There have been, and are, several reasons for this site. But I think ultimately the reason I created and still write in this site is to help me work out stuff by writing, and I just so happen to do it publicly sometimes. I need to do that now. So, here we go. If I were to give a word to how I have felt throughout my entire life, I think I would use the word “isolation”. The Japanese word “gaijin” really does encompass in many ways how I feel… Read More »Alien (Gaijin)
There is something about me that I have not exactly kept hidden, but I’ve kind of downplayed it. Whenever I say this out loud, I tend to try to soften it. I will say something like “present company excepted”, or “but I don’t mean YOU”, or any similar words that are intended to soften what I truly feel inside. I don’t think I’m going to do that now. What I will say is that I’ve always been this way, so I’m not telling you anything new, and everything that I’ve said… Read More »Not Suffering Fools Gladly
I think now would be a good time to talk about all of the different projects I’m doing, Japanese or no, and their status. First off, Texihabara. I believe I will be converting that to an entirely Japanese language site. I haven’t quite figured out what the topic might be – I might convert the existing content to Japanese, I might take it in another direction entirely. But it’s clear that the direction I was trying to take doesn’t work. Now, as for Hidden Japanese, it is serving the purpose I… Read More »Project News
Umm… Merry Christmas, I guess. I’m not huge on Christmas but it’s a day off, so yay. So I’ve been thinking a little more on Japanese, its role in culture, and its role in my life. I’ve been thinking about what Japanese is, in my culture. I’ve been thinking about otaku and weeaboo, and why I collect Japanese language books and manga. I’ve come to the general conclusion that Japanese culture in America is really only tangentially related to Japan, in the same way that American culture in Japan is… Read More »Christmas Musings – Japanese and Me
I have tried to write several posts over the past week, and have failed with each one What I wanted to say wasn’t working. I also was listening to a few lectures by Leonard Nimoy. He had some very interesting things to say about his acting career, and one that struck me was something he said about a role he played as a young man. I don’t remember the role, but it was something that really resonated with him. He said “It gave me a voice when I was struggling… Read More »Seeking a Voice
I attempted to write this post previously but it took on a tone I didn’t like, so I’m going to try to redo it. Last time I talked about why I consider learning Japanese a personal failure. Now I want to talk about why I don’t think it is. Oh, don’t get me wrong, I failed at Japanese. But it did serve a very important purpose, and I may yet pursue it for other reasons or considerations. I remember when I first truly became interested in learning Japanese. I don’t… Read More »Japanese: a Failed Experiment – Part Deux
Ever since I began this blog, there have been a few ongoing themes. The one that really permeated the entire blog was the following question: Why am I bothering? Over the last few years, it’s perhaps the most important question, and the one I had the most difficulty answering. I think I might have the answer. And it ties together nearly all of the threads that have been weaving this blog from the very beginning. So let me start. The first thread was: why I started to learn Japanese. Something… Read More »Japanese: a Failed Experiment (But Not Entirely)
So, before I come to a conclusion on this blog and answer the question in the title, I need to put forth some background. I announced earlier a project I’ve been doing called “Lovely Lily Lives”, or just Lily for short. I’ve been writing her for around four months now, and to be quite honest, I don’t know if I could write any other character at the moment. She is exactly the right character for me to be writing at the moment. This is because she is giving me as… Read More »Why this Blog was (Mostly) a Mistake
I haven’t posted here for a while. I tried once, and I just couldn’t. So instead, I’ll just post a bit of an update on how I’m doing, for those who might care, and we’ll just go from there. I’ve had some tooth problems for quite a while, since before COVID. Truth is, I hate the dentist. I have a strong gag reflex (one of the primary reasons I consider it fortunate I am straight, har har) and every time I have to get any significant work done at the… Read More »Reconfiguration
I have written previously about why I like science fiction. Now let me tell you why it sucks. And how that relates to our current political situation. I’ve always been a fan of science fiction. I enjoy thinking about speculative technology, and like nothing more than learning about a new and heretofore unknown physical principle that makes interesting, unexpected things possible. And science fiction certainly delivers on that! So that’s something I’ve always really liked about sci-fi. But I’ve been reading a book called “Adventures in Time and Space”. It’s… Read More »Why Science Fiction Sucks