Long Time Expat In Japan
I’m on a business trip, one where I actually got some work done. But it’s also in a hotel in spitting distance of the ocean. And it has a pool. And the business part of the trip is done. So I’m drinking margaritas by the pool and reading literary fiction. Work is hard. Life interferes. … Continue reading Literature
Maybe you’ve heard of strange things you can buy in vending machines in Japan. I’m here to tell you that maybe most of the stories are true. I personally have seen horse meat, alcohol, underwear, umbrellas, and socks. Today, I was in Osaka (more on why in in a later post) and I saw the … Continue reading Japan is Awesome – Vending Machines
Living in Japan, things move differently. It was only last week that Japan lifted mask restrictions. I know, I know. The rest of the world was maskless for more than a year. But this is how things work over here. The pace is different, and people are more cautious. The official date was March 13, … Continue reading Maskless
A couple of years back, I played with anagrams of political folk, and never posted them. I found them, so I'm sharing. Some are not bad, imho. Paul Manafort > On a fatal rump Sarah Huckabee Sanders > Erases sacred bunk, ha ha Sean Spicer > I sense crap Anthony Scaramucci > A month's inaccuracy … Continue reading Politician Anagrams
Pastime (1993)by Robert B. Parker I'm reading the Spenser novels in order. I skipped reviews on a bunch, but might as well start from here. Paul Giacomin, who you might remember from Early Autumn, needs to find his mother. She’s missing without even a goodbye. If you don’t remember the Early Autumn, that’s okay. It’s … Continue reading Book Review – Pastime
Living in Japan, since 2006, is not nearly as tough as the time I lived here in the 90s. Back then it was hard to keep in touch, both with friends and with culture. I was happy when Amazon came along and made it easier to buy books. I used to have to go to … Continue reading Archive
Today is kind of a lonely day. It is the beginning of the rainy season. The skies are a uniform grey. The temperature is just a little too warm. It’s wet, because of the constant misting that starts just after Golden Week. It transports me, reminds me of the first time I lived here and … Continue reading What’s Making Me Nostalgic
I've been living in Japan, this time, since 2006. A time of change to say the least. I say "this time" because there was another time (duh), in the 1990's. But that’s another story. Being outside your home country means you miss a lot of things. In both senses of the word. I miss home. … Continue reading Late to the Party
里とほき八声の鳥の初声に花の香送る春の山風 satohotoki, yagoeno torino, hatsukoe ni, hananoka okuru, haruno yamakaze In my home town, everywhere you can hear, the first calls of birds, the fragrance of flowers, carried on the mountain winds. The imagery of this one hit me on the heartstrings. I don't live in mountains, admittedly. But I do, or did, live in … Continue reading carried on the mountain winds
I just watched It's Kind of a Funny Story, a movie from like ten years ago. I'd never seen it. That's part of living abroad sometimes, you just miss stuff. It was, if you've never seen it, a story about a teenager who is suicidal, but learns to deal with his problems. He learns to … Continue reading Epilogue
B.S. Donovan 