Long Time Expat In Japan
... you find yourself deeply involved in the squealing feedback loop that is political social media. I spent the morning (yes the whole morning) reading my twitter and facebook feeds, then following links to news sources.This is unusual for me. I have tried for the last couple of months (since November to be precise) to … Continue reading You know you’re in trouble when
Most of the kanji we practice in my shodo society comes from Chinese poetry. Sometimes it's obscure and indecipherable, others it's pretty straightforward. Most of the time, I just write it and try hard to make it pretty. Hey, that's the idea, right? But this month, I looked into the origins. This month is from … Continue reading Reflections of an Early Spring Journey in ChangAn
Japan loves mascots. I suspect that it might be Disney where the phenomenon started, but I have nothing to back that up. The only places that I see mascots where I'm from, Boston, Mass., is for sports teams and Disney. You take pictures with the mascot because you want to remember your association with the … Continue reading Japan is Awesome – Mascots
Book Review - Claws of the Cat By Susan Spann About six months back, I joined the Japan Writers Conference, an annual event that attracts a lot of academics, intellectuals, and amazingly creative people. They also let anyone join, and it's free, so that explains why they let me in. There, I had the pleasure … Continue reading Book Review – Claws of the Cat
The pressure is on. Now that I'm 1kyu, I'm worried I can keep the same level of quality. The below ain't bad but is it 1kyu ? Same here for 3kyu in kanji.
I just submitted some kana for a level up test. This is the first time that I get to choose what to write, how to write it, and how to arrange it on a page. It was like trying to play improvisational jazz after two piano lessons. I was paralyzed. I finally struggled through and … Continue reading Testing Up
I haven't written about how Japan is weird for a while. My experience last week was one of the better ones. I'd just finished doing my taxes, an ordeal that no human should be subjected to in any country in any language. I'd expected to be done around mid-morning. But the line-- which curved and … Continue reading Japan is Awesome – Honesty
Kanji for Feb, a little better than usual. Still struggling, but at least it's balanced. Kana is still about right. No leveling here, but solid stuff, imho.
A little over 2 years back I started shodo with my daughter. On the surface, it was all about helping her get over a slump at school. She had gotten a bad test grade in kanji, and she needed a boost. Or maybe it was about making it fun, or maybe she could teach her … Continue reading Testing Shodo
It's been a long time since I've leveled up in shodo. I've been plodding along for months now. One or two times, I was at the bottom of the pile even. You see, they rank your submissions. The better you write, the further to the right they put your name. And when they think you're … Continue reading Long Time No See – Level Up!
B.S. Donovan 