Realistically, I hope to update this page more often (pictures are at the end today instead of interspersed), but sometimes (as the admin at my master’s program says) “life gets in the way” ~ However, this month, I have taken some time away from the education studies to work on my next book, help friends, study some more about other subjects, and spend time scanning and organizing bits of a genealogy project that I’ve been working on back and forth…
Recently, I’ve been within situations that have been difficult to maneuver individually, so I’ve looked outward for insights from my community. A smattering of good ideas were shared with me and I’d like to share thirty-five or forty of them here, so they can be appreciated as a group of focused thoughts by both you and me from time on from now. They are slightly abridged in a sense that I have abbreviated people’s names, adjusted the format from the…
I’m saddened to hear about the 5.9 scaled earthquake that has struck the Gansu state of China in the last 24 hours. It is an area that I have a great appreciation for, having visited twice. I don’t often travel such great distances multiple times, but after my first visit to Gansu, I had to go back for more…more mountains, history, massive carvings in cliffs, temples, monasteries, noodle shops (their capital, Lanzhou, is known throughout China by name, the way…
Seemingly months have passed since I’ve written in this blog, but not for lack of momentum, more for lack of digital participation. Time spent to reflect has been brilliantly analogue lately. Carrying around a leather-bound notebook while traveling a piece of the planet I’ve never been has been a pleasure that I am happy to share a shard of today. The notebook still needs to be typed at another time, but this reflection that I can share is based on…
Now I’m writing the introduction to what it was like to leave the nation I’d lived for about seven and a half years during the Covid epidemic’s breakout. China was where it began. That’s not in question. Nor is it an issue to me beyond the fact that I was a resident of China at that time, so I was near some of the early real social earthquakes as they happened, and some of what I’m writing in this book…
So, school has been busy. Good busy, but busy nonetheless. I accidentally started studying the Thai language and am apparently enrolled and doing fairly well in a Chinese language course that I already have credit for, and apparently achieved the minor last term, but hey, that’s cool. Languages are fun. Loving how Thai is built~ They wrap vowels around consonants and are grammatically similar to English with the SVO thang. Good stuff. Sticking with Chinese solidly though. So much good…
These days are full of reading, processing that material and creating projects that are the result of that material and other matters that are alternatively associated with my courses this term. Working towards a teaching degree is a major undertaking ~ Requires my focus and attention, away from other things. I am very much enjoying being fully engaged, and the fact that I’ll be able to put it all into use for others at the end of this side-track in…
Trilogy of Playa Magic, by Jimmer Shine With introduction by Jim Jordan Forgetting to write as a writer is something of a crime. Judging by the regularity of my blog, I could stand accused… Yet, I don’t feel guilty of anything. I have a brand new book you can purchase here. Also, I’ve been experiencing: New languages, Many people of various cultures, Oblectation. My new book, Sesame Glazed China, is now available for sale at local bookstores on their websites….
Okay, so as with all seasons, this one is tempered with hope, struggles, a feeling of newness, its connection to history, possibilities, and limitations. Completing a term of study with two A’s and a B is a pleasant achievement. The B was in a course that was incredibly difficult for me and required so much time that if I were to do it all over again… I might choose differently. Hah! The English courses were great. Thankfully, the next course…
I was going to share a new post that I wrote today, but found one that I am going to be installing from before I left China instead. It is a found-post that didn’t get uploaded. Following that, I’ll comment on a few of the things I mentioned and include a trimmed down version of what I’d prepared, since I largely said six months ago, what I wrote this afternoon. I think one of the reasons I didn’t post it…