My middle name is actually Thomas. I chose to use “M Thomas” as a pen name out of respect for my father, who taught me how to write. As a professional communications writer, he was responsible for lots of public documents for the NYS DMV, including traffic safety reports, driver manuals, press releases from the Governor, all sorts of “my boss will feel the need to edit this, so I will deliberately leave behind something for him to do so as he doesn’t screw up the entire thing” document.
I may or may not have adopted this strategy in my own professional work (I certainly adopted the attitude…)
Another reason is because I had a baby brother named Thomas. He passed away before reaching five months old when I was not quite 11. It had a major impact on me as a child (and indeed as the adult and as the father I am).
I have no sons. It bothers me that I may be the last Thomas in our family. For a while, anyway.
What is one question you hate to be asked? Explain.
“Where are you from?”
I never understood why this question might rankle some people…until I moved to Japan.
I’ve been in Japan since 1999. “Where are you from?” was one of the first questions people asked me at the time, when I was teaching in junior and senior high schools.
How do significant life events or the passage of time influence your perspective on life?
I would say “yes.”
How?
Failure influences my perspective on life.
Successes influence my perspective on life.
Deaths influence my perspective on life.
Births influence my perspective on life.
Travel influences my perspective on life.
I would list the above five as “significant events” in life. But “the passage of time” is a little more vague.
Four years doesn’t seem like a long time to me now, but it sure did when I was 18.
Even six years doesn’t seem all that long now. But to my daughter who graduates from elementary school this March, six years is half her life.
My perspective on this question is that it’s the people in my life that have changed my perspective.
Even my daughter gets this. She wants to visit Australia, Canada, Singapore, and the US again because, as she put it, “a little piece of me is still there.”
[Context: my mother had just passed away, and I was remembering that both my parents’ choice in reading materials influenced my own fictional likes and dislikes.]
I guess both Mom and Dad liked Trek from its inception [in 1966]. I remembering watching the original series (in syndicated reruns of course) in the late ’70s/ We saw it in the “TV room” in my grandparents’ house….They had a color Zenith; we only had a tiny black and white on a bookcase. I remember being fascinated by the bright reds and blues (this was the point…color TV was new in the late ’60s and the sets and costumes deliberately used bright primary colors)…
Mom had all three “Star Trek Readers” I through III, by James Blish….Later I would borrow more complicated science fiction / fantasy stories from my Dad — Frank Herbert’s Dune and Robert A. Heinlein’s Stranger in a Strange Land stood out. And of course, Ray Bradbury’s Martian Chronicles, which were televised when we lived in Berne [a small village in New York west of Albany]. Once I discovered [The Chronicles of] Narnia and The Hobbit in 3rd grade, it was all over. I was a nerd for life.
And now look at the influence on pop culture. Movies, books, music, clothes, shoes, bags…the Internet and modern media. Smartphones. Tablets. Skype. Wireless devices. Bluetooth. GPS.
Nerd-dom has conquered the world. And my mom got there first. Way to go, Mom.
Are there things you try to practice daily to live a more sustainable lifestyle?
Now this is an interesting prompt.
1. Organic gardening
I’ve been gardening for just over ten years now. My father had an organically-grown garden for several decades, and I’ve been able to get a lot of advice from him on how to grow vegetables without using chemically-based fertilizers and pesticides/herbicides.
To be honest, sometimes the insects and the weather do get the best of the plants. But at least I know what’s in them, and I can keep the soil healthy as well.
Everything in this photo was organically grown. Well, not the bowls…
2. Composting
Part of gardening is using compost, or rotten food scraps, as fertilizer. We recycle any food left uneaten as well as the bits of vegetables that are often tossed into the garbage, things like roots, insides of peppers, the ends of beans, and of course egg shells.
Egg shells can be reused to help bushes as well, due to their calcium content. Although I have found that the shells need to be rinsed before chucking them near the stem of bushes. Otherwise we get some unwelcome animal nightlife…
3. Reuse reuse reuse
Any clothing we no longer have a use for (kids got too big, Dad spilled coffee on a favorite shirt or cooking oil on a favorite pair of shorts, a towel that frayed and is too dangerous to use…) we do one of two things:
(i) recycle with our local school’s monthly clothing pick up, or
(ii) turn it into rags that can be used to clean up spills rather than use kitchen paper towels.
We also get a lot of plastic bags — and I do mean a lot — because practically everything in Japan comes wrapped in plastic. Cookies and sweets are all wrapped individually. Vegetables are wrapped in plastic. Even meat from the store winds up in separate plastic bags (just in case they leak on the way home).
So we reuse as many of the plastic bags as possible, typically to collect household trash (especially during allergy season!). And, of course, to collect plastic, plastic bottles, cans and bottles for recycling.
4. Bath water
Like most homes in Japan, we have a pump attached to our clothes washer. Japanese are accustomed to taking evening baths (I don’t; at least, not in summer, since the water makes me sweat and then I have to take a shower all over again). The next morning, we reuse the bath water to wash clothes.
5. No AC or dryers
Strictly speaking, we do use the AC on occasion. But we designed our home to have lots of sliding doors between rooms and wide windows and balcony doors. That way, we can just open up everything and have a nice breeze come down the mountain behind us. The house stays relatively cool even during the hot sticky summer months and we can avoid using air conditioning (except when it rains and we have to close windows).
We also hang out clothing to dry to avoid using the dryer. It’s better for clothing, anyway, and in addition to not wasting electricity, lowers our utility bills.
These are just a few examples. It’s not much, but a little bit here and there adds up to a lot over time.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go throw some used egg shells under the tomato plants. 🍅 🥚
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Last weekend was partly fun (Halloween party with our kids, pre-teen and teen) and partly melancholic (4th year anniversary of my mother’s untimely death from cancer).
But even before then, I just wasn’t feeling all that great. Not sick. Just sort of…not with it. On autopilot, kind of.
Now that fall is well and truly here, the pollen is going away and the skies are clearing.
Hoping I’ll find my muse again.
And, no, I’m not going to write anything about Twitter, elections, or crazy beliefs in satanic rituals making a comeback among the bonkers-crazy folk of my home country. Way too easy.
“Over sixteen million Americans served during World War II and this story offers in rich detail the story of two men in uniform and a woman they both cared about. A story of love and tragedy that is more representative of the experiences of many that served than the ones often told of generals and politicians. A story that needs to be told and remembered.”
— Dr. Rick Derrah, Professor of Social Studies, Kindai University, Osaka; former US Army E-4 Specialist
“Not only is this a touching and interesting family story, it is a great snap shot of the war and its effects, as well as Trojans and Troy history connection.”
— Don Rittner, historian, former Albany City Archaeologist and founder of the Pine Bush Historic Preservation Project
Sorry I haven’t posted anything in a while. I know it’s been about two months. Summer was filled with fun family activities in Montreal. September was filled with trips to libraries and feeling sorry for myself. Got into a bit of a funk.
Now I’m back in Japan, back to the daily grind, and trying to find time to sort out all the stuff I mailed back from Montreal.
Rest assured, there’s lots of stuff to write about. Some of it even makes sense.
I’ll be writing a few quick posts about various cool science and space things in the upcoming days. Then maybe a couple of longish ones about weird family history. And maybe even an update on my SF novel.
Yeah. I still didn’t finish the first draft. Stuck on 70,000 words. But the end is in sight!
M Thomas Apple Author Page 