koco wa doko?

Really???

2008-05-17T04:10:00.001-07:00

I find myself curious and pleasantly confused on a regular basis.

Oh really?! Is he now?

Are these people really lining up for McDonald's???

The Burning Building? Really? That's what you decided to call this place?

a dumb moment in the bathroom

2008-05-17T04:07:00.000-07:00

I wasn't paying attention, so I pushed the button; it said PUSH. I only looked at picture #1, so I thought it might automatically dispense a specific amount of tp. Alas, no. I should have looked at #2 and #3, maybe then I wouldn't have sprayed myself with toilet seat cleaner. At least it had a flowery happy smell.

misoshiro & fried tofu

2008-05-16T22:09:00.000-07:00

My neighbor taught me how to make a chicken and vegetable misoshiro. It's supposedly a winter soup, but it was really cold and rainy earlier this week, so it was just the thing to make.

First we need some supplies so we went to the supermarket where they play super happy elevator music versions of classic rock and cheezy 80's hits. I get a kick out of that place. The ingredients include: chicken, shitake and buna-shimeji mushrooms (aka beech mushrooms), carrots, potatoes, a leek, white miso, kombu (a kind of seaweed), tofu, dashi (a soup stock) and a few small peppers.

As a side dish we made some fried tofu. It's pretty simple. First, cut up the tofu. We made the pieces small so that they'd cook quickly. We were really hungry. Fry the tofu in vegetable oil. Flip the pieces so all sides brown. Then put them on some paper towels to soak up the oil. Top the tofu with finely shredded daikon (a big radish), bonito flakes, seaweed, soy sauce and some rice vinegar.
The place where I can make food in my apartment can hardly be called a kitchen. It's super small; so small that my neighbor and I had to utilize both of our kitchens just to make dinner. The misoshiro came out great, the tofu was really yummy, and it was a lot of fun to hang out and cook with my neighbor.

I was looking for other miso soup recipes when I came across this fantastic music video. I'll leave you with that to enjoy, until next time I find something confusing and fantastic in Japan.

miss koco: the podcast

2008-05-06T04:03:00.000-07:00

Oh yeah, by the way, if you want to hear more messages and responses I put the more interesting ones on the podcast. You can subscribe to it using itunes by going to the advanced menu, then "subscribe to podcast" and paste the address below into the window. Voila!

http://misskoco.podbean.com/feed/

Or you can check it out from time to time at http://misskoco.podbean.com

トイレはどこですか。

2008-05-06T02:46:00.000-07:00

One of the first things I learned in Japanese was how to ask where the bathroom is, "Toire wa doko desu ka?" When I got to my new apartment I was pretty surprised and impressed to find this:

Before I get into the details, there's a tangential story that must be told. If you notice, I don't have toilet paper in this picture. A box of household items provided by the company I'm working for was due to arrive on my second day. Thus, for the first night they provided a package of 20 or so individual use tissue packs (like the ones you might throw in your purse. The sign next to the tissues said that they were providing them to avoid "a crisis." I couldn't help but laugh at that one. I mean yes, I wanted tp, otherwise I would have had to go out and get my own. I just thought the word usage was cute and comical.

Toilets here have all kinds of ridiculous features. First of all, when I get close to my toilet a fan starts. The seat is always warm. There is a remote on the side with additional things you can do. There's a bidet spray or a more general spray. The water is warm and you can adjust it on the remote. There's also a stop button. On some toilets there's a music note button. I thought maybe it would play a song, but it plays a digital flushing sound.

I like the water saving features the most. There are two kinds of flushes: 1. a small flush, 2. a big flush. Once you flush the water starts to flow out of the faucet on the top into the sink on the top of the tank. The tank fills and you can wash your hands.

I tried to explain this on the hello happy line but apparently some people just didn't get it.

I've been really nice about the messages I've been getting. I don't want to discourage anyone from calling. I like the bizarre ones, I love the artsy poetic ones, even the kid with an addiction problem was awesome, but these two... who are these people? I'm up for listening to just about anything, but... the guy is the worst. Are they on drugs? Are people that bored?

If anyone is so bored that they want to call and leave a ten minute message like that one, I suggest watching some Japanese television instead.

the last 2 min. are the best.

so so fabulous

2008-05-03T07:33:00.000-07:00

I'm in Japan. So much to process, so much to do. The update on how cute my apartment is, on how everything has a happy song, on all the good stuff I'm eating, on my hilarious toilet, and other observations are coming soon. Till then...

2+2 is 4

2 from perth

2008-04-30T01:32:00.000-07:00

I wonder how they found my number. Is it my blog? My facebook? Did a friend pass it along to you???

favorite messages from tonight

2008-04-29T21:26:00.000-07:00

I'm not quite sure why tonight was the night to call, but a whole bunch of people did. Here are a couple of my favorites:

the hello happy line

2008-04-29T20:18:00.000-07:00

I just got a string of fantastic messages. Things are a little hectic with the packing and going to Tokyo tomorrow thing, but I'll be sure to post them as soon as I can.

Keep them coming! I love it!

xoxo,
koco

2008-04-28T22:08:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is a day for figuring out all I need for what's next. Tomorrow will stretch into the next two days and feel like one and three and two, and I don't know how long or what time it is, all together. When I lay my head down on a pillow again it will be in another place. A place I have no idea about but everyone says that I'll love. It will be my new place, where I live...

I put trust in myself and faith in the adventure of it all. I look onward, squinting my eyes to try to see what lays beyond, and fill in what I can not with all that I can imagine.

The things I want to take with me most, the things I most desire, the things maybe I actually need, never fit in my luggage.

news

2008-04-27T19:30:00.000-07:00

The piece I wrote about Amber, and the piece she wrote about me is in a Philly based zine. Check out the pdf.

on the bus

2008-04-27T14:19:00.000-07:00

message #8: not "hey bus driver"

message #7: on the bus in Thailand:

bjork + matthew barney

2008-04-27T13:57:00.000-07:00

bjork + matthew barney... I wanna watch. Woah.

dirty hoes, lochnagar, & the summer spritzer

2008-04-26T09:47:00.000-07:00

The weather is warm and everyone is out and about. This means there a lot more brunch to be had and evening drinks that take me into the night. In the winter I like a nice whisky, red wines, the occasional beer. For summer drinks I usually like a mojito, white wine, something along those lines, but I've recently discovered a few drinks that may just switch up my game completely.

1. The Dirty Hoe
This is a combination of Hoegaarden and Framboise, the raspberry beer from Lindemans. It's light, it's fruity. It's sorta like a beer cocktail, I guess. I love it! I've been ordering them wherever I can, and I love asking for it. "I was wondering if you could make me a dirty hoe." This one pictured above, from Ten Stone, was very pink and heavy on the framboise. I'm a raspberry junkie, but I preferred the one I got at The Plogh; it was more hoeish than dirty.

2. Blueberry Stoli and Soda
Refreshing, clear, fruity. Like a bubbly berry lift. With a lime, just divine! Titty P., whose catch phrase has always been, "Shit, shower, couple of cocktails," introduced this to me last night at Telephone. He knows his way around a bar and I'm so glad he turned me on to this one.

3. The Royal Lochnagar

The Lady Kiers10 just got back from a week holiday in the U.K. She's been raving about her visit to the Royal Lochnagar Distillery in Scotland. On the ride back to Brooklyn we broke open a little sample and finished it off while catching up on the Real Housewives of New York (total trash--love it). The Royal Lochnager is quite nice. It has caused me to consider drinking more whisky in the summer time.

what would a breast say?

2008-04-23T21:21:00.000-07:00

I'm coming close to finishing my first sound boob piece--as part of the nipples for breasts project I've been working on. I still need to work on embedding speakers and an appropriate power source, but I'm not too concerned with those elements, they'll be easy enough to work out. I want to have a few that say things, or have music that comes from them, but I'm not sure what a breast would say, or what music would come from it.

If you were in a gallery and there were a large fiber breast sitting on a pedestal, what sounds would you imagine coming from it?

message #6

2008-04-22T22:24:00.000-07:00

after the tone: what i think

responses

2008-04-22T22:13:00.000-07:00

after the tone: Two responses left on the kocoline that I dug.

Response #2: in the fam

Response #3: the naked intern calendar

nap town for those who don't sleep

2008-04-22T08:13:00.000-07:00

I've been meaning to post about 1st Friday in Indianapolis since... well, almost three weeks ago.

Our first stop was at the Indianapolis Museum of Art for the Project IMA fashion show. It's part of their show Breaking the Mode that features pieces from the LACMA permanent collection. Project IMA showed the work of 16 local designers, and a lot of it was pretty out there. They advertised it as a collection of "outrageous / beautiful / irreverent / glamorous " pieces. I guess some were avant-garde, but a whole bunch of the concepts were just riding the edge of hideous instead of genius. To illustrate, Project IMA on the left, Issey Miyake on the right. See what I mean?

The place was packed out for the show, and there wasn't anywhere to park. It seemed as if it was the event of the decade in Indianapolis. They had a dj, a handful of gorgeous models, and a couple who were walking in heels for the first time. Everyone, including myself, seemed to really enjoy the affair despite any of the not-so-nice things I mentioned above. I'd do it again.

Next we headed to Fountain Square to check out the Murphy Building. It's filled with artist's studios and galleries. I wanted to pop into Alias Gallery to see what street art PEEL Magazine had to display. The opening was also the first book signing party for PEEL: The Art of the Sticker. A lot more of the work was familiar than I expected. So many of these artists have done commercial work or products. Some pieces were quirky with a humorous edge. There was also the Obama piece by Shepard Fairey, and the letter from Obama next to it. There was an interesting mix of people, from the street art kids with big backpacks to the artsy intellectual types.

I was into what Indianapolis had to offer. I felt I could get along just fine there for about 4 months without going insane.

The most exciting work of the night was in the hall upstairs at Big Car Gallery. The work was called Us By Numbers, a project by Doug Arnholter. Everyone was invited to pick up some paint and be a part. I LOVED THIS! I had to get in on the fun.

We ended the evening with some beer at Rock Bottom Brewery and then some live jazz at the Chatterbox. This place was a funky little dive bar that reminded me of Philly, in that cozy dirty kind of way.

People in the midwest are so nice. Everyone was up for having a conversation, then again maybe it's just the company I like to keep. I don't know. But all in all Nap town wasn't as sleepy as I expected. There are some fabulous little places to eat, a thriving art scene, plenty of bars and chill people to share good times with... I break out in hives at the thought of going to "the middle" (unless we're talking about like Chicago), but as it turns out I'm not allergic to Indianapolis, at all.

an oldie, but goodie

2008-04-21T18:57:00.000-07:00

after the tone message #5: a very young miss koco with her version of happy birthday

reminder

2008-04-20T22:44:00.001-07:00

I found this on Market Street in West Philly. I'd love to know who this Kayos character is.

brought to you by the letter B

2008-04-20T20:21:00.000-07:00

My Saturday started out lazy. I took my time getting myself together and went to meet the ever so talented Esteme in the park. I was running later than I thought I was so I decided to take a cab.

INSTANT KARMA: The driver saw me, but also saw the two guys half a block closer hailing him too. He paused in front of them for a moment before deciding to pick me up instead. They looked like they were late, and obviously very pissed at what had just happened. I yelled down the street, "Where are you going?" Turns out that they were going to the exact same place I was going, Rittenhouse Square, so I told them to hop in. They insisted on paying for the cab, and on the ride there they gave me some recommendations for good restaurants in the city (B.Y.O.B. places, in their opinion, always have better food). Bonus.

The weather was beautiful, like Philly decided to skip over spring and went right to summer. We chilled out for a bit and then headed over to a BBQ at the Special Situations Corporation (Est. 1962). I met a whole bunch of interesting characters there, including this dude:
I couldn't figure out why he was so familiar until he mentioned that he knew my sister. Strangely enough I recognized him from j9's flickr pics. Crazy visual memory.

I was stuffed with plate after plate of food and one drink after the next--burgers, beer, ribs, fresh fresh veggies, rosemary potatoes, and some delish ginger infused cocktails. Then we headed over to Bob and Barbara's for a special before we decided to do a bit of booty shakin over at Barbary.
As Esteme would say, I was in the streets. When I got home my feet were filthy, total proof of a full day/night of urban trekking in open-toed shoes. My hair held onto the scent of the smoky grill and a couple of bars. Despite that, I sleepily slipped into the sheets thinking that everything was just right. It was all the way a summer Saturday should be.

message updates

2008-04-20T17:17:00.000-07:00

after the tone message #3: my throat hurts today

message #4: all the japanese I can remember off the top of my head

a ffantastik message

2008-04-20T08:04:00.000-07:00

I love this project.

the 47

2008-04-19T10:13:00.000-07:00

after the tone message #2:

after the tone?

2008-04-19T00:47:00.000-07:00

I was on the phone the other day when the doorbell rang. I had to get off the phone abruptly, leaving my friend hanging. And then I didn't call her right back because I had plans to go to a cafe with someone else who had just showed up at the door. The message I received later on my phone was, "Who was at the door? a murderer?" I explained myself then received,"I was sure it was a murderer. Or like a pizza guy but from porn."

I love that my favorite people can easily tell me hilarious and fabulous things via cell phone. I'm going to miss this, and that got me thinking. I've decided to keep a phone number in the states so people can call and listen to the message and I'll change the message regularly to keep it interesting. They can leave me messages for me too. I often find myself wanting to make a phone call in the evening when I have minutes if I'm bored. Calling my voicemail will be like checking my blog, but audio based.

You call me anytime on my hello happy line: 1-339-368-KOCO

Ten points to you if you got the "hello happy line" reference. For those who want to listen, but not leave a message, I figured it would be a good excuse for me to learn how to put together podcasts too--very short, 45 second podcasts. Then I'd also have an archive of the messages. The sound quality will definitely be better in the podcast than on the message... I'll have to play with that a bit. I'll figure out how to make in easy for people to subscribe and stuff too. You can also reach me through skype. My skype name is misskoco, of course.

I imagine this will get fun and interesting when I'm in Tokyo or traveling.

So here's the first message: