Long Time Expat In Japan
This is how I felt when I showed Star Wars to my kids. That is to say, when I tried to show it to my kids. I was so excited. They were finally old enough to watch it with me. Maybe a little early still for the little one. The wife was out with … Continue reading Showing Star Wars
Ok, so not Gangnam Style, but even better, Tei Dosho style! Tei Dosho, as they say in Japan, was a Chinese official during the Northern Wei Dynasty. In Chinese, his name is pronounced Zheng Daozhao, and he was Wei awesome. When was the Northern Wei Dynasty? Like 386-534 AD. He is way cooler than Park … Continue reading Tei Dosho style
The folks that run the Shodo ranking are pretty smart, I figure. I wrote about the ranking system before, kind of like belts in karate, yellow, purple, green, brown, black. There are twenty or so ranks. Getting to the first dan (like a black belt) is a long process, but achievable, with tiny incremental steps. … Continue reading December Shodo Level Up
Image thanks to 1funny.com My new year's resolution is to write my year in review earlier next time. "Why the monkey on the sheep?" you ask? 2015 was the year of the sheep. 2016 is the monkey. I think that technically it is a goat, but hey the Chinese character for goat and sheep are … Continue reading 2015 in Review
Last year, I went to Fukushima to make a film. My part in it was small, not acting, drone camerawork. It was a lot more devastating than I thought it would be. Devastating because the place was devastated, but also the impact it had on me. There were whole towns, communities, counties that have become … Continue reading Grüße aus Fukushima (Greetings from Fukushima)
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. --- Adapt or Die Morena rounded the street corner onto the orange dusty road. The morning sun cast long silhouettes, her shadow a painfully thin … Continue reading Short Story Exerpt – Adapt or Die
I haven't been to church in decades, so I mean this in the secular, new year, commercial, presents, warm and fuzzy, Rudolf and Clarice (from the stop animation circa 1964) kind of way. So please eat too much ham, turkey, roast beef, goose, or Chinese turkey (love that movie - hope you catch the reference). … Continue reading Merry Christmas !
I've put pen to paper, figuratively, in the last year or so. I've had ideas for a long time, including short fiction. Here is the first part of one. If you want to be a beta-reader, send me an email or leave me a comment and I'll share it with you. --- From hitokoto, the … Continue reading Short Story Exerpt – From hitokoto, the blog of Chianna Noguchi
Book Review Red Rising By Pierce Brown You might see a pattern in my book reviews lately, Bone Clocks, Annihilation, all recent fantasy award winners or mentions. And now Red Rising, which seems to straddle genres. I have been disappointed with some scifi awards, not only with the politics, but also the quality of the … Continue reading Book Review – Red Rising
I've been writing about how Japan is weird, and how I have come to think of it as not so weird anymore. What I haven't written about is just how beautiful the place is. I don't get out enough. I spend a lot of time - like the rest of us - with my head … Continue reading Japan is Beautiful
B.S. Donovan 