The secretaries explained first that a dead person’s soul goes wherever she’d expected to go. “Everyone wants to go to heaven,” I said. “It must be too crowded there.”

A flowering tree, on the other hand, gives forth its essence when it reaches that stage known as full bloom, and in doing so, it emanates a mysterious aura comparable to the state of perfect stillness approached by a fast-spinning top, or perhaps the fleeting sensory impressions roused by a spectacular musical performance, or something like the afterglow that follows the burning act of consummation. It is this beauty, wondrous and vivacious, that never ceases to captivate the human spirit.

—from Under the Cherry Blossoms by Motojirō Kajii, translated from the Japanese by Bonnie Huie

Whether he’s dancing in the altogether with the glitter-soaked Dazzle Dancers or waxing agitated about the agonies and ecstasies of consumerism, Mike Albo is an author and performer who understands exposure and how it drives our fame-crazed culture.