- Voice Beyond VoiceI was reading “Salt” by Nayyirah Waheed, and was struck by this poem: when you are strugglingin yourwritingit usually meansyouare hearing one thingbut writing another I am just wondering if I “am hearing one thing and writing another”, or seeing one thing but pretending I am not seeing it, or … Continue reading Voice Beyond Voice
- The Invisible WeightI just read the poem “moles don’t think about space or small talk” by Savannah Brown. It is so good that I have to pause and think and taste the moment of thrill. I just don’t want to let it go. It is said that one is allowed to quote … Continue reading The Invisible Weight
- New Year’s ResolutionsIt is said that only 8% of people can keep their new year’s resolutions. I definitely belong to the 92%, but my inability to do what I have determined to do has never prevented me from making new resolutions each year. Probably I am hoping to be a different person … Continue reading New Year’s Resolutions
- Cultural Differences In Our StoriesThe Location of Love Stories I watched a movie and read a book last week. It just so happened that both are about people escaping from the big cities and finding love in small towns in the Midwest or North Carolina. I can’t help thinking that small town love stories … Continue reading Cultural Differences In Our Stories
- Dusk Is Always PerfectThe dusk descends, the sky dims,the air haunts, the laptop screen illuminates, the distant street lights glow. My perfect dusk again. I only wish it is longer, but that’s too much to wish for. A thousand shades and shadows play by the window sill. It’s an overture to an evening … Continue reading Dusk Is Always Perfect
- Holiday Reminiscences (Continued)My Mother During Holidays Although my mother was usually happier than usual during holidays, she never shied away from telling me and my father that she was overworked and overstretched during holidays. She cooked too much and didn’t even have a minute to enjoy herself. Once I saw a dirt … Continue reading Holiday Reminiscences (Continued)
- Holiday ReminiscencesHave you ever found that a missing front tooth makes a kid look cuter? I was just at the store and a kid like that smiled aimlessly around, revealing the little gap in his mouth. Kids are always cute, no matter how awkwardly they walk, how impertinent they speak. An … Continue reading Holiday Reminiscences
- Favorite Book Of The Year (Continued)This is the 2nd half of the post. The 1st half is here. Yesterday, I started to leaf through the pages again. I had reread many books before, some more than two or three times, some once every year. However I had never reread a book as soon as I … Continue reading Favorite Book Of The Year (Continued)
- The Language Lesson (Flash Fiction)Flash Fiction #174 I’ve been watching his lessons on social media for years. He is the best teacher–he speaks clearly, slowly, simply, with very few difficult words beyond the range of English cognates. I guess that his clear voice is partly due to his high quality microphone. Of course I … Continue reading The Language Lesson (Flash Fiction)
- Favorite Book Of The Year“Theory” by Dionne Brand is my favorite book and I just finished reading it. I feel sorry that it is not longer, it doesn’t have a real plot, it talks about relationships but steering away from feelings. Despite all these, I love and admire the book so much that I … Continue reading Favorite Book Of The Year
- Inspire Somebody Unexpectedly“Has she been living in a cave somewhere, not listening to the news, too busy toeing the real or imagined line?” I ask myself this question while smiling at her sweetly, the kind of smile that mixes business acumen with personal relationship. However recently I have started to doubt my … Continue reading Inspire Somebody Unexpectedly
- Being Thankful 2023A holiday cleanup reveals a book under the sofa– the worn out pages curvy and dusty, presenting a story half read, long forgotten. The movable tents called “ger”, the exotic boots called “gutal”, in the frozen world of northwestern Mongolia, where Tuvans, who are Mongolians, and Kazaks lived side by … Continue reading Being Thankful 2023
- I Just Need One More IdeaI really don’t want to say this, but last night I was in a desperate search of an idea to tie several experiences and thoughts together with certain degree of coherence. I didn’t think there was a real cohesion in it but an semblance of it was essential. Yes, the … Continue reading I Just Need One More Idea
- Battle For Schools And GradesI was trying to explain to someone about the schools in Central Jersey area and I said, “it is a little crazy, right? Aren’t you surprised?” “Oh no,” she said, “I was expecting something like this. I had known about the craziness of schools here before we came.” It was … Continue reading Battle For Schools And Grades
- Friday Before ThanksgivingI am already planning what to buy tomorrow, which is the last day one can get quality groceries from mainstream American stores. After tomorrow, one has to wait until after Thanksgiving for the stores to refill its shelves to the normal level. This year will be the first year in … Continue reading Friday Before Thanksgiving
- A Quote In ViewI just turned on my Kindle Fire tablet, pressed the first downloaded book, flipped through the unread pages casually. And this poem jumped into my view: “…drunk so deep the cup of bitter fateAs that poor wretch who cannot, cannot love:He bears a load which nothing can remove,a killing, withering … Continue reading A Quote In View
- You Have To Look Like You Know What You Are DoingTime flies when one’s having fun, but actually time flies whether one’s having fun or not. Suddenly, Thanksgiving is around the corner again. Somehow I feel like I just had the previous Thanksgiving a month or two ago. In a short span of one or two months, a whole year … Continue reading You Have To Look Like You Know What You Are Doing
- My Mother’s Rice Riot (Flash Fiction)Flash Fiction # 173 The shortage of rice snack right now reminds me of my mother, who had her own version of rice riot regularly at home. As you know when I was young, we were living on the southern border of Mongolian steppe, where rice was considered an exotic … Continue reading My Mother’s Rice Riot (Flash Fiction)
- The Rice SnackI’ve heard about the rice problem for several weeks, but I’ve never acted on it or tried to stock up on rice products. One reason is that I’ve been busy and haven’t paid attention to what is happening around me for a while. Another reason is that whenever I step … Continue reading The Rice Snack
- Quote Of The Day: Poetry Or Not PoetryI read a poetry book and then found out that there are many people online making videos about this book (together with other similar books). Basically people say that books like this one is not really poetry. We are the generation you spent years overprotecting then threw to the wolves. … Continue reading Quote Of The Day: Poetry Or Not Poetry