Alison Fincher

@alisonfincher

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Alison Fincher@alisonfincher· 14d

Another #witmonth -appropriate old podcast episode finally has a transcript! Post-bubble Japan. The history of socially-conscious Japanese literature. Yu Miri and her novel Tokyo Ueno Station (trans Morgan Giles). readjapaneseliterature.com/Podcast/Epis...

A cover image for RJL Episode 16—Writing about Japan's "Have-Nots". It comes from the cover Lauren Peters-Collaer designed for the English-language translation of Tokyo Ueno Station. The clipped portion shows simplified, abstract elements evoking Tokyo's Ueno Park on a purple background—a blue brick wall, two layers high; a red bench; and a yellow, Japanese-stylized chrysanthemum. The words "Ueno Station" from the title appear along the right side.

Alison Fincher@alisonfincher· 18d

Entraps is pleased because there is tiny food at Princess Prom.

Alison Fincher@alisonfincher· Jun 18

🎶 Once upon a time In a school in outer space There was a class of misfit kids From all around the place. 🎶 They snuck aboard a mystery ship, And soon went through a spatial rift, And now they’re stuck on a long, strange trip… (I definitely remember Snorks, though.)

A title card for the 1990s Nickelodeon space opera Space Cases featuring human adults Davenport and Goddard; human teen Harlen Band (later a Power Ranger); rainbow-haired Venuvian Catalina (played by the always delightful Jewel Saidie); curly-haired, super-strong Andromedan Radu; mis-firing alien tech android Velma; bright red, “sunny” Mercurian Rosie; dour, antenaed Uranian Bova; and a green, scaly Spung girl who isn’t a main character in the theme song so I can’t remember her name. They’re all standing in front of the iconic Nickelodeon splat.

*Spellings errors are likely. I’m doing this from memory.

Alison Fincher@alisonfincher· Apr 7

Fucking AI companions. New Zoom features SUCK.

A chat with Zoom's AI companion:

Me: How do I disable AI companion?

AI Companion: I can help you disable AI Companion. Would you like me to turn it off for you now? Alternatively, if you'd prefer to manage your Zoom settings yourself, you can explore various feature categories and adjust them based on your preferences through your Zoom settings.

Me: Yes. Please disable AI companion.

AI Companion: I apologize, but I'm unable to disable AI Companion through my current capabilities - this setting is not supported at this time through my interface.
To disable AI Companion, you'll need to:
Go to your Zoom settings directly (via the Zoom app or web portal)
Navigate to the AI Companion settings section
Toggle the feature off manually
Alternatively, you can contact Zoom support for assistance with disabling this feature.

Alison Fincher@alisonfincher· Mar 16

To the best of my knowledge, the most snow Atlanta has received in my 40-year lifetime was also in March. This is me with an anatomically-correct Cinderella snowwoman built with the assistance of my not-so-feminist father in 1993. Almost 3 feet of snow—this photo is from days after the blizzard.

As described. A very dorky kid who was obviously going to grow up queer hugging a three-foot tall armless snowwoman that resembles the Venus de Milo.

I’m the background, the ground is covered with a highly uncharacteristic amount of snow for the south Atlanta suburbs. Especially in March.

Alison Fincher@alisonfincher· Mar 15

I was moved by this poem from a forgotten Japanese labor newspaper. The author, Ihara Ayoko, did clerical work at a bank in the 50/60s. As a woman, she had new freedom to work outside of the home—yet her career would always be circumscribed. Even so, she finds a simple joy in labor + solidarity.

“Labor” by Ihara Ayako
Translated by Takane Suzuki
shared with permission

“What will you do once you have a child?
You won’t be able to work,
Even if you want to.”
I know.
But I already know
How wonderful it is to work—
How joyful.

“Even after ten years, you will still be doing paperwork.”
I know that well.
And I know
how little respect women receive.
That is why
I do not want to quit.
As one woman among many,
I want to keep fighting.

With these thoughts, again today,
I press myself
Into the corner of a crowded train.

Yet there is one sadness:
what I do
does not contribute directly to society.
That makes me sad.

Still—labor is wonderful.

Ayako was a mid-20th century member of a Japanese banker’s union. The poem originally appeared in the journal Hiroba (ひろば).

Alison Fincher@alisonfincher· Mar 14

Used a break in my #AAS2026 conference schedule to explore the Nitobe Memorial Garden at UBC. (Tricky for the cab driver, but he was a trooper.) The garden is gorgeous—tranquil and lush. So many buds on the trees and deep down things just thrusting out of the earth.

A photo can’t do it justice but—Small shoots shoot out of a muddy stream bed. In the background, moss covered naked and green trees.

A photo can’t do it justice but—A Japanese lantern stands behind mostly-bare tree branches and on a bed of moss. Cedar trees tower behind.

Alison Fincher@alisonfincher· Mar 11

En route to #AAS2026 and noticing the SEATAC is well-stocked with copies of Uketsu’s novels, all translated by @jimrion.com!

An airport bookstore kiosk has one entire shelf devoted to Strange Buildings, Strange Pictures, and Strange Houses—all by the enigmatic Japanese writer, Uketsu.

Alison Fincher@alisonfincher· Mar 3

He is the ONLY person who has ever represented GA-13. The district has also been a ludicrous, gerrymandered mess for its entire existence. Maps from 2002 and present, but check out the Wikipedia page for more.

Wikimedia Commons (via nationalatlas.gov) a map of GA-13 in 2002—a wild congressional district with tentacles stretching southwest of Atlanta (eg Union City), due South of Atlanta (through Clayton County’s Riverdale into Spalding County in a narrow strip), south/southeast of Atlanta (hugging I-75 into Henry County), east of Atlanta (all the way into Walton County), and northeast of Atlanta (into Lilburn and Gwinnett County).

Wikimedia Commons’s map of GA-13 at present—a congressional district that includes parts (but not all!) of Clayton, Cobb, Douglas, Fayette, Fulton, and Henry Counties in East and South Metro Atlanta.

Alison Fincher@alisonfincher· Jan 4

“What’s the last car you stopped to take a photo of?” Well… I was driving, so my spouse could take a photo without me stopping, but…

The Oscar Mayer Weenie Mobile. It is a car shaped like a giant hotdog.

Alison Fincher@alisonfincher· Dec 23

@greenpeace.org, these are stills from a scene in an *actual* Ghibli movie about the climate crisis. AI contributes to climate change. What is this slop?

Chihiro from Spirted Away confronts a giant, muddy monster she thinks is a stink spirit.

Chihiro from Spirited Away tries to pull something out of what she thinks is a Stink Spirit.

Lin from Spirited Away surveys the pollution cleaned from inside the River Spirit so dirty everyone mistook for a stink spirit.

Alison Fincher@alisonfincher· Dec 9

This is so in the weeds. @asolove.bsky.social insists this isn’t technically ASCII art because katakana (ミ) isn’t part of the American Standard Code for Information Interchange. 🫠 Is there a different term for ASCII art that uses the Japanese alphabet? @zackdavisson.com, maybe…?

An image of a train created MOSTLY from ASCII characters, but also using katakana like ミ.

Alison Fincher@alisonfincher· Dec 8

In case you’ve never heard of Train Man… it’s a “novel” framed as a series on posts on a 2channel forum ca 2004 about a dork trying to date a classy woman he met on the Tokyo subway. It’s nostalgically authentic—down to the posters chiming in with advice who clarify with “I’m a girl!”

Sorry I can’t alt text the whole page! But this is a page from Train Man, showing the fragmented, post-by-post structure of the novel.

Alison Fincher@alisonfincher· Aug 12

(All of this lead to a fruitful conversation about our culture’s obsession on anti-heroes, Strong Female Protagonists, queer romances, and Tolkien’s phenomenal refusal to sign a statement he wasn’t Jewish to get The Hobbit translated I to German.)

A copy of Tolkien’s letter. (1/2)

(Source: The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien…)

25 July 1938
20 Northmoor Road

Dear Sirs,

Thank you for your letter. I regret that I am not clear as to what you intend by arisch. I am not of Aryan extraction: that is Indo-Iranian; as far as I am aware none of my ancestors spoke Hindustani, Persian, Gypsy, or any related dialects

But if I am to understand that you are enquiring whether I am of Jewish origin, I can only reply that I regret that I appear to have no ancestors of that gifted people. My great-great-grandfather came to England in the eighteenth century from Germany: the main part of my descent is therefore purely English, and I am an English subject—which should be sufficient.

I have been accustomed, nonetheless, to regard my German name with pride, and continued to do so throughout the period of the late regrettable war, in which I served in the English army. I cannot, however, forbear to comment that if impertinent and irrelevant inquiries of this sort are to become the rule in matters of literature, then the time is not far distant when a German name will no longer be a source of pride.

A copy of Tolkien’s letter. (2/2)

Your enquiry is doubtless made in order to comply with the laws of your own country, but that this should be held to apply to the subjects of another state would be improper, even if it had (as it has not) any bearing whatsoever on the merits of my work or its sustainability for publication, of which you appear to have satisfied yourselves without reference to my Abstammung [descent]

I trust you will find this reply satisfactory, and

remain yours faithfully,

J. R. R. Tolkien

Alison Fincher@alisonfincher· Jul 21

The seal of Futurama’s Space Pope. He is a green, crocodilian figure wearing a white robe and a mitre with his hand held up in blessing. The text around the seal is partially in Latin and partially written in a fictional non-human lettering system. The Latin reads, “Crocodylus pontifex”.

Alison Fincher@alisonfincher· Jul 7

My sister correctly identified the shape as "a snake who ate something big". This means that she a.) has never read The Little Prince, but b.) passes the test anyway. I have a wonderful little sister.

A Kanazawa bar (Cigar and Bar, Bottom Ress) sign is based on an illustration from The Little Prince. Supposedly, most adults mistake the shape for a top hat when it is actually a snake that has eat an elephant.

White kanji are inscribed on the black snake.

Alison Fincher@alisonfincher· Jul 2

I wanted to do language study in Japan and go back to graduate school, but I’ve found my little niche in doing public education on Japanese lit in translation. Sometimes that means Japanese bookstores can feel a lot like secret reunions with friends. ☺️ @zackdavisson.com @averyudagawa.bsky.social

Copies of J-Boys (translated by Avery Fischer Udgawa) and A History of Japan in Manga (translated by Zack Davisson) stacked next to the each other.

Alison Fincher@alisonfincher· Jun 30

A sign shows a bird of prey stealing a kid’s hamburger. The text reads, “Be careful! They’re coming for your food!” Other pictured examples of steal-able food on onigiri and a soft serve ice cream cone.

The background shows rice terraces off the coast of Japan’s Notto Peninsula and the Sea of Japan.

Alison Fincher@alisonfincher· Jun 24

What actor's expression in a movie will stay with you for the rest of your life? Probably cheating because it’s animated, but the animators NAILED Louisa’s quiet desperation. She’s holding her family together, + she doesn’t think the stress is ever going to stop. Jessica Darrow’s voice, FWIW. 🤷

A clip from Disney’s Encanto. Louisa (the middle sister, the “strong one”) is dressed in traditional Colombian clothing. She holds up a giant boulder while her face makes a plea for help that she clearly doesn’t expect to get.

Her youngest sister, Mirabel, also in traditional Colombian clothing, looks on in shock.

A second clip from Disney’s Encanto. Louisa (the middle sister, the “strong one”) is dressed in traditional Colombian clothing. She holds up a giant boulder while her face makes a plea for help that she clearly doesn’t expect to get. Another view of the expression.

Her youngest sister, Mirabel, also in traditional Colombian clothing, looks on in shock.

Alison Fincher@alisonfincher· Mar 29

This, my friends, is why we don’t we don’t use generative AI software. Behold… a teacher volunteers to teach kids to make pizza or cookies to raise funds for 10yo’s school. The school feeds the description into crappy AI software and then…

A nightmare piece of AI graphics where the generative AI interpreted “pizza and cookies” as “cookie pizza”. Not the fun giant, frosted chocolate chip slice you got at CiCi’s after ballgames, but a horrifying savory pizza pie with cheese, tomato sauce topped with terrifying little Oreo-pepperonis and what look like Easter M&Ms.

Nightmare pizza is surrounded by smaller culinary Frankenstein monsters that look like pumpkin pie topped with more M&Ms and/or pizzas frosted in orange and pink with… more M&Ms. I think. It’s very hard to tell.

Yum.

Alison Fincher@alisonfincher· Feb 12

These guys are chlandi plates. They visualize sound waves as art. More or less. The intro makes me think of Melkor breaking into Ilúvatar’s music to make something discordant, but Ilúvatar resolving it right back into something beautiful. Especially with the way the theme song progresses.

A 5x8 grid of black plates, each with a different “design” created by white sand moved into place by sound waves

Via https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/90021/theory-behind-patterns-formed-on-chladni-plates

Alison Fincher@alisonfincher· Feb 12

Welp… Downloading MapQuest wasn’t on my 2025 Bingo Card.

A screen shot from the MapQuest iOS app (“Map”) that shows the Gulf of MEXICO and the US and Mexican states that border it.

Alison Fincher@alisonfincher· Feb 6

Has anyone read Emi Yagi's When the Museum Is Closed? It's coming out in English translation in July. (Don't know by whom yet because... Penguin... 😑) Sounds delightfully queer. Is it delightfully queer? www.penguin.co.uk/books/461803...

"Rika Horiuchi’s new part-time job is to converse with a statue of the Venus de Milo – in Latin – every Monday, when the museum is closed.

Initially reluctant, Rika starts to enjoy her strange new job: she and Venus talk about everything. They fall in love, and (with the help of a statue of Artemis’ hunting dog) eventually break free.

This fresh and original new novel from the author of Diary of a Void confirms Emi Yagi as one of the most exciting Japanese writers published in English today."

Alison Fincher@alisonfincher· Feb 4

Internet (notnotnutritious.com) says yes.

Picture of a fritter of some kind—maybe—with the text: For recipes that call for egg or egg white as a binder, such as these Zucchini and Green Pea Fritters (link), you can typically replace with an equal amount of aquafaba. If the recipe calls for 1 egg, then use 3 tablespoons of aquafaba. If it calls for an egg white, use 1 tablespoon of aquafaba.

Aquafaba is apparently “chickpea water”.

Alison Fincher@alisonfincher· Jan 18

Just @asolove.bsky.social asking Siri to help us find a classic flick for our Friday night movie. Too bad Marilyn Monroe’s character didn’t have access to AI. 😅

Siri’s request when asked for the classic 1953 film “How to Marry a Millionaire”:

“According to modelqualityintroductions.com, if you are young, learning how to marry a millionaire could be as easy as contacting a Millionaire matchmaker and asking for consideration in the agency’s database of men…”

Alison Fincher@alisonfincher· Nov 30

Yes.

Image of OP’s post. Pointer is indeed, more or less, pointing at the repost icon.

Alison Fincher@alisonfincher· Nov 19

I don’t remember what happens in the rest of the episode, but, as a parent…

Teen Girl Squad is a barely-animated faux comic strip on faux notebook paper sketched in faux pencil with stick-figure-style characters. The drawings are outline only, no color.

(I had to look this up.) In Teen Girl Squad #2, a van driven by the random, reappearing balding man who speaks with Strong Bad’s voice runs down the basketball player that the teen girl named So-and-So had been “totally crushing” on. The van is labeled, “CHILDREN”, and Strong Bad’s voice narrates “Children!” as the van drives over him. So-and-so stands next to the van with flipped out, long hair, sleeveless shirt, and plaid skirt, with a look of shock and dismay in her face. The teenage boy’s basketball bounces away.

Alison Fincher@alisonfincher· Nov 14

My cat Emmy has been condemned by the vet to ~10 days in a cone of shame. She’s struggling to drink water from her bowl… I’m pretty sure I just heard her turn on the bath tub to get water to drink AND TURN IT OFF AGAIN?! (She took over my bed before I made it. Don’t judge me. Please.)

A 7lb. grayish brown tabby cat looking peeved while wearing an opaque plastic “cone of shame”. She’s sitting on an unmade bed with lavender and purple sheets, covered with a (cotton—not polyester!) fleece blanket.

Alison Fincher@alisonfincher· Nov 12

Doing a separate research project, I see G. K. Chesterton on the Wikipedia page list of Bright Young Things. I'm dying. (Chesterton was 46 in 1920. This is a photograph of what he looked like at 36. He was also quite pompously Catholic.)

A black and white photograph of a corpulent, baby-faced man in his mid-30s. He has quite the crop of curly hair in an unfashionable cut falling over his forehead. He's also sporting a mustache and a pair of round-framed glasses with a strap attached to his jacket. He's wearing a high-collared shirt, with a tweed(?) waistcoat and jacket as well as an oddly-arranged tie.

Alison Fincher@alisonfincher· Nov 8

Ah. They've got a list?