1. Lately I've been learning some about the 5th-7th century in Italy, which is really a criminally under-discussed time period. Most popular histories more or less just jump from "sack of Rome" to "Dark Ages," as if nothing happened in between. But boy, did it ever! Like how we have a rare instance of one … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: 5th Century Italy, Manga, and Election Songs
Anime and Manga
Friday Flotsam: PT Conferences and Some Other Stuff
1. I had my very first parent-teacher conferences this week. They went pretty well overall; the parents were supportive and engaged, and we had a few fruitful conversations about what their children can do to improve. Though more often I just had to say "yes, Offspring is doing well in my class and not causing … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: PT Conferences and Some Other Stuff
Long-Form Endings (Kind of Spoilers)
My Hero Academia reached its final chapter not long ago and...well, I have to admit, I found it a little disappointing. It's hard to explain why without going into spoilers, but say that I thought the epilogue generally focused on the wrong things and left too many of the really interesting points rushed or unsettled. … Continue reading Long-Form Endings (Kind of Spoilers)
Friday Flotsam: Mongeese, Kiki, and Computers
1. First full week of teaching. I feel like I'm starting to find my feet and it's becoming less stressful and uncertain. 2. I'm still waiting for Alice in Wonderland to arrive, so my sixth graders are reading short stories while I pretend this was the plan all along. This week was Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, which was … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: Mongeese, Kiki, and Computers
Friday Flotsam: ‘Narbonic’, Trope Humor, and the Penguin
1. Much of this week was spent wrestling with the apartment people over the phone to clear up one snag or another. Nothing is settled yet, as of this writing, but I'm hopeful it will be soon. All indications are that it'll go through fine, but who knows? 2. In spare time this week I've … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: ‘Narbonic’, Trope Humor, and the Penguin
Friday Flotsam: Various and Sundry
1. The weather is warming up, which means my middle schoolers were extra rowdy this week. I am increasingly convinced that children are, in truth, reptiles. 2. For recreation I started re-reading The Ball and the Cross for the first time in quite a while. Chesterton's way with words is of the sort that is … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: Various and Sundry
Friday Flotsam: Miyazaki, Shakespeare, and Lame Pulps
1. I am shamefully behindhand when it comes to the work of Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki; so far Spirited Away is the only one I'd seen. A week or so ago, I took a step to remedying this by seeing Whisper of the Heart, an intensely charming, thoughtful little film about adolescent love blossoming … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: Miyazaki, Shakespeare, and Lame Pulps
Commentary: When Good Characters do Bad Things
Another bit of storycraft commentary up at Noble Cobra Magazine. This time discussing some thoughts I had about heroic or righteous characters doing 'mean' or off-color things in fiction: pranks, unwanted jokes, nasty tricks, that sort of thing, and how it can be used for characterization purposes (and yes, more Fruits Basket, since that's on … Continue reading Commentary: When Good Characters do Bad Things
Friday Flotsam: Lincoln, Civil War, and More Manga
1. This week for my US History class I learned why most people only quote the first paragraph or so of Lincoln's 'house divided' speech; because after that it kind of devolves into a paranoid rant of how the Democrats want to impose slavery upon all the states, including speculation that Stephen Douglass etc. were … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: Lincoln, Civil War, and More Manga
Thoughts on ‘Fruits Basket’
Fruits Basket tells the story of the romantic adventures of a rice ball in a basket of fruit. Said rice ball is a cute, sweet, slightly ditzy teenager name Tohru Honda, while the basket of fruit is the Sohma family; an ancient, ultra-rich aristocratic clan with a tendency to extreme good looks and a strange … Continue reading Thoughts on ‘Fruits Basket’
Serpent's Den 