Book of the Week: Shelter Me by Juliette Fay. When the story opens Janie, who has two small children, has just lost her husband in a freak accident. Seems like a real downer, but the voice of Janie is strong and funny, and made for a good read.
Friday, December 16, 2011
Amazing Coincidences
This past month, I had the good fortune to visit England and Denmark. Our eldest was doing a semester at Warwick and, as the Brits don't do Thanksgiving, we took it to her....and to a smattering of relatives who have lived overseas so long they've forgotten about that particular tradition. There were a great many amazing moments (which I won't tire you with). I did discover the fact that Warwick Univ --of all possible places in the universe-- has a sister relationship with NTU-Singapore. So I arranged to drop off a copy of My Half of the Sky for their library. That was definitely fun.
Monday, November 14, 2011
One Hunk No Longer Enough
A few years ago my husband went out and bought a mega-drive (as in I don't know how big it really was. Just big.) I backed up writings and kids' work and pictures--tons and tons of pictures. In fact, I spent an entire summer scanning old photos which I then gave over to this hunk of a drive.
Quiet as they Come by Angie Chau is a series of short vignettes about a family of Vietnamese who are trying to make it in America. They live one family to a room in a dilapidated apartment. There is never enough food or clothing--even love is sometimes in short supply. The writing is beautiful, the stories very touching. It's well worth the read.
This weekend, as my youngest and I were preparing to go to England/Denmark for ten days, I thought it best to back up the latest drafts of my new novel. I plugged in my hunk of a drive. The light came on, but the hunk was not there. The Geek Squad informed me the hunk had died. That they could not retrieve the information....although maybe a stronger engineering team could. (stronger meaning mega-expensive.)
How could this happen? I felt sure that one hunky drive was enough. Even my engineering husband had been confident.
I asked Mr. Geek how he did back up. He said he had four drives, did four back-ups of all his information, and checked the drives weekly to see they were working.
He must have some serious information he's worried about losing.
Then he went on, "But, if you have documents you're really concerned about, you might want more than four back ups."
Hmmmm.
So the one hunk is not sufficient. But four? How many back-ups do you do?
Books of the week
Quiet as they Come by Angie Chau is a series of short vignettes about a family of Vietnamese who are trying to make it in America. They live one family to a room in a dilapidated apartment. There is never enough food or clothing--even love is sometimes in short supply. The writing is beautiful, the stories very touching. It's well worth the read.
Friday, October 28, 2011
The Biggest Ghost in Our Family's Past
With Halloween coming up--and kids digging through the crafts box to figure out what to dress up as--I was reminded of the biggest ghostly incident in our family.
We were living in Singapore and had traveled to Bintan Island, Indonesia for a holiday. They had nice shacks lining white-sand beaches, coconut trees swaying in the breeze, lovely coral filled the water. It was idyllic except for the neighbors who started drinking before noon and got progressively louder.
We quickly took the kids out for a swim, enjoying the lovely coral, the pretty fish, the warm water. We stayed out all day, only coming in as the sun was setting and we were hungry, tired, and salty.
As we passed the neighbors, there was no more raucous laughter. "Did you see a middle-aged man out there swimming?" One of them came up to us and asked. "Our friend Suzuki is missing. "
There had been a bunch of teens splashing around near the rocks, a lone woman snorkeler. But no Suzuki.
My husband went off to help locate the inebriated Suzuki. The sky was turning a light shade of pink. It would be dark soon.
I took the kids into the shack alone to help them shower. As I stood in the shower, I felt a shiver. Why would Suzuki just disappear like that?
We dressed and hurried to join the search party. Now there were dozens of people lined up along the beach. One of the friends suddenly tore off his shirt and raced into the water. "I'm coming." he shouted as he swam toward the deep waters. "Hold on."
"You found him?" I asked looking into the dark water. For now it was so dark it was hard to see.
"There." My husband pointed.
I squinted at the dark, menacing waves and could just barely make out a head. I held onto my children, remembering how much this man had had to drink all day and wondering why in the name of anything he was out here swimming.
More people gathered, pointing and murmuring. Finally, a motorboat sounded in the distance. A rescue was on the way.
"What's everyone doing out here?" A man came racing down the beach. He was dressed up for dinner. He was loud.
"Suzuki?" Someone called. "Is that you?"
It was. He had been waiting in the restaurant the whole time. So who was in the water being rescued?
The rescue boat shone its light across the waters... on the swimming heroic friend and then "Suzuki"...a big bobbing coconut.
We all got a good laugh out of that. But, it made me realize how we are so easily dominated by imagined fears. How quick we are to see dangers that don't exist. It is a reminder--although my kids are usually the ones to do the reminding--to embrace adventure and not look for the bobbing coconuts.
Book of the week:
Inkblot by Johnson Naigle is a fun young adult story about a teen who creates this ingenious personality profiling software which he hopes to one day use for the good of society. Unfortunately his love interest decides it could be used for the good of her career first. It is an easy, cute read.
Monday, October 17, 2011
Never Too Late to Apologize
www.1882Project.org
The Chinese Exclusion Laws involved legislation Congress passed between 1879 and 1904 that explicitly discriminated against persons of Chinese descent based on race. The laws imposed increasingly severe restrictions on immigration and naturalization. Congress repealed the laws as a wartime measure...but they never looked back, never thought to apologize.
To learn more about these miserable laws and to write a note to your Congressperson, go to The 1882 Project
Friday, October 14, 2011
Tossing Out My Swear-Meter
I used to have a swear-meter, counting cuss words in movies, and making the kids stop watching if the count went higher than six.
"Who cares about plot? If they can't get the story across without cussing a blue streak, then I don't want to hear it." That was my motto.
But I didn't stick to it. As the years went on, I realized I was missing a lot of good movies. I think I was the last one on earth to see Saving Private Ryan.
That same motto was not relaxed with books...until recently.
Over the summer, my son came home with a book. He wouldn't show me the title, but I often heard him off in the corner giggling and finally I couldn't stand the suspense. He was busting his gut over Shi*t My Dad Says by Justin Halpern.
I was immediately turned off by the title. But the memory of those giggles stayed with me. So, the other day, when I saw it on my other son's Kindle, I thought I'd read a bit.
I happened to be at my youngest daughter's piano lesson--not in some studio waiting room, but in the living room of our neighbor three feet away from my daughter and her teacher. I soon found myself giggling so hard I thought my stomach would break and trying not to given the circumstances. Afterwards, my daughter asked, "Mom, why were you crying?"
It's definitely worth reading, although perhaps not at a piano lesson and not with your youngest daughter...too many swear words.
"Who cares about plot? If they can't get the story across without cussing a blue streak, then I don't want to hear it." That was my motto.
But I didn't stick to it. As the years went on, I realized I was missing a lot of good movies. I think I was the last one on earth to see Saving Private Ryan.
That same motto was not relaxed with books...until recently.
Over the summer, my son came home with a book. He wouldn't show me the title, but I often heard him off in the corner giggling and finally I couldn't stand the suspense. He was busting his gut over Shi*t My Dad Says by Justin Halpern.
I was immediately turned off by the title. But the memory of those giggles stayed with me. So, the other day, when I saw it on my other son's Kindle, I thought I'd read a bit.
I happened to be at my youngest daughter's piano lesson--not in some studio waiting room, but in the living room of our neighbor three feet away from my daughter and her teacher. I soon found myself giggling so hard I thought my stomach would break and trying not to given the circumstances. Afterwards, my daughter asked, "Mom, why were you crying?"
It's definitely worth reading, although perhaps not at a piano lesson and not with your youngest daughter...too many swear words.
Monday, October 10, 2011
A Cure for the Dentist's Drill
This afternoon I had to have a crown redone. It sounds like such a lovely event, complete with swishy red velvet dresses and diamonds and dancing til dawn. But we all know better. The only thing red is--well I won't go there. Not at all looking forward to this, I thought of an escape: my son's Kindle (which at some point in time had actually been a gift to me.) I seemed to remember that it has a text-to-speech function. Of course, I couldn't figure out how to use it so I asked my friend, Google. Sure enough there was even a You Tube Video on the subject. Armed with my Kindle I entered the world of doom and gloom. I must admit the robotic voice was irritating as I sat looking out the window awaiting my fate. But, let me tell you, even robots sound like old friends when compared to the drill. I won't be visiting the dentist again without my Kindle.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
China's Not So Far From Oz
A couple weeks back I went to Kansas City, Missouri for the US-China People's Friendship Association's National Convention. I kept thinking, "Kansas City? Only Oz is further."
As it turned out, Kansas City is very close to China--
Edward Snow was born here and his legacy continues,
Kansas City is sister cities with Xian,
Missouri State has an amazing Asian Studies Program, and
the Nelson-Atkins Art Museum has a huge Chinese art collection.
Everywhere I turned there was a link to China.
I guess the lesson here was not to judge a state by a musical (although I did see my fair share of ruby slippers.)
I'm pleased to say that Missouri State has a copy of My Half of the Sky in their library and the Nelson Atkins has autographed copies for sale in their bookstore.
Books of the Week: Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford. Ford writes of the period during WWII when the US was in a panic and every Japanese was spy material. His hero is a young Chinese boy who must wear a badge around which reads, "I am Chinese." He doesn't understand the point of this until his new best friend, a Japanese girl, is taken away to a relocation camp. The badge turns from something pointless to a valuable shield. It's a fascinating and well-told story. (My only complaint is that the Japanese translations are off.)
A Fierce Radiance by Lauren Belfer--This was really long and overdramatic story which couldn't decide if it was a romance or a mystery. However, the history in here about the development of penicillin (and the way people dropped off like flies before it) was fascinating.
As it turned out, Kansas City is very close to China--
Edward Snow was born here and his legacy continues,
Kansas City is sister cities with Xian,
Missouri State has an amazing Asian Studies Program, and
the Nelson-Atkins Art Museum has a huge Chinese art collection.
Everywhere I turned there was a link to China.
I guess the lesson here was not to judge a state by a musical (although I did see my fair share of ruby slippers.)
I'm pleased to say that Missouri State has a copy of My Half of the Sky in their library and the Nelson Atkins has autographed copies for sale in their bookstore.
Books of the Week: Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford. Ford writes of the period during WWII when the US was in a panic and every Japanese was spy material. His hero is a young Chinese boy who must wear a badge around which reads, "I am Chinese." He doesn't understand the point of this until his new best friend, a Japanese girl, is taken away to a relocation camp. The badge turns from something pointless to a valuable shield. It's a fascinating and well-told story. (My only complaint is that the Japanese translations are off.)
A Fierce Radiance by Lauren Belfer--This was really long and overdramatic story which couldn't decide if it was a romance or a mystery. However, the history in here about the development of penicillin (and the way people dropped off like flies before it) was fascinating.
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