A Word in Your Eye

a.k.a. is that opportunity or poverty knocking?

Toyokawa, the editor from Shonen Publications, sat in Shigeru's workroom and said, "Really, Sensie, Shonen Land would like you to draw for us." In the kitchen, Fumie gritted her teeth as she watched Shigeru and held onto Uraki. This was their big chance. The sketch of the white ribbon danced in its frame.
( An offer you can't refuse? )
Fumie turned and looked. Toyokawa stood there, with his briefcase, a bundle, and his jacket in one arm. He had his shirtsleeves rolled up, and wiped at his face with a handkerchief. His tie was still tied, although it was a bit rumpled. He smiled at Fumie.

<to be continued>

This episode ended with a series of bits from the upcoming week again. Shigeru in a suit, the pawnshop man exclaiming "What?", Toyokawa saying, "We need comics that are more interesting than television." Both sets of parents cheering. Shigeru asleep at his desk, surrounded by piles of sketches.

a.k.a. racing will do that to you

Fumie was sewing on a sewing machine, while Aiko played with cloth nearby. Fumie said, "Don't fold that too much, it's for your uncle's wedding." She thought about Takashi, her younger brother, standing braced in the doorway telling Genbee, her father, that his girlfriend was the most important thing to him. Then she realized that she had run out of cloth.
( running out? )
Shigeru looked thoughtful. Then he smiled. "It's inevitable? I never thought that. I love drawing. I can't even think about not doing it. If you love what you're doing, that's enough."

Masashi looked at Uraki. "Humph. If you love what you're doing, that's enough. So do what you love."

<to be continued>

Short version: there's a kind of clay that is mined in a certain location in Japan for industrial purposes. It is a deposit from over a million years ago. The news story was about the mine, but I wondered about what happens when we run out?
( Random thoughts )
I wonder why the news person didn't mention it.

Warning! Something will happen in three years . . .
( tick-tock )
How much preparation do you provide for people? Hum, America is going all digital, too, isn't it? Have they started the advertising countdown yet?

Here in Japan, there was a TV special on about Tasha Tudor. She's the author of children's books (Corgiville Fair?) about 90 when the show was made, and lived in the Vermont mountains somewhere. Lots of fun bits about her life, but when they were complimenting her about her habit of carrying flower seed and scattering it, showing a field that she had planted over the years, she protested that she had learned that from Alexander Graham Bell. When the narrator asked what she meant, she smiled and said that Alexander Graham Bell always had a pocket full of Lupin seeds and planted it everywhere he went. And as a close friend of his daughter, she learned to do the same, although she uses other flowers.

Alexander Graham Bell as a "Johnny Appleseed" of flowers. I wonder if that made the official biographies. Fun!

One of the news shows yesterday here in Japan talked about the coming of the iPhones. It was a bit ambivalent -- they talked with a few people who are really looking forward to the iPhone, but they also had a list of five services, such as wanseg (one seg? the ability to watch TV shows) that are typical cell phone services in Japan but apparently are NOT available on the iphone.
( Highlights )
It really is interesting, but my impression from the news coverage was that the iPhone is going to have to work harder to crack the Japanese markets. There is already an existing high level of cell phone service and expectations, and the inconsistencies with those services are not going to be acceptable.