Long Time Expat In Japan
Poetry Review The Trouble with Poetry - And Other Poems By Billy Collins I did not buy this book of poetry. I say that not to distance myself from it or poetry in general. I state it simply as a point of fact. I've written before that I am a genre reader. I like my … Continue reading Poetry Review – The Trouble with Poetry
Kanji has been hard for me. I freeze up. I get stuck in my head, get tense. Thankfully, last month the kanji practice was a more fluid style. More freedom. Below is my kanji for next month (not the one that got me the level up). Still, you can see, I hope, a little more … Continue reading Level Up! Kana 7th kyu
In February I was really pleased to say that I was, again, not last. As you can see below, I'm plugging along well enough. The first is kanji. https://bsdonovan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/janfebkanji.jpg Then here is my pen submission. I must admit, I'm kind of struggling here, but still not last. https://bsdonovan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/janfebpen.jpg But below is the really exciting part. … Continue reading Level up!
Book Review The Shallows By Nicholas Carr Some good books get you thinking, they set you to talking and discussing. Other good books transport you. Still others are tomes of knowledge. A good friend of mine and I have been conversing about reading a bit lately. I have a complicated history with reading. My friend's … Continue reading Book Review – The Shallows
Many years ago, when I was a college student, and barely conscious - I was not a party animal, just self centered - I studied Comparative Literature. Comp Lit was where I could basically take classes in film, science fiction, vampire fiction, foreign languages, almost anything liberal arts related, and it would count toward graduation. … Continue reading Blogs are Commonplace Books
Image from Mr. Nimoy's Twitter Like many of you, I was saddened to hear of Leonard Nimoy's passing. While he will be remembered for his many achievements, the one for which I will remember him the most is as Spock, ambassador to a brighter future. Star Trek was before it's time in many ways. The … Continue reading Change is the Essential Process of All Existence
This week, my kanji submission for shodo is onko chishin. See below for a picture. Roughly translated, it means "know history's mistakes." https://bsdonovan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/img_0464.jpg The kanji we need to submit is often a four word idiom, what they call a Yoji Jukugo. Yoji = four word. Jukugo = idiom. So there's no real mystery there. But … Continue reading 温故知新 – Know History’s Mistakes
I love the hyperlinked world of the internet. After having just read Feed, a post zombie apocalypse novel by Mira Grant, I was curious about the genre and how it has changed. Curious enough to dig a little bit. I felt, but could not prove, that zombies seem to be a lot more visible in … Continue reading A Quasi-Analytical Look at Zombie Mind Share
Book Review Feed by Mira Grant "Rise up while you can." **At the end of this page I spill some big spoilers about the book. If you plan to read it and haven’t already, please stop at the spoiler alert section below. https://bsdonovan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/feed.jpg Feed is a novel about young bloggers in a post zombie apocalypse … Continue reading Book Review – Feed
https://bsdonovan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/courthouse.jpg OK, so it was a bit strange, but I have to say, I had a good customer experience at the courtroom today. See my post yesterday about getting Nabbed by the Keisatsu. The parking violation cost me 40,000 JPY, about $340 USD. There’s no way that’s going to feel good. I have problems with … Continue reading A Good Experience with Police? Yes, Expensive but, Yes
B.S. Donovan 
