Nagasaki

Went to Nagasaki this weekend. The site of the second atomic bomb. Going to museums here is such a different experience from America. In America, going into a museum can be sensory overload. In Japan, you get the traditional minimalism. Sometimes I wish Japanese museums simply had more.. more stuff. But you can't help getting the point.

Hundreds of thousands of lives lost. People who were simply in their homes nursing their babies, or students studying at school. While it is true that many of the children were evacuated from the cities during this time (I believe) there were still many victims (including some European prisoners of war) left who, if they didn't die immediately from the effects of the blast, were to die later of radiation sickness.

When are we all gonna learn to just get along? Is it that hard, folks? I don't know. I'm not trying to sound elitist here like I've got the golden ticket to peace or something. I mean, getting along with our friends, relatives and neighbors is work. But can't we do better than this?

I wonder what life must be like being a schoolkid or a housewife in Iraq right about now....

June 26

***Your Birthdate: June 26***

You lucked out the the skills to succeed in almost any arena.Put you in almost any business or classroom, and you'll rise to the top.You're driven and intense, but you also know when to kick back and cooperate.Your ability to adapt to almost any situation is part of what's going to make you a success.

Your strength: Your attention to detail

Your weakness: You can be a little too proud of your successes

Your power color: Turquoise

Your power symbol: Arrow pointing up

Your power month: August

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

http://www.blogthings.com/whatdoesyourbirthdatemeanquiz/

I stole this from LYNILU.

Hehe.

Now, I'm not so sure I agree with that driven part (unless we're talking about driven to chillax) or that whole attention-to-detail thing. In fact, I am so notoriously big picture that I couldn't point out a single tree if you paid me. Well, maybe if you paid me, but...

Back In The Saddle

Hel-ler everyone out there in Blogland!!! Thank you for your kind attention and support. I kind of needed to hibernate for a minute. But I'm back on the saddle, so to speak. A little lop-sided, but dammit, I'm on that thang.

That's got to mean something, don't it?

Been a rough few weeks where I've had to confront (here we go again!) some issues that have been holding me back from enjoying the blessings of my life. But 'tis Life, no?

Love,
THE DMB

(I won't tell you who gave me that moniker but you can find her here.)

Pardon my Appearance.... Or Should I say Dis-appearance?

Pardon my appearance! I am currently under construction.

No, really.... I am simply an emotional Cancerian who doesn't do too well at spreading herself thinly. Rather, I like to hover over an issue and pretty much analyze and process the hell out of it until there ain't nothin' left to examine.

Got some life issues that I'm dealing with that just have me emotionally spent. I promise to get back to the scene soon.

Love to all! See you soon, Dahlinks!

'Cause DMB Loves The Kids...

The most trying thing about major holidays and being so far away from family is that... well, you're so far away from family...

I was on some serious nostalgia when I made this video last month. But watching it made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. It features my family and the hubby's family, with a special emphasis on the kids, cause you know...

DMB loves the kids.

And yes, I know it's a Christmas video. But so what? Sit back, shut up and feel the love, dammit.

Enjoy!

Diahrrea, Confucianism and The System

I don't feel like being "on" today. So I called in sick.

Mind you, I work three days a week. But, whatever....


I just wouldn't pull my arse off the imitation leather, ie, leatherette floor chair thingie (displayed w/Hello Kitty in a previous post) that we've got here, so I had to come up with a good excuse.

A Japanese excuse.





Which is laughable. Because there is no such thing. Japanese people don't take off work. They come in with raging fevers, grotesque pus-oozing postules, Beri Beri, you name it.



It's the Confucianism thing, probably. Oh, and they cover everything up with a nice, sanitary face mask.



But they don't stay home. Duty, honor and Obedience and obedience to Duty and Honor, you understand.



Now, naturally, they are quite accustomed to us self-indulgent foreigners calling in sick. But this time, I felt I had to really make it good because... well, I felt guilty...

So, I said I have diarrhea.




Who can argue with that?


I mean, you can't argue with diarrhea. Diarrhea always wins.


You can't reason with diarrhea. Diarrhea does what the hell it wants to do.


You can't negotiate with diarrhea. Diarrhea tells YOU what to do.

But I don't blame Diarrhea. I blame the system. It's the system that makes us tell all sorts of lies in the name of... of, hell, I just don't feel like going to work today.

Dismantle the system and you dismantle all the lies.

Dismantle the system and you dismantle the heart of Deception, and let's face it, Pure Evil, as we know it.

I'm convinced.

Now just tell me where to actually find the system and we'll go somewhere with this.... as soon as I pry my ass cheeks off this leatherette floor chair thingie.

The Young and The Old--Part One

I was talking to my girl, Erin, in Sweden, about some people that we both know who have kind of flip-flopped emotionally and done some pretty silly things over the past year.

She said, with the slightest sensation of awe. "But you've always stayed consistent."

I laughed. "I know who the #^** I am. I don't have to trip."

Guess that's what happens when you get old.

Allow me to illustrate some of the differences between the old and the young that aren't talked about too often.

ARGUING

See, young folks like to argue--oh, I'm sorry. Did I say argue? I meant debate.... yeah, well, whatever ...

I don't argue. Not about anything important, anyways. Why should I waste your time and mine trying to convince you of what I already believe in?

CHANGING THE WORLD

Young folks think that the world is full of injustice and that those of a higher consciousness and with the energy and conviction to do what's right can actually change things.

I'm not trying to change shit. I can't even stop myself from cleaning out a bag of cheese popcorn in less than fifteen minutes tops, no matter how many times I say, "Now, Girl, there's at least three servings in this here bag."

I mean, really, who am I? At this point, I'm just trying to keep things simple and be happy.

Do I mourn the loss of my previous aspirations to change the world? Not really. And how can I explain to my younger sister, who sadly announced (after I had refused to get angry over some 'intolerable' situation) that I had "settled" ,"become complacent" and was "disillusioned".

I shrugged. Perhaps so. But it's hard to tell that to a younger person who is still bent on declaring the world a horrible place that needs to be revamped immediately that the real struggle, the true struggle is inside (yourself--the soul--if you will) ?

You can't.

I applaud the naive arrogance of the young who put so much stock in their existence that they honestly believe that the fate of the universe hinges on their shoulders. I think anyone who considers themselves intelligent fancies that they are a lot more important to the scheme of things than they actually are.

I think it is after after you go around the block a few ( and after Life puts you on your ass a few times ) that you realize that the universe consists of a lot more than your ideas of what should and should not be.

The world will keep turning, the sun will rise and set, children will grow up and civilizations will ascend and decline--despite or in spite of you. The ultimate plan is so much bigger than we could even pretend to imagine.

And let's face it. In the scheme of things, we, as individuals, are just not really that important.

Does it mean that I don't think we should strive to make things better? Certainly, we should!

But let's just say my focus is a lot more tuned to my er, abilities.

I can't change the world. But maybe I can put a smile on somebody's face or make them feel like they are less alone on this day, sponsor a kid in Africa, vote for Obama, recycle. (I recycle, dammit!)

And then after that, when my day of altering the fate of the universe is done, I can focus on my more immediate mission:

To perfect that chai recipe. A glass would be just perfect with this cheese popcorn.