Lisa Hendrix

I followed a link from BoingBoing today and discovered the wonderful blog for PingMag, “The Tokyo based magazine about Design and Making Things.” They cover all sorts of traditional and non-traditional Japanese crafts, and how they integrate their design sense into today’s world. This specific post, Imitating Nature, about (of all things) food containers brought back happy memories of the 7 months I lived in Japan about 20 years ago.

As a participant in the first year of the Japan Exchange and Teaching Program (JET), I helped teach English at Kessennuma Nishi Koko (Kessennuma West High School) in Miyagi Prefecture. On weekends, I traveled as much as I could around northern Japan, and the beautiful bentos (lunch boxes) sold at the train stations–each station offers its own specialty and its own presentation–and the souvenir foods I carried home to my office mates always delighted me. Finding this post at PingMag was like taking a short trip back.

The JET Program, by the way, was one of the best things I ever did. I treasure every memory and heartily recommend it to anyone who has a desire to see Japan from the inside.

Lisa

Yep, our English ancestors enjoyed naughty jokes, riddles, and puns, just as much as we do. Inspired by a post by Janelle Denison at Plotmonkeys, I offer this riddle in the same spirit:

I’m a strange creature, for I satisfy women,
a service to the neighbors! No one suffers
at my hands except for my slayer.
I grow very tall, erect in a bed,
I’m hairy underneath. From time to time
a beautiful girl, the brave daughter
of some churl dares to hold me,
grips my russet skin, robs me of my head
and puts me in the pantry. At once that girl
with plaited hair who has confronted me
remembers our meeting. Her eye moistens.

What am I? (Answer after the jump….) Read the rest of this entry »

Okay, I can’t. But I bet these guys can.

(Tried to imbed the video, but failed miserably, so you have to CLICK HERE.)

I love this stuff. Always wanted to build a huge one myself, but my knees could never take it.

Lisa

I’ve noticed my speech patterns getting lazy–full of stuff, sort of, like, um, this. I don’t want my writing to get that way, so I’m working on it, and I’ve discovered a couple of blogs I think will help.

First I found Barry Eisler’s remarkable blog, The Heart of the Matter, which covers not writing, but “politics and language, particularly language as it influences politics” (thanks to “robin” who pointed me toward Eisler’s blog via a comment here at Buzz, Balls & Hype). His “Extras” page in particular hit home with me. I’d already commented to family that my speech –along with that of most of the people around me–was getting lazy. Eisler puts it in words and suggests some specific verbal tics to eliminate.

Eisler links to another site that I found appealing, The Vocabula Review, a blog on all things gramatical. Sharp and to the point. I suspect I’ll learn a lot from it.

Ironically, I found Eisler because of an old BB&H post (linked above) where MJ Rose claimed most author blogs are useless when it comes to actually selling books. Maybe. But I’m enjoying the process. And I’m going to go buy Eisler’s current book today — because of his blog.

Lisa

…Romantic Movies and Molten Chocolate Cake.

Not everyone wants to spend Valentine’s evening in an overpriced restaurant. Some of us like to curl up next to the person we love and enjoy some of life’s sweeter pleasures.

Here are a few of my suggestions for romantic movies to watch tonight, and a link to a great recipe.

An Affair to Remember — Don’t we all want someone like Cary Grant to fall in love with us?

Sabrina (the Harrison Ford/Julia Ormond remake). — When he tells her father he doesn’t deserve her, but “I need her. And I don’t need anything,” my heart melts. And the music…just lovely. Make sure you watch the Sting video of “In the Moonlight” after the credits.

Shall We Dance — This movie does it for me on so many levels, but especially the relationship between Richard Gere’s character and his wife. Probably something to do with being married to a man who doesn’t dance–not even in the kitchen.

Robin and Marian — Bittersweet tale of the legendary lovers in their golden years.

The African Queen — Crusty riverboat captain and prim, old-maid missionary. Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn. Mosquitos and leeches. Sigh.

Breakfast at Tiffany’s — The first time I walked into the Main Reading Room of the Public Library on Fifth Avenue in NYC, I got all verklempt. I even looked up “Varjak, Paul” in the card file, hoping they had a dummy card in there just for people like me. Moon River.

Now, pick one (or two), make individual Molten Chocolate Cakes from this recipe that originally appeared in Bon Appetit magazine, and settle in with your significant other for an evening of romance.

Come to think of it, this would make a pretty fine evening even without the significant other.

Lisa

Remember those dioramas we used to do as kids?

Well, one of my favorite diversions Boing-Boing (“A directory of wonderful things”), has an article today on Lori Nix, an artist who has taken the diorama idea to a level beyond imagining. She builds, then photographs, table-top worlds of incredible detail and beauty. I’m giving you a link, here, to her website, going to a page where I think some of her most compelling images are, but be sure to click on the other links on her sidebar.

You may never look at your kids’ homework projects the same way. You may never look at the world the same way.

Lisa

UPDATE: 29 Apr 2008 –

Wired Mag has a wonderful article on Lori Nix, “Nature Conquers Micropolis in Dioramas Photographed to Look Real.”  Worth checking out–although beware the photos.  Due to some error at Wired, they’ve mixed in pix from another article on “tilt Shifting,” a technique that strives to make the real world look like a model—precisely the reverse of Nix’s work.

http://www.wired.com/culture/art/multimedia/2008/04/pl_arts

I found a piece by Steve Martin at the Smithsonian Magazine website today. Even though the title is Being Funny, it’s not really about being funny. It’s about professionalism, finding your voice, being true to yourself, hard work, and a myriad other things a writer needs to make part of his or her soul.

And about being funny.

Be sure to watch the video that’s linked at the top of the article (Martin’s breakthrough Tonight Show performance). Just be sure you don’t have a mouth full of coffee. I nearly sprayed my keyboard.

Lisa

My favorite technology blog, LifeHacker: tips and downloads for getting things done, had a great post today linking to 10 *free* online writing courses.

The original article from Education Portal tells you how to find courses from poetry to technical writing, from top-notch schools like MIT, the UK’s Open University, and UCLA.

I’m going off to download the screenwriting course, right now.

Lisa