These two shows have a lot in common: they’re both based on light novels written by Japanese women authors; they both follow quirky harem residents in an alternate/fantasy version of Imperial China; they both have an episodic mystery structure where the heroine plays detective; they both build romantic tension between the heroine and the EmperorContinue reading “Cartoons for Grownups: What Does It Mean to Be a Woman? (Apothecary Diaries and Raven of the Inner Palace)”
Category Archives: redtailhawk
Loading…Review of Death’s Door
As I sat down to write this post, I was reminded of the Portlandia skit, “Put a bird on it!” Because truly you can get me to buy almost anything with a raven or crow in/on it (or any corvid, really–I’ll take that magpie print and those piñon jay dishtowels, too, thank you). I’ve lovedContinue reading “Loading…Review of Death’s Door”
I Have Notes…for The K2
You may be sensing a theme, and that’s Ji Chang-wook. I’ll admit it—he’s so pretty and talented that it annoys me when a show he’s in doesn’t rise to his level. But truthfully, I get annoyed whenever a story draws me in and then lets me down, whether the particular actors in it happen toContinue reading “I Have Notes…for The K2”
National Cowboy Poetry Gathering
Not the most inspiring pic, I realize. But for probably very good reasons, you’re prohibited from taking pictures or video in the actual sessions unless you have written permission. So, I figured I’d get a picture of the lines you have to wait in (not very long) to get into the performances at the NationalContinue reading “National Cowboy Poetry Gathering”
I Have Notes….for “Welcome to Samdal-ri” (plus bonus ending for Wuthering Heights)
I’m starting a new series on the blog today. I realized the other day that I have had a nearly lifelong habit of rewriting stories that drive me crazy—usually because I love them but they just took a wrong turn at Albuquerque, but sometimes because a particular character didn’t get what was coming to them,Continue reading “I Have Notes….for “Welcome to Samdal-ri” (plus bonus ending for Wuthering Heights)”
Letter of Recommendation: Lard
Look, I’m not even going to try to argue that lard has been misunderstood and is somehow good for you…. This is quite obviously not true. But! I do think that, in the first place, it’s no worse for you than any other fat that’s solid at room temperature (provided you eat meat in theContinue reading “Letter of Recommendation: Lard”
One-Minute Reviews
So, the bad news is I have COVID again (Hat Trick). The good news is (a) COVID has never been too mean to me and (b) I’ll be posting to the blog a lot more this week! Starting with super-fast reviews of a bunch of books and audiobooks I cleared over the holidays: Americanah, ChimamandaContinue reading “One-Minute Reviews”
Chef-y Recipes
I called a recipe chef-y the other week—I think it was this one—and one of my Experimental Supper Club buddies asked me what I meant by that. I thought about it and said something like, “A chef-y recipe calls for like 2 more hands, 4 more ingredients, and 8 more hours than you’ve got.” IContinue reading “Chef-y Recipes”
The Grocery Store
I realized last week that one of the most significant and long-standing relationships of my life hasn’t been with a person but with a place: the grocery store. Naturally, there have been many grocery stores over the years, but if taken together they make this sort of Ur-space where I have worked out some ofContinue reading “The Grocery Store”
Ceramics Saturdays: Jōmon Ware (and other treasures from the Tokyo National Museum)
Anytime I visit a museum in Japan I’m struck by how much of what we call “modern” art and design in Europe and the U.S. looks like very old Japanese traditions. It’s not just a coincidence of forms, either: when Japan re-opened to Western trade during the Meiji, Japanese arts and crafts flooded the EuropeanContinue reading “Ceramics Saturdays: Jōmon Ware (and other treasures from the Tokyo National Museum)”
The Rookery 