The Zen of Towels

Just as I promised, I'm going to talk about towels today.

If there is one thing I'v learned about Japanese culture in the 8 year I've been here is that Japanese people really like towels. Especially old people. It came to my attention after our son was born. Just like in the US, a lot of people gave us gifts. But here there's a catch... You have to give something back, generally something around half the cost of the gift they gave you.

So anyway, after we got the first batch of presents my wife says,
" We have to get them towels!"
"Why towels?" I ask.
"You gotta give them towels! My god man its a TOWEL for Christ's sake! Old people love towels! "

Something like that anyway. And apparently they do. Its not just that reverse baby gift either. About twice a year companies send each other and their customers towels. Towels are exchanged in new years and again in the summer, and well basically every time someone gives you something.

But with all these towels being exchanged, what do people do with them? Are they just being recycled? Its a mystery even in our house. Towels we get I never see again, and new towels seem to appear from nowhere.

And somewhat unrelated, I can never seem to use the towels we have correctly. Every time I try to use a towel, I'm told its the wrong one.
(something is spilled) "Thats the hand-washing-towel!"
or "That's the hand-drying-towel!"
or "You can't use that its the chair-which-has-been-dowsed-in- honey towel!"
or "That's the evil-clown-towel!"
And so forth.

More Baby Stuff

Sorry, more anecdotes about our alienbaby...
My mom sent me the old mobile I used to have above my crib.
So I immediately set it up for our kid. Of course, since we have
a futon and not a crib I had to attach it to the bookcase at the head of the futon.
He seems to really love it, now that he's just starting to be able to follow things with his eyes.
No matter how may times I rewind it and play it, he just stares at it wide-eyed and every once in a while
gives sort of a surprised laugh.
I wonder what is going through his head...

"Oh my god its a blue bird! And a yellow one! A blue one again! There's so many of them! Where are they going!
My rooms going to be filled with color birds! Holy $%&!!

Probably something like that.

First Two Months

Well its been almost two months since Eli was born so I thought I'd write a bit about what it like and all that stuff.
I almost wrote "what fatherhood is like" but it still seems weird referring to myself as a father. It honestly still hasn't
sunk in totally. Every once in a while it suddenly pops in my head, 'hey! I'm a dad!' One thing I can say though is that before he was born I was worried that I wouldn't have time to do the things that I wanted anymore. And well, I don't, but it doesn't seem to bother me. I haven't even really thought about it. Maybe part of it is just sleep deprivation (I sort of remember what a full nights sleep is like...) but its actually fun to have a kid. Except when he cries. Then I'm like dude stop crying! But does he stop? No. What the %&#%?

But we're getting used to that too. The first few weeks we both freaked out every time he cried. "What the $&# do we do! What's wrong with him!" I think we finally realized that crying doesn't mean he's going to die or something.

Here's some general observations I've had:
1. Your own child really is the cutest child on Earth.
2. I always repeat for some reason any sound he makes.
3. Japanese people really like towels (more on that next time).
4. Babies are really really heavy.
5. I don't know any children's songs (so I've been singing him Tom Waits. This doesn't really count as an observation does it...)
6. Baby pooh isn't that gross (not yet anyway)
7. Diapers are harder to change than they look.
8. Giving a baby a bath is harder than it looks. (But maybe thats just because Eli moves so much! It's like the kid is constantly trying run, laying down)

Next week: Towels!

I love Slayer

Spring is finally here and the weather is wonderful, and our alien baby should be born any minute know (literally actually).
So I started thinking about how much I really love Slayer. I mean, I really do love Slayer. How could you not? They are the epitemy of all that is metal. I'm pretty sure that deep down everyone really likes Slayer. Did you know that even Tori Amos covered one their songs? Who knows who else is a secret Slayer fan. I bet even the Pope likes them.

Of all the things that can't be depended on in this world, I know I can always depend on them. If I buy an album I know I will hear the words blood, death, antichrist and hatred -- most likely in the same song. Somebody should put together a little program to create random Slayer lyrics. How about something like this -- "bloody death, sacred anarchy, putrid stains of hatred." Sounds pretty Slayer to me.

Yeah I know they're anti-religious (except for that anti-abortion song they had, "Silent Scream". What the hell was that about?!) but it just wouldn't metal if if wasn't, and it definitely wouldn't be Slayer.

Just one more month!

Well it's only one more month till the due date and we got everything we can ready for the alien baby. A new dresser, child seat, etc. The shopping part was kind of fun. So we just sit back, relax, and worry about stuff. Honestly though it doesn't seem quite real yet though... I guess thats normal for a guy though. I mean the woman has this thing growing in her for 9 months or so, while we just watch really. I assume it will feel real once its actually born. Unless it really is an alien, then I suppose it will take a little longer.

It is apparently going to be a big baby. And if its a boy i think we'll name him Eli. What do you think? We haven't decided if its a girl. If it is a sexless alien then Xrblixs.

By the way, I finally gave in a rented X-men 3. It was total crap. Why on earth did they fxxk it up so bad.

Religious Babble

I felt like writing about religion today. I wrote this essay a while ago about inter-religious understanding, you know if and how someone from one religion (or someone with no religion) can even have a meaningful conversion with someone of a different religion. I said yes but only if one accepts that the other religion is true. I figure there are 4 positions one can make in regards to another religion. (And since I'm Christian I'll use that as an example)

First you can say everyone else is wrong except those who share your faith (or lack thereof) -- obviously not much conversation happening here. Or you can say "Yeah, those guys say some great things, I lot of it is true -- I mean the parts that agree with my own faith. Maybe we had the same origins but they screwed if up somehow." This only sounds more tolerant at first but actually its no more tolerant than the first. The other guys still end up in Hell, or may Heck. The third position is to say that all religions are the same and only appear different. This sounds pretty good too, but it ends up being just as intolerant as the first position. Why? Well, first of all to say all religions are the same you have make pretty strict definitions of what religion is. One I often here now is "inner spirituality" or something. Or maybe morals. If you say that REAL religion is your own inner feelings or whatever, your saying all the millions of people that believe otherwise are wrong. Again, it amounts to the same thing as the first position.

So we seem to be stuck then. But there is a fourth position. Religions all claim some absolute and universal Truth. But why does there have to be just one? Why can't we say that different religions give their own interpretations of what Truth is and have their own religious "goals." Liberation is True according to the Buddhist way of life AND salvation is Truth in the Christian one. And what about Hell then? I say why deny it (I mean as a Christian) Hell means being without God. Now this is a moot point for A Buddhist who's world-view contains no God (and by God I mean Judaeo-christian-muslim God). Only then can we talk and learn from each other. There is no point in trying to find some one ultimate truth that ties everything together, and from a Christian point of view at least, this is something only God knows.

Well, this all sounded great. I can keep my own faith while accepting those of others. However, recently I've gotten interested in Islam. Now Islam and Christianity are talking about the same God! What I was saying might work great for Buddhists and Christians who are different enough from one another to talk about two ultimate Truths, but what about Muslims and Christians. We talk about the same God but say totally different things about Him. Can we even have a conversation with each other without saying "you're wrong"? If I admit that Islam is true, I have to admit that mohammed is a prophet and accept the Quran. If I do that how can I say accept the Trinity? Can I still be a Christian an not believe that Jesus is the living God?

And thats where we're ending today because I don't have any good answers.

Poodleman!

Hey everyone, well I know its been a while since I've written in this blog thing but things have been nuts here. Works been crazy busy and my folks came here for Xmas for a few weeks. It was nice having them here though. And I'm actually working on a few cool translations now! One is this Japanese RPG (you know like D&D) that I'm helping with. (Most of you know that I'm a closet RPG nerd...) So that's been really fun. Its called Tenra Bansho.

The other project is about zen and the tea ceremony, called "The Book of Zen Tea." Hopefully you'll see them in stores within the year! (Assuming all goes well...)