from Ban Obara #15 – Wednesday, December 27
I am writing this while listening to Miran’s new album “WATASHIBOSHI” at Royal Host. It’s a tremendous thing to have an album completed, isn’t it? Congratulations! I’m sure you worked very hard.
There are many songs I like, but for example, I really like the lyrics of “My Heart”: “I want to be healthy, that’s all, so I’m going home early today. Miran’s songs have a relaxed, carefree feel to them that makes me very happy when I listen to them. It’s the kind of feeling that makes me want to sit on a bench and lean on someone’s shoulder and listen to it, rather than walking. When I listened to the songs like “Umi ni naru”, which is like a dramatic big sunset, my heart was more tender than when I listened to the single cut. Albums are amazing. Miran-chan herself.
Do you remember about a year ago when we talked about whether or not there is a relationship between creativity and actual experience? I’m the type of person who thinks there is a relationship, but Miran-chan clearly and unequivocally said that there is no relationship between her creations and her actual experiences, and I was listening to her while thinking that she must have some kind of conviction or belief in her creations. I was listening to him, thinking that he must have some kind of conviction or belief in what he was saying. Is it because I am like Miran-chan, so I think so on my own? It’s a strange feeling.
from Miran #16 – Wednesday, January 3
At the end of the year, I sat by the window of the Shinkansen bullet train going back to my parents’ house and started to write my diary, but I arrived at Shin-Osaka in a blink of an eye, seeing many factories I knew in an unknown place. I arrived at Shin-Osaka in the blink of an eye, and ended up not being able to write. So, Happy New Year!
How are you spending your New Year’s Day?
I went to a hot spring. While I was scrubbing my body, an earthquake hit! It’s shaking! I felt a sense of “New Year” as I watched the nakedness of the people who were shouting in a high-pitched voice, “It’s shaking!
The TV was showing the disaster area all the time, and social networking sites were overflowing with emotion. Before my head and heart were sucked into the screen, I replaced the strings on the acoustic guitar I had left at my parents’ house and sang a song. The song was totally unrelated, which is good. Singing is good because you can be loudest when you have nothing to do with it.
When you can’t hold so many feelings, it would be nice to sing a song and let them fly far away, beautifully and as far as possible. I thought about that again.
I don’t think I’ve been able to respond to the strange feelings you had when you listened to my album, but this is what I am convinced of now. Thank you for always listening to me. I look forward to working with you again this year.
from OBARA TAN #16 – Monday, January 8
There has been so much going on since New Year’s, and when I see the news or social networking sites, I get nervous, so I just donate money, turn away from all the screens, read books and magazines, have no opinion on anything, don’t try to get enough information to have an opinion, and choose to just spend my time. The bean sprouts growing in my room are thriving, but I caught a cold and was in bed for three days with a runny nose.
I am writing this exchange diary without having contacted the person I said I would contact again at the beginning of the year, and without having submitted the manuscript I said I would submit at the beginning of the year.
Thank you again for your support this year.
Around the end of the year, I bought a set of things necessary for hand-drip coffee (is this the right word?), so I’ve been trying to hand-drip coffee every morning, but I don’t know why, it tastes so bad. I like the process of making coffee and the aroma so much that I’ve managed to keep at it, but I can never get it to taste good. When I tried it on my girlfriend and my friend Y, my girlfriend said it was too bitter, and Y said it was very sour, which made me very uncomfortable. Coffee is very bitter. Maybe it is not the beans, but my skill. If you know of any good coffee beans, I would be happy to hear about them.
My resolution for this year is to “shrink away from desperation. Up until now, whether something has happened or not, I have been desperate, drinking a lot of alcohol, eating a lot of fried food, crying, giving up, swearing, etc. This year, I want to stop doing that. I want to be a nice person.
