It isn’t a surprise to anyone that I am not the biggest fan of that literary ghetto of a genre,… Read more A Bunch of White Guys, or The Hugo Awards
Women Warrior Series: The Dahomey Amazons
Not long ago in West Africa, there was a warrior clan so fierce, so hardened and so unbelievably tough that it took the might of an industrialised nation just to slow them down.
What the Dreaded DNF Can Teach Us
It was the sickening realization that even though I trained, and followed the programs, I would not finish the race. Because no matter what they say, sometimes your best just isn’t fucking good enough.
Goodbye, Sir Terry, and Thank You
I am grateful that there are so many Discworld novels to read, and that we have them at all. That any book’s birth is a combination of luck, talent and timing, and to have so many is wealth indeed. It’s hard not to mourn the books that will now go unwritten, but at least we can turn to dozens and dozens of novels and be glad that those books live now.
Trigger Warning (As If)
Let the people write whatever they want, and let the readers make the decisions based on their own experience, and posterity will sort out the rest. I’m not sure that any intellectually curious reader would appreciate being told what is and isn’t safe reading.
I Fight Like a Girl
I may be a lone voice in this, but I really want to bring this rallying cry into the martial arts, and especially in karate. I hate hearing ‘you punch like a girl’ being leveled at boys, that anything feminine is inherently weaker. It is one of the reasons why we see such an attrition of young female budo-ka.
Dear Adult Beginners: It Gets Better
But as an adult beginner, the constant corrections are overwhelming, and sometimes humiliating. It’s hard not to feel like a failure, and to think that no one else has ever been this bad at karate, or aikido, or judo, or whatever you choose to do. But you know what? There isn’t a senior who wasn’t a junior, and who doesn’t learn every day from the junior students they teach. You’re not slowing anyone down by asking for help.
The Books 2014 Forgot
And in my constant, never-ending and admittedly ill-fated mission to promote excellent (and sometimes slightly inaccessible) books, I would like to promote some books that everyone should read or buy as gifts for people like me who are difficult to please.
Women Warriors: The Gulabi Gang
The Gulabi Gang India, despite its respectable number of female goddesses, is not a country known for treating women well.… Read more Women Warriors: The Gulabi Gang
Black Belt and Imposter Syndrome
There are days when it feels like I stole my black belt, that it was given to me out of pity because I’ve been around so long and always help out, and not because I have any actual skill. I am pretty sure that pity gradings are a thing.
Zojo Dojo 