Jeremy ’s Reviews > South of the Border, West of the Sun > Status Update

I looked into her eyes. Her eyes were like a deep spring in the shade of cliffs, which no breeze could ever reach. Nothing moved there, everything was still. Look closely, and you could just begin to make out the scene reflected in the water’s surface.

People want to be bold over by something special. Nine times out of 10 you might strike out, but that 10th time, that peak experience, is what people want. That’s what can move the world. That’s art. But for my bar, it’s a lot easier to have a neatly turned out polite jazz group than a herd of Charlie Parker‘s!

Sometimes my bar feels like an imaginary place I created in my mind. A castle in the air. I plant some flowers here, constructive fountain there, crafting everything with great care. People come here because everyone is seeking an imaginary place, their own castle in the air, and their very own special corner of it.

On having your own business: you have to use your imagination to survive. And you can put your ideas into practice immediately. No meetings, no executives here. No precedence to worry about or management to contend with. Believe me, it’s great.

Chapter 9: beautiful chapter
Cocktails: spend a few months training, and anyone can make a possible drink. But if you want to take it to the next level, you’ve got to have a special flare. Same with playing the piano, painting. It’s like art. There’s a line only certain people can cross.

Star crossed lovers. One of Ellington‘s ballads. Album: Such Sweet Thunder with Johnny Hodges on the star crossed lovers track.
I was myself then, paired down to the essentials. I could feel each single note of music, each line I read, seep down deep inside me.

What I liked best was seeing ideas that had sprung up in my head materialize into something real. I loved the process of starting from scratch, creating something, seeing it through until it was absolutely perfect. It was my bar, my own little world.

That’s how I came to open an upscale jazz bar in Aoyama.

Completely hooked as usual.
Cool thing: the character references a perfumer and I’ve just finished the novel: Perfume