Kaz S. Matamura

about Life of Squid, Chicken Y Squicken

(Published in 2005 – Mad As Hell Club)

Dearest George,

Do you believe in destiny?

It wasn’t love at first sight, like other mundane love affairs. To be honest with you, I had contempt toward you in the beginning. I didn’t see the charisma others were talking about or the integrity you were talking about. Silly me, I looked for faults in you, just like a boy who picks on the girl he likes most. Maybe you’ll forgive me, if you know that I was just jealous of your soon-to-be first lady?

But I couldn’t deny you for long when you started to make me laugh. You were my court jester in this ruthless world. What’s more, your imperfect English gave me confidence to speak in public and made me unafraid to look like a fool.

George, George, George. Every time I say it, I just cannot help but smile.

Besides “Peter Rabbit” and “The Tale-Tell Heart”, “Curious George” was my favorite story. This poor little monkey, George, was pulled out of his comfy jungle to a city where he didn’t belong. George was a curious and easygoing fellow, but he didn’t know what the hell he was doing and made messes everywhere. But he wasn’t blamed, because of the white man with a “yellow” hat. See, this yellow hat represents the brain that you, George, just don’t have. If you have a brain, you don’t need a white man who tells you what to do. Now I know the books were sending me a message, “Save George from the “WHITE” House.”

In spite of our background differences, we have so much in common. We both like to read to children, our tastes in clothing are similar and when I was in school I had cowboy boots and a skull and bones patch on my leather jacket. And our last names! My name can be translated to “a village between your legs” – just like yours!

The only difference is that I broke away from my family to claim my own life. But you are still playing a Michael Corleone under a Don “Mommy” Corleone. I’m not judging you, I know you don’t approve of judgmental people, you stubborn stubby. I’m just opening a window of possibilities for my little birdie to fly away.

I’ll make a better wife than Laura. When you misspeak, I will be the first one to laugh out loud, clapping my hands, saying, “Oh, George! Silly goose! Trying to make us laugh again!” Then people won’t see you as a moron, but as a comedian! And of course, you can eat as many pretzels as you like and I’ll put a glass of milk next to you just in case. Every night you can rest your head on my lap while I read you to sleep. I’ll read “The Giving Tree” and I’ll kiss you on your forehead, my monkey boy, and sing to you:

“If you like Pina Coladas,
And running around the woods with no clothes.
If you’re not into world peace
If you have a bit o’ brain
If you like making love in the morning
On the back of a horse
Then I’m the love that you’ve looked for
Write to me and escape.”

I just cannot wait to take you away from the White House.

Yours forever,

Kaz

P.S. You can tell Dick you got a yellow fever in the jungle while looking for a weapon of mass destruction.

(Originally published on mad as hell club – Summer 2006)

We couldn’t do the “Girls Gone Wild” thing during our summer breaks; instead, we had home schooling with tons of homework. We were forced to keep a journal everyday. That’s how Japanese keep kids from going too out of control during the long break. Well, our breaks weren’t that long; they were only five weeks long.

August 7 and 15 were special summer school days. Usually, I didn’t show up to these special days, but that particular morning, my mom needed to clean the house thoroughly, so she kicked me out. After hanging out with friends in the classroom, bragging about how tan we all were, we were lined up and marched to the auditorium. When the baldheaded principle showed up at the podium, we bowed to him as he bowed. He talked about how healthy we looked and said that we shouldn’t over eat. Then he told us about the meaning of this day. In 1945, this day, around eight o’clock in the morning, eighty thousand people disappeared in a flash. He told us if it happened right now in this city, that we, our parents, friends, neighbors, the man at the fish shop, the newspaper deliverymen, would be all gone. He’s a good speaker – he knows how to “personalize” history for us. When the auditorium was a coldly quiet on that August morning, he brought out a special guest, a middle aged man in a grey suit. We gasped, but without sound, because we didn’t want to be rude to our “special” guest. He bowed, so we bowed. When our heads were back up, we stared at him again. The left side of his face was melted, with a grey purplish surface. His eyes were both open, but his left eye didn’t close when he smiled. His speech was clear, but there was a slurp-like sound at the end of his sentences.

Then the lights went black. We panicked, but again, without sound. We heard the grey suit man’s voice. “Here’s how Hiroshima looked like before.” A slide of a nice suburb with skinny kids is shown. “And this is the same place after the bombing.” A slide of petrified city looking liked it belonged inside a giant ashtray. And he keeps clicking, showing new slides. More than just black and white pictures, there was also artwork that was burned into our minds. Red clouds, black air, body parts and slumps of naked bodies piled on a ground. “When the burns were bad, we had to take off clothes to ease the irritation. Sometimes the radiation took the clothes off. Sometimes the radiation took the skin off.” While showing the artwork, he told about how he was trying to find his home in the city with only one eye open. He saw a pair of legs standing with no body attached. He sees the imprinted images of people against building walls from when the bomb hit. He walked against the current of people heading towards the river for water, many of them dying on the street or in the shade while resting. It was a hot day, but he lost all sense of time because it was all dark.

We bowed him to say good-bye and went back to our homerooms. No one took home the book about the bomb that the teacher recommended.

Since that day, I’m now for the disarming of all military forces. Nothing can justify any humans being nuked and killed. War should be illegal.

When the United States cut off Japan’s oil supply, Japan got mad and attacked Pearl Harbor. The States joined the war. Even though, they had no resources, Japan believed that they were not inferior and so they did not give up easily. So after almost three years, the States say, “That’s it!” and drops the a-bomb for the first time in human history to see the damage it can cause. Japan surrendered and went to bed with America the beautiful for next sixty-plus years. It was an easy switch because when the Emperor announced he was no longer a god, they didn’t have a religion. Buddhist is atheism. We don’t believe in god or anything beyond reality.

But now, we are dealing with people who believe in life beyond life. They will keep goin’ ‘till the end – because that’s where they want to go. The same old stories can be found in history books.

Oh, I forgot. Our “decision makers” cannot read.

Dreams are over-rated

“Do what you love to do” is bullshit. I am sure it makes you feel good, but if you are not able to continue what you love to do, you will end up just like anyone else who didn’t pursue their dream… a bitter old person.

Americans make their decisions and action plans based on their emotion. Based on what they “feel” like doing. Problem here is feeling changes. Well, everything is impermanent, but there is nothing more jello-er than our feelings.

I know so many people who gave up on acting. “I lost passion,” is the biggest excuse. The truth is they didn’t get the success they expected, so they got tired of waiting for the next big break and moved on.

I don’t believe they ever felt passionate about acting. They just loved or liked the idea of being an actor.

Feeling and passion differ like “being horny” and “being passionate toward your lover.” When you have a boiling passion inside, you just cannot ignore it. All you can do is to just let it out, and continue doing it, no matter what. It always leads you to something larger (or trouble). When you let it out, there is a sense of satisfaction. The reward is in the doing, just like Charles Schwaltz, the papa snoopy said, “If you can make that passion your profession, you are truly the lucky one.”

Passion overpowers any dragging emotions, such as insecurity of feeling not good enough, or simply “I don’t feel like doing it.” Passion is the drive and the fuel that keep us creating our own unique life. It gives us the patience to learn the craft.

It is the BEST cure for laziness. The irony is, you just cannot teach passion to lazy people. They must find it within.

I never “felt” tired when I worked at the theatre. I have been frustrated and exhausted physically, and often cursed and yelled, “Why the hell do I have to do this?”

ou do not choose your dream, it will find you like a thundering storm, it will clear a path for you. Now wake up from your dream state and create a passion filled reality.

 

“What is your dream?”

“I don’t have one.”

And without exception, I get that reaction that looks like they just smelt a rotten egg.

Don’t get me wrong, here. I think reaching for things and dreaming dreams is great, but a lot of dreams are over-estimated, over-valued and over-glorified simply because dreams are too small nowadays, involving just one person – Me-Me-Me.

When did being successful begin to mean being just rich and famous? And once you are rich and famous are you entitled to do whatever you want to do? If you are a public figure aren’t you supposed to have social responsibility?

But who am I to mumble? I have sold my artistic soul to the Money Devil before.

I grew up in the bubble economy of the ‘80s in Japan: the Jazz Age of Tokyo. In those days by working just a little, I made money – enough money to buy just about anything. I owned three Chanel suits before I turned seventeen. I had many friends to party with. We were all bored and exhilarated. We wanted more of everything. We were at liberty. We didn’t have low self-esteem or shyness to overcome. We had arts education in our school, and there we played, performed and recited on stage. And when we finished school our generation took over. The entire world was our stage.

Then came the summer of ’89 and Tiananmen Square. The Chinese government tanks chasing after their own people, and we watched it all on live coverage. I was at that age when I criticized everything around me —parents, teachers, friends and government. I despised and felt ashamed of Japanese history. I wished I were Swedish, like Heidi.

Then I saw those tanks. “Hey,” I thought, “even Tojo didn’t go that far!”

If our neighbors, the Chinese, only 1300 miles away could be bulldozed by government tanks, how could we just sit around drinking from a champagne tower at a wrap party after a show?

As a child I was taught to be a responsible member of society before I experienced the pleasures of life. On that day in 1989, my genetic Zen mind kicked in. Pleasure, I realized, is an illusion. The bottom line Zen thinking rang true: Life sucks.

The gay 80’s were over. We exhausted ourselves by having too much fun. We felt insignificant and wanted to escape our self-centered universe. We wanted to get out from what we were; clueless spoiled brats. We had it all, but somehow at the same time, we were hopeless. When I first decided to move to the States, the American dream meant the freedom to maximize my abilities, whatever abilities they may be.

I was ready to become a pioneer, like the white man in the movie “The Razor’s Edge.” If that dude, played by a beautiful Tyron Power, could travel to the Orient to soul search, this Oriental could go search for her soul in the West.

Well, actually, I just wanted to live under the California sun, and besides, I’ve never met anyone who went off to soul search and came back with one. The soul is like the brain – if you don’t have one, you cannot get one.

Still, I left Tokyo to make more discoveries. I didn’t have any goals to accomplish. My bohemian brain cannot think long term.

I believe in reaching up and trying for things, but goal setting is meaningful only if along the way one’s personality and integrity grows. You don’t need to be what you are not if what you are doing makes you happy. Chasing dreams sometimes seems to me like a dog chasing a car – what do you do once you catch it? If a dog is smart enough, he can navigate his way to Petco to get some dog cookies using a credit card left in a car. But most of dogs aren’t that smart. Animals think about survival first, while humans think about thriving. What if we spend all the energy we use attacking and destroying others to nurture and connect with others? What moving here taught me was it’s good people around you who make your life worth living.

I want to keep believing in bright hearts, like the heart Dr. Martin Luther King had.

If I have to name one dream, I want to leave a society where being a good person is good enough and considered successful.

Here’s something that may totally change the way you think about Japanese women.

When you watch old Japanese films, pay attention to where women are walking. They ALWAYS walk behind men, and they are not looking up when they walk, but they have wandering eyes.

The reason for this is that they are checking out the men’s ASS

I don’t understand why some women get upset when men are only attracted by big bosomed women, instead of seeing the person inside. It works both ways. If it didn’t, advertisers would never spend so much money designing the perfect packaging for detergent and chocolate. Women have equal right to check out all packages.

Whoever invented the magazine PLAYGIRL was a moron. Great news for gay men, but we girls are not interested in what’s obvious. When a woman sees an erect penis, she doesn’t get aroused, she gets suspicious. We are more complicated than that.

There are girls who like abs, wide shoulders, a deep voice or a pretty face. But me, I’m an Ass Girl. Doesn’t mean I’m a jerk. I enjoy watching tight buns, not the wiggly kind, but the swishy kind.

When it comes men’s buns, I am as picky as Goldilocks, except three isn’t a magic number for me. And no matter how much I adore my own race’s intelligence, tidiness and sweetness, I cannot take 80% of Asian buns. They remind me of a flat computer monitor. Not too exciting. And if their owners don’t workout when they get older, their buns look like the face on Edward Munch’s painting, “The Scream”.

Then there are Black men’s buns. This is what I call the “real deal.” They are beautifully puffy. I especially like them when they shine like black pearls. But for my tiny hands, they are often too overwhelming. I often have the urge to just to grab on, but I refuse to look like I’m trying to climb a coconut tree

White men’s buns are friendly and non-threatening in my eyes. But I’ve noticed that when white men get fat, their buns don’t droop or puff out, but grow side ways.

So I decided the worked out Spanish buns are most ideal to my hands.

Regardless of race, I do not like petite olive colored buns or fat Tofu buns. Peach is okay, but I like it shiny not fuzzy.

I have found that my fingers are the best way to judge a comfortably cushioned strong buns. When they’re squeezed, you may see dimples on both cheeks. I call these ideal buns “tomato asses”.

When you are looking for the perfect tomato to pluck, proper assessment is key. It will make it easier if you give the subject A hug to be certain he has the goods. First, act friendly. Give the subject the kind of a hug that shows that you are not frigid, but more of an open free-spirited type of person. If you are short, take advantage of it. If you are tall, stand a step below the subject. Do not let him hold you under your arms. You must let his arms go over your shoulders. Then, step into his tummy area, and slowly hug him. If he is a big, like a mattress, and if you have short arms like me, it’s your lucky day. You should be able to land one hand on each cheek. Gently pat the material. Do not hold it for too long or squeeze too aggressively. Don’t get frightened or you may also frighten the subject. It may take a few tries to get the technique down.

The packaging is equally as important: Underwear.

To be honest, looking at a man in his underwear, even without socks, is definitely not a turn on. We are more into feeling and touching than watching. And when you see tight bikini briefs on a man, you feel like releasing “it” so “it” can breathe.

Elephant pants – they makes me want to drop everything and go home. This is what I call Jerry Lewis humor. You are sacrificing your pride to get laugh.
Men without pride is like a sugar free cotton candy. What’s the use?

No silly trunks – unless you are playing strip poker. I do not want my man to feel obliged to make me laugh all the time.

My favorite is the classic. A sparkling brand new pair of “Tighty Whities”. Younger women may be afraid of these; for fear that they may indicate that he is a “mama’s boy”. To me, it tells me he is a man who’s not afraid of letting go – he can throw them away once they start to thin, if the rubber waistband loses its elasticity, or turn yellow.

I don’t mind men not wearing any underwear at all as long as it’s with jeans, and safely worn, and nothing gets caught in the gaping maws of the zipper.

No matter what kind of underwear he uses, when you get married make sure he switches to the tighty whities for laundry reasons.

I’m hoping this may open a windows of opportunity for all couples to have a conversation that may start with something like, “Honey, what do you think about my underwear?” I just want all women to be able express their tastes, because I had to learn the hard way.

My expertise on this subject didn’t come easy.

When I was young and fresh, I dated a baseball player. It was during baseball season, and he was storing and using his energy for games ONLY. In the beginning, it was exciting and it was enough to just go out dinner or shopping to pick out shirts for him. After a while, just doing the “nice going out thing” was killing me. Later, I couldn’t even bring myself to the games, because I felt like a 300 lb diabetic woman in a candy store.

We broke up in one September afternoon. We were both heartbroken. I was able to say, “Can I just touch your buns?” It may have saved our relationship.

But if this pain has taught me anything, it is that I have learned how to set boundaries, while communicating each others needs. You cannot live on tomatoes alone. Balance of need, want and what we can have is the key to any healthy relationship.

Now that I’m older and wiser, I look for intelligence and nice conversations – at least while he is sitting. Conversations with men who can speak their minds without thinking about what others think, or those that do as they please, is what I love most. There are too many men who prefer to be liked rather than to be heard, and I can’t trust those opinion benders. I like men with guts who can fight me, argue with me and tell me I’m wrong. I know in the end I’m always right. And, because I am always telling them what to do, I like man who tells me what to do. I never do what he tells me to do, but again, I respect that the man’s has the guts to be an asshole.

Yes, that’s right. I love assholes, as in he’s a jerk. I can trust that breed of men, because I know that they are being up front and honest. Maybe I’m looking at their behind instead of their front because I feel like many men are castrated. I seek for passion – the kind of passion that there is between a matador and a bull. Like Maureen O’Hara and John Wayne – the “table-flipping” and “throwing-water” kind of passion.

Why do we try to act so civilized anyway? Why do we have to feel guilty when anyone if offended by any thing we do or say. We are too nice\to let the whiners and complainers get what they want. Taboos and rules are making us paranoid, and we need to be told what’s not to do before we figure out what we need to do. We are numbing our own judgment. We accept lies or double talk because that’s what civilized society does.

But wasn’t it the civilized people that were supposed to raise above from the uncivilized society, and lead the example of ideal society? It surely looks like other way around nowadays.

Maybe we should be little bit wilder, willing to break the rules. We have been tamed too long. We need to release our animal side and do something that feels right.

So here’s my message to all men kind:

Be an animal. Go wild. Speak the truth. And shake your asses. Eat tomatoes.