While standing on the street in Minami Azabu, waiting for my DigitalEve mentoring group to arrive for a meeting last night, I fulfilled a small desire. I popped into a nearby household goods shop and scanned the aisles for cleaning supplies to find, in a box next to a bunch of mop heads and cotton wiping rags, what I was looking for. A proper feather duster. It’s beautiful—a long thin bamboo handle with a bouquet of shiny black and green feathers blooming from the end.

I took it to the register and the shop owner shook her head. Then she said she’d find me a brand new one in the stockroom. She dashed off and returned with a shiny new duster. I carried it to my meeting where it drew some curious looks and had to be unveiled.

Not only does it look lovely and start conversations, it works great, too. When I got home at midnight, I feather dusted the entire house in about five minutes.