Hope you had a joyful fourth Sunday of Advent! Christmas is almost there and it’s still white outside!

I got such a cute cookie/biscuit cutter from my Godmother: an elk! I just had to make gingerbread elks.

Very swedish

I also made some gingerbread rocking horses as Christmas tree decoration. This one’s for a friend and I decorated it with marzipan.

But what took me really long were two My Neighbor Totoro cookies that I made for a cookie baking contest.

The contest’s requirements were that the cookies should have any relation to Japan and be cute – Totoro was perfect. I love them. One, I’ll save for myself and one gets a friend. Keep your fingers crossed for me to win something!

Today, we decorated store-bought (Ikea, more precisely) gingerbread hearts and the other rocking horses with sugar icing for our Christmas tree. We buy the hearts because they stay dry longer, normal gingerbreads become soft and fall from the tree.

So this weekend was all gingerbread-y. Only four days until Christmas is there – are you as excited as I am?

Well, as I mentioned in my last post, I have forayed into the world of fair isle.  Strictly speaking it is in fact intarsia, because there are a lot of  rows where one color is knit for more than  stitches. Nevertheless, behold the cuteness that is the Norwegian Totoro Mitten (only in Ravelry):

I apologize for the camera phone quality, but it was all I had to hand.  I found the 3 needle bind off rather tricky, it was my first one. I also forgot to decrease the inside of the mitten at the same places as the outside, so they match up a little oddly, but no one would know unless they were really scrutinizing the mitten in great detail. MIL tried them on and found them a bit short, but after I rinsed and blocked this one, it’s fitting me well.

The gauge is a little tight perhaps,  but that’s my fault for knitting a practically worsted weight on sock needles. The white yarn is knit picks Pallette and the blue/green is Colinette Jitterbug ( my all time favorite yarn), so they aren’t really washable. But I love it. So, one down, one to go!

xoxo

Sazi: definitly equals totoro

Bia: hella for days

Tess: lover of all food

Sky: I really dont need to explain this…

Sophia Alexandra: I dont want to talk about it.

Petra: little apple baskets!

I can’t sleep. I haven’t slept in days.

I blame my insomnia on my stress level. Let’s discuss why!

So after I cleaned up and got Banky back in bed, he starts trying to get all up ons. Um, dude…I just cleaned the contents of your stomach off my bathroom floor, ARE YOU FOR FUCKING REAL?!

The neck kissing starts again. My fucking kryptonite. The High Life haze has settled in nicely…eh, what the fuck? At least the dude I slept with this Thanksgiving knew my real name. And I didn’t lose any scarves! Oh, another story dear readers, another time. Anyway, Banky decides that he needs to talk to me. And talk he does. He misses me. He loves my ass. His brother is jealous of my tits. He wishes he was five years younger or I was five years older. “Um, why?” “Think about it! We grew up practically next door to each other. We would have probably met and avoided all the bullshit and everything would have ended up the way it was supposed to.”

Totoro always says, drunken words are sober thoughts. Did this genius just admit he wishes that he’d met me a million years ago because that would lead to us being together? Oh, Banky…darlin’. You fucking idiot.

So of course, now I can’t sleep. Banky is snoring and totally wrapped around me like a fucking boa constrictor. And I’m thinking about the stupid shit he said. I’m in and out until 9:00am when Wifey calls and wakes me up out of my half sleep. I am hungover as hell and I want to die. I go get a big glass of water. Banky is up. I figure he’ll get dressed and leave, as per usual. Slight awkwardness usually occurs the morning after. No. I’m not that lucky. He wraps his arms around me and starts talking about wanting to snuggle and um, other things, all morning until he has to go to his parents. Dude. I AM HUNGOVER. I go back to sleep for a little bit. He’s got me in his arms and is holding my hand. I’m more puzzled than anything. He brings up the whole “Remember when you said we weren’t going to do this anymore?” conversation. I tell him things are different now. He asks if I’m going to get weird. I go in for the kill. “You know better than anyone that I don’t want a godamn boyfriend.” Idiot. We cuddle a little longer and he leaves.

I spend the rest of the day in bed with my sister, eating, shopping and more sleeping. Totoro and I head to the outlet malls around 11:30. She begged. And she bribed me. It wasn’t awful. We come home and get some sleep. Pops wakes us up early the next…afternoon. It was 11:00. I can’t say early. He takes us shopping and to get lunch. I develop a migraine and come home and sleep for awhile. Totoro and I end up staying up until 4:00am watching True Blood. She is hooked. Ha!

She and Pops leave Saturday morning and I am a bum the rest of the weekend. I only leave my bed to move to the couch and make two Borders runs. The rest of the time I am totally sucked into the Sookie Stackhouse universe. I can’t believe I have to wait until May for the next one. And June for the next season. I need to make friends with someone with HBO.

Anyway, I spent nearly three hours on the phone with Chi-town Saturday night and at least another hour and a half with Jami. I told them both everything and I got two different but very awesome opinions. I love those bitches. Chi and I have had some really good emails this week. I have an awesome idea for a present for her. I need to get on that shit. I have done like, zero shopping. Ugh. I am so over xmas already.

Long talk with Nola tonight. I miss her and I miss my city. If I get laid off, totally spending a few weeks there. Maybe not as long as I originally thought, but definitely a good two weeks. If Tulane happens…well…we’ll see.

Speaking of…my ass needs to start studying. Which means I need to not be tired. Which means…I need to go to bed.

I leave you with this. Because I can’t decide if I love or hate it. Someone tell me.

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving holiday!  As for me, I managed to eat way too much again.  With the holiday season here, I’m sure to gain 10 pounds by the new year. O_O  Aside from that, I truly have nothing to complain about because God has blessed me with so much.  Family, friends (including all of my cyber pals!), health, and happiness…what more could anyone ask for?

Today officially marks the beginning of Christmas bentos.  Paige’s bento consists of tonkatsu (breaded pork cutlet), hot rice in the Totoro thermal container, and a few fruits and veggies.  I made the ginger bread man out of bologna, kamaboko, and pepperoni for the cheeks.

… just because I think this scene is magic. And the entire film as well, of course.

I love that he has a lily pad on his head for rain protection.  And the cat bus! Don’t get me started….

Shit, ya’ll. SHIT.

I’ve been trying to write this for days and I just can’t. Couldn’t? Don’t want to.

I’m uneasy. I have this horrible unsettled feeling. In the past week I have read the entire Sookie Stackhouse series. The intensity turned up after Thanksgiving Eve. I was trying to distract myself. Now that I have devoured them all (books 5-9 just since Saturday) I have nothing to otherwise occupy my brain. So, guess we’d best start at the beginning.

Wednesday:

I had the most godawful day at work. I don’t know how I’m going to manage getting everything done in the time I have allotted. Goodbye 50 hour weeks, hello 60+. Don’t worry about studying for the GRE or applying to school, it’s cool. You’ll fit that in somewhere. *eye roll* Banky texts me. “Can I call you at 10:))?” “No, I just got called into a 10, what’s up”

He proceeds to call me and explain that his place is all packed up and the girl that may/may not have roofied me is over there painting since she’s moving in when he moves out next week. Long story short, Totoro and I can’t stay there if we come down to drink. FUUUUCK. Ok, whatever, I’ll figure it out. He’s being smart. After what happened with her the last time I saw him…and with my sister with me…yeah. Best to avoid THAT.

Totoro calls. She’s at the bar. At 12:45. Pops is running late to pick her up. I am slowly considering locking myself in my room all Thanksgiving Eve. We work out a vague plan. I make it through the rest of the day in sort of a haze. I get home and have a few golden moments of silence and alone time. I work out a plan that I think benefits everyone. Banky will come up this way and hang out with Totoro and I at the scary redneck bar and then he can stay at my place. It’s closer to his parent’s anyway. Everyone agrees. Let the debauchery begin.

I don’t know if I mentioned this or not, and I’m too lazy to check, but my father is bringing my sister. He is having dinner with us. I have never spent a holiday with both of my biological parents. They divorced when I was just over a year old. I have never known them together and that has never bothered me. Having both of them here? That bothered me.

We head out to the bar. Banky, my sister, my father, my mother and my mother’s fiance. Can you say, AWKWARD? We stop by our favorite local place my friend runs. He just opened a bar upstairs. We have a drink (some of us two) and then Mom and PW head home and Pops, Totoro, Banky and I head to the scariest bar in the world.

We start drinking High Lifes like our lives depend on it. Things settle down quickly. I throw some dollars at Banky and send him off to the jukebox. Totoro is easing up but she thinks his pants are too tight. Pops is just taking it all in. There is a lot to take in. Some other time, when I’m not as tired, I’ll explain the inside of this bar to ya’ll. We settle in after a few more beers and Banky’s twin comes in. Pops leaves. My twin and his twin. His may be an identical twin and an actual twin, but my baby sister and I are waaaay more telepathically connected. More friends show up. Things are definitely relaxed now.

The bar is famous for their Jager bombs. More like Jager atomic bombs. A good 3-4 shots of Jager in a frosted mug, topped with Red Bull. GAG. Totoro and Banky each get one and are now for sure friends. I sense impending doom, but ignore it.

Totoro is now sleepy and hungry and more than a little drunk. She demands Waffle House. So to Waffle House we head. Banky insists on getting his hashbrowns trainwrecked. The danger alarms are ringing louder now. There is no talking him out of it. I don’t even remember if I had hashbrowns. I guess I did. Not important. He tries to start shit with some English dude who sits down behind us. Totoro is whining…I’m done. We’re going home.

We get there and I get everyone settled in. Totoro passes out in her room and Banky climbs into bed with me. Naked. I ignore this. He starts trying to snuggle me and I’m fairly sure he’ll fall asleep soon. I kind of brush him off. Well he starts kissing on my neck. Damnit. I roll over and he bolts upright and says he thinks he’s going to be sick. He then runs out of my room (still naked) to the bathroom to throw up. I bolt right after him, boxers in hand. I walk in to fucking armageddon. There is Waffle House chili covering every inch of my bathroom.

As soon as the shock wears off, I can’t help myself. I start cracking up. It’s the middle of the night, I have a drunk, naked Banky standing in my bathroom trying to apologize and clean up vomit and I am about to follow suit. I start wildly spraying Febreze with the paper towels held up to my nose, alternating giggles and gags. I convince him to get dressed, find him a toothbrush and finish cleaning up. I had to walk out several times because I didn’t want to hurt his pride any more than it already had been, but COME ON. I had to laugh.

And that’s what I’m leaving you with tonight. I am way too tired to delve any further into this shitstorm. I need sleep to prepare for tomorrow’s mess. But it’s coming. Trust.

via

Totoro!  I loves it.  Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  Anyone going shopping tomorrow?  Cuz I am

Clothing budget be damned!! Tomorrow is going to be fun!

-E&I

¡¡Konnichiwa!!

Como no podía ser menos, este segundo episodio de La Hora Otaku se ha visto maldecido nuevamente por los problemas con los micrófonos de Ikzer, así que desde aquí os pedimos disculpas a todos por vuestras posibles lesiones auditivas (las facturas de los audífonos a Ikzer), el resto del podcast esta muy bien (y no es por que lo hayamos hecho nosotros xD) así que compensamos ^^, además ¡¡se estrena Misstechin como colaborata de lujo del podcast!!

Como siempre tenéis para elegir: podéis escuchar el podcast on-line:

Suscribiros al feed del podcast:

Aquí

O sincronizarlo con iTunes:

Aquí

Seguimos esperando algún correo electrónico a lahoraotaku@gmail.com con vuestro feedback, cosas que nos queráis comentar (y que leeremos en el siguiente episodio) o directamente un audiocorreo que pondremos encantadísmos!! ^^

¡¡Hasta el Miercoles que viene!!

Delicious looking plastic food with my neighbour Totoro.

Shit, and Croc’s handbags.

Otro de los pocos anuncios que salen hoy en día que valgan la pena. O, si más no, que consigan hacerte esbozar una sonrisa.

Se trata de Brother, un monstruo que convive con una familia. Cuanto más amor recibe, más crece!

Tratándose de monstruos así, a quién no le gustaría tener uno?

P.D: Me recuerda a un gran Totoro, pero en feo! Y al monstruo de Monstruos S.A, ahora que lo pienso.

Vocês viram que Totoro foi meu muso no Twitter esta semana, né? Eu e Jorge amamos Totoro e até nossa carteira é dele, pra vocês terem noção do nosso amor por Totoro. Pois é, irônicamente enquanto eu estava assistindo Totoro na sexta feira, eis que me surge isso:

Ai gente desculpa, mas achei meio tosca…

Yum.

I mentioned this in my first post, but I’m all about streaking into the unknown. Or so I say. Last night on my way back from a friend’s apartment I was terrified of tumbling down the steep, muddy shortcut to my room. I kind of inched down the hill on my butt to keep my center of gravity as close to the ground as possible. The way I explained it, I was imitating a kabuki show I watched when I was a kid – one about mushrooms that spring to life and wreak havoc. I inched downhill like a kabuki mushroom. I’m clearly a badass…
Anyway… I need material for stories to tell my grandkids when I’m 125, incontinent and subsisting on a low-cholesterol, high-fiber diet of prunes and celery. Assuming I live that long, of course. (Here’s hoping!) I’ll come up with a “things to do before I die” list eventually, but here’s one for starters:

21 Semi-Whacked Out Things to Do Before I Turn 21

1. Try eating grubs. Mm, protein.
2. Read at an open mic night and conquer one of my worst fears
3. Visit a sex club in Amsterdam – you know, for the cultural experience

4. Go on a Buddhist retreat in Kyoto – meditate, eat bean curd, meditate.

Ryoanji Temple

5. Eat an entire durian – They’re called “The King of Fruits” and smell like ripe ass – so much so that many hotels and airlines in Southeast Asia forbid people from carrying them into their establishments. Perhaps I can try this recipe for durian chocolate cheesecake.

6. Donate 15+ inches of hair
7. Study abroad in Samoa

8. Save $5,000
9. Go on a walkabout in the Australian Outback

10. Spend the night at Wegmans

11. Attend a Twi-tard convention – try to gain some insight into the teenage female demographic’s lust for pasty, glittery vampires.
12. Bathe in a red wine hot spring again. At this Hakone resort you can also bathe in coffee, green tea and sake.

13. Swim in a fountain

...but probably not THIS fountain (Dillingham, Ithaca College)

14. Jump off a gorge (into water, not to my death)

15. Have a conversation with Pirate Man – so called because he dresses and styles his hair like Jack Sparrow. I watch his one-man tambourine/raving show whenever I’m in The Commons, but have never actually said anything to him.
16. Enjoy a beverage and jazz show at Village Vanguard
17. Spend a day at the Ghibli Museum – I heard that tickets sell out six months in advance, but I’ve wanted to go since I was a kid!

18. Shake it like a Bollywood star

19. Attend a service for a religious sect I’ve never heard of
20. Go on a train-trip (an eco-friendly version of a road trip)
21. Watch the sun rise from the summit of Mt Fuji

I wish I had enough skill and enough time on my hands to make Bento for my dinner everyday.
Bento? You say.. Well. Bento is a single-portion takeout or home-packed meal common in Japanese cuisine. A traditional bento consists of rice, fish or meat, and one or more pickled or cooked vegetables, usually in a box-shaped container.

But I am more interested in the cute ones!
So. Kyaraben or charaben, a shortened form of character bento, is a style of elaborately arranged bento which features food decorated to look like people, characters from popular media, animals, and plants. Japanese homemakers often spend time devising their families meals including their boxed lunches.

THANKS wikipedia

My favourite bento lady is AnnaTheRed

nom nom nom

Laitetaanpa tännekin myös nämä pari postaamatta jäänyttä Inspis-työtä, #80 Paperisuikaleista koottu ja #78 Ympyröitä, pilkkuja ja palloja. Paperisuikaleleiskasta tuli mieleinen (rrrrakastan tuota kuvaa peiton alla nukkuvasta Lotta-pennusta <3), Ghibli Museum -aiheisen ympyrätyön lopputulos taas ei ollut oikein sitä mitä toivoin…

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Ghibli-museosta olen joskus viime vuonna tehnyt kuvapainotteisen blogipostauksen, se löytyy täältä.

Pikku-totoron kuva on netistä, samoin kuin taustakartonkiin tulostetut pilvet ja ruohikko.

Sean says thank you to everyone for their birthday wishes yesterday!  I loved his uncontainable excitement as he was blew out candles and opened gifts.  My brother in law even commented how he missed that kind of pure, unadulterated joy that you have only as a kid.

We’ve been having some really nice cool and breezy weather.  Luckily, where I live we haven’t had much of the rain and flooding that other places have been experiencing.  When it get cool out like now, I try to send at least one warm thing for Paige’s lunch.  Today I packed Paige’s lunch in the Totoro Thermal lunch set that Mark picked up for me from J-list.  I packed her hot rice in the thermal container, then in the side containers I packed chicken katsu bites, tamago with spam bears, and some fruit and veggies.

So if you have made tamago before, you are just one step away from making one with hearts, bears, or whatever you so desire.  I just used a basic tamago recipe .  Spray the tamago pan with a nonstick spray, pour a thin layer of egg mixture in the pan, then cook on low until egg is just about set.  Roll the omelet over to the end of the pan, then push back to the other end.  Spray pan again if needed and pour another thin layer of egg mixture into the pan.  Let set and roll the omelet over to one end again, then push back over to the other side.  Spray pan once more (if needed) and place small cut outs of SPAM, or other meats, kamaboko, or even veggies- like cooked carrot cutouts.  Drizzle the rest of the egg mixture around and over the cutouts and cook until set.  Finally roll the omelet over and take off of heat.

Buena parte del incesante y creciente flujo de turistas que llega a Japón lo hace empujado por su pasión por el manga o el anime. Y si de anime se trata, no hay duda de que Hayao Miyazaki, el gran creador de joyas cinematográficas como Nausicaa y el valle del viento, Mi vecino Totoro o la oscarizada El viaje de Chihiro es el responsable primero de la propagación de la filia por el anime en todo occidente.

Escondido en una pequeña localidad a las afueras de la todopoderosa capital, el museo de los estudios dirigidos por el gran Miyazaki se acurruca entre la maleza y algunos jardines con su arquitectura fantástica coronada, a modo de King Kong, por el robot de una de sus mejores películas, El castillo de Laputa.

El museo, como tal, no tiene un recorrido prefijado, sino que sus limitadas dimensiones, divididas en diferentes estancias temáticas, se deja visitar libremente, sin más brújula que la que guía nuestra curiosidad. Desde habitaciones que recrean el estudio de trabajo del maestro, hasta otras dedicadas a sus últimas producciones, todas ellas ofrecen pistas claras sobre el proceso creativo de una obra de anime de la envergadura de los largometrajes de la Ghibli. Y sin duda es esta la mejor baza de un museo más coqueto que enorme, más humilde que pretencioso, más rendido al homenaje a la animación que al universo mágico de Ghibli. Muestras de escenas y de su elaborada composición, ejemplos palpables de técnicas de filmación de la animación, fotogramas por doquier y abundantes retazos de personajes, escenarios y momentos inolvidables, adornan cada rincón de los entresijos de una casa-museo deliberadamente desordenada, caótica y que fantasea con la imaginación desde sus escaleras espirales hasta los vitrales, desde los pomos de las puertas hasta las lámparas.

Unos pocos pasos en el interior del museo y un@ ya se encuentra totalmente imbuido de la magia y la ternura de la animación de Ghibli, muy en particular en su estancia más impactante, la más cercana a la entrada del mismo, que es todo un homenaje a la animación artesanal, mostrando didácticamente las bases de la misma y la mecánica esencial de un proceso complejo y ciertamente mágico. Aunque la magia, en realidad, está condensada en la instalación giratoria que, con centenares de reproducciones en miniatura de los personajes de Mi vecino Totoro en múltiples posturas ligeramente diferentes las unas de las otras, muestra de manera palpable y evidente la magia de la animación como un servidor jamás había visto. Cíclicamente, la instalación empieza a girar y con ella todos los muñequitos y cuando una luz estroboscópica empieza a tomar cartas en el asunto, los personajes súbitamente cobran vida correteando por el escenario mientras l@s asistentes no salen de su asombro, especialmente al detenerse de nuevo el mecanismo y comprobar, sin atisbo de duda, que aquello que se movía no eran más que pequeños muñecos inanimados de plástico repartidos por un decorado inicialmente estático e inmóvil. Sencillo pero efectivo, emocionante y ilusionante.

En otra estancia, una versión enorme del gato-bús de la misma película, de peluche, hace las delicias de l@s más pequeñ@s, que se encaraman a sus lomos afelpados mientras sus padres les observan con ganas reprimidas de subirse.

En la planta superior, una tienda convenientemente embutida de todo tipo de memorabilia remata las ilusiones de l@s visitantes, que se acaban llevando camisetas, fotogramas, tazas, juegos, imanes y postales de sus imaginarios preferidos.

Y como cúlmen de la visita, una sesión cinematográfica de una pieza corta inédita del maestro Miyazaki, de un catálogo amplio de cortos nunca xhibida o editada en DVD, que redondea la visita del más exigente de los fans.

Es, en definitiva, un museo que sabe jugar como nadie su gran baza, la fantasía acumulada de l@s asistentes, esa ternura reprimida con el paso de los años a la que las películas de Miyazaki tan hábilmente consigue despertar, cinta tras cinta, fantasía tras fantasía.

NOTA: El Museo Ghibli limita el número de visitas por día, con lo que un@ no puede presentarse en el museo y esperar que le dejen acceder. Cada primero de mes, el museo pone a la venta las entradas disponibles para el resto del mes y estas tan sólo pueden comprarse en algunas máquinas de vending que se encuentran en las tiendas “combini” de 24 horas. Si queréis comprarlas, pedid ayuda a algún dependiente, puesto que las instrucciones están completamente en japonés.

I love the film My Neighbour Totoro.

As assignments have started piling up with the semester nearing its end, I have started stress knitting, as always. This time around there is a strict theme to what I’m knitting, it is all Totoro related. First I tried to knit this Totoro hat, but I ran out of yarn at the very end. It was a yarn from my stash, that I had bought a long time ago and couldn’t get any more of.

After that failed, I made the mistake of typing Totoro into the pattern search in Ravelry. First I contemplated knitting these Totoro mittens, because mittens are one of my absolute favourite things to knit, but then while going through the rest of the pattern designer, Brella,’s patterns I saw her Chibi Totoro pattern. I had the right yarn in my stash, and the right needles, the only logical thing to do was knit two in one day and completely neglect the big projects I should be working on.

First I made one on a set of 4mm DPNs.

Unstuffed 4mm Totoro

Then I stuffed him with polyester fluff.

4mm Totoro after stuffing

Then I gave him a face. His eyes are lopsided, but I somehow like them. He reminds me of the Totoros in the border of the opening titles of the film.

4mm Totoro with eyes

I think the reason he’s such a strange, but somehow lovely, shape is because I think I skipped the part of the pattern where rows 8-13 were supposed to be knit all stitches. I’m not sure though.

I also made one on 2.25mm needles. Here he is.

Smaller Chibi Totoro

I had never made a bobble while knitting before this pattern, and I’m quite impressed with the method. It’s a bit magic-y.

Bobble tail on the 2.25mm Totoro

Any other fans of the film who want to be mildly traumatised should look at this theory on the meaning of the film.

I am in a state of panic.

I spent most of tonight making a calendar of what to study and when. When things are due and when I’ll take practice tests. I am seriously one sad song away from bawling. My chest aches.

I’m so scared.

I’m scared to take the GRE. I’m scared to apply to grad school. I’m scared I’m going to lose my job. I’m scared to leave. I’m scared to stay. I’m scared I’ll never be sure of anything ever again.

I can’t do anything except listen to this song right now.

I felt the Lord begin
To peel off all my skin
And I felt the weight within
Reveal a bigger mess
That you can’t fix

I swear, I swear I’ll go
Lead me into my home
Don’t stop, don’t ever go
I swear you’ll never know
You’ll never know

Fucking poetry. The magic happens at 2:35. Seriously, my heart hurts when it gets to that part. Music is my fucking soulmate.

I told my sister earlier, I think I just need to go for a drive and cry it out. Just let it all go. This weekend should be good for me. Road trips always make me feel better. Seeing Chi-town, Fred, Space Cowboy and Halpert can’t hurt either.

I was reminded again today that I have an amazing group of friends. Even if I didn’t come right out and say I was upset, a lot of them reached out and did little things that totally cheered me up. MFEO called and we got to talk for a minute. I heard the baby cry and I got really confused for a minute. I miss her. I’m so retardedly happy for her, but I miss her.

Do you ever jump into something head first and the second before you hit the water, suddenly think to yourself, “Hmm, maybe this wasn’t the best idea…”

Yeah. Me either.

I know everything is going to work out the way it is meant to. I actually got some sound advice from Banky tonight. He said something to the effect of whatever happens may open up a new path for me. That’s what I’m hoping for.

I was going to go into more detail about some of the other things freaking me out, but…I don’t wanna. So I’ma go spend some more time with my study guide and go to sleep.

Along the coastal deserts of Peru and, strangely enough, within the crater lakes of Easter Island, grows a unique reed that has contributed enormously to the development of civilizations in those places.  The South Americans and Polynesians have long cultivated the totoro plant in ocean-side pits, where it thrives near salt water but does not do well in moister climates away from the sea.

The reed is one of those families of plants that have enabled human societies to grow and prosper.  One can eat the hearts of its tender shoots, weave baskets and floor mats from its stalks, and even build primitive houses with its mature foliage.  More importantly, totoro has been used for eons to build small craft, together with larger sea-going vessels, to aid in both the fishing industry and oceanic navigation.

Totoro is currently found along the coast of Peru – and even as far south as northern Chile and on the shores of Lake Titicaca.

The reed is fashioned into the famous caballitos de totoro, small boats that look like a cross between a kayak and a surfboard.  Local fishermen brave the icy waters of the Humboldt Current to venture into the open Pacific to fish from these flimsy boats, yet the crafts exhibit the seaworthy qualities of vessels far superior in “technological” development.  Representations of caballitos have been found on ceramics dating back thousands of years, which goes to show “There is nothing new under the sun,” to borrow an old but wise cliché.

The boats are paddled with a single double-bladed board, usually fashioned from palm wood or other materials close at hand.  The paddles are not works of art but of functionality.

1) A group of caballitos drying in the sun near Chiclayo.  The boats do not last more than a few months after becoming waterlogged, but they are easy to construct by lashing  two bundles of reeds together, and then by cutting away a small space toward the stern for the pilot to sit and steer while he engages in fishing and surf-dodging.

I have personally seen, in Huanchaco, fishermen pull away from shore through six to eight foot surf in these craft.  Their high bows easily ride over the waves.  On their return to the beach, the fishermen slide to shore through the surf, catching waves with the expertise of the best Hawaiians. Men often used to invite me to try out the caballitos for sport, and I suspect, to have a good laugh at the expense of a gringo.  Personally I have an aversion to cold water and I always declined the offers.

In other situations I have seen the Huanchaco fishermen run their forty-foot wooden fishing boats straight out to sea through the whitewater from twenty-foot breaking waves.  These men are a breed apart, and their piloting skills would make the hearts of most American or European yachtsmen palpitate with fear.

2) Catch of the day near Chiclayo

The great beauty of these boats lies in the simplicity of their design, the low cost of their construction and their great sea-handling qualities.

4) After the workday has finished; the boats are pulled to the beach to dry.

The only question we cannot answer is this: how did the reed makes its way from Peru to Easter Island?  Individual specimens could not have floated over the huge reaches of the Pacific Ocean.  Traditions and artwork on the Moai of Rapa Nui depict great ocean-going sailing ships made from reeds.  Perhaps these clues provide the answer.

It’s a pity that totoro reed boats don’t ply the waters of Seattle and Puget Sound. An enterprising businessperson could make a thriving trade by renting or selling them to the eco-conscious kayakers of the Pacific Northwest.