Eldest Daughter Diaries

I'm tired, and it's scary to admit it.

I am actually typing this up in the air right now - on the plane flying back to Houston after nearly two weeks in Seattle with family. As always, the post-vacation funk hits hard and fast. I'm not even off the plane yet, and I'm already dreading returning to the existence I was living before. Endless days melting into endless (read: late) nights. Crawling into bed at 4:00 am to fall asleep at 5:00 am to wake up in a frenzy at 9:00 am because my day feels like it has already started too late. It feels very much like...

August 20th, 2026 Eldest Daughter Trauma

YOASOBI Never Ending Stories Tour (Seattle 2026)

This week, my siblings I went to see YOASOBI at Seattle's Climate Pledge Arena. Although I genuinely like some of their songs (夜に駆ける Yoru ni Kakeru was one of my most played songs in 2025), I wouldn't count myself a huge fan. Still, I figured that while I was in the city, I might as well enjoy a rare dose of live J-pop. The opener was (of course) アイドル Idol, and within the first 30 seconds I was already feeling tears well up in my eyes. Yep, I'm a concert crier, and a pretty prolific one at that. The song...

August 14th, 2026 Japanese Culture

10,000 Hours of Dance

You've probably heard, through some vague unidentified grapevine, that it takes 10,000 hours to become a "master" at a particular skill. It was shared widely in one of Malcolm Gladwell's books and generally poorly interpreted, with individuals thinking that if you can just tally up a bunch of hours, you'll naturally become good at something. This is misdirected at best and a dangerous time sink at worst. (Trust me on this: I have poured thousands upon thousands of hours into League of Legends and still have not peaked anywhere higher than Gold.) However, it is not entirely without merit. Although...

August 1st, 2026 Dance

Hello again in 2026!

You know that idiom "like riding a bicycle"? It's supposed to represent the fact that once you learn a specific skill, you'll never forget it - it just takes a little bit of time for muscle memory to kick back in. I'm hoping blogging is like that for me. Truthfully, I hope it is like that for everyone; blogging and connecting in the Web 1.0 (and 1.5) era that I grew up in was a truly special experience, and I hope teens someday are able to experience that again. The last time I consistently maintained a personal blog was probably......

July 26th, 2026 Updates