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I’m Tired of Tears

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.  And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband; and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling of God is with men. He will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe away… Read More »I’m Tired of Tears

Modern Computers Suck

Yknow, modern computers are a miracle.  I’m sitting here, typing on a keyboard with no physical connection to the computer, using a pointing device with no physical connection to the computer, connected to a worldwide network that it has no physical connection to, and it’s just a little square sitting next to three rather large monitors.  I can do so many things with these computers – look at scantily clad anime girls, write blog posts, look at scantily clad anime girls, do my finances, look at scantily clad anime girls,… Read More »Modern Computers Suck

Tsundoku, Part 2

When I was a child, there used to be this program (I don’t know if it still exists – oh look, it still does) called Scholastic Book Club. It was very much like those record clubs of the early 80s, where, if I remember correctly, you’d get some books for a much reduced price on joining the club, if you bought a few books at regular price within a set time period. I think this was one of the things that kickstarted my love of reading, though not the only… Read More »Tsundoku, Part 2

Am I Otaku?

Am I Otaku or even weeaboo? This is a question I’m asking myself more and more lately.  I mean, I guess I fit some of the definitions.  I like JPop – enough so that I’m maintaining an entire website about it, and other pop culture things.  I’m familiar enough with different idols to have a semi-intelligent conversation about them (can you ever have a truly intelligent conversation about a Japanese idol?). I even have some anime figures sitting on my dresser, and some of them I can’t post to Facebook… Read More »Am I Otaku?

Tsundoku

Tsundoku is a Japanese word I relatively recently discovered.  It means, essentially, “Piles of books”.  Or, more accurately, someone who has piles of books that they haven’t read. I have always loved reading.  Ever since I was a child, I was an avid reader.  I learned how to read when I was very young – I was reading newspapers at three, and I never lost that.  I remember, I think, my first trip to the library – it was a school field trip.  I had so many books I could… Read More »Tsundoku

I am Ashamed of this Blog

 So, as a part of moving over to this new host, I’ve been going through old posts (starting from the beginning), and categorizing them.  Some of them I’ve put in a “hidden” category – they still exist, but will not show up on any listing page (or I think search), and I may get rid of them at some point in the future.  This is reserved for posts that are no longer timely or interesting, or posts that Texihabara now or will be a better fit for.  Though I trashed… Read More »I am Ashamed of this Blog

The Unbearable Arrogance of Wokeness

I am not, and will never be, “woke”. I don’t even really need to go into what the term means, as that’s not even really germane to the conversation. The word itself should be sufficient to not want to go anywhere near it. Without even knowing what it pertains to, it’s an arrogant word. It says that you are awake while everyone else is asleep. It says that you are superior to those who are not “woke”. It says that being “woke” is a desirable state and that those who… Read More »The Unbearable Arrogance of Wokeness

Sometimes I Wonder…

As all of the symbols in Japanese start coalescing into individual meanings and pronunciations, I can’t help but feel a sense of loss. I mean, there are tons of websites out there breathlessly proclaiming how cool Japanese is, giving you tips on learning different phrases and words, grammar points, etc. There are other sites out there that are breathless commentaries on different aspects of Japanese culture, and all of them seem oriented towards people who think Japanese is the coolest thing ever, and I think partly because it’s so exotic… Read More »Sometimes I Wonder…

Drinking From the Firehose

I have been learning Japanese now for a little over a year. One the one hand, I know more than I did. I can put together basic sentences, I know probably a thousand words (a hodgepodge of adjectives, nouns, verbs, and things I picked up from variety shows and songs), and I think a fair assessment of my skills right now is that I could probably find my way around Tokyo if I needed to. I am very familiar with hiragana and katakana, and I even know a few kanji,… Read More »Drinking From the Firehose

There is no such thing as a Japanese cat.

I made a little bed for my cat. It consists of a bamboo basket and one of her favorite blankets. She is currently curled up in it sleeping, and I have no intention or desire to change that fact. But I was looking at her, and I realized an important fact: my cat could never be Japanese. She’s not even American. She’s a cat, and she will always be only a cat. She may understand some English words, and even sometimes choose to listen to them (I can only wish),… Read More »There is no such thing as a Japanese cat.