activity log: 20250802 - art in the summer heat
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Atmospheric Conditions
- Blazing hot summer day
- Even just slowly walking outside feels dangerous sometimes
- Temperature: 25 to 37 degrees
- Humidity: 60%
Activities
- Went to see an exhibition at a gallery
- Got the next shrine seal for my goshuin collection
- Got some cool stickers at a small printing shop and something new to read from my local secondhand book store
Thoughts
It’s too hot!
I was always one of those weirdos who kind of enjoyed Japanese summers, but the last few years have really been something else. I didn’t do anything physically demanding today … just a leisurely walk in the city. But I still felt that I had to be really careful to prevent heatstroke. It’s really getting too hot to be outside during July and August, and the thought that this summer is one of the cooler ones that I’m going to experience in my remaining lifetime is pretty unsettling.
The value of human art
The gallery exhibition (“Garden of Imagination” by Hiroki Tsujimoto) was small - as expected - but really nice. When I was there, I was the only visitor and was able to have a chat with the artist. I never know what to talk about in these situations, but it went OK this time. Also, when I talked to the cashier in the printing shop that I went to next, it turned out that she was the artist behind the sticker motifs. I’m not exactly a chatty person, but it felt good to talk to these artists directly. Without the “human connection”, the works would be so much less. I ended up buying a small collection of illustrations, postcards and stickers. These things were arguably a bit expensive for what they are - but I thought it was worth it. Supporting real, human artists is more important than it has probably ever been.
Keyboard choices
I’m still thinking about what kind of keyboard I want to get. The one that I prefer from a design standpoint only comes in a Windows configuration, and also has a US layout. Of course I should be able to re-map the keys so that it works with my Japanese MacBook, but there’s also the option of just getting a keyboard that comes with a Japanese layout and a Mac configuration by default. It looks kind of bland though.
Listening to
- Onsegen Ensemble - Fear (genres: post-rock, psychedelic rock)
- ✷ Dream Forever in Glorious Stereo / Download Spirit (genres:indie, dream pop, shoegaze)
(Albums marked with ✷ are ones that I especially enjoyed)
Reading
- 銀河鉄道の夜 (Night on the Galactic Railway) - Kenji Miyazawa
- 懐かしい家 (The Nostalgic House) - Mariko Koike
Photo documentation
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