Long Time Expat In Japan
Kanji is deep. Okay, all Shodo and Japanese language is deep. And it comes from Chinese, so Chinese is deep. All language is deep. What I'm trying to say is that this months kanji took me down a rabbit hole. The words are literally "one step thousand gold." There's got to be a good fortune … Continue reading Brushes
Book Review The Postman By David Brin Note: I spoil. That said, the novel is over 30 years old, so if you haven't read it, where have you been for the last several decades? Tropes abound in post-holocaust fiction. The struggle against the fall into chaos. A man (or woman, but let's face it, usually … Continue reading Book Review – The Postman
Book Review Six Wakes By Mur Lafferty I don't always buy every book that's nominated for the Hugo best novel, but I do check them out to see if they appeal. In 2018, the nominees were: The Stone Sky, by N.K. JemisinThe Collapsing Empire, by John ScalziProvenance, by Ann LeckieSix Wakes, by Mur LaffertyRaven Stratagem, … Continue reading Book Review – Six Wakes
Book Review The Consuming Fire By John Scalzi In no particular order, I write my thoughts as they come. I may spoil. Honestly, I'm not sure yet. This is a stream of consciousness blog, doncherknow. The Consuming Fire is the second in a series called The Interdependency. I reviewed the first, The Collapsing Empire, about … Continue reading Book Review- The Consuming Fire
In psychology, they say there are four stages of competence. They rise like this: 1) Unconscious Incompetence, when you suck so bad you don't even know how bad you suck, 2) Conscious Incompetence, when you know you suck and just exactly how badly, 3) Conscious Competence, when you are good but you really gotta concentrate … Continue reading Conscious Incompetence- Shodan Style
I read John Scalzi's blog fairly often. He has a section called Big Idea, where he introduces scifi novels, collections, etc. I found The Promise of Space and Other Stories there. I wanted short. I wanted scifi. I was in the right mood to buy the book. As an impulse, I bought the e-version on … Continue reading Book Review – The Promise of Space and Other Stories
I started Shodo four years ago as a way to help my youngest on her kanji tests in school, never with the intention of pursuing it seriously. Something about how my Sensei teaches, and the regularity of studying together every week changed my attitude. Below is my official certificate that I reached shodan, first dan … Continue reading Shodan
Book Review Bannerless By Carrie Vaughn As always, I spoil with out warning so be...warned. I've never read any of Ms. Vaughn's novels. She's famous for a series in which a werewolf named Kitty hosts a radio talk show for the supernatural. I discovered Bannerless on John Scalzi's blog, Whatever, and decided to give it … Continue reading Book Review – Bannerless
Book Review Artificial Condition By Martha Wells As always, I spoil when it pleases me. About 4 months ago I read the first in this series, All Systems Red, which I bought for four bucks on Kindle, and was very pleased. It set up the character, as well as established a longer arc and mystery. … Continue reading Book Review – Artificial Condition
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
B.S. Donovan 