Long Time Expat In Japan
Book Review Orphanage By Robert Beuttner I grew up on Stormship Troopers, Ender's Game, and The Forever War. But there is a gap in my education. I got the bug (no pun intended) to fill in the gaps, so I checked out some best-of lists online. I bought a bunch used on Amazon. Among them … Continue reading Book Review – Orphanage
Book Review Rogue Protocal By Martha Wells I spoil. This is a 150 page story, the 3rd in a 4-book series. The second book felt a little pricey. The last 3 were released in May, August, and October, 2018. So it's a 600 page novel split into four full-priced morsels. I'm certain that I've detected … Continue reading Book Review – Rogue Protocal
Book Review Six Wakes By Mur Lafferty I don't always buy every book that's nominated for the Hugo best novel, but I do check them out to see if they appeal. In 2018, the nominees were: The Stone Sky, by N.K. JemisinThe Collapsing Empire, by John ScalziProvenance, by Ann LeckieSix Wakes, by Mur LaffertyRaven Stratagem, … Continue reading Book Review – Six Wakes
Book Review The Consuming Fire By John Scalzi In no particular order, I write my thoughts as they come. I may spoil. Honestly, I'm not sure yet. This is a stream of consciousness blog, doncherknow. The Consuming Fire is the second in a series called The Interdependency. I reviewed the first, The Collapsing Empire, about … Continue reading Book Review- The Consuming Fire
When I reached 1st dan in calligraphy earlier this year, I needed to submit two works. One was freehand. The other was a copy. The following is what I needed to copy.And here is my copy. I should have let the ink dry up a bit more, but I think that the shape of the … Continue reading Two Waka
Book Review Tomorrow's Kin By Nancy Kress There is some debate in real life (internally, with myself. Let's leave this subject alone for mental health reasons) whether my reaction to the premise of this novel is nature or nurture. The premise of Tomorrow's Kin is: Aliens come, dock in New York Harbor, talk only to … Continue reading Book Review – Tomorrow’s Kin
In psychology, they say there are four stages of competence. They rise like this: 1) Unconscious Incompetence, when you suck so bad you don't even know how bad you suck, 2) Conscious Incompetence, when you know you suck and just exactly how badly, 3) Conscious Competence, when you are good but you really gotta concentrate … Continue reading Conscious Incompetence- Shodan Style
I read John Scalzi's blog fairly often. He has a section called Big Idea, where he introduces scifi novels, collections, etc. I found The Promise of Space and Other Stories there. I wanted short. I wanted scifi. I was in the right mood to buy the book. As an impulse, I bought the e-version on … Continue reading Book Review – The Promise of Space and Other Stories
I started Shodo four years ago as a way to help my youngest on her kanji tests in school, never with the intention of pursuing it seriously. Something about how my Sensei teaches, and the regularity of studying together every week changed my attitude. Below is my official certificate that I reached shodan, first dan … Continue reading Shodan
A great friend of mine works in the movie industry all over the world. He's based in Japan, so most of his work is here, but his work takes him all over. A couple of years back, I really wanted to see what his work was like. It was also when drones were becoming more … Continue reading Movie Credits
B.S. Donovan 