Michael T. Miyoshi's Blog, page 53

Vote for Tony Ventrella

Photo courtesy Team Ventrella

I am not much into politics, but I must say that if I lived and voted in the eighth district, I would vote for Tony Ventrella.

I avoid political discussions like the plague. Mostly. But I was intrigued when I saw Tony Ventrella on TV and read about his political campaign in the newspaper. And so I had to comment.

Mr. Ventrella is running in the eighth district of the state of Washington against six-term U.S. representative, Congressman Dave Reichert. Congressma...

Writer’s Block Is a Decision

I am going to say something that aspiring writers everywhere will hate me for. But I am still going to say it.

Having writer’s block is a decision.

People who do not write for a living or who do not write every day but still hope to someday write for a living will vehemently disagree with me. They will spout and fume and might even put some disparaging remark on my social media or web sites. I welcome it. After all, a page view is a page view. A reader is a reader.

Now, I am not one to creat...

Free TV

They said that there was not very good antenna reception here in Monroe, Washington, but I hooked up a couple antennas and now we have free TV.

When we first got rid of cable a few years back, I got an inexpensive antenna that looked like it came out of the fifties. I tested it in the living room and we just got one channel. Even so, I was not deterred. I hooked it up in the attic figuring the added height would give us more channels. I did not want to put it on the roof because I did not wa...

@

The @ symbol had me running in circles for almost half an hour one day. And it was not because I was tracing it in the sand.

Since you are reading this, you know that I am a blogger. I have put out what some people might call drivel every week. And I have been doing so since 2006. When I want to take a break, I just write a few blog posts during a week and post them early and let the software take care of when they will be released. But that software which works so well for doing this bloggi...

Facts in Fiction

The Cask of Amontillado
by Harry Clarke (1889-1931) published in 1919
This work is in the public domain.

I recently read an intriguing essay by a fiction writer, Nellie Hermann. She thought it curious that readers wonder how much fact is in their fiction. It made me think a bit about my own writing.

If you have been reading my blog for more than a few minutes, you might know that my wife, The Mindboggling Mrs. Miyoshi, thinks that I lie in my blog. Now while I do not try to prevaricate (she...

Personal Time Machines

I had an amazing revelation this summer. We all have our own personal time machines.

I had a chance to see a bunch of relatives this summer, some of whom I have not seen in decades. I even met a few who I had not met before. Spouses and children of cousins. It was wonderful meeting them and getting to know them. And seeing them all made me realize that we all have our own personal time machines.

Our bodies are time machines traveling ever forward in time. We can only keep moving in that dire...

The End of the Truck Saga

If there was ever any doubt of resurrection, it was removed when I turned the key. My truck lives again.

Okay. I know that the resurrection of a truck is certainly not the same as resurrection of a person, but it does give pause. If I am not the creator of the truck but can still make it rise, then it should be easy enough for the Creator of all to handle resurrection of an individual.

But enough preaching.

I am excited. My truck is running again. Of course, I am a bit hesitant to declare co...

Trust the Wheel

I am almost afraid to finish fixing my truck. It is silly, I know. But still, there is a part of me that wonders if I even know what I am doing.

My truck has been sitting in the garage for almost three years. It has been a blob in the garage just taking up space. It has been a drain on time and resources. It has been a fun project that almost did not get finished. And now, it is almost finished. There is a part of me that wants to get it done right now, but there is also a part of me that wa...

Call in the Cavalry

Photo courtesy Matthew

We all like to think of ourselves as independent. But sometimes you just need to call in the cavalry. Or at least I do.

I have been working on a project for about three years and have not been able to complete it. Actually, that is not exactly true. I broke my truck three years ago. I thought I could run it with no cooling fluid. I did manage to get the truck home and put it into the garage after I broke it. My plan was to fix it when I had the time. Which is what I d...

Happily Ever After

Cinderella
by Anne Anderson (1874 – 1930)
This work is in the public domain.

Watching movies this summer has got me wondering. What is wrong with happy endings?

Summer is a time when my wife, The Mindboggling Mrs. Miyoshi, and I catch up on our movie watching. We have watched several so far. No marathon watching or anything like that, but we have watched quite a few. Apparently, I have no ability to pick good movies. My wife points that out whenever I happen to get a movie from the library t...