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Beyond Spacesuits: How Genetic Engineering Could Make Us Martian
When we think about colonizing Mars, we usually imagine advanced spacesuits, dome cities, and massive terraforming projects. Beyond Spacesuits: How Genetic Engineering Could Make Us Martian Wish I had seen this writing prompt this past June! I could have written… Well, probably something very similar to this. Only without the obvious use of AI. Just […]
Shadows on the Hudson: The Forgotten Borderland Raids of Saratoga
This is the second of a series of posts introducing the five-part historical fiction novel Unbowed, which will be published in November 2026. All five parts are based on true events and real people – my ancestors. The first post described the outcome of the Battle of Dunbar in 1650 and one of its survivors, […]
Dear Diary — June 12, 2001
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© Matthew Apple and Taking Leave, 2009-2020. Duplication of this material without express and written permission is strictly prohibited. If you would like to post or copy brief excerpts from the blog, please provide a link to the original URL along with an author’s credit.
Category Archives: Japan
Nanakusa: A Japanese Epiphany? (Holidays part 3)
It seems like no coincidence that Nana-kusa is at the beginning of the final solar period of winter. Continue reading
Posted in eating, holidays, Japan
Tagged Christmas, holidays, Japan, Japanese holidays, Nanakusa, shogatsu
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Home for the holidays (Part 2)
As I wrote a couple days ago, I’ve been spending the New Year’s holidays with my wife’s family in Kagoshima for a decade now. In that span of time, there have been five children born into the immediate extended family, … Continue reading
Home for the holidays (Part 1)
After a series of fairly serious blog posts related to an ongoing complaint against Amazon (which was somewhat, but not entirely, resolved), I thought it was about time to post about a slightly more innocuous topic: Making pottery at the … Continue reading
Posted in family outings, holidays, Japan, trips
Tagged bullet train, child-raising, Japan, Japanese, Kyushu, New Year's, shinkansen
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