my agent was a chinese-american named james. he might've been young from the acne on his face, but wearing a suit anyone can look older. when he left briefly to pick up some printouts, i gleamed some info from the few photos on his desk. he'd been to japan recently, with a framed photo of a kyoto castle and another one of him and his wife/girlfriend posing in front of the LOVE statue in shinjuku, tokyo.
first order of business: closing out the line credit on my bank of america account. i thought when i cancelled my checking account last month it'd be the end of my abusive relationship with bank of america. so i was surprised when they continued sending me monthly statements, like an ex who can't let go. apparently it takes more than one cancel order to entirely sever oneself from bank of america. they're funny like that. one of the ways they make money is charging fees on old account people didn't know they had. which brought me to my second order of business: when my friend alex moved to japan 7 years ago, he left behind an account with bank of america. even though the account hasn't been touched since he left the country, over the years the bank has continued to take out incremental monthly fees until now the account is empty and alex owes the bank money on overdue fees. it doesn't make any sense and it's definitely an example of predatory banking, so i asked about how he could cancel the account from overseas. apparently it takes just a phone call (he still has several hundred dollars left, but in a checking account; it'd be nice to salvage that money before the bank takes that away as well).
after i was done with the bank business, i went to nini's corner to look for a sudoku magazine for my mother. there were 2 police officers inside the store, taking shelter from the light snow outside. 
"do you guys have any sudoku magazines?" i asked one of the clerks. he showed me to a shelf with about a dozen different periodicals catering to 'doku devotees. i bought an issue of dell's totally sudoku (no relations to the computer company) which had the most puzzles (315). when i went to pay, the clerk asked, "got a pen?" which left me confused. he meant if i had a pen to do the puzzles. "oh no, i'm buying this for my mother," i told him. the two clerks looked at each other and laughed. "it's okay if it's for you! you don't have to be ashamed! we have a lot of magazines here you should be ashamed of, but this ain't one of them!" i finally did admit that i occasionally dabble in the sudoku. the 2 police officers nearby remained emotionless during our little exchange.
it's been weeks since i last vacuumed. how dust and debris seem to accumulate despite the low traffic is one of the great mysteries of life. maybe i'm just an exceptional shedder. the house instantly felt cleaner afterwards. while i was on a roll, i also washed the bathtub.
in the late afternoon my father dropped off some fresh meat buns (i had some with a spicy bean paste). he also left a few souvenirs my godmother's son jack brought back for me from his recent trip to taiwan, including a cigarette lighter in the shape of a miniature fire extinguisher (it also features a bright LED on the nozzle) and a collection of miniature (that seems to be the common theme) pikes (the pole weapon, not the fish) from ancient china.
is anybody else watching community? one of the funniest shows on television right now.