13 January 2010

Emily and I went out in the very cold wind to a Combi Mini audition in Ginza. It was the same setup as last time, so I was prepared for the chaos and able to brief Emily what would happen. In any case, since the last one in late summer she has become a lot more confident in strange circumstances and is not so nervous in front of the camera. They measured her before putting her in a Combi dress for the sample pictures, and she came up at 95cm. It was all over very quickly and while she wasn't exactly grinning she stayed calm.

I had promised Emily that we would go to a park after the audition, so even though it was approaching lunchtime I whizzed her over to Hibiya Park for a bit of exercise after spending too long in the buggy. We found a whole host of cats hanging out in the sunshine, nearly all ginger; one looked just like our old family cat, Freddy. By the small lake there I saw a kingfisher perching on a branch above the water. That is the third time I have seen one in central Tokyo. I have never seen one back home in the wild, let alone in an urban setting. It is magical to see the sudden flash of cobalt blue as it darts to the water and back. Typically, I didn't have the camera with me. I was close enough that I could have got a good shot of it with full zoom.

Nick's colleague Emiko is moving to another desk, so he will inevitably end up with some of the donkey work she took care of (that kept her there upwards of 18 hours a day). It doesn't bode well that he didn't get home until 10.15.