A frail old woman wearing a pretty dress, holding a walking stick got on my busy train today, and stood looking, a little wobbly, for a seat. Of course, no-one near her offered her one so I stood up to offer her mine, down the far end of the section. She graciously accepted with a smile, while I stood in front of her fuming that I was, once again, the *only one* to stand up for the old and frail or pregnant. When the man seated next to her got up a few stations down the line, she quickly patted the space with her hand and tilted her head up at me with a righteous grin. Nodding, I took the spot and felt better about the world coz, you know, I had made a nice connection with this little lady next to me.

A few stations on, an old man got on, clearly deeply upset by something. Every so often his face contorted up like he was about to cry, and he was wringing his hands constantly, occasionally forming a fist to punch the palm of his other hand and every so often his furious internal dialogue spilled out unintentionally vocally and he would get embarrassed and look down. He wasn't crazy, I'm pretty sure. Just really upset about something.

A few stations on, a young mother wheeled her little girl in a stroller on. The toddler was a pretty little thing, and as she swept into the carriage she busted out an enormous smile at me and Grandma, and well, hell, it was infectious, we both grinned back at her like a pair of doting fools. As time passed, my attention wandered and when I looked back, I saw a beautiful thing. This little angel had fixed her little beam of joy on the unhappy old man, who was gazing back at her, with red-rimmed, tearful eyes and a soft smile. He got off at the next stop, but not without gently touching her cheek on the way and looking infinitely calmer than he had been when he got on. Ah, Tokyo's trains. Always something to be observed, and entertained or appalled by.

Keiko and I stood outside the cafe where we had just spent the past hour. We have been meeting every week for about 3 years now, and have become very fond of each other. For a 60 year old, she's pretty awesome - lotsa fun and very open minded. She reached out and affectionately traced the lines of the tattoo on my shoulder. "It's really very pretty, isn't it". I laughed aloud and shook my head at her - she is such an extraordinary woman. There are not a lot of Japanese women her age who would ever think or say such a thing. Heading back to the station, I was confronted, again, by a wall of posters currently doing the rounds at all the stations. It reads "Be your best" in block letters and it packs quite a punch with me as those were the last lucid words my mother said to me. It recently occurred to me that this December is the 10th anniversary of her death. I wonder if she would have thought my tattoos were "pretty", and what she would think of my life now. I know one thing for sure: I do work every day to heed her advice. Not always successfully.

Anyways.... I have digressed, as I am often wont to do. I have news to share. Cool news.

I hope the next couple of months will be as interesting as the past few weeks have been.

Life is good. I now wear 3 hats in any one week.

My English teachers hat, looking a little frayed and tired at the edges still cops a beating most days. I'm about ready to throw it into Inokashira Pond but it basically pays the rent so that's not an option right now.

My photographers hat sits comfortably at a rakish tilt a few days a week. Jobs most weeks, and a book in the works.

And my old event managers hat, pulled out of retirement all covered in cobwebs and mothballs has suddenly been given a healthy new lease on life with a fairly daily dose of action since I met this man.....

my new boss, Jon Lynch. A lovely English fella with a good heart and ADD (a suspicion I have based on the fact that the guy never stops doing, thinking, talking. Never.)

I'm giving him and his startup side company, Tiger Music, a hand to get his vision off the ground. I think I've bitten off more than I can chew since the man thinks big, but it's certainly a fun ride and the potential for success is definitely there. It's an events/PR company, and with all the contacts that Jon has based on his 10 years of publishing music mag's in Japan (which, incidentally, he is still doing), it seems he knows pretty much everyone across the music/fashion/ad/corporate world in Tokyo, and has an incredibly creative outlook on ways to tie-up all his connections. The main focus at the moment is a monthly Networking event for the creative industries (both Japanese and foreign) called Biz Nite and there are a ton of spin-offs from that, all of them exciting.

And so, I think I may be in Tokyo a little longer than I thought I'd be.

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