Author Archives: mourningdove

Birthday Festschrift: First Decade

I’ve had this idea since I turned 40 and never got around to it–collecting my favorite story, poem, song, and piece of art that I created in each decade of my life. I think why I never got around to it is I took the project a bit too seriously. So, I’m going to doContinue reading “Birthday Festschrift: First Decade”

Letter of Recommendation? Jonathan Livingston Seagull

I may have been Neil Diamond’s youngest fan. “Song Sung Blue” was my favorite commuting song when we drove to Pre-K at Sunset Mesa when I was 5. And I’m pretty sure it was a combination of Neil Diamond’s soundtrack, seagulls, and the name Jonathan that got me into Jonathan Livingston Seagull. From there itContinue reading “Letter of Recommendation? Jonathan Livingston Seagull”

Letter of Recommendation: Eighth Generation

Tomorrow’s my 50th birthday, and my family got me a really beautiful gift: a blanket designed by Louie Gong (Coast Salish, Nooksack) from Eighth Generation, an American Indian artist collective that’s looking to counter the wave of “native-inspired” designs that appropriate tribal cultural heritage and capitalize it such that the profits never find their wayContinue reading “Letter of Recommendation: Eighth Generation”

Letter of Recommendation: Pandemic (the board game)

Before you jump to the wrong conclusion: I did not start playing this board game during the COVID-19 pandemic. I actually started playing the game series in 2017. There are 4 games so far in the series: Pandemic, Pandemic: Legacy (Season One), Pandemic: Legacy (Season Two), and Pandemic: Legacy (Season Zero), in order of release.Continue reading “Letter of Recommendation: Pandemic (the board game)”

Ceramics Saturdays: Cizhou Ware

Cizhou ware is both easy and hard to identify. Easy because the distinctive black-on-white designs are difficult to mistake; hard because the style was so popular that it can’t be pinned down to a single kiln or time period–which greatly affects its value. Cizhou-style wares were produced from the Tang to Ming dynasties, first inContinue reading “Ceramics Saturdays: Cizhou Ware”

Friday Favorites: Non-kung-fu martial arts movies

Well, I’m not promising that *no* kung fu happens here: Seven Samurai. This is actually my favorite movie of any kind and all time. I would say you learn a lot more about bushido (the code of samurai behavior) in the Warring States period and how it impacted the surrounding community than you do aboutContinue reading “Friday Favorites: Non-kung-fu martial arts movies”

Umeboshi update: onigiri and ume martini

So, the umeboshi turned out great! I figured burying things in salt was a safe bet, and I was right. After they sort of equilibrated for a month, I made two different dishes with them: ume onigiri and an ume martini. I first saw this kind of ume onigiri on Midnight Diner, which I’ve toldContinue reading “Umeboshi update: onigiri and ume martini”

Dried persimmons (hoshigaki)

I can’t remember whether I first learned about hoshigaki: it was either on Japanese Style Originator (I think episode 16 on fall foods? It’s not on Netflix anymore, so I can’t check), in which a wife sends her husband out to drink beer with a dried persimmon in his pocket, a traditional remedy against hangoversContinue reading “Dried persimmons (hoshigaki)”