(no subject)
It's not about the signature. That's just ink on a page that will be put away and likely never looked at again, except to periodically show to interested parties. It's not about the swag, or the event, or the community.
It's about the handshake, the eye contact, and the ability to say thanks. Thanks for what you created that has given me pleasure and joy for however many years. Thanks for giving me something to read, to view, to talk about, to share with other people. Thanks for making yourself available to be thanked, when you could be creating.
The signature's just a memento of the occasion. The real prize is the meeting.
--
Yesterday I went to the Musee Mechanique in SF to watch a segment filming for Game Center CX, the Japanese show about retro games and arcades. It's an interesting old place, with lots of really creepy arcade machines from the 1880s on. The day was beautiful, and there were a ton of sailboats out in the bay, and i just camped out front to soak up some sunlight and wait.
Arino came soon enough, walking jauntily across the street in his traditional green suit, and saw me sitting out side, and called out Harro! I replied with a japanese string of welcomes and such, and suddenly there were cameras on me and we were conversating. He gave me his card, i showed him the english version of his game, and we took pictures. My japanese was terrifically bad, and it was a total pleasure to joke around anyway =)
Later inside we walked through as he looked at the old games and fortune tellers, and it was like watching an episode in real life, which i guess it was. Totally thrilling. Other fans were there, and played games with Arino, or were asked silly questions in pseudo english, and a great time was had by all.
It wasn't about the signature. It was about the meeting.
It's about the handshake, the eye contact, and the ability to say thanks. Thanks for what you created that has given me pleasure and joy for however many years. Thanks for giving me something to read, to view, to talk about, to share with other people. Thanks for making yourself available to be thanked, when you could be creating.
The signature's just a memento of the occasion. The real prize is the meeting.
--
Yesterday I went to the Musee Mechanique in SF to watch a segment filming for Game Center CX, the Japanese show about retro games and arcades. It's an interesting old place, with lots of really creepy arcade machines from the 1880s on. The day was beautiful, and there were a ton of sailboats out in the bay, and i just camped out front to soak up some sunlight and wait.
Arino came soon enough, walking jauntily across the street in his traditional green suit, and saw me sitting out side, and called out Harro! I replied with a japanese string of welcomes and such, and suddenly there were cameras on me and we were conversating. He gave me his card, i showed him the english version of his game, and we took pictures. My japanese was terrifically bad, and it was a total pleasure to joke around anyway =)
Later inside we walked through as he looked at the old games and fortune tellers, and it was like watching an episode in real life, which i guess it was. Totally thrilling. Other fans were there, and played games with Arino, or were asked silly questions in pseudo english, and a great time was had by all.
It wasn't about the signature. It was about the meeting.