If I had money, I would definitely collect watches

What I have been reading and dreaming are scaring me

In preparation for our impending trip to Tokyo, I have been reading guide books and street blogs. The book began well enough, but when it got to the shopping and the bars, it became clear that the book and the city may be too overwhelming for me.

Overwhelming because Japan, with all of its high tech inventions and freedom of expression, is still a feudal society where the women and the poor are left at the margins. For instance, certain bars only patronize a certain clientele and women are forbade at certain areas and institutions. People operate through introductions and who they work for. They rarely interact outside of their small circle of family, friends, and coworkers.

I can't understand how any society could choose these rules- so limiting, so stiffling, but all societies do and I can't help but question, where can the tender-hearted, the idealistic go?

If it is not New York (too loud and too expensive), Paris (where is the literati?), or Tokyo, where is it? Is it Austin, where the self pronounced "hipsters" could annoy anyone to death? Is it Detroit, where a single female can buy a house for $25, but cannot walk the streets alone? What about Portland or Seattle? Is it the buzz of Berlin or Budapest?

Music is slowly coming back to me. I was not impressed by the music released in 2010. I did not understand how all of the critics simultaneously praised LCD Soundsystem. They had a few good songs, but their sound was neither new or creative. I liked Florence and the Machine a lot- I listened to them from January until April, but when summer arrived, I was still listening to them because there was no one else. In the Fall, I liked Cults, but they only had one or two songs.

In 2011, I already like two bands, followed by songs that I particularly enjoy. The thing about music is that it has to take you somewhere.

Amadou & Mariam- Sabali

Ohland- Wolf and I

One band that I hope will be coming out with new music is Discovery. They produced my favorite album in 2009, one that I will definitely be listening to in Japan, because that's where the music first took me.

Jingjing is in the market for a Navajo inspired coat, a fur vest, a paint splattered dress shirt and a boy's hair cut

(picture from Tommy Ton)