Category: Personal

David Bowie 1947-2016

From the “Heroes” photo session by Masayoshi Sukita

David Bowie died.

He was probably my first rock and roll hero. I remember seeing him sing Space Oddity on some early 70s TV show, then seeking out the song, finding it on cassette on ChangesOneBowie. From there it wasn’t hard to pick up the albums which had come before and stick with the man through permutations and variations. I identified with him. He was the ultimate shapeshifter, able to morph into whatever guise was required at the time. I knew I wasn’t alone in this, but it wasn’t until yesterday, when news of his death was made known that I realized just how many people identified with him. Continue reading “David Bowie 1947-2016” →

2016 Reading challenge(s)

wpid-Photo-20150809132420691.jpgAs we roll over into 2016, a number of reading challenges have made themselves known. I think for next year, I’ll actually make one of my own but for this year, I’m just going to link to a couple of them.

Honestly, I love this. We’ve become a nation, a world, where gameplay is everything. Where if there’s no “challenge” then there’s no reason to do anything. This is why we “tag” people on Facebook, to push them into doing some silly task or even something worthwhile (the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge… but see, there’s that word again.) Continue reading “2016 Reading challenge(s)” →

Christmas, Mažeikiai style

Rotuse tree
This is in Kaunas

For the second year in a row, we headed to Rasa’s hometown of Mažeikiai to celebrate Christmas. This year, though, was going to be a bit different. Rasa has a job now, so her time off schedule is quite different. Instead of being able to spend a leisurely week or so as we did last time, we only had a few days, counting the weekend. So instead of relying on relatives, friends or public transport, we decided to rent a car for the few days. It gave us more flexibility and freedom. Continue reading “Christmas, Mažeikiai style” →

A little word about Lithuanian office visits…

IMG_0002So about a month ago, I get out of the shower and take a look at my face. This isn’t all that unusual, most of us do it (take a look at our own faces, if you’re looking at my face that might be unusual). Anyway, I notice that while I’m in need of a shave, there’s a weird patch of… nothing, just under my right nostril (see picture).

Interesting, I think. I look like a 70s era cocaine fiend and jokingly ask Rasa, who isn’t so keen on my facial hair to begin with, if she’s been waking up in the middle of the night to shave a part of my face or apply depilatory cream? She denies it, rightly so, and don’t think about, shaving the rest of my face to match. Continue reading “A little word about Lithuanian office visits…” →

NaNoWriMo – again for the first time

So I’m signed up for NaNoWriMo, the annual “let’s slap down 50k words towards a novel in 30 days” insanity this year. My profile can be found here. Of course, I’m actually not a fan of the fest, I think it can actually do more harm than good, but I understand the concept and I’m signed up with a book idea ready to go.

Naturally, this is the exact moment when the day jobs decide to spring extra work and it’s the end of the semester so there’s lots of grading to get done and blah blah blah, excuses excuses.

In any event, I’m there. If you’re participating look me up and I’ll add you back. And hey, I’m an amazing cheerleader even if I’m not able to race alongside you.

Good luck!