Ikebana

I had the height of arrogance, believing that the Ikebana school could teach me nothing and I was wrong. The mathematics of it surprised me, and the Master, Fukuchi, made small but impeccable changes to my arrangements, making all the difference. Theres a bit of butchery involved, discriminately cutting up the plant life, while at the same time trying to emphasise the true nature of the plant's form. Subject and object. It was all ladies, and I felt very ladylike, geisha classes next week!
The typhoon didn't amount to much in our area, it fully poured last night and blew big winds, but had died out before it got here.
The fear mongering on tv was as good as it gets, and there were shots of every broken window, tree down and water levels rising. The reporters all had safety helmets on. In town, some trains were affected, and for the first time I saw disgruntled passengers, put out by the delays. Also some very harried station staff.
Yesterday we were talking about the Japanese sense of space, and one guy reckoned the Japanese ideology was making space for everyone, whereas Westerners like their own individual space. I have been elbowed a few times, needlessly, and it feels so wrong, such an invasion of my person. Today a woman passing me on the escalator was really sharp, and it put me offside immediately. Akin to getting a smack when you are a kid, for failing to stand aside. I am really trying to be cool about it, but I want to beat something up!
The women on tv are very submissive, and girly. The men run the show, and sometimes the chicks never say a thing, they just tag along, smiling and bowing. In the museum yesterday, a few women were represented, a Pipolotti Rist and a couple of other women. Pipolotti's work was cool, no sublimation, but there was other work by women, all effeminate nudes and then there were men's works about women, in bondage gear and sexily dressed, chained to a toilet, curled in a ball in a bowl! Seriously. What are these messages they are sending out about women?
Fuck!
It makes me angry. I read about men all the time, their power and achievements. The tide has not changed.