Sunday, September 14, 2008

Call me Lazy...

Ok, so I have been doing a terrible job at maintaining my blog. However, I now (finally) have internet from my apartment.  Perhaps I will blog more often now that I have no excuse. Time will tell. I am not going to attempt to summarize the past four months. I will try to keep it up to date from here on out. 

This week has been a good week. It was cool Tuesday morning as I stepped outside my apartment building. As I got on my bike, it struck me that autumn is beginning to creep in.  Hiroshima has had some cooler days this month, but on Tuesday morning, it was different. It smelled different and the air had a different texture. The smell and feel of fall. I can't wait! I'm not really that big on summer. I think it's because growing up in the southwest, most of my life seems to be summer. The past couple of months really haven't been that uncomfortable, but autumn is my favorite season and I'm really looking forward to the gradual shift from lush green to bright red and gold. 

I have been really consistent in my yoga practice lately and I've been eating really well. I feel amazing. Why did I ever stop? My joints feel SO much better. My routine after work: I eat a salmon onigiri (rice ball) on my bike ride home. The fact that I can eat and drive says a lot about my improved biking skills! When I get home I do yoga for about half an hour. Then I make dinner which usually consist of a salad (tofu, red bell pepper, avocado, red leaf lettuce, and sesame dressing), steamed vegetables, and maybe a bowl of miso soup. (I am seriously addicted to: sesame dressing, salmon onigiri, miso soup, and udon. I eat them nearly everyday.) After dinner I usually color, cut, and paste various props and supplies for my lessons while watching a movie or listening to the BBC or NPR. That is my life in a nutshell during the week. 

Since my arrival, I have not had a dull weekend. Between the birthdays and sayonaras, there is always some obligation (excuse) to go out.  I have never been very good at turning down a night out with friends. Last night I was successful in staying home.  Christina came over and we had a movie night.  It was a refreshing change of pace. I had planned on going to a flea market this morning, but I had the dates confused. The one in my neighborhood is next week. So we went to the Hiroshima Museum of Contemporary Art.  Unbelievably I hadn't been yet.  In fact, today was my first visit to a museum in Hiroshima.  I was an Art History major and typically the first thing I do when I visit a city is check out a museum or two. I feel that I am finally "settled in" and that I can really start exploring this city. 
 
I enjoyed the museum today and plan on going regularly. (Even museums in Japan have stamp cards. They are mad for stamp cards here!) The temporary exhibit is a retrospective on Masuo Ikeda.  Admittedly, I'm not well versed on Japanese artists, but I would really like to learn as much as I can during my stay. I realize that I'm in Japan, and I don't expect things to be in English....but I was disappointed that there were no English guides or descriptions of the art work. I can't recall ever visiting a museum that didn't have guides and information in multiple languages. I wish I could have walked away today with a little more knowledge about Masuo. Some of his themes were similar to the focus of my thesis on Sigmar Polke.  One series of prints in particular really appealed to me and I could see myself writing at length on his work. But do I want a future in art history any longer?  I thought I had ruled that pursuit out.....




IKEDA Masuo (1966) Spring and Springs

IKEDA Masuo (1966) A Certain Relation

1 comment:

? said...

I'm glad I found this blog. I am currently reading one of your favourite books, master and margarita and liking it! Did you enjoy it?