Long Time Expat In Japan
I've spent more of my adult life in Japan than in my home country. I came to that realization the other day. It shouldn't have been such a realization. Simply do the math. Assuming 18 as an adult, I've lived 31 years as such (that makes me 49 for the arithmetic challenged). I live in … Continue reading My “Japan is weird – sort of” Series
My good friend and partner in blogdom, JT, posted recently that he has "been discovered" by the Russian Spambot Overlords. With 50 pageviews from Russia, where he knows no one (I assume), compared to 28 from the US, where the vast majority of his friends live. I almost never check my own stats; I'm not … Continue reading Spambot Overlords
I am way too excited that I leveled up in Kanji last month. I had been struggling a little bit. When I have to stay within the rules, write textbook style, I tense up and really don't do well. I've been doing this for over a year now (since September of 2014, so 15 months?), … Continue reading Level Up! Kanji ! and Kana, both!
This month's kanji reads hakugan soushin in Japanese, or baiyan shuangxin in Chinese. Like a lot of these four character sayings, it evokes sense imagery and invites you to fill in the gaps. Hakugan (baiyan) means white goose. Sou (shuang) means frost. And shin (xin) means to believe, to know, to inform. Long story short, when … Continue reading November Shodo
I am not a user of Uber. I think it fair to state this up front. My reason for not using Uber has nothing to do with my feelings about the company or the service. I think it is perfectly fine as a service. I have read some controversial things about hiring practices (if you … Continue reading Where is the Open Source Uber?
It is slightly less than a month since I made my public declaration. One month without video games or TV. The fact that I am writing this less than a month on should give you a hint. No, I did not, in fact make it a month without. On the 15th I had what some … Continue reading Screen Withdrawal – pt 2
Kanji I wrote earlier about Gan Shinkei (aka Yan Zhenqing) and his writing style. I kind of fell head over heels for this style. Sensei tells me that I will probably rank up with this submission. If so then that would be awesome. Kana has always been better for me, still not sure why. … Continue reading October Shodo
Great Chinese calligraphers of old were also great drinkers. The Eight Immortals of the Wine Cup (飲中八仙) were Tang Dynasty scholars known for their love of wine. Probably the best known was Zhang Xu, who used to get so plastered, he'd write calligraphy with his own hair. When he finally sobered up, he could never … Continue reading Honoring the 8 Immortals of the Wine Cup
image from genius.com On at least one occasion, though probably more, I have written that I live in Chiba, and that's the place where the novel Neuromancer begins, "The sky was the color of a tv tuned to a dead channel." Clearly, I like the reference; I am a scifi fan. I also like how … Continue reading Screen Withdrawal
My sensei turned me on to a style of calligraphy based on a famous calligrapher of the Tang Dynasty. Yan Zhenqing (Gan Shinkei in Japanese) was a governor during the Tang Dynasty. Apparently he was pretty wild at the time. His style had really thick vertical lines with thin horizontals. What I wrote here is … Continue reading Yan Zhengqing Style
B.S. Donovan 