World Order- Far Out Friday

 Every year, after watching the previous year's Danthology, I make a playlist with all the songs. The songs I can't stand eventually get deleted - rap that's too raucous, electronica with no words, Gangnam style... But other than that, it makes an awesome playlist. This year I discovered will.i.am's #thatPOWER.


I'm jamming along to the track for like three seconds, until... Wait, I've seen that dance somewhere before... Huh? That street sign is in Japanese. Oh my gosh, yes! What's the name of the crazy- skilled Japanese-guy slow-walking dance group?

 
Yeah, now I remember. World Order. Pretty sure that is NOT them in the will.i.am vid. Unless it's like their second-string team or something. The vid was filmed in Japan. I have no doubt about that. So why aren't World Order a part of it? Were they like, "You cute, but no. We can't be tarnishing our name with the likes of that not-surgically-precise thing you're doing there."

Either which way. World Order is amazing. I love how they're like, "We will just dance in the middle of Narita International Airport, the biggest airport in Japan, and one of the most trafficked in Asia. Meh, no biggie." And I love that the world tries to copy it. Even if they come nowhere close.

Looks like Japan leads the world in more than just technology.

One more vid for the road. And yeah, Japanese dating is pretty much like that.

Danthology 2013 - Time Travel Tuesday

Maybe, you've never heard of it, but every year this dude named Daniel Kim, mixes together a bunch of music's biggest hits (from a North American perspective). Living in Japan, it's too hard to keep my finger on the Western pulse, so I tend to ignore it. But that doesn't mean I wouldn't like to know who sang what, and who the new guys in the game are. So every January, it's Danthology time.



Any tunes on it that you LURVED? Any tunes you think were big enough to be on it and weren't?

Re-finding my Blog Voice (MomM)

Once upon a time, I was an avid blogger. I had a plan. There was a designation for every day of the week.

Monday on my Mind.
Tell it Tuesday and Time Travel Tuesday.
Write Away Wednesday.
Talk Back Thursday.
Far out Friday.

I was so into the blog scene that I even gave a lecture on the topic at the Japan Writers' Conference.

Oh, how the Mighty have fallen.

Back then, I didn't look for blog topics. I was tripping over them. I'd have 3 or 4 blogs pop into my head almost fully written every day.

Hold up a sec, let me repeat that slowly.

Every.

Single.

Day.

I couldn't very well post them all. So I wrote them down, just in case I had a drought. But I never did. Until now. Wish I could find that notebook...

Now that I'm not in the practice of belching up my soul every 24 hours, I can't really remember how to do it. I can't remember what you like. Or how I used to be able to tap into that. I hardly even get to read anymore, and I don't know the last time I did any novel-writing. The biggest thing that defined this blog isn't even really a part of my life right now.

I feel like the biggest disappointment. I mean, I know noone's crying into their Earl Grey over the state of Points of Claire-ification (except maybe me). I'm just that kind of person. I like to keep my word. And every time one of you comments or follows or even reads all the way to the end of the post, it's a vote of confidence. And in return for that small favour, I make a promise. It's woven into the words the second I click the "Publish" button.

I will not waste your precious time.
I will try to be relevant.
I will interact with you.
I will educate and share my world.
I will be fun and entertaining.

I will give you what you want.

It's been over a year since I've properly kept any of those unspoken promises. So, in apology, I offer you a new one.

I will re-find my blogging voice.

Here's hoping you're along for the ride.

Translating it is

This month's contribution to the happiness project will be translation.

How'd I pick it?

Well, I'm not one to fight the tide. (At least sometimes.) And the truth is there's a lot of translation going on in my life right now. I've been translating for school and for work. And yes, I work at the school, but I don't work FOR the school, so it's two different things. Plus, the mayor has put me on a committee, so I have a massive amount of translation related to those documents. Just so that I understand what is going on and pull my own weight and stuff.

But why does translation get a month?

I've been thinking about my Happiness Year, and I realise it's not htat much about happiness. At least not in the Western sense. Maybe in a Socratic sense. I mean I'm manic-depressive. Half the time I'm too "happy" and when I'm depressed it's because I "can't" be happy. So happiness really isn't my problem.

Unless we're talking Socratic happiness. Because to Socrates had a lot to do with being the best person you can be. And personality-wise, I don't think I do a bad job. But in terms of moving forward in life, I don't feel like I'm growing. At 32, I feel like I'm at exactly the same place as when I finished secondary school. Yes, I've moved from Barbados to Japan, which is literally half the world and all, but still. It's like I'm spinning and spinning and all I get for my efforts is dizzy.

So my Happiness Year is really about cultivating the habits and skills that will make me a better person in the future; the sort of skills that will maybe move my career forward when that career finally falls into place.

Translation happens to be one of those things.

How about you guys? Do you feel like your lives are moving along swimmingly? Is there anything that you really want to improve on?