The Melting World – Page 15 – daily life/art/culture/justice and how they merge, clash, & play inside my northern state of mind (set in Hokkaido and Minnesota)

…and another thing

As most of you know, and others will soon find out, I am equipped with a highly developed serial obsessive compulsive personality–which means I am “into things” (quote from the sweet movie “Jump Tomorrow,” but I hope not in the same pathetic way…).

I am just constantly studying, reading and dreaming about a few chosen subjects intensively before moving onto the next few chosen subjects. At one stage in the obsession, I always fantasize that this particular subject is going to carry me into my old age; for example, I once thought I would be making deep blue and green tile for people’s walkways, stairs, and bathtubs. I even apprenticed at Pewabic, a 100-year-old tile-making studio in Detroit.

That dream eventually faded (tho’ I must alert you that some dreams recur unpredictably), but I did meet my husband at a bus stop on my way to the studio one morning, so that led to another obsession (and that’s one that’s still going strong…!) That is another story to be told someday (if you haven’t heard it yet…ha-ha).

I wanted to tell you about my current subjects: 1) I am learning about the Ainu people of northen Japan and about their dying language. 2) I am also learning how to make scrollover image changes for a poem I hope to construct out of Ainu vocabulary (Huh? Please don’t ask, I am not sure yet either).

A few weeks ago I was obsessed with the rhetorical style of African American preachers and with immigrating to Canada.

Some may think I need professional help, but why rattle the fool’s cage if she is smiling?

A beginning…

Human beings contain more water than any other substance, probably due to our amphibian beginnings…this is a quick thought I just created to explain why I chose Watercarrier as my user name, but that isn’t actually the real reason.

I have written a poem called “Saltwater Carrier,” based on a character in a Japanese Noh play, which I hope to post later for you, and that might also be another sound reason for the choosing, but it is sadly not entirely an honest explanation either. It is partly true, though.

I am not exactly sure why I settled on the tag, but I am more than willing to analyse it for as long at interests me…and I am already getting tired.

Maybe the most compelling reason has to do with family history, or family tragedy, as others usually view it (and as I did, too, for many years, since self-pity–as most of us know–is really a rather enjoyable enterprise, until one finally gets tired of the indulgence and decides life is actually more pleasurable without it).

Zoom in, sharp focus: You see, my father and four of my siblings all drowned five days before I was born. This event shaped me as a human more than anything else. In this sense, the name was chosen for me, not by me. Such is the nature of names.