Oct 30, 2025 Thursday

The Thursday Dispatch - 30 October 2025

A little inspiration from Japan.

I’m thinking about my writing style this morning. From the time I took up blogging, which has been off and on since 2003 or so, I’ve been intrigued by how Japanese bloggers write. Right off the top, they don’t write for clicks or to gain attention. A lot of the behavior that’s annoying about “influencers” doesn’t exist in this space. Generally, it reminds me of what people would write in their “morning pages”. This is where you wake up and the first thing you do before you turn on the TV or music, eat, or shower is you sit down and write your observations about yourself and your surroundings.

But, where Japanese blogging is different is there tends to be no sense of judgement in what is written about. In Japanese culture, there’s a standard of maintaining tranquility. Related to this, there’s more anonymity from this approach as well. You may pick up little pieces about who this person is, but you’ll most likely never see their face and you won’t really know them through their writing. There’s an invisible fence that constantly exists between your world and theirs.

In contrast, Western, and I feel like especially American writers feel the need to give their opinion on everything, even when we don’t realize we’re doing it. It’s an embedded strain in the social culture here. This is something I’ve tried to push myself from doing, especially in terms of the entertainment people choose for themselves. Just because I don’t like a band doesn’t mean I have to say as much, especially in the company of someone who likes that band. Why shit on their porch, you know?

I am someone who is very transparent about how they feel in real life, although having a beard consequentially makes me look grumpier than I often really am most days. But I do feel more open to express how I feel on this site compared to what I reveal on social media. This is a safe space for me. According to the analytics I have for this site, only about 100 people worldwide have ever looked at this page. So the chances many of those who read me actually know me is slim. I push links out to a couple of friends directly on occasion, but for the most part, I don’t usually push out to the main social sites like Facebook or Instagram (I no longer have a Twitter account).

That said, I’m finding myself somewhere wanting to be genuine and share my experiences with people on a deep level and wanting that pure anonymity. This is similar to a place where the Japanese blogging/newsletter platform Note sits. It’s a newsletter platform, so you’re obviously looking for subscribers, but it’s still Japan, so you’re not trying to ruffle any feathers either. I’m basically writing this in the event you see changes here. I still want to write about the places I go and the music I listen to, but I’m probably going to be less opinionated about it. Have I even been opinionated about much of it? If anything, I definitely won’t be flaming any former coworkers anymore. I was really mad that day though, but my apologies.

What I want is basically more peace in my life. I’m always striving for that. I value it more and more. Maybe it’s the Libra in me seeking that sense of balance. Who knows?

Weekly Photo

Griffey pestering me at 4 in the morning. Yes, he got his breakfast after this.

The Listening

Here’s the albums I listened to this past week.

Weekly Links

Why Tech Needs Personalization by Om Malik
When “Finding Yourself” Feels Like Losing Yourself by JCProbably

Songs in the Chaos

This is my weekly list of songs that either caught my attention or came to mind this past week. I post these throughout the week on a site called Crucial Tracks, where they’re also added to a playlist on Apple Music. Feel free to follow me on either space.