Odori Sensu Alert!!! 🚨 | having a spectacular, rejuvenating wednesday!

hi friends!! :3c

with the stressful & tricky fortnight I've been having, I gladly took the opportunity to take today off, & I'm very glad that I did so, because I've had a wonderful day so far! so wonderful that I want to remember this for more than ten days- which is why this is a blog post, rather than a bulletin. despite technically being a school day, I'm totally treating it like I've been given a day off of work, or like it's a saturday. I'm being very intentional with the way I revel in & make the most of today's offerings.

my morning started off strong! we dropped my brother off at school in such heavy traffic that we decided to leave the car parked & walk to the newly-opened supermarket while we waited for it to dissipate. I'd never been inside before, but it was really nice! I was surprised at both their deli & the fresh, ready-to-eat meals they had for sale. my area has usually been one considered too small & regional for supermarkets to bother with sending little packed lunches like that our way, so seeing them reminded me of the excitement of being in the city, surrounded by its small, novel luxuries. the deli itself had a little white chocolate rocky road that I immediately locked eyes with:

& thoroughly enjoyed by the side of a nearby estuary! we don't really go there anymore, but I always enjoy passing it on my bus ride. when the tide's high, it takes on a beautiful clear blue colour. sadly, the tide wasn't high enough for that when we visited, but it's always beautiful to look out onto the beach it flows into & the little cove it's in. somebody had their boat anchored off in the distance, which seems like a pretty good idea to me, so long as you can tolerate sleeping on the water. it was so nice that my mum commented that we should come down & relax by the water for a day during the school holidays, which sounds great to me. I tend to get tired out by swimming & just want to go home, but sitting in the shade & reading sounds like a less strenuous way to pass the time by. I think the water will still be warm enough for swimming too (by our standards anyway- it's always kind of cold), if the inspiration strikes me.

I also came across a cute little dog named daisy! & was fascinated by her build- usually small dogs have strange proportions to match, but she looked to me like a normal dog that'd just been shrunk with a laser gun or something...

I couldn't really get a good photo of her :p but she was so cute & sweet- as well as interested in my rocky road...! I already have to share my food with my own little princess of a dog at home, though, so I was pretty keen to keep my treat to myself. 

after that, we got back on the road & drove to the property at which my sister learns horsemanship. I, having a sore stomach again, decided to spend some time laying in the grass & listening to the wind. this is actually something I want to talk about. *kisses reflection in the mirror* I LOVE being a taurus! I was known on the japan trip for just finding a little spot in the airport to lay down & chill out, but it's in my nature. nobody relaxes like a taurus does. I didn't fall asleep, so it was a different sort of rest. I enjoyed watching the clouds go by. on top of that, my sister's instructor at the end said that today was the best session she'd ever had- she was really confident, & achieving a great result with the horse she was working on. I'm so proud of her. she enjoys what she does, & she's good at it. isn't that all we want from life?

we decided to go thrifting afterward, to kill some time. my dad had a call with his coach, & so we wanted to make sure he had the time alone he needed. it's not so much that I would eavesdrop if I stayed home (I don't want to know...), as it is the relief that you're 100% certain nobody else is around. anyway, the decision to go thrifting was, for me, a literally life changing one, because I Finally !!!! found an odori sensu!!!!!!!! EEEEEEEK !!1!!1!!!!!

oh, isn't she BEAUTIFUL ! 

it was this design, actually, that tipped me off as to the fan being an odori sensu (as opposed to a chinese fan, which I see more often, but aren't suited to buyō). this asymmetrical splattering of a metallic colour against a very vibrant background is a classic odori sensu design. I thought it was a little small (hand for reference), but it appears to be the same size as the fan I used previously, which feels way bigger? not sure how the math works on that one... but here's an image of a maiko-san holding an odori sensu, as a size comparison. I do think it's smaller than the fans used by maiko-san; part of the appeal of such a large fan is the generous space between the rib-sticks in which to fit your fingers to Give it a Spin!!! ...which this one is still capable of, & was the only criteria I really had if I were to buy a new fan to replace my other one, so I'm satisfied for now.

I'm just in disbelief! I've wanted one for so long & I was starting to wonder if the day would never come. I'm quite used to the universe giving me everything I want, because my desires tend to be misguided & fleeting, but I feel... really validated by this. I really enjoy practicing nihon buyō when I feel so inspired, just as I enjoy wearing kimono. I heard a maiko-san say the other day that the goal (with dancing in this case) isn't to be perfect, it's to be good enough to be worthy of performing, which really stuck with me. I want to be worthy of performing. I don't really have the means to properly learn right now, but it's my intention, when I return to japan, to seriously study nihon buyō, & embrace everything that kyōto has to teach me. I enjoy the discipline, & will take the best care of this sensu that I can.

as a smaller, aesthetics-centric note, I feel especially blessed to have received this fan because both of its sides complement the painted shōji behind the "geiko"*-san ningyō that held my previous fan!! (I just think the synchronicity of that one by the universe is astounding! it's as if it were saying 'make no mistake; this fan is yours.')

(*I tend to go back & forth as to whether it's a maiko-san or geiko-san, because, being a tourist souvenir I just happened to buy at a secondhand shop, it's actually neither. but for now I've settled on geiko-san, because of: the tied obiage, duller kimono colour, & absence of very decorative kanzashi. that is, of course, ignoring the two glaring issues: the fact that she's in a furisode, & the red han'eri, which resembles the red eri of a maiko. infodump over!)

I also found the most SCRUMPTIOUSLY cute duck sweater!!!!!

Look At These Little GUYS !!!! they're so STINKING CUTE !!!

I also had a funny moment when I held this sweater up over the clothing racks to show my mum; another woman saw it before her, & said; 'I took one look at the sweater, then at you, (& back at the sweater)- it looks exactly like you! (like, in terms of character, I am NOT a duck wearing a little bow tie & a little hat. but I wish I was...) you should totally buy it!" with a tinge of old-lady 'you're two little cuties, you match each other's vibe'. it feels really nice to be perceived positively after the fortnight I've been having, especially by a stranger. sometimes I worry that I have an unbecoming look to my face that indicates there's something wrong with me, but being told that I'm as cute & sweet as a little sweater with ducks on it makes me feel a lot better. entering my tutankhamun era.

finally, before heading home, I had a chance encounter with one of my greatest loves: hot chips. ohhhh how I love you, hot chips. it's partially due to being australian (i.e. chicken salt enthusiast) & partially due to being a taurus who loves comforting warm food, my love for hot chips. ...maybe I am a duck. sleep on the grass in the sun, eat hot chip (& lie /j), look cute as a button. God Bless America. 

that's all I have to share for the day- it's only the early afternoon right now. after this, I'm thinking about working on an art project for a competition in my era, watching some japanese-language youtube, & eating soba. I'm not sure when I'll do the latter. it's not quite a dinner food, but 14:00 is an awkward hour to be having another lunch. thanks to the relaxation I got to experience today, I feel so much better about my life at the moment. the grind will resume soon, but right now, I'm just letting myself have a wonderful day. & I hope you're having a wonderful day, & that you find whatever you're hunting for at the secondhand shop. Peace !!! :3c

(songs of the day; 'samurai' by lupe fiasco, 'best friend' by satellite lovers, 'lilic' by dahlia, & 'sonho do brasil' by slowdown. that's my good-mood rotation of the minute, whenever I'm not keeping brat summer alive.)