I Need A New Name

Well, the blog has been around for 2.5 years, and lately I’ve been thinking about a name-change. It started back on that excellent camping trip I had a month ago, which provided a much-needed perspective on things. Spending time in retreat from the usual routine helped me get a healthy viewpoint and helped me realize some habits and recurring thought processes I hadn’t noticed before.

Among other things, I realized that I’ve been taking myself too seriously, and that I wasn’t very good at relaxing or having fun. My wife’s been gently prodding me to get out more. ;) It reminds me of an old post about misery caused by thinking about oneself too much. For example, religion is a really personal subject, and the more I think about it, the more I realize it’s not something you want to constantly talk about unless you have something genuinely useful to share with others. Otherwise, it creates a lot of noise, preaching and potential for arguments.

Likewise, I really started to burn myself out in my pursuit of the JLPT N2 studies. I haven’t studied in weeks, just because I just don’t want to even look at a textbook right now. I pushed myself too hard (again), and now I need to take a break. So I spend time lately learning Korean online for fun, just because it’s different, useful and I got sucked into KPop lately. With the JLPT looming in 2 months, I really should get back to studying, but for now, I just can’t. I procrastinate too, so that doesn’t help. :)

So, lately, I started to relax more, and not worry so much about myself, my image, and so on and have a little more fun. This is reflected in the blog changes lately, broader subjects, and my efforts to just relax and have fun with subjects, instead of making it more work for me. I also believe this will help make it funner for faithful readers (and new ones who’ve been trickling in a lot lately), because I hope to make the blog more fun, but still maintain the core interests that brought people here. If it is not fun and useful for readers, what’s the point?

Anyway, long story short, I think the blog needs a new name. I’ve been floating a few ideas. I like to watch the videos at Eat Your Kimchi, and I got to thinking that their name is really brilliant: funny, concise and tells you want the blog is about. The current name of this blog, Japan: Life and Religion, worked for a long time, but doesn’t quite fit anymore, so I need to update the title to match the subject. Also, it needs to be concise so I can register the URL.1 :)

Trouble is, I can’t decide on a new title. I definitely don’t want to copy “Eat Your Kimchi”, but I hope to come up with a title that has the same effectiveness and is unique to this blog and its purpose, plus makes a good easy-to-remember URL.

I have some ideas I’m trying to refine, but I haven’t decided on something just yet. Feedback and comments are always welcome.

Thanks everyone for your continued readership and support!

–Doug

P.S. Just to clarify I am not dropping anything from the blog, just broadening things and finding a title that matches the broader subject.

1 I plan to keep the current URL for a long, long time, don’t worry. No need to update bookmarks. :)


8 Comments on “I Need A New Name”

  1. Kendall says:

    I’ll throw out some ideas for what it’s worth.

    The Doug Journey — The Doug Experience — Doug’s Journey — Cultured Doug — Walk in Asian Shoes — Asian Culture Talk — Looking at Paths — Talking at Paths

    Good luck with the new name.

  2. cocomino says:

    ええ。名前を変えるのですか。けっこう、良いタイトルだと思ってますよ。
    まあ、「キムチを食べる」は、かなりfunnyでおもしろい名前ですけど、Dougさんの真面目な感じ(seriously)からは、劇的に変わりますね。「キムチ大好き」「キムチLOVE」とかもありますけど、
    韓国のことばっかり書くのでしょうか?

  3. Doug 陀愚 says:

    Thanks Kendall I really appreciate it. :-)

  4. Doug 陀愚 says:

    ココミノさん、こんにちは。アドバイスがありがとうございます。今のタイトルは悪くないけど、トピックは日本のことだけではないので、やっぱりもう少し一般のタイトルにするといいかもしれない。最近、日本や韓国や天文などに関しては書いていましたね。そういうわけで、タイトルは少しずれていますね。;-)

    日本のことの書くのは絶対辞めないけどただトピックを広げたいのです。:-)

  5. Robert 'erg' says:

    Level 8 Buddhist was a classy name, more whimsical than the current. Of course you leveled up several times and taken on a class specialization or two….

  6. Doug 陀愚 says:

    Ha ha ha, I was debating about whether I should re-hash the “level 8″ name but couldn’t decide what to put next. Level 8 Rice-Lover? Level 8 Buddhist-Japanophile? Nothing sounded right. :-p

  7. Mommy says:

    Level 8 Buddhistは結構好きだったけど〜。今のでもいいし。
    タイトルなんてそんなにこだわる事じゃないかな〜と思うんだけどさ。
    まぁ、こだわっちゃうのがダディーらしい。

  8. Doug 陀愚 says:

    ははは、そうだね。細かいことをこだわりすぎだなぁ。:)


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