Betty Boop Lantern

It's a great photo taken by Harper. I never saw such a cute lantern! We don't have Halloween in Japan but people seem to accept it as an imported festivity without knowing what it is about. Just like Valentine's Day and Christmas, some companies picked it up as a new strategy to expand their market. Still, there are not many people in this country that actually make a jack-o-lantern to celebrate it. Japanese people, however, tend to absorb something new easily. Once it is accepted and becomes popular, they would soon make unique lanterns incorporating Japanese anime characters. We'll see.

It was quiet this week. I didn't have any interview so I could focus on my work at the magazine publisher I regularly work for. Nothing unusual happened, really. Just go to my office, do my work and come home. It's what most of poeple do on weekdays but the biggest difference I have is that my work there is not a 9-5 type of thing. I can go and leave there anytime I want as long as I do what I have to do. Nice, huh? For me, it's most efficient. I just can't keep my concentration for 8 hours when it comes to office work. I don't like to stay there for such a long time, either.

There was a temporary staffer some months ago who stayed in the smoking room inside of the office for a couple of hours every evening after she was done with her work. It was a big surprise for me. Some of my friends said that she was trying to find a date there. Could be true but that supposition from my friends was also a surprise. Hmmm, it's just another way to find a date. I wonder if she succeeded.

Speaking of a date, one of my longtime best friends Kumi asked me an interesting question the other day. She has found my 3 requirements to my partner and they are i) good-looking, ii) tall and iii) Caucasian. Her question is which I can give up among them. I answered right away, "Requirement #3 'cos it's not a requirement at all, just happened to be so." She said, "But what if you got sexually frustrated?" I knew exactly what she meant. I know it can be a crucial problem because I experienced it before with my old boyfriend. Somehow many of Japanese men seem to lose their sexual interest in their partner when they start living together. At lease that was my case at that time. Physical size issue is another story. Unfortunately, not so many people are open about sex and/or sexuality and it stil is difficult to talk about it even between partners. My Ex was open about it when we were together so our crucial problems were all related to our personalities and perspectives, which made it difficult in a way and easy in another way to decide to get divorced.

Hey, I got an idea! What about changing my requirement #3 to 'open about sex'? Kumi, I know you would say, "It's still extremely difficult to find a guy who meets all the requirements!" Should I give up #1 or #2 or both instead... or all???

PS I finally figured out how to upload photos. Yay!