Artifice...

I woke up this morning after having read an interesting short story (last night) from the New Yorker that my brother had sent me. Then a painfully simple and yet seemingly important idea dawned on me as I felt the desire to check me email. (My desire to check my email as I wake up was one of the motivating factors of this idea).

The idea is painfully simple and probably just as painfully unoriginal. Originality, however, seems to have lost its value nowadays as writers repeat the same ideas over and over again.

Artifice is collecting everywhere. It is overwhelming.

And yet I do not know if I should disclose my idea here. Perhaps it is just too simple. It is about humanity's great struggle. It is about not letting artifice command your life.

What happened to the days when one would wake up just go outside and walk around and explore? Now it seems that a cell phone or a camera or a computer comes between you and everything else in the world. But is it technology's fault or simply our own failing to realize what is missing....

My first couple of weeks here in this place have left an interesting impression. There have been moments of peace; of beautiful green nature that surround me and relative quietude. But more often there is something manic about it all - there is no end to the human expansion, the human syndromes that exist here. Urbanity.

It's the challenge and I will take it. It will be an interesting excursion. To live life unfettered by an excess of artifice. Call me strange if you will, but too many books, movies, newspapers, magazines, paintings, video games, manga, too much internet - it's not healthy for us; it contributes to much narrowing of the mind even if it may have the illusion of expansion. What is truly lost in it all? Direct experience. The ability to feel what is really happening around us and to know what is truly important. I believe our obsessions with artifice have contributed to our lack of participation in politics and democracy. It is a dangerous time my friends; what will become of us?

Sincerely, Ted

New Home: New York

It's good to be here. There are many good people, the subways are always running, and the foliage is lush and gorgeous. For now, I am in a very nice part of the Bronx, where my cousins are putting me up. Starting in August, I will be in a nice part of Brooklyn. In a way Brooklyn is a very natural place for me to be; I had a great-grandfather who lived there. And when my padre visits maybe we'll even get a chance to tour some of his native habitat in New Jersey.

Stay well amigos,

Ted

Fractals of Lake: Second Edition

I just published a revised edition of Fractals of Lake. It has less typos, but just as many awkward moments due to its fractaled nature. There is also white-on-black and black-on-white and you can download it for free!

To get the book, just go to my storefront: http://stores.lulu.com/tgrudin

The first edition (with the humorous back-cover is still available, but I don't know for how long).

I'm also working on both a reformatting of 12 Months in Japan and a new project! But they may take a while....

Life is getting a little hectic with the move to New York approaching. Although I did want to announce the completion of a new project: Fractals of Lake



It really is as bad as the back cover says it is (haha), but that's one of the points I am trying to make I guess. And here's the fancier cover for the smaller sized version:



Here's the link: http://www.lulu.com/content/855449

If you click on my name then you will find a few other projects, including versions of "12 Months in Japan" that should finally be printing correctly at the press. Unfortunately, they are expensive. I'll see what I can do about these issues....

Until next time.

2 years in 2 weeks

Words can only begin to describe how important and wonderful this trip was for me. Nor can pictures do it justice. My arrival was, no doubt, welcomed by a huge red setting sun falling into the urbanity of a distant Tokyo, seen through the window of a moving train.






Dazed from jetlag I waited a day or two before I journeyed down to my old stomping grounds: Kumamoto. There I found my Japanese family, all healthy and ready for rice planting. The kids of the village remembered me with warmth, even if some forgot my silly foreign name. My co-teachers threw me a wonderful welcome home party that could make any man proud, and they even paid the way for my friend and co-ALT comrade John (and me!)! We had a brilliant time, there was even time for a speech. I also got to see my friend Chris and his new bike as well as Austin and his girlfriend Reika, who was climbing all over the trees at a shrine near Ashikita.






Then two great old friends from my time at Cambridge made a surprise visit from Honshu. Good ol' Andrew and Will! They made quite an appearance in my little town. Quite an appearance. The Nakamura family welcomed us to a very special barbecue where we found out that Andrew is friends with the second ALT to ever work in Ubuyama! We then explored the countryside, marking it as our own territory despite the countless Japanese tourists exploring their home-country during their vacation days of "Golden Week."






I left the village on a serious note. The superintendent's mother had died the night before, so that morning the vice-principals, principals, the members of the board of education, and I went to his house for the wake. She lay there all covered in blankets as we sat in formal style on the tatami mats and drank our tea. We bowed profusely to show our respect and compassion, and then left. Just days before the superintendent had treated me to a sashimi dinner at his house with his wife and daughter. He had been very worried about his mother, who was 91, and was survived by her husband, 100.





Then came Tokyo, round 2. There I met (on separate occasions) with old friends and Putney grads Masaki Koga and Gentaro Yokoyama. Before meeting them, though, I would find myself escorted out of the Eastern Imperial Palace by the imperial guard (see self-photo above). Niiiice. And notice the elusive harajuku girl (also above), caught in daytime with all her costume-play (bizarre, I know).

There are so many more photos and stories. I reckon that these words and photos do the trip no justice. But will I ever be able to do such a trip justice? Maybe not. Still, I wanted to at least try, even in my dazed state.

And at the end I turned in my visa. Don't ask me why; it doesn't mean I won't come back. It just means that I am moving to New York and starting a Masters and teaching Special Ed, etc. It just means that as much as I want to turn around and go straight back to a land that I love, I don't think it's right for me to live there in the next year. Luckily, I can always visit!

I must say that the old United operated 747 flight today was harrowing. We hit a giant air pocket after the first 30 seconds of ascent. It felt like the whole plane would crash into the ground. Then I turned to my neighbor and found out that she was a Polish mother who had been living in Japan for 20 years and spoke better Japanese than English. We then had a number of chats together during the flight. And best of all, the old 747 didn't crash after all. Phew... I was thinking about all the books I still haven't published.... (and all the love I still haven't given, and all the teaching I still haven't taught, and all the fathering I still haven't done, etc.). Let us live a little longer.

Japan Visit

I am going on a two week trip partly to visit these three wonderful people, the Nakamuras (the the rest of their family). My number will be: 08010322676 during my visit. Incoming calls are free, but outgoing calls are pretty expensive. Keep in mind that this will be Japan time, so please don't call at crazy hours.

One New Project

So it's been almost nine months since the time that I lived in Japan, and I've nearly recovered! Consequently, I decided to start a small book project in order to present blogs from my time in Ubuyama in a book form (http://www.lulu.com/content/797724). It is still in very rough form as I do not have the proper book-making software, etc., but it has been a fun project and I hope to do more! The link about features the photography in black & white and thus is much cheaper (there are also color and hardcover versions for sale too). Any profits on the book will go directly to me (unfortunately, the color versions cost a good deal (300%) more to produce... so I may just have to make a separate, shorter photo book with higher resolution photos from my trip.

Another thing that is happening soon is my visit back to Japan and Kumamoto. I will get so see all the kiddies again and some old friends! I am very excited about it.