First words

Nanowrimo began today. My output as of this morning is kinda light. If I don’t write more than 200 words a day, I’m not going to make 50,000 words by the end of the month.

But here is the first line, for those of you who are following along:

The doll-sized brass statue of Ganesha that she’d bought in Bangkok all those years ago wasn’t really the classic Indian elephant-headed god at all, but the head of Ganesha grafted onto the body of a dancing Vishnu.

Do you have any idea where this is going? Neither do I. We’ll see…

Shadow porn

Suddenly the evening light seems richer. Shadows appear where none were a month ago. It’s intriguing; my eyes are opened to the play of dark on light. I’ve been trying to capture the essence of them.

Still life with keitai

Elegant sufficiency

At dinner this evening we talked about dinner table phrases.

F.H.B. is McQuillin code for “family hold back” - a warning to the family that food was running low and guests should have second servings before the family.

M.I.K. offered the opposite message: more in kitchen.

But the phrase that got us all interested was “I’ve had an elegant sufficiency; any more would be a burden.” It means you’re full and don’t want any more food.

It turns out that this isn’t unique to grandmother Bobby McQuillin. It’s from a poem called Spring written by James Thomson in the early 18th century:

An elegant sufficiency, content, Retirement, rural quiet, friendship, books, Ease and alternate labor, useful life, Progressive virtue, and approving Heaven; These are the matchless joys of virtuous love.

“An elegant sufficiency” has morphed into “my sufficiency is suffonsified.” Eh? Explanation available at World Wide Words

Childhood stories

A few months ago UltraBob’s mother, UltraMom, shared some hilarious Bob stories with her readers. Ever since, Bob has been pestering other mothers to embarrass their children with childhood tales on his website.

My mother is the first guest mom. Her story of The Red Rug is over on Dynamic Duo.

Really getting into the spirit of this, Tod’s mom had Maureen fax evidence from America, so check Dynamic Duo for more soon.

New banknotes

Japan’s currency is probably the most valuable in the region and as a consequence, counterfeiting has gone up in recent years. The National Police Agency reported a 25-times increase in forgeries over the past five years. They expect to recover 30,000 fake bills this year.

So the Bank of Japan launched an anti-counterfeiting measure and released new banknotes on November 1st. I spotted one “in the wild” yesterday.

The 5,000 yen note features a new face, 19th century novelist Ichiyo Higuchi. She was a pioneer feminist writer. I haven’t ever read her work, but I guess I ought to.

There are, of course, all sorts of new measures to foil counterfeiters and you can read about them on the Bank of Japan’s About Money pages.

And so I don’t forget in a few months when most of the old bills are gone, the old 5000 yen notes look like this:

Hasedera Jizo

Jizo statues at Hasedera. 5 November 2004

Giveaways in Ginza

At the southwest corner of the Ginza Nine shopping arcade is a open plaza under a roof. On weekends and holidays there are often long lines of people waiting to get freebies given away by various companies and promotion boards. Over the years, I’ve snagged mysterious juices, teas, and the occasional sweet.

Today, for the effort of standing in line for about three minutes, I received some literature about Japan’s oranges and a trio of mikan stacked in a clear plastic container. A smiling Mikan Girl dressed in a Chanel-style orange suit with a matching hat and a white ribbon pageant banner handed them to all comers—so Mom, Tracey, and her parents got them, too. It wasn’t quite as rewarding as mikangari, but the mikan are nearly as tasty.

Bad lessons

Oh, no. Please, no. There are better mentors, Mr Koizumi.

Koizumi wants to learn from Bush how to cope with world criticism

TOKYO — Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Thursday he wants to learn from U.S. President George W Bush about how to endure global criticism in exerting leadership, fueling views that he is resolved to go along with Bush’s policies on Iraq no matter what.

“He is exerting leadership despite being criticized so much by the world and enduring massive criticism from the domestic media. That’s something. I have to learn by watching it,” Koizumi told reporters when asked for his view on Bush’s leadership following his reelection. (Kyodo News via Japan Today)

Glass

Dalle de verre glass in the Symphonic Scultpure, Hakone Open Air Museum

Warning: children’s stories

Now see! oh! see, what a dreadful thing
The fire has caught her apron-string;
Her apron burns, her arms, her hair;
She burns all over, everywhere.

from The Dreadful Story of Pauline and the Matches in Shockheaded Peter by Heinrich Hoffmann

Let there be light

Devotional candles. Asakusa, Tokyo

Looking up

Painted ceiling. Asakusa, Tokyo

The embarrassing stories continue

Mom & Jean delight in posting stories about me and Tod on Dynamic Duo. Thanks, UltraBob for giving them such a memorable vacation activity. If you want to discover how utterly clever and cute Tod & I were as children, here are links to each of the stories thus far:

UltraFran:
The Red Rug
Resourceful
The Food Critic, chapter 1

UltraJean:
Tod’s Early Computer Education
Sleepwalking and Elimination
Tod’s Sister Checking In
The Construction Project
Native American Improv

The Moms return home today, but I have a feeling that they will continue the storytelling.

NaNoWriMo report

National Novel Writing Month is just about 13/30ths over. Today I topped 5,000 words of the 50,000 I’m scheduled to write. It seems like I’m really behind, but I effectively started yesterday, so I might still make it in time if I write just a tad more every day. 3000 words a day is my goal and that’s hardly anything, really.

I’m posting my word count in at NaNoWriMo and you can check my progress.

The ideas are falling into place. I have a working title—Party Wedding Plan—and I’m enjoying the process of writing in bulk. It’s bad writing but there is a lot of it coming out of my fingers.

Read on for the shortest chapter so far, a mere 420 words:

Room 628: changing outfits

Robert was stretched out on the bed, watching CNN International. Kimberly was unpacking her clothes into the closet and dresser.

“Kimmy, you know we have to change rooms in the morning.”

“Yes, but my clothes will get more wrinkled if I don’t get them out of this suitcase.” Kimberly shook out a pale pink wool suit, then took a silky padded hanger from her suitcase and carefully clipped the skirt and draped the jacket over it. “Do you think I should wear this for meeting Mariko’s parents?”

Robert didn’t even glance up from the TV. “I’m sure that will be fine, dear. Isn’t that what you planned to wear, after all?”

Kimberly hung up the suit. “Well, yes, but now I’m having second thoughts. I mean, I don’t have the right shoes to wear with this, do I?” Kimberly sounded annoyed. “All I have are the Pumas I wore on the plane and the ankle boots I stuffed in my carry-on.”

“I see your point,” Robert said mechanically.

“Robert? Would you look over here a minute?” Kimberly was getting more annoyed. She stood stark naked in front of the bathroom door, holding up a blue silk shirt and a short sleeved cashmere sweater. “Which one do you think goes better with my black wool trousers?”

Robert glanced over at Kimberly, then focused his attention on her naked form. This was the aspect of his young wife he liked to encounter. “I think the birthday suit suits you best,” he leered.

“Robert…” Kimberly chided with a grin. “I mean it. Which one do you like better?” She displayed one top in front of herself, then the other.

“Let me see the first one again. OK. Now the other one. Now that first one again, please.”

Kimberly realized she was executing a fan dance for her husband. She gave in to his playfulness and vamped a bit more. Robert rose from the bed and met her across the room.

“They’re both fine, really. I like the feel of the silk against your skin,” he said as he rubbed the silk across her breasts.
“OK, blue then.” Kimberly pulled away from Robert’s embrace and backed into the bathroom. “I’m going to have a quick shower and then we can go down.”

“I like going down,” Robert tried gamely, seeing his chance inexplicably evaporating.

“Down to the coffee shop, I mean.” She closed the bathroom door, leaving Robert to wonder what he’d said or done to get himself shut out again.

Flow

Faucet in Hamarikyu park, Tokyo

Words are flowing out of my fingers quickly today but I’ve done little else of note. My NaNoWriMo word count stands at 10,639. Yeah, me.

Macadia

Tod spied this in the liquor shop the other day. “It’s rosehip liquor,” he said as I perused the wines. Sounded interesting so we picked up a bottle along with a bottle of more traditional chilean Pinot.

Macadia is tangy and sweet with a hint of spice. It drinks more like plum wine than a strong liquor. As it turns out, it’s not just rosehips. It also contains maca, aka Peruvian ginseng. What an odd combination. I did some poking around and found Suntory’s press release:

Suntory is to release healthy liqueur “Macadia” —Wine for “beauty” and “high spirit” with soaked maca and rose hip from Andes —

…Recently, customers’ health consciousness has been on rise. In such a trend, Suntory has pursued the development of liqueur that uses healthy ingredients, by utilizing both product development on alcoholic beverage business and research development of healthy product business. Suntory then, has focused on “maca” and “rose hip” that contain vitamin, mineral, and amino acid and newly released healthy liqueur “Macadia” as a drink that can be enjoyed by women. It is particularly targeted to women who are highly interested in beauty and health, enabling them to enjoy alcohol and satisfy their health consciousness at the same time….

On the Japanese site there is a Macadia column with beauty advice from a color analyst, an esthetician, and a nail artist. There are recipes for foods that pair with Macadia (watch for goya chijimi in this week’s Recipe Thursday). And of course, the CM Library. There’s only one, The Story of Maca and Rosehip. They’re cats…

Art Therapy

A couple years back, I took an art class that focused on creative problem solving. It turned out to be a rather scary deep look into each students psyche.

From the exercises we did—mainly drawing representations of problems, then redrawing them or adding solutions—it was possible to see inside the minds of the artists a little bit. I came away with some startling insights.

So today when I was feeling sort of stuck and unfocussed, I decided to draw out one of my problems and see what I came up with. Although I didn’t really find a solution, I did make a pretty picture:

Voice Acting

This week, I’m taking a voice acting workshop to improve my reading aloud. We’ve learned many techniques for breath control, projecting our voices from different parts of our body, dramatic uses of pitch, and building characters in various ways. These are all helpful and will certainly make a difference in my ability to interpret stories.

But something dangerous is happening. I’m rediscovering the tantalizing joys of acting.

Although I did theatre from high school (Nuremberg Community Players and the high school drama club), through university (Duquesne University Red Masquers) and my early married years (Upstairs Theatre), I was never so keen on acting—I enjoyed it immensely, but other actors were way better than me and I hated auditions. So I applied my meagre talents to technical theatre: costuming, lighting, props, set decoration and construction, stage management. I know my way around backstage in the dark.

This voice workshop is rekindling the excitement of stage work. I will have to be careful not to fall back into the theatrical world—too much theatre makes Kristen crazy.

I failed every course in my sophomore year of university because I spent too much time being a thespian. I quit a job once because they complained I took too much time off during productions.

Friends: do not let me audition or volunteer.

Goya Chijimi

Goya is the Okinawan name for a bitter gourd that’s called “balsam pear” in English and niga-uri in Japanese. I’ve eaten it many times as “goya chanpuru, a scrambled egg dish, but found this recipe for goya chijimi on Suntory’s Macadia site.

Goya Chijimi
serves 2

1/2 goya
1/2 mentaiko (spicy cod roe)
2 eggs
2/3 c flour
pinch salt
1/2 Tbsp oil

Slice the goya in half lengthwise. Use a spoon to scoop out the seeds, then slice into thin crescents. Separate the mentaiko. Mix the eggs, flour and salt in a bowl. Add the goya and mentaiko. Heat oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Divide the batter into four pancakes. Fry on both sides until golden brown.

Uncluttering

Is your head cluttered with things you need to do? All those mental reminders - don’t forget to pick up Sally’s birthday present; ask Mr. Jones about that e-mail; prepare the invoices - important as they are, they all get in the way of your creativity.

When you unclutter your head, your creativity flows. But how to get rid of those mental To Do items?

My favorite way is to make a list. Write down everything that you need to do—short term and long term. Then let yourself forget them. It’s not that you won’t do them, but your list will be your memory and your brain can simply feel free to focus on other things.

And it’s a quite pleasant high to cross things off the list!

Googling for details

While writing this silly novel of mine, I’ve fallen back in love with Google. Because I am short on general reference books in my library (though we do have quite a collection of O’Reilley titles and Japanese language primers), Google is where I turn for fact-checking.

Some of the tidbits of info I’ve tracked down quickly for the book:

• How big is a wedding cake to serve 200 guests? (Greystone Bakery)
• What is the price of a pair of size 26 fancy dress shoes in Tokyo?(Ginza Washington)
• What time is the tuna auction in Tsukiji? (Wikipedia)
• What’s the correct order for names in a wedding announcement? (New York Times)

A random chapter

I’ve been engaged mostly in NaNoWriMo writing, along with some attendant procrastination and husbanding of migraines, and have not had a lot of energy to observe the world around me for retelling here. So I will share with you the world inside that pours out onto the virtual pages of my word processor.

Below you’ll find words 7367 through 8259 of the 17,014 I have written so far. (I am woefully behind—will I make 50,000 by the end of the month? I do not know.) Please recall as you read that this is not written for quality but for quantity. I will go back and qualify it after November 30th.

Ginza: shopping for shoes

Kimberly looked around, amazed at the crowds on the sidewalks. Five o’clock on a Friday afternoon and there was barely enough room to walk. So many men in suits. Women dressed to the nines in skirt suits and dresses with jackets. Half the women wore hats. And Kimberly hadn’t seen this many women in high heels in a long time. Hardly anyone wore flat shoes with skirts and definitely no sneakers. She was glad she’d packed her ankle books in her carry on. This was not a place for Pumas.

They passed a subway entrance and a big display of candy on a table. Kimberly paused to have a look. Little cardboard signs gave the prices. 100 yen for an oversized plastic syringe filled with goopy blue candy; candy necklaces for 250 yen; bags of pastel candies that looked like miniature mines for 300 yen. Tiny trays of candy sushi for 550 yen.

Keiko smiled. “We go more further. A little bit.”

A little bit turned out to be quite a long walk for Kimberly. They passed dozens of shops that she longed to duck into just for a minute: Sony, Hermes, Coach, and several big department stores with intriguing window displays. They turned the corner opposite Mitsukoshi and Wako.

“Just there,” Keiko said, indicating a big building down the block.

“Washington. It’s in English!” Kimberly said, delighted. This was going to be easier than she thought.

They walked through the glass doors into a wonderland of shoes. “Oh! How cute!” Kimberly exclaimed, rushing over to a pair of powder blue pumps with a silver flower buckle. “These are perfect for an outfit I have at home.”

Keiko picked up one of the shoes and examined it. “Buy it?” she queried.

“No, I need just one pair for tomorrow. My outfit is emerald green and turquoise with gold embroidery. These don’t match.”

“What size?”

“I’m an eight and a half in heels.”

Keiko looked confused. That was an American size. What did it convert to? She was famliar with the European shoes sizes since they imported them. But American sizes always confused her.

“Please wait.” She looked around to find a saleslady. One was already hovering nearby, so it wasn’t difficult.

“Excuse me, my friend is looking for a shoe for a wedding party. Her size is 8 1/2 American. Do you know what that is in our sizes?”

The saleslady pulled a chart from her vest pocket. “That’s a 26, ma’am. Our large size ladies shoes are on the 5th floor. Please go upstairs to see a range of lovely shoes for bigger feet.”

Keiko turned around to tell Kimberly, but she had wandered off to the other side of the shop and was looking at a pair of kitten heel mules. She held two other shoes in her hand— gold sling backs and rhinestone trimmed turquoise blue pumps.

“Which do you think is better?” she asked, setting aside the mules and holding out the other shoes.

“Go upstairs for L size.” Keiko struggled a bit for the words to explain the situation. “Here only small shoes.”

“Oh, OK,” Kimberly agreed cheerfully, though she found it a little strange that the shop arranged shoes by size. But she had shopped sale racks where the shoes were divided by size, so maybe that’s how it worked in Japan. “What floor?”

Keiko indicated to the escalator. “Five floor.”

“Wow, that’s a lot of shoes,” Kimberly thought. “How big is this place, anyway?”

But as they rode the escalator to the fifth floor, she realized her mistake. They alighted to in front of a display of moderate black pumps and sling backs. Perfect for business, but not suitable for a party. Turning the corner to the main sales floor, Kimberly saw row after row of sensible shoes in black and brown leather: low heels, boots, walking shoes, loafers, and clogs. On the back wall stood a series of shiny white shoes for dying. Where were the cute styles she’d seen downstairs?

“Oh! Where are the dress shoes?” she wondered in dismay. She walked off to look at the bridal shoes. Maybe she could get something dyed quickly.

Keiko spied some high heels in the corner. They weren’t as glamorous as the ones downstairs, but they might be acceptable. “Kimu, elegance shoes here,” she called.

Kiimberly examined the offerings. Of the two dozen shoes in the Elegance collection, only one pair looked like it might work. It was a dull metallic gold slingback with a contrasting shiny gold section and a dangly opalescent sequin flower. Everything else was too plain or the wrong color.

“Let me try these on,” she indicated to the salesman who stood nearby. “Size eight and a half.”

“Size 26, please.” Keiko told him.

He returned a few minutes later with a box and fitted Kimberly for her new shoes.

“These will do, though I would rather have something a little smarter. If my lost shoes arrive tomorrow morning, I think I’ll wear the emerald pumps instead.”

“She’ll take them,” Keiko said.

“How much are then, anyway?” Kimberly thought to ask.

“Twenty-six thousand, eight hundred yen,” Keiko answered.

“I’ll put them on my credit card,” Kimberly said, blanching at the price of a pair of shoes she didn’t like all that much and hoped never to wear.

Roadside shrine

Unexpected beauty in Kohinata, Tokyo

3rd stage Purplitis

Medical researchers discover terrifying purple scourge!

This is my head. Doesn’t it look like something out of a medical textbook? I tried to dye my hair purple. Salon De Pro “Hair Manicure” didn’t do much for the hair color, but look at the lovely tint of my scalp.

I will never dye my hair purple again
I will never dye my hair purple again
I will never dye my hair purple again
I will never dye my hair purple again
I will never dye my hair purple again

But I might try blonde…

Resume statement on work

The whole point of work is to be productive and to enjoy it. I love jobs where at the end of a long, arduous day I can say Look what I did today. I made this.

When ‘this’ happens to be a well-crafted communication, whether it’s a corporate newsletter, a video presentation, a feature article, a user’s manual or a play, then I’m most content. But at various points in my career ‘this’ has also been a workshop, a class syllabus, or a swatch of handmade felt.

education

Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. Masters’ degree coursework. 1996.
Pittsburgh Filmmakers’. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. Coursework. 1996.
Pennsylvania Institute for Culinary Arts. Pittsburgh, PA. Coursework. 1991.
Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. B.S. 1988.

skills

Videography and non-linear digital editing. Grammatically correct, engaging, written communication. Multimedia and web interface design. HTML, Front Page, Dreamweaver, Photoshop, Image Ready, Fireworks, Premiere, After Effects, Quicktime, Toast, PageMaker, Authorware, ColdFusion, PHP.

employment summary

Self Employed. Freelance Writer, Videographer and Web Designer. March 1996 to present.
Perot Systems Japan. Tokyo Test Centre. July 1998 to June 1999.
Perot Systems Asia Pacific. Asia Pacific Test Centres. April 1998 to June 1998.
Duquesne University. Multimedia Consultant. October 1996 to January 1998.
Chicago Kent College of Law. Manager, Computing Services. August 1995 to March 1996.
Duquesne University. Educational Computing Consultant. July 1993 to June 1995.
Telerama Public Access Internet. Director, Telerama School. March 1991 to May 1995.
Foxholly Studios. Graphic Designer and Copywriter. March 1991 to July 1994.
McCrerey Farm, Inc. Vice President. September 1992 to June 1995.
EMCO Foodservice Systems, Inc. Marketing Assistant. August 1989 to February1991.

volunteer activities

DigitalEve Japan. International women’s IT organization. Co-leader of national chapter: February 2001 to May 2002. Technology Team Coordinator: February 2001- present
Japan Webgrrls. Volunteer trainer, November 1999 to February 2001. Annual Event Coordinator, July to October 2000.

---

publications and presentations
published work

• Contributor to Todeco. 2004.
• Contributor to Four Corners. 2004.
• Enhancing your Computer’s Performance in Number 1 Shimbun. September 2004
• Upgrade is an Uplifting Word in Number 1 Shimbun. August 2004
• Backup is Not a Four Letter Word in Number 1 Shimbun. July 2004
• Gaining a Creative Perspective in Design-in-flight. July 2004.
• FCCJ’s Untapped resource in Number 1 Shimbun. April 2004
• Metropolis’ twice monthly Tech Know column. February 2001 - June 2002.
• Robotops in Metropolis Issue 417.
• Knowledge is power in Tokyo Classified Issue 368.
• Exploring Mac World Tokyo 2001 in Tokyo Classified Issue 364.
• What’s Myline? in Tokyo Classified Issue 361.
• Kiku Matsuri in Tokyo Classified Issue 343.
• What’s Up Pussycat? A Day with Hello Kitty in Eye Ai. September 2000.
• Craft Experiences in the Shikoku Region in Eye Ai. August 2000.
• The Parent Trap in Tokyo Classified Issue 325.
• Big is Beautiful in Tokyo Classified Issue 320.
• All Tied Up: Shibori in Eye Ai. June 2000.
• Get a Move On in Tokyo Classified. Issue 319. 6 May 2000.
• Meguro River Walk in Tokyo Classified Issue 318. 29 April 2000.
• Tachikui, Feats of Clay in Tokyo Classified. Issue 312, 18 March 2000.
• The Hunt is On in Tokyo Classified Issue 311. 11 March 2000.
• Disclosing Yourself in Japan in Regans Annual Report Review. March 2000.
• Blossoms, Petals, Posies in Eye Ai. March 2000.
• Historical Yokohama in Eye Ai. January 2000.
• Mochi Celebrates the Season in Tokyo Classified. Issue 300/301 25 December 1999.
• Niijima, an Island of Calm in Tokyo in Eye Ai. October 1999.
• Exiled to an Island in Tokyo in Tokyo Classified. Issue 280. 7 August 1999.
• Life in Japan travelogues. Spring 1999.
• Yamada Reizouko Ou review in Arsenic.net, Spring 1999.
• Portrait of a Kissaten in Epicure Exchange, Spring 1998.
• Spending an Allowance on the Internet in Big Blue Box, Volume 4, Number 2. Watertown, MA. 1997.
• Chatting with Cyberfriends: Conversing a New Way in Big Blue Box, Volume 4, Number 1. Watertown, MA. 1997.
• Cutting to the Cutting Edge of Fashion in Big Blue Box, Volume 3, Number 3. Watertown, MA. 1997.
• Canned! Vending Machine Coffee in Tokyo in Epicure Exchange, Fall 1996.
• Teens and Telephony in Tokyo in Big Blue Box, Volume 3, Number 2. Watertown, MA. 1996.
• Safer Surfing: the Influence of Filters and Blacklists on Web Development in Big Blue Box, Volume 3, Number 1. Watertown, MA. 1996.
• Impulse Freak comic collaboration. SITO, Omaha, NE. 1996.
• Using the SamplePrep Web Service in Analytical Sample Preparation and Microwave Chemistry Research Center in Microwave Enhanced Research. Skip Kingston, et.al, editors. American Chemical Society, Washington, D.C. 1996.

videography

• TICAD reception background, World Bank GDLN. October 2004.
• CocaCola Japan Bottler’s convention modules. Media Sense. October 2004.
• NIke marketing research project. Ministry of Culture. August 2004.
• CocaCola Japan "People Day" modules. Media Sense. January 2004.
• Subtitiling project. The Innovation Group. May 2003.
• Hello Tokyo. November 2003.
• 9F, East Tower. Perot Systems Japan. January 2001.
• Two promotional videos. WriteHire.com. November 2000.
• E-lifestyles promotion. Japan Webgrrls. October 2000.
• Househunting in Tokyo. June 2000.
• TK2K. June 2000.
• What is E-commerce. UBS Warburg. May 2000.
• 31, a film. May 2000.
• Millennium Party. Perot Systems Japan. January 2000.

  View samples in my video portfolio.

presentations & workshops

• October 2004. Writing Menus. (lesson 1, lesson 2). Media Tinker.
• January 2004. A Brief History of Zero. Media Tinker.
• November 2003. Tokyo, Japan. VideoCrown multimedia presentation. Design Festa.
• August 2003. Illustrated MT Templates. Media Tinker.
• May 2002. Tokyo, Japan. Managing Sites with Dreamweaver. DigitalEve Japan.
• November 2001. Kamakura, Japan. IT Careers for Women.
• November 2001. Tokyo, Japan. Digital Video Workshop. DigitalEve Japan.
• September 2001. Tokyo, Japan. Women in IT (panel moderator).
• June 2001. Tokyo Japan. Usability and User Interface Design. DigitalEve Japan.
• December 2000. Tokyo, Japan. Digital Video Workshop.
• August 2000. Tokyo, Japan. Web Publishing for Japan Webgrrls.
• May 2000. Tokyo Japan. Intermediate HTML for Japan Webgrrls. A half-day workshop for web page creators.
• March 2000. Tokyo, Japan. Hajimete Internet, A half-day seminar for International Women in Communiction.
• November 1999. Tokyo, Japan. HTML Workshop. A half-day workshop for beginner web page creators.
• December 1998. Studio Infini, Tokyo, Japan. Travelogues : Monologues. A one-woman, multimedia exhibition.
• August 1997. Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA. Opportunity Knocks 97. A five-day student employee training workshop.
• June 1997. Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA. Summer Institute on Teaching with Technology. A week-long multimedia development workshop for university faculty.
• December 1996. CAUSE Annual Conference, San Francisco, CA. “Support Models for Faculty Development” poster session.
• November 1995. EDUCOM Annual Conference, Facility Design for Teaching, Learning and Technology poster session.
• June 1995. Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA. Summer Institute on Teaching with Technology. Three, week-long multimedia development workshops for university faculty.
• April 1995. Faculty Development Resource Association, Pittsburgh, PA. Navigating the Internet workshop.
• September 1994. PREPnet Annual Meeting, Pittsburgh, PA. Internet Basics workshop.
• April 1994. Faculty Development Resource Association, Pittsburgh, PA. De-Mythologizing the Internet workshop.
• March 1993. Council of Independent Colleges, Pittsburgh, PA. Hands-On Internet workshop.

employment details

Freelance Writer, Videographer and Web Designer
March 1996 to present
Noteworthy Projects and Publications

• On-going weekly columns (Creative Perspectives and Recipe Thursdays) at Media Tinker.
• Video editing for Coca-Cola Japan, Nike, World Bank, Innovation Group and other clients.
• Editing and rewriting for corporate and private clients.
• Page design and layout of The Sumo Encyclopedia.
• Content and technical webmastering for the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan.
• Development of Wireless Watch Japan website using PHP Nuke.
• Content contributions to Sayaka and Kristen’s Lunchtime English newsletter
• Contributing Editor, Metropolis.
• Feature articles and columns with Tokyo Classified, EyeAi, Big Blue Box, Number 1 Shimbun.
• Writing, editing and loyout of quarterly corporate newsletters for Perot Systems Japan and Perot Systems Asia Pacific.
• UBS Warburg training video, “What is E-commerce?”
• Year-end celebratory videos for Perot Systems Japan
• Work for hire with Wordpainting
• Web interface design and implementation for A Taste of Culture cooking school, Tokyo.
• Interface design for in-house restaurant ordering system.
• Web design and copyediting for a variety of corporate and non-profit clients.

Perot Systems Japan
Tokyo, Japan. July 1998 to June 1999.
Tokyo Test Centre Manager

• Ensured best practice was met for Y2000 certification by educating development teams.
• Communicated progress of Y2000 programme via newsletters, reports and intranet.
• Scheduled and reported all Y2000 certification tests for Tokyo clients.
• Audited Y2000 certification testing process & procedures.
• Documented process and procedure of test centre lifecycle.
• Managed & trained test centre staff.
• Managed information on four local and regional intranet sites.

Perot Systems Asia-Pacific
Singapore. April 1998 - June 1998

• Designed the Asia-Pacific Year 2000 test centre intranet web site.
• Coordinated collection of asset management data from four regional offices.
• Worked with Singapore test centre team on reporting and administrative tasks.
• Sculpted with fruit.

Duquesne University
Center for Communication and Information Technology.
600 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh PA. October 1996 to January 1998
Multimedia Consultant/Webmaster

• Maintained visual and textual integrity of the Duquesne University Web
• Liaised between Public Affairs and individual web developers.
• Assisted faculty with multimedia projects for classroom use and distance learning.
• Worked with adminstrative departments to develop web-accessible databases with ColdFusion.
• Managed staff of ten undergraduate and graduate students, plus full-time coworkers
• Developed and taught workshops on multimedia development three times per year.
• Consulted on administrative and academic web-based multimedia projects.

Chicago-Kent College of Law
Center for Law and Computers.
565 W. Adams Street, Chicago, IL. August 1995 to March 1996
Manager, Computing Services

• Developed long-range computing use and upgrade plans for the law school, including Internet connectivity upgrades, expansion of Novell network and integration with business school computing facilities.
• Instituted Technology in the Classroom seminar series for faculty development. Promoted and taught classroom technology techniques.
• Coordinated projects of Novell administrator, computer support specialist, Stuart School of Business network administrator, Unix administrator.
• Promoted law school technology to internal and external audiences.

Duquesne University
Center for Communication and Information Technology.
600 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh PA. July 1993 to June 1995
Educational Computing Consultant

• Designed, scheduled, and taught over 25 different hands-on workshops for Internet use, networking concepts, multimedia applications and peripherals.
• Taught a required, one-credit class (EDFDN102) to Education freshmen introducing the uses of technology in the classroom (Spring 95).
• Taught multimedia workshops through the Division of Continuing Education and the Small Business Development Center to businesspeople in the tri-state area.
• Worked closely with the Center for Teaching Excellence to encourage use of technology in teaching as a part of the University’s vision.
• Organized and implemented “Teaching with Technology” fairs that illustrated to many academic departments how and why to use multimedia and the Internet in academic settings.
• Worked with faculty to train students for Internet and productivity programs specific to their coursework.
• Conducted new faculty training sessions and student computer orientations at the beginning of each semester. Also developed and implemented a training course for computer lab assistants.

Multimedia Project Manager/Designer

• Designed and authored multimedia promotional and class materials for faculty and CCIT.
• Managed the University’s Multimedia Development Center including scheduling, instruction, and troubleshooting.
• Designed and maintained the University Web, including development of graphics, content and links for College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts and CCIT.
• Designed a “viewbook on a disk” for the admissions office recruiting staff.
• Managed loan program for portable multimedia presentation equipment.
• Assisted faculty in the Development Center with use of equipment, design theories and authoring how-to.
• Assisted with Help Desk questions and e-mail.
• Wrote user documentation for faculty, staff and students, including a team effort on the 200 page Guide to VAX/VMS users manual.

Telerama Public Access Internet.
301 Shiloh Street, Pittsburgh, PA. March 1991 to May 1995
Director, Telerama School.

• Developed and taught weekly, live, online training classes to customers ranging in age from 15 to 68. These classes provided hands-on exercises combined with lecture and discussion using IRC as a “lecture hall” and the Screen windowing program to provide simultaneous access to IRC and the tool of the week. Designed and implemented an online tutorial system based upon the weekly online classes.
• Developed and taught live hands-on workshops. The most popular of these was the “Building a Web Page” class, in which participants built a prototype home page and learned about design considerations.
• Wrote and produced a New User’s Guide
• Coordinated monthly New User’s Seminars on Sunday mornings. In addition to coffee and doughnuts, new Telerama customers were given demonstrations, hints, tips and lots of answers to their questions.
• Created the original Telerama web site, the “Telerama WWW Hotel,” and the” Telerama Neighborhood Gopher” as springboards for new customers.

Foxholly Studios.
25 Dilworth Street, Pittsburgh, PA. March 1991 to July 1994
Graphic Designer and Copywriter.

• Worked with small businesses, multinational corporations and the performing arts community to design brochures, newsletters, catalogues and other print materials.
• Brought print projects from concept to completion.
• Managed all business aspects of this one-woman, part-time graphic design company.

McCrerey Farm, Inc.
Claysville, PA. September 1992 to June 1995

• Manufactured hand crafted heirloom quality natural fiber products such as felts, yarns and knitted goods.
• Provided mohair, angora and wool to craftspeople from our flock of goats, rabbits and sheep.
• Developed advertising and marketing materials.

EMCO Foodservice Systems, Inc.
1910 Cochran Road, Pittsburgh, PA. August 1989 to February 1991
Marketing Assistant

• Founded and managed a group of desktop publishers and graphic artists in the marketing department of this foodservice cooperative.
• Wrote and produced two nationally distributed newsletters.
• Worked under tight deadlines to produce print materials for internal and external clients.
• Responsibilities included conceptualization, copywriting, graphic design, training staff and negotiating with vendors.

Portfolio Video Reel

Clips from Hello Tokyo November 2003

title sequence Hello Tokyo 0’46” .mov (6.2 MB)

chapter 1 Figuring Out a Few Words 1’58” .mp4 (1.2 MB)

chapter 4 Entertainment 1’12” .mp4 (923 KB)

TICAD Opening October 2004. (2.2 MB MP4) duration 0’22”
Opening sequence for a World Bank speech (cut)

Andy July 2004. (1.2 MB MP4) duration 0’34”
A clip edited for a Nike marketing research project

Let’s Make Ume Shu May 2004. (29.7 MB MP4) duration 4’38”
How-to make Japanese plum wine

9F, East Tower January 2002. (76 MB Quicktime) duration 5’25”
Perot Systems Japan reviews 2001 and previews the coming year’s goals.

What is e-commerce? May 2000. (5 MB Quicktime) duration 0’30”
This clip is the opening sequence to a 15 minute educational video for UBS Warburg Japan.

31 May 2000. (98 MB Quicktime) duration 6’03”
This is a personal project, capturing a day’s events and filmed on my husband’s birthday.

Perot 1999 January 2000. (78 MB Quicktime) duration 5’45”
An end-of-year celebratory video premiered at Perot Systems Japan’s annual party.

WriteHire (336 KB RealMedia, 312 KB RealMedia) duration 0’30”
Two 30 second promos for a freelance writers’ job service.

Househunting in Tokyo (16 MB Quicktime) duration 1’00”
Setting to music the frustrating and complex experience of househunting

Writing

Feature articles
Managing Designer Expectations Todeco
The Parent Trap Tokyo Classified
The Hunt is On Tokyo Classified
Get a Move On Tokyo Classified
Robotops Metropolis

Travel pieces
Niijima: Exiled to an Island in Tokyo Tokyo Classified
Meguro River Walk Tokyo Classified

Technical writing
HTML workshop
Wire Tap Metropolis

Web

Wireless Watch Japan site development using PHP-Nuke
Foreign Correspondent’s Club of Japan site architecture and project management
Kristin Newton, glass artist site design and implementation, including Flash
Right Brain Research site design and implementation, including mailing list and weblog
Wordpainting site design and implementation; content coordination

Lists and Visions

I’ve been playing with a few nifty things lately that I thought might be worth sharing. Two of them are cool tools for my iSight.

Delicious Library ($40) turns the iSight into a bar code scanner, allowing you to inventory your collection of books, CDs, games and videos. It looks up the details in Amazon’s database and shows you cover art. A related tool, DeliciousExporter (free), allows you to generate web pages from the information.

Here’s my library in progress—I need to rework those ugly templates and finish scanning the books. We have a lot of old books, too, so I need to do something about the cover art for them. If you hold your mouse over the blank covers, you can find out what the books are. Tod’s offered to do the CDs.

iGlasses ($8)is very super handy for controlling the iSight. It gives you access to the video adjustments of you camera in iChatAV. There are a few presets for dark conditions, including a freaky green “night vision” mode. Some options are just plain silly, like upside down and a rotation through the spectrum that makes you look like you’re in the disco. I use the sepia and black/white presets.

The best thing about iGlasses is you can make your own adjustments and save them. So now I don’t look quite so magenta when I’m chatting with friends.

43 Things invites you to build a list of things you want to do with your life, either by clicking on one of the random items you see listed, or by typing in one of your own (it will be added to the pool). It is strangely compelling to read all the things people want to do—from “buy curtains” to “travel to all 7 continents” This is my list: 2164

Tangy Cranberry Sauce

I love cranberries but I’m not so crazy about very sweet sauces for meats. So this low-sugar cranberry sauce is just the thing. Best if made a day or two ahead so that the flavors can blend.

Tangy Cranberry Sauce
makes about 2 cups

350 g (12 oz) fresh whole cranberries
1/4 c sugar
3 mikan (mandarin oranges)
1/4 c water

Wash the cranberries and remove any mushy ones. Put the cranberries, water and sugar together in a pot and bring to a simmer. Cook for about 6 minutes, until the cranberries are all split open. Juice the mikan and add the juice to the pot. Turn off the heat and allow to cool to room temperature.

In a blender or food processor, or with a handheld blender or food mill, puree the berries, allowing a few lumps for texture. Chill overnight or up to three days.

One Creative Accomplishment

After you wrote out that list from last week’s column, didn’t you feel better? Lighter? I know I did. But there’s a long list on my desk now! I’ve crossed off many of the mundane chores, but the creative To Do items get pushed aside somehow.

Well, let’s do one today. Accomplish something creative you can cross off the list. Pick something you can get finished today. For my creative task, I’ve edited photos to make the desktop backgrounds and screen-savers that some of my regular readers have requested.

So here they are, with several bonus images because I was having fun!

Faucet 1024 x 768 JPG 1280 x 1024 JPG 1280 x 854 (15” Powerbook) JPG 2560 x 1600 (30” Cinema Display) JPG Hakone Glass A 1024 x 768 JPG 1280 x 1024 JPG 1280 x 854 (15” Powerbook) JPG 2560 x 1600 (30” Cinema Display) JPG Hakone Glass B 1024 x 768 JPG 1280 x 1024 JPG 1280 x 854 (15” Powerbook) JPG 2560 x 1600 (30” Cinema Display) JPG Hakone Glass C 1024 x 768 JPG 1280 x 1024 JPG 1280 x 854 (15” Powerbook) JPG 2560 x 1600 (30” Cinema Display) JPG Jizo 1024 x 768 JPG 1280 x 1024 JPG 1280 x 854 (15” Powerbook) JPG 2560 x 1600 (30” Cinema Display) JPG

Rowboats 1024 x 768 JPG 1280 x 1024 JPG 1280 x 854 (15” Powerbook) JPG 2560 x 1600 (30” Cinema Display) JPG Shrine Candle 1024 x 768 JPG 1280 x 1024 JPG 1280 x 854 (15” Powerbook) JPG 2560 x 1600 (30” Cinema Display) JPG Shrine Water 1024 x 768 JPG 1280 x 1024 JPG 1280 x 854 (15” Powerbook) JPG 2560 x 1600 (30” Cinema Display) JPG Slag Brick with Clover 1024 x 768 JPG 1280 x 1024 JPG 1280 x 854 (15” Powerbook) JPG 2560 x 1600 (30” Cinema Display) JPG Train Tracks 1024 x 768 JPG 1280 x 1024 JPG 1280 x 854 (15” Powerbook) JPG 2560 x 1600 (30” Cinema Display) JPG

Wine Icon

Icon on a bottle of Spanish wine

What an odd diagram to put on a bottle of wine. We had all sorts of ideas about what it represents, not all of them fit for the dinner table. Then we tasted the wine (spoiled by improper storage) and decided that it indicated “pour directly down drain.”

What do you think it means? Is this a standard symbol in Spain or the EU?

Togo Shrine flea market

Looking for old fabrics in Harajuku.

Annual Xmas Rant

I cannot easily express how much Christmas irritates me.

I enjoy giving. I like fruitcake. The scent of evergreen boughs and bayberry candles is delightful. Choirs singing traditional and religious carols please me.

But I despise shopping. I don’t like the expectations, the pressure, the greed. It turns me cold. However, like rubbernecking at a traffic accident, I’m compelled to examine the depths to which consumers are sinking this year. Here’s what I’ve found:

Target.com has gift ideas for your Hairdresser. Marcasite earrings; that’s what every hairdresser wants. Or for Teacher, some “dessert excuse” plates with cute drawings of cakes and phrases like “just a sliver, please.”

Wrong, wrong, wrong. If you feel generous this season, give your hairdresser an extra-big tip and your teacher a gift certificate for books or school supplies.

Maybe I’m just utterly unsentimental, but don’t you think you could do better for your mother than a personalised “#1 Mom” picture frame from Wal-Mart? Surely mom has some personal interests beyond the circumstance of motherhood.

What about Dad? Pretty much every web-based shopping guide thinks dad wants an MP3 player this year. Tod suggests a bottle of booze instead.

The “Teens and Tweens” on your shopping list may be a bit of a challenge, but I was shocked (and you know that’s not easy to do) by Christmas-Guide.com’s suggestion of ammo as an “outdoorsy” gift for teens. Nothing says Christmas like a stocking full of hollow point cartridges.

Enough. I will turn away from this accident that is “the holiday season” and focus on the way ahead: a new year, a new leaf and all that malarky.

Hardest Writing Ever

I think I just wrote the most difficult hundred words ever.

MJ’s mother passed away from a sudden and mysterious illness this afternoon. MJ telephoned from Adelaide to tell me.

At her request, I updated Cerebral Soup with a notice to her constant readers. How do you relate such tragic news to an unknown and invisible audience of near-strangers? Though I did my best, it didn’t even approach adequate.