Fantasy Bats

It's not alot diff being here in Albuq. I'm spending almost an equal amount of time resting.

But there's something, a growth, a bat, an earwig, blocking my right eardrum and the left seems to be sympathizing so I'm almost deaf. This is a boon since it's the noise of the city that annoys the most. 

The increase in isosorbide boosted my energy but on the third day of revelry and frolic, I "collapsed," and spent all day, yesterday, in bed....and had no difficulty falling asleep around 10 pm.

(I know this is boring as hell if you're here for "entertainment." I prided myself on sticking to tales of barroom brawls and pix of lovely women whilst relegating the mundanities to a separate journal. But it became too much and I've succumbed to keeping it all in one place.)

For most of the past year I've had to rest after each of The Three Bs....morning bidness, breakfast, bath; breakfast usually taking an hour or so to recover from and likewise the bahth. This morning I slept an hour and a half.

At times, resting, without sleep, is sufficient. It's then, when The Warrens of The Web beckon, that strong signal is important. A conjunctive condition, the deteriorating memory, makes everything new; so when I found Hesse's Fairy Tales in my bookcase (a 2008 gift from Michelle), it was as if it was our first time.

The Bantam Book (1995), paperback edition, is illustrated with David Frampton's woodblock prints. Wondering if David was related to Peter, I searched online....which led to Anne Nydam's, October 25 2023, blogpost:

Fantasy Bats.

If you go there, to FB, you'll see the print (below) of Miyamoto Musashi waving a sword at a bat. 

Musashi's odd grip.

Having forgotten David, I recalled Keaton, son of the Scipio, Utah mechanic who installed Phoebe's new fuel pump, and his interest in swords. As we'd talked, Keaton had, at one point, allowed as how he'd studied kendo and, as if he thought me unfamiliar, he made an iconic, downward, double-handed gesture. After Keaton, I tangented into the Musashi tunnel. 

It seems Musashi was a rōnin whose two-sword technique eventually resulted in saint-hood (similar to the British tradition of bestowing knighthoods, the Japanese recognize exceptional individuals with saint-hood). 

Musashi's method, as recounted in this Wiki article, was based on using one hand. Taking it further, he expanded (purportedly from combat) to the use of a sword in each hand.

Besides the almost heretical one-hand sword technique, Musashi espoused a philosophy of education for martial artists that included calligraphy and painting. Here is one of two "masterpieces" cited in the Wiki article.

Perhaps, if you read the Wiki article, you'll note the slight inference of incredulity that a samurai would care about writing and painting. This is, I think a suggestion of bias on the part of the article's author. In my readings -- that've coincided with over 40 years of studying Asian martial arts -- I've seen a number of references to the flower-arranging and poetry-writing skills evinced by high-level warriors. (Just yesterday I read of Cosmic Chambo's interest in Noh theater.)

In a closer-to-home example, when I asked Michelle how her grandparents met, she told of how, as an officer in the U.S. military, her grandfather was expected to know how to dance. It was at the studio where he went to learn that he met his future bride.

So, despite the lack of interest in the general (Uhmerikin) populace for dance, given the recognition of the skill's importance, and considering the competitiveness between the branches of the military and the nationalism of the day, it seems queer (may we now use that word?) there aren't major competitions.

 Can you envision -- perhaps during the half-time entertainments uv Der Foosball -- The Navy Seals vs The Buckingham Palace Guards?

Or, as with break-dancing's debut into The Olympics next year, we would watch enrapt as our military's finest vied with similar contingents from around the globe. Of course, with today's inclusive zeitgeist, each dancer would be accompanied by their partner-of-choice selected from the full spectrum of ethnicities & genders. Something to look forward to!

I never did find out if David & Peter are related.