telepathic paranoia

I’m a little late, but I’ve been meaning to make a few comments about the Guardian’s compilation of Ten Rules of Writing from a host of different authors. Sure, it’s cute to see what advice various famous authors have, and it never hurts to get a few tips on how to make this lifestyle work. [...]

So this is indefensibly self-indulgent, but I feel like posting pics of all the bento lunches I ate in Japan. woooooooo bento.  and this concludes my japan posts for…  a while, certainly.  Let’s hope Idaho in winter gives me as much fun stuff to blog.

Classes start today!  Busy, busy and I still haven’t finished posting japan pics… I’ve been meaning to share this quiet moment from our trip to Nishi Hongan-Ji temple. Apparently it was some kind of clean-up day? Huge numbers of old people had been bussed in and handed twig brooms in order to sweep up the [...]

You may think Japan is the land of sushi and ramen and lychees, but actually, the Japanese love donuts.  And the love doing fabulously interesting things to donuts. No visit to Japan is complete for me without a trip to Mister Donut. Mister Donut was a fixture of my childhood, until they got bought out [...]

I know it might be hard to believe from this blog, but I did do more than eat in Japan.  It was a little rough getting to any of the major sites scattered throughout the city, as I was located on a far, far outskirt (practically a suburb) — so any trip downtown was a [...]

Hey, guess who figured out how to get the photos off his mobile phone!  Yes, M.  And wow, I’m so jealous now of his eight megapixels…  His photos are gorgeous. So remember that piggy-looking pork bun I was talking about yesterday? Well, if that isn’t just the definition of kawaii. And his little piggy tail!

Straight from Japanese combini (circle k, seven eleven, family mart, etc.) to your computer, it’s more fabulous Japanese junk food!  (See previous junk food here) First up, it’s a wafer cookie with pop rocks inside. Or at least, that’s what the packaging seems to by indicating to my uncomprehending gaijin eyes.  I mean, isn’t that [...]

Happy New Year!  I still have more Japan for sharing. Much as Americans have a fetish for Japanese video games, anime, and manga, the Japanese also flirt with American culture…  sometimes in unpredictable ways. This department store had a really vast t-shirt collection on display.  Some of my favorites: Hawkeye: The Outdoor The Mushroom Is [...]

At the Emperor’s Birthday dinner the other night (boy, that sounds impressive, doesn’t it?), we were asked what we’d seen of Kyoto so far.  I mentioned a few shrines and temples…  “You haven’t been to Nishiki Market?  You must go to Nishiki Market!”  And M. was promptly given the following day off for this purpose.  [...]

Ooh, I forgot, there was another sign I wanted to share. M. says this is an ad for a restaurant, and what else could it be? But it seems odd… I’ve never seen wild boar on any menus in Japan. I really wanted to investigate but could not figure out where it was directing us, [...]