interlocking cubes
randomly rolling marbles
creativity
In Tokyo, while attending the Gift Show in early September, a young Japanese woman named Shizu asked me what the word "Q-BA-MAZE" means. I explained that the combination of Q + B creates the sound "cube", and that the name has a double meaning:
It means both "cube amaze" and "cube a maze." In one name, it refers to cubes, mazes, and amazement.
I also chose the name because I think Q is the coolest letter in the alpahbet, both because it looks cool and because it is the 17th letter in the alphabet. I like prime numbers and 17 is my favorite prime number. Then I told her that someday I would write a haiku about Q-BA-MAZE since haiku poems have 17 syllables. She laughed and was surprised to learn that Americans know about haiku.
The next morning when I awoke, I immediately composed the Q-BA-MAZE haiku and presented it to Shizu when I saw her again later that day.
