Author: Ian

How Japanese Honne and Tatemae Separate Work and Home Life, and Why You Should Too

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I taught English lessons at a for-profit Japanese eikaiwa (conversation school) in Yamanashi Prefecture from 2009 to 2011, and one of the things that most struck me about the Japanese work environment was how easily the Japanese separate their work lives from their home lives.  There’s a lot of cultural factors at work here, but the one people explained to me most often was the idea of honne and tatemae: Continue reading »

We Are Market Basket, by Daniel Korschun & Grant Welker (2015)

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Full Disclosure: I worked for Market Basket ten or so years before the 2014 protests made national news, but I would have enjoyed this book either way.  In case you missed it: a rivalry among the Demoulas family split the grocery chain between the workers and the board, with the power-hungry directors firing CEO Arthur T., who believed in supporting workers and treating customers fairly.  This book explains not only the history behind the protest, but the business practices that both fostered it and allow Market Basket to flourish in a world dominated by Milton Friedman’s shareholder-favoring philosophies.  Nice.

Rating:

4-kafkas

Where I Got It

Christmas Gift, 2015.

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More on the Market Basket Protests (Wikipedia)

When the Market Basket Workers Fight Back, Everyone Wins (my 2014 thoughts on the protests)

Let’s Explore Diabetes With Owls, by David Sedaris (2014)

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I like David Sedaris’s writing because it’s funny, easy to read, and poignant, and most things I like satisfy at least two of these.  His latest collection is mostly essays with a few fiction monologues thrown in (the best of which, “I Brake for Traditional Marriage,” features a disoriented right-winger who murders his family and wants to grow a mustache like Yosemite Sam’s), but I enjoyed it slightly less than his earlier work because most of the essays (about, say, losing your passport or picking up highway trash) feel less zany.  It still earns a solid four Kafkas, though.

Rating:

4-kafkas

Where I Got It

Christmas Gift, 2015.

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David Sedaris’s Website

David Sedaris Reads 50 Shades of Grey (video)

The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath, ed. by Karen V. Kukil (2000)

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I like books where writers talk insightfully about writing, and I also like books about young people finding their way—Sylvia Plath’s journals have both.  She worries about the same things writers today do: getting published, getting rejected, making money as a writer, never recapturing her earlier success, and whether teaching is killing her creative drive, though she also worries a lot about dating and relationships (including whether 1950s gender roles will smother her creativity).  The only problem is that finding these insights requires sifting through 500+ pages of journals and a lengthy Appendix.  I recommend judicial skimming.

Rating:

3-kafkas

Where I Got It

Found in my office in grad school, left by previous inhabitant.

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Sylvia Plath on Wikipedia

List of Quotes (for the skimmers)

Interview with Karen V. Kukil

I Paid Off My Student Loans!

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…well, most of them anyway.  Last week I cashed out a good chunk of savings to pay off one of my final two student loans, a financial move that cut my monthly payment by two-thirds (!!).  That basically equates to a ton more financial flexibility each month (i.e., more cash for whatever I want).

The biggest reason for the payoff, though, was to ease the transition into working fewer Day Job Hours.  Think about this: It took me 20 hours of Day Job work each month Continue reading »

Housekeeping vs. The Dirt, by Nick Hornby (2006)

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Nick Hornby writes with down-to-earth honesty, and this second collection of Stuff I’ve Been Reading essays (which partially inspired this book blog) for The Believer is no exception. Its most poignant moment comes in the preface, where he encourages people to actually read books they enjoy and to not read certain books just because they seem important: “Please, if you’re reading a book that’s killing you, put it down and read something else, just as you would reach for the remote if you weren’t enjoying a TV program.”  Books should be fun, so let’s keep them that way.

Rating:

4-kafkas

Where I Got It

Christmas gift, 2014, along with Nick Hornby’s two other collections of book essays (one of which still remains in the stack…).

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Housekeeping vs. The Dirt at McSweeney’s

Nick Hornby’s Website

Day Job Basics #5: The Real Reason to Have a Day Job

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So in Parts 1 through 4 I went through what makes a Day Job different from a Real Job, the philosophies involved with working that Day Job, and how to find which Day Job best fits your current goals.  I talked about money, time, and handling your energy, but there’s one really, really important thing left.

Working a Day Job serves absolutely no purpose if you’re not also working toward your creative goals. Continue reading »

Day Job Basics #4: Your Ideal Day Job

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So like I talked about in Part 3, there are all different kinds of Day Jobs, and they all place different demands on your time, energy, and sanity levels.  You might still be on the hunt for a bill-paying Day Job, you might have what you thought was a Real Job until you decided to make that mental switch to the dishwashing philosophy Continue reading »

Day Job Basics #2: What Makes a Day Job Different From a Real Job?

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Sometimes Day Jobs look a lot different than Real Jobs, like when people work as waiters (or, increasingly, as Uber drivers) in Hollywood while they audition for acting roles.  Sometimes, though, it’s hard to tell whether you’re working a Day Job or a Real Job, especially if you’re not sure what your goals are.

This is a tough question, so let’s talk about washing dishes instead. Continue reading »