a quiet Thanksgiving

We had a nice turkey day here at the Zen Center -- without the turkey. I helped prepare the afternoon feast of vegetables, casseroles, and pies, then skated off to join friends at McCormick & Kulettos for meatier fare, avec oysters and martinis, and fabulous bay views. Walking through the quiet streets of SF was a real treat. No holiday travelling! Yay!

Let's see. What's new? My roommate is new. Here are a few thoughts about Hiroko.

She walks loudly, taking short, stamping steps that make it real easy to tell when she's coming down the hall. She has a high, breathless voice, which, combined with her spotty enunciation (she is Japanese) and her tendency to be out of breath to begin with (apparently the stamping really takes it out of her), she is often hard to understand. Fortunately, she's usually apologizing, which narrows things down. Then I just have to figure out what for.

A few times it's been easy. Like when she came in at 11:30 at night and hung up her wet socks to dry, which then dripped rhythmically onto the carpet. I might not have noticed had I been asleep, but I woke up when she turned on the overheat light at full blast. She apologized for that. If I wake her up in the afternoon, she apologizes for having been asleep. Mostly, though, she just stares at me bug-eyed, and apologizes for not having cleaned her half of the room. I have no idea why this is a repeat conversation: I have never asked her to clean the room, though she has certainly witnessed me cleaning my side, which I do fairly regularly. Frankly, though, she doesn't actually own much: a couple toiletries, a small statue, a computer, a fold-out twin futon, and a cardboard box. I did learn she keeps dirty dishes in a garbage bag in her closet. So there's that mystery, solved.

Before ZC, Hiroko lived in New York. She left Japan, I'm told, because she felt she had nothing in common with Japanese people. Tough luck! I can't imagine not finding my place within my culture, or trying to carve a niche in someone elses. Happily, there's room for everyone here in SFZC.

I've been reading up a storm, 2-3 books a week. Like:
1. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Hadden (loved it; can't believe I hadn't heard of him. Where have I been?)
2. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro (loved it. Super haunting and disturbing psychological portrait of human veal cows)
3. The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman (they're making His Dark Materials into a film trilogy; good for 13-year-olds)
4. Idoru by William Gibson (ok; compelling in a jumbly sci-fi way)
5. Empire Falls by Richard Russo (fab; intimidating. I loved it. I guess the Pulitzer people know what they're doing, after all.)
6. Durable Goods (ok, suitable for the under-18 crowd)