Melvin

"Melvin, what I miss about living in Japan is the food!" "Like what, Rod?" "Like the 'onigiri' and 'bento boxes' and 'matcha cakes' from ordinary markets."

"Melvin, what I miss about living in Japan is the city scene!" "Like what, Rod?" "Like the signs and neon lights in frenzied Japanese script."

"Melvin, what I miss about living in Japan is the spirituality." "Like what, Rod?" "Like the temples and shrines you can find everywhere."

"Melvin, living in Japan for me was like being on a different planet." "Just out of this world, eh, Rod?" "Yeah!"

"Melvin, on the streets of Japan, I rarely heard English spoken." "Rod, you miss Japan."

"Melvin, I found most Japanese to be gentle when I lived in Japan." "Rod, you miss Japan."

"Melvin, I miss the melodious and robust sound of people speaking Japanese." "Rod, you miss Japan."

Melville always wrote his name Melvinus in Latin, and he is often called Melvin in English. Hence some have concluded that Melvin, and not Melville, was his proper name. But they are merely different modes of pronouncing the same family appellation.

And for some reason, they called me Pete. My mother, who probably dug up the name Melvin from some romantic novel about Englishmen drinking tea, cringed at the "Pete".

On Monday, the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency placed a similar detainer on Melvin Jovel, 18, who on Sunday was the sixth person to be arrested in the case.