00:04
英語聞き流し10分間、名作リスニング、英語テキストとMP3ダウンロード、その他の物語は、ホームページよりご利用いただけます。
88thpp.com
88thpp.com
I went to get new glasses the other day for thefirst time in years. During the course of yearswhen I had paid no attention to the glassesmarket, the stores had become modern andsophisticated, looking like boutiques.
Several different chains have their stores insidethe shopping mall. They carry cool frames at thelow price that people could never dream of yearsago.
An eyesight test was done inside the store anddidn't use an eye chart but some sort of a high-tech machine. The glasses were prepared only in 20minutes.
I had dreaded how much the new pair would cost,but they charged me far less than I had bracedfor. I had never imagined getting glasses would bethis easy.
My new pair is nifty and incredibly light. My facelooks so different. With my new sharp vision, Ifeel like I have transformed myself into a new me.
I had my first close encounter with glasses when Iwas in the second grade. I failed an annualeyesight test at school and the school required afurther examination at the doctor's office.
That sent my mother into a near panic. Back inthose days, one of the unbelievably stupid thingspeople said in a rural area was that a girl withglasses couldn't marry and so had no life in thefuture.
My mother said to me, if you need glasses, it'llbe the end of your life. I was headed for thedoctor's office trembling with fear with my friendwho had also failed the test.
After the examination, the receptionist simply letmy friend go and then said to me, your glasseswill be ready soon. Come get them at the storenext to this office.
As casually as that, she handed me a deathsentence. I couldn't face the fact and told a lieto my mother that my eyes were fine.
Since then, I hadn't been able to sleep thinkingthat the doctor's office would call for myglasses. Every single phone ring made me jump.
My coward lies served me a couple of uneasy monthsbut the call didn't come after all. My glasseswere smothered up.
When I was 18, I needed glasses to get a driver'slicense. I came back to the store next to thedoctor's office and, finally a decade later, gotmy first pair there.
While I took a load off my mind at last, I faileda driving test this time. Only the glasses wereleft and I had cherished them up until my newpair.
03:26
It took my partner and I the whole past year toput together a book by selecting stories about myfamily from Hitomi's rambling, writing some newstories, and re-editing them.
When the book was close to go on sale, my partnerfound out about Amazon Breakthrough Award and waslured onto an entry for it.
His excitement about it was caused by a $50,000advance for the winner. There were severalqualifications for the entry. Firstly, it had tobe fiction.
Secondly, no selection or collection from what hadbeen already published was allowed. Lastly, itsauthor had to be one person.
We pondered a lot and came to the reluctantconclusion that we regarded our book as an i-novelalthough everything written in there was whatreally happened.
Also, we decided to stop the publication of ourexisting Hitomi's Rambling e-books at Kindle. Wecleared the two qualifications, but the last onewas a toughie.
Since we had published everything in the name of88th Planet that is a unit name, we needed tochange the author name to my name, Hitomi Woods.
That drew an argument between us over who wrotethe stories. They were mixed with what I wrote onmy own from the beginning to the end,
and what my partner chose interesting experiencesof mine, wrote down outlines in Japanese, and thenI constructed them to the whole story in Englishby adding details.
Considering his involvement, it wasn't fair toeliminate his name from the author. To make itconsistent, we also considered using my name forour music in place of the unit name.
We had been talking about it seriously for a fewweeks. Ridiculously enough, we even talked abouthow we would split the prize money of $50,000.
I had been moping for the demise of Hitomi's Rambling e-books even though they hardly sold.
When we settled on Hitomi Woods for the authorname and everything for the entry was prepared atlast, my partner found out that there was a lengthqualification.
Our book was simply too short for the entry. Wewere brought back to our senses and gave up theentry.
I regretted our useless deliberations and feltdisappointed about losing $50,000 that we wouldn'thave won even if we had entered the competition.
The funniest thing was our desperate attitudetoward a blog that we had started as a break frommusic in the first place.
Our e-books are on sale as before and the new bookhas been published, as non-fiction, but in thename of Hitomi Woods like a relic of the foolishfuss.
Audiobook, Japanese Dream by Hitomi Woods on saleat online stores or apps.
Apple, Audible, Google Play, Nook Audiobooks, 43available distributors in total.
06:10
There's an old Japanese custom called age of 13visit.
A child who reaches 13 years old by thetraditional system of age reckoning visits aspecific local shrine to receive wisdom.
The important event has one critical role.
The 13-year-old visitor should never look backuntil they pass through the shrine's gate afterthe visit.
If it happens, wisdom they've just gotten isreturned.
Every time a topic of the visit was brought up bysome chance in my childhood, my mother wouldstrictly instruct me not to look back when myvisit came.
It had become a repeated threat for me.
After those years, I reached 11 years old, whichis 13 by the traditional system, and the day forthe visit arrived.
I was so tensed and nervous because of years of mymother's threat.
I got dressed up with kimono and my mother put awig on my hair to make me look grown up.
While I was greedy enough to look forward togetting wisdom, I was anxious about looking backas much.
From the moment we left home, my mother keptreminding me not to look back at the shrine.
As the pressure had accumulated, a sense of panichad been built inside of me.
By the time we prayed at the altar in the shrineand started leaving, I was panicky.
On the spot about only several yards to the exitgate, I couldn't stop myself and looked over myshoulder.
I blundered away my once-in-a-lifetime visit.
My mother made sure I didn't look back when wepassed the gate.
I lied and said no.
On our way home, we dropped by my aunt's house.
She noticed that I was wearing a wig.
But when she pointed it out, my mother instantlydenied it.
I didn't understand why she had to lie about sucha small thing like a wig, but she just insisted itwas my real hair.
My aunt slipped beside me when we were about toleave and asked me if it was a wig.
Although I said yes indifferently, she triumphantly uttered, I knew it.
She sounded as if she had beaten me and I feltannoyed.
I hated my mother's totally unnecessary lie.
And as for me, I went through a terrible teenagelife with my own trifling lies.
I believe that was because I had returned wisdomat the shrine on my age of 13 visit.
Audiobook, Japanese Dream by Hitomi Woods on saleat online stores or apps.
Apple, Audible, Google Play, Nook Audiobooks, 43available distributors in total.
I wrote about my decision and the first plan forit.
Last year, I spent fairly much time ponderingwhether I live in Japan for the rest of my life orsettle in U.S. for my music career.
I used to live in the States for music and returnto Japan temporarily.
This temporary homecoming turned out to becomemuch longer than I had expected and have lasted tothis day because of rapid advances in computertechnology and the Internet.
09:05
It's now possible to work for the U.S. musicmarket while living in Japan through the Internet.
Songs and books are easily released and promoted.
More new tools and gadgets could be introduced, sothat physically staying in U.S. could beunnecessary.
Above all, life in this small town of Japan, whichis secluded from the city by the mountains, issuitable for creative work.
It's so hustle-free that I deeply concentrate onmy work.
Since I moved in here, my working pace has beengood and steady.
I feel I have finally found a perfect environmentto work on music.
On the other hand, I'm always afraid of settlingdown.
Anyone who stops would die.
I would lose motivation for writing a song unlessI move forward even by a small step.
For this year, I decided to visit the States forthe first time in years.
I know its cost is a prodigious sum of money forme and it requires mountainous troublesomearrangements.
I also know too well that after those efforts,what awaits me are an excruciatingly long flight,murderous jet lag, and countless unpleasantincidents.
Still, I need to breathe in California air.
My anxieties for money, health and the futurenever go away but I think I can manage as long asI stay positive and look ahead.
My mind was made up.
p.com
