Spelling Bee

According to the news, the final word of the most recent national spelling bee was "laodicean". That's a tough word! I don't think I've ever heard it before. It turns out that it refers to an ancient Greek woman named "Laodice". That's often true for very old and obscure words in English - they refer to some very old Greek or Roman person or place. The same is true for the words "odyssey", "august" (the adjective), and even the very common word, "Saturday"!

Magical Mystery Tour

What's your favorite Beatles album? Many people say Magical Mystery Tour was their best, but I always enjoyed their earlier, "pop" albums the most.

My dad was lucky enough to actually see a Beatles concert back in the 1960s! Even if you didn't have that chance, you can still catch the Rolling Stones or Deep Purple on tour. Hurry up though, those guys have got to be all in their 70s by now.

Relax, Chill, Unwind

It feels good to unwind after a long day of work. What do you do to unwind?

I usually read or play guitar to unwind. Lately I've been reading a lot of science books. Science can be difficult to understand, but it definitely takes my mind off of work. It's very relaxing.

Do you know what this is? It's the ancestor of modern whales! Interesting eh? This is what I've been reading about.

Golden Week

How was your week? Did you have fun? Did you go anywhere special?

I went to Mt. Minobu and saw a very nice temple called Kuon-ji. Have you been there? It's a very lovely place, surrounded by greenery and full of ancient-looking buildings. When I did a little bit of research, I discovered that it's one of the most important places in Nichiren Buddhism. I didn't know that! It sure was pretty though, whatever religious meaning it has.