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    Thank you

    (Darn. I keep forgetting that I haven’t published this.)

    Thanks to Dean Esmay for setting this up for me.
    I have a feeling that I’m going in and doing shoemaker-type coding by hand when I could be using a template somewhere for a lot of things, but that’s my problem. At first, I was thinking that I’d just leave it plain and unfussy. But in the course of navigating templates, I started to think, I want a gimmicky title! and smirky in-joke link categories! and open comments! and way too many colors from the hexadecimal HTML wheel sprinkled all over the place, too!

    There, I’ve said it.

    The name, for anyone who wonders, is of course adapted from the phrase “yellow peril,” which is what a dear Japanese friend of mine was going to name his bar when it was about to open a few years ago. Apparently, one reason he chose another name was that he and I became buddies in the interim and he didn’t want to offend me. But I would have thought it was hilarious, so I’m expropriating it.

    The domain name is the first line of what may be my very favorite Japanese poem:

    岩間とぢし氷も今朝はとけそめて苔の下水みちもとむらむ

    西行法師

    Iwama todjishi / koori mo kesa ha / tokesomete / Koke no shita mizu / michi motomuramu

    Saigyou-houshi

    Even the ice that shackles the rocks has begun to melt this morning–the water under the moss will be seeking a pathway.

    the Priest Saigyo

    It’s the seventh waka in the “Spring” section of one of the court anthologies. April is a bit late in the year for it to be strictly appropriate to the season. But I’ve always, since we were first assigned it in graduate school, loved its economical way of combining ice, moss, and nurturing water–new beginnings that are so fresh they’re not quite ready to occur.

    7 Responses to “Thank you”

    1. The White Peril

      Frequent commenter Sean Kinsell has started a blog, The White Peril. Sean lives in Japan; hence the name….

    2. Nathan says:

      Personally, I like the format. Tasteful.

    3. Sean says:

      Thanks. You should have seen it when I was using different colors to figure out which style sheet item was cascading where. Looked as if the Binney & Smith plant had thrown up.

    4. Nathan says:

      My first blog was an intentional attempt to look like I had been possessed by Eddie Bauer.
      You homosexuals don’t have a corner on stylistic opinions or taste…but for some reason, I just haven’t been moved to comment on stuff. But, dammit, I’ve had thoughts go through my head just like your reaction to what Hillary wore (posted on the 21st). Should I start verbalizing them more?

    5. Nathan says:

      And “you homosexuals” was typed with a wry grin on my face. It isn’t intended to sound as bad as it looked in print after I hit the “post” button.
      My apologies.

    6. Sean says:

      ‘Sokay. “You homosexuals” isn’t the worst I’ve heard this week.
      And as far as style commentary goes, why not? Self-presentation is an art form; it’s not more important than good-heartedness or material gestures of generosity, but it does matter. I often think it may be especially important in societies such as ours, where people are given so much self-determination that we need all the clues we can get about a person when we first encounter him. And the idea that straight men aren’t allowed to have opinions about decorative beauty is just silly.

    7. Nathan says:

      Well, I’m nothing if not silly. But I get your point.