You People Walk Funny

I’m sitting at Starbucks waiting for my wife, and I have a table outside facing a busy street in downtown Yokohama. Lots of foot traffic. I’m watching how people walk. It’s useful for writing, describing how people move. I’m sure a lot of writers people-watch like this.

I see people moving smoothly, barely bobbing up and down, people barely swinging their arms, people hunched forward even though they’re still young, and so on. But there’s one thing I don’t see, people rocking from side to side while they walk. A lot of Americans and Canadians walk that way. Is that from attitude, or is it the result of height and weight? I see people of similar body types in Japan, but they don’t walk like that.

My fellow North Americans, you walk funny. But I’ll tell you one thing, people say I walk funny, too. I think it’s just that I’m not used to seeing North Americans walk. Your perceptions change when you’re away from a culture for so long.

Your Reading and Writing Goals So Far

The year is only into the third month, but I think it’s time to assess how my reading and writing are going.

Of course, I haven’t done any writing other than on this blog. I haven’t expected to do any writing. So, I really don’t have much to say here other than that I plan to start writing seriously next month.

Reading, on the other hand, I’ve been pretty slow. Up until mid-February, I was doing fine. I was on pace to read twenty-five books this year. Now, I’m two books behind. The book I’m reading right now is highly technical and nearly seven hundred pages long. I don’t get a lot done each day. I doubt I’ll finish it this month. I should have a lot more time to read in Canada…I hope. Maybe I can catch up.

How about you? Where are you in your reading and writing goals this year? Are you on pace? Behind? Ahead? Share in the comments below.