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UltraBob in Kamogawa
Bob was in Japan for a conference an he made it all the way out to see us for a day. We packed it full of food, a little sightseeing, admiring nature, and lots of catching up! Also chasing hunters and their radio-beeping dog away from 555. Though time-space has separated us, we go way…
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Uncial
TIL I have been mispronouncing uncial (ŭn′shəl) as “unical” for my entire lifetime. Have I ever said this word out loud? Maybe not. I learned it from a book of calligraphy when I was 11 years old and I’ve used the fonts in all kinds of designs since the late 1980s. It is possible I…
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Drawing the line
Here’s a question I frequently ask myself: when teaching a creative topic, is it best to have students copy your work and use your ideas, or is it better to let them roam free in their own style? I’ve done both and I don’t have a definitive answer. It depends on the students, mood of…
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Oyama Fudoson recognised
Oyama-ji, my favorite local temple, has been officially designated an Important Cultural Property by the Japanese government. It’s been a long time coming! I am very glad it has a federal designation now. This should help with its preservation and upkeep. 1301 years ago, in 724, a traveling monk (possibly Roben) asked one of the…
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Generational blind spot
Katie and I met at the start of the pandemic when she joined my online yoga class. She recently came to visit in person for a few days. We get along great, have a lot in common, and Beryl loves her very much. It’s a delight to spend time with her. But here’s a thing…
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Studio for Happy Experiment and Discovery
It’s taken me a year to get the studio shed under control. A couple weeks ago, Tod helped me cut some shelves which I immediately filled with all of my botanical inks and glass labware. I made a lot of inks this autumn and I want to paint with them but the clutter of bottles…
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Halloween Yokai
Two days before the 31st, I realised I would be teaching papermaking to two classes of 5th graders on Halloween. If there’s a better excuse to create a costume, I don’t know it. Since I’d be teaching, it needed to be something that was easy to move in and could be removed if necessary. And…
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Pettiness of cats
Maura and Beryl are frenemies. Each wants to be top cat and they try to dominate one another in various ways, usually involving food or my attention. Beryl blocks Maura from his food bowl; Maura skippity-paps her as she passes by him. Fur rarely flies, but they behave in the most petty ways. This morning…
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Torch Night 2025
For several years running, Minorigaoka High School in Tokyo has sent 200+ students to Oyama Senmaida as part of an epic field trip. They are with us for two half-days – first lighting fire torches in the rice paddies and then making straw turtles together the next morning. It’s an all-hands-on-deck week as we get…
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Perfect 36?
Happy anniversary to us, again. With a typhoon blowing in, we didn’t make elaborate plans but we had a three-day weekend to fill. We chose quiet, mundane adventures near home. Saturday The day’s cold rain made me want an onsen bath. We headed down to Tateyama for a soak at Satomi no Yu with a…
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