Hey it’s Patrick.
I missed the earthquake in Japan by a little over a week. I’m in boring old San Francisco now, so I’m fine.
Extended family and friends in Japan are OK too. Pretty much everyone I know and work with over there is in Tokyo.
Still, stress / depression / general feelings of helplessness levels are high as those near and dear are now facing a battery of blackouts, aftershocks, and a developing nuclear crisis.
Jay and I monitored the situation in Japan over what was a very long weekend using Twitter, Ustream, NHK World, and other means of remote viewing. Jay also downloaded an phone app that sounds out the earthquake warning chimes in real time (For a while there, they were going off every 5 minutes…)
We gave some money to the Japan Society of New York, who assure us that 100% of our donation goes to relief, as opposed to other organizations that skim the top for “administration fees”. You might want to do the same.
Random thoughts:
The situation playing out now is eerily reminiscent of two Japanese disaster films: Japan Sinks (1973) and Deathquake (1980), both of which follow a pattern of quake ---> tsunami ---> nuclear power plant crisis.
Everyone is kind of showing their true colors now: Hiroko Tabuchi is proving to be a truly great world-class journalist, Marxy is cool and pragmatic, and Matt Alt has risen to the occiasion to become a major link between two cultures. Plus lots of other fans and organizations are DOING THE RIGHT THING and trying to help however they can. On the other hand, Shintaro Ishihara is being a dick, a few assholes are trying to leverage the crisis for publicity, and some bloodthirsty Americans are actually framing the tragedy as karmic payback for Pearl Harbor.
As for me, well, I wrote a quick (and in retrospect, a little too optimistic) update about the quake for Otaku USA magazine's website, and tried to confirm the safety of close friends, all the while trying to work on a business proposal. In no way does making it to Monday me feel any better about anything.
I’ve spent the last ten years regularly traveling back and forth between San Francisco and Tokyo. In some ways, it feels like I’m living two lives: one in which I don’t do much except procrastinate and work (SF) and one in which I’m running around in the streets absorbing and experiencing as much as I can because time is short (TKO).
I’ve been told repeatedly “I’m lucky” that I’m not in Tokyo now, trapped in the event horizon of a global crisis, bracing for whatever comes next to land directly on my head. It still feels like I’m being split right down the middle.
Still, this is bigger than where I'm at, or where I'm not...emotions and all that stuff that gets in the way. But there is a kind of solidarity I can share with friends and strangers.
It is the feeling is that nothing will ever be the same again.
I know it's a little late to add my voice to the chorus, but I'm really glad you're OK.
Posted by: Jason Thompson | March 14, 2011 at 12:54 PM