Cities are dirty. I learned that when Tod & I lived in a 2nd floor loft on the corner of Wabash and 11th in Chicago. Every time I opened the windows, dirt blew into the apartment. I had the windows open often and the sills acquired a sludgy black grime resistant to cleaning.

Tokyo’s dusty and dirty, too. Every surface in the house is gritty ten minutes after it’s been dusted. My desk is covered with enough crud to make muddy circles with my coffee cup. And it’s not for lack of cleaning. I wiped off the desk on Friday. It’s been worse than usual this summer and I’m blaming it on the construction site 2 blocks over.

So bring no white gloves into my house or they will be covered in grey-brown dirt tout de suite and I’ll fail your cleaning test.