The boy in Hokkaido inspired a long work about…a boy in Hokkaido. Why would parents leave a child in the mountains? Why would the consequences of this decision be unknown or limited?
Then, too, work on the cognition behind longevity in Japan. Why do people choose to delay gratification? What delays are related to the planting of Western institutions on the Zen Buddhist hegemony that ended during the Meiji restoration?
Then, too, daily lessons, via the internet, to buttress my German.
All within the setting of two weeks of exploration: Very good dry rubbed pork ribs at Smoke Shop, an unpleasantly frozen chicken parm sub at Meridien Food Mart, first rate pork belly sliced thinly at H Mart, Icelandic lamb at Whole Foods, and really easy-to-follow Sichuan recipes from Fuchsia Dunlap.
Dinerstein’s book on postwar cool had a great intro, and the TLS review was intriguing, but the book was way overwritten, poorly or hardly edited, and seemed to be a throwback to the mumbo-jumbo of 1960’s existentialist canards.
Hamachi, tonight.