De Japanse schrijfster Yukiko Motoya werd geboren op 14 juli 1979 in Hakusan, Ishikawa. Zie ook alle tags voor Yukiko Motoya op dit blog.
Uit: The Lonesome Bodybuilder (Vertaald door Asa Yoneda)
“Would feel at home in the crafts club. Would find a job locally. But what really would have happened if I’d gotten on the roller coaster that day? I have the feeling I would have met a version of myself I don’t know now. Lived a completely different life.
The gong sounded, and the men stood up. I’d assumed that throwing out punches was all there was to it, but the boxers guarded against every blow, observing each other’s movements with eagle eyes. That must be what they call dynamic vision. If only I had some dynamic vision too, I might not have missed out on so many things. The match was over, and they sounded the biggest gong yet.
The very next day, I started training to become a bodybuilder. I thought at first that I could aim to be a pro boxer, but I realized that I didn’t have a trace of fighting spirit in me. No desire to beat anyone up. It was the bodies of the two boxers I’d seen on TV the previous night that seemed to be seared into my brain, even while I was at my job, working the register at a natural health and beauty shop.
They turned in all directions, showing off their bodies to me. Even while I described various products to customers. This is a moisturizing cream with pomegranate traditionally used in herbal medicine. How do firm limbs feel? This hair oil is made from rare organic concentrated plant extracts. What is it like when a strong body throbs?
Was I looking for an affair? Of course not. I loved my husband. He could be bumbling and juvenile, but he was just working too hard, that was all. I only needed to hang on until he was done with this busy period, and then he’d start initiating again. It wasn’t that I wanted to touch any other man. I just wanted to luxuriate in some taut muscle. I hadn’t felt so giddy in a long time. I’d swing by the pharmacy on my way home from work and get some protein powder.
I liked the taste of the protein powder when I tried it, and decided to join a gym. I felt a little worried about fitting it into the household budget, but I found a small, independent fitness club two train stops away, whose website advertised “100 Free Sessions Until You See the Results You Want!” Having never done any serious exercise before, I had no idea what kind of progress I’d be able to make in a hundred sessions.
On the first day of my private sessions, I confided to the trainer — a boy in his early twenties — that I wanted to become a bodybuilder. He stopped writing on his clipboard and looked at me with surprise.
“Bodybuilding? Not weight loss.”
“Yes. Your website said you have a training program.”
“We do, but this is pretty unusual. Women in their thirties usually come looking to lose weight, so I assumed . . .”
“Is it very difficult?”
“Not really. But with bodybuilding, you won’t get anywhere with weight training alone. Nutrition is key. Could you handle consuming, say, four thousand calories a day? That’s double the daily amount for an average adult male.”
De Duitse dichter en schrijver Steffen Popp werd geboren op 18 juli 1978 in Greifswald. Zie ook alle tags voor Steffen Popp op dit blog en ook mijn blog van 18 juli 2010.
Elegie voor K.
Moe is mijn oog, moe moe
als de Alpen. Een betoverd traject
van jaren is mijn gezicht
velden, waarin ik sliep –
gele lampionnen, een duister kinderpartijtje
alles is buiten mij, een stuwmeer
waarin de ondergelopen dorpen oplichten ’s nachts
De aarde geeft kleuren
de huid geeft eenheid
op de plantages wapenen de fruitbomen zich dapper
tegen het heelal –
rondom schurken de weiden
tegen mijn voeten
de rivier
aan mijn kant, heimelijk trekt hem
een verre zee.
Vertaald door Alfred Schaffer en Gregor Seferens
Zie voor nog meer schrijvers van de 14e juli ook mijn blog van 14 juli 2020 en eveneens mijn blog van 14 juli 2019 deel een en ook deel 2.