Ghosthunters!

If you like pop-up books, games, and mildly spook-y stuff, I think you’re going to like Ghosthunters!, the 3D pop-up game by Brian Lee.
Closed, the game looks like an ordinary large book.
Open the covers, and an enormous pop-up somehow emerges. Players have game pieces and a spinner, which guides them up stairs, through rooms, and [...]

Cleaning Up (Some Of) The Clutter

Some writings, scribbles and other random ideas I couldn’t turn into coherent posts.
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1) Nippon Telesoft, a Japanese company practically right around the corner from where I live, developed a Braille karaoke machine, which Stevie Wonder tested and liked.
2) If you’re in Setagaya-ku, Tokyo in August, check out the Jazz for Kids program, scheduled for 16-17 [...]

Red Velvet Cake

Jill celebrated her birthday!
And she made this most delectable-looking red velvet cake on her birthday eve (I love that phrase)!
A what cake?
A red velvet cake!
No, seriously, that’s what they’re called.
I’ve been waiting for a chance to make a red velvet cake, and then I was going to write about it.
Jill just did all that, so [...]

Have Map, Will Find Vegetables

Oh now this is useful!
If you’re in the Fifty Nifty United States, you can click on this map, and it will indicate vegetables and fruits in season for that particular month.
Descriptions are included, and, if you can’t remember what you’re supposed to do with kohlrabi, links to recipes are there, too.
You do need the latest [...]

Cream Cheese Berry Croissant Thingies

I tend to not miss much from the US until I go back for a visit.
Right now, though, I’m furiously missing those croissants in a can. You know, the can where you peel off a strip, whack the can on the edge of your countertop, and then the whole thing opens with a most satisfying [...]

Bye-bye!!

I was just telling my junior high school students that people say, “bye-bye!” and “see you!” only when we’re here in Japan.
And only in a high-pitched squeal accompanied by frantic handflapping.
Nobody else says bye-bye. 
Wrong.
As you may know, bye-bye is a shortened form of good-bye, which came from Godbwye, or God be with ye. What I [...]

Toothbrushes Toothpaste

Big debate going on here.
When you taught your little ones how to brush their teeth, what did you tell them are the proper steps for preparing the toothbrush?
a) Wet the toothbrush, then put toothpaste on the brush, then start brushing the teeth.
b) Put toothpaste on the brush, then wet the toothbrush, then start brushing the [...]

Put On Your Shoes

Think about your routine when you get dressed.
Do you put your underwear on first?
Why? Who made this rule?
Just wondering.

It’s Raining Salt

It’s the rainy season here in Japan, and I just learned that When it rains it pours is an advertising slogan, not a well-known proverb.
You don’t want to know how I wandered in this direction, but I landed on the Morton’s salt website. There, I smiled at the familiar round blue salt container, the girl [...]

Piano Lessons With The Marx Brothers

This clip is enormous inspiration to stay with your piano lessons: Harpo and Chico Marx performing as few others do these days.
You’ll want to watch this at least twice: once to watch their facial expressions, and once to watch that famous grin-inducing anti-professional piano playing.