RAKUSU

The

Folding cloth. Sewing basting stitches to hold the folds in place. Laying out the pieces for the field.

SPICY SHRIMP BOWL

In an earlier timeline, The Wife was an excellent cook, and I attempted to pair beers with the dishes she created for dinner. Then, I gave up alcohol.

In this timeline, The Wife is an excellent cook, and I get to simply enjoy her culinary creations. Now, rather than trying to find flavors that complement one another in drink and dish, or searching for subtle notes in both food and beer, I just enjoy the full range of flavors on the plate in their own right.

I was initially skeptical of this Spicy Shrimp Bowl, but it was delicious! The bowl was filled with romaine lettuce, cilantro, cucumber, bell pepper, white corn, blackened shrimp, and a yogurt-based dressing. Mixing the plated ingredients allowed exploration of the various flavor combinations.

SMILE 2

Smile 2 (2024) written and directed by Parker Finn. Psychological horror, possession horror, and body horror converge in a well-done takedown of fame and celebrity culture. Think Britney Spears, for example. It's a sequel to the original SMILE (surpassing it), with the relentlessness of It Follows, some interesting set pieces and continuity in the spirit of Happy Death Day, and a final nod to the finale of The Substance. It is constantly "on" and quite gruesome at times so be prepared; you've been warned.

Streaming on Netflix.

RAKUSU

Taking folds on a test run in paper before applying them to cloth.

ZEN MASTER EMILY DICKINSON

The dharma talk at tonight's sit included one of my favorite poems by Emily Dickinson.

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The Heart is the capital
Of the Mind,
The Mind is a single State.
The Heart and the Mind
Together make
A single continent.

One — is the population —
Numerous enough.
This ecstatic nation
Seek — it is
Yourself.

TACOMA MOON FESTIVAL

The best part of the Tacoma Moon Festival each year is the Mak Fai Kung Fu Dragon and Lion Dance Association. While the rest of the troupe played on various percussion, the four dancers that make up the two lions put on a spectacular array of acrobatics, and interacted with those gathered to celebrate.

RAKUSU

Marking and cutting fabric for the (rice) field on the front of the rakusu I'm sewing by hand.

THE MANDALORIAN and GROGU

The Mandalorian and Grogu (2026) directed by Jon Favreau. I'm glad I missed this on the big screen. (I saw Backrooms instead.) This is essentially a condensed season of a Star Wars streaming series, forced into the mold of a movie, and it shows. It's just one Star Wars trope after another, and it wears thin. It also borrows from other franchises—Bladerunner, The Hunger Games, Harry Potter—and not in a good way. There isn't really anything interesting or new here. It's just rehashed scenes you've seen before. They feel familiar because they are. Meh.

Streaming on Disney+.

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Kathleen Kennedy is finally away from the helm of the Star Wars franchise. I think it is also time to ask Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni to step back. Let some new blood try their hand at Star Wars films.

RUSTON WAY

Ruston Way. An hour before sunset.

A walk along the water after dinner at Katie Downs.

LUCERNE GOLDCOLLAR

This year, the chickens are once again shown during the last week of the Washington State Fair. But, new, is the pigeons being shown during opening weekend. So, I brought my donations for the Puyallup Food Bank and went and visited with some of the most beautiful birds, including this Lucerne Goldcollar. He's young. He's cool. He just calmly watched as I took his photo and cooed at him.

DELIVERANCE

5 of 5 in my series of worship folder cover art for the Sundays of August. The pastors are focusing on the Old Testament lectionary texts, working with the theme of "Restoration and Renewal." Once I created the first paper cut collage, the others came to me in quick succession. It was serious play!

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"Deliverance"
Jeremiah 15:15-21

STURGEON MOON

"Sturgeon Moon," Speedball block printing ink, art marker, and found paper on cardboard box panel.

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Today, I observed the full moon by sitting this morning with my lineage temple for a fusatsu ceremony—a time of atonement, repentance, and renewing the bodhisattva precepts/vows I'll take in less than a year.

This evening, I sat with my home temple of South Sound Zen, for one of my "better" sits, which countered last week's body shenanigans.

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Moon's voice is the bell 

calling me to the cushion— 

a body of tides

JUST OUR HEART

Just Our Heart (2026) directed by Maartje Nevejan. "Grief is love that has nowhere to go." It is the rare film that draws forth tears from me. This is one of those rare films. It's a poetic, cinematographic, meditative film that explores death, grief, loss, and transformation. It does so both gentle and firm. It does so obliquely, in "slant rhyme" as Emily Dickinson would say. It's about being open to being broken, to being cracked open, to engaging the tears that flow, and waving back at those who wave at us, with us. This is a truly beautiful work of documentary art.

It is also about the importance and need for rites of passage and rituals in our lives.

This is the August 2026 selection of the Tricycle Film Club.

SUCCULENCE

4 of 5 in my series of worship folder cover art for the Sundays of August. The pastors are focusing on the Old Testament lectionary texts, working with the theme of "Restoration and Renewal." Once I created the first paper cut collage, the others came to me in quick succession. It was serious play!

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"Succulence"
Isaiah 51:1-6

MY GRANDFATHER CHARLES MANSON

My Grandfather Charles Manson (2026) directed by Sophia Maddox and Alexandra Orton. This documentary tries to answer the age old question of whether or not we are products of our genes (nature) or our upbringing (nurture). It's a film about identity, self-discovery, intergenerational trauma, and truth (or the various strands of truth).

I found it interesting because it overlaps with two strands of thought happening in my life right now—(1) my reading of The Shards, in which the Manson cult appears in a peripheral way; and (2) my current study of the three pure bodhisattva precepts (do no harm, do good, do good to/with/for others).

Is it sometimes necessary to divorce ourselves from our families, from those we love? I believe so, and this story is one such example.

Streaming on Hulu.

HINT HINT

This guy!

Wrigley is trying to get me to sit, so that he can sit too. I told him maybe later today, after dinner.

FOCUS

Tonight was the most brutal sit I've ever experienced. Instead of a cushion, I sat in a chair, otherwise it would have been an order of magnitude worse. I didn't have to confront my thoughts or my mind, but rather my body as it slowly "unravelled" into nervous system chaos. My body walked me through internal shocks, muscles tightening and locking up, and the exquisite caresses of The Visitors (who haven't shown up recently) during a grand performance.

So my glasses on the table in front of me became a point of return when stuff got too crazy. I thought of them as me watching me. It was a technique to reset and refocus, in order that I didn't bother anyone else in the room.

I did it! I survived an hour of sitting (two 30 minute sessions) and 10 minutes of walking meditation.

NOMADLAND

Nomadland (2020) directed by Chloé Zhao. A melancholy film that feels like a modern/updated version of The Grapes of Wrath. It's about loss, loneliness, community, freedom, humanity, and the beauty of being alive, the beauty of other people, the beauty of this nation. Frances McDormand lives in her role.

I'll be thinking about this film for quite some time. This is a "must see."

Streaming on Netflix.

PRESENCE

3 of 5 in my series of worship folder cover art for the Sundays of August. The pastors are focusing on the Old Testament lectionary texts, working with the theme of "Restoration and Renewal." Once I created the first paper cut collage, the others came to me in quick succession. It was serious play!

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"Presence"
Isaiah 56:1, 6-8

KATSU BURGER

KATSU BURGER! Katsu Curry pork burger + fries with nori flakes + miso honey mustard dipping sauce + black cherry soda. Heavenly!

Adventure Time with The Wife, who had the flagship Tokyo Katsu beef burger.

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The crunch of the burger was perfect. It added texture. The ingredients were well-balanced and I can honestly say this was one of the best burgers I've ever had. Next time, I want to try beef.