Relentless

Relentless is my new mantra. Days slip by. Work gets done. There is not enough sleep, but I am slowly building a stack of prints for sale this weekend. I am opening a business savings account and changing my name for my frequent flyer number (finally.) I am buying battery powered fans for my booth and books on Japan to read on the bus. I am framing work to donate to an auction.

I've bought my plane ticket, and I believe Jer has too. We are going to Tokyo.

I am learning to say good evening (kon-ban-wa), good afternoon (kon-nichi-wa), and good morning (casual version sounds like o-hi-o.) I have a tendency to move my lips while I read the phrasebook and mutter under my breath. Other passengers on the bus/water taxi probably think I am just another crazy person.

As I matted prints last night, I played an old Ranma 1/2 episode (the one where Akane gets her hair sliced off) and tried to see if any words stood out yet. Mostly just "hai" and "noni." Same as before, but I picked up on the police box reference and it's useful to hear the rhythm and emphasis on the words.

Should I admit that I am practising language immersion via anime?

Tonight is a quick visit with my trainer and then more matting, database entry, and note cards. Tomorrow I go to work early, leave mid-day to set up my booth, and return to work to stay late. On Friday I resume my place behind the French wall and magically transform into Christy, photographer and sole proprietor of On Focus Photo.

I really am very grateful that people are responding to my photographs, and honored that they would like to hang the prints in their homes or buy a note card to share with friends. It makes me want to do better, shoot stronger images, and keep improving my skills. I'm hoping that I come away from Tokyo with a new bag of tricks and a whole load of haunting images.

In other news, Blogger tells me this post is number 1001...