The third night of our camp is dance party. There is always something magical about watching these kids let loose and boogie. Dancing isn’t always the most natural thing for young kids over here, so watching them be free is just another way of showing that we are reaching these kids. That is all for … More Snow Camp (3)
The second day of our second session. Combine this with the three days of training and we get less than two weeks. But in that short time I can feel myself growing closer to the new staff and seeing all the wonderful aspects that make me so happy when I see returning staff. There is … More Snow Camp (2)
Just a mini update. Trying to get this in under the wire. Being from the American south, there is so much about snow that astonished me. On December 26th, our first session, there was so little snow on the ground that we were worried about safe skiing. Now, everything is blanketed in powder. Overnight cars … More Snow Camp (1)
Yesterday I mentioned that I was going for another attempt to post something on this site daily for as long as possible. This is something I’ve done the past few years as well. With varying results, of course. There are a few benefits to this. One is the hope of increased traffic. If I post … More Into the Snow
I’m sitting in front of my computer early in the morning. It is January 1st. One room over my wife and child are still asleep. I wonder how long I’m going to have to write and hope I can get this finished before they wake up. 2018 is over and done with. I’m kind of … More 2019 Resolutions
Around this time last year Japan’s NHK World television network put out what was claimed to be the first English language scripted sitcom. I’ll be honest, I was never clear if this claim was for the station itself or the country as a whole. Since the show was also available online, I checked it out. … More Grumpy Bird Reviews: Home Sweet Tokyo, Season 2 Episode 01: It’s All Calligraphy
I’ve been doing a lot of thinking of what I like. What type of fiction do I enjoy? Now, in some way this flies in the face of the rules of being successful. It seems that so much of the advice in terms of how to be successful is to write towards a given market. … More The Power of Gray
(Let’s go ahead and get it out of the way. The main point of this post is that I basically need to gain an additional $37 dollars a month at my Patreon site to get both my current and future kid into daycare here in Shinjuku. I totally understand if this makes you want to … More Daycare Dilemma
I don’t really enjoy editing my work. At least not the actual act of editing. I mea, I enjoy having my words get all cleaned up, and locating those missing words that my fingers failed to type as my mind spat them out. But the process of looking over what I wrote and seeing all … More The Joy of Rewrites
The coming of November is a signal of the end of the year. The weather shifts into full chilly mode. Halloween is behind us, Christmas is ahead. Since I have been living in Japan for over a decade I struggle to remember that Thanksgiving is a thing. November, for me, is truly the name where … More The Good of NaNoWriMo
