All That Over a Broken Latch

The latch on my balcony door broke the other day.

Nothing dramatic. The handle just gave up and spun off.

So I opened ChatGPT and asked how to explain the problem to the management company in Japanese.

Which is funny. 

I’ve lived in Japan for over ten years, teach in English and Japanese, handle emails in kanji, and navigate banks, hospitals, and city offices in Japanese.

Yet here I was, asking an app to help me say, “My door is broken.”

Silly, right?

I caught myself and decided not to use what it suggested.

Instead, I typed out what I'd actually say, awkward phrasing, half-formed politeness, hesitation, and all.

I typed into it, "This is what I’d really say."

The response surprised me.

After a year of chats, it has a memory stored of how I sound. It kept my structure, fixed my mistakes, and nudged things into more natural Japanese.

Suddenly, I had something that was still “me,” just cleaner, and I learned more about Japanese from the app.

That was when I noticed a word:

「ベランダ」

Beranda?

I stared at it for a second.

"How does “balcony” turn into that?" I asked.

「ベランダ」comes from Portuguese varanda, brought to Japan centuries ago through early trade.

It listed:

• ベランダ (Portuguese)

• パン (Portuguese pão)

• ガラス (Dutch glas)

• コップ (Dutch kop)

• アルバイト (German Arbeit)

• エネルギー (German Energie)

These are in actuality history.

They’re trade routes, missionaries, merchants, and contact zones compressed into everyday speech.

Every time someone says「ベランダ」, they’re unconsciously echoing the 16th century.

For years, I’d thought of katakana mainly as a crutch.

Something that makes English harder to pronounce.

And that critique is... incomplete.

What I saw right then was that katakana is also a record of integration. A system that absorbs foreign things, reshapes them, and makes them part of a larger whole.

In Japanese culture, this idea is often described as 和 (wa), meaning harmony. Different elements work together without erasing each other.

Katakana does that linguistically.

It carries Portuguese, Dutch, German, and English inside Japanese, without pretending they were never foreign.

Before this realization, I mostly saw katakana as a problem.

Now, I see it as a secret archive.

All that insight, triggered by a broken latch.

 

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I’m curious:

What’s your favorite katakana word?

How did you learn it?

Drop a comment and let me know.

 

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Spotlight on Eddie D. Moore: A Story That Sneaks Up on You

One of the things I enjoyed most while putting together the 42 Stories Anthology Presents: Book of 42² was discovering how much power a story can carry in just a few short lines.

Eddie D. Moore’s piece, Springtime Crappie Fishing with Uncle Bill, is a perfect example.

On the surface, it feels simple.

A quiet moment on the water.

A bit of fishing.

A small exchange between two people.

Yet like the best flash fiction, it works on a sharper level underneath.

It builds a calm expectation, lets you settle comfortably into the scene, and then delivers a subtle twist that is both surprising and quietly funny. That final line lands so well because everything leading up to it is carefully controlled.

It is the kind of story that does not shout for attention. It earns it instead.

Eddie D. Moore has also recorded a video of himself reading the story, and it adds a wonderful extra layer. Hearing his pacing, his tone, and the way he lets the ending breathe really shows what the piece achieves on the page. If you get the chance to watch it, it is well worth your time, especially if you are interested in how delivery can change the feel of short-form writing.

This is exactly the kind of work that made the anthology what it is: short, precise pieces that do far more than they first appear to.

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📚 42 Stories Anthology Presents: Book of 42² over 1,200 other unique voices across 42 themed chapters.

Explore the full anthology here: https://42storiesanthology.com

Remembering Chuck Norris Through My Father's Eyes

 

This morning, I was thinking about how my dad’s been gone for almost seven years.

I stood by my kitchen counter, recalling his humor. 

Laugh. Wit. How he went from telling a joke to giving words of wisdom in seconds. I was also thinking of how we used to watch Chuck Norris in Walker, Texas Ranger together.

Dad would smile whenever Walker floored a bad guy.

Norris came to mind because earlier this week, I’d heard he was in the hospital. And hours later, I got a notification that he'd passed away.

What I admired about Norris was his message. His philosophy taught me that we should be good to each other, practicing courtesy, friendship, and respect for people around us. And we should be good to our bodies using self-control.

Part of why I do my best to eat healthy, continue to go to the gym even after having eight back operations, and watch what I put into my mouth is thanks to Chuck Norris.

It’s a shame that I never got to meet him, but I’ll always remember what he taught me.

I guess it hits especially hard because Norris reminded me of my own dad in some ways—that same blend of strength, humor, and quiet wisdom.

My condolences go out to his family. If any of you ever read this, know that he brought joy to this person’s life, and to my dad’s while he was alive.

Thank you, Carlos Ray “Chuck” Norris

March 10, 1940 to March 19, 2026

Bruce Lee's Daughter, the Legacy You Should Know

 

Bruce Lee's name sparks instant classics: Enter the Dragon, Fist of Fury, The Way of the Dragon, The Big Boss, and that unfinished Game of Death. Brandon Lee's run gets love too. The Crow, Rapid Fire, Showdown in Little Tokyo, Legacy of Rage.

Shannon Lee?

Bruce's daughter rarely enters the conversation, even though she's carried the torch as executive producer on Warrior (2019–2023), popped up as the fierce Wen in one episode, and built her own lowkey but badass film career. Her movies are tough to track down (streaming gods hate us), but they're worth the hunt for glimpses of real skill and heart.

Let's start with the highlight: Enter the Eagles (1998, aka And Now You're Dead). This Hong Kong action gem finally lets Shannon shine as Mandy, a tough-as-nails fighter. Directed by Corey Yuen (action legend behind The Legend and Righting Wrongs), it nods hard to Enter the Dragon with its title and energy. Co-starring Anita Yuen (no relation to Corey) as Lucy and the legendary Benny "The Jet" Urquidez as the deadly Karlof. Benny, who sparred with Jackie Chan in Wheels on Meals and Dragons Forever and idolized Bruce, gets to face off against Shannon in an epic blimp-top brawl: kicks flying, pure skill on display. Imagine Benny choreographing his own beatdown: "Kick me here, angle it for max impact... and try not to break your hand on my face."

Dream fulfilled? Probably. Hunt it down if you can.

Before that peak, though, her roles often felt like missed opportunities. Take High Voltage (1997): Shannon's Jane Logan gets tangled with crime lord Victor Phan (George Cheung) and falls for thief Johnny (Antonio Sabàto Jr.). The other Johnny, William Zabka, plays the wild-card Bulldog (friend-to-foe twist).

Shannon studied Taekwondo with Tan "Flash Legs" Tao-liang, Wushu with Eric Chen, kickboxing under Benny himself, and carries the Jeet Kune Do philosophy her dad created. Yet the film sticks her in a dress for most of it, batting eyelashes as the love interest. You slog through so-so plotting for her bar brawl against a biker gang and final showdown with Cheung, decent fights, but they don't let her full talent explode. Bonus nitpick: A character dies from an upper-shoulder gunshot. Someone on set needs to explain physics.

Her debut: Cage II: Arena of Death (1994), sequel to the Lou Ferrigno (original Incredible Hulk) cage-fighting flick Cage (1989, both free on YouTube). Ferrigno as brain-damaged vet Billy gets kidnapped back into the ring; Reb Brown (original Captain America) as loyal buddy Scott races to save him.

Two actors who played comic heroes are now slugging it out in underground fights. Shannon's Mi Lo is the supportive companion (Chinese immigrant angle), brave but sidelined. No real martial arts spotlight. Solid performance in a limited role; she deserved more.

Smaller bits fill out the early days: A party singer cameo in Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story (1993, solid Jason Scott Lee role). Hosting WMAC Masters (1995–1996), a martial arts gameshow with flashy fights. Hospital resident in Blade (1998, bitten in the chaos, blink-and-miss). Guest spot on Martial Law Season 1, Episode 8 ("Take Out," 1998) with Sammo Hung. The fight clip's online.

Later roles lean harder: Side role as Pamela in disaster TV movie Epoch (2001). Supporting friend Paula in comedy She, Me & Her (2002, more presence than most cameos, but comedy, not action).

Bad but worth the watch for her fans: Lead Fiona Leclaire in low-budget Lessons for an Assassin (2003), evil corporation plot, poor script/reviews, hard to find (Amazon sometimes has it).

Voice-of-authority Dragon Lady in short Tekken: Reload (2012, 12 minutes on YouTube), mostly dialogue, tied to the game's Bruce-inspired Marshall Law character.

Her on-screen run faded after 2003, likely tied to motherhood (daughter Wren born that year) and shifting focus to legacy work: grief processing, the Bruce Lee Foundation, producing Warrior, books like Be Water, My Friend, and podcasts (Bruce Lee Podcast for philosophy deep-dives, A Little Leeway for quick self-growth nuggets).

She's still active: Support the Foundation at bruceleefoundation.org, or catch her new projects like House of Lee.

Shannon's filmography isn't huge, but it shows grit in a tough industry, especially when Hollywood didn't always let her kick as hard as she could. Worth the effort to track down for the real moments she gets to shine.

Who's a legend to you that you wish had more spotlight?

Drop it below!

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