Long Time Expat In Japan
I give myself one day a week to eat junk food; cake, ice cream, pasta carbonara with extra bacon. This past weekend I went McD's before meeting some friends in Ikebukuro. I'd thought for the longest time that McD's should make a Big Mac with Quarterpounder burgers. Then they advertised the Grand Big Mac. I … Continue reading Mega Mac
I love my sensei. She's a peach, really. She also doesn't pull punches. Been plugging away. Ranked up in kana a bunch of times, kanji a little less. But my pen writing just hasn't budged. Last month sensei likened my pen writing to that of stroke victims she knows. I think it is time to take … Continue reading Break Time
Last month, I submitted some hiragana that was in a really old style, more like really cursive kanji. It was a lot of fun because you can kind of see where modern hiragana comes from. To be honest, half the time I didn't know what I was writing. I just copied what I saw. Still, … Continue reading Hiragana
More figurative pen to paper. If you want to be a beta-reader, please send me an email or leave me a comment and I'll share the rest of the story. --- Old Enough She was twenty three, and I was two hundred ninety one. We met in the ring city above Solaris, the planet where … Continue reading Story Exerpt – Old Enough
Japan's relationship with nature is weird, and beautiful. You can't put it succinctly. There's too much history. In many ways, it is much more evolved than in the states. There aren't many Japanese politicians that disbelieve in climate change. Part of the attitude in Japan must come from the intense urbanization of the country. Some … Continue reading Japan is Awesome – Nature
Image thanks to NASA.gov More figurative pen to paper. If you want to be a beta-reader, please send me an email or leave me a comment and I'll share the rest of the story. --- Then Maybe We're Broken This is the story of how we ended conquest, war, hunger, and disease. This is how … Continue reading Short Story Excerpt – Then Maybe We’re Broken
I recently read The Reason I Jump, by Naoki Higashida, translated into English by David Mitchell and KA Yoshida. This is not typical reading for me, but there are more than just a few reasons for me to pick this up. I don't read many Japanese books, even translated in English. Surprising, considering I live … Continue reading A Boy’s Voice from the Silence of Autism
More figurative pen to paper. If you want to be a beta-reader, please send me an email or leave me a comment and I'll share the rest of the story. --- Long Shot (C) Sean Donovan “That make you feel any better?” I asked. Karl spit out a shot glass worth of blood, phlegm, and … Continue reading Short Story Excerpt – Long Shot
Last week I was out in Odawara for work, and I came across a little Shodo shop. It was tiny, and a bit messy, but the two old ladies running the place were really nice. I bought a new hanko there. They had a little stand with hanko, engraved seals. In calligraphy you sign your … Continue reading My New Hanko
The film I mentioned earlier was reviewed by Variety. It was well-received. Some quotes from the review "rapturous response at the Berlinale" "Although she employs blunt metaphors involving tea ceremonies and geishas... Doerrie [the director] doesn’t presume to understand or verbalize what the living victims of such cataclysmic misfortune feel. Instead, her penchant for drawing awkward misfits allows … Continue reading Berlin Film Review: ‘Fukushima, mon amour’
B.S. Donovan 