Archives

Category: Personal Reflections
  • Kakishibu

    Kakishibu

    What color is the house going to be? Since our Facebook group exercise in exterior colorways in March of 2022, I have visualised the exterior walls of the house as a medium-dark brown to contrast with the silver roof. The tonal change creates a visual bridge between the roof and the black window frames and

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  • Rant on Vague Encouragements

    Rant on Vague Encouragements

    I have to get this off my chest, and it’s a departure from my usual fare of cats, house building, and other projects. I won’t be offended if you don’t read or listen this one. I have had enough of vague encouragement on social media. I beg you, if you are going to share, please

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  • Windows on my world

    Windows on my world

    The past few days completed the installation of the window that arrived last week. OMG. What a house this is going to be. They unlock yet another flurry of realisations as I walk through the house. I am starting to see the furniture placements and how we will circulate through the space. I decided on

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  • City Getaway

    City Getaway

    Tod works one week a month in the Tokyo office, but this month he is doing a two-week trip so that he can cat-sit Honey while his colleague, Will, is on a business trip. I decided to go see him on the in-between weekend and hang out in the city. It was a pleasant change

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  • 80% great

    80% great

    I was talking with my friend and neighbor, Hitomi, at 555. I’d given her and Kengo a tour of the house thus far and we were talking about how amazing it is. I also mentioned how I sometimes feel fraught with anxiety over decisions. 555 should outlast me and I don’t plan to move (though

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  • DIY Custom Daybook

    DIY Custom Daybook

    Do you use an appointment book, journal or diary for your daily planning? From the time I started working in an office (last century!) to my current life as a freelance designer, I have used an assortment of calendar books, diaries, and executive planners to keep track of tasks and appointments. Though I have updated

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  • Distal Focus

    Distal Focus

    This morning, I watched an Instagram Reel about shoulder pain that got me thinking. A Tokyo-based physical therapist, Sam Gilbert, demonstrated how the body increases or reduces pain depending on how you focus attention. If you lift your arm to test the injured shoulder, your mind is focussed on the painful part and it hurts.

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  • Beginning 2023

    Beginning 2023

    Begin as you mean to go on, and go on as you began, and let the Lord be all in all to you. Rev. Charles H. Spurgeon While I’m not at all convinced about the Lord bit of this quote, I do love the start of it. “Begin as you mean to go on” runs

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  • Happy 2023

    Happy 2023

    Due to a death in the family in 2022, we did not send nengajou this year. However in the interest of keeping the 12 year series complete, I drew one for posting today. Let’s make 2023, Year of the Rabbit, memorable in the best way.

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  • 25 words

    25 words

    Wondrous days at 555 – jichinsai to jotoshiki. 1000 days of yoga. Covid, menopause, heart diagnoses. Traded Tilly for Cow.  Fritter hops, Beryl roombas, Maura guards. This is my 22nd annual 25 word summary of the year. It’s a tradition that helps me put an underline on the events of the past twelve months. Here

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