tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3518126816849670319.post19013427821430286..comments2013-02-28T18:43:31.325+01:00Comments on Questing for Food: Umisei Yamasei ChayaAvohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15808959359850145003noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3518126816849670319.post-19913802710852075542010-07-16T15:20:44.578+02:002010-07-16T15:20:44.578+02:00Ha... I had forgotten about this piece.
Yeah it w...Ha... I had forgotten about this piece. <br />Yeah it was a re-edition and also failed attempt at engaging the readers to walk into the picture.<br /><br />But judging from your reaction I guess it works well enough as a stand alone piece. Thanks. : j<br />-<br />Oh yeah lyricism comes easy to me... It's the writing that's hard! ; j <br />-<br />Long-winded descriptions of places aren't very popular in popular fiction... Modern pacing rarely seems to have room for it. Shrug.<br />Hmm... I wonder how your poetic descriptions turned out.<br /><br />I hesitate to offer... as I'm sure you already have more uncompromising beta readers than you can use, but if you'd like I'd be interested and happy to serve you in that function.Avohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15808959359850145003noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3518126816849670319.post-68887432598007410162010-07-16T14:52:18.406+02:002010-07-16T14:52:18.406+02:00Alesa, I'm glad I went through the archives an...Alesa, I'm glad I went through the archives and found this treasure. All the more beautiful that you visited this place in your mind instead of real life. And yes, it's a beautiful picture, but your words painted a greater work of art.<br /><br />I had to be more poetic in descriptions of certain places in The Disappearances. I really struggled with those scenes. It wouldn't have been a problem for you.Theresa Milsteinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03477761307315565259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3518126816849670319.post-5327327227579273452010-04-09T00:30:13.869+02:002010-04-09T00:30:13.869+02:00Teruro smiles at his two guests and says "Irr...Teruro smiles at his two guests and says "Irrashaimase!" (welcome!). He fetches a plump zabuton (square flat cushion) and seats the guest who was still standing at a comfortable spot next to the fire, but with a view through the double sliding doors onto the vastness of the valley below and the environing mountains. <br /><br />He bustles at the central fire place getting water ready for tea. As he stokes the fire, he says over his shoulder, "Aha, I see you've noticed one of our masterpieces! A few years ago an aging renegade zen monk from the rinzai sect came this way and in exchange for refreshments he painted that curious piece." He gestures to what looks like a big fat "O". "At first, I thought he was making fun of me, offering such a simple painting... But before I could protest he launched into the story that made it valuable. A story I shall tell you as he told me. He said that when he was a young boy, he trained in the home of a great zen master with a handful of older apprentices. <br />He told me that late one evening the senior apprentices were pressing their venerable master for an explanation of the true nature of zen. The old man at first ignored his students' clamoring voices, quietly sipping his tea on the porch looking up into the vastness of the star-studded night sky. But the students got more insistent and strident, finally the master turned away from the night sky, looked at them and quirked a brow asking for his writing implements to be fetched. And what you see there," said pointing at the painting yet again, "is a recreation of what the old master drew... It completely baffled the students but they could get nothing further from their master due to the fact that he had retired for the night. As the story was told to me, the students stayed up all night trying to make sense of it and when the master rose in the morning he asked his students starting from the oldest to explain the meaning of his painting. One by one the students either admitted to not understanding or gave fanciful but meaningless answers; one by one the students were cast out from the master's tutelage and home... Finally it was the boy's turn and he started to sweat big drops out of worry because he too had no idea what the painting meant, but suddenly he had an awakening, a satori, and the boy said "It's the moon!". The old master smiled and patted the boy on the head. And the boy served the old man throughout his twilight years..." The man pauses as he lifts the lid of the forged great iron pot to check the water. "Yes, I too wasn't satisfied with that either. So I asked the monk for further explanations, what did the moon have to do with zen? The monk laughed and explained that just as you can't paint a real moon, you can't explain zen; to see the real moon you must look up into the face of night, to understand zen you must experience it.-If you ask me, the old master just wanted to silence his noisy students and enjoy his tea in peace..." <br />"Pardon me? Oh you would like add art to the walls? Please do, you'll find an ink-stone, brushes, and everything you need in the cabinet over there in the tokonoma (alcove)."Avohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15808959359850145003noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3518126816849670319.post-81037281897167093032010-04-08T21:26:24.653+02:002010-04-08T21:26:24.653+02:00Alesa, you come out with some really great lines: ...Alesa, you come out with some really great lines: ..two languages tied for 2nd place...sailed like a deep sea diving stone...<br />I would like to add to the art on the walls, if it's all right with Terruro Magunojo.Kasshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05233330248952156754noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3518126816849670319.post-3207050597311222302010-04-08T16:58:29.431+02:002010-04-08T16:58:29.431+02:00Ok, I'll bite...
I remove my shoes and enter ...Ok, I'll bite... <br />I remove my shoes and enter the tea house's common room. I greet the host with a curt nod and take a seat on a floor cushion next to a low table. "I wonder what the deal is with the black circle painting?" I ask aloud, half to myself.Jupiternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3518126816849670319.post-65620883410920136152010-04-08T08:14:59.896+02:002010-04-08T08:14:59.896+02:00I'm a native bilingual (french/english)...
I ...I'm a native bilingual (french/english)... <br />I mostly forgot my first tongue as a child so now I make do with two languages that are tied for second place.<br /><br />Only my mind went there a-traveling, unraveling time withheld my body from joining it. In other words, the landscape has barely changed in some places so it is easy to remember, or perhaps just imagine; and the names of places that I used are historically accurate for the region I'm describing, but they have been mostly consigned to the history books. This is a place in my mind, a place that might have been long ago.<br /><br />Mysterious? <br />Hmm... <br />Perhaps, that is why when I first wrote it, it failed badly, fared poorly, sailed like a deep sea diving stone. <br /><br />Methinks the host has long awaited the day<br />that guests came in, to see what they'd say <br />It is meant to be an invitation to play... <br />That failing, it's a plate of cookies<br />Help yourself.Avohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15808959359850145003noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3518126816849670319.post-72976061049899166672010-04-08T05:25:06.144+02:002010-04-08T05:25:06.144+02:00This sounds like a beautiful place. I guess you...This sounds like a beautiful place. I guess you've been there?...<br />Do you speak French? Is English your second language?<br />This piece is quite mysterious. Is it to be continued?Kasshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05233330248952156754noreply@blogger.com