[Raw Juice Daily Log] On a road bike for the first time in a while: Saturday, November 9, 2024
Sunny, then cloudy. It's steadily getting cooler—or rather, cold.
My son has Saturday classes.
In the morning, after returning books to the library, I went to Title. I bought Tamaki Saito's "If the World Were a Saturday Dream," which I had ordered, and Eric Hoffer's "Working and Thinking on the Waterfront," which I had been curious about.
When I checked LINE inside the shop, I saw a message from T saying he was suddenly heading to Title by bike and asked if we could meet if I was free. He's a man of action. Unfortunately, I have plans in the afternoon, so I had to give up on meeting today.
After lunch, I headed to Takaido. At the Environmental Activity Promotion Center, there was a lecture on green infrastructure by Special Professor Shimatani from the Prefectural University of Kumamoto.
I hopped on my road bike for the first time in a while to head to the venue. Takaido is just a short ride away.
I was surprised that the age group of the lecture participants was higher than I imagined. I want young people and middle-aged people to take more interest. I think it's because they lack "leisure." When that happens, their consciousness inevitably closes off to work and family, and they don't turn their interest toward the "world outside." We need "margin" in our daily lives.
I'm making dinner, so I gave up on the drinking party after the event. I hopped back on my bike for the ride home. The wind is a bit cold, but my body is warm. Road biking feels great. The bike feels like a part of my body. It makes me want to ride far away.
On the way home, I stopped by Title again and bought three more books, including one I was hesitant about buying in the morning.
WIRED Vol. 54 "The Regenerative City," Shin-ichi Fukuoka's "The Flow of the River is Dynamic Equilibrium," and Shinpei Aoki/Miako Aoki's "Library on the Other Shore." Still, the scent of coffee inside Title is so soothing...
Dinner is curry. An iron frying pan doesn't stick and is very useful for everything.
While I was cooking, T sent me a photo of the books he got during his Title pilgrimage today. Two books: Inuhiko Yomota's "Modern Korean History Seen Through Korean Cinema" and Naoya Chikahiro's "The Job Called Dogenbozu." A nice choice, typical of him. "Dogenbozu" is a ramen shop in Shin-Nakano. The owner writes about his theory of "work." The obi has the following description.
"People keep telling me, 'A ramen shop should just make ramen,' but
a ramen shop making ramen is just a task, a task.
Raising your voice against discrimination, massacres, and war is an 'adult's job,'
and most of the residents of this country are slacking off on their adult jobs."
Exactly. Don't slack off on that.
Title owner Mr. Tsujiyama has set up a bookstore in the middle of Tokyo, and in this way, he is connecting humanistic knowledge between people.
What on earth can I do? In the city of Tokyo, in this land, what can I do? Work, labor, and beyond. I always think about it.
Oh man, and now I want to eat ramen. Even though I'm making curry.
At night, Shogo Kouchi's "Life Reading Proust," which I had ordered on Mercari, also arrived. Well, I'll stop hoarding for now and get down to reading.