December 20, 2019
In March of 2019 I attended my first convention in Japan, and it was a whopper: Anime Japan in Tokyo! It was my hastily decided resolution for 2019 to do some ambitious cosplay because I felt like there was something special about Japan — cosplayers are pretty hardcore here, and I wanted to challenge myself to cosplay with what I…
December 14, 2019
Welcome back to your favorite recap! How did this week fare for you? I don’t know about you, but I get exceptionally lazy this time of year, and it worsens as I get older. So, I had a small victory: I finally put up my Christmas tree. Christmas is a whole different thing in Japan, and while it’s starting to…
December 6, 2019
Wow, we’ve already made it through the first week of December! How’s your month coming along? To a good start, I hope! Right now, I’m trying to muster the energy to put up my Christmas tree. Traditionally it’s up on December 1st and down by January 2nd…but every day I look at my pretty ornaments and just sigh. Why clean…
November 30, 2019
Welcome back to another week at Speculative Chic! The holidays are officially in gear, with a freshly wrapped Thanksgiving, Black Friday’s recent end, a forthcoming Cyber Monday, and all the major December holidays coming in one right after the other. This time of year can go by so fast, so don’t forget to take some time for yourself and relax.…
November 28, 2019
‘Tis the season where holiday music invades your ear like a Ceti eel, heralding the annual shopping season for holiday gift-giving! While this time of year very much promotes giving for the sake of giving, we can’t overlook the fact that requesting is very much a part of it, too. For well over a hundred years, we’ve been encouraged to…
November 23, 2019
I’m going to keep my intro short, sweet, and to-the-point! I had MUCH ILLNESS this week, am still recovering, and do not have the brain cells for a fun, themed intro. So — guess what! A week happened! Yes, another one come and gone, amazing! And if you missed it, no worries, we’ve got you covered. Welcome to the Weekly…
November 16, 2019
What? Are we really halfway through November?! If you’re doing Nano, how’s it coming along? If you’re gearing up for the holidays, what are your plans? This is the time of year where things may get a little overwhelming…so make sure you’re taking care of yourself, drinking plenty of water, enjoying good food, checking in with someone you love and…
November 9, 2019
Hello, friends! Happy to see you again, and much thanks to Shara for covering for me while I was out and about chasing down the myths of Japan! I headed off to Shimane Prefecture to visit the stomping grounds of the kami: Susanoo, the trickster god of storms and sea; Amaterasu, one of Shinto’s most important kami and the renowned…
November 1, 2019
It’s that time of year again — the annual event for writers where they attempt to complete a 50,000-word manuscript in 30 days: Nanowrimo! Nanowrimo stands for National Novel Writing Month. Created by Chris Baty, he recognized that a great number of people dream of writing a book but struggle to fulfill that goal. 200 million people want to write, but how many…
October 26, 2019
Halloween is next week! What are my plans? Well, I’m an English teacher in Japan at three different high schools, and as a cultural ambassador, one of my goals is to expose my students to traditions from my home country. I go all-out for Halloween as much as possible, including giving out candy and of course, wearing a costume! So…