By Riuto Takeuchi
✦ ✦ ✦
Ever since I stopped having year-end parties, I have gotten forgetful. I especially have a hard time remembering peoples’ names and faces. For example, I get really nervous when I go to some club event related to dojinshi. For the life of me I cannot remember who some of the guests are, which puts me in a cold sweat. From the way they greet me, I can guess that we must have met or at least talked before. It's nice of them to say, “Hi” to me. I'm aware that not remembering them is quite rude. But, alas, I just can't remember. So, feeling sorry, I normally have to ask a rude question like: “I’m sorry, but may I ask who you are?”
✦ ✦ ✦
In order to avoid any irreverent behavior, I have made up my mind to greet anyone who looks familiar. But this turned out to be the cause of mistakes at times. Just the other day, I saw a familiar lady while driving. I loudly said to her with a smile: “I’m coming to your house now. Should I give you a ride?” Her answer was, “No thank you.” A few minutes later, at the house I was visiting, I saw the same lady in different clothes. “We just met near the train station, right?” Her answer was, “I don’t think so.” Oops. I had almost picked up a lady, who was a stranger. That’s how bad my memory has become.
✦ ✦ ✦
To my regret, I sometimes even forget the characters’ names in my own novel. “Hmm. I forgot the name of the seme. What was it?” Things like this happen very often. If I mainly use their first names in the text, it’s hard to remember their last names. My editor is extremely patient with me and tells me their names with a smile. In this novel, I sometimes couldn’t remember Ren’s last name. Incidentally, Ren’s last name is Atobe.
✦ ✦ ✦
In a hope of refining my memory skills, I threw a little year-end party to close out 2003. We will wait and see if it was effective. I thank you for your continuous support in the New Year.