So, What Is My Story?

Ever since I saw a movie titled The Silence of the Lambs (see below), I have been wondering then what my story is.

Off the top of my head, it's related to a car. One childhood scene that flashes back sometimes is when we did a road trip to my grandmother's place in Nagano. As our car was so small that it was not comfortable for a long trip and I often felt sick. But I knew my parents would be in trouble every time we took a rest as that would multiply the travelling time in a crowded road. So, when I told them I was sick, I was really, really sick. I appreciate, even today, the fact that they never accused me of that even once.

But all this has made me determined to obtain a big car that nobody would question its comfortable quality. So, for me personally, it was a little success story that I took my mother by my BMW to Nagano earlier this month.

My uncle, however, cast somewhat a cold attitude. Of couse, he didn't openly criticize it, but I could sense he didn't like the car, or the fact that I drove it. Perhaps it was in part because his son, i.e., my cousin, works for Nissan. Overall, I felt he simply doesn't like yuppie things. From a conservative rural point of view, he might have thought that a black sedan is too much for a woman.

Anyway, I love my car, I obtained it with no debts from anyone, and I continue to love it. What's more, it made the road trip much easier for my aging mother. What the hell is wrong with that?

Everyone Has A Story

On Day one of this long weekend, I got most content with a move for the first time in a long time: The Silence of the Lambs.

Everyone has a story that motivates you to do something, good or bad. It can usually be buried under your unconsciousness. But once you discover it, you can act effectively toward your end. I thought that is the main message of the movie.

For an FBI Academy student Clarice Starling, it is a story when she ran away from her relative's house. She has lost her father who was a police commissioner from a duty, and as her mother had been also gone, Clarice was sent to her aunt's in a farm. There young lambs were screaming when they were being killed. She could not stand that and ran away by managing to take one lamb. But then a local official caught her and the lamb ended up being killed, too.

That made a deep impression underlying her motive to become an FBI agent -- to save those who were on the verge of being killed, just like keeping the lambs silent.

The irony is that the person who made Clarice notice that, Dr. Lector, the cannibal ex-psychiatrist, is still on the run, wanted by the FBI. He would probably have his own unique story that has led him to eat human meat.

Each acting has a taste. It is one of the rare, classy movies that you'll love!

Famous Steps

Several weeks ago, I was guided to "famous steps" in Philadelphia -- though I didn't know what they meant.

"Don't you know the scene where Rocky ran the steps? It's here!!"

Since my friend was so passionate about the site, I was feeling a bit bad as I actually had never seen the Rocky movie series.

Last night, I finally finished seeing all the six episodes. I thought Rocky IIII sent the most compelling message, and probably the last one, Rocky Balboa, was the most educational. I especially liked his following lines to his son:

The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It is a very mean and nasty place and it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't how hard you hit; it's about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward. How much you can take, and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done. Now, if you know what you're worth, then go out and get what you're worth.

Well, I think I can appreciate the sight much better if I have a chance to go visit there again......

The 60s Is a Boom

As I was going to a class that starts at 7 pm in Sendagaya, I stopped at a local small restaurant there to have dinner before the class. I didn't pay too much attention to it from outside, but as I sat at a table I noticed the restaurant was so 60s......the whole concept of the restaurant, from pictures on the walls to its menu itself, was the era.

That age was before cell phone, PC, the Internet, even message telephones.

Somehow, people seem to be enjoying going back to that simple time.

Tiny But Macho...??

When I washed my car at a coin car wash place this afternoon I somehow came to this thought....I may look tiny, especially to Americans and northern Europeans, but I would probably be very macho inside.

It was a moment when a strong stream of water came from the hose pipe, which I targeted to the car body. Somehow I thought this action is quite macho, which I was excited to do. Looking around, only men were doing this. Not sure why, but the sheer fact that I came upon the idea of washing my car in a Sunday afternoon as a relaxing pastimewas quite macho, at least in Japan.

What's more, my car is a black sedan. A man who had started car washing before me saw me curiously. His car was a Toyota Lexis, if I remember correctly.

Anyhow, my car now gets sparkling! I wish the weather continues to be beautiful at least for the next few days......

La Science des Rêves

Only one movie theater in Shibuya, Tokyo currently runs this film in Japan: La Science des Rêves (The Science of Sleep.) The story is that the main character young man falls in love with a girl who moved to the next door in his apartment building. But she is not too interested ted in him. So, he dreams the ideal situation that he wants....and the whole movie is basically his dream...

Well, sounds familiar. Sometimes life goes on as you like, other times, doesn't. That's why you fantasize. My best fantasy is a democratic version of the world that Françoise Sagan depicts, you know.

In an attempt to best fantasize her world, I started to study French really hard....The material is NHK's radio French program. It runs from 7:25 to 7:45 am. My best plan is to preview the text at the previous night, listen to the program while driving to my workplace, review it by CD-ROM, and then see and check the text when I'm waiting while the security checks my car before entering the office building...actually, this works quite well.

Practicing repeating same sentences over and over again reminds me of when I first learned English. But since French has similar concepts with English, so now it's much easier!

Mission Completed

In the perfect weather, my mission was successfully completed. It was a family gathering to go visit our ancesters' souls for the first time since their grave was renovated. My mission was to drive my mom to the gathering in Nagano. After we prayed before the tomb, white arums nearby were sparkling under the sun.

The highways between Nagano and Tokyo were so crowded, but we killed time by chatting and listening to classical music CDs. Speaking of music, my uncle, mom and myself all love Western classical music, which are influenced by my grandfather....no wonder I adore Brahms like crazy.