奥の細道 (Oku no Hosomichi)

Redolent of Matsuo Basho's haiku narrative of his journey on a "narrow path to the interior" this will be a journey through my innermost ruminations.

Never the Time or Place
Posted:Feb 14, 2018 10:17 pm
Last Updated:Oct 11, 2023 8:57 pm
40467 Views

We've all heard the phrase "this is not the time or the place." It usually means there is never going to be the right time or place.

I don't think everybody feels like that. But there are people for whom that seems to be a recurring theme in their lives. It is never the right time to say I love you. It is never the right time to finish that story you always meant to write. It is never the right time to say you're sorry. It is never the right time to end a relationship.

It's too easy to dismiss them as procrastinators. Many of them are quite successful in spite of this trait. That was the theme of the the musical "Stop the World, I Want to get Off!" and its most popular song "What Kind of Fool am I?" watch?v=lVchmf4M88s about a man who was a success in the eyes of the world but never fell in love.

As I sit al on this Valentine's Day I think of the woman I took to see the likely Oar winning film Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and dinner afterward earlier today. I think of the sweet submissive who emailed me when I was half a world away to wish me a Happy Thanksgiving who I haven't even wished a happy Valentine's Day. I think of the woman I could share any thought with, as long as I did it in Japanese, which meant I could never express it fully, who wants me to visit in the Spring... while I continue to find excuses not to make travel plans. I think of a stunning young woman who means the world to me who I haven't seen or even contacted for months. I think of a hundred unfinished projects, a thousand unexpressed thoughts. I think of a world of experiences, successes I barely even dreamed of when I was een old.

... and I wonder what kind of fool I am.

Sammy Davis Jr. – What Kind Of Fool Am I Lyrics
What kind of fool am I
Who never fell in love?
It seems that I'm the only
That I have been thinking of

What kind of man is this?
An empty shell
A lly cell in which
An empty heart must dwell

What kind of lips are these
That lied with every kiss?
That whispered empty words of love
That left me al like this

Why can't I fall in love
Like any other man?
And maybe then I'll know what kind of fool I am

What kind of clown am I?
What do I know of life?
Why can't I cast away this mask of
And live my life?

Why can't I fall in love
Like any other man?
And maybe then I'll know what kind of fool I am
7 Comments
Screw the Resolutions, Just Do It!
Posted:Dec 19, 2017 1:37 pm
Last Updated:May 28, 2019 1:56 pm
24161 Views
Everybody's getting all noble about making New Year's Resolutions. I used to do that. Never worked. Finally I started listening to Yoda. "Not Try... Do or Not Do!"

No More resolutions. After years of thinking about going to Japan... I just went. After years of hearing that my favorite Ginza bar was closed and the mama-san had moved back home, I walked into the place where it had always been, and within 20 minutes I was drinking a Tanqueray and Tonic at its new Ginza location. Instead of looking out the window at a clear blue late-December sky and thinking about how much I needed to exercise, I grabbed my favorite girl, jumped in the car and in twenty minutes I was hiking along an old canal tow-path overlooking a beautiful river gorge.





1 comment
Back From Japan, Tracking Down My Past
Posted:Dec 10, 2017 7:08 pm
Last Updated:Oct 11, 2023 9:06 pm
57510 Views
I spent two weeks in Japan recently. Apologies for not keeping in touch.
Communication was somewhat limited. I was unexpectedly able to fairly easily track down a dear lady friend whose business establishment was once my base of operations in the Ginza. I am pleased to report that the place is doing a land-office business with a staff of ten lovelies whose sole purpose was to uphold japan's reputation for discrete satisfaction of every desire. I unfortunately did not unlimber my camera in the establishment, but one of the delightful young creatures did take my photo with the mama san.

10 Comments
Back from Japan -- Grilled River Fish: A work of art.
Posted:Dec 10, 2017 5:54 pm
Last Updated:Oct 11, 2023 9:18 pm
55733 Views

The two weeks in Japan went about as I expected. I froze my ass off in drafty castles clambering around in my stocking feet because the slippers they provided were too small and would have sent me plunging to my death had I tried to wear them on my feet on the slick narrow castle stairs. The autumn leaves were stunning. Unfortunately, fucking Apple has locked my photos of them deep in their impenetrable iCloud where repeated efforts to apply the multiple passwords they inflict on the unwary have produced nothing but "blurt" They're still on my iPhone, however, so eventually I'll get them switched over to the iMac when Apple isn't looking and will then post a couple here (Success! Three photos have survived the posting process).

The photos of the fabulous meal at the hot springs inn in Nagano will either intrigue or mystify the neophyte traveler to Asia. The full menu appears in the first photo. Two samples appear below. The third photo shows how the fish and accompanying vegetables are presented on the table, looking like a flower centerpiece. The plated fish, which is eaten in its delicious, crispy entirity, head, tail, fins and bones, appears in the second photo.
4 Comments
How (not) to deal with the cold
Posted:Nov 13, 2017 9:54 am
Last Updated:Oct 11, 2023 9:21 pm
54802 Views

We just went through a cold snap here in the mid-Atlantic U.S. so like an idiot I cranked up the heat and dried out my skin to the point I could hardly sleep from the itching.

I'll be heading off to Japan in another fortnight (thanks to stupidly switching my plane tickets from comfortable October because I saved a few hundred bucks on the price) and spend two nights in an inn with paper walls in Nagano, where they held the Winter Olympics. I'm sure glad I ordered a pair of silk thermals a month ago because I doubt I'll have much room heat. I did have the foresight to book myself into a hot springs inn in Nagano where I intend to spend every available hour when I'm not hiking between castles, temples and shrines up to my neck in hot water. The down side of that, of course, is that the hot water dries skin out.

Fortunately I'll spend the rest of my trip in slightly warmer Kyoto and Tokyo, but still in houses with paper walls. I used to be pretty good at making the acquaintance of obliging Turkish-bath girls in Japan. Hope I haven't lost my touch and I hope they use a lot of body lotion on me. I'm not sure how good the other oils that result from bodily contact will be for keeping skin from drying out.
6 Comments
Musical Obsessions: Alexander Hamilton
Posted:Jun 19, 2017 9:05 am
Last Updated:May 28, 2019 1:47 pm
42383 Views

I finally broke down and bought the two-CD set and Libretto for Hamilton.
It's absolutely fantastic. Lin-Manuel Miranda is a bloody genius. Unfortunately I now realize how crappy my sound system is. Something's wrong with one of the connections to my speakers. Aaaaaggghhhh! When I get in an obsessive mood about music, which I recognize coming on now, I play it until it wears out, or my brain fries from trying to memorize the lyrics. I'll be playing it day and night until somebody in the house cuts off the electricity. lol Add my obsession with history, political theory and international relations and you have a deadly mix. I'm already quoting lines from Hamilton in my letters to the editor about North Korea. lol

Broadway's only a few hundred miles up the track, but I'm not sure I want to pop for June 28 $390 nosebleed tickets on stub hub.

Off to Best Buy to get a new CD player or something.

Until now I've been mainly playing the music a sweet young thing used to dance to for me late at night at my cabin. Miranda has changed my focus (hopefully only temporarily, she still comes by and I hope I never get that obsessive lol).

So what's your newest musical obsession?
2 Comments
A Dual Life
Posted:May 22, 2017 3:22 am
Last Updated:Oct 11, 2023 9:32 pm
46085 Views

I live a dual life, one in the city, the other in the mountains about an hour away... but so isolated that it might as well be another world. Not much happens in the city. Dining out, the and other people drop by, going to the movies and baseball games, attending professional gatherings.

The mountains are where the activity is: Occasional female company, the odd bear or deer, lots of upkeep, fishing, canoeing, biking, swimming, wine and cheese, soaking in the hot tub and going out to eat and dance. Of course that's where my fenestrated dungeon is too. That's not getting a lot of use lately, which is a shame. It's totally isolated next to a private lake in a huge forest. The girl I had hoped to entertain there lives about an hour and a half away but with a in high school, an occasional weekend husband and a very demanding job, I wind up traveling to her. We get a nice suite in a lovely B&B, but she usually sneaks out about 1 a.m. to get back home to the .

There is another girl. Lovely creature. Less than half my age. I've known her for more than 15 years. She provides the diversion in the mountains. It's where she escapes from her husband and all of the frustrations of her life and brings light into mine. My mountain retreat is a little paradise in any circumstance, but particularly so when she is there.

I lived the same dual life when I was overseas. It's what passes for normal for me. It's actually quite stimulating. If it wasn't for society and convention, I suppose more people might try it.
6 Comments
The Misfits
Posted:May 20, 2017 11:19 am
Last Updated:Oct 11, 2023 9:36 pm
45386 Views

Are you a misfit, or do you fit in?

sub_nouveau wrote a blog [post 1101542] that got me thinking about misfits.

Most of the people i know fit into their worlds pretty well. I've always had doubts about myself... I seem to be a misfit who struggles to fit in. I think I'm so good at it that I fool most people, even myself. A girl I've known for 16 years, since I met her in a strip club on her 21st birthday, the one I call my favorite girl or my beautiful girl when I refer to her here, is definitely a misfit. She relies on me to teach her how to fit in, which I find deeply amusing. Interestingly, I rely on her to teach me how not to fit in... how to think originally... differently. In different ways we are each other's anchors. We have tested and proven our bond to each other in every possible way. If you look carefully, you'll find her photo here and the Livin39 is Easy updated 912. She's a flower , a fine art model and a dancer as well as a licensed massage therapist and an environmental chemist. Go figure... .

I spent Wednesday night dancing with her until the wee small hours. We do that sort of thing, and then she goes home to her husband. We also meditate, hike, drink wine, go to the movies, swim and soak in a hot tub by the lake together. I guess that's part of what makes us misfits.

So what about you? Are you a misfit, or do you fit in? What makes you think so (aside from being on alt... everybody here does that)? Does it work for you, or are you uneasy about it?
5 Comments
Living With Uncertainty
Posted:Dec 4, 2016 7:23 am
Last Updated:Oct 11, 2023 9:44 pm
65182 Views
I often wonder why I"m on this site at all.

The only reason I can think of is that the lovely submissive I see occasionally lives almost a three-hour drive away, so we have to meet at a delightful B&B somewhere in between. It makes for very infrequent meetings.

We're not together as a permanent arrangement. We're very compatible, both personally and sexually. We're very attracted to each other, but not in love and not really a perfect union. She has heavy family and work commitments and I have commitments of my own that make our assignations infrequent. The relationship is not exclusive (we're both poly), though we're not sexually interested in anyone else. For various reasons it may not last. We both would prefer to be either getting together more frequently or seeing someone closer. The problem is it isn't that easy to find someone closer who is as good for us as we are for each other.

At some point, however, she may find someone else so I should have a plan B. That should be possible, but since not that many other submissive kinksters are poly, it is harder than it sounds to actually find someone. Additionally, since she lives in a very rural area, and, tho I live in the city my glass-walled, lakeside dungeon is in a nearby mountain area, finding someone conveniently close is not as easy as it should be.



Keeping an alt account so I can keep my options open in case someone equally attractive and closer shows up is at best a poor reason to be here. Some day I expect I will not only realize that but actually do something sensible about it.

Other people here must encounter problems like this. Somehow they deal with it, probably by accepting the distance and the infrequency of meetings it imposes. I find it enervating. I've always had lovers who were readily accessible. When being together is as exhilarating as it is for us, infrequent meetings are a real buzz kill.

15 Comments

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