Whisper of the Heart

Alright this has taken over Princess Mononoke as my new favourite Ghibli movie.

The power of a fictional piece can be measured by its ability to suspend disbelief; I was not a jaded cat for the duration of this movie. Man this was so wholesome and encouraging to watch. Makes the emptiness after watching it so much more awful in contrast 😂 Does not help that the characters were graduating middle school.

The topography of the town reminds me of Bath, or rather it's the only hilly place I've lived. Definitely feels relatable when I see her run up and down the steep slopes. 

The color scheme of the movie is nice too. 

...

I've also watched Jiang Ziya and Weathering With You since Mangadex has been down for upgrading. I enjoyed the visuals and sounds of Jiang Ziya a lot, plot and characters are fairly standard. Did not feel much for Weathering With You, like it's good but not like the magic of 5cm. Feels similar to Your Name. 

Braiding Sweetgrass

Apparently still 1 book behind schedule according to Goodreads "orz

This book is about the native american...culture? worldview? milieu? especially with regards to ecology. My understanding is that it is essentially a view go gratitude and reciprocity, and each chapter of the book repeats the same message in a different context (maple trees, salmon, fur trapping, etc). Not the most thrilling read but effective at getting the message to stick. 

I like the idea about being native to the land:

For all of us, being indigenous to a place means living as if your children’s future mattered, to take care of the land as if our lives, both material and spiritual, depended on it.

pine

I've been looking at some variation of Margiela's tabi boots for years now. It's not that I even particularly like how they look because I'm a die-hard pointed toe fan. Rather I want a pair primarily for the association with my first (and sadly only) trip to Kyoto and having to pair a pair of tabi socks at the first kyotographie exhibit I went to as it was held in a temple (that is normally not open to visitors) and I was wearing sandals with bare feet. But also because I've watched enough BlissFoster videos to appreciate Margiela's design philosophy. 

So today I found out that they have a sock boot version!! Which is far more aligned with my preferred silhouette. But it only comes in black or nude 😭 I hope enough people buy these that they'll release this style again next season but in white. 

Zobra the Greek

A lot of times, when I finally get around to reading a book that's on my to-read list, I no longer remember what initially drew my attention to the book. Usually it's a good thing as it diversifies my readings. 

I'm gonna guess I found Zobra through one of the existentialism books I read, since this is chiefly a philosophical book. It is beautifully written and translated, and I'm more and more appreciating the challenge of a good translation. 

The clay of the human soul is entirely unworked, unsculptured, it’s feelings still crude and boorish, unable to divine anything with clarity or certainty.

I was happy: I knew I was happy. We sense happiness with difficulty while experiencing it. Only when it has passed and we look back do we suddenly comprehend, sometimes with astonishment, how happy we have been.

Time has acquired a new taste in Zobra’s presence. It was no longer a mathematical succession of events; nor was it an unsolved problem inside me. It was warm, finely sifted sand that I felt tenderly passing through my fingers, tickling them.

I stretched out on my bed, extinguished the lamp, and began once again to transpose reality according to my loathsome, inhumane practice, removing its blood, flesh, and bones in order to reduce it to abstract ideas and to connect it with the most general of laws until I emerged with the horrible conclusion that what had happened was justified - that it was included in the universal schedule of events in a way that enriched the world’s harmony. Thus I finally arrived that the atrocious consolation that what happened was not only justified but was also necessary and proper.

poplar

It turns out that I did save a quotation from Strange Weather in Tokyo. It's (part of?) a poem that matches the mood of loneliness sometimes depicted in the story.

Epik High is Here 上

I finally got around to listening to Epik High's newest album few weeks ago. Was putting it off cause I had sky high expectations from loving the previous album too much, and luckily this album did live up to these expectations. It's sooooo good. Right now "Lesson Zero" and "End of the World" are my favs, but that'll probably rotate through the songs.