Haruki Murakami

I have recently finished reading the Wind Up Bird Chronicle.

"I saw myself as the wind-up bird, flying through the summer sky, lighting on the branch of a huge tree somewhere, winding the world's spring.
If there really was no more wind-up bird, someone would have
to take on its duties. Someone would have to wind the world's spring in its place.
Otherwise, the spring would run down and the delicately functioning system would grind to a halt.
The only one who seemed to have noticed that the wind-up bird was gone, however, was me."

Haruki Murakami, "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle"

Perfume girl is coming to stay tomorrow.

During my trip to China, I purchased some leather slippers and a tea pot and cups from the teahouse in Prince Gong's gardens.

Last Tuesday I received a postcard from Boris. The picture on the front of a pasty white, wrinkly old man milking a cow with his bare hands - a gleeful smile on his face. The cow was a Fresian and the man's thick dark blue clothes seemed to indicate that the picture had been taken at some farm in France or Germany.

However, the stamp and postmark indicated the postcard had been sent from Rayong in Thailand. The comment on the back:

"Wish you were here. You'd love these teats. Cheers Boris"

This reminded me of another quote of Murakamis:

"The past increases, the future recedes. Possibilities decreasing, regrets mounting."

from "Dance, Dance, Dance," by Haruki Murakami