2025-01-23 08:00:00
Roden Readers — Hello hello hello out there in this weird and terrible and beautiful world we inhabit, this world of wonder and sadness and extreme fartage of many kinds. I’m Craig Mod and this is Roden and it’s 2025. Below: SPECIAL PROJECTS 6th anniversary (!!), a book tour, notes on attention, a didactic rant on social media in 2025, and a plea for Not Bullshit. Book Tour I’m going on a BOOK TOUR in May / June 2025.
2025-01-16 08:00:00
Ridgeline subscribers — Hello from amidst the Toyama rush of media requests. I’ve had to say no to most of them, mainly because I’ve been finishing the final final final final set of edits on the Random House edition of Things Become Other Thing. Those edits are in. The book can be pre-ordered from all the usual places. I’m running a pre-order campaign whereby if you forward your pre-order coupon to me, you get a $30 coupon (doesn’t expire) to use in the SPECIAL PROJECTS Shop.
2025-01-08 08:00:00
Ridgeline subscribers — A new year, a new city. My pick for New York Times’ “52 Places to Go 2025” is Toyama City of Toyama Prefecture. It is placed at 30 on this year’s list (not that the list is a “ranking”!) and Osaka — with its forthcoming Expo — is placed at 38. I think that’s quite the interesting contrast of Japanese cities to highlight. Times picks aren’t entirely willy-nilly.
2025-01-01 08:00:00
Ridgeline subscribers — I started the year by walking across a big chunk of Tokyo today. Ten kilometers. Not super far, but far enough to get you from almost any point to any other point within the Yamanote Line. For my 25 years of living in and around this city, if I’m in Tokyo on the January 1, I try to walk it (or in the past: bike it). The streets are mostly empty.
2024-12-17 08:00:00
Ridgeline subscribers — I was confused, I was exhausted, I was operating on autopilot. But I was also having fun. I mean, this was to be expected. I was in Morioka to launch Kissa by Kissa’s Japanese edition and it was my tenth interview (!!) in two days (with ten more to follow) and it was sort of early (for me) and I had shoved all of these new Japanese phrases into my head in attempt to more clearly articulate why this or why that.
2024-12-02 08:00:00
Roden Readers — Hello from very much the season of doing. Good lord. The end of the year. The shove-it-all-in sprint. The air is crisp and the runs are good and we’re still on the edge of t-shirt weather, despite it being December. This is Roden and I’m Craig Mod and boy am I behind in everything. Claim Your Pre-order Discount Let’s get to it. Today marks the official pre-order campaign launch for the Random House edition of Things Become Other Things.