How to use furoshiki

[Click for a larger view.]

Wikipedia explains:

風呂敷, furoshiki, a type of traditional Japanese wrapping cloth . . . frequently used to transport clothes, gifts, or other goods.

In 2006, Yuriko Koike, then Japan’s Minister of the Environment, devised a contemporary version of furoshiki:

I’ve created what you might call a “mottainai furoshiki.” The Japanese word mottainai means it’s a shame for something to go to waste without having made use of its potential in full. The furoshiki is made of a fiber manufactured from recycled PET bottles, and has a birds-and-flowers motif drawn by Itoh Jakuchu, a painter of the mid-Edo era.

The above chart comes from Japan’s Ministry of the Environment. Note the tag in the lower-right corner.

(Thanks, Rachel!)

Further reading
Furoshiki (Wikipedia)
How to use furoshiki (Ministry of the Environment)
“Mottainai furoshiki” (Ministry of the Environment)

National Punctuation Day

Once again, it’s — not its — National Punctuation Day.

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A new Glenn Gould documentary

There’s a new documentary about Glenn Gould, Genius Within: The Inner Life of Glenn Gould, directed by Michèle Hozer and Peter Raymont.

Peter Rainer, writing in the Christian Science Monitor:

Considering how reclusive Gould was, it’s remarkable how much footage of him exists, including home movies here of him cavorting in the Bahamas with island girls. Who knew?

There’s a trailer, minus cavorting:

Genius Within: The Inner Life of Glenn Gould (YouTube)

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Glenn Gould’s chair

Domestic comedy

“Boy, that Katherine Mansfield, she sure can write.”

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[With apologies to Marty’s friend Leo and Mickey Spillane.]

The wrong line

A new voter-registration card came in the mail today, and like they say, it’s broken.

(“This” line is the one above the words. On the way to making a crease, I realized that I was on the wrong line and switched. The space between these lines: about 2mm, making it difficult to pick the right one by eye.)

A teachable moment

It happened during a class on the Odyssey yesterday, when a student pointed out that there was a large bug right next to me.

“I don’t care. I’m not afraid of some bug,” I replied.

(Yes: teaching is a performance.)

Then someone pointed out that I had just stepped on said bug. I looked down and saw a large fly, nearly dead. And a teachable moment.

“That bug is to me as Odysseus is to the Cyclops Polyphemus,” I said. “No, wait — that means he’s going to defeat me."

Then I bent down as if to look more closely.

“She.”

The Burt Britton Collection

[Eudora Welty. Ink on paper. 10 7/8 x 8 1/4 inches.]

Eudora Welty’s self-portrait is one several hundred self-portraits by actors, artists, athletes, booksellers, musicians, photographers, publishers, and writers, all to be auctioned on September 24, 2009. They are from the collection of Burt Britton, a co-founder of the New York bookstore Books & Co. The starting bid on Welty’s self-portrait: $1000.

The Burt Britton Collection is being auctioned by Bloomsbury Auctions. The catalogue is available as a free PDF download. (Thanks, Bloomsbury!)

Paleo-Future

My daughter Rachel has pointed her parents to Paleo-Future, a site offering “A look into the future that never was.” The woman in the above photograph is a woman of the future. She appeared in the play Railroads on Parade at the 1939 New York World’s Fair.

That half-circle, I finally realized, is part of her garb. Note the shadow that it casts on the train of the future.

Thank you, Rachel!

Bob Herbert on present danger

“We’re heading into nut country today.”

Bob Herbert’s latest column, which here quotes John F. Kennedy, says what must be said.

When Elaine and I suggested to an aide of Congressman Timothy V. Johnson (R, Illinois-15) that Johnson and other principled Illinois Republicans might make a statement to address the claims of those who dispute President Obama’s citizenship, the aide claimed to have no idea what we were talking about. Birthers? Huh?

“Author in a stupor?”

He’s in today’s New York Times crossword, a wonderful and surprisingly do-able puns-and-anagrams puzzle by Mel Taub.

The clue for 11 Across: “Author in a stupor?”

The answer: PROUST.

[No spoilers here. Highlight the empty space to see the answer.]

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