First and foremost, sorry everyone (loyal readers especially) for not having blogged for so long. I have been under the weather for more than the past week and could not summon the energy to blog.  If I had free time, I spent it in bed either sleeping or tossing, turning, and sweating.  I have not fully recovered, but I have a few minutes before my next dose of medicine.

I was nominated for the Mystery Blogger Award. I was going to ignore it, but the nominator is such an earnest person that I didn’t have the heart.  They are trying to improve the reach of their blog, and I want to do what I can to encourage that.  People did it for me early on, and it is only fair that I do my part.  While I do not have millions of followers, I have a sizeable number that I am very thankful for.

Rules

• Display the award logo/image on your blog
• List the rules
• Thank the blogger(s) who nominated you and provide a link to the nominator’s blog
• That would be the Writing Waifu.
• Mention the creator of the award and provide a link as well
• I did that the first time I got this “award”, so it’s on the blog somewhere.
• Tell your readers 3 things about yourself
• See below
• Answer 5 questions from the nominator
• see below
• Nominate 10-20 bloggers
• last time I spent a lot of energy doing this, and thinking up questions (poignant ones I thought–though perhaps they weren’t) and none of the people responded.  Maybe they got tired of doing these things too.  Either way, I am not going to do that.  If any of you want to do this, drop me a note and I will include a link to you on this post.

3 things about myself

1. Some of my favourite books are:

The Quiet American, The Glass Castle, Waterland, The Sun Also Rises, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Pattern Recognition, Our Endless Numbered Days, This is Where I Leave You, The Crying of Lot 49, The Fountainhead, School of Velocity, and The Hit Man.

I know I should have put the author’s names in there, but I was afraid of spelling some of them incorrectly.  I could have Googled them….but I really don’t have enough energy.  If you find two different authors, send me a note and I will tell you which one I meant.

2. I think Calvin and Hobbes was, hands down, the greatest comic strip ever invented.  I constantly reread them and wonder if it could have gone on longer.  I do not blame Bill Watterson, but rather laud him for his courageous decision.  Some people drag things on far too long.  Others spend their lives cashing in on things long past their expiration date.  I respect that he has done neither…..but I still miss Calvin and Hobbes.

3. If I could change my job, I would love to do voices for commercials or cartoons–If I could do this in Japan, so much the better.  My voice is rather deep and has a quality to it that is very recognizable. I think it would be suitable for voice work.  If you know anybody, please send them my way.

Questions for Nominees

1. Do you tend to read a lot of blogs that are similar to yours or that are different from what you do?
2. How has your blog changed over time?
3. What’s something you want to get better at (can be blog-related but doesn’t have to be)?
4. Describe your corner of the internet. (Which sites do you visit most and what do you do there?)
5. What’s the last movie you saw and what did you think of it?

Answers

One

The only blog that I read that is similar to mine in any way is Donna’s blog called One Beautiful Thing (OBT).  She writes about one beautiful artist or style of art every day.  Her blog is much better researched and written than mine, though.

I read a whole pile of different blogs on Japan, stamps, books, dating, travel, cycling and Winona Ryder.  The ones that I stay with are the ones that are written from a passionate point of view.  They are the  ones where I feel the people are being honest.  Honesty is a rare quality these days.  Even if you offer it, some people really don’t want or have the capacity to take it.  Honesty is raw, and sometimes hurts and confuses.

Two

My blog has changed a lot.  I originally started this blog as a way to fight off looming depression and generally bad feelings by focussing on one perfect moment each day.  It was very successful for me.  Usually, I can conjure up more than one perfect moment each day (though this week would certainly have been a challenge).

As a result, I have used this blog to work on my writing.  I have always thought of myself as a writer, and published or not, I don’t want to give that up.  Between perfect moments, I have tended to write about things in my day which I felt deserved highlighting.  These things have included:

• tales from my commute
• portraits of commuters–the weird ones to the beautiful women who briefly enter my orbit on the bus, disappear at a stop and are never seen again
• interactions with my students –their tattoos, their strange breakfasts, and their inability to eat a Kit Kat in the proper way
• railing against the injustice of advertising on my bananas
• sharing some of my meals with you.  If I made you hungry, sorry

For the immediate future, I don’t see the blog changing that much.  I do hope to do some more traveling.  Those posts are some of my most popular.

Three

There are lots of things I wish I could be better at.  These include:

writing.    I want to write a post that really speaks to people and generates a lot of feedback.  I want to write a novel that sells strongly and gets optioned for a movie that I can make a small cameo in.

cycling.  Due to some issues, I hardly got out on the bike at all this y ear, but I wish I could climb like a pro.  I wish I could cycle an average speed above 30 kms/hr. I wish I could do long rides.

completion.  I wish I could complete more things.  There just seems like too many things left undone.

Four

I used to love watching videos on Japan on YouTube, but hardly do that anymore (just kydeanderic) I still read the English Japanese newspapers every day on line.  I  Other than checking out WP, the internet isn’t really thrilling me these days.

Five

Sadly, I am drawing a blank on this one.   It has been a long time (not years, but months).  I am pretty sure it was either a Star Wars Movie or a Marvel Movie.  I am sure I enjoyed it at the time.