want to grow all these wild flowers I like.
Daisies, buttercups, dandelions, clovers and Chinese milk vetches.
And I want to lie down there and take a nap.
Like all flower loving folk around the country, I've been gardening.
We live in a rented terraced house and there's only a tiny garden in the teeny-weeny backyard, so it's not such hard work.
I wasn't always a gardener. My only experiences of growing plants are looking after morning glories as an assignment during summer vacation in elementary, or trying to grow some dandelions and Chinese milk vetch in my parents's place about ten years ago (which I succeeded in, but my grandmother weeded them being unaware of my intentions).
I'm still not a devoted gardener; I am rather a Sunday gardener, but I really enjoy it.
The best part of it is sticking my fingers in soil, getting my nails dirty and not caring about it at all. The smell of the soil takes me right back for years.
It reminds me of the bed of Chinese milk vetch I used to lay myself on when I was a little girl.
The butterflies above my face in the blue sky.
Listening to the buzzing sound of the honey bees as I was comfortably falling asleep.
I could almost smell the sun of those days when I pull out the weeds around my hydrangea that survived the long winter.
Someday, when I have my own house and land, I want to grow all these wild flowers I like.
Daisies, buttercups, dandelions, clovers and Chinese milk vetches.
And I want to lie down there and take a nap.
4 Apr 2009
The Gender of the Tooth Fairy
I was reading my older posts the other day and realized something;
I always refer to the tooth fairy as "he".
Why did I think it's "he" in the first place?
I know why.
I learned about tooth fairies from Eddie Murphy on Saturday Night Live.
In that show, Eddie Murphy the Tooth Fairy complains that these days kids put Tic Tacs under their pillows to get coins, so when Eddie takes the fake teeth to the god he gets offended because he thinks Eddie is implying the god has bad breath.
Anyway, that's why the tooth fairy has always been male in my mind...
I always refer to the tooth fairy as "he".
Why did I think it's "he" in the first place?
I know why.
I learned about tooth fairies from Eddie Murphy on Saturday Night Live.
In that show, Eddie Murphy the Tooth Fairy complains that these days kids put Tic Tacs under their pillows to get coins, so when Eddie takes the fake teeth to the god he gets offended because he thinks Eddie is implying the god has bad breath.
Anyway, that's why the tooth fairy has always been male in my mind...
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