Since my dog died, I think I've been more aware of the frailty of life on this planet.
Not just human and animal life, either, but plant life too. The day before my old girl died, my rose bush burst into furious blooming, and hasn't stopped yet. Normally, I'll get maybe 12 roses at most all year from the rose bush, but I must have had at least 30 in the last month. And yet, yesterday, when I happened to look at the bush, I noticed only one or two roses on it, when it's been covered in them for weeks now.
And when I was standing in my back yard yesterday, I happened to look up and see a sign writer. He was busy writing "NO DAM" across the sky, but by the time he got to the M in DAM, the NO had almost vanished.
Perhaps I am just more aware now of the life teeming around me on this beautiful planet that we call home, or maybe I just finally opened my eyes again after a long sleep.
Recently, mostly because my boyfriend is seriously into it, I have been discovering the wonders of Japanese Anime. My experiences of this genre previously had been Akira, Neon Genesis Evangeleon, and the old tv show "The Yearling". I loved that show as a kid, and I'd love to track it down on dvd now. But as I said, my boyfriend is into the anime thing, and has a rather nice little collection of dvds (though my collection seems to be growing too, courtesy of a friend of mine who keeps plying me with more) representing this fast growing genre.
The japanese have, apparently, been doing anime for simply ages. It's just that us westerners didn't necessarily know that. We tend to think, as Westerners, that if we didn't create it, it doesn't exist. I found a rather nice blog about that yesterday, that commented on the fact that Western films and tv shows all seem to have an annoying male kid at the centre, and all have intelligence levels of Barney, whereas the Japanese Anime stuff has normal people in it, decent intelligence levels, and a hell of a lot of quirkiness.
One of the series my boyfriend introduced me to involves a talking motorcycle and a girl who travels on it, around the world, only staying in one place for three days at the most. It's an unusual little series, and I'm sad to say I cannot remember the name of it just now, but it's worth watching.
Currently, though, we are attempting to watch all the Studio Ghibli films. I think the oddest one I have seen so far is "My Neighbour Totoro". It involves an 8 foot tall cat. 'Nuff said. :-)
Though Studio Ghibli films all have a lot to say for themselves. A lot of them have inner meanings, and messages. Some are just feel good type films. But most of them you do need to watch more than once. Without offering any offence at all, I think if it was possible to describe them this way, I would say that Studio Ghibli is Japan's answer to Disney, but with more intelligence and better characters.
Apart from that, what have I been up to? Hmm...let's see. I'm in the process of packing up my house for the elusive move that will happen one day, some day, down the track. It also gives me a damn good excuse to stop being lazy and get off my bum and be ruthless and chuck a heap of stuff I've been holding on to for years, that I don't need anymore.
I'm also playing with languages. More for something to do than for any other reason. I've always loved languages. I find them interesting. I get excited at the idea that I can read and write in another language. It's like opening that secret door that always seems to exist in computer games, and finding a whole new level (or world) out there to investigate. But then, I guess I also have a passion for learning in general, as I am discovering. The amount of lecture notes I still have is truly frightening!
Anyway, the day is sunny, and I have things to do.
