More on the Cult of Cute

This article dates to 2006, but I remember when I first read it. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13320352/ns/business-world_business/t/japanese-culture-becoming-cult-cute/#.Tn4uSOwrXSs "“I make it a point never to forget to smile,” said [model Yuri] Ebihara, often seen
in TV ads and on billboards. “If someone doesn’t find me cute, I want to know why because then I’ll work on it to get better at being cute.”"

These roots are older, deeper, and sometimes creepier than Hello Kitty and Sailor Moon. Literature from the Heian and Kamakura periods in Japan routinely describe the sexual initiation of girls of about 12 or 13 by older men. Try to imagine being raped at that age while your parents pretend they don't know what is going on, then scold you for not appreciating the great honor you've been given. http://www.sengokudaimyo.com/Forced_Affection.html  offers a survey of examples from period literature. Even today, apprentice geisha or maiko wear kimono that code as child-like, complete with growth-pleats at the shoulder seams and long, fluttering sleeves.

Not judging here, just reporting. I wasn't born Japanese, after all.

"Dexter" theme on stand-up bass & oud

sasha_khan, la_peregrina thought you might appreciate this.

http://www.youtube.com/embed/9pFPJ5X-854

Stimulating the economy again

I needed green thread. And I figured I'd look for linen or a linen blend - the short kosode I wear with my nagabakama is the first piece of Japanese garb I ever made and the collar has issues and dammit, I want a new one for Twelfth Night!  (I also want a handsewing project I can work on at GWW that's not silk!) Discount Fabrics (Ashby & San Pablo in Berkeley) opens at 10 - and they're doing a no-sales-tax promo through the end of September.   Their linen prices have gone up, hell, their cotton prices have gone up, but if one factors in tax and shipping costs I would've spent elsewhere, I did OK on a nice linen rayon blend. Oh, and that heavy silk herringbone I made the white uchigi out of is still there, the better part of a bolt and that's still $9.99/yard, if anyone is interested.

I also had a coupon for DSW rattling around in my purse and it was still early, so what the heck? I hate shoe shopping lately. For one thing, I started with wide feet and have compounded the problem by developing bunions. For another, the current trend for ugly-ass shooties  and stratospherically high heels does not appeal to me in the slightest. Most places carry medium widths, which means I have to size up for a shoe to fit across my instep, and that's the kiss of death for a high heel because it'll be too long for the arch of my foot. Hence I live in sandals, clogs and so forth most of the time.

I didn't expect to find anything, but I figured I'd look anyway. And I found these, for $35.99. The 9 1/2 fit me. (I have bought shoes ranging anywhere from an 8 W to a 9 1/2 M). Perfectly. If they had pointed toes they'd be perfect for tomorrow's 20's themed event, but as they are, they'll also work with some of the 60's styles I want to wear. And they're comfortable. They also had them in brown.

On an unrelated but disappointing note, I decided to see if a swatch of the jinken I used for my uwagi was colorfast. It's been soaking in dye remover all day in the kitchen sink - and it's still color fast. A pity as I still have a good bit of it left. If I want a new karaginu, I'm going to have to make it out of something else.....