We try to get some books listed every day, but we were too busy shipping books today to muster the energy to list any new ones. We don't have a lot of news, we recently purchased some imported Miso (a kind of fermented soybean) soup from Japan that we have been enjoying with some kind of somen noodle that we found in a local grocery store. But when we opened the Miso package we were confronted with an unexpected addition, thanks to the global economy. Most distributors in the United States will paste an English language label on any imported items that are for consumption.

But this was maybe the first time in our lives that we found something inside of a package which we are not sure of. It was a small packet made of metallic foil. Is it edible? Or is it some kind of preservative material, such as the oxygen absorbent envelopes such as those in pre-cooked bacon-bit jars that say "Do Not Eat!".

The global economy part is that all the writing on this is in Japanese. So it will take us a while to decipher all the characters.

Here is a picture of the envelope, it shows an outline of a traditional Japanese bowl in the middle, with a top to keep in the steam, so we are guessing that the envelope contains some kind of spice, or bonito flakes or some other flavoring, but we are not sure. It is the enigma of the day. We will need to get out the dictionary and go one character at a time. Daily life at My-Lynx Associates can be an adventure, even if we stay inside all day in front of the computer.