Long Time Expat In Japan
Sensei tells me that I'm finally getting my lines straight. I love how she says it. It's onomatopoeia, "Pshee!" Which means like wicked straight. I must admit, the following is probably the most "Pshee!" I have ever written my kanji. Kana is still my strong suit, but I had a hell of a time this … Continue reading June Shodo, aka “Pshee!”
Tobikyu \ˈtō ˈbē ˈkyü\ Verb (used without object) 1) To tobu a kyu 2) No really, you tobu completely over a kyu to the next kyu 3) so tobu means to jump or fly, and kyu is a level, so it means jumping up more than one level at a time. Kind of like skipping … Continue reading Shodo – Tobikyu
April I feel pretty good about kana. I used to worry about where to move my brush and when. Now, it seems to just happen. I also used to bend my brush at a little bit of an angle. Now, I'm pretty much straight up and down. I'ts been a long time since I wrote … Continue reading April Shodo
Twice a year, we get to take a test to level up. Last year, I jumped two levels in kana, which kind of made me jump up and down for joy. It's pretty damned hard to get a level when you just submit every month. Which kind of makes me wonder why you can level … Continue reading Kana Test – Part 2 (pt. 1 coming later)
Hey, it's been forever since I've been able to show some progress, but in the March issue of Shodo Geijutsu, the magazine for my Shodo group, you can read that I made it to yukyu. This is up from 1 kyu. Check out the cover of the mag: My name has a big old circle … Continue reading Level Up – Kana
I kind of like my kanji submission this month. I still feel awkward and clumsy with the size, especially with the non-cursive style I have to use. But this month was fun if not skillful. Below is my kana submission. While I think I could have done better, I feel like I know more specifically … Continue reading January Shodo
Kanji hasn't really improved since last year, but my rankings among the 3 kyu skews a little to the top. I'm going to try to test up in February. Until then, I plod along with the following, which means think a thousand (times), ponder ten thousand. Which is kind of saying the same thing twice, … Continue reading December Shodo
Shodo has a weirdly important place in my heart. I go with my daughter on Saturdays. My Sensei is a peach. I struggle and progress slowly, yet I look forward to it. I enjoy it because I get time together with the little one, but I also learn, and it is art. I have a … Continue reading Shodo – October
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
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.
B.S. Donovan 