Only a Blockhead

Hourglass

2009-11-05T01:55:22Z

I read somewhere that author Dan Brown has an hourglass in which the sand flows for one hour. He uses it when writing to tell him when it’s time to take a break. Every morning I sit at my desk and get lost in the pleasure of exploring kanji Chin...

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Conduit Cleared

2009-11-03T01:38:58Z

Nice to have the sporadically clogged conduit flowing freely again. I added three books to the "Books I Finished in 2009" folder today. —David

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Untitled

2009-10-31T22:05:20Z

- NC Tate

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In an old part of Tokyo

2009-10-29T05:48:01Z

In an old part of Tokyo in the late afternoon, I passed a narrow alley. The houses faced each other, almost touching, and pots of flowers and plants filled the available space. The sky behind had turned red, and I felt a sudden and unexpected rush...

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Now showing: respect

2009-10-27T03:52:03Z

We go to the movies a lot here in rural Chigasaki, and usually stumble out from our aisle seats when the end credits begin to roll. We do it with no thought other than that the film's over, and there always seem to be others making a quick exit. ...

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The Bush-Obama Cover-up

2009-10-27T03:41:33Z

The New York Times, along with much of the rest of the media, gave George W. Bush and his cohorts a free pass during the run-up to the Iraq war. They apologized for that lapse later, and seem to have learned something, too. They are not shy abou...

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Letter to the Editor

2009-10-25T12:14:55Z

This is the latest in my series of unpublished letters to editors. This one didn't appear in the Financial Times. Dear Editors: Farhan Bokhari, in his article, "'Vikings' of the frontier land refuse to yield," quotes Hakimullah Meshud, leader o...

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What a Weirdo!

2009-10-25T11:57:55Z

He's not one of these guys who just reads military books. He reads weird things, too. He's reading a book about Shakespeare right now. —Major General Michael Flynn on General Stanley McChrystal. Quoted in this article. —David

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New Locks

2009-10-21T12:21:56Z

Unfortunately, I’m not very good at “explaining“ my work. I once tried to do this in a question-and-answer period with some students of my friend Richard Howard, after which he told me: “They wanted the key to your poetry, but you presented them w...

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Japan Destinations: Shikoku

2009-10-20T12:09:06Z

Outside its urban centers, Shikoku, the smallest of the four main Japanese islands, feels like a backwater. There doesn’t seem a lot of money away from the cities, and many older buildings have escaped being torn down and rebuilt. Shikoku is a tre...

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