Long Time Expat In Japan
In my youth-- and I really mean youth, as in teenage years-- I loved to draw. I did some acrylic painting too. At one point I actually thought about art school. In the end, I chose a general education. I doubt I could have done much as an artist. I was young. I wasn't talented. … Continue reading Drawing – Returns
I feel like I've been in Japan too long. Or maybe it's just peaks and valleys. I used to see oddities everywhere, bits and pieces of culture that tilt your head like a puppy trying to get human speech. Then, twenty or so years pass, and everything seems normal. Or maybe my filters are broken, … Continue reading Japan is Awesome: Cheese Sand
Tobikyu \ˈtō ˈbē ˈkyü\ Verb (used without object) 1) To tobu a kyu 2) No really, you tobu completely over a kyu to the next kyu 3) so tobu means to jump or fly, and kyu is a level, so it means jumping up more than one level at a time. Kind of like skipping … Continue reading Shodo – Tobikyu
April I feel pretty good about kana. I used to worry about where to move my brush and when. Now, it seems to just happen. I also used to bend my brush at a little bit of an angle. Now, I'm pretty much straight up and down. I'ts been a long time since I wrote … Continue reading April Shodo
I did some new Japanese Calligraphy in March. The work we write in March gets submitted around week two of the following month. This is a little late to post about, but I like what I did so I'm sharing it now. Kana is my best area. It flows and connects from one word to … Continue reading March Shodo
Book Review Head On By John Scalzi I may include spoilers. Fore-warned and -armed and all that. There are only a handful of authors whose books I will buy almost sight unseen. Scalzi is one of them. He's one of the few authors whose books I will buy in hardcover, as well (also, the discount … Continue reading Book Review – Head On
Twice a year, we get to take a test to level up. Last year, I jumped two levels in kana, which kind of made me jump up and down for joy. It's pretty damned hard to get a level when you just submit every month. Which kind of makes me wonder why you can level … Continue reading Kana Test – Part 2 (pt. 1 coming later)
Book Review All Systems Red By Martha Wells On WordPress I follow a couple of blogs. Not too many. I pick them based on content, length of post, frequency, interest. For writers, I follow Whatever by John Scalzi and Filling the Well by Carrie Vaughn, among others. Recently, I was reading Ms. Vaughn's site and … Continue reading Book Review – All Systems Red
Book Review The Art of Learning By Josh Waitzkin Many of you reading this post know who Josh Waitzkin is, but for those of you who don't, he is the kid in Searching for Bobby Fischer (real person, not actor). Follow the link if that doesn't ring a bell. I've seen/heard a couple of Waitzkin … Continue reading Book Review – The Art of Learning
If you read my bibliography, you'll know that I try to write fiction. I got the bug, so to speak, two years back, maybe a little more. I sold one story so far, trying to sell more. There are a bunch of professional magazines for the type of fiction I want to write, maybe 10 … Continue reading The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction – and How They Won Me Over
B.S. Donovan 