The first half of the story is here. "I want Arju to work, of course, but you know Joa, it is not as simple as that. Life is more complicated. If Arju works, our family income will go to a higher tax bracket. I calculated that. You know I'm a financial analyst. We would end … Continue reading She Says And He Says Continued (Flash Fiction)
Month: March 2022
She Says And He Says (Flash Fiction)
Flash Fiction #117 Jinmu and his wife Joa have been running the restaurant "The Royal Garden" for years, which has a huge display of bubbly fish tank in the front, four two-feet-tall statues of folklore deities carrying luck, money, health, and longevity standing in a glass case by the wall, and several three-feet-tall indoor plants … Continue reading She Says And He Says (Flash Fiction)
Embarrassing Moments
I have nothing to write today, and the desire to post something while not having anything to say just drives me nuts. If I haven't already been driven crazy by English language, this urge to post every day will certainly finish the job. I kind of feel that I am pushing myself to a wall … Continue reading Embarrassing Moments
Quote Of The Day: Know Yourself
Quote Of The Day #44 When her husband left eighteen months ago, Polly hadn't expected her life to turn out like this. Miserable and angry though she was, she had looked forward to the adventure of being single again. But as her friends and the media had already warned her, there weren't any good men … Continue reading Quote Of The Day: Know Yourself
New Word: Crazy Compound Verbs
New Word #104 The problem with English is that it is very whimsical. Just when you think you've got a hang of it somehow and figured out certain hidden patterns, you are surely to have a new encounter that will completely overthrow your previous understanding. This whim, unpredictability, and mood swing is difficult to deal … Continue reading New Word: Crazy Compound Verbs
The Sitting Problem (Flash Fiction)
Flash Fiction #116 "I have always thought they have the best marriage and best relationship." Pammy says. "Me too. Well, blame the pandemic. I mean when they had two stores, each working in his or her own store, they had a model marriage. But you know they can't keep two stores. It's impossible these days. … Continue reading The Sitting Problem (Flash Fiction)
The Spring Long Time Ago
When I was a little girl and lived on the edge of the Mongolian Steppe, I disliked the spring very much, for the simple reason that our food was the worst in spring time. In those days, transportation was no good. All the potatoes people stored in the underground vaults from the year before were … Continue reading The Spring Long Time Ago
How To Ruin An Interview Continued (Flash Fiction)
This is the second half of the story. The first half is here. Lulan contacts the family whose boy got into Lawrenceville the year before and asks for tips. She is told to go on a social network group where Asian parents of Lawrenceville students or would-be-students exchange information. There, Lulan asks questions and receives … Continue reading How To Ruin An Interview Continued (Flash Fiction)
How To Ruin An Interview (Flash Fiction)
Flash Fiction #115 Jan and her husband Tungus have had a wonderful relationship. They live happily together and they have a teenage daughter Cindy. However just like every happy family, there's a little dark cloud somewhere. For Jan, the dark cloud takes the form of her mother-in-law Artai who's very old fashioned. Artai looks down … Continue reading How To Ruin An Interview (Flash Fiction)
Quote Of The Day: Campus Controversies
Quote Of The Day #43 Other wars end eventually in victory, defeat or exhaustion, but the war between men and women goes on forever. Sometimes I think wanting to be good is just another form of vanity. Probably he isn’t taking proper care of himself because of self-hatred… He could see no way out: it … Continue reading Quote Of The Day: Campus Controversies
New Word: Not Really Similar
New Word #103 These are all words I encountered today while reading. Most are commonly used words, but several are not, like distonic, tropism, truckle. My interest in reading increases a lot when I skip and skim in portions I dislike. And always there are chunks that I don't like even in a book that … Continue reading New Word: Not Really Similar
What Did The Psychic Say? (Flash Fiction Continued)
(The first half of the story is here) Lulan continues, "When Japanese companies set up a factory in another country, they copy their own factories in Japan as much as possible, down to the details of the factory layout and the hiring procedures etc. However South Korean companies are different. For example, Samsung. It has … Continue reading What Did The Psychic Say? (Flash Fiction Continued)
What Did The Psychic Say?(Flash Fiction)
Flash Fiction #114 "When my grandfather was forty years old, a psychic told him that one day Kai, who's his youngest daughter and my youngest aunt, would kill him." Lulan says. "Wow, tell us. That's an interesting story." Lulan's friends Pammy and Armei say to her. "My grandfather was born in a fishing village in … Continue reading What Did The Psychic Say?(Flash Fiction)
On My Way To Be A Vegan
I am not a vegan but I've been on my way to the vegan land for many years. And finally for the last two months, I've successfully cut chicken out of my diet. The only animal product remaining on the menu is the egg. I eat about two to three egg whites a day. Other … Continue reading On My Way To Be A Vegan
Quote Of The Day
Quote Of The Day #42 I read this author's "The Loyal Son" about Ben Franklin and his son, and really like it. I have to say our local grocery store really has nice biographies and nice WWII books. Anyway, I went online to see if the same author wrote other biographies and found this one … Continue reading Quote Of The Day
Mischievous Great Aunt (Flash Fiction)
Flash Fiction #113 My great aunt Zu, my grandfather's eldest sister, had long been dead before I was born. Even my father had never met her. However her story has a longevity nobody had expected. My father enjoyed talking about her. Somehow I suspected that he did this for my benefit--the moral of his story … Continue reading Mischievous Great Aunt (Flash Fiction)
Poem Of The Day: Midnight Construction
Poem Of The Day #55 Busy road constructions angry and loud; jackhammers scream the midnight hour, Heavy machinery are nonstop whirring, as if complaining, "How can you sleep when I'm working?" Strained nerves can't calm down-- better get up and write something. But I don't have anything to write about. This topic is too dry, … Continue reading Poem Of The Day: Midnight Construction
New Word: Wild
New Word #102 Wild, Wildness, Wilderness, Wilder, Bewilder wildness or wilderness: It seems that these two words are similar. It is a way of making a noun out of the adjective "wild". However I think I see wilderness more often than wildness for some unexplained reasons. wilder and bewilder: These two words are also similar--both … Continue reading New Word: Wild
More Monday’s Mood
Edison Township I told W that Edison has four post offices, but he didn't believe me. I even googled it and sent him the picture through social media. I just don't understand certain people who live in their own cooped up world and only believe in what they are accustomed to. The presence of four … Continue reading More Monday’s Mood
Poem Of The Day: The Market
Poem Of The Day #54 Dragon fruits piled high-- white flesh and red flesh-- prices defer but taste alike. Grapes fresh from the hot house-- red, green, or black, some seedless, some not-- sweet, ripe, and shapely not really organic, but very nearly so. Korean pears as big as a cantaloupe-- four dollars each, and … Continue reading Poem Of The Day: The Market
Quote Of The Day: Not Scary
Quote Of The Day #41 I read three of Stephen King’s book before: “1922”, “The Dead Zone”, “Full Dark, No Stars”. And I like all of them. And this is why I bought “11/22/63”, thinking that it is simultaneously entertaining and educational since it is about JFK assassination and 1963. However, the book is not … Continue reading Quote Of The Day: Not Scary
The Canary (Flash Fiction)
Flash Fiction #112 Image by LIAN30 from Pixabay "We bought this canary at the pet store last week. Look. Well, he is a little shy. Probably because this is a new cage for him in a new home." Jasmin says. Jasmin and Wai just got married. Wai is Pammy and her husband Pan's friend for … Continue reading The Canary (Flash Fiction)
More Thursday’s Thoughts
Remember the shortest route math problem from high school? I haven't thought about this concept for a very long time until now. It seems that every day the price is going up. Today, the gas is $4.35, up 40 cents from just two days ago when I filled my tank at $3.95. Now do we … Continue reading More Thursday’s Thoughts
Poem Of The Day: The Rain
Image by NickyPe from Pixabay Poem Of The Day #53 All day long-- misty drizzle, wet raindrops, freezing pellets, snow flakes-- weather in all forms have a last party of the winter. March is a difficult month, counting date--only the 9th. Spring is in the mind, but nowhere to find. Search the dump of my … Continue reading Poem Of The Day: The Rain
Who Will You Save? (Flash Fiction)
Flash Fiction #111 "Who will you save, me or your mom? I mean if there's a fire or a flood." Armei asks her husband Arhu when they retire to the bedroom for the day. Armei's mother-in-law Nai sleeps in the guest room. Nai just retired and Arhu invited her to come to live with them. … Continue reading Who Will You Save? (Flash Fiction)
Poem Of The Day: Flower & People
Poem Of The Day #52 "How red? How beautiful." Touching the waxy petals, smelling the non-existent fragrance, she says, "beautiful flowers, but ugly root. Don't you think?" "It's like people. You know, people with pretty face, but ugly feet. We all have ugly feet." I say to her. "Haha, that's because we don't do manicure … Continue reading Poem Of The Day: Flower & People
Quote Of The Day: Better Than Middlemarch
Quote Of The Day #40 "Scenes Of Clerical Life" by George Eliot I was surprised to find that this book is better than "Middlemarch", which I read long time ago. And I am sorry to say that the only reason I read "Middlemarch" was that it is recommended in many reading lists from google search, … Continue reading Quote Of The Day: Better Than Middlemarch
New Word: Sometimes It’s Confusing
New Word #101 wile and rile I encountered these two words again last week in reading, and I had to look them up again. No matter how many times I tried to remember them, the two words refuse to stick to my mind. Also the two words look and sound similar and I can't distinguish … Continue reading New Word: Sometimes It’s Confusing
Friday’s Feeling
I just feel that I've been busy all day today, but achieve very little. My mind and my time are all occupied by trivial, repetitive, and predictable things. And when I finally sit down to write something, I feel that I have nothing to write about. I could write the second part of the flash … Continue reading Friday’s Feeling
Quote Of The Day: Life In The 18th Century
Quote Of The Day #39 I've got this habit of picking up books from the local grocery store. They are very good sleep aids--reading several pages can put me to sleep much quicker than watching videos on my cell phone. Then last week I picked up "The Loyal Son" by Daniel Mark Epstein and surprisingly … Continue reading Quote Of The Day: Life In The 18th Century
The Comedian (Flash Fiction)
Image by Michiel Ton from Pixabay Flash Fiction #110 "You haven't done anything this morning, Benyo, except staring..." Muj says to his son. "I've been working. I am working on my next joke." Benyo says. "I don't know how to describe your life. You are 25. You live with your parents; you don't contribute money; … Continue reading The Comedian (Flash Fiction)
Haoyan Do 