Kotobuki Saturdays

I've been slowly adding bubble wrap to my windows as an attempt to insulate the apartment. I was hesitant to wrap the kitchen window because that's the easiest window to peek out of if I need to see outside, but it's really cold in this apartment so I'd finally convinced myself just to do it. After all, my apartment isn't so big that I can't poke my head out the door to check on the weather if I need to. Then this morning I was about to wrap it when I thought I'd take one more peek...and I saw we were in the middle of a blizzard. I had no idea! Needless to say, now again I'm taking a few more hours to decide whether to wrap it or not. It's nice to have the privacy of translucent windows, but you miss a lot of the world.

I'm having another typical Saturday. Wake up when I feel like. Drink coffee and tea all morning. Jump back and forth between researching random things on the internet and housekeeping. Usually, halfway through the morning I get the urge to cook something special.

Today's themes were Lady Gaga and bruschetta.

This week's Lady Gaga came about because I stumbled across some video footage of her pre-visual-arts-gaga, which made her so multi-dimensional that I wanted a full picture of her in my head. It was a pretty fascinating topic. While she has a lot of superficial appeal as a pop star, she's also quite the artist. Even her biggest shock-driven stunts have a lot of meaning and she's completely serious about them. There's none of that Paris Hilton "that's hot," rationale or that Marilyn Mason, "look at me, bitches!" desperation. I respect her a lot for her ability to put on a new face without losing herself. I respect her even more for being able to do it without anyone even questioning her image. Her entire career is one big gallery about what fame does to people, and the strange thing is, it's all entirely intentional. She constantly makes statements about the fame monster without actually becoming it. Her concept is so simple that it's brilliant. For crying out loud, she has CDs called The Fame and The Fame Monster! I should have figured it out sooner. Artist is the best word for what she does.

It really gets me thinking about Japan and their Visual-Kei pop stars like Malice Mizer. I should look into them more. I don't know much about that subculture except the eccentric costumes and backstories, but it seems to be the same idea. You also look at the harajuku girls, the gyaaru, the maids, and the ganguro fashion subcultures in Japan and it becomes very clear that something bigger is happening other than a bunch of kids that like dressing up. There's something in all people that's screaming to get out and do something big. It creates a lot of food for thought when you think about how this manifests itself in a culture that's as group-oriented (and group-subjugated) as Japan.

Anyway, my morning. The bruschetta was made from the random things I had in my grocery-deprived fridge. Fortunately a bunch of eggplant and tomato was all I had. It turned out pretty well, especially with all the spices I've been snatching up whenever they go on sale at the store, so it was a nice treat. And now my apartment smells awesome!

I do feel a little bad that I always hermit myself for a day or two on the weekends. Especially when I hear my upstairs neighbor cleaning from 8 AM til noon every Saturday morning. I should really have that kind of discipline. Maybe she'll end up inspiring me.

The good part about living alone is that you don't have to do dishes right away if you don't feel like it. The bad part about living alone is that you don't have to do dishes right away if you don't feel like it. Freedom can be your enemy.