Holiday Gifts with Lasting Impact

I have been living here in the States for about 30 years and have tried to immerse myself in our society and culture. Yet, holiday gift giving is one of the things I have not accustomed to. It's not likely because of the culture I grew up in. In fact, the gift giving custom is more prevalent in Japan. When I was in middle school, many decades ago, I remember going through boxes and boxes of unopened gifts my mother kept and wondering why they keep giving and receiving all the things they don't even use.


Well, I had accepted the reasons for and benefits of gift giving a long time ago. I also did typical Christmas presents things when my children were small - wrapping many boxes after they went to sleep, putting them under the decked out trees, and placing cookies for Santa in front of the fireplace. When children still believed in Santa...it was lots of fun.


But, after they realized Santa was not real, I stopped. Magic was gone and there was no reason to pretend. So, the following year, I wrote several Christmas coupons on the cards, put them in envelopes, and hung them on the tree. I want to say I came up with that idea, but I most likely read about it in the paper or something. (This was right before the internet with dial tone came to our house.)


I thought coupons were clever, but they were not fun and quickly forgotten. I wanted to add something meaningful that would last longer and potentially impact their lives. So, I focused on going on trips with children; mini ones in spring and fall and big adventures in summer. We explored new places, got into some mishaps, and had blasts. They were not exclusively holiday gifts, but that did not bother much. We cherish those memories and still talk about them.


When children were in high school, I gave each a letter promising airplane tickets to and from anywhere in the world. The stipulation was they had to write why they wanted to go and what they wanted to do; and they had to convince me. After traveling together for years, I thought they were ready to take off on their own. Since then, they traveled far and wide, experienced many things they wanted to try, and went on their own adventures.


They are now grown. They know what they want and can get those themselves. I’m definitely grateful for that. It just makes it more challenging for me to come up with something that would give a lasting impact. My latest presents were the program that was designed to help them think and write about how they want to live their lives. I worked on it myself and it helped me a lot. Like those airplane tickets, it might take time before they embrace this one. But, when they decide and work on it, I sure hope it will help them make their lives better.

Why speak your mind? 4 - Carefully and truthfully

 

Trump lost. “Time to Heal”, Biden said.

Let it heal. Then, reflect on what happened in the last four years, how we let that happen, how that affected us. And, ask if we want that to happen again.

I went through that process three years ago. It is nothing strange. I just happen to let someone with the same personality type tyrannize me for decades and got out a few years before our nation did. 

As I healed, I started to speak my mind again - carefully and truthfully as I could. Then things started to change. I was able to put closures to the things that had been in my mind for a long time. Endless efforts that used to go nowhere started to bring some results. Now I feel solid ground under my feet again and ready to build things up from here. Most importantly, I no longer feel all alone in the darkness even in this COVID-19 induced isolation. 

Speaking our mind carefully and truthfully affects whether potential tyrants stay just potentials or become full blown tyrants to us. At least, that has been my experience, and I should have learned a lesson or two from that.

Empty shelf - no more

I have floating shelves on both sides of my fireplace. The top left shelf has been empty...for a long time. It’s the most prominent self. I just have not found anything I like for that spot.

I’ve tried potted plants, fresh cut flowers, and tree branches - all of which required regular attention. I already have a tall ceramic sculpture on the shelf across the fireplace, so it has to balance without being too similar. I thought about a drift log. (We had one I really liked growing up at my parents’ “tokonoma”. We brought it from a mountain and varnished it.) But, I wanted something vertical. How about a stone sculpture? But, that felt too heavy for a floating shelf. Umm... Nothing clicked. So, I just left it open.

One day, I came across this while looking for something else online. 

I liked it, kind of. Simple enough form with upward movement. The size seemed to work, so as the color. It just felt a little too light and somewhat weak. Possibly too curvy to my liking?

When I built this house with a production builder (not custom), the original design had interior arches all over. It was a trend at the time. I told the builder not to make any arch openings and use straight lines instead. I’m glad I did. There are many beautiful curvy things in this world I like and admire. But, I tend to get attracted to cleaner lines, even a tad masculine designs.

Then I thought, well, the self space was nothing but straight lines, so why don’t I put this curvy piece in the middle and see how I like it. 

The piece came. It was good, but not great. I felt it needed a little more height and some color as it blended in the mirror behind it. I thought about making a small box base and wrapping it with a piece of beautiful fabric. I checked a few stores and did not find any fabric I liked. 

A few weeks past, then I suddenly remembered I had a wooden box that was probably the right size. When I went into the office closet to get it, I saw a Japanese handcrafted paper with silver and gold flakes there. I had this for over thirty years and almost forgot about it.

I carefully wrapped the box with the paper and placed the piece on it. That gave what was missing - a base for this piece’s upward movement. 

The peice got a base. The box and paper found their place. The shelf is no longer empty.

Yakushima in sandals

7 years ago my oldest and I were in Yakushima, Japan. The island with the tallest mountain in Kyushu, famous for its dense forest with 2000+ years old Jomon-Sugi, where they say it rains 35 days in a month.

We barely slept, left the inn shortly before 2 am, took a local bus, then switched to a private bus that dropped us off at the trailhead in pitch black darkness. As more hikers arrived, most with their private guides and headlamps, we headed in. The first leg was pretty easy; we just walked on the old logging railroad. 

The scenery got interesting once we left that easy trail and started ascending. Hundreds of mystical looking ancient trees, with roots like tentacles covered with moss, were just everywhere. 

As we walked past groups, we overheard their guides explaining the vegetation and the history of the island. Some guides looked at my son’s feet and told us he should not be on this trail. He was hiking in his sandal with T-shirt and shorts - more like being on a beach. Most others were dressed in proper hiking attire.

With those sandals, my son skipped up the trail quickly and had to wait frequently for me to catch up. We had good weather. Trails were all clear on the way up to Jomon-Sugi and down to almost Wilson Stump. 

Then rain started. We took shelter in the Stump for a while, quickly realized the rain wouldn't stop anytime soon, and started to trek down. My rain jacket was no use. I was drenched; my hiking boots were full of water and heavy. And, there my son, skipped lightly in his sandal. He even joined a search to help a worrying guide who had two of his parties go off the trail in dense fog. They were located, and the guide thanked him.

Back in the private bus, people talked about how wet they were; their rain suit did not protect them, and so on. It was a bit funny. Sometimes being well equipped won’t help. Oh, I would not recommend hiking there in sandals though. If you are young, fit, and pay attention, maybe you can pull it off.

A matted stray pup...a year later

This girl came to live with me a year ago. She just had her annual and shots, and was declared in excellent health. Vet and aides praised how well behaved she was. 

She can go off-leash, in a big field when no one around; I don’t need to worry about her running away anymore. She watches the house for me when I leave, and makes no mess; I no longer need to put her in her crate. It took a while to get to this. But, she has good temperaments, so that wasn't hard.

There is this one concern. She does not eat foods. She inhales them, literally. And, she seems always on the hunt for food on walks, and puts almost anything into her mouth. Did she grow up deprived of foods? I don’t know. I have not been able to change this and decide to let go. I'd better monitor how much she eats though. She has gained 12% weight since she came. That’s a bit much.

Living in this pandemic isolation, I feel lucky that she’s with me. I still LOVE German Shepherds; they are my kind of dog, and that likely won’t change. But, deciding to adopt this mini poodle mix last year turned out to be good. Like my daughter quipped, “That’s a sensible choice, Mom!.”

Tesla picked Texas!!

Yaaay, Tesla picked Texas!! I knew it! 

I'm one of those who's been believing in their mission and following them for nearly ten years. When they were building the first Gigafactory in Reno, NV, I contemplated moving there. Well, the new factory will be in Austin. Not exactly nearby. But, just a few-hour drive away. No, I am not moving there. I have a business to run and clients to serve here in Dallas. Still, this news made me so happy :)))

テスラがテキサスにやってきます！彼らのミッションに賛同して、10年近くフォローしているので、うれしいです！まだ、テスラを持ってもいないのに、North Texas Tesla Owners Clubに、4年前の創設当時から入れてもらっている私です ー 創始者の好意に感謝。

テスラが何を目指しているのか、ご興味お有りですか？わかり易く面白く書かれたティム・アーバンの記事を、本人の了解を得て、私が日本語にしていますので、どうぞ御覧ください。全部で19ポストのシリーズで、5年前に書いたものですが、今でも十分通じます。今度、テキサスにfactoryをつくるのも、その延長上を突っ走っているってことです！

https://iitokotexas.blogspot.com/2015/07/blog-post.html

https://iitokotexas.blogspot.com/2015/07/blog-post_5.html

Twelve short paragraphs

There are twelve short paragraphs I recite every morning. I do this while doing a plank at the end of my stretching session. They are the things I need to and want to work on. Some are what I aspire to. So, one can call these my affirmation. Every weekend, I go over these with my calendar, review how I did, and write down.

I’ve been doing this for more than two years. I don’t remember what I had on the first version because I have been editing and updating as I had overcome or attained (enough). Some of them ceased to align with me. I revised most entirely on the new year's day this year. A few months ago, I changed the wordings, thus nuance, of the last three. The previous version had not been sitting well with me and I had been somewhat forcing myself to say them. Now, they feel right (to my current self).

This simple daily and weekly practice has been helping me tremendously. Maybe because I had been in such a horrible state two and a half years ago (and the thirty preceding that.) Starting at the bottom has so much upside...haha. Well, I had been unbelievably lucky in the early part of my life, and thinking about what I had received, overall, I have been pretty lucky.

Looking at these twelve and rereading aloud as I write now, I feel I am good with eleven of them. I have not mastered yet and still need to and want to work. But, at least, I don’t feel I am an impostor when I say these. The last sentence of the last paragraph, however, is still tough to say - I am fulfilling my highest possible potential.

“Doing the best I could” and “fulfilling my highest possible potential” might be similar, yet, I don’t feel that they are the same. The part of me who has learned to “treat myself like someone I am responsible for helping” and “not to tyrannize myself”, kind feel they are similar enough. I don’t know yet. I might be working on and thinking about this for a while.

Wabi-sabi confusion

Wabi-sabi has been one of the things difficult to explain. I can tell if something has wabi-sabi feel when I see it. Maybe because I grew up in Japan surrounded by them. Or because I love modern interpretation of its style, like Zen influenced California modern.

But, I probably don’t know what it is because I can’t articulate that to my own children. Hell, I can't even do that to myself. It is far more than its words mean. And we value it even though we really don’t understand it. Wired. 

I was reading up on the history of cha-shitsu (茶室), tea-ceremony building, recently. That had not helped me to solve the puzzle yet. However, I felt like I might be getting at why it was so confusing. That was not much, yet, it could be a good place to start.

I’m now reading Tao Te Ching. It might help me to see whether my hypothesis, if I can call that, is totally out of whack or I might be onto something.

Down the rabbit hole.

Ocean and babies. What do I really miss?

So, my baby (the youngest) posted a short video clip of a beach with the Pacific Ocean waves.

That brought back some memories from almost thirty years ago. I had a real newborn baby back then, my oldest.

I used to take him to Palisades Park in Santa Monica and pushed the stroller up and down along the beach. Another favorite place we frequented was the original Getty Museum; now called the Getty Villa. At night, I played "Pachelbel Canon D Major Ocean Sounds" on cassette tape to help us sleep.

Do I miss the ocean? Yes. I grew up near one. It intensifies, because one just can not hop on a plane and go now. I should be grateful, and I am, that I can just go to a nice swimming pool and swim. But, it's not the same.

Do I miss my children? Definitely and sometimes terribly. None live nearby. (My daughter lives the closest. Still, five hours drive away.) Okay, I am the one who has been telling them to go and explore the world on their own. And, that's what they are doing. So, I am honestly happy for them. I am also grateful that they grew up to be wonderful adults and that we have great relationships. We text, video chats, and all that. But again, it's not the same. I miss hugging them.

I know I am okay. I have things to do and am doing them as usual. I just miss real and good human connections, face to face kinds. Like billions of others, I'm sure. Until this pandemic becomes more manageable, I need to stick to virtual means. Not the same, but better than no contact.

Renzo was a cutie. He was also very alert. This is him at only a couple weeks old. Yes, he was born with that much hair. A nurse in the delivery room told me, "Oh, you are having a cat baby!"

One day, I was sitting on a bench at Palisades Park with Renzo. He was probably three or four months old. A well dressed old gentleman sat next to me. He was watching Renzo for a while, then, asked me if I would consider selling him for a million dollars. I was taken aback and laughed off. Well, he was so cute and had infectious giggles. He was a people magnet. 

He is nearly thirty now. Grown. Up. Okay, I feel much better now. 😌

A prominent Japanese joined Tesla board

Tesla's shareholder proxy vote had a Japanese name listed.

For a split second, I thought he must be an executive from Panasonic. I am glad I did not dismiss it as such and googled him instead.

Tesla Welcomes Hiromichi Mizuno (水野弘道) as New Independent Director to its Board... 

Hiro’s entire career has been in finance and investment... Most recently, Hiro served as Executive Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer of Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund, which is the largest pension fund in the world with approximately $1.5 trillion in assets under management.  

During his time there, Hiro emphasized the importance of environmental considerations in portfolio management and became a global thought leader in sustainable and responsible investment. He also challenged many established market practices, including short-selling, to promote long-term value creation by corporations. .... 

We are excited that Hiro has joined our mission to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy. 

(excerpt from)  https://ir.tesla.com/static-files/f455a322-7032-4a6f-a314-df1afc21397f

He is the only prominent Japanese who works with Tesla (well, other than Panasonic) I've come across in a decade I've been following Tesla. 

He is also articulate. He sounds like he talks about what he believes, which, unfortunately, is rare in governments or corporations in Japan.

Here is a short talk he gave at Cambridge in January this year.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AIlgTwqo2M  (Short talk)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNHhYytoJQE   (Q&A)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OC-Z4Q8wdj0   (Q&A)

It's possible someone like him is not that unusual in current Japan. I may just don't know as I have not been following anything of or about Japan for three decades. If that's the case, please excuse my ignorance. 

Anyhow, I am glad that someone from Japan, who has an influence, joined Tesla to accelerate the world's transition to sustainable energy. A piece of good news in a rather dark time.

#Tesla  #sustainableenergy  #HiromichiMizuno

P.S.

If you want to know what Tesla's mission is all about, in detail with background info and stories, read this. It's the best and easiest to understand among all I've come across. And, it's fun to read.

https://waitbutwhy.com/2015/06/how-tesla-will-change-your-life.html

If you want to read the above in Japanese, I have translated it into Japanese and summarised, with the author's permission. It's 19 parts published in this blog in 2015. Hope you enjoy it. 

https://iitokotexas.blogspot.com/2015/07/blog-post.html

https://iitokotexas.blogspot.com/2015/07/blog-post.html

seventeen more... 

Lawrence Wright Predicted This Would Happen - Krys Boyd interviewed Lawrence Wright

No, I did not get fearful or panicky. On the contrary, I felt calm and somewhat relieved after listening to this interview.

The guest was Lawrence Wright. If you google him now, you probably see words like “terrifying” or “creepy”. Why? Because he submitted a novel last fall about a pandemic and aftermath of what happened to the world. And this spring, so far, what he portrayed has happened.

I felt more in peace, maybe because I sensed he was telling the truth. The truth he managed to derive from his dedicated research. Man, he has been talking with those pandemic researchers way before anybody else paid any attention or respect they have deserved. I firmly believe we can face and do whatever necessary if we feel people are telling the truth. 

You are welcome to draw your own opinion. But, this interview helped to stabilize my mind better than anything I’ve read or listened to so far.

https://beta.prx.org/stories/319105?fbclid=IwAR1D8wRZaoeu5cMVyG1DwMoKheOR0P8-Y2V6Rr1iOABlzvruua48LPEv-ko

Andrew Lloyd Webber musical masterpieces for free (48 hours)

I just L-O-V-E musicals. Yes, I love all kinds of performances. But, musicals...they make my heart leap.

I am so grateful Andrew Lloyd Webber is letting us enjoy his masterpieces for free. This is the next best thing to attending the live version. And, there are no live ones now anyway.

Only for 48 hours for each piece, so don’t miss. (24 hours for my friends in UK!)

Last week, the first piece was “Jesus Christ SuperStar”. I have watched it in person a long time ago. I did not dislike the show, but it did not speak to me much back then. This time, even on screen - maybe because their performances and productions were jaw dropping good, and maybe because I have learned so much about the depth of human minds and behaviors since - it shook me.

I now have something I can look forward to each weekend. Hope you can enjoy it as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nINQjT7Zr9w

Treating myself - taking a breath

Feeling a bit blue, I decided to treat myself with a nice breakfast.

My initial realization this COVID-19 was a real threat came when I heard Austin’s SXSW was canceled in early March, so it’s been well over a month. Quarantine and social isolation fatigue are setting in, I’d bet.

I know this shall pass. I know we will be okay. I know I will be okay as long as I stay healthy and do not become a statistic.

I’ve overcome plenty of hell in the last 30+ years. So, this is nothing.

I just need to be mindful, careful, and wise. I just need to keep working on what I need to take care of now, prepare for the better future, and treat myself from time to time to feel blessed I am able to breathe on this beautiful earth.

My refrigerator was in trouble. So, what to do?

My refrigerator was in trouble. So, what to do?

“shelter in place” + “avoid people coming into my house” = “DIY 
repair”

If it was in normal time, I would have bought a new one. My fridge is 21 years old. It had a major repair 10 years ago. Water supply to it was cut and capped two years ago - so, no chilled water, no ice at the door. Its freezer has suffered ice-dam a few times before, and a new ice sheet was building up at the bottom. Renzo offered to fix it, but the freezer was full of food at that time.

If I was to buy a new one, people need to deliver it, set it up in my kitchen and remove the existing one. I did not want to take that kind of risk just yet. So, as my freezer mostly emptied out I decided to tackle it.

Thanks to YouTube, figuring out the problem (frozen drain) wasn’t difficult. The toughest part was trying to get to the back of the fridge to clean and make sure the drain was clear. My fridge is surrounded by three walls, snug, and fronted by a large kitchen island. Even with my petite frame, it was tight. I felt like being that Asian acrobat guy in Ocean’s Eleven.

Well, anyway, it is fixed. Well, at least it seems working now. There is this hack I saw, placing a copper wire from the heating element to the drain hole in the freezer, which I wanted to try to prevent future freezing. I looked around my garage and there was no copper wire. And again, I did not want to risk going to HomeDepot just to get a few inches of wire. So, I removed the plastic covering from electrical wire, twisted it together, and used it.

Hope this works. Time will tell. Or someone with this kind of knowledge can tell me what I did was stupid and I should have used something else. But, sometimes, you just have to do with what you have at hand. Trying to learn a tiny bit from those NASA engineers in the Apollo 13 movie. 😁

What am I doing while under Coronavirus lock down?

I was supposed to be in Austin for a conference and my son (the oldest) was supposed to be flying to Peru today. Well, we are both in Plano. All my in-person schedules have been canceled like many of yours. My son's situation is a bit harsher. He moved out of Colorado a month and a half ago and has been staying with me before going to Peru for three months. Peru closed its border a day before, and his plan evaporated. Obviously, he was not happy. But, it could have been worse. If his plan was to leave a few days earlier, he could have been stuck at the airport or in Peru during this chaos. Everything is relative, so I am not complaining.

Don’t I worry about the Coronavirus? Yes, to some degree. I don’t think my bronchi and lungs are that tough. I tend to get bronchitis easily. Although swimming in recent years should have strengthened my pipes and I haven’t suffered one for quite some time, it’s best not to get this virus into my system, at least until things get more stabilized.

Fortunately, I keep my house reasonably stocked with basic necessities, so no rush-buy needed. And there is enough work I can do from home, thanks to the technologies. Last few days, we were under lockdown and it's been pouring. So, what did I do other than working? Filed income tax and franchise tax, made a plan for asset allocation revisions, had my car inspected and registered. Just taking care of things I need to and can. So, when new opportunities show up, I am better prepared to go after them swiftly. 

Being mindful and careful enough so I can stay healthy, active and productive seems to be the best thing I can do now. If I feel up to it, I might even paint another large canvas this weekend. I had fun painting one last month. It added nice colors to my neutral living room wall.

Hope you are staying healthy and active!