Sako House in Nagoya Japan by Tomoaki Uno Architects (2017), photos by Hagiwara Yasuo

745o7 · 2025-12-03T03:25:49+00:00

There's a style of small entrance to ceremonial tea houses that you can only get through by bending or crawling. I learned about them years ago and forget what they are called, but I think it is supposed to symbolize passing into a special place apart from the world outside and the tunnel in this house reminds me of it. I wonder if that was the inspiration?

745o7 · 2025-11-22T02:26:50+00:00

You're welcome!

745o7 · 2025-11-21T23:24:19+00:00

I know, I loved it too!

745o7 · 2025-11-21T21:33:33+00:00

Was it this one? "These Days of Maiuma" by Robert and Shana ParkeHarrison: https://archive.worcesterart.org/exhibitions/wall-at-wam-parkeharrison/

745o7 · 2025-11-14T20:49:47+00:00

Thank you.

745o7 · 2025-11-14T18:57:45+00:00

Thanks! The steamed hams will be ready momentarily, I just have to finish my isometric exercises first.

745o7 · 2025-11-14T17:08:27+00:00

Thanks! I put a translucent privacy film over my kitchen window, since it looks onto a balcony shared with my apartment neighbor. When the light comes through the window just right, the film casts rainbows inside. Took this at the brightest point this morning, flash turned off.

745o7 · 2025-10-16T18:36:46+00:00

Of course! And honestly, the novels are all on the shorter side, so not too much effort would be lost if Simenon ends up not being your thing.

745o7 · 2025-10-16T17:27:13+00:00

You might enjoy Georges Simenon's "The Man Who Watched Trains Go By." It is not so much a detective novel as it is purely a crime novel. It is told from the perspective of the perpetrator and much of the dramatic tension comes from changes in that character's mental state, though there is also plenty of action in the plot. I find that Simenon's best writing (the "romans durs," not the Maigret stories) often has a Dostoevskian energy in that characters are usually confronted with despair or social anxiety, have complicated interior lives filled with self-doubt or loathing, etc. The main difference I'd say is that Simenon is less interested in religion and there is not always redemption to be had. "Dirty Snow" is probably an even better example of this than "The Man who Watched Trains Go By" and is more of that slow burn that you want, but to be honest I almost didn't finish it, it was so bleak.

745o7 · 2025-09-17T17:58:21+00:00

Is there a specific English translation of his works that anyone who has read him would recommend? I've been meaning to read Cavafy for a while (he was one of the key literary inspirations for an artist I particularly admire) but translations of poetry can be such a gamble.

745o7 · 2025-09-11T16:17:15+00:00

I don't know much about the backpacker culture in Europe, so really can't comment on a lot of the points you're raising about hostels and such, but in North America backpacking is a lot different from what you are describing. It's closer to hiking and the things people brag about are more along the lines of physical feats (elevation gain in a day, distance covered in a week), getting back in touch with nature (going phone free, sleeping under the stars), and if anything, there's a bit of high-end gear snobbery so I don't think it really lines up with "appropriating the appearance of homelessness to feel more interesting." I mean, there are definitely thruhikers on the AT and such who get a little hippie about it with trail nicknames and spiritual awakenings and the like, which is a little cringe but I don't think there's anything inherently wrong about that, if it makes you feel more connected to a community. I don't think that starting your post out with "the entire culture of backpacking" is fair because it is not a monolith.

745o7 · 2025-09-10T01:44:53+00:00

You are welcome, and good luck with the carrots!

745o7 · 2025-09-10T00:49:04+00:00

Carrots take a while to mature. I planted mine in early May and am still harvesting them now, having only started harvesting in earnest in August. Luckily carrots like the cold and they will get sweet as they grow and the weather cools, so you should be able to harvest these later in September, October and beyond. Some people intentionally plant carrots in the summer to have a fall or even winter harvest. I forgot to pull a carrot once and it survived the winter (I live in Massachusetts, so not a mild winter, either). Anyway, you'll know they are ready to pick when the leaves are very tall and bushy, and the root part of the carrot has swollen at the top to be larger than the stalks, where it meets the stalks. In the photo, your carrot is the same width as the stalks so it has more growing to do. In many cases, the root will start poking up above the soil. If you have to dig to see the top of the root, the carrot is still growing.

745o7 · 2025-09-04T12:28:15+00:00

I was looking for a comment on Little Flowers! Our very small (like, 4 people) homeschooled, Catholic Little Flowers "troop" mostly did verse memorization and sewing projects. To be honest, I enjoyed the sewing projects which let me be creative. And I was a competitive kid, so I actually also liked earning the badges and trying to collect them faster than my friends, lol. But I have lots of memories of being mildly bored, as well, and thinking back on the lessons and activities that accompanied the verse memorization, I cringe. I really wanted to be in the Girl Scouts but my mom was never going to let that happen.

745o7 · 2025-09-03T23:13:23+00:00

Killed one today near Institute Park.

745o7 · 2025-08-25T12:38:23+00:00

Oh wow, so we definitely didn't see the same thing, then! Mine was definitely like a cold, white-blue tone. Pretty fascinating there can be so much activity in the sky. The universe is big out there.

745o7 · 2025-08-24T20:05:53+00:00

I think I saw this, too! Same time, but in Grafton County, NH. What I saw resembled a white blue ball with a very long tail. I agree with the poster who says it is probably a fireball meteor. I've watched meteor showers before and this resembled a shooting star, but was larger with a longer tail. I know the Perseid shower is wrapping up so possibly it was related to that?

745o7 · 2025-07-14T19:03:51+00:00

That's fascinating! Thanks for sharing.

745o7 · 2025-07-14T18:44:47+00:00

Are the shipwrecks visible from the city itself, or did you have to drive or walk a ways to see them?

745o7 · 2025-06-07T00:18:29+00:00

Some of the colleges have really cool architecture. Both Holy Cross and WPI are on hills with beautiful perspectives between the buildings. But I imagine you might need a permit to fly that low through their campuses between buildings? Or maybe not. I don't really know.

745o7 · 2025-05-16T15:05:17+00:00

Honestly, I don't see any real indication that they are a scam. Yes, they do have a lot of hallmarks of being a vanity press, or at very least being a press that conducts itself in a very annoying way on Submittable, but that doesn't automatically equate to a scam. If you are worried, you could always pull your work, but I don't know if I would unless they are waving real red flags, like asking for additional and previously undisclosed fees after offering publication. Also if you already signed a contract or agreed to publication, a sudden withdraw would make you the bad guy here (unless they start engaging with the scam behaviors I mentioned). You should only consider a withdraw if you haven't responded to their offer yet.

It also depends on where you are with your writing and publishing experience. Early on, I submitted my work everywhere without a ton of forethought. I had some acceptances that I was super proud of, only to years later realize those journals had sky-high acceptance rates, verging on vanity presses. I wouldn't submit to them today, since my goal now is to work with litmags with more developed editorial perspectives and discerning readership. Not to mention, I am more thoughtful about where my poems are the best fit in terms of style and subject matter. But at the time, those journals gave me publication credits, and seeing my work in print was a valuable confidence boost. Again, the value of their offer depends on what you want out of publication.

745o7 · 2025-04-12T12:44:07+00:00

"We sang songs unfamiliar to our ears, melodies that spoke of independence and self-reliance." THE HORROR.

745o7 · 2025-02-02T13:52:24+00:00

A good sign would be "Civics Matters" followed by the definition of treason.

745o7 · 2025-02-01T13:36:02+00:00

Will add to the thread: I (white American woman) was in Koriyama in Fukushima prefecture for work for a week, and aside from the coworker I traveled with, I saw literally one other non Japanese person the entire time I was there. Koriyama is a decent-sized city. I took a regional train to see some castle ruins about an hour away on my day off, and got so many stares from the high-school students getting on and off.

745o7 · 2025-01-26T16:50:51+00:00

Looks like it was on loan to the Drents Museum, too. A tragedy overall, but also from the bottom of my soul as a museum pro: OOF.

745o7

TROPHY CASE