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June 2022

Why I Will Not Date Selfish American Women

I am a man (though who knows what that means anymore).  I am in my mid 40s.  I live in America.  I haven’t dated in ten years.  And I will never date an American woman again. And this whole recent kerfluffle about Roe vs. Wade just solidifies why. So, before I start, let me say a few things about what I’m not saying.  I’m not saying I’m an “incel”.  I don’t like that word and I don’t take it.  Particularly with the word “involuntary”, it has a connotation of someone who… Read More »Why I Will Not Date Selfish American Women

Nobody Cares Anymore

I have a confession to make.  Well, is it a confession?  I guess it’s something you didn’t know that you will in a few seconds. I hate misspelling, mispronunciation (with caveats), and bad grammar. What I particularly hate is that no one seems to even care about misspelling, mispronunciation, and bad grammar.  To the point where it’s to be found quite regularly in YouTube thumbnails and ad copy.  It’s like no one bothers to do proofreading anymore. In fact, one time I had the absolute temerity to correct someone’s Japanese pronunciation… Read More »Nobody Cares Anymore

Parasocial

The word of the day is “parasocial”.  I don’t know if I’ll continue to have a “word of the day”, but there’s one for today.  I decree it. YouTube comments are a cesspool. I think the reason for this is, about 95% of the time, they fit into two molds.  Needlessly critical, or annoyingly fawning.  Whenever I go to a YouTube channel, and read the comments, I’ll see hundreds of comments that say nothing but “you’re great” or “you’re wonderful”, in much more flowery language.  Often the creator doesn’t bother… Read More »Parasocial

Roe vs. Wade: Living by the Courts

So, how could I not write about the biggest news to come out of US politics today.  For my international readers (of which probably all of you are), Roe vs. Wade was a ruling written in 1973 by the Supreme Court of the time that basically said that there is a constitutional right to abortions and the states can’t restrict them. This morning, that ruling was reversed. Now, as you might have gathered, I think this on balance was a good thing, and I have believed that this ruling (as… Read More »Roe vs. Wade: Living by the Courts

Gay Marriage: Serving Death

How’s that for a provocative title?  Well, hear me out.  I’m probably not quite going where you think I am. So this topic was brought to mind by the fact that a court in Japan has spoken out against gay marriage.  Gay marriage, of course, being defined as a legal and/or spiritual union between two men or two women that is in every way equivalent to a marriage between a man and a woman. I’m not talking about civil unions or other legal fictions that are designed to give gay people… Read More »Gay Marriage: Serving Death

Fluency in Language and Music

One things that people don’t know about me is that I am – or at least was at one time – a pretty accomplished pianist.  I’ve played professionally.  Specifically, in the community theater productions of a small town in Iowa.  Long story. But last night I was just playing around on the piano – I’ve given up practicing and performing a while ago – and I realized that being proficient at the piano is not that much different than being proficient at a language, such as Japanese.  You put in… Read More »Fluency in Language and Music

I Deleted Facebook

I deleted Facebook today. I’ve been on Facebook for 15 years now – I first got on it in 2007.  It’s been a huge part of my life for that entire time.  And it’s generally been nothing but a drain on my mental health. The final tipping point was a direct result of my violating one of my cardinal rules – never friend a coworker.  Oh, don’t get me wrong.  I make sure that people know what they’re getting into when they friend me.  And I keep my personal and… Read More »I Deleted Facebook

The Three Japanese Cultures

Hi!  It’s been a while since I posted here, so I have a lot to say.  Truth be told, I don’t really think I’m fond of the blogging method of expressing myself, but I haven’t come up with anything better yet.  I’m working on it, though!  First, an update. The Lily project (https://lovelylilylives.com, in case you didn’t know) is almost a year old now!  In that time, the story has progressed from a sweet but confused girl who didn’t know who she was, to a sweet but confused girl who… Read More »The Three Japanese Cultures