Postcards from Gravelly Beach

not just cereal. also alchemists and pop buddhist riffs Video reading of this same dispatch (in moderately different edit) is at https://daveostory.com/film-vids-docs/postcards-video/cereal-and-hypnotists-four-poems-from-the-caboose/ Following recent reading at “Muriel’s Journey” poetry campaign from Vancouver, spontaneously share the honourable-mention poem “Small Box of Cereal” with some related artifacts, backstory, feelings about the poet’s task in creating, the impact the poems have on me and, while drinking coffee wearing dashing pajamas in the caboose — the affectionate name for the recent addition to our home in Okayama, Japan — read a previous piece included in Muriel’s Journey anthology book “Fire Within” in 2022 called “Alchemists confer with Hypnotists” with a bonus side bar included, plus “Osaka Afternoon” which kinda caught me off-guard, and finally a rather sprawling poem (which i relaly dig) called (somewhat cheesily) “Smiling on the Inside (hold on)” which concerns dentistry, pop Buddhism, and finding home. Cereal and Hypnotists – Postcard #93 {clickity click above or subscribe *everywhere* (see below) Bring your own magic: Cereal and Hypnotists – Postcard #93 (44MB, 29:08, mp3, stereo) Also, express my fondness for this particular inclusive & unique campaign for including lesser-heard poetic voices aside from the usual gamut of MFAs (no disrespect to you graduates, it’s just nice to have something a little bit different) plus the “entrance fee” of telling how you help your community My little promo piece for the live reading  More Blurb: I meant to run down a list of other poets who read or otherwise participated but well I wasn’t entirely prepared however I did manage to call the spectacular editor/publisher Kyle Hawke by slightly incorrect surname (Hawkes) while I was trying to complement him by mentioning how he treats all the poetry transcripts as they were lost works of James Joyce And while fumbling and rolling hit into “Osaka Afternoon” with a dedication to Emily & Reb who have chimed in with kind words recently – written at the beginning of what eventually became my “Japan 2.0s” era 20+ years after my first foray into Japan working as a mushroom farmer in Tottori yet here I was in a completely new environment in all possible ways and facets of life yikes – regardless it’s called “Osaka Afternoon” as hadn’t revisited this poem for some time which was written in a time of tumult & confusion while diligently seeking a home it hit me quite hard feeling like my heart was flayed (or filleted) open with all my most raw emotions and confessions Sigh yet the poet’s task is to channel emotions which might strike as universal and float the kinetic words out into the world – right? So couldn’t quite end on that note so jump into (another) long-form confessional coming back from Indonesia closing off a chapter of a life with a conundrum in my otherwise lovely teeth feeling completely overwhelmed by the strain of “life” and celebrating the purposefulness of having items that can be evolved and curated into collections it’s not “stuff” it’s materiel to create more because the future is unwritten and history is made by people who write it down Meandering through forms, I poke back at pop Buddhist riffs and dance around the joy of creation sort-ganizing – was submitted to the same Muriel’s Journey campaign in 2024 yet did not receive an accolade no big deal :-) called “smiling on the inside (hold on)” I think it is anyway Whew finish with a bit of ukulele a lot more thanks adding in Neal who helped me prepare for the live stream, KK ⁠and his convening community at the planetarium, my dear penpal Monique, other people like Tamara with her bookshop (Western Sky) whom I forgot to mention So hey there’s all of me sliced and diced as such a request to me your poems perhaps After all as mentioned in one of the poems I’m home forever now – My address won’t change no more secret hideouts, just one safe house Subscribe Auto-magically receive Postcard from Gravelly Beach podcast, via:  PfGB iTunes PfGB Youtube PfGB Spotify PfGB Amazon PfGB Tunein PfGB at Daveostory (blog) Collection at Internet Archive PfGB RSS feed (drop into any other “podcatcher”) + possibly more at Pod Sub Desk Reviews rewarded with actual postal postcards #bribe Follow along: via Twitter @uncleweed & @DaveOstory  via FB UncleWeed Storytime via Instagram @uncleweed & @daveostory “Hand-crafted since 2005 | Field notes & poetry from splendid locales.”

Riffing about earthquake scars, zen temples, sea swims, scrapbooks, aliens, dinosaurs & 7″ records while rain falls in an engawa in Noto – a peninsula at the end of the world wall of our quarters at the “fish house” in Noto, Ishikawa, Japan Rain falls while i meander in real time memories the engawa—that in-between strip where house meets weather—inside a former fish-processing shed turned home at the ragged edge of the Noto Peninsula. Since the New Year’s earthquake, the village is a collage of blue X’s, empty lots, demolition crews, and stubborn rebuilds. We slosh barefoot on warped floors, watch puddles ripple toward the fish auction, and listen for trucks and tide. Sensei keeps his laboratory of samples and skeletons (yes, a whale skeleton in the rafters), Fukushima bark slides for spectral readings, and the old stories that refuse to leave. Meanwhile, we practice indoor camping, brew tea, and make scrapbooks as Ichiro eyes the water and fireworks. Stories from the road: the once-grand Maizuru, a chaotic tea shop and a spotless wagashi counter; a minshuku near Fukui’s Dinosaur Museum; a temple founded by Dōgen; a punk-sticker-covered shrine; and a roadside trove of antiques where a musician gifts an Edo-era samurai saké cup and a signed 1970 seven-inch record. A postcard from the edge—loss and rebuilds, small kindnesses, and the quiet work of carrying on for the Olson O-bon Onsen Ocean roadtrip, Aug. 2025 “Noto Roadtrip Diary – Postcard #92” from Postcards from Gravelly Beach by Dave Thorvald Olson Sit in the engawa for: Noto Roadtrip Diary – Postcard #92 (46MB, 29:53, mp3, stereo) Noto Roadtrip Diary – window view, the edge of the word ahead Bonus: Noto Fish Market and Ankou fish butchering from our quarters at Hongo sensei’s Meiji era “fish house” to the Noto port and the edge of the world Along the road, we pass through: – Maizuru, a once-grand “Grand Hotel” town now shuttered and wistful – a chaotic tea shop and a spotless wagashi counter – a minshuku near Fukui’s Dinosaur Museum – a temple founded by Dōgen, where I meet a calligrapher pilgrim – a tiny shrine plastered in punk stickers (shout-out to Ramen, the one-man Ramones tribute) – an antique trove where I find a working Sony Walkman, an Edo-era samurai saké cup, and a signed 1970 seven-inch from the shopkeeper’s own band There are beach coffees, rotating bridges, and rain that turns August into a sauna. when you meet greatness Subscribe Auto-magically receive Postcard from Gravelly Beach podcast, via:  PfGB RSS feed  PfGB iTunes PfGB Google Play PfGB Tunein PfGB at Daveostory + possibly more at Pod Sub Desk Reviews rewarded with actual postal postcards #bribe Follow along: via Twitter @uncleweed & @DaveOstory  via FB UncleWeed Storytime via Instagram @uncleweed & @daveostory

cover art Poems on hotel letterhead resplendent with stamps crafted in mountains, on tracks and seas, finding ways to be lost, avoiding pirates and ghosts, bouncing from pastoral Lower Canada across radio waves to a provincial caboose in Japan, onward to find you Bounce off ionosphere: Items Forgotten on Spoken Word Radio – Postcard #91 (32MB, 21:52, mp3, stereo) Along the way, I produced a series of visual freeverse poetry called “Items: Forgotten in Drawers“ – part pirate treasure map, part meanderings stashed in a non-secret hiding place, part punk rock handbills. Crafted at an Ayurvedic clinic the Himalayas, a ship in Arabia and ruins around Mediterranean, then attached to vintage hotel letterhead acquired from at a Greek Monastery store Montreal neighbourhood, assembled in off-strip Las Vegas, shared in Utah canyons… and now distributed to points unknown. Further batches were assembled on Nusa Ceningan, Indonesia with scraps printed here and there. So much more to say about all of this but for now, you can investigate the originals “Items Forgotten in drawers” on 6 or so collections (Disguise, Ramble’d, Time Traveler, Hubris, Circumnavigation, Espionage, Resistor):, here’s a blurb: Along the way, I produced a series of visual freeverse poetry called “Items: Forgotten in Drawers“ - part pirate treasure map, part meanderings stashed in a non-secret hiding place, part punk rock handbills. + Back Story The poems started in an Ayurvedic clinic the Himalayas, a ship in Arabia and ruins around Mediterranean, then attached to vintage hotel letterhead acquired from a tiny Greek Monastery store in (a heavily Hasidic neighbourhood) Montreal neighbourhood, assembled in off-strip Las Vegas, shared in Utah canyons... and now distributed to points unknown. Further batches were assembled on Nusa Ceningan, Indonesia with scraps printed here and there. + Process Sometimes, i don't have a printers, other times Internet, often no typewriter so i make do with what i have: scissors, glue, paper... When i write, (usually) starts as scribbles in notebooks and then gets hastily transcribed into a digital form and printed when opportunity strikes for editing - in this case, the editing leaves errors in typing and structure and instead cuts and pastes (like Burroughs to Bowie would do) and then reassembled in various ways. + Form Each substrate (hotel letterhead, aerogramme, envelope, shown is uniquely augmented with stamps – both postal and ink – and other ephemera, carefully selected and then applied as though it wasn't. Sometimes, lettraset letters, fuzzy Lomo photos and bits of typewriter come along. + Themes Overall, the pieces explore themes of wandering lost, losing self and others, scraping beneath the crust of culture and myth, remixing identity, connecting the history to the present in all it’s vagaries, and considering what becomes of our story when we vanish... naturally made with affection. bonus photo for episode Subscribe Auto-magically receive Postcard from Gravelly Beach podcast, via:  PfGB RSS feed  PfGB iTunes PfGB Google Play PfGB Tunein PfGB at Daveostory + possibly more at Pod Sub Desk Reviews rewarded with actual postal postcards #bribe Follow along: via Twitter @uncleweed & @DaveOstory  via FB UncleWeed Storytime via Instagram @uncleweed & @daveostory

Analog loops, guitars, feedback and poetry about impossible alleys, 8 seat bars, villages with book shops, woolen scarves, Fado, Kathmandu mud, and umbrellas thwarting tactility. “Rainy Mystery Alley” – made by “Thorvald and Thurston” in a Provo basement, 2018 Read along: Rainy Mystery Alley poem Available via:  iTunes Spotify Soundcloud Ggle Play

Items, loosely coupled for convenience, and maybe not 100 after all, likely more A Hungarian habit of recollection from creative endeavors to life admin, communiques and campsites, flowing in freeform from Kura barn with “Olson Family Band” riffing on drums, ukulele & vibes with moments left in a topsy-turvy 2024 – with special hat-tip to Paprika-san click to dig “100 Items, for 2024 – Postcard #89 (with Olson Family Band)” {update remix: Jan 3 JST 16:20} Reel in the year: 100 Items, for 2024 – Postcard #89 (with Olson Family Band) (52MB, 26:48, mp3, stereo) Bonus photo settle in for a re-cap of sorts, not of *big things* but rather several small items, sundry and significant to me & us and maybe you too Subscribe Auto-magically receive Postcard from Gravelly Beach podcast, via:  PfGB RSS feed  PfGB iTunes PfGB Google Play PfGB Tunein PfGB at Daveostory + possibly more at Pod Sub Desk Reviews rewarded with actual postal postcards #bribe Follow along: via Twitter @uncleweed & @DaveOstory  via FB UncleWeed Storytime via Instagram @uncleweed & @daveostory tip the band: Ryoko and Ichiro on additional drums and occasional vocals

Riffs about the glory of journals, diaries, notebooks full of musings and importance of turning off inner-critic and not overthinking while savoring the process of transcription, curation and further creative wonderment from Kura barn in provincial Japan. With evidence with my own process. Plus sorta re-cap how far I got about Circumnavigation poetry book project, … Continue reading “Personal Archeology” – Postcard #88 (+ via audio &/or video) →

Washing dishes and busted spectacles lead to rowing a lake in Nepal figuring out deity, enlightenment, peace and power with choruses fresh from diaries – plus Royal hospitals, poetic devices and question mark eyebrows. Your turn Buddha, your turn. Don’t climb the mountain: Nepal Stupa Choruses – Postcard #87(39MB, 21:02, 256kbps mp3, stereo) Consider Perusing: … Continue reading Nepal Stupa Choruses – Postcard #87 →

Let’s not lose each other amidst the table cloth being pulled out from under glasses and dishes. Meaning: some technical jibber-jabber about claiming feeds sparks a history of these sporadic, occasional (yet somehow charming, right?) literary dispatches from hand-written XML to various blogs and feeds and meanderings. Plus, about me! My name is Dave Olson … Continue reading Indulge Me, Logistically – Postcard #86 →

Thinking about “going home in October” or even more, going far away from home via freeverse poetry, read directly from scribbled travel scrapbooks and backed by trains from Moncton to Sri Lanka and tuk tuks from Kerala and Thailand, by a weary fella in an olden barn in provincial Japan. Fondly home.  Be Lost at … Continue reading Lost the Plot (Finding Home) – Postcard #85 →

A heart-wrenching poem about an abducted boy called Simon – who lived nearby, was my age and sorta looked like me – in Surrey, BC 1982 – by the “Beast of BC” Clifford Robert Olson (NO relation). Recorded and contributed to Dark Poutine Canadian True Crime podcast – shared here for posterity etc. RIP Simon and the … Continue reading Simon, Stolen, Shame – Postcard #84 →

Along his namesake trail on banks of Lynn Creek comes story of Group of 7 bohemian painter Frederick Varley’s 10 wild years in Vancouver teaching and founding art schools, developing new aesthetics and shacking up in an $8 mountain home with mistress. Bring your own brushes: Upon the Varley Trail – Postcard #83 (30MB, 20:50, mp3, … Continue reading Upon the Varley Trail – Postcard #83 →

Love in (most) all forms – from self to romance to heartbreak – explored through poems including: mis-quote from (probably not) Jack Kerouac, Khalil Gibran advising his son, Mary Oliver reminding to trust, (Angela) Anaïs (Juana Antolina Rosa Edelmira) Nin’s recklessness, Leonard Cohen recalling flowers to a shy lover, Katie Buemann picking up a sword – plus … Continue reading What Love Might Be… – Postcard #82 →

Love in (most) all forms – from self to romance to heartbreak – explored through poems including: mis-quote from (probably not) Jack Kerouac, Khalil Gibran advising his son, Mary Oliver reminding to trust, (Angela) Anaïs (Juana Antolina Rosa Edelmira) Nin’s recklessness, Leonard Cohen recalling flowers to a shy lover, Katie Buemann picking up a sword – plus … Continue reading What Love Might Be… – Postcard #82 →

Full of mis-spoken words, forgotten names and other sloppiness comes annotated thoughts (squished through time and space) for shut-ins, drifters and sufferers amidst erstwhile festive melancholy times of disruption and tumult, including poems – read alongside mosquito and rooster sounds – by: Sohaib Ahmed Alan Halsey Charles Bukowski David Smalley Kat Code Dave Olson John … Continue reading Transient Cultural Riffs – Postcard #81 →

Full of mis-spoken words, forgotten names and other sloppiness comes annotated thoughts (squished through time and space) for shut-ins, drifters and sufferers amidst erstwhile festive melancholy times of disruption and tumult, including poems – read alongside mosquito and rooster sounds – by: Sohaib Ahmed Alan Halsey Charles Bukowski David Smalley Kat Code Dave Olson John … Continue reading Transient Cultural Riffs – Postcard #81 →

Upon turning 70 years old, Dave’s dear sensei (since a teenage Utah community college stint), Larry Harper (among various monikers) curated 70 items of advice (at request of Annie Dandelion). As such, between licks by Grateful Dead and master potter Marty Kendall, he riffs the list – ranging from practical to mystical to almost comical, … Continue reading Sensei Larry’s Wisdom – Postcard #80 →

Upon turning 70 years old, Dave’s dear sensei (since a teenage Utah community college stint), Larry Harper (among various monikers) curated 70 items of advice (at request of Annie Dandelion). As such, between licks by Grateful Dead and master potter Marty Kendall, he riffs the list – ranging from practical to mystical to almost comical, … Continue reading Sensei Larry’s Wisdom – Postcard #80 →

Float to Istanbul, Muscat and elsewhere, and check in with Cleopatra, Shakespeare, Francis Drake, Shah of Persia, Adam, Cain, Abel, Lawrence, Ataturk, Czars Nicholas and Alexander, Matt Harding, Russia oligarchs, well-fed stray cats, unidentified shortwave broadcasts, Abraham, Norman, Matt Harding, rowers, drummers, a blonde dog and you and me… finding the edges of the globe. … Continue reading A Circumnavigation of Sorts – Postcard #79 →

Float to Istanbul, Muscat and elsewhere, and check in with Cleopatra, Shakespeare, Francis Drake, Shah of Persia, Adam, Cain, Abel, Lawrence, Ataturk, Czars Nicholas and Alexander, Matt Harding, Russia oligarchs, well-fed stray cats, unidentified shortwave broadcasts, Abraham, Norman, Matt Harding, rowers, drummers, a blonde dog and you and me… finding the edges of the globe. … Continue reading A Circumnavigation of Sorts – Postcard #79 →

Disappearing, invisibility, loneliness, depression, anxiety, being lost, trying to not be found, trying to find white space to invigorate… Sometimes these weave together, other times (perhaps) each remain exclusive. Gord Downie, Jack Kerouac, Charles Bukowski and me all try to figure out the nuance in different ways atop Turkish street music, trains from Kerala and … Continue reading Disappearing for Invigoration – Postcard #78 →