Lately I've been planning a fantasy trip to Japan.

In the past couple of weeks, I've been keeping notes on places to go and see in Japan should I decide to take a trip there in 2025. It is likely to happen, because my roommate has declared his intention to climb Mount Fuji. My roommate is not in very good shape, but I've decided that I like him enough that it would be fun to watch them succeed at this personal goal. However, I have no intent on joining them on a climb to the top of a mountain. That doesn't sound at all fun to me. What does sound fun is doing a few events with them, and then striking out on my own to see other places. Google translate has gotten really good, and I think that I could navigate the systems there a lot easier than I could the last time I was in Japan decades earlier.

When I started writing notes down, it was a "tabula rasa" or clean slate. So anything goes really. I just wanted to start listing them so that I wouldn't forget about them. Up first is a visit to a museum that is showing this thing called Team Lab Planets. It's some kind of exhibition of rooms that have all kinds of light all over the floors, the walls, the ceiling, to give you some kind of immersive "otherworldly" experience. It sounds like a lot of fun, and it is in Tokyo.

My second thing that I want to go and visit is Ghibli Park, which is a new theme park that opened (rather low key but I guess it is very popular) that celebrates Hayao Miyazaki's lifetime of work, including homes and buildings that are from his many animated films that you can actually walk into. That sounded like a lot of fun and an entertaining diversion for an afternoon (should I score myself a ticket, which I've heard can be a bit difficult). 

Another thing on my Japan trip list is a visit to Hotel Hoshi in Komatsu. This is on the side of Japan (northern side) that faces the Sea of Japan. It is billed as the oldest hotel in the world, and it has many hot spring type baths that one can enjoy. Additionally, while staying in Komatsu, there is a theme park called Yunokuni-no-Mori. Once you enter the gate, you can choose a craft to participate in from the many rooms in the buildings...and you basically do that craft for an afternoon. The types of crafts they have are making a wood block Japanese character, a music box, etching glass, glass blowing, making a candle with colorful waxes, moulding dyes for t-shirts or handkerchiefs, drawing with paint (called cashew) to make these things called maki-e, engraving characters on a diamond shaped glass board, making handmade soba noodles, putting plants inside of bottles for small terrariums, crafting insects out of bamboo, making handmade sweets of Ishikawa, or using gold leaf to adorn a thing (like a plate or a box or a cup), trying your hand at the potter's wheel, or using bean paste to fill a Doryaki skin.

In Osaka (at about the same time I plan to arrive in Japan) they are having a six-month world expo (formerly the "World's Fair"). If I go to this (which I probably will) there will be some irony. You see, when I was 13 years old I visited Japan with my mother (1985) and we went to a World's Fair there. They only have them every five years or so. The last one was in Dubai. The irony "may be" that I've been to two world's fairs in my life and both of them happened to be in Japan. I think that would be a funny coincidence.

In the Kobe area I would like to go to the Godzilla museum. They reportedly have a life-sized godzilla head that you can zip line into, but the weight limit is 250 pounds. I'll need to drop some weight to be able to qualify, and I'm working on that right now. Hopefully, I'd be able to make the goal weight and get this experience in the books. Additionally, in Kyoto there is an alleyway called "Pontocho" that is supposed to be one of those old-world streets where you can get food from street vendors like you see in movies and television shows that are set in Japan. I think eating at one of those would be a lot of fun, and it isn't something I'm familiar with.

Even though I haven't made any exact commitments or plans, talking about this trip with others seems to bring out the worst in the "well-heeled." Last night (for example) I just mentioned that I was interested, and this guy who I just met (he's Meg's friend and Meg is a good friend of mine) had to interject with all of his insights and "You have to do this in Japan" stuff that was just really off-putting and irritating. 

He whipped out his foldable phone and started showing pictures of him eating kobe beef, followed with questions like "Are you going to try kobe beef?" and when I said..."I don't know. Maybe." He immediately followed up with, "You better bring your money then because it is expensive! But look at this! and look at this! and look at this!" I had so many eye-rolling moments, mostly because he really drifted across the line of "informing" to "bragging" and I'm not a fan of braggarts. I'm not sure why people act like that, but it's like they are waiting to vomit their trips all over a stranger for some reason. I just want to say, "Dude...I'm happy you had a good trip. Really, I am. But I really don't give a shit what you did. Those are your memories, not mine." Of course, I didn't say that, but I wanted to.

Anyway, even though I've made no concrete plans, it is still fun to think about and imagine myself doing some of the activities that (on paper) look fun for a kind of relaxing trip. And yes, if this post makes you want to brag about your trip to Japan in the comments, you have my permission. Who knows? I might learn something.

I never would have thought that shades of gray was a Star Wars thing until recent times.

When I was in college and playing the West End Games version of Star Wars (it was a lot of fun), I would explain to the uninitiated a few ingredients that are essential to any Star Wars tale. The first of these is that it is a story of good versus evil. I'd reiterate that there are "no shades of gray" in Star Wars. You are either just really good or you are the most evil thing that has ever existed. The second thing that I would tell people is that, in Star Wars, things like capital ships are enormous. Scale is exceptionally important. So you want things to be so big that when they are in orbit around a planet, they create an eclipse. That's just a "rule of thumb."

So here I am in 2024, and none of those things I used to tell players in my Star Wars games make any sense anymore. Star Wars now is about moral and ethical discussions. It's an infatuation with "the gray" in everything. On one hand, I think that it is good for Jedi characters to be fully realized people and not just cookie cutter good guys. It's also excellent for the Sith to have motivations for what leads them down that path or to point out things that they care about that drive their actions.

However, at the end of the day, I have a difficult time reconciling modern Star Wars with what I used to believe about it. I used to believe that Star Wars existed in a universe in which there is a Light Side of the Force and a Dark Side of the Force. The Dark Side was spoken of in terms of aggression, selfishness, hatred, a thirst for power, and general bad feelings. A fall to the Dark Side was considered a tragedy and a fallen Sith finding their way to the Light Side was called a "redemption arc."

But in 2024? Things are a lot different. In 2024, Jedi can be complete and utter assholes. A Dark Side user can be a hero because they are an assassin that gets rid of problematic Force users who profess outward virtue but did a lot of terrible things that they kept secret. There's lots of projection that the characters who are (by definition) good are actually very bad and do terrible things. And now we have a group of characters who are by definition bad (they are literally villains) who have really good points and are actually good?

Anyway, all of these complaints about the latest iteration of Star Wars, which is called The Acolyte, don't make me want to stop watching. It's a gorgeous show, and I think I just like watching Star Wars characters interact on screen. It's also interesting to see Jedi as galactic peacekeepers who are so overpowered relative to the average person that they rarely ever need to use their weapons. Instead they all seem to know kung-fu. Maybe this is a nod to the "style" over "blunt tools" that Obi-Wan once spoke about to Luke Skywalker regarding the elegance of the lightsaber. In any event, its entertaining. I just am continuously surprised by what I'm seeing and wonder how I could have gotten the "Star Wars formula" so wrong.

Let's talk about season 3 of Bridgerton

Dearest Gentle Reader..., we need to talk about the beautiful end of season 3 of Bridgerton. For long-time followers of my blog, you may know that I am heavily invested in Bridgerton. The story always sweeps me away, and Bridgerton is so good at reducing me to a crying slob on the couch because these romances are so good! But, that doesn't mean I am without criticisms for the show. There are a few things I'd like to point out, so if you are a Bridgerton watcher, these may make sense. If not, these could be spoilers. However, I'd argue that if you haven't watched Bridgerton by now, you probably won't.

First off, this season was all about Penelope Featherington and her dual identity as Lady Whistledown. I was surprised that they went there, and with such vigor as to expose Penelope completely by the end of the season. I was also surprised that it all worked out for Penelope, and I was worried that it would not. The Julie Andrew's narration adds a lot to the show, and I think if it were to disappear, I would miss it. However, this is Bridgerton and a sad ending to her fairy tale romance simply wouldn't do. The final lines delivered by Colin Bridgerton to Penelope, wherein he decided to completely stand by her side and tell her that she was the most courageous person he knew was incredible. It was one of those deliveries that you wait an entire movie to hear. Needless to say, if you like well-scripted writing, you should watch season 3.

But I do have questions. First, why did the printer guy say Lady Whistledown was a redhead when Pen clearly pretended to be a servant girl, Irish accent and all?  Wouldn't they have otherwise said that "her servant is a redhead?" It became a huge leap in logic that Cressida immediately figured out that Lady Whistledown was Pen, and the boy so easily suspected that the printer's servant was the author herself. If you think about previous seasons, you know that Pen had partnered with the modiste so that she wouldn't be the only one dropping the issues off.

However, the writers did treat Colin really well by clarifying who he is through many scenes. For example, when he criticizes Eloise for acting like the rest of the girly girls, she retorts that it's because she has no more appetite for fighting social pressure. And then she points out to Colin that he has done the same thing by putting on a manly guise to appease the Ton. Additionally, when Colin reminisces about his childhood, he alludes to the self-consciousness of adulthood and emergent worries about what people think. He then claims to have transcended that, but all he does is reveal a lot of insecurities. This puts Colin on a journey to accepting his real "dorky self" as good enough while we also see Pen accepting herself as being inseparable from Lady Whistledown. It all comes together so brilliantly.

I also loved that Pen walked down the aisle to a classical version of "Yellow," which was a nod to Pen's yellow dresses in previous seasons. That was really cute.

And thus, season 3 has ended and left me for wanting more. I wonder whose story will be told in season four? Maybe Eloise? I've never read the books, but I think it's time for Eloise to have her story (if there is one that has been written for her).

I'm surprised that Scooby-Doo's overall message was never challenged by anyone in its many iterations.

Scooby-Doo has a lasting legacy as a cartoon. I used to enjoy watching the original cartoons when I was a kid. But now that I'm older, I'm kind of digging a little deeper, wondering what this cartoon is about. Without talking to the actual creators or looking at a pitch meeting for the show, I think there are a variety of things one could say about it. For example, it's about kids solving mysteries but a ton of those mysteries have to do with the supernatural. And the end result for as many episodes as I can remember was always the same: some person (human) was the threat, and they were using the supernatural to frighten or endanger a person or a group.

However, if one goes back and watches many of those original episodes, there are lots of unexplained supernatural gags. For example, Scooby transforms his appearance with a magic book, or there's a talking skull. The supernatural definitely exists in Scooby-Doo. It's just depicted as being harmless. So, it would be erroneous then to say that the show was about "dispelling the supernatural."

I think that Scooby-Doo as a concept is one of the most versatile franchises out there. At its core, it is just Scooby Doo and Shaggy and his friends (most of the time they are Fred, Daphne, and Velma) solving mysteries. Then you just add in a very basic characterization of being afraid of ghosts and monsters and being hungry all of the time due to "drug-related munchies". It's extremely easy to build different character personalities based on those traits which is why each interaction has the characters the same on the very basic level, but they end up different overall because each show can give them depth and personality in other ways.

So you could do Scooby-Doo but Isekai

or, Scooby Doo Noir 

or, Scooby Doo Into the Dooby-Verse

And you literally could just keep going. In a way, it's kind of like Monopoly the board game in the sense that you could have hundreds of different versions of the game and just keep selling it to new people. They've even got a new "anime" version that is coming out in the next year. As a huge lover of Japanese folklore, I'm looking forward to seeing what they do with this. They could introduce the tricky shape-shifting kitsune, the beautiful yet deadly yuki-onna, the powerful and proud wind gods that are the Tengu. 

Anyway, it kinda looks like they are definitely continuing to embrace the supernatural. But there will probably be lots of humans who are revealed to be the real threat. It's weird to think that this is a cartoon that has been broadcasting that message to children for a long time (humans will deceive and lie to you), and no one's had an issue at all with it, especially since many of the villains under those "supernatural masks" were white men. I think that it is still relevant decades after that first episode aired on television is pretty telling and may say a lot about the people who pitched this show oh so many years ago.

Netflix's Arcane returns for season 2 in November. Is it enough for me to forget the election?

A few years ago, I became a fan of the League of Legends hit show on Netflix called Arcane. The trailer for the second season has finally dropped (I'm embedding it below). This is one of those shows that is rare in its quality, and because of that (I assume) it has taken years for the animation studio to release a follow-up. But it's also the last season of this particular storyline in this world, and I wasn't expecting that. However, there are going to be more stories that are told on Runeterra, and I think that seems like a really good way to develop this world. Afterall, I wasn't so much intrigued by the characters in season one (primarily Vi and Jinx) as I was intrigued at the world I was seeing. They also aren't continuing with the "Arcane" branding. My guess is that this decision is to avoid confusion.

The media landscape doesn't tend to have many long-running scripted shows these days, nevermind the rare anthology series. What does seem to be in abundance is plenty of shared universe storytelling. So, given this trend, I think having every region get its own "[insert brand]: A League of Legends Story" will be much clearer about what is going on to a layperson (like myself) than letting Arcane run for 12 seasons with a constantly rotating cast.

All of that being said, the trailer looks fantastic. I think that they're definitely leaning more and more into Vi being conflicted over the things that Jinx is doing. And I wonder how things will end as I'm not familiar with League of Legends lore. I guess we shall all find out come November :). Maybe it will be enough to get my mind off the election.

I'm in my fifties and I've learned that having people in your life is a luxury requiring both money and hard work.

I'm in my fifties now, and I think I want to share some of the things I've learned about people in my home state. I'm zeroing in on it like this because I don't really interact with any people who aren't in my home state, so painting with a broad brush is not something I want to do. Anyway, here are three things that I've learned (you can call it wisdom if you like) regarding my interactions with folks in my locality:

1) People are really difficult to live with. There is so much mental illness now, that I don't think I can even understate this. I don't know if there is more now than there was a hundred years ago, or fifty years ago. But right now in 2024, everyone has got some kind of disorder, and it is used to explain unpleasant behaviors galore. "Oh that person is a complete asshole? It's because they have PTSD due to microaggressions around gender ideals and patriarchy. That's why they broke your coffee pot, didn't tell you, and left it for you to discover on your own."

However, none of this "knowledge of whatever disorder you have" ever helps. The unpleasant behaviors continue until you kick that person out of your life. You just know that the reason you kicked that person out of your life is because they had "this and this disorder." Or...whatever. Calling a toxic waste dump by its name does not make it any easier to live with that specific toxic waste dump, and people (in general) are really difficult to live with if they have any of the many personality disorders or dementias identified by the DSM. Finding a person who doesn't have some kind of damaging personality disorder is like finding a flawless diamond sitting on the ground.

2) Entertaining people for a night in your home is really expensive, and its a ton of work. First off, you need a place that's big enough to entertain a handful of people. Houses work well, but I've come to realize that not everyone owns a house and they are becoming rarer and rarer as the price of housing soars due to people squeezing every last drop out of everything so that they can "have enough money that the many problems created by living in our society no longer apply to them."

But if you are fortunate to have the space (I am one of those people), a lot of the times, the friends I invite over are clumsy (and I assume that this is probably the case with other people who "dare to entertain." These "guests" aren't aware of their flailing limbs when they are excited, or they aren't aware of their environment. These are just a couple of examples.

The result is broken furniture, broken glasses, broken plates or bowls, loud crashes as trays come plummeting to the ground, pictures hung askew because someone's backside was too large, stains and spills, couches that can't put up with the weight of obese people, and other such nonsense. In the end, it costs lots of money, and things need to be replaced or repaired, and its on you to replace them since "you were the one to have people over." Furthermore people don't seem to be aware of how much things cost. Someone admired my dining chairs and asked how much I paid for them. I replied, "800 dollars." They asked, "for the whole set?" I said, "No, $800 a piece." My desk chair over there was $2,500." That's when they kind of blink, stunned, and then maybe treat something with a little more respect.

I will say this, I'm glad I invested in quality furniture because it has gotten hammered over the years, and it is still holding up. A lot of people wouldn't be in this situation, and their furniture would just be a pile of garbage at this point. And my friends that I invite over just play Dungeons & Dragons. It's not like I'm hosting an indoor hockey tournament.

3) I think that the loneliness epidemic in the United States can be attributed a lot to the fact that no one wants to entertain anymore because they can't afford it, they don't have the space, and it's a lot of work to clean up after people. So they just choose to go it alone.

I remember from my youth that people always had my parents over or I went to places that entertained. But those days are gone. They don't exist unless I'm the one putting it together. I'm fortunate to have the space and the money to be able to entertain, and because of that, I have a pretty good social network. But the work is pretty intense. Cleaning up after people consumes probably six to seven hours a week of just constant toil (this on top of my forty hour work week). Washing things, putting away things, organizing things, repairing things, etc. There are times when I think: it would be so much easier just to not ever invite anyone over. But there would be nothing else that fills the vacuum that I fill in my friend's lives. In other words, I think the social aspects of the community I belong to would probably just fall apart.

TL:DR: Having people in your life is expensive (having friends is a luxury?) and takes a ton of work. If you aren't willing to do the work and you don't have the money to clean up and repair everything that gets broken, then you're probably going to be lonely. Anyone else discovering this truth about being an adult in the United States?

We are living in a day and age where Dune apparently is going mainstream. Did I get that right?

There's going to be a Dune prequel, set 10,000 years before the events of Paul Atreides. I think that this is a strange decision. I read the original Dune book when I was a teenager, and I could never imagine that Dune would have a moment where it went mainstream. Called Dune Prophecy, this series by Max seems to want to explore the events unfolding with one of the Great Houses (Harkonnen) and the Bene Gesserit. If I remember correctly from my "Dune lore," this will put the timeline right after the butlerian jihad and the beginning of the spacing guild. Spice was only a recreational drug, and there were no Navigators and faster than light ships ruled the universe.

One thing that Dune does have going for it is that its lore is very rich. After the sisterhood, it might be fun to see the Mentats, the Spacing Guild, the Ixians, and the Tleilaxu...maybe all of the ones I mentioned given their own seasons. Or I might be reading this thing completely wrong, and it could be just a tightly told tale that spans three or four seasons before telling some other story.

Anyway, I'm going to link the trailer below. Any of you Dune fans out there care to weigh in? It's certainly going to be worth watching when it arrives later this year.

What can the IWSG offer to its members that it already isn't offering?

Hello again. It's been a while but May ended up being a bit of a handful for me so I'm glad I stepped away from blogging. The first thing that happened was that one of my roommates decided on a whim that he was going to buy a Tesla. And a friend also approached me about their car being completely broken, and them having no transportation options. I owned a 1997 Ford F-150 that I decided to sell to them to solve their issue. And that freed up a space in the garage for the roommate to be able to park the new Tesla that literally showed up 12 hours after they made the decision to buy it. Then they hired an electrician to install a charger in the garage, I had to help them get contractor bids to do that work, and now they are doing some kind of "anime" flavor wrap for the car featuring two anime girls fighting each other with swords. And then my commuter car broke down (after I sold the truck) when the serpentine belt fell off. So I had to get that fixed. Anyway, May had its challenges!

Now it is June 2024, and I'm hoping that it is a lot quieter. So far, so good. And with June comes a new opportunity to write a post and participate in the Insecure Writer's Support Group. But before I get around to answering the monthly question, I'd like to tell you a little about what the IWSG is so that you can sign up for it yourself if this is a think that appeals to you.

What is the purpose of the IWSG?: It is to share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance, and it’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds.

When do you post?: The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day, however, I've missed it a couple of times and then just post on the following Friday.

What do you post?: Well, the official guidance is to post your thoughts on your own blog that have to do with writing. For example, you can talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. You could discuss your struggles and triumphs. You could offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. You could visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writer. If you do this, you want to aim for a dozen new people each time and return comments. At its roots, the blogfest is about connecting with others. In order to do that you need to leave "virtual breadcrumbs." So, be sure to link to this page and display the badge in your post. And please be sure your avatar links back to your blog. Otherwise, when you leave a comment, people can't find you to comment back.

What is the slogan of the IWSG?: Let’s rock the neurotic writing world.

Does the IWSG have an X (Twitter) handle?: Yes! It is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG.

The awesome co-hosts for the June 5th posting of the IWSG are Liza at Middle Passages, Shannon Lawrence, Melissa Maygrove, and Olga Godim!

The June 5th question - In this constantly evolving industry, what kind of offering/service do you think the IWSG should consider offering to members?

I think the IWSG already fulfills what it can. Social media is just that: social media. It isn't really capable of doing anything physical like building a house or fixing a broken car. What social media does offer is the answering of questions and the sharing of ideas and resources. And the IWSG fulfills this role already in its monthly correspondence and communications and hosting of the blogfest. So, I'm not going to suggest that it do anything new because I think it is already doing what it is intended to do at its maximum.

Anyway, thanks for visiting. I look forward to seeing how other people approach this question. My guess is that there will be some who want help with the minutiae of the business-side of writing. Things like: editing, beta-reading, marketing, obtaining an agent, and other kinds of computer work. But that "work" is not something that I feel a blog like the IWSG is meant to be able to assist with. I'm going to use a metaphor here. What the IWSG can do (and is already doing) is print plenty of "recipes." But "cooking the dinner" is unfortunately left up to the individual person to be able to do on their own.