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	<title>The Japan Times &#187; Thomas Dillon</title>
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	<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp</link>
	<description>News on Japan, Business News, Opinion, Sports, Entertainment and More</description>
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		<item>
		<title>When worlds collide</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2013/09/27/our-lives/when-worlds-collide/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=when-worlds-collide</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2013/09/27/our-lives/when-worlds-collide/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 27 Sep 2013 13:40:56 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Thomas Dillon</dc:creator>
		
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://awsadmin.japantimes.co.jp/?post_type=community&#038;p=460696</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[My Japanese language skills mostly stink. And always have. Yet it&#8217;s an odor to which I&#8217;ve grown accustomed. My excuse is that I came here to work, had little time for study and when I found I could get by, that&#8217;s just what I did. I got by. Now, as excuses go, that&#8217;s fairly lame. [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>My day at the races</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2013/09/13/our-lives/my-day-at-the-races/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=my-day-at-the-races</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2013/09/13/our-lives/my-day-at-the-races/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 13 Sep 2013 13:50:20 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Thomas Dillon</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[commuters]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rush hour]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[The surface of the coffee in my Starbucks cup begins its gentle dance, the signal to lift my head. No, this is not &#8220;Jurassic Park&#8221; and the vibration is not due to an approaching T-Rex. It&#8217;s Takadanobaba and the train station quivers with the force of commuters ripping up the stairway, some no doubt two [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>How the West was lost &#8212; almost</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2013/08/30/our-lives/how-the-west-was-lost-almost/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=how-the-west-was-lost-almost</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2013/08/30/our-lives/how-the-west-was-lost-almost/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 30 Aug 2013 13:55:44 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Thomas Dillon</dc:creator>
		
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		<description><![CDATA[&#8220;How was your trip to Las Vegas?&#8221; grins this friend who knows I never gamble. &#8220;Did you win a million bucks?&#8221; Not exactly. The truth is I nearly lost everything &#8212; twice. So he asks to hear the story about a trip I took in early spring. Not that he has much choice. We are [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2013/08/30/our-lives/how-the-west-was-lost-almost/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Some words of self-introduction</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2013/08/16/our-lives/some-words-of-self-introduction/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=some-words-of-self-introduction</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2013/08/16/our-lives/some-words-of-self-introduction/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 16 Aug 2013 13:24:12 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Thomas Dillon</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[self introduction]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[Ask what&#8217;s good about life in Japan and answers always vary. One foreign resident&#8217;s passion is often another&#8217;s poison and you can count on similar divergence with what makes Japan difficult. Language, commuter trains, high costs, big bugs &#8212; everyone has their own particular bur stuck somewhere in the seat of his or her pants. [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Guts, glory and shaved ice: Koshien baseball</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2013/08/02/our-lives/guts-glory-and-shaved-ice-koshien-baseball/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=guts-glory-and-shaved-ice-koshien-baseball</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2013/08/02/our-lives/guts-glory-and-shaved-ice-koshien-baseball/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 02 Aug 2013 14:00:51 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Thomas Dillon</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[baseball]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Koshien]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[summer]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[Summer is not summer in Japan without two things: 1. Heat (OK, so maybe it&#8217;s not the heat, it&#8217;s the humidity); and 2 . . . High school baseball. Which means the national high school baseball tournament at Koshien Stadium in Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture &#8212; due to start next week &#8212; with every single game [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2013/08/02/our-lives/guts-glory-and-shaved-ice-koshien-baseball/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>Knocking on knickknacks</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2013/07/19/our-lives/knocking-on-knickknacks/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=knocking-on-knickknacks</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2013/07/19/our-lives/knocking-on-knickknacks/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 19 Jul 2013 14:00:51 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Thomas Dillon</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[knicknacks]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[souvenir]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[My grandma used to be the easiest of all my relatives to buy souvenirs for. That&#8217;s because she was a collector and, like many a collector, what she collected most was . . . . . . junk. And Japan is full of junk. Which Grandma called &#8220;knickknacks.&#8221; Her ancient house was jammed with enough [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2013/07/19/our-lives/knocking-on-knickknacks/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
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		<title>Stressing on stress</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2013/07/05/our-lives/stressing-on-stress/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=stressing-on-stress</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2013/07/05/our-lives/stressing-on-stress/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 05 Jul 2013 14:00:17 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Thomas Dillon</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[stress]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[The Internet is ablaze with lists suggesting ways to fight back against the deadliest foe of modern man &#8212; stress. Yes, stress. It will boil your blood pressure, electrify your nerves, scramble your stomach, ruin your happiness and lead you straight to the grave. As if you weren&#8217;t going there already. And to combat stress, [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2013/07/05/our-lives/stressing-on-stress/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The death of civilization</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2013/06/22/our-lives/the-death-of-civilization/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=the-death-of-civilization</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2013/06/22/our-lives/the-death-of-civilization/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 21 Jun 2013 15:01:40 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Thomas Dillon</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[books]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bookstore]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://awsadmin.japantimes.co.jp/?post_type=community&#038;p=389167</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I once had this Japanese student who told me he could tell a book&#8217;s publisher from the smell. He would close his eyes, crush a paperback into his face and inhale. Deeply. As if sucking down a cold beer after a hot day on the street. And he would then sigh and pronounce: &#8220;Ah . [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2013/06/22/our-lives/the-death-of-civilization/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>A great big one up on the roof</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2013/06/08/our-lives/a-great-big-one-up-on-the-roof/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=a-great-big-one-up-on-the-roof</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2013/06/08/our-lives/a-great-big-one-up-on-the-roof/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 07 Jun 2013 15:01:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Thomas Dillon</dc:creator>
		
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		<description><![CDATA[A Japanese colleague trying to improve her English via episodes of the TV sitcom &#8220;Friends&#8221; once asked me this . . . &#8220;Was &#8216;Friends&#8217; really aired on prime time television? The content seems so racy. Here this would have been late night fare, for adults only.&#8221; I told her I wasn&#8217;t adult enough to answer. [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2013/06/08/our-lives/a-great-big-one-up-on-the-roof/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The junkie and his fix</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2013/05/25/our-lives/the-junkie-and-his-fix/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=the-junkie-and-his-fix</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2013/05/25/our-lives/the-junkie-and-his-fix/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 24 May 2013 15:01:37 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Thomas Dillon</dc:creator>
		
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		<description><![CDATA[&#8220;Weird,&#8221; he says. &#8220;Give me something weird.&#8221; The menu boasts both fish sperm and odorigui &#8212; small fish you chew while they&#8217;re alive. But such food is not on his wish list. At least not anymore. My dinner friend has lived here for years. Years, he says &#8212; with his left eye twitching &#8212; of [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>What my dentist wants to know</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2013/05/11/our-lives/what-my-dentist-wants-to-know/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=what-my-dentist-wants-to-know</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2013/05/11/our-lives/what-my-dentist-wants-to-know/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 10 May 2013 15:01:04 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Thomas Dillon</dc:creator>
		
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://awsadmin.japantimes.co.jp/?post_type=community&#038;p=361814</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8220;Ever thought to change your nationality?&#8221; This asked by my dentist, as he bent over my mouth and polished my molars with what sounded like a buzz saw. For full effect, repeat his words while running a power tool next to your ear. And you too can be there. A bit of dental chair banter. [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2013/05/11/our-lives/what-my-dentist-wants-to-know/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>Carping on carp</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2013/04/27/our-lives/carping-on-carp/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=carping-on-carp</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2013/04/27/our-lives/carping-on-carp/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 26 Apr 2013 15:04:13 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Thomas Dillon</dc:creator>
		
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://awsadmin.japantimes.co.jp/?post_type=community&#038;p=354359</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Whenever you find someone tossing bits of bread into a pond, you have to assume this: Something&#8217;s fishy. &#8220;Fish?&#8221; the guys snorts. &#8220;These aren&#8217;t fish. They&#8217;re carp. Meaning they&#8217;re a lot closer to cows. Fat, stupid cows.&#8221; The water below him froths with the hungry frenzy of cow-carp in close quarters. Perhaps the fish call [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2013/04/27/our-lives/carping-on-carp/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Golf and Japanese mania for order and rules</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2013/04/13/our-lives/golf-and-japanese-mania-for-order-and-rules/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=golf-and-japanese-mania-for-order-and-rules</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2013/04/13/our-lives/golf-and-japanese-mania-for-order-and-rules/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 12 Apr 2013 15:01:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Thomas Dillon</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[golf]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[If you haven’t noticed, the most popular sports in sports-zany Japan are imports. Homegrown offerings — sumo, judo, karate and so on — rank more like your mom’s oatmeal cookies.]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2013/04/13/our-lives/golf-and-japanese-mania-for-order-and-rules/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>Awakening the echoes — loud ones</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2013/03/30/our-lives/awakening-the-echoes-loud-ones/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=awakening-the-echoes-loud-ones</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2013/03/30/our-lives/awakening-the-echoes-loud-ones/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 29 Mar 2013 15:02:39 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Thomas Dillon</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Abenomics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Godzilla]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[I sit at a table, drinking with an old friend with whom I share a lot, and not just bar tabs. We have both gulped away most of our adult lives in Japan. Long enough to remember not only the bursting of the economic bubble but also the earnest bubble-pumping of the &#8217;70s and &#8217;80s. [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2013/03/30/our-lives/awakening-the-echoes-loud-ones/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>Cheering for cherries</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2013/03/16/our-lives/cheering-for-cherries/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=cheering-for-cherries</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2013/03/16/our-lives/cheering-for-cherries/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 15 Mar 2013 15:03:47 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Thomas Dillon</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[cherry blossom]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sakura]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[If the Grinch — that well-known wet blanket of holiday mirth — were both a betting man and Japanese, it wouldn&#8217;t be Christmas he was after. Nor New Year&#8217;s, nor the Emperor&#8217;s birthday, nor Golden Week, nor National Toilet Day (Nov. 10. Mark it down). For such targets are too easy. They sit etched upon [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2013/03/16/our-lives/cheering-for-cherries/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>All lost in the lost-and-found</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2013/03/02/our-lives/all-lost-in-the-lost-and-found/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=all-lost-in-the-lost-and-found</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2013/03/02/our-lives/all-lost-in-the-lost-and-found/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 01 Mar 2013 15:10:20 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Thomas Dillon</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[lost and found]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;d lost my keys. Which is unsettling enough. For you do not begin to truly ransack your brain — where in the rising sun could they be? — until you&#8217;ve ransacked your house. And I mean ransack. Drawers emptied, floorboards pried, every pocket of every garment probed and probed again, and then family members frisked [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2013/03/02/our-lives/all-lost-in-the-lost-and-found/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>Driving me crazy</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2013/02/23/our-lives/driving-me-crazy/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=driving-me-crazy</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2013/02/23/our-lives/driving-me-crazy/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 22 Feb 2013 15:20:23 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Thomas Dillon</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[car]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[driving]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[Next to my house lies a carpet of land not flat enough to resist puddles and not sandy enough to attract cats. It just sits there. Empty. &#8220;Symbolic,&#8221; says a friend, &#8220;of the hole in your life.&#8221; He means the car I do not have. Raised amidst the free-flowing highways of the American plains, he [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2013/02/23/our-lives/driving-me-crazy/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>Who is that masked woman?</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2013/02/01/our-lives/who-is-that-masked-woman/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=who-is-that-masked-woman</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2013/02/01/our-lives/who-is-that-masked-woman/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 01 Feb 2013 11:35:51 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Thomas Dillon</dc:creator>
		
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		<description><![CDATA[I lay in bed with a woman with a mask on her face. So I roll her way and coo in her unmasked ear . . . &#8220;You can hide your face but not your passion.&#8221; To which she sighs and coos back . . . &#8220;Oh shuttup.&#8221; I suppose it could be worse. It [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>Signs of Kansai</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2013/01/19/our-lives/signs-of-kansai/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=signs-of-kansai</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2013/01/19/our-lives/signs-of-kansai/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 18 Jan 2013 17:35:56 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Thomas Dillon</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Kansai dialect]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kobe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Osaka]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[At the end of lunch with an old friend, I point out yet another hole in my Swiss cheese knowledge of Japan. &#8220;I&#8217;ve never really understood this whole &#8216;Kansai/Kanto&#8217; thing. I mean, sure, I&#8217;ve traveled to Kyoto, Osaka and so on. But I&#8217;ve never figured out what&#8217;s so different. Kansai? Kanto? Tokyo? Osaka? It all [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>When in doubt, keep running</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2013/01/05/our-lives/when-in-doubt-keep-running/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=when-in-doubt-keep-running</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2013/01/05/our-lives/when-in-doubt-keep-running/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 05 Jan 2013 00:00:32 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Thomas Dillon</dc:creator>
		
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		<description><![CDATA[My buddy grinds his teeth and says, &#8220;You know what irks about this country?&#8221; And so I summon all the usual suspects . . . The insular mindset? The high cost of living? The crowded trains? The summer heat? &#8220;No,&#8221; he hisses. &#8220;It&#8217;s in baseball when guys try to slide into first base. It drives [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>A peek inside the cave</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2012/12/15/our-lives/a-peek-inside-the-cave/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=a-peek-inside-the-cave</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2012/12/15/our-lives/a-peek-inside-the-cave/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 15 Dec 2012 00:00:12 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Thomas Dillon</dc:creator>
		
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		<description><![CDATA[The term &#8220;man cave&#8221; has been added to the dictionary. At last. I&#8217;m referring to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, but surely those other country clubs of words and wisdom will follow suit. For once you&#8217;ve been welcomed by the language Vanderbilts, everyone else soon yearns to have you over. So here it is, the Merriam-Webster plaque [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>When the past catches up</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2012/12/01/%life_category%/when-the-past-catches-up/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=when-the-past-catches-up</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2012/12/01/%life_category%/when-the-past-catches-up/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 01 Dec 2012 00:00:33 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Thomas Dillon</dc:creator>
		
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://awsadmin.japantimes.co.jp/life/2012/12/01/%life_category%/when-the-past-catches-up/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8220;Ha ha! I can&#8217;t believe it&#8217;s you!&#8221; The man extends his hand as if pointing a pistol. I spin around, just to check, but there is no mistaking. The target is me. He wrenches my wrist. &#8220;How long has it been, I wonder? Years and years!&#8221; I pump my arm to match his. &#8220;Oh yes! [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>When the past catches up</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2012/12/01/our-lives/when-the-past-catches-up/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=when-the-past-catches-up</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2012/12/01/our-lives/when-the-past-catches-up/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 01 Dec 2012 00:00:13 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Thomas Dillon</dc:creator>
		
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://aws.japantimes.co.jp/community/2012/12/01/%community_category%/when-the-past-catches-up/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8220;Ha ha! I can&#8217;t believe it&#8217;s you!&#8221; The man extends his hand as if pointing a pistol. I spin around, just to check, but there is no mistaking. The target is me. He wrenches my wrist. &#8220;How long has it been, I wonder? Years and years!&#8221; I pump my arm to match his. &#8220;Oh yes! [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>A little bit of telephone talk</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2012/11/17/our-lives/a-little-bit-of-telephone-talk/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=a-little-bit-of-telephone-talk</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2012/11/17/our-lives/a-little-bit-of-telephone-talk/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 17 Nov 2012 00:00:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Thomas Dillon</dc:creator>
		
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		<description><![CDATA[&#8220;I see,&#8221; I say. And then I say, &#8220;I see.&#8221; And a few more times as well. &#8220;I see. I see. I see.&#8221; &#8220;You say, &#8216;I see,&#8217; too much,&#8221; says my wife, who has been eavesdropping as I spoke with my boss via telephone &#8212; a brief conversation spiced with multiple &#8220;I see&#8221;s, which is [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>In the valley of the uncanny</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2012/11/03/our-lives/in-the-valley-of-the-uncanny/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=in-the-valley-of-the-uncanny</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2012/11/03/our-lives/in-the-valley-of-the-uncanny/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 03 Nov 2012 00:00:30 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Thomas Dillon</dc:creator>
		
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		<description><![CDATA[I am at this bar, see, and with me are two friends. Both have lived in Japan as long as I have, give or take, and both claim to like it here, mostly. &#8220;Mostly my eye,&#8221; says my first friend. Let&#8217;s call him Mutt. And Mutt says, &#8220;I adore Japan! No qualifications whatsoever!&#8221; &#8220;Likewise,&#8221; says [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Then and now</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2012/10/20/our-lives/then-and-now/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=then-and-now</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2012/10/20/our-lives/then-and-now/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 20 Oct 2012 00:01:14 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Thomas Dillon</dc:creator>
		
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://aws.japantimes.co.jp/community/2012/10/20/%community_category%/then-and-now/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I remember well my first Halloween in Japan, mostly because I was invited to speak about it at a junior high. Trick or treating? Kids in sheets with peep holes? Jack O&#8217; Lanterns? I might have been lecturing about life on Mars. And now? Now Halloween has carved its own niche in the Japanese holiday [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Digging for things to do</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2012/10/06/our-lives/digging-for-things-to-do/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=digging-for-things-to-do</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2012/10/06/our-lives/digging-for-things-to-do/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 06 Oct 2012 00:00:01 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Thomas Dillon</dc:creator>
		
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://aws.japantimes.co.jp/community/2012/10/06/%community_category%/digging-for-things-to-do/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[One of life&#8217;s little facts: &#8220;Every man needs a hobby.&#8221; &#8220;But I thought I was your hobby,&#8221; says my wife, with a hint of a smile. So I must clarify: &#8220;Every man needs an affordable hobby.&#8221; And there I stand in my hobby clothes: ragged shorts, wrinkled shirt and a sun-bleached cap. In one hand [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Mobile phones on mannerless mode</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2012/09/22/our-lives/mobile-phones-on-mannerless-mode/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=mobile-phones-on-mannerless-mode</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2012/09/22/our-lives/mobile-phones-on-mannerless-mode/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 22 Sep 2012 00:00:17 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Thomas Dillon</dc:creator>
		
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://awsadmin.japantimes.co.jp/community/2012/09/22/%community_category%/mobile-phones-on-mannerless-mode/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[And here I thought mobile phones couldn&#8217;t get any worse. But a recent stateside trip has taught me otherwise. Not only can they get worse, they can get hard-core. To start, I am not a fan of such devices. Oh, I have one &#8212; somewhere. For a long while I believed my wife was keeping [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Where the skies are not cloudy all day</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2012/09/08/our-lives/where-the-skies-are-not-cloudy-all-day/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=where-the-skies-are-not-cloudy-all-day</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2012/09/08/our-lives/where-the-skies-are-not-cloudy-all-day/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 08 Sep 2012 00:00:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Thomas Dillon</dc:creator>
		
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://awsadmin.japantimes.co.jp/community/2012/09/08/%community_category%/where-the-skies-are-not-cloudy-all-day/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Recently I once again journeyed back to the gentle plains of my Midwestern home, this time with my younger son in tow. He had been there often enough as a boy. In those days, we spent part of every other August soaking up my hometown&#8217;s blessings. I, for one, looked upon our stays as an [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>A plan for a healthy TV diet</title>
		<link>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2012/08/25/our-lives/a-plan-for-a-healthy-tv-diet/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=a-plan-for-a-healthy-tv-diet</link>
		<comments>http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2012/08/25/our-lives/a-plan-for-a-healthy-tv-diet/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 25 Aug 2012 00:00:32 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Thomas Dillon</dc:creator>
		
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://awsadmin.japantimes.co.jp/community/2012/08/25/%community_category%/a-plan-for-a-healthy-tv-diet/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The world is going to pieces. I know because the television told me so. Global warming, economic meltdown, regional conflicts, partisan politics, Justin Bieber. Is there anything good happening? Anywhere? &#8220;The problem,&#8221; says my luncheon mate, &#8220;is not the world. It&#8217;s you.&#8221; Now how can that be? I only know what the television tells me. [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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