ChanomiTalk

I’ve been looking on craigslist quite a lot recently for opportunities to play my bass. The first one I found was a weekly jam session group in Kailua where I can just go and have fun. The second was a hard rock group that practices on Saturdays. They already have a bassist but he’s starting to not show up sometimes because he has other gigs that he’s playing, so they need a backup bassist. I’m learning the songs they play, and it took me a little while to train up to playing the types of bass lines they use. One song, “moonchild”, has a steady 16 beats-per-measure rhythm that I can keep up with, but need to practice before sounding good. It switches to 18 beats in a measure later on!

Today I’m meeting with a singer named Yuri who wants to start her own band. She heard a little about me and said she wants to work with me before even meeting me. So…I wonder if that means it’s been hard for her to find people? Anyways, I want to eventually write some songs with drums, bass, electric guitar, piano and female vocals. I’m envisioning a jazz-rock hybrid type of sound. I hope Yuri likes my ideas.

Well…..it finally happened, I dumped my bike. On Tuesday, as I was heading to work I made the mistake of making an aggressive maneuver behind car in traffic. I could’ve sworn she had more room in front of her but instead she hit on the breaks HARD. I was already committing to the lane when I realized she was breaking and made the adjustment to late. My rear tire slid out to the right and the handlebars jerked and I was thrown from my bike. I felt my head hit the ground and my first thought as I slid was “Thank God for helmets” but that thought was instantly replaced by, “OH CRAP! CARS!”I didn’t want to get ran over. I looked up and saw no cars coming, quickly jumped up and ran to my bike. Amazingly, little damage was done to her and most importantly I am in one piece and alive. 🙂

My favorite Japanese restaurant in Hawaii is Yoshitsune in Waikiki. I　eat breakfast there at least twice a week. I　order the same thing every time I　go- Misoyaki butterfish teishoku. I think the way Japanese eat breakfast is the best way to start the day. Instead of eating eggs, bacon, and pancakes I　eat fish, rice, miso soup, and konbu. Sometimes I　will eat natto but I　have to be in the mood for it. I　am still getting used to the taste of it, but it is very healthy and I　am told that if I　eat that for breakfast everyday I　will live to be 100 years old. But the butterfish is really the best thing to eat there. I　have never eaten butterfish anywhere else that has tasted so good. The cook that cooks in the morning has been cooking there for 20 years and makes everything from scratch. I　love the appetisers that come out before the meals. I　like it because there are lots of vegetables and it is always different. I　got to the restaurant around 9:30 and it is the perfect time to go because the morning rush is gone. The waitress in the morning speaks english, but most of the waitress mainly speak Japanese so it gives me a chance to practice my stories.

I went diving on Saturday for the first time in over a decade. First, I had to get some refresher training in the pool. I had to show that I could still breathe properly underwater and not panic. I was reminded how gas expands and how to use breathing to control how you float in the water. In the afternoon, I participated in two boat dives. I saw lots of different fish, several eels, and even a handful of giant turtles. I was surprised to find a stone statue of the Buddha underwater that was covered in fish eggs making it look purple. Perhaps I should thank Amitabha because I had a really great time.

In Japan, there is a practice of interviewing famous, successful people and asking them what the most important principle that they live by is. Answers are usually such things as “persevering through hardship”, “putting other people before me”, and so on. I thought a little bit about this for myself, and came up with “習い続く”, or keep on learning.

What I mean by this is that I don’t ever want to adopt a mindset that I’ve reached some sort of final stage in my growth and therefore don’t have to learn more or accept new ideas. I have met several people like this. One of them was an economics professor I had in my freshman year of college. He had gotten the meanings of the prefixes “post-” and “ante-“confused, and I tried to correct him after class, but because he was the big man with the doctorate he refused to even consider that he could be wrong.

More than just staying open-minded, I want to continue to grow. For example, when I first learned Spanish, I found it surprisingly enjoyable. So, I started learning other languages. When I first picked up the guitar, I loved that too, so I’ve gone on to other musical instruments as well. I still don’t think I’ve mastered anything, not even my native English, so I will also continue to grow within everything I do.