Books
Haruki Murakami is a prolific writer of magical realism – which is not generally my thing. However, that did not stop me from devouring Norwegian Wood and The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles. Both were fantastic and included a myriad of musical references (Murakami owned a jazz club in Japan, so the soundtracks are an integral part of each story). I loved them so much, I picked up two more of his works. Underground is a monumental collection of interviews with the victims of the Tokyo Subway sarin gas attack and with the associates of those who perpetrated the crime. After the Quake is a moving collection of short stories that provide a glimpse into life after the devastating earthquake that shook Tokyo. Both calamities occurred in 1995. The translators were fantastic and I annotated all over the place. Here are selected quotations…
“If you only read what everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking.”
“Despite your best efforts, people are going to be hurt when it’s time for them to be hurt. Life is like that…You try too hard to make life fit into your way of doing things.”
“Don’t tell me anymore…if you put those feelings into words they will turn into lies.”
“The whole terrible fight occurred in the area of the imagination. That is the precise location of our battlefield. It is there that we experience our victories and our defeats.”
Bonus Book: I revisited Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower and wrote about it here.
Beats
Violá! Barbara Praví’s voice embodies the lyrics, “Please look at me before I hate every part of me.” Gutting
Barbells
I like lifting. Especially when it’s cold outside. With a couple of kettlebells I can get a full body workout in the comfort of my apartment in 20 minutes. It’s amazing. And since a picture is worth 1,000 words, I happily share my favorite KB choreography.
Peace and love,
Kit
Find the balance. 