The first time I felt that there might be something wrong with my father was when I was eight-years-old, or probably nine-years-old, standing right outside of the three-story apartment building where we lived. The snowstorm of the night before was gone, bringing a brilliant morning of sunshine and cloudless sky. The wind had died down; … Continue reading The Beginning Of My Story
Month: July 2024
Beyond The Compliment (Flash Fiction)
Flash Fiction #176 Adi: I am glad the meeting is over. Now listen to me, Lulan. You have really improved. The way you describe the issue and present your thought. You are so different now from when I first knew you. San: I totally agree. Lulan, you’ve changed. I would say a totally different person … Continue reading Beyond The Compliment (Flash Fiction)
When I Am Blocked
A six months absence from WP; a half year hiatus. I stopped posting because I felt repetitive. The phrases I typed had been written and typed again and again before. I didn't see any improvement in myself even though I had expected to see gradual changes--hopefully for the better of course--in wording, thoughts, structuring of … Continue reading When I Am Blocked
Our Twisted Mind
I was clicking on a random video in Spanish last night and found out that Biden had dropped out. This is the first time I received news in Spanish before receiving it in English. I couldn’t help feeling a sense of triumph. My Spanish has plateaued for months and had no sign of improving despite … Continue reading Our Twisted Mind
Describe the Indescribable Feeling
English is a strange language in many aspects, like spelling, pronunciation, grammar, but here I am going to talk about what I feel when I read English poetry. Actually I don’t even know how to describe it, but describing a thing that is difficult to describe is what I want to do to improve my … Continue reading Describe the Indescribable Feeling
A Writing Lesson (Flash Fiction)
Flash Fiction #175 A: “It says here ‘nothing is too silly, too stupid, too weird to be included.’ Now the first exercise is: tell me something absurd.” B: “I don’t have it right now.” A: “But you told me your parents were absurd the other day.” B: “I did, but … I said it in … Continue reading A Writing Lesson (Flash Fiction)
Unblock the Natural Flow
I read several books on writing a long time ago. They were all books from serious or popular authors, literary or genre writers, but I couldn’t learn anything from them. So after three books, I stopped reading. It was useless to go through the motions if I couldn’t connect the content with my own problems. … Continue reading Unblock the Natural Flow
Freedom vs. Bigger Cage
“…freedom...my cage is simply getting bigger” is a quote from the book “All the Words I Kept Inside” by P. J. Gudpa. In one of the poems, she talked about seeking freedom and realizing she gets a bigger cage rather than true freedom. I think the freedom vs. bigger cage analogy can be used on … Continue reading Freedom vs. Bigger Cage
I Should Have Said Something
I was in the 99 Ranch store last weekend. I asked to buy a grocery bag at the checkout and the cashier gave me one. A minute later, she inquired if she had given me two bags instead of one. She blamed herself for making another mistake. I assured her that she didn't. I had … Continue reading I Should Have Said Something
Against Our Competitive Instincts
I have stopped playing Wordle now because I think it feeds the kind of narcissistic thinking that I want to get rid of. I just read a book about how to deal with emotionally immature people, which include narcissists. In it, the author, a psychologist, said that narcissists tend to like games—board games or trivial … Continue reading Against Our Competitive Instincts
The Peacock Misconception
A friend of mine created a peacock metaphor and she has used it very often. So the word "peacock" showed up in our texting regularly. I felt that it was a little unfair to the beautiful bird. I loved one beautiful green peacock in our local zoo when I was a child. He was probably … Continue reading The Peacock Misconception
A Steppe Romance
I am writing a long steppe story that happened in the 7th century in the area that was located between the Mongolian steppe, the Tibetan highland and the Taklamakan desert. It is one part romance, one part Kung Fu, one part history, in which I will embed a lot of arguments between the nomadic life … Continue reading A Steppe Romance
An Old Friend & A Continuous Romance
I have always tried to steer away from reading a book of romance, which is usually too unrealistic for me. However recently I try to write a kind of Kung Fu story happened around Mongolian steppe. I should say proto-Mongolian steppe since the story is set in the 7th century when Mongolia as a country … Continue reading An Old Friend & A Continuous Romance
Easy Or Pyrrhic?
I just learned the word pyrrhic, an adjective, meaning "won at too great a cost to have been worthwhile for the victor". It is pronounced "pirik". People always tell me that I pronounce "i" as if it is "ee", a typical non-native speaker's mistake. I have always wanted to improve my pronunciation, but I've never … Continue reading Easy Or Pyrrhic?
Haoyan Do 