Tony Yao discusses another book ban on his website Drop-In to Manga. This time, Florida has banned Sasaki and Miyano by Sho Harusono because of its LGBTQAI material. Book bans happen frequently for many different reasons, usually under the guise of “protecting the children.” Most of the time, the parents who want to ban books…
Category: Finds and Ramblings
In the Future, Human Skill Will [Increase | Decrease] in Value
The typed version of this hand-written article follows below the notebook scans. In the future, the value a skillful human hand has will increase. As machine learning improves, digital art, music, writing, and other realms will demand higher skill. Mediocre to average quality art will be available to anyone with a modicum of technology…
West Virginia, Librarians, and Obscenity
A bill passed from West Virginia’s House of Delegates and to the state’s Senate. The bill removes protections from public libraries, schools, and museums, holding librarians and curators possibly liable for displaying or distributing ‘obscene matter to a minor’ when the child isn’t accompanied by a parent or guardian. Which, I must add, is the…
Looking Back on 2023: Another Year of Anime Writing
Time for my usual, end-of-year indulgent reflection. So its another new year, and I’m still alive and writing, which is more than I can say about a pair of friends. The past several years has seen a lot of death around me, from library patrons to family members and to friends. I had spoken with…
6 Ways to Date Like a Samurai
Okay, the title of this article is a bit misleading. Samurai didn’t date as we do; they had arranged marriages. But there are many stories of samurai romances and dating in Japanese folklore. Although samurai were warriors, until the Edo period, they were expected to balance their war-skills with softer skills like flower arranging and…
My 2023 Horror Film List, Snacks Provided by TokyoTreat
When I saw TokyoTreat had a Halloween box, I didn’t hesitate to request one. October is one of my favorite months because of the shift to autumn, at least when the weather behaves, and the spooky season. It’s the first month since March when I feel better. Heat makes me feel terrible. So to celebrate,…