An Immense Arrear of Demands on My Attention

I have had a busy week, and I am still reading (and carrying around) the new biography of Dickens, who noted at a particularly busy time that he had “an immense arrear of demands on my attention.” As do I. I was at at Augusta for work at the Masters Tournament and a healthy dinner with Hiro Hanzawa (above), then to Atami for a quadracious onsen and healthy breakfast (below).

From Atami I went to Tokyo and gave a seminar about turfgrass science.

You can see a report of the seminar and additional photos at the Viridescent site. One of the important questions answered at this seminar was what color of tie to wear with a pink shirt. After consulting with a number of experts, including a certified color coordinator, it is clear that a navy or royal blue tie should be worn with a pink shirt, and preferably the tie should contain a number of colorful flowers, as shown at right. 

From Tokyo I went to Beijing, had a veritable Shanghai Links reunion with many people who I worked with a decade ago (see a photo-packed report of my visit to China here), and enjoyed the fine cuisine of China’s capital city. Peking duck is a particular favorite. At the restaurant pictured below we had excellent Peking duck along with sundry spicy dishes of various meats and colorful vegetables, practiced our pronunciation of 不到长城非好汉, and discussed business.

Now I’m back at Tokyo and almost at the end of a 23 day trip. And in the process of arresting the immense arrear of demands on my attention.