2023 Quotes [of the Day] of the Month, in calligraphy
Wax and I have been collecting a quote of the month each month since 2011 I think. Usually these were things we laughed about or said repeatedly to each other while browsing the internet side by side; they arose verbally, is the key. Well, for almost all of 2023 we have been cat divorced: that is, hanging out in two separate rooms to babysit two separate cats who can't be together but get lonely if they don't have people with them. This has altered a lot of our habits and prevented us from remembering to pick quotes of the month.
But another thing that happened this year was that I bought a Hobonichi Techo planner, a Japanese planner brand that seems to have a cult following around the world. I needed a calendar for work, and I bought this brand because it's printed on Tomoe River Paper, one of the best papers for fountain pen writing in the world. The Techo planners have a quote of the day in them, but they're not at all like what a western person would expect from quotes of the day - sometimes they actually are quite wise, other times interesting, but in general they're often hilariously weird choices.![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
perhael and I have had a regular bonding ritual laughing about these quotations together, so much so that this year I bought the same planner to make sure I'd still have them.
So when I realized on the 31st that I didn't have quotes of the month to post,waxjism and I went through my planner and picked a Weirdest Quote of the Day of the Month for each month. They were too long to letter like I've done the past few years, so they're in calligraphy instead. (Lettering is where you draw the letters. Calligraphy is more like writing, but just fancy, with stroke order and letterform rules to follow, although I find it more fun to bend the rules and combine styles.)
2022 Quotes of the Month, as well as all previous years
Sample calligraphy:
But another thing that happened this year was that I bought a Hobonichi Techo planner, a Japanese planner brand that seems to have a cult following around the world. I needed a calendar for work, and I bought this brand because it's printed on Tomoe River Paper, one of the best papers for fountain pen writing in the world. The Techo planners have a quote of the day in them, but they're not at all like what a western person would expect from quotes of the day - sometimes they actually are quite wise, other times interesting, but in general they're often hilariously weird choices.
perhael and I have had a regular bonding ritual laughing about these quotations together, so much so that this year I bought the same planner to make sure I'd still have them. So when I realized on the 31st that I didn't have quotes of the month to post,
waxjism and I went through my planner and picked a Weirdest Quote of the Day of the Month for each month. They were too long to letter like I've done the past few years, so they're in calligraphy instead. (Lettering is where you draw the letters. Calligraphy is more like writing, but just fancy, with stroke order and letterform rules to follow, although I find it more fun to bend the rules and combine styles.)2022 Quotes of the Month, as well as all previous years
- January: Not Having any plans for tomorrow, not knowing what I'm going to do - isn't that happiness? That's how gorillas live their lives. They don't think about tomorrow. They might die tomorrow. But if they worry about that, they won't be able to live happily today. The gorilla way to do things is, firstly, to not think about tomorrow. - Juichi Yamagiwa, primatologist/anthropologist, "Learning from Gorillas about Happiness and the Future", Hobonichi Techo 10 Jan 2023
- February: Of course, plants don't have eyes, right? And yet they bloom with such colorful flowers. To put it really simply, this is a result of their getting information from butterflies: "Hey, you look sweet!" and things like that. So in a way, plants see the world through butterflies' eyes. - Keiji Minamigawa, director, art team "mé", "Fixated on mé", Hobonichi Techo 22 Feb 2023
- March: The Japanese cedar has long been trasured by the Japanese people. It's the largest tree in Japan, and it's so earnest and hard-working, and yet now it's being maligned because of the pollen allergy problem. Cedars around Japan are losing their temper, saying all they wanted was to be useful to humans. So I want to maintain the mountains properly to raise the cedars' self-esteem. - Ryosuki Aoki, forester, "Talking Trees, Talking Forestry", Hobonichi Techo 15 March 2023
- April: It's strawberry season, so I see a lot of strawberries. If cherry blossoms, autumn leaves and snow are the four seasons for the eyes, then fruits are the four seasons for the mouth. Wouldn't it be nicer if rather than being called a greedy guts when we eat fruit, we were known as tasteful people who appreciate the charms of each season? - Shigesato Itoi, CEO, Hobonichi Co., Ltd., "Today's Darling", Hobonichi Techo 15 April 2023
- May: Babies see the world without any knowledge or prejudice, don't they? If we could go back to that state, how would we see the world? I've been thiking about how to somehow express the world as seen through the eyes of a newborn baby, by peeling off the adult filters attached to my two eyeballs. - Haruka Kojin, artist, art team "mé", "Fixated on mé", Hobonichi Techo 18 May 2023
- June: Being able to talk about the goodness of this person or that person is the most joyful and fun thing there is. In other words, praising someone you think is good. It's nice enough when you do it for a dog or a baby, but it's great when you praise your colleagues. - Shigesato Ito, CEO, Hobonichi Co., Ltd., Hobonichi Techo 6 June 2023
- July: When I don't know what to do, I sing as hard as I ccan. I've realized that if I sing hard enough, everything will become better. - Hiroto Kohmoto, rock singer, "What is a Band? According to Hiroto Kohmoto", Hobonich Techo 19 July 2023
- August: If you go to the Ogasawara islands, you can hear the songs of humpback whales. They sing a variety of complex songs. There is a kind of "Top Ten Hits of the Summer", and in the areas where the whales gather certain songs gradually become popular, until eventually they all become the same. - Kazuo Okanoya, prof. of animal behavior, "Darwin's Gift I", Hobonichi Techo 5 August 2023
- September: Rock and roll is friendly. I'm not saying that based on reason, just instinct. It's intense, but friendly. I think it's friendly music even if it's done by someone with a face like mine. - Hiroto Kohmoto, rock singer, "Wwhat is a Band? According to Hiroko Kohmoto", Hobonichi Techo 25 September 2023
- October: I keep a "sieve" in my chest. I put what people san and do into my chest and sift through them. I say, "I don't need this", "I don't need that", or "This is important for my future life", and the last I try to treasure. - Haruo Obata, volunteer activist, "The Amazing Old Guy Who Learned How to Learn", Hobonichi Techo 26 October 2023
- November: My ideal is a gorilla. Whenever I am in doubt about something, I always think of a gorilla. I think about how I would get through it if I were a gorilla. - Juichi Yamagiwa, primatologist/anthropologist, "Learning from Gorillas about Happiness and the Future", Hobonichi Techo 10 November 2023
- December: First of all, there is life until you are about fifty years old. There are philosophies and rules for that part of life that have been talked about for a long time. But nowadays, people still have a long way to go after fifty. Nobody really knows yet what life is like from that point on. - Haruomi Hosono, musician, "Art and Me, Me and My Friends", Hobonich Techo 17 December 2023
Sample calligraphy:
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