funny spellings, letter writing and politics from Shibuya

Just got this off an online chat. Hint: sit back and read this quickly; it's easier.

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The Amazing Human Mind.

I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdgnieg The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid Aodccrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dnsoe't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the hmuan mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azmanig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuoht slpeling was ipmorantt

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So why bother trying to learn how to spell? Especially as we know that one doesn't need to be able to spell to make it into the White House, right Dan Q.? But yesterday I had to make use of all the spelling prowess I could muster to try to help get current leadership out of the White House...

Last night I trotted off to The Pink Cow (www.thepinkcow.com), a bar restaurant in Central Tokyo to meet with DemocratsAbroad to watch the 3rd and final presidential debate. Arriving an hour earlier than showtime, I ended up hand writing five letters to five women in Pittsburgh encouraging them to get out and vote--apparently, as part of a Democratic campaign, these women are registered Democrats but hadn't voted in the past few elections, thus, the objective was to remind them that their vote DOES COUNT!! While a few of us were sitting there scribbling away, one guy said, "Hey, where's the send button?!"...meanwhile, all I could think was, "Where is the spell check?!" My hand started to cramp in the middle of the second letter--wow, I used to write pages and pages when I was in college!!

We were given a model letter but encouraged to adapt it to ourselves and explain a little more why we felt moved to write. It made me think. After all, wouldn't it be a bit odd to receive a letter in the mail with a postage stamp from Japan from someone you'd never heard of asking you to vote? I decided to open with, "Dear ________________, I hope you don't think it is too crazy to be receiving a letter from a fellow American asking you to vote--especially from as far away as Japan." I went on to mention the fact that with a sister and brother-in-law teaching in the public school system, I am as concerned about the effects of policies in the communities at home, as I am about the effects of America's current foreign policies. It was a great chance for me to clarify--not only for the women whom I was writing to--but for myself as well, what precisely is important to me and why I feel the need to become more active in my political outlook. While I didn't put this in the letters, I can sum up my feelings in one sentence:

We are not voting for just the President of The United States of America; we are voting for the Leader of the World.

Think about it; we are the richest, the strongest, the most powerful nation in the world. Decisions made by our leaders can break other countries economies as easily as they can make them, yet no one else has the power to do the same to us. We are in such a position of power that the only moral thing to do is to accept this responsibility and all the implications that come with it. Therefore, we must have a leader who can bring the world closer together; not deepen the fractures that isolate and damage us all. We can't afford to be ethnocentric anymore...that's what's got us in the trouble in the first place! Planting Americanism all over the world is NOT FREEDOM!! It is Americanization. We need a President who KNOWS the difference and can find a way to protect the difference.

It's a Small World after all....(hey, wasn't Walt Disney a Republican?!).

Have I mentioned before that there are 6 million U.S. expats? Apparently, that would make us the 6th largest state (we could call it Abroadicana and ourselves, Abroadicans).

Earlier this month on the UK-based Virgin radio station, the DJs were talking about the upcoming US elections and started asking that if you were an American voter who wasn't planning to vote, would you PLEASE send them your absentee ballot so they could vote for you (in return, they promised Virgin mugs and t-shirts!!)...do you ever wonder what would happen if the vote was opened up to the world?!?

But perhaps something more useful to think about is an interview with George Lakoff, author of Moral Politics, How Liberals and Conservatives Think. A very unique and in depth look at the psychology and core values behind the leading philosophies that make up our nation.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4105213

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I just want to wrap up with the strange personal fact that it took me to come to Japan to learn to appreciate jazz music, Los Angeles and become a Democrat. Go figure.

In memorandum

a friend
with whom
I could
disagree with,
even fight with,
and
make up with
within
the hour
because
he was
too old
too wise
to let
words
stop
the hug
goodbye.

with affectionation and respect,
and a hug and kiss,
I'll miss you Chuck.

Words, Realities and Haiku

"...Basho [Haiku poet] was a past master in not 'putting words between the truth and ourselves'." Harold E. Henderson

For a person with a deep inner world, words--man made symbols--perhaps words are stairs from which to climb out of the deep vast inner chambers in the mind in which to find and meet others. Words aren't the point; they are the vehicle from which to move out of the caverns, connect with others and find a truth in life outside yourself.

But for those with wide outer worlds, perhaps these same symbols are anchors that hold them close enough to earth so they don't float away or fly too high. For these people, words are evidence that they share something with humanity, that they belong to something, someone.

Many philosophical friends of mine believe true reality and communication is beyond language...is it? I've yet, as an adult, to find a stable reality that needs no language. As for the language of Love...perhaps we created language in the first place (after Rock, Fire, Water, of course!) to negotiate our way into a more stable Love.

Hummm. We've done a crappy job though, haven't we?

But I digress...back to Basho, 17 century Japanese Haikai/Haiku poet, often considered the "father" of the Haiku....close your eyes, take a deep breath, clear your mind...and read with your senses wide open....

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Bush clover in blossom waves
Without spilling
A drop of dew

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The Rose of Sharon
By the roadside,
Was eaten by the horse

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Shake, oh grave!
The autumn wind
Is the voice of my wailing

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From Haiku poet, Issa...

O snail,
climb Mt. Fuji,
but slowly, slowly!

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The feeble plant
at last
has a wobbly flower.

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And a lovely one by Buson...

A butterfly,
asleep, perched upon
the temple bell

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For a top ten list of Japanese Haiku poets (can be read in Japanese, French or English): http://www.big.or.jp/~loupe/links/ehisto/eavant.shtml

"If you cannot understand my silence, you cannot understand my words."