[013] Night owls, morning persons, and the joy of trivial research

Kinoko is one of my ESL students and the author of I Have Two Partners: Living the Polyamorous Life, a ground-breaking book in Japanese about polyamory, as well as the organizer of Poly Lounge, a series of events for polyamorous and questioning people and allies.We publish archived videos of our lessons as a podcast. Today, our conversation covered the following topics:Kinoko arriving late due to a typhoon, closing her curtains, and her usual routine as a morning person (waking at 6 AM, bed by 11 PM at the latest) – despite enjoying underground night events, she always catches the last train.Masaki as a night person who stays up until 4 or 5 AM, especially when he has no obligations the next day, doing "trivial research" (e.g., 18 hours on German architecture) just for fun.The difference between obligated (legal/contractual) and obliged (personal/moral feeling); Masaki's "mild obligation" of waking up with his boyfriend helps maintain his daily rhythm.Masaki getting a new passport entirely online (using My Number card, paying by credit card, picking it up in five minutes at the city office) – much easier than in the past.Kinoko's younger self as a night person who would stay up reading books all night, but now her age and nature prevent that; staying up late would waste the whole next day.Surprising shared love for kanbun (classical Chinese literature) – Kinoko finds it fun like a foreign language; Masaki hated it in school and didn't know anyone who liked it.Masaki's reading habits: slow reader, buys books and piles them up unread (tsundoku / book hoarding), but is excited to announce he will publish a book (a compilation of essays) next year.The unique pleasure of paper books: no alerts, no notifications, nothing interrupts the reading experience.Connect with Kinoko-sanKinoko-san’s X: ⁠⁠https://x.com/kinoko1027⁠⁠Kinoko-san’s blog: ⁠⁠https://ameblo.jp/kinoko1027ameba/⁠⁠Her book: ⁠⁠https://amzn.asia/d/0gusbsvA⁠⁠Her interview: ⁠⁠https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/ad17531bef6f9307a429f45f450a9fb2817f8196