To live in a world meant for other people

To live in a world meant for other people     Here a bartender carves a block of ice into a near-perfect sphere with a sharp knife and his bare hand.  A geisha steps onto the elevator in the hotel, her hair brushed back with painstaking accuracy.  In the restaurant, food is prepared with care and served with even more care.  Ugly buildings and tangled wires overhead share space with small gardens and handmade signs and window displays and rows of idle bicycles.  Neon skeletons hang by day and become breathing beauties at nightfall.  Preschoolers line up like ducks in yellow uniforms on a train platform.  I hear one visitor refer to these children as the reason why “they are so militaristic.”  My introduction to Japan is a list of quips like this one from other westerners.  I hear them from strangers on the subway.  I hear them from my co-worker who has lived here for several years.  I hear them from the occasio...

Syncopated Rhythm  "... The language is so appropriately raw when needed and so fragile in other passages ... Writing of this apparent simplicity is true craftsmanship and James carries this creative flow throughout the book ... James' gifts as a writer are extraordinary. This may be new work and if so it holds promise of an author who will likely rise in the same realm as Jonathan Saffron Foer et al." - San Francisco Review of Books Clifford and Claudia  "... [the author] can interplay gay characters with aplomb and make his story so universally relevant that the reader can simply sit back and enjoy the entertainment. And in his novel there is entertainment aplenty! ... His ability to create stories that are refreshingly unexpected places him in line with some of most established authors. Highly recommended." - San Francisco Review of Books The Story of Teddy and Eddie  "... James’ elegant style of writing inserts italicized poetic pass...

All my books on Amazon $0.99 - Dec 22 - 28 Free on #KindleUnlimited #Kindle  https://t.co/chUqDuVvmA  My books on Amazon | Subscribe to this site | Contact me  

My books on Goodreads #Free on #KindleUnlimited #Kindle #Goodreads   http://www.goodreads.com/jameshalat My books on Amazon | Subscribe to this site | Contact me  

During my first month in Tokyo, I am taken to a neighborhood izakaya in Takadanobaba called Momem Ya by the owner of the jazz bar I frequent. The restaurant is secluded in a basement, a small but comfortable space, perfect for two at the counter, or groups at the Japanese-style tables hugging the walls.. It has a friendly staff and delightful menu. Both change over the years, yet remain uncompromisingly friendly and delightful. Jazz music hang s over the open kitchen as we wait for our food to be cooked.  Chefs in the Open Kitchen of Momen Ya  This first visit, I am introduced to shirasu, pictured below. There is a lot of food on the table that night, and I dig into the shirasu like I do the other new food I try - with trepidation, excitement, and anticipation. I take in a mouthful, then another. A delicious flavor, new to me. A delicate taste. I think I am eating some sort of Japanese steamed vegetable. I ask my host what it is. He smiles and tells me to look closer...

In this introductory post on Japanese food, I have selected a dish that actually has its origins in China, and only makes it's way to Japan in the last century (or so I have been told). That dish is gyoza.  Of course, I have the opportunity to eat various dumplings before I come to Japan, but the flavor and consistency of Japanese gyoza is an unexpected treat for me.   Natto Gyoza The gyoza pictured above is natto gyoza, not something you find in most restaurants, but one of my favorites. The reason is the natto. Natto is a traditional Japanese food made from fermented soy beans. It is notoriously stinky, has an unusually strong flavor, and when eaten normally it sits in a fluid having the consistency of spit. I'm not a fan of this version. But when cooked in gyoza, you end up with an unmistakeable aroma and a noticeable bite to the flavor of the standard fare of minced ground pork, chives, green onion, cabbage, ginger, and garlic. Add a light crisp on one side, and a ...

The landmark Chelsea Hotel was built in the 1880s as one of the city's first private co-ops. In 1905, it re-opened as a hotel. Over the years, the hotel has been the home of numerous writers, musicians, artists, and actors, including Dee Dee Ramone, Bob Dylan, Virgil Thomson, Sam Shepard, Arthur C. Clarke, Arthur Miller, Charles Bukowski, Allen Ginsberg, Dylan Thomas, Janis Joplin, Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen, and Patti Smith. In the 1970s, a New York landmark himself, Stanley Bard took over the management of the hotel, and his son David joined him later on. In the autumn of 1978, punk rocker Sid Vicious killed his girlfriend, Nancy Spungen, in Room 100, a room that has joined the other ghosts that make up the Chelsea. View from the Balcony, Room 325 The year is 1995 or 1996. I enter the Chelsea Hotel, push through the heavy glass doors. The light in the lobby adjusts to my eyes. Art runs floor to ceiling around the room. Obscure paintings. Little known artists. A s...

On Aug 3, I am featured in an author interview in  Waking Writer . Check it out! My books on Amazon | Subscribe to this site | Contact me  

...after the cherry blossoms fade and the petals fall to the ground, the allure remains, like a dusting of snow in the springtime, a final, memorable curtain call before the lights go out. My books on Amazon | Subscribe to this site | Contact me  

Another closing to a magical season in Tokyo, where the cherry blossoms dress up the city, a delicate and engaging gateway to springtime.     My books on Amazon | Subscribe to this site | Contact me  

More photos of Sakura along Kanda River in the Nishwaseda section of Tokyo, under a cloudy sky, just a day or two from full blossom. My books on Amazon | Subscribe to this site | Contact me  

Sakura in the twilight, a few days from peak. A magical time in Tokyo. My books on Amazon | Subscribe to this site | Contact me  

Sakura - night time in Tokyo. Still a few days away from full-blossom. Anticipation... My books on Amazon | Subscribe to this site | Contact me  

Because it is beautiful...along the Kanda River in the Nishiwaseda section of Tokyo, just outside my door. My books on Amazon | Subscribe to this site | Contact me  

A few days each year cherry blossoms fall from distant trees to float among the columns, to litter the surface with a softer edge, a more tenuous future. They are a reminder that one day these patterns too shall die and be replaced with something else. Meanwhile, below the surface, life changes unalterably. Syncopated Rhythm - James Halat My books on Amazon | Subscribe to this site | Contact me  

In many ways, Japan gets things exactly right. I moved here by accident a long time ago, and the country still surprises me. Before coming here, I accepted a lot of what I thought I knew about the world, only to discover that our man-made borders are tall and strong and act as walls to block the flow of general information. Of course, the internet helps to break down these walls, but so much information is buried in the avalanche we call social media, and the loudest voices seem to determine what we absorb. We simply can't sift through the rest. Time is just not on our side. But we do have a choice. The choice to look twice at things that come our way. Ask ourselves if what is in front of us makes sense or not. Ask ourselves if a different view might not explain things better. No matter where I live, I feel that I live in a world meant for other people. Truth be told, I feel no more foreign in Japan than I did in New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Los Angeles. I am always on t...

The water is murky. By the looks of it without direct sunlight since several years before we land on the moon. Diffraction patterns cover the surface. They emanate from circles, intersections of concrete, water, air, and light. The patterns display symmetries. They reflect the steady hum of traffic above. I will see these patterns many times, but I will lose the hum of traffic, because I start to listen to music during my commutes. It helps keep my little madman from torturing me while my arms are pinned to my sides. The mood of the patterns changes with the music. A hand shackles nature’s gentle flow in a sunless room filled with stale air, and creates something alive and beautiful. A few days each year cherry blossoms fall from distant trees to float among the columns, to litter the surface with a softer edge, a more tenuous future. They are a reminder that one day these patterns too shall die and be replaced with something else. Meanwhile, below the surface, life changes unalte...

Sometimes you find great art here Sometimes you find it in more unexpected places Places that don't exist anymore By someone you haven't seen in a while Read,  write,  paint,  pull out the camera,  take a look,  take a chance My books on Amazon   |   Subscribe to this site   |   Contac t me   

Photos from the River Resort near Pakse, Laos along the Mekong River. It was built by a good friend of mine, designed by a Japanese architect with an eye for the environment. A great success, I think. Astonishing beauty. And a great place to write down words. Infinity Pool looking out onto the river A quiet moment (that's not me) A tree that seems to cast a long shadow   Rice fields anchor the resort   An afternoon cocktail (following a morning cocktail) River sunset My books on Amazon   |   Subscribe to this site   |   Contac t me