This Mic is Now Hot

In addition to being the soul of wit, brevity is also the soul of good writing. In that spirit: hello, nice to be here, thanks Naoum.
OK, here’s a bit more.
Takuan, my signature on this blog, was a 17th century Japanese monk. He was sort of a dyspeptic Jiminy Cricket, mixing colorful exhortations and comical insults in the middle of startling mood swings. Being a monk, he moralized. He also wrote a lot of hectoring school marm prose, counseled nobles and badgered Japan's greatest samurai Musashi (at least in fiction), and devised the neon-yellow radish often called the Takuan pickle, which instantly makes your mouth contract into a thousand deep wrinkles.
So you see, Takuan would have done very well in Washington! Then again, if anyone has ever come up with a new and notable culinary dish in D.C., this has so far eluded the investigative reporters at The Washington Post.
Still, it’s an interesting place. It’s an interesting time to be here. Given that there is an actual town in Japan called Obama, I’m sure Takuan, if he were actually here, would be incredibly confused. Welcome to the Washingtonian condition. I’ll be keeping an eye on it for you, along with the world of journalism.