Likes

Lists of things one finds pleasing are a long literary tradition in Japan and elsewhere. For one of the earliest examples, see Sei Shonagon’s Heian period classic Makura no Soushi (The Pillow Book).

I like kitsch (grotesquely cute/cutely grotesque), Kabuki, minimalism, cats, Kannon-sama, candles, natural light, black, green, wine, summer, Ankoku butoh, Takigi Noh, wooden needles, Noro Silk Garden, soysilk, old people, Ge-ge-ge no Kitaro (Misaki), being in a huge crowd, being alone, Yasujiro Ozu films (Ohayo, Tokyo Monogatari) coriander, lemongrass, cool jazz, talking books, the smell of fresh tatami, gothic novels, the Genroku Period, podcasts (knitting, news, fiction), natto, temple incense . . .

I like these quotes:

We might knit that knot with our tongues that we shall never undo with our teeth. ~John Lyly (Note: I LOVE this quote; it manages to be wise and kinda hot all at the same time!) 

The screaming fact that sounds through all history: repression serves only to strengthen and knit the repressed. ~John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath (Chapter 19)

and lots more. I’ll add them as i think of them . . .