The bed is the new desk, and other thesis-related oddities

I am working on what you might describe as the second draft of my book. I say 2nd draft because I have officially gone back to the beginning and am working through the chapters in order. Many of the chapters have already received more than two edits, so it’s really hard to say exactly what [...]

Murakami, some washoku, and a bath

Since I seem to be on a book theme this weekend, I thought I’d pass along three Japan-related book reviews I found myself reading this weekend for one reason or another:
• The Japan Times has a quirky little review of a nonfiction work focused solely on Japanese baths, or onsen.
• Berkeley’s Ten Speed Press (which [...]

I’m in love with Library Thing!

I just came across this awesomely geeky playground for booklovers, Library Thing. I am in love, love, love. A way to keep track of all of my books and reading online! It’s sharable, searchable, highly indexed, and great for coming up with new reads. My favorite part is being able to look at all the [...]

Revisiting Japan through books

We have started packing up our apartment already. We aren’t actually moving for nearly a month, but we are eager to get on with it, and we don’t want to leave all of the packing til the end.
Aside from this meaning that our apartment is in a complete, utter state of disarray, strewn with boxes [...]

Place as character

Place has always been an important component of my writing. I don’t mean simple descriptions of locations. I mean the places always seem to have an impact on the plot or narrative development of an essay or story. My professor not long ago put this into words for me, when he remarked about a chapter [...]

19 countries and counting

create your own visited countries map
I love maps. I love maps because they allow me to see where I’ve been, and plan where I’ll go next. Looking at this map, there are a lot of places I still need to get to. Apparently (according to this little map widget) I have been to 19 countries. [...]

Ramen night

Or ramyun night, in this case. Korean instant noodles.
When Billy is out of town I tend to look for easy meals…I just don’t feel like cooking anything too complex when it’s just me. Sometimes, I cook things that I know he doesn’t like— dishes that have a lot of onions in them, for example. But [...]

I’m back!

Hello, readerly people. I’m back from my break! I’d like to say I’m refreshed and refocused, and in some ways I am, but to say that I am fully so would be a bit of an exaggeration. Refreshed and refocused are the goals, however. I have missed blogging, and I found that it really is [...]

Is it time for a makeover?

I’m thinking of revamping this blog. I don’t mean the design, or the name. I mean the subject matter. The intent of this thing was to write about writing, a plan that conveniently coincided with two years spent in a graduate writing program.  I had lots of material and constant stimuli in the form of [...]

Korea and Japan, Part 1,485,673,398…

I had been reading, in recent years, that the enmity between Korea and Japan was lessening, thanks to new generations of kids growing up removed from the horrors of World War II, and thanks to cultural exchange between the two countries. Korean comics, for example, had grown wildly popular in Japan, as had some TV [...]