Secret Plans

 I used to do this: Take one of those composition notebooks and write on the front, "SECRET PLANS". Then write stuff inside. Not enough stuff, I didn't know as a kid the technique of forcing oneself to write every day so it was mainly doodles and stuff. 

Well, yesterday I went out shopping and visited Walmart because that's the traditional to do on a Saturday which is why the markets are always super busy on that day. Sunday is the traditional day for "projects".  So that is what I will do today. 

I practiced last night needless to say, working a lot on scales, long tones, and good old Nori No Miyama. I'm getting better! I also found the Twin Cities Buddhist Sangha's version of Shinran Sama on YouTube and was able to follow right along as they sang and played it, so it maps perfectly to the Kinko notation I'm using. 

As a busker, I've never bothered with having printed music in front of me while I play since I'm not going to look at it anyway. But busking with a shakuhachi, I might benefit from having printed music in font of me both to help me keep on track but also, the music stand will make it more obvious I'm playing music, and the music being in Kinko notation will seem like magic. 

I'm old enough to remember "Oriental" being an acceptable term for people, as well as rugs. I grew up believing that Japanese was too difficult a language for a non-Japanese person to learn. Even in 2003 when I was back in Hawaii, seeing a white guy working in a shop in Waikiki speak Japaneses had me astounded. When I was little I thought Japanese was the language of birds; too good and esoteric for most mere mortals. 

I got out of here around 5, after dropping off trash I rode straight over to Dai Thanh and ... they're very busy so it's going great for them but they didn't have "Chinese Donuts". And the jasmine tea I was able to find in tea bags is the same Yama Moto Yama stuff I can get at H Mart. 

Because I didn't want to be shopping and exploring the place while hungry, I went to this little tea and snack place in the same parking lot and got an order of fries. I thought for my $6 I might get some kind of really neat fries but they're just the same ole Ore-Ida crinkle cut ones Mom used to bake in the oven. Ehhh... I ate the smaller ones with the ranch dressing I got and put most of the fries away for later. 

I then went to H Mart where the beggar was still there, bugging people for money. "Sorry, I don't have any money on me, just a card", I told him. "Could you at least buy me some cigarettes and a drink?" he asked. Like... WTF? I don't even know what cigarettes cost these days, maybe $10 a pack? And I suppose "a drink" meant something alcoholic. I talked with him enough to find that he doesn't have any family, and to tell him he's chosen about the worst place to beg, that a liquor store and "health" food store like Sprouts would be better. 

When I came out with my groceries including a carton of sake, I hung the bag on the handlebar right away and got outta there and organized my load in front of the Hawaiian place where there's good light and no beggars. 

Then I went over to  Lowe's and got what I think will be a good "stain" type of paint to make a Shakuhachi Yuu look a bit less like a hunt of plastic. Plus a bucket and some hardware to make a laundry thing I thought up, to avoid having to wring out the clothes which is annoying at best and when I've got a cut on one of my hands I can't really do. That came to a bit over $30 so I had to put it on my card. 

The bright spot there is there's a street food guy who got threatened by the psycho who owns Intex Auto Parts (street vendor was on public property) and I've got cash on hand to go over there and buy some tacos or something from him if he's there tomorrow. 

I got back here, unloaded and made a run to the tire place for some large boxes, then got back in here and made a dish of the fries from earlier and whole garlic cloves, steamed/fried for a bit, then stir-fried beef on top. It was really good. 

When I think of modern washing and drying machines, one thing I'd never thought about is, you can operate them one-handed. I say this because while the cut on my right hand is healing nicely, I just got a cut on my left, not a bad one but not one that makes me want to wring laundry. So I need to get to work on my gadget, although I won't really need it for a day or so because it seems I always let laundry sit and soak for a day ... or a week ...