Michael T. Miyoshi's Blog, page 38

Rules of Engagement

There are certain rules of engagement that must be followed when accepting a challenge. And those rules are set by the challenger.

I recently wrote a piece on terroir. A strange word to be sure. I even wrote some lame reason for writing about such a strange topic. At least a strange topic for somebody who is not an expert on wine. Especially one who does not even touch the stuff. But the lame reason I gave, was actually mostly true. I wrote about terroir because of my own terroir. My enviro...

Terroir

Harvest time in the Chablis Premier Cru vineyard of Fourchaume
by CocktailSteward
Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0

What do terroir, pinot noir, and bouquet have in common? They sound nothing like they are spelled. And coincidentally, they all have to do with wine.

I suppose it is not totally a coincidence the terroir, pinot noir, and bouquet are words relating to wine. Okay. No coincidence at all, but the main reason I chose them is because they are not pronounced like they are spelled. Hooked...

For Over a Decade

I started writing this blog over a decade ago. (Not this particular post.) Hard to believe I am still writing with so few readers (both real and imaginary).

I used to think I was going to be the next Erma Bombeck or Dave Barry. Not just funny. But funny and popular enough to have a syndicated column. After suffering obscurity since 2007, I do not have those aspirations anymore. I would just like to have a few more real readers. And I would like to stop losing any readers (both real and imag...

Palindromic Date

I just realized that next year, Goundhog Day (February 2) will be a palindromic date. At least if you put leading zeroes to make the month and day two digits each. (Which technically does not make it a two-digit number since leading zeroes do not count as digits. But that is a completely different story.)

(I actually realized the date was a palindrome a while ago, but the snow, which I do not know if the groundhog predicted, came and gave me some other topics. Which are other stories that I...

Snopocalypse 2019

Snopocalypse 2019 has been quite the adventure.

I remember when the weather people used to be about 50 percent right. They said snow was coming, but it never did. Or if it did, there was just a dusting. People would be all worried about the big storm and a few flakes would fly. “That’s it?!” was the response. Or the opposite would happen. The weather folks would say the storm might give us a few drops of rain, but a monsoon hit. Those were the good ole days of weather prediction. Spin the w...

Spring Sports

Do you know how you can tell spring sports are just around the corner? The signs are unmistakable. Snow is in the air. And on the ground.

I do not live the Midwest or anywhere where there is real snow four to six months of the year. I live in the Pacific Northwest where snow is not the norm. Winter or anytime. So towns and cities seemingly close whenever there is a whiff of snow. Or at least that is the way it used to be. I even remember a time when many schools closed when there was a pred...

A Tribute to Dave Ryles [1]

David L. Ryles
November 30, 1950 – February 08, 2019
Photos courtesy Patti Ryles

“Remember when we…” is a phrase I have heard Dave Ryles speak over and over again. He has said those words to me and to many others over the years, but it was not like when so many others say those same words.

When you hear some people say “Remember when…,” you just know that they are trying to relive their glory days. And when you hear others, you know that they are living in the past. But when Dave said those...

A Tribute to Dave Ryles

David L. Ryles
November 30, 1950 – February 08, 2019
Photos courtesy Patti Ryles

“Remember when we…” is a phrase I have heard Dave Ryles speak over and over again. He has said those words to me and to many others over the years, but it was not like when so many others say those same words.

When you hear some people say “Remember when…,” you just know that they are trying to relive their glory days. And when you hear others, you know that they are living in the past. But when Dave said those...

Snow Day 2019

I was going to write that snow days are not what they used to be. Then, I looked back and saw that I already wrote that. A couple years ago. Almost to the day. So while I will not quite recycle the post, I will recycle the idea.

Snow days are not quite what they used to be. I remember being a kid and loving to go out into the snow to build forts and have snowball fights. Oh, and wrestle in the snow. That was the fun part, wrestling around and shoving snow in each others’ faces and getting u...

Drawing

Drawing is not something that comes natural to me, but I have been having a lot of fun making pictures for my blog posts.

I am not an artist, but I do like to draw and do other forms of art. I have drawn from time to time just to see if I can get better. And believe it or not, I have. Gotten better that is. But I am still not an artist. At least not yet.

I am convinced that drawing (and art in general) is a skill. Drawing little things here and there are part of that skill, but there is muc...