American Gaijin
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Father’s Day
Today is Father’s Day, at least in my country. On two levels, Father’s Day means nothing to me. On one level, it’s a fake holiday that I’m betting was created because of fathers feeling left out due to Mother’s Day. I have little to no respect for fake Hallmark holidays. On another level, my father…
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The Assault of Memories
I have a very good memory. Too good, in fact. Every minute of every day I am assaulted by memories. Some are good, some are bad, some are embarrassing, and some are traumatic. Some are just dreams of a world that should be and isn’t. But I can’t shut then off, and they don’t fail…
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Alien
I am an alien. When I was a child, I looked for belonging with my family. I never found it. I looked for belonging from my church. I never found it. I looked for belonging from God. I never found it. I looked for belonging from friends. I never found it. I looked for belonging…
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What the Supreme Court just Told us
Today, the Supreme Court of the United Ststes released a ruling that stated, 9 to 0, that the city of Philadelphia cannot discriminate against a Catholic adoption agency because they won’t adopt to same sex couples. The ruling itself is kind of expected. The 9 to 0 lineup of justices was not. For those who…
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Homeschooling: a Horrible Idea?
For many reasons, homeschooling, at least in my country, is coming into its own. Because of the pandemic, the uncertainty of public schools, and possible disagreement with what is being taught, people are educating their children at home in record numbers. But is it a good idea? Let me tell you a story. From first…
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Wow wow wow seishun
Wow, wow wow youth, there are so many types. When two or three get together, it’s noisy, noisy Morning Musume, Joshi kashimashi monogatari These past couple of weeks have been a time of deep reflection for me. As the time of my youth slips away, I’m forced to look back at many things in my…
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Japanese Culture: The Seduction of Exoticism
Over the past few years, My thoughts on Japanese culture have taken a very definite arc. I started out with a general sense of admiration, but then decided that I wanted to learn more about their language and culture. I immersed myself into learning as much as I could about it. Unlike some “Otaku” or…
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An Update on Japanese
So, I’ve gone all over the place on this blog, and I haven’t posted about Japanese for a long time. And I kinda don’t want to, really. But this blog is ostensibly about Japanese, so, I guess I’ll write about that. I’ve lost all interest. True, if I abandon Japanese for much longer, I’ll start…
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Rising Above the Problem
The last week has been troublesome. So much so that I have several posts I’ve left on the cutting room floor, because I was too deep in the problem to make a coherent post. I could have posted those, but they would have caused more damage than they would have helped me. So, having had…
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Financial Literacy 101: What Everyone Needs to Know
Recently, I’ve been learning a great deal about how finances work. It’s a difficult topic, and that’s mostly because there are a lot of people out there with a vested interest in misleading you or even outright lying to you. Let’s be real – I could be one. But I’m just a regular Joe (not…