April 20, 2006 Archives

Murakami's On seeing the 100% perfect girl one beautiful april morning is candy for idealists (and another sappy love song for anyone else). It's exactly like Miss Saeki and the dead boy in Kafka on the Shore, and Naoko and that other dead boy in Norwegian Wood. I guess that to be perfect, it had to be tragic; and b/c it was so perfect, it became a tragedy (the good old celestial order theory); which makes Murakami a God for idealistic people. The protagonists of 'On seeing the 100% perfect girl' lost memory of each other (as fictionalized in the fiction); and both Miss Saeki and Naoko lost their minds and died, while their former boyfriends had become reincarnated memories, or worn by the narrator (who was the best friend of the boyfriend, and who always had a crush on Naoko - eventually acting on it, provoking the chain of events that is the story, or part of it, b/c the part with Midori is really really the pop sweet). Anyways, why do I suddenly see some connection with that novel yesterday? :\

Edit: And I also found out that the New Yorker in fact regularly publishes some Murakami in its pages (Google). The Folklore of our Times relates to current discussion.

As we do renovations on the second floor of our house, it was uncovered that the conduit (going towards my room) for heating was semi-detached. Which explains why when comes the great winter cold, I get the impression that I am freezing my ass off every single morning for as long as I've existed (a deadly combination with the winds blowing on my side, the sun *not* -and never would- shining from the north).

We're done destroying walls that needed to be destroyed. Breaking the tiles (with a pike-like weapon) in my parents' bathroom is the most rewarding thing ever. Now we're in the process of reconstructing. Our new bathroom is still at the skeleton stage, but should be ready by Monday or Tuesday. Cannot wait to have at least that done; we've been affected in our daily routine and everything.