Do you think we’re shaped more by our experiences or by who we are?
As the classics tell us…
July 16, 2026
“Freeta-“ live style was not easy
July 10, 2026
What’s a chapter of your life you’d title “The Hard Years” — and what got you through it?
I didn’t know the term “freeta-“ (from “free arbeiter” with “arbeiter” meaning “worker” in German) until I had lived in Japan as a teaching assistant for several years. Yet it occurred to me that that was the lifestyle I had been living after undergraduate school, even during the two misguided years of my creative writing master’s degree program when I worked at a nearby mall (at a software store that told me to lie to customers about software availability).
Not working as a full time worker but at a series of temporary part-time jobs, I felt free from restraints but had little money and even less chance of anything resembling a stable work life.
When you’re 22, this doesn’t seem that bad. You think it’s okay, that your whole life is ahead of you. That you’re still finding your feet.
By 27, it’s unsettling. That’s why I made the move to Japan, to take a risk and try my hand at teaching.
What got me through the “Hard Years”?
Guinness. Probably because I simply don’t know any better. It nearly derailed me. I was a ronin, awash on the waves of life. While floating from one job to the next in Boston.
In the end, maybe it was my colleagues and students in Japan that finally got me out of my morass. After making the move here, even though on the surface it was a temporary three-year contract, I needed to help someone else. Think outside myself, outside the box. and eventually, decide to make it a permanent lifestyle.
After all, helping others really does, in the end, help yourself.
Sir Pat, Claude, and the Bard
May 22, 2026
“Weary with toil, I haste me to my bed,
The dear repose for limbs with travel tired;
But then begins a journey in my head,
To work my mind, when body’s work’s expired…”
I dearly wish I had though of this. Then again, I don’t know Patrick Stewart…
https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/patrick-stewart-ai-schooled-shakespeare-rcna344945
Today’s Moan-day, so it seems like time to…
April 7, 2026
OK, so I have been pulling my hair out (what’s left of it) the past few days over trying to understand an email thread with “Draft2Digital.” (Note to self: this occurred in early 2024; evidently, forgot to post it! The first thing that goes is memory, and the second is…umm…)
Let me sum up. (If you’re not interested in a rant-n-rave about the state of the independent publishing industry, you can skip to the part where I list the URL for my new book Bringer of Light… 🙂
Continue ReadingAI scammers — stealing our work then trying to trick us again for PR
March 12, 2026
“As a science fiction author, I’ve always loved hearing from fans of my fiction,” [US based author Jason Sanford] tells the Guardian. “But now when someone emails saying they loved one of my stories, my first thought is that this is yet another scammer setting me up for the kill.”
Yet another reason I hate AI.
I, too, have been contacted repeatedly by people claiming to be literary agents, or to have connections with major publishers or bookstores.
I don’t trust any of them. And that’s sad.
All I want is for people to read and enjoy my work. Not steal it, scrape it, resell or repackage it. And certainly not to think I’m eager to give them thousands of dollars for horrible AI-generated videos.
It’s impossible to make a living as a writer.
Dear Diary – October 5, 2003
March 6, 2026
I feel as if I have two personalities, one which speaks English and one which speaks Japanese. The one which speaks English can never get past being a high school geek. The one which speaks Japanese cannot get past being a “strange foreigner.” The only time I feel comfortable now is when I am teaching. Only there can I be an actor and change who I am any time I want.
Who is this “WE” and what do “WE” want AI to do?
March 5, 2026
“WE will decide the fate of our Country – NOT some out-of-control, Radical Left AI company run by people who have no idea what the real World is all about,” Trump wrote.
Hmm. OK, what did this “Radical Left AI company” want?
US defense officials have pushed for unfettered access to Claude’s capabilities that they say can help protect the country, while Anthropic has resisted allowing its product to be used for mass surveillance or autonomous weapons systems that can kill people without human input.
So the WE is actually just ME, then.
I’ve written repeatedly about the dangers of AI: it’s not really AI, it repeats very human bias and mistakes, and it will become potentially extremely dangerous to humanity if left unregulated.
But go on, keep using these programs. I’m sure it’ll all work out…
And today’s writing prompt is… ✍️
March 4, 2026
You’re writing your autobiography. What’s your opening sentence?
It’s only every so often that you die.
(Inspired by a legendary quote by former not-so-great Cubs catcher Rick Wrona about his first MLB hit.)
Dear Diary – April 30, 1999
February 20, 2026
All we are, is passages, avenues through which other people travel. We are each others’ byways, highways, continuously passing through each others’ lives. Passengers, drivers, hitchhikers all.
Holy smokes, how many months??
February 17, 2026
M Thomas Apple Author Page 