Last Tuesday Society

Last Tuesday Society, a photo by STML on Flickr.

I only get to see my gran once a year and how I treasure her. Ninety years old and standing at under 5ft I doubt whether she'd get onto all the rides at Disney Land. Her husband has been dead for 50 years and passed away from lung cancer when my mother was just 7. 朝子 regularly tends to his grave (and other neglected grave sites as well) and utters a prayer of thanks to him every morning. I'm not trying to be soppy or melodramatic because frankly, who cares, but the devotion is irrefutable.

She never remarried but worked hard raising 4 children on her own. Being a single mother in post-war Japan was no easy feat especially in such a patriarchal society. It's still ridiculous today so how ridiculous it must have been in the 50s/60s. I've never heard her utter a grimace, say a bad word against anyone or complain. I want to stay close to her for as long as I can. Is it a ridiculous idea taking another gap year and just living in Japanese wilderness where there are actually no white people? Atleast I can get away from disgusting London/England and maybe apply to Oxford/somewhere Romantic far away (I like old libraries okay)? She doesn't have that much time left and I want to make the most of it. Leaving her was the hardest thing i've done in a while. I don't give a shit about hedonism, just my gran.

I found this question asked on a quintessential tumblr site and found the answer perplexing...thoughts?

? asked: I just randomly came across your tumblr and i've gotta ask, do you find any other type of girl attractive apart from caucasian, skinny and tall? I don't mean this in a rude way or w/e just wonderin'?

nah not rude at all. height is very rarely something that affects my opinion, but in terms of caucasian and skinny you’re probably correct. on the whole, i’ve never really found black or asian girls attractive and i’m pretty skinny myself so i find being with a bigger girl pretty emasculating.

Interesting world view....I honestly don't know whether to applaud him for his honesty or be a bit angry. To me, it's a perfect example of how society's view of what's considered beautiful is ingrained into one's consciousness. thoughts?

Things I hate about Japan...

Going out in Japan sucks.

Domicile Conjugal

I went to Club le Baron de Paris the other night, well, the Tokyo branch. Le Baron is a chain of clubs owned by Simon Le Bon (I didn't know who he was but turns out he's in Duran Duran...) and my God I wanted to punch every single person there. First of all, everyone on the dancefloor was staring at the DJ the whole night who wasn't even renowned. What's the point of going to a club and staring adoringly at the DJ instead of dancing with friends. Secondly, there was no one in the toilet every-time I stepped foot in the enamel paradise. I'm assuming that no one takes drugs in Japan while out clubbing, kind of explains why everyone resembled a lacklustre Japanese emoticon---->(-_-) It doesn't help that I paid almost 20 quid to get in and my friend who was randomly there kept rubbing in my face how she got in for free due to ~connections~ -_-

I met a 20 something English guy who was from Swindon. I spoke briefly to him mostly because I wanted to sit down at his table as there were no seats left where the "peasants" who had no connections (i.e. me) would sit. You see, if you've never been there before Le Baron is a rather odious club where status is EVERYTHING and you can't reserve a seat unless you brown nose. The English guy I spoke to is what I imagine an English monarch prior to the English Civil War to act like. His air of self-importance was terrifying. I asked him what he did for a living and apparently he introduces Asian bands to America/Canada and the like. urm, no thanks and more importantly DEAR GOD WHY. I have limited knowledge of asian bands (for good reason) but name-dropped a couple of bands I knew and every band I spoke of he seemed to have organised some sort of party for/introduced them to a newly godforsaken country. "Like, just last week I organised a party on behalf of MTV for 2NE1". Don't get me wrong, what he does is respectable but the way he sounded so damn gleeful/pompous aggravated me. I suppose Japan does that to white men.

This brings me on to another thing I hate about Japanese nightlife; the self-important attitude of western men. I've spoken to far too many westerners who show off about how easy it is to sleep with a different Japanese girl every night. You see, westerners although not strictly rare in Japan are still a bit of a novel commodity and thus are considered somewhat "exotic". However, some men are taking advantage of the situation and are being far too hedonistic and disrespectful to usually well-meaning Japanese girls. I just want to tell Japanese girls that they should be careful if they are looking for a meaningful relationship with mutual respect. If not, fuck away but definitely use a condom.

This is an open letter...

to whomever puts the electronic bidet settings in my share house's toilet onto the highest water pressure every morning. I'm groggy, probably only had 3 hours of sleep and do not want to be awoken by such a means. What at first I found a novel luxury has turned into my worst nightmare.

Pirikura Pika Pikaa

SHIT JUST GOT META:

This is my French friend Kambiz. He works for the French Embassy or something and is some kind of Sailor. Is the Camera Obscura "French Navy" song biting me in the ass? Hanging out with French Boys in Japan seems a little incongruous but he's jolly and rather weird which I totally dig. Does help that he has a gorgeous flat in Paris which I am going to frequent in the summer while I try to find A.P.C bargains. Now to just get rid of his girlfriend...

You scare me

when driving, phone thumbing

dropping the fucker in between the pedals

the oncoming metal, the green Nissan hue.

We sigh and tumble onto the gravel

a crunch made from two.

My makeup, flesh, bone become a layered sponge

caked onto the smoking, paw printed pavement

and the peel which comes

causes me to shriek 'till tomorrow.

You stare, glazed

stricken maybe, but please,

just don’t.

Sometimes, I write bloody awful poetry after watching mind-numbingly terrifying PSA's. Dont text and drive kids. Unless, you're voting Tory (jk).