From Below

I love ferris wheels...as long as I don't have to get on it!

This is the ferris wheel at Seibu-en Amusement Park. It was a cloudy day but there were still people riding it. Must of been quite a view.

Maybe I'll try the ride again sometime...or not! We'll see!

Summer Memories

Remember the feeling you get when school was finally out and you had the whole summer ahead of you?

Growing up in Michigan, we'd have really great hot summers. And when my friends and I weren't having adventures in the woods, gossiping about boys in the tree house, or cooling off in the sprinklers...sometimes we would play hand clapping games.

I bet you remember some of them!

Down down baby, down by the roller coaster
Sweet sweet baby, never gonna let you go
Shimmy shimmy coca pop shimmy shimmy pow
Shimmy shimmy coco puff shimmy shimmy pow

Grandma grandma sick in bed,
she called the doctor and the doctor said:

Let's get the rhythm of the head, Ding Dong! (move head left & right)
Let's get the rhythm of the head, Ding Dong! (move head left & right)

Let's get the rhythm of the hands! (clap, clap)
Let's get the rhythm of the hands! (clap, clap)

Let's get the rhythm of the feet! (stomp, stomp)
Let's get the rhythm of the feet! (stomp, stomp)

Let's get the rhythm of the hot dog! (rotate hips)
Let's get the rhythm of the hot dog! (rotate hips)

Put it all together and what do you get
(Ding Dong! Clap clap! Stomp stomp! Rotate hips)
Put it all backwards and what do you get
(Rotate hips! Stomp stomp! Clap clap! Ding Dong!)

This sunflower somehow reminds me of those summers.

Bright Colors

The theme for this month is 'Bright Colors' so I got a photo of these colorful covers.

Every year, since 1976, Shincho Bunko, a Japanese publishing company, chooses 100 books at the start of summer as a special campaign. I guess it's one way to recommend books to the readers.

From the 100, 10 books were chosen for the Special Cover Edition. Apparently 'Special' means 'unbelievably colorful.'

Here is the list of books for this year:
'Kokoro' by Soseki Natsume (white)
'Natsu No Niwa' by Kazumi Yumoto (green)
'Kinkakuji' by Yukio Mishima (gold)
'Edogawa Rampo Kessaku Sen' by Ranpo Edogawa (black)
'Rashomon - Hana' by Ryunosuke Akutagawa (orange)
'Roujin To Umi (The Old Man and the Sea)' by Ernest Hemingway (yellow)
'Ningen Shikkaku' by Osamu Dazai (pink)
'Kitchen' by Banana Yoshimoto (red)
'Yukiguni' by Yasunari Kawabata (white)
'Hashi Monogatari' by Shuhei Fujisawa (blue)


I've actually only read the two books in the photo above, 'The Old Man and the Sea' and 'Ningen Shikkaku.' Of these two, I'd have to say I like Hemingway much better than Dazai, who I think is a 'triple D' writer...deep, dark, and depressing.

Have you read any of them?

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