![[title of show]](http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b285/ShephardSummers/titleofshowsm.jpg)
Monday, June 29, 2009
Ain't This My Movie?
I've realized lately how responsible my blog and even FB are for wearing down my resistance to taking chances, and making it harder to hide. The more I share of who I am, the better my writing seems to become.
Whenever I post something highly personal, I find myself thinking about the people I know reading it, not people I don't know. There's a big difference between being social with people you like and admire... and sharing your deeper feelings with them. I've also learned when to keep my mouth shut. But that's another post.
Just before our trip to Tokyo this month, I had the nicest (and timeliest) dinner with a good friend, and it was a lifeline, a rope of clarity tossed into the confusion-chasm... an epiphany, a wake-up call, a yodel into the cacophony of self-doubt (ok, that was fun). And I realized that I had forgotten that I matter. I actually matter. Amidst all the careful choices, social expectations, and chaos and din of baggage and hoopla, I forgot that I matter. It's a choice. Because I can instead choose to see my own value even when surrounded by those who don't see it.
How did I fall into that bad habit?
I realized it's almost second nature for me to assume the role of "the foreigner" in social situations, even with some of our friends. I'm so used to it. I'm going along socially and everything is hunky dory and then I hit a speed-bump, and I remember... oh yeah... I don't quite fit in, not really. I become the observer instead of the participant. You may be thinking, ok, he's talking about "the gay thing" again, and you'd be wrong, because that's just as often not a factor.
I can't be specific obviously. But I can be suscinct. The older I get, the more I learn that people do not want to know what makes you different. They only want to know what makes you the same (yes there are exceptions). But generally, that mysterious quality they might be drawn to is merely the thing they long to cultivate and collect... it's known to them, not foreign. They want to know how you might embody that for them.
So it's all the way I'm seeing it. That's the problem. No one told me I could choose to enjoy my individuality more, rather than seeing it only as a dividing line. Perhaps like everyone else, I'm paying too much attention to the differences. I can enjoy being the raspberries in a salad full of vegetables. . . just another ingredient really.
After that dinner with my good friend, I went away to Japan determined to see my world differently. I made no changes other than trying to remember that I matter. And there were these nice moments where I got this very confirmation; I let myself enjoy being myself. As my friend mused... it's my play and my cast of characters... I don't need to give the lead part to every person with a title or station in life that is more established or accepted than my own.
Or as Bette sings: "Ain't this my sun? Ain't this my moon? Ain't this my song? Ain't this my movie?" Yeah. It is. It's easy to get lost in the chaos (the very chaos some seem to envy). Maybe that's why I'm a writer. It's the one place where I don't edit, censor or silence myself. I think I'll post this before I change my mind. And maybe by posting it, someone out there will read it and think to themselves ...I can do that too... for a sustainable moment, I can enjoy being 100% unadulterated me, and the more of these moments I string together, the more self-realized I'll be. The more I do it, the more permission I give the world to value me.
~Shephard
Whenever I post something highly personal, I find myself thinking about the people I know reading it, not people I don't know. There's a big difference between being social with people you like and admire... and sharing your deeper feelings with them. I've also learned when to keep my mouth shut. But that's another post.
Just before our trip to Tokyo this month, I had the nicest (and timeliest) dinner with a good friend, and it was a lifeline, a rope of clarity tossed into the confusion-chasm... an epiphany, a wake-up call, a yodel into the cacophony of self-doubt (ok, that was fun). And I realized that I had forgotten that I matter. I actually matter. Amidst all the careful choices, social expectations, and chaos and din of baggage and hoopla, I forgot that I matter. It's a choice. Because I can instead choose to see my own value even when surrounded by those who don't see it.
How did I fall into that bad habit?I realized it's almost second nature for me to assume the role of "the foreigner" in social situations, even with some of our friends. I'm so used to it. I'm going along socially and everything is hunky dory and then I hit a speed-bump, and I remember... oh yeah... I don't quite fit in, not really. I become the observer instead of the participant. You may be thinking, ok, he's talking about "the gay thing" again, and you'd be wrong, because that's just as often not a factor.
I can't be specific obviously. But I can be suscinct. The older I get, the more I learn that people do not want to know what makes you different. They only want to know what makes you the same (yes there are exceptions). But generally, that mysterious quality they might be drawn to is merely the thing they long to cultivate and collect... it's known to them, not foreign. They want to know how you might embody that for them.
So it's all the way I'm seeing it. That's the problem. No one told me I could choose to enjoy my individuality more, rather than seeing it only as a dividing line. Perhaps like everyone else, I'm paying too much attention to the differences. I can enjoy being the raspberries in a salad full of vegetables. . . just another ingredient really.
After that dinner with my good friend, I went away to Japan determined to see my world differently. I made no changes other than trying to remember that I matter. And there were these nice moments where I got this very confirmation; I let myself enjoy being myself. As my friend mused... it's my play and my cast of characters... I don't need to give the lead part to every person with a title or station in life that is more established or accepted than my own.
Or as Bette sings: "Ain't this my sun? Ain't this my moon? Ain't this my song? Ain't this my movie?" Yeah. It is. It's easy to get lost in the chaos (the very chaos some seem to envy). Maybe that's why I'm a writer. It's the one place where I don't edit, censor or silence myself. I think I'll post this before I change my mind. And maybe by posting it, someone out there will read it and think to themselves ...I can do that too... for a sustainable moment, I can enjoy being 100% unadulterated me, and the more of these moments I string together, the more self-realized I'll be. The more I do it, the more permission I give the world to value me.
~Shephard
Labels: Of Mice and Mondays
posted by Shephard @ 
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
A Place of Magic
I am being very careful with this post.Taking photos inside this museum is not normally allowed. I was only allowed to take them with special permission because of who I was with. So I am not posting any images of the actual exhibits out of respect. I have chosen just a few pictures so that those of you who may never go to J*pan will still get to see this amazing place, and maybe discover something that most an*mation-lovers, east and west, revere.
If you don't recognize this character, then you need to put this movie (listed below) on the top of your rental. Charming. The director of these famous anim*ted movies is a national hero of sorts, because he makes beautfiul, ethereal, adventurous, sometimes action-packed and always entertaining films that touch people. They're breath-taking, pastoral, sweet and wildly creative.
And the interior of this child-friendly, hands-on museum is meant to be a wonderland of his studio's creations! What I thought would just be a little one-story showcase of some art....
...turned out to be a 3 or 4 story massive building crammed full of adventure and color, with a cafe, a bookstore, a fantastic giftshop, a movie theatre and so many unique exhibits that used his characters to show (instead of tell) the joy of animation.
(see the tiny people in front?!)
No space is ever wasted in J*pan. This giant metal sculpture of another of his characters is ... on the rooftop garden ... you take an exterior spiral staircase to get to it.
Three interior shots of this stylish, warm and welcoming space evoke a European sensibility while keeping a clean Japanese aesthetic...
It may look empty... and my shots a bit blurry... but this is because I was snapping with haste because there were at least 100 (well-behaved) children laughing and darting about in and out of my shots.
Difficult to get this shot of the elevator shaft with the light pouring in from the beautiful skylight above...
The exterior had so many nooks, crannies, exits and entrances...
I wasn't allowed to take photos in the giftshop. So this photo is from a shop in Asakusa in Tokyo. I found it for B, and he loved it, so it now sits in his office.
If you google "C*tbus"... you will see this character from T*t*r*. But if you're short enough, and you visit the museum, you get to PLAY on the Catb*s!!
* * *
The cafe food was very interesting. The desserts were my favorite!
This concoction was titled "Looking-Up-at-a-Clear-Blue-Sky-in-a-Field Cream Soda." (ice cream floating in a blue cream soda!!). It was yummy, and reminded me of a rootbeer float.
A giant lady-finger-like cake with strawberries!! It was titled "Strawberry Shortcake with Berries of All Sizes."
This amazing creation of ice cream, hot fudge sauce, strawberries, kiwis and surprises (note the funny little rock candy on top) was titled "Today's Ice Cream." Not very creative you say? Doesn't it make you want to return day after day to see what they come up with?!
So this isn't lost on those who don't know the studio and talented Oscar-winning man, here are images/DVD jackets spotlighting my personal favorites of his films. You can Netflix every one of them, and they are dubbed with American actors' voices, so no excuses, People!! You will at the very least be able to say "I had no idea what was going to happen next, and have never seen anything like them."
Charming, easy pace, serene and sweet
This one is kinda romantic, a favorite for me
The left one... won the Oscar. And it is one of the most bizarre, beautiful and fascinating animated movies I've seen, a picture window into a culture and mythology through the eyes of a little girl. The right one... more child-like, easy pace, very sweet coming-of-age story, and I have a softspot for the cat in it.
(taken while in line to enter The Shogun's Palace in Kyoto)
This shirt is not a suggestion. It's a lifestyle.
Stay tuned for more photos!
~Shephard :)
It may look empty... and my shots a bit blurry... but this is because I was snapping with haste because there were at least 100 (well-behaved) children laughing and darting about in and out of my shots.
Difficult to get this shot of the elevator shaft with the light pouring in from the beautiful skylight above...
The exterior had so many nooks, crannies, exits and entrances...
I wasn't allowed to take photos in the giftshop. So this photo is from a shop in Asakusa in Tokyo. I found it for B, and he loved it, so it now sits in his office.
If you google "C*tbus"... you will see this character from T*t*r*. But if you're short enough, and you visit the museum, you get to PLAY on the Catb*s!!* * *
The cafe food was very interesting. The desserts were my favorite!
This concoction was titled "Looking-Up-at-a-Clear-Blue-Sky-in-a-Field Cream Soda." (ice cream floating in a blue cream soda!!). It was yummy, and reminded me of a rootbeer float.
A giant lady-finger-like cake with strawberries!! It was titled "Strawberry Shortcake with Berries of All Sizes."
This amazing creation of ice cream, hot fudge sauce, strawberries, kiwis and surprises (note the funny little rock candy on top) was titled "Today's Ice Cream." Not very creative you say? Doesn't it make you want to return day after day to see what they come up with?!
So this isn't lost on those who don't know the studio and talented Oscar-winning man, here are images/DVD jackets spotlighting my personal favorites of his films. You can Netflix every one of them, and they are dubbed with American actors' voices, so no excuses, People!! You will at the very least be able to say "I had no idea what was going to happen next, and have never seen anything like them."
Charming, easy pace, serene and sweet
This one is kinda romantic, a favorite for me
The left one... won the Oscar. And it is one of the most bizarre, beautiful and fascinating animated movies I've seen, a picture window into a culture and mythology through the eyes of a little girl. The right one... more child-like, easy pace, very sweet coming-of-age story, and I have a softspot for the cat in it.
(taken while in line to enter The Shogun's Palace in Kyoto) This shirt is not a suggestion. It's a lifestyle.
Stay tuned for more photos!
~Shephard :)
Labels: Japan
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Friday, June 19, 2009
Comfy Cozy Nest in the Sky
(Japan post #2)
P*rk Hy*tt Tokyo, home to the film L*st in Tr*nslation. . .
The lobby is on the 41st floor of the above skyscraper, and I believe the hotel occupies floors 41 through 52 (the restaurants). But to be honest, the layout confused me because there were 3 sets of elevators, 2 lobbies, 2 or 3 restaurants and I may have been suffering lasting discombobulation from running into J*sh D*hamel in the elevator.
It's a beautiful building! Okay, the top three photos are not mine, but all photos hereafter are!
After you enter and go up to the 41st floor in a very fast elevator, you empty into the skylighted lobby, then wind your way past a restaurant and you come to this hallway passage (a library, above) that then leads to the business center and also two more sets of elevators.
I found out our room was $3900 a night. If J*sh D*hamel smiling at me didn't make me need a respirator, knowledge of the room's going rate certainly would have! But it's par for the course with Press Junkets for movies, and I'm certain that the corporate/business rate given (and a discount for multiple rooms) reduced that price considerably. But still. HOLY CRAP, there are people out there who pay that for a night in a beautiful hotel. Above photo: looking to the right after entering our room.
The living/dining room in daylight. :)
(same room, other side, drapes shut)
I fell in love with the bathroom.
(note: another TV!)
Amazing shower configuration.
Rounding the corner (shot taken standing in front of the huge tub), you can then go into the spacious bedroom with 52" flat screen TV!
We also had a massive closet. And a hairdryer and free razors and toothbrushes and a yoga-matt and just about anything we could want.
The panoramic view from the multiple windows took my breath away every morning.
The mini-bar and yet another flat screen TV in the living/dining area.
**Spirits**
Fresh juices!! Tomato, Cranberry, Orange and Grapefruit... and two kinds of water.
And goodies!! I wish I'd eaten more of them.
The restaurant we ate breakfast at every morning... though we actually ate in a private room with floor-to-ceiling windows facing the morning skyline.
The breakfast buffet had cereals, cheeses, nuts, bacon and sausage and eggs (I think) and lot of fruit and yogurt and healthy grains.
An assortment of pastries and bread came with every meal.
Scrambled eggs, bacon and little potatoes. You have to specify in Japan that you want your bacon crisp, or it comes out oinking.
The traditional Japanese breakfast ... I never tried it... I love a food adventure, but after adjusting to the 16 hour time difference and days cram-packed full of activity, that early in the morning I just wanted a simple breakfast that I recognized. But ... it did look good!!
Lunch buffet choices. :) I wish I'd thought to get a photo of the lunch buffet, but we were so pressed for time, and I was often out in the city during lunch, so only ate there once.
My lunch entre that accompanied the above buffet choices. Chicken and tomatoes. :)
And the night we had dinner in the restaurant on the 52nd floor, I was so thrashed I only remembered to take a photo of the appetizer... lobster quesadillas! Fantastic.
Champagne in the room...
You're probably wondering about the famous Japanese bathroom appliances. . .
The flash obscured the interesting icons used, so below is a panel with the same icons but from a restaurant bathroom. ZOOM. If you aren't either laughing or surprised, I give up. lol
I also took photos of the room to remember how warm and cozy it was at night. A different feel.
Below are fantastic photos of the Tokyo skyline out the windows of our room that B took. I love them.
Never in my life have I stayed in such a hotel room. What an amazing way to see Tokyo. We are so grateful to get to experience things like this.
Above... the red spire... that's Tokyo Tower... a striking near-cousin of The Eiffel Tower, for sure.
The P*rk Hy*tt is a phenomenal hotel, I have to say. The staff was so friendly and helpful and kind, the food was fantastic, the view and amenities were neverending, and I commend them on their elevator passenger list.
P*rk Hy*tt Tokyo, home to the film L*st in Tr*nslation. . .
The lobby is on the 41st floor of the above skyscraper, and I believe the hotel occupies floors 41 through 52 (the restaurants). But to be honest, the layout confused me because there were 3 sets of elevators, 2 lobbies, 2 or 3 restaurants and I may have been suffering lasting discombobulation from running into J*sh D*hamel in the elevator. 
It's a beautiful building! Okay, the top three photos are not mine, but all photos hereafter are!
After you enter and go up to the 41st floor in a very fast elevator, you empty into the skylighted lobby, then wind your way past a restaurant and you come to this hallway passage (a library, above) that then leads to the business center and also two more sets of elevators.
I found out our room was $3900 a night. If J*sh D*hamel smiling at me didn't make me need a respirator, knowledge of the room's going rate certainly would have! But it's par for the course with Press Junkets for movies, and I'm certain that the corporate/business rate given (and a discount for multiple rooms) reduced that price considerably. But still. HOLY CRAP, there are people out there who pay that for a night in a beautiful hotel. Above photo: looking to the right after entering our room.
The living/dining room in daylight. :)
(same room, other side, drapes shut)
I fell in love with the bathroom.
(note: another TV!)
Amazing shower configuration.
Rounding the corner (shot taken standing in front of the huge tub), you can then go into the spacious bedroom with 52" flat screen TV! 
We also had a massive closet. And a hairdryer and free razors and toothbrushes and a yoga-matt and just about anything we could want. 
The panoramic view from the multiple windows took my breath away every morning.
The mini-bar and yet another flat screen TV in the living/dining area.
**Spirits**
Fresh juices!! Tomato, Cranberry, Orange and Grapefruit... and two kinds of water.
And goodies!! I wish I'd eaten more of them.
The restaurant we ate breakfast at every morning... though we actually ate in a private room with floor-to-ceiling windows facing the morning skyline.
The breakfast buffet had cereals, cheeses, nuts, bacon and sausage and eggs (I think) and lot of fruit and yogurt and healthy grains.
An assortment of pastries and bread came with every meal.
Scrambled eggs, bacon and little potatoes. You have to specify in Japan that you want your bacon crisp, or it comes out oinking.
The traditional Japanese breakfast ... I never tried it... I love a food adventure, but after adjusting to the 16 hour time difference and days cram-packed full of activity, that early in the morning I just wanted a simple breakfast that I recognized. But ... it did look good!!
Lunch buffet choices. :) I wish I'd thought to get a photo of the lunch buffet, but we were so pressed for time, and I was often out in the city during lunch, so only ate there once.
My lunch entre that accompanied the above buffet choices. Chicken and tomatoes. :)
And the night we had dinner in the restaurant on the 52nd floor, I was so thrashed I only remembered to take a photo of the appetizer... lobster quesadillas! Fantastic.
Champagne in the room...
You're probably wondering about the famous Japanese bathroom appliances. . .
The flash obscured the interesting icons used, so below is a panel with the same icons but from a restaurant bathroom. ZOOM. If you aren't either laughing or surprised, I give up. lol
I also took photos of the room to remember how warm and cozy it was at night. A different feel. 
Below are fantastic photos of the Tokyo skyline out the windows of our room that B took. I love them.
Never in my life have I stayed in such a hotel room. What an amazing way to see Tokyo. We are so grateful to get to experience things like this. 
Above... the red spire... that's Tokyo Tower... a striking near-cousin of The Eiffel Tower, for sure.The P*rk Hy*tt is a phenomenal hotel, I have to say. The staff was so friendly and helpful and kind, the food was fantastic, the view and amenities were neverending, and I commend them on their elevator passenger list.
** Stay tuned for more Tokyo and Kyoto photos!! **
~Shephard :)
Labels: Japan