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Recent Posts: M Thomas Apple Author Page
AI scammers — stealing our work then trying to trick us again for PR
“As a science fiction author, I’ve always loved hearing from fans of my fiction,” [US based author Jason Sanford] tells the Guardian. “But now when someone emails saying they loved one of my stories, my first thought is that this is yet another scammer setting me up for the kill.” https://www.theguardian.com/books/ng-interactive/2026/mar/12/ai-book-scams-publishing-fraud?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other Yet another reason I […]
“Don’t worry about it” — Van Allen A to burn up tonight
“For the average person, it will be a nice light in the sky if you get lucky and, otherwise, don’t worry about it,” Dr. McDowell said. “We have much more scary re-entries that happen. Occasionally, there is a 20-ton Chinese rocket stage that comes down. Those are much scarier for me.” https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/10/science/space/nasa-satellite-earth-re-entry.html?unlocked_article_code=1.SVA.dk5d.09lMgapDCbYq&smid=nytcore-ios-share OK, granted that the odds […]
Dear Diary – October 5, 2003
I feel as if I have two personalities, one which speaks English and one which speaks Japanese. The one which speaks English can never get past being a high school geek. The one which speaks Japanese cannot get past being a “strange foreigner.” The only time I feel comfortable now is when I am teaching. […]
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Tag Archives: family leave
Ten Years of Taking Leave
Looking back, it’s amazing to me now that I dared to even apply for a year of paternity leave while living in a foreign country. But I’ve never regretted the decision. As I told an audience of university students and … Continue reading
Posted in book, day care, education, gender roles, Japan, Japanese, Japanese culture, Japanese society, parenting, Paternity leave, school
Tagged bilingualism, blogging, child care, child-raising, children, education, family, family leave, fatherhood, gender roles, haafu, Japan, Japanese, Japanese kids, parental leave, parents
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Year 2: Colleague Reactions
Just over 5 months ago, my year-long child care leave ended and I went back to work. Since then, I haven’t posted on this blog for a very good reason: I was insanely busy. Of course, not too busy to … Continue reading
Posted in colleague reactions, gender roles, Japan, parenting, Paternity leave
Tagged child-raising, family leave, fatherhood, Japan, Japanese, parental leave, Paternity leave, work, workplace hostility
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Endings and beginnings
I go back to work tomorrow on April 1st. My year-long paternity leave is over. No April Fools.
Posted in day care, gender roles, Japan, Paternity leave
Tagged child care, child-raising, family leave, fatherhood, gender roles, Japan, Japanese, orphan, parental leave, parental roles, Paternity leave, Tohoku, work
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Taking Leave 