Vessel Log: 2009 09 30

: a gripping feeling as the clock eases towards 4 PM; I can only relax in a classroom; after school recitation practice; cancel yoga instruction; gripped with a tiredness; go for soup curry to appease the chill and ward off the voodoo; Star Trek 2009 but I dose out before the end.

Vessel Log: 2009 09 29

: morning meeting, talk and discussion of influenza, perhaps irritation among the rank; the hawks move in closer to the parking lot.

Vessel Log: 2009 09 28

: one teacher is missing, neck related problems, in hospital for a few months; one student is made to wash his hair in a sink, then he’s walking out the door; no one tells me anything; it’s prying eyes and guess-work; after school work with S. students for recitation contest; dark walk home around 5:00 PM; slight, suburban rain; the leaves are blushing; Haruki market for lettuce, bread and mushrooms; R. on his bike, we chat in the drizzle about his cat, about getting together soon; tofu sandwich with near frozen tomato, a salad; Bat For Lashes: Two Suns; clatter of rain; finish the night with the comforting but lazy stories; Spooks and the Sopranos.

Vessel Log: 2009 09 27

: on the train, traveling while standing, listening to Middle Cyclone, mouthing the words; guy in mint coveralls, engineering patch, nodding out; read the Iliad and listen to Liz Phair; A. meets me at the station, hang outside of 7-11; a drink at O-Bar’s before karaoke, meet a man from Kenya, living in Sapporo, spinning records; Spotlight, 山崎ハコ, Single Ladies, Eternal Flame, Against All Odds, Clumsy; 星ポテ; back at O-Bar’s, the smoky dark, the boys on the microphone; tallsy rapping, a guy in a business suit, the lights come up; the bartender layered in LA tattoos, dark eye make-up, a baseball cap with patches and writing, wiry arms like nuts and bolts; ride to 7-11, the sun rises a dense band of orange against dark blue; another game of modeling before returning home.

* * *

: brief seconds of happiness when waking up, the comfort of chilled air, the sound of leaves and cawing crows; 11:30; text message from across the planet; immediate reaction is emergency; try to return to sleep but focused on potential disasters and airplane tickets; pajamas, junk food, crisp and wet pear, The Sopranos; an afternoon shower, throat scratchy, deep and used; need to disengage from the internet; Mariee Sioux; Hope Sandoval and a new album soon; outside the apartment I wait for A.; a patch of nightsky dense with starlight; watch satellites travel like dim roaming stars; one brightens slowly, stronger than Venus; maybe a missile; then dims before disappearing behind clouds; perhaps Iridium-39; soup curry is more delicious now than ever; Project Runway, FlashForward, Fringe; go to bed earlier than usual.

Vessel Log: 2009 09 26

: raisin toast with peanut butter, scrambled eggs, instant coffee; gathering clothes with day-wear, evening-wear in mind; Rudy’s shirt, gray blazer, pink sweatshirt, dark jeans, white belt; a Vivienne Westwood mission; at the station I worry about the gas stove; riding back and forth passing road construction; through the turnstile a group of four Y. students; I remove my sunglasses so they know who I am; Where are you going? I ask them. “Karaoke”, one boy answers, the one who always tells me he’s hungry and sleepy; T.’s able to meet for lunch; wait for her at the tables outside Starbucks near Daimaru; reading the Iliad, wondering if the man with the Sapporo map is capable; T. and I walk to the café, chatting about school; Lohas Raw Food Café: plate of salads, wraps, a chocolate frozen mousse; wander the Junkudo bookstore; wanting 2666 and others; T. and I part ways, go to Parco to peruse the men’s shops; We-Go; Sinners Café for a chicken burrito and a glass of wine; two British boys holding a new map, consulting the Northern Star of Sapporo Tower; we talk about places for live music, the North Island Bewery; wandering from impulse to impulse; stop at Lawson for a bottle of water and mints; walk to the Beer Inn for Sierra Nevadas; VH-1 Classics top 20 countdown for best soundtrack; winner being Rocky Horror Picture Show; then Dee Snider in Sturgis, South Dakota for a car race and live concerts; young girls and moms in a beauty salon below Hearty Café getting their hair did; upstairs reintroduce to S.; lingering over vodka tonics, conversations mixed and peppered; singing to myself, walking to the station.

Vessel Log: 2009 09 24

: does my phone really say 8:02?!; a hasty breakfast eaten in the style of Kobayashi the eating champion – bread in mouth, dissolved with liquid instant coffee; ride to the train station; lunch with 2-B; beating the rain, rode my bike to city hall to pay rent and my school lunch bill; gave BOE omiyage I brought back from Tokyo, banana treats; M. gives me a small Halloween bag with sweets she got at Tokyo Disney; stop at Tsutaya on the way home, picked up the Pet Shop Boys: Disco 2, Destiny’s Child: #1’s, and GReeeen; ebi-ten oroshi at soba restaurant; no Japanese class, or so I thought; got a text from H.-chan wondering if I was going; later I go back to Tsutaya, return CDs and flip through magazines, look at video games. Vouge Homme Japan; stop at A.’s, she picked me up a giant jar of peanut butter; we tell each other about our trips.

Vessel Log: 2009 09 23

: perhaps absolutely nothing; trip to the grocery store; buying okashi or not; simple construction of food product; endless streaming of the Sopranos.