And Breathe

getting through two weeks of intensity

Where do I begin?

With the jumbotron moment?

Never did I ever imagine I’d be on the big screen at Mariners’ Stadium (T-Mobile Field), but when I marked my tenth anniversary at work, the Celebration of Service brought me there.

With the joyful response from friend and writer

Lucie Frost

after I reviewed her debut, How the Hell Did I Not Know That?

With receipt of the badge for my award in the Pacific Northwest Writers’ Association Unpublished Book content?

With the death of our refrigerator last Tuesday, prompting a mad scramble to find and finance a new one? (I never thought I’d be happy to be old enough to draw down from my 401k, penalty-free.) (And for once, Hiro and I agreed on an appliance design: French door refrigerator!)

With the extremely uncomfortable screening for bladder cancer last Wednesday (after an inconclusive CT scan in August and several inconclusive series of blood work that started in April) that finally concluded that I do not have cancer!?

Or, I know, the receipt of this email last Tuesday from one of my dream agents?

I had originally planned to slowly and meticulously implement all my red-pen revisions to the manuscript during October. After the doctor asked me to take a day to recover from my cancer screening (because ouch, the use of a camera for a panendoscopy, to take photos of your bladder from the inside, is not fun), and after canceling nearly all of my weekend plans, I completed the revisions to the final two-thirds of the manuscript. All seventeen pages of the endnotes are complete, too. And last night, I submitted the full manuscript to that dream agent.

The last, 350th, page of my manuscript has only the Japanese character for “the end.”

How did I celebrate this achievement? I took Hiro to the local pumpkin patch and grabbed a Seattle-style hot dog with cream cheese and grilled onions. We bought peaches, tomatoes, and four ears of corn, and I smiled all the way home.

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What happens next? The agent reads the manuscript. If they like it and want to work with me, we begin a discussion on our partnership, her offer of representation. At the same time, I alert any other agents who have not yet responded that I have an offer, to let them formally decline.

I’ve been at this juncture once before; it ended in a thoughtful rejection that, in part, triggered the latest round of revisions. All I can do now is a) rely on the encouragement that so many of my friends have shared and b) cross my fingers and light my candles.

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At the one weekend event I did not cancel, a trivia session with the Pacific Northwest chapter of the Japan Exchange & Teaching Program’s Alum Association, I met an amazing person who’s hoping to go to Japan next year. They and I talked a lot about the JET Program, and about their interest in Zen Buddhism. They are also a fan of the bodhisattva known as Kuan Yin in China, and as Kannon in Japan, and I shared that my first date with Hiro began at the oldest temple to Kannon in Tōkyō, Sensōji.

Back in 2002, I created this piece and dedicated it to Kannon. With writing, I don’t do much in terms of digital art these days, but it was nice to remember a time when Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and I were a throuple.

Another name for Kannon is Kanzeon (観世音), which refers to that bodhisattva’s ability to hear the cries of all the world, to answer prayers, and to grant nirvana. Hiro and I always visit Sensōji whenever we are in Tōkyō. This piece was created in an edition of 200.

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P.S. The next issue will be for subscribers and will cover this year’s forecasts for leaf-peeping (the viewing of autumn leaves) in Japan.