When Marnie Was There - 2

Today was the first morning I didn't have to set my alarm and head into a day full of interviews.  So Mike and I decided to sleep in and then grab a cup of coffee before the wrap party tonight for the film.  It had been dry all morning, so I wore shorts and my espadrilles.  The moment we stepped outside it begins to rain a little.  Not to fear though!  We both brought our umbrellas.  I never leave anywhere without my travel umbrella here.  But the thing about the travel umbrella is... it's only really big enough to cover a small child.  Half-way into our walk, the light rain turns into a torrential downpour!  Big, fat droplets of rain.  If I didn't have an umbrella, it'd would have been similar to standing under a steady waterfall, but in the middle of the street, with a tiny travel umbrella fit for a child.  For a moment, the rain actually paralyzed us.  We both stopped walking, and couldn't stop laughing.  Finally, we were able to take cover under the entrance of a temple with some other veteran folk who weren't amazed, or stunned by the rain as we (2 Los Angelenos who haven't truly experienced rain in years) were.  Needless to say, my espadrilles are soaked to the point where they make a loud squishing sound with every step.  And the shorts I wore did nothing to protect my legs from the cold wetness of the rain streaming off the sides of my too tiny umbrella.

After cleaning up, we headed to the "wrap party" for the film, "When Marnie Was There".  I performed with the amazing composer Takatsugu Muramatsu on piano.  The Director (Hiromasa Yonebayashi), Actress (Sara Takatsuki), Producer (Yoshiaki Nishimura), and Executive Producer (Toshio Suzuki), all had a wooden mallet in hand, and on the count of 3, broke open the wooden lid of the sake barrel that we all drank from as the night went on.  

All in all, it was another very exciting day.  Tomorrow is a day off (!!!).  

Love,

p. a.