Bi Sheng Day

 Wikipedia is calling it Gutenberg day but it's actually Bi Sheng Day: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bi_Sheng

Interestingly, I found there are stamp sets for hiragana and katakana I can buy in a local store. They're interesting, but at about $60 a set I haven't gotten one so far. "People like that printed look" I was told, and I'm on the fence whether to experiment with a stamp set or to get good at hand-lettering. 

They're talking about the Sackler family on NPR and ... they seem butthurt that the company the Sacklers owns can declarebankruptcy while the Sackler family themselves are doing OK. They don't seem to be aware that that's how corporations work. It goes back to the days of whaling and exploring voyages, where a company is set up to finance the mission, where the ship might be out at sea for years, and it makes money or not and if the ship is lost with all hands or something, the people who invested don't lose their houses and everything. 

Personally, I find what I know about the Sacklers to be pretty hilarious. They made tons of money off of hillbillies and white trash, to spend it on things like art for museums. Said hillbillies and white trash would gladly burn art museums down for "showin' pichurs of nekkid people". They did their bit for art and culture, and as for the hillbillies and white trash, nothing of value was lost.  

I was out the door with a load of packages at a quarter after 6, did my drop-offs and picked up some packing stuff, and went to the curry place and their ever-changing cast of employees for some goat curry. I think the place is some sort of a venture where it'll go along fine until the start-up money is burned up then it will close. Or maybe the owners are talented in money-laundering and it's a tasty money-laundering front. I got my goat curry with shrimp in there too, for about $2 less than it was supposed to be. 

For some reason writing about the curry I ate reminded me of when I was watching the Mardi Gras parade online last year. At that time I was still thinking I'd move to New Orleans to retire. There was talk of this new virus at that time, and some discussion of the wisdom, or not, in holding Mardi Gras with all those crowds as always. Needless to say after that long, long year, I have lost any interest in moving anywhere in the South. Or much of anywhere in the continental US. But this memory fixes in my mind how recently l was not actually planning to move back to Hawaii. 

In fact, I'd say I was not planning to move back to Hawaii as long as I was playing trumpet earnestly. I remember playing Taps for the Bugles Across America thing and that was in May of 2020. And I went out playing and busking past that, like at the demonstrations which were in the warm months of June and July. I was starting to think about moving back to Hawaii but I think I figured I'd do it as a trumpet player. Lots of military there so some need for people who can play Taps for instance. (In all fairness, I can keep a bugle handy and be available to play Taps, with the advantage that with no valves, it's easy to keep a bugle clean and no one will expect me to play non bugle calls.)

But being happy in Hawaii means getting with the program and that means turning one's back on a lot of "traditional American values" like being a braggart, being conniving, being loud and self-promoting, etc. This is why my parents weren't happy there. My father wanted to get rich for some reason, and had a very high opinion of himself, which he was happy to share. My mom wasn't far behind, after all, she married the guy. 

Hawaii values are more like, be productive, be reliable, be a part of a network of people who all look out for each other. Don't brag, don't be a hot-head, be calm and kind, be a friend who can be relied on. If you're an extra good worker or really good at something, word will spread so there's no need to brag about yourself. 

If my parents had been more like Hawaii people we'd have moved to a less-expensive house and stayed there at least until we were all grown. We'd have all gone from Kokohead Elementary to Niu Valley Intermediate then to either Kaiser or Punahou depending on budget and we'd have grown up knowing the same kids growing up alongside us. A lot of mainland people do still live this way, but capitalism demands atomization and hyper-individuality and my parents, always in pursuit of some fictional better thing, kept us moving every year or two. 

And I still know more people back in Hawaii than I do here on the mainland. People are *really* atomized here.

Ken came by at the usual time and dropped off stuff to list and packing boxes and stuff. He wrote out my pay check, another $400 one, "I'm prorating it based on our sales and we're doing well". And we are. About 12 grand a month, which Ken says is due to a few large sales, but I pointed out that even without those we'd be at 8 or 9 grand and that's pretty good. 

We had the usual BS session about various science-y things. It's kind of fun and kind of part of my job.