James Chan
@spareroom.bsky.social
Consultant; author of Spare Room Tycoon
2026 will be the 43rd year of my home-based consulting business that I started in May 1983 in Philadelphia. I’d like to connect with kindred spirits who enjoy running their own businesses. James
December 28, 2025 at 9:47 PM
2026 will be the 43rd year of my home-based consulting business that I started in May 1983 in Philadelphia. I’d like to connect with kindred spirits who enjoy running their own businesses. James
Puberty came as I was about to finish the Monkey King novel：Dr. Karen Kingsbury interviews James Chan chatham.yuja.com/v/Karen-King...
Karen Kingsbury with James Chan on JOURNEY TO THE WEST Oct 15, 2025 01:51 PM Eastern Standard Time_edited
Meeting Start Time : Oct 15, 2025 01:51 PM Eastern Standard TimeMeeting ID: 4362059941Name of Organizer: Karen KingsburyList of Participants: Karen S. Kingsbury \\\/ Dr. K, James Chan
chatham.yuja.com
November 11, 2025 at 12:01 AM
Puberty came as I was about to finish the Monkey King novel：Dr. Karen Kingsbury interviews James Chan chatham.yuja.com/v/Karen-King...
I’d like to call people but I have an uncomfortable hunch that people avoid talking. Anyone wants to explain why this is so?
October 27, 2025 at 4:19 PM
I’d like to call people but I have an uncomfortable hunch that people avoid talking. Anyone wants to explain why this is so?
My friend Karen Kingsbury wants me to read a passage in the Chinese fantasy novel “Monkey King” in English, Mandarin, and Cantonese to show how the latter two languages are different: www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIMN...
Differences Between Mandarin and Cantonese
YouTube video by James Chan
www.youtube.com
October 25, 2025 at 9:47 PM
My friend Karen Kingsbury wants me to read a passage in the Chinese fantasy novel “Monkey King” in English, Mandarin, and Cantonese to show how the latter two languages are different: www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIMN...
To all independent service providers: Do you feel that selling should be like breathing? See this chapter in Spare Room Tycoon: jchanamm.substack.com/p/selling-an...
Selling and Breathing
For independent service providers, finding new clients is on our daily To-Do List to guarantee survival and prosperity
jchanamm.substack.com
October 19, 2025 at 4:55 PM
To all independent service providers: Do you feel that selling should be like breathing? See this chapter in Spare Room Tycoon: jchanamm.substack.com/p/selling-an...
I’m reading a short excerpt from Chapter 27 in the novel Journey to the West about the White Bone Spirit that wants to devour the monk in English, Mandarin, and Cantonese: www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9bt...
White Bone Spirit in Journey to the West
YouTube video by James Chan
www.youtube.com
October 18, 2025 at 9:15 PM
I’m reading a short excerpt from Chapter 27 in the novel Journey to the West about the White Bone Spirit that wants to devour the monk in English, Mandarin, and Cantonese: www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9bt...
This is how I keep up my friendship and business ties in China: jchanamm.substack.com/p/how-i-caug...
How I Caught My Fish: Keeping Business and Friendship Ties in China
My personal Substack
jchanamm.substack.com
October 18, 2025 at 8:48 PM
This is how I keep up my friendship and business ties in China: jchanamm.substack.com/p/how-i-caug...
I reflected on 42 years of running a consulting practice in Substack: substack.com/home/post/p-...
Reflections on a Spare Room Tycoon Way of Life
2025 is my 42nd Year as an independent business consultant
substack.com
October 18, 2025 at 4:36 PM
I reflected on 42 years of running a consulting practice in Substack: substack.com/home/post/p-...
This is how I maintain my business and friendship ties in China: www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-i-...
How I Caught My Fish
Fifteen years ago, when bilateral relations between the United States and China had not yet soured, the owner of a precision-instrument manufacturing company asked me to recruit a sales representative...
www.linkedin.com
October 3, 2025 at 6:32 PM
This is how I maintain my business and friendship ties in China: www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-i-...
This New Yorker cartoon (Sept. 29, 2025 issue, p. 31) has rich, meaningful ambiguity (RMA). Looming presence, sharp teeth, and red eyes. Hardcopy cartoon much better.
September 29, 2025 at 2:45 PM
This New Yorker cartoon (Sept. 29, 2025 issue, p. 31) has rich, meaningful ambiguity (RMA). Looming presence, sharp teeth, and red eyes. Hardcopy cartoon much better.
The Iliad translated by Robert Fagles: “Even a fool learns something once it hits him.”
September 28, 2025 at 3:42 PM
The Iliad translated by Robert Fagles: “Even a fool learns something once it hits him.”
I visited my beloved teacher Professor Rhoads Murphey and his good wife Eleanor today at the Church of St. James the Less in Philadelphia to thank them for their friendship and support. I sought Rhoads out as my intellectual father in the 1970s in Ann Arbor, Michigan and he reciprocated.
September 27, 2025 at 5:54 PM
I visited my beloved teacher Professor Rhoads Murphey and his good wife Eleanor today at the Church of St. James the Less in Philadelphia to thank them for their friendship and support. I sought Rhoads out as my intellectual father in the 1970s in Ann Arbor, Michigan and he reciprocated.
“Postpone anger until tomorrow.” I put this to work and saved a decadeslong family tie by engaging in small gossips in a calm, quiet manner. Luckily, the other person reciprocated in kind. Whew!
September 25, 2025 at 5:05 PM
“Postpone anger until tomorrow.” I put this to work and saved a decadeslong family tie by engaging in small gossips in a calm, quiet manner. Luckily, the other person reciprocated in kind. Whew!
The 200 stories in Italo Calvino’s Italian Folktales have one thing in common in my estimation: the common people who had no power got some laughs over the kings and queens who ruled over them. Fantasies yes but useful and needed escape. Very creative.
September 24, 2025 at 10:32 PM
The 200 stories in Italo Calvino’s Italian Folktales have one thing in common in my estimation: the common people who had no power got some laughs over the kings and queens who ruled over them. Fantasies yes but useful and needed escape. Very creative.
I’m happy to have finished reading all 200 of Italian Folktales by Italo Calvino today. My favorites are “Frankie-Boy,” “Solomon’s Advice,” and “Jump into My Sack.”
September 23, 2025 at 7:38 PM
I’m happy to have finished reading all 200 of Italian Folktales by Italo Calvino today. My favorites are “Frankie-Boy,” “Solomon’s Advice,” and “Jump into My Sack.”
On a sunny, mild, autumnal Saturday afternoon at home alone, I spent time reading a strange folktale called “Wormwood” in which a lantern talks to a cruet, as I sit by this round table with its red vase and purple African violets, thanks to Italo Calvino’s Italian Folktales.
September 20, 2025 at 7:12 PM
On a sunny, mild, autumnal Saturday afternoon at home alone, I spent time reading a strange folktale called “Wormwood” in which a lantern talks to a cruet, as I sit by this round table with its red vase and purple African violets, thanks to Italo Calvino’s Italian Folktales.
The typical story in Italian Folktales by Italo Calvino: the third child of a couple outsmarts bad actors aided by fairies in the woods studded with palaces, rescuing their families from ruin after performing Herculean tasks with cunning and courage. This illustration shows many such elements.
September 19, 2025 at 9:49 PM
The typical story in Italian Folktales by Italo Calvino: the third child of a couple outsmarts bad actors aided by fairies in the woods studded with palaces, rescuing their families from ruin after performing Herculean tasks with cunning and courage. This illustration shows many such elements.
You must read this Italian folktale, one of 200 compiled by Italo Calvino.
September 16, 2025 at 11:03 PM
You must read this Italian folktale, one of 200 compiled by Italo Calvino.
I’ve been looking at this Edward Hopper print which I bought at The Met in NYC in 1982 every day and find it soothing.
September 15, 2025 at 1:30 PM
I’ve been looking at this Edward Hopper print which I bought at The Met in NYC in 1982 every day and find it soothing.
This illustration calms me down from the daily onslaught of bad news.
September 12, 2025 at 9:51 PM
This illustration calms me down from the daily onslaught of bad news.
Read “Belinda and the Monster” in Italo Calvino’s Italian Folktales. Even just the last few paragraphs bring joy (see photo below).
September 10, 2025 at 5:34 PM
Read “Belinda and the Monster” in Italo Calvino’s Italian Folktales. Even just the last few paragraphs bring joy (see photo below).
I recommend Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story “Young Goodman Brown.” It is a hauntingly poignant ghostly tale not just about the old Salem witch-hunt days of 17th-century America but of our times.
September 10, 2025 at 3:48 PM
I recommend Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story “Young Goodman Brown.” It is a hauntingly poignant ghostly tale not just about the old Salem witch-hunt days of 17th-century America but of our times.
Among the magical stories in Italian Folktales compiled by Italo Calvino, people die from their rage. What a creative thought! Read last sentence of the tale in this photo.
September 8, 2025 at 10:18 PM
Among the magical stories in Italian Folktales compiled by Italo Calvino, people die from their rage. What a creative thought! Read last sentence of the tale in this photo.
I am having fun reading Italian Folktales by Italo Calvino translated into English by George Matin.
September 7, 2025 at 9:38 PM
I am having fun reading Italian Folktales by Italo Calvino translated into English by George Matin.
“It’s not good for man to get everything he wants without effort.” From The Magic Ring in Italian Folktales compiled by Italo Calvino.
September 7, 2025 at 9:03 PM
“It’s not good for man to get everything he wants without effort.” From The Magic Ring in Italian Folktales compiled by Italo Calvino.