I am shocked and disgusted that trump, fox news, oan, newsmax are all allowed to continue the destruction of our democracy with no mechanism to stop it. Jan 6th was coordinated and planned. Trump had a pre-rally party with his family, all of them knowing what was about to happen. Important right-wingers paid to bus these people there. They met up at the trump hotel. I am so disillusioned with our country right now and I DO NOT have hope for our future. I hate even saying that.
Naively, I thought everything would settle down after the election. I thought I could leave the orange one behind me and not worry so much. How, could I have been so blind and simple? So now I do anything to keep my mind clear and focused on the future and knowledge.
In my ever-expanding experience of completely wasting time on the internet, this morning I ran across a story about Hanko.
"What exactly is a hanko? A hanko/inkan (used interchangeably) is a carved stamp that can be used in any situation where an individual, or an individual on behalf of a company, might otherwise use a signature or initials. Signing contracts, doing your banking (at a bank) or receiving a parcel are just three such cases. The necessity for a hanko and even the type of hanko may vary depending on the situation."
Well, actually I first noticed and watched a video on a kid who has become homeless during Covid, which then led me to the Hanko exploration. I know about "chops", looks like the images have disappeared (note to self: fix that). I have many of them. My mom had given me a beautiful set on my graduation which I had carved. And everyone who traveled to Japan, Korea or Thailand would bring me back my own set.
But you know, you can never have enough chops and I found such fun website selling them
Japanese Name Converter. The name "kimberly carney" in Japanese is キンバリー カーオニー (kinbarii kaaonii)
Who knows. But lately I have been pretty consumed by watching YouTube videos. Mostly the mostly educational flavor. Cooking, traveling, organizing. Oh, and sometimes I watch these at 1.75 or 2.0 playback speed.
I ran across Honeyjubu the other day. She has some fantastic videos on storing food, cleaning pots, cooking, shopping at Costco and what is good to buy at IKEA. Lots of salmon, octopus and delicious Korean dishes. I find it fascinating.
My friend Rita turned me onto 李子柒 Li Ziqi, she has 16 million followers on YouTube ... yes she is that good. (and apparently a multi-millionaire). But her instructional, educational videos are ways of Chinese of the past. Her grandmother, who she makes wonderful meals for, is featured in her videos. Each video is a work of art and sometimes you wonder ... how does she do all of this? Who knows if she is doing it all on her own, but it is fabulously informative to watch and I become transfixed. I only wish they would have English explanation of her recipes and meals.
From Wikipedia: "Li Ziqi ([lì tsɹ̩̀.tɕʰí]; Chinese: 李子柒; born 6 July 1990), is a Chinese video blogger, entrepreneur, and Internet celebrity.[3] She is known for creating food and handicraft preparation videos in her hometown of rural Pingwu County, Mianyang, north-central Sichuan province, southwest China, often from basic ingredients and tools using traditional Chinese techniques.[4][5][6][7] Her YouTube channel has more than 2.4 billion views[a] and 16 million subscribers, as verified on 21 August 2021, which is a Guinness World Record for "The most subscribers for a Chinese language channel on YouTube"
The word Al Disah literally means “the valley of the palm trees.” If only one word could describe more, I would add: “the valley of the palm trees, the freshest air in Saudi Arabia, the silence broken only by bustling wildlife.” Wadi Al Disah is the Grand Canyon of Saudi Arabia. Still, with one difference – there are no crowds of tourists coming from all over the world. It’s a quiet, beautiful and peaceful place, where you can connect again with nature. At least it’s not yet crowded, so I was very excited that I could experience it before the mass tourism comes. I’m sure someday it will as this gem can not stay hidden for so long. The Saudi government is currently working on a development project in this region to receive more visitors in the future.