chinese ghost stories - lafcadio hearn (1887): quaint tales told in lyrical prose.
irish ghost stories - ed. maura mchugh (2022): neither bizzarre nor ghostly enough. i stop reading after 1-and-a-half stories.
japanese ghost stories - lafcadio hearn (1890s): back to quaint tales in lyrical prose.
somehow quaint is the word du jour. i must be missing something.
our first in 45 years.
at once exhilarating ear-splitting exciting and exhausting. also bewildering and disconcerting. names crawl out of the woodwork faster than i recall who their owners are. quite often the owners go unrecognized as memory and current reality do not match, not by many kilograms. this applies most especially to the gentlemen.
as high school reunions go, this one pretty much satisfies stereotype.
thanks to google, it does appear that there really is nothing new under the sun. what i experience has been agonized over by others and AI helpfully summarizes their discussions for me.
i order laksa at the airport food place.
i remember your order from your last trip, the lady says. no noodles and extra everything else.
yes! i reply happily. i hope it's the no noodles extra everything else she recalls and not something more personal oops.
i am suddenly unable to post photos to the blog.
whyyyy?
surely this is cruel when one has got used to photos representing a thousand words.
the workmen start hacking tomorrow!
things we discover as we prepare for our sixteenth move:
both with charmingly olde worlde tourist trap pockets although of course penang is much larger and much more established.
ipoh has that hard-to-top japanese genki restaurant.
penang has e&o which is not possible to top, as far as hotels go.
ipoh's churches are housed in industrial looking shophouses. penang's churches meet in expansive neo-colonial properties. i get the same underlying current of aliveness at both.
ipoh's bakeries are pretty much done by early afternoon. in penang they are called patisseries and you can buy cake at 8 PM yesssss.
ipoh has traffic lights and little green and red men. penang has jaywalkers.
food is good at both. i am unable to comment on non-food attractions, having only explored food.
i read this with some trepidation after a steady diet of lightly written non-US fiction of the heartwarming genre and some (US) investigative journalism of the ponderous variety.
the book turns out to be well-crafted pleasantly entertaining and unselfconsciously grounded in niceness. the overriding theme is lives redeemed over time by living and i most of all enjoy the absence of (typically de rigueur) dark themes of the post-modern persuasion (read: gut-punching betrayal devastating loss or supreme pain).
conclusion: as bijoux a work as any of the japanese-korean books with more a bit more interesting writing. worth a read!
mum loses her cellphone but manages to borrow a 'phone to contact people to help her.
every night before bed i revise the 'phone numbers of seven people, she tells me proudly. my friends (5), my neighbor downstairs (1), and yours.
this is brilliant i think. some of us have no idea what our own number is, never mind seven other people's.
mum loses her cellphone and many people mobilize to help look after her shopping access the shop cctv call her 'phone (unfruitfully) and plan to bring her to get a new set before she finds the offending item at home.
all i can say is, how kind people are!
we look for white goods for the new old place today.
fortunately for us HOM is systematic and meticulous in researching options merchants and prices and can hold his own knowledgeably. because me, i am a sucker for sweet-talking sales people as long as they are not too smarmy. and most fortunately God blesses us with a down-to-earth sales guy who gives us his rock bottom prices like a gentleman.
it is exhausting nevertheless. we'll go shopping for tiles and fixtures and paints! the designer chirps. we have no wish to go shopping, i tell her witheringly. that's why we came to you.
HOM and i bite the bullet put down the deposit and sign on to our biggest scale renovation yet and realize with gradually-growing equal-parts delight and trepidation that we are committed to moving back to the old place. by year's end, if all goes well.
may God bless this next phase.
yee-hah!
time was when one wore a plain blue mask in the procedure room and nowhere else.
six years down it is a niche fashion statement cum survival tool. as i report to HOM:
the bus it be full
the people they be coughing
fortunately, mask
what i wish i can play:
... in the junk drawer. for full moon celebration cakes going back ten years. the type that parents give to celebrate their baby's first month and that you redeem by bringing to the bakery to exchange for cake.
that's a lot of cake we forgot to get to eat.
for today's activity i hand-tear up my diaries dating from '87. what i say is, they need to make paper products that are easier to dismantle. people who want to manually shred their lives are often too old for paper cuts and related annoyances.
after the diaries i courageously discard 37 years' worth of employment papers appointment papers and promotion notices. there is no longer a paper trail of my contribution to the economy.
in final news, more photos magically appear to be digitized.
i spend some more time today de-cluttering the bookshelves for no obvious gain. i tackle decades' worth of administrative binders files and envelopes and am repeatedly tempted to stuff them back into the shadows. perhaps i give in to the temptation too.
i need to have a goal to this death cleaning, i think. what exactly am i trying to achieve? clearer shelves? a better filing system? to discover lost worlds? in my mind i think i would like to clear out some (lots of) garbage filed over the years and hallowed by age. i would also like to discard half our collection of sticky cables but i am paralyzed by potential future need.
in other news, more photos crawl out of the woodwork for digitization.
after today we will be in the second half of the year during which one can legitimately look forward to cooler weather vacations celebrations get-togethers and christmas. i've only been waiting all year for this!
E and i are down at the foot of our block for his evening ablutions. here is the background: i like my solitude. (that is to say, i don't like to talk when i am tired or if the weather is hot.) E likes his solitude. (certainly he likes big dogs more than he likes little dogs.)
enter, stage left, a woman and her little dog. E and i stand to attention and hope she moves off, although out of courtesy i attempt a half smile across the distance.
woman and dog approach. how is your dog? my dog doesn't really like other dogs. is yours a boy or a girl? is he neutered? my dog doesn't really like other dogs. she repeats as she gets closer and closer.
really, i think to myself. if your dog doesn't really other dogs would you mind leaving me and my dog to our evening activities? E, bless his doggy heart, does not show any interest in the little dog, as expected. and yet it takes us minutes to be disencountered.
it's epic all right. riveting and jolly exciting too, like watching it on screen. it helps the pace that the chapters are short and snappy and he gives you just enough foreshadowing to keep you hooked. i am glued to the book for the chapters leading to his arrest.
the writing is verbose but the story is thrilling and the prison terms are satisfyingly long.
until i read that the perpetrator received a presidential pardon this year. come on, guys. are you serious? (not bolton's fault, obviously)
... by which i survive the internal medicine housemanship rotation, back in the day.
in other news, half of the bookshelves have been (modestly) decluttered but i find myself continually sidetracked by the contents that i mean to prune.
will i need the stuff inside the books? (actually they are hopelessly outdated and you know it)
will i ever read this again? (no, you only read e-books now, remember?)
the conclusion of today's döstädning is that the shelves look somewhat unchanged. i need to ask the two questions and cull again.
a commentary on acquaintance pets' monickers:
in between decisions, HOM and i.
do we endure painful (exciting) (costly) renovation and finally move to the bigger place so we can gladly welcome J1 J2 and the extended rest of the family when they visit?
or do we behave rationally stay put in a comfortable situation for most of the year and suffer the tight squeeze when visits happen?
do we commit to another move when we can no longer climb stairs?
how do we solve the problem of an elder dog with short legs in a home with many steps?
watch this space, is wot i say.
looking for information will never be the same again.
you ask a question incorporating your parameters and AI helpfully churns out a list of reasonable answers that you use to get started on your deeper search. or you ask some follow-up questions and refine the list and get started on your deeper search. how to i minimize my kitchen pipe blockages? which robot vacuum is most cost-effective and easy-to-use and that i can buy from harvey norman? which louis cha quote is the chinese minister referring to?
what i like is the way i get to learn about things i do not know i do not know.
what i need to bring is some wariness and willingness to double check. and questions!
i finish this on the flight back from shanghai in between judge dee mysteries. pleasantly bijoux for a nice quickie read but the astrology stuff throws me off. it flows in the style of we'll prescribe you a cat.
a qipao from shanghai.
pretty much every girl's vintage dream.
even though this is an energetic modern young female tailor who promises to ship the finished product to me and not the fabled old man who only speaks in incomprehensible dialect. she promises me a garment in xiangyunsha silk and i promise her to return for more if she delivers.
recording my thanks to HOM for his cheerful long-suffering presence over multiple fittings.
revisiting an old lady and finding charms yet:
sweeping powerful epic fascinating inspiring and quite simply jolly satisfying account of the metamorphosis of the chinese language over the past century as it was dragged kicking struggling reluctantly and resentfully into the twenty-first century.
it is amazing to realize how far behind it was back when putonghua was not even a thing and how much the chinese ecosystem has leap-frogged the rest of the field today.
random thoughts from scanning old photos:
the ol' reliable appetite is back. it is a wonderful thing to be able to enjoy one's food, i tell you. the preacher is right that there is nothing better than to rejoice in the here and now and in food and drink that our good God gives.
in other news, a 5 per cent weight loss over four days has reduced me to looking like a haggard hound.
random reflections on digitizing our early collection of family photos:
a most interesting read because it never occurs to me to think about how we think about money. meta-finance, if you like. or possibly meta-financial planning.
he is surprisingly (ok, i judge) self-effacing a little bit altruistic and quite refreshing for an american writer although he runs true to verbiage.
worth a read, with bits of skimming.
gingerly emerging from the grogginess of the past week
like the fragile butterfly breaking out from the cocoon
first day after many without overt myalgia
and coffee tastes good again
cautiously optimistic
thank God for HOM and O who allow me to be sick without having to lift a finger to help myself. and thank God for E for sensing i need his company more than he hates my hugs.
let's just say the perfect storm requires more than that.
specifically, you might add in non-stop vomiting diarrhea and the mother of all bodyaches.
after 4 days of near-starvation i graduate to a diet of chicken soup and japanese cheesecake today.
most valuable app 2025, is wot i say. i spend the day digitizing 12 years of photos. perhaps that's why my body aches so badly.
just the other day i accidentally write '24. soon we'll be saying the latter half of the year.
not done:
dinners with old friends
cross-stitching. felting. embroidery. piano
reading theology
done:
reading lots of (fairly eclectic) books
four trips (excluding JB)
babysitting
still:
working (part-time)
enjoying the work (mostly)
continuing our close relationship with the plumber as different problems surface for re-plumbing. today we check out a new, less financially depleting one.
he is promising and will henceforth go on the speed dial.
uproarious frank documentation of rib-jabbingly sharp observations of the elderly occupants of a dutch care home who are mostly semi-independent lower middle-class whites with rather breathtaking xenophobia and other prejudices that ring awfully true. also includes not-unexpected developments that nevertheless manage to blind-side you as you read.
jolly good fun and poignant at the same time.
this book totally deserves to be read.
back to E and regular stuff and tropical mugginess and my old breakfast.
coffee with milk - plain yogurt with almond flakes and choc chips - toast with butter and peanut butter
it doesn't get better. i've missed you!
there is the good.
and cute.
and there is the impractical.
like trying too hard.
just try drinking hot coffee from this.
end of our extended jaunt for now as we head home to real life. thermal shock E other familial commitments economic responsibility and a leaking sink await. i am grateful for this mid-year interlude. although as HOM says it's been quarter-year interludes to date this year.
we shiver in the stubbornly cold hotel room despite acrobatic adjustments to the a/c controls. the man comes and agrees with us that our condition is really quite arctic and kindly arranges a new room to which we bring lock and barrel.
the air is warmer here. also, the hot water works! much relief ensues.
in additional reporting i meet another guest in the elevator headed to the same floor as i. she is wearing a winter jacket.
i meet the whimsical and charming quasi-european version of the city. surprisingly the french accent abounds and we see nary a drug user today. if not for yesterday's sights i would say this is a well-preserved cosmopolitan lady approaching middle age with aplomb.
much anticipated visit but a little bit bemusing:
smashing good read about bad guys doing bad things and how they get caught, with just sufficient schadenfreude for a fist pump but not so much that it becomes unreal.
the premise is compelling (extreme greed and how it gets tripped up) and reading about it four decades later is still jolly rollicking fun and most enlightening about a time almost half a century ago.
the work done to pull all the multiple threads together is clearly gargantuan. and for an additional bonus, somehow it comes across as better written than many more recent books that trade on speed-to-publication.
for J2 and Ji and A, i pray that you may be a team. may one be strong and one be gentle! may one provide and one also provide! may you build a home on the foundation of our most high Lord and may A grow up in love and in faith, in confidence and in health! may your home be a place of peace and welcome and joy and glad surprises! thank you for the past month; we are much privileged and blessed!
for J1 and Y, i pray you may continue more and more to build each other's strengths and cover each other's lack! my heart is gladdened by the core of steadiness that steadies me too. i am encouraged by your kindness consideration and your great generosity. may God grant you to establish a home in which gladness and love always dwell!
for little J, i pray your next endeavor be cheerful and rich indeed! may your next year be a time of discovery and fortification and good excitement and glad surprises!
for Q and X, i thank God each time i think of you: for your friendship and fellowship and for your daughter who has become our daughter too!
may God keep us until we meet again.
coming to the end and here are random thoughts:
A is happily in her mother's arms.
A spies the french fries on HOM's plate.
A reaches out to HOM, like so, \o/
much flattered, HOM takes her over.
A points at the french fries and launches herself at them.
there is clear evidence of logical problem solving here, if you ask me.
materially esthetically and spiritually ascetic if a little verbose towards the end. he is mostly quirky laconic sharp and just a little bit acerbic.
most enjoyable but admittedly an ironic experience to read it in the heart of american suburbia.
i am much inspired to declutter aggressively.
aaah, aaah means she is hungry. painstakingly learnt after multiple aaahs on repeat.
doh (with a knowing fully expectant look) means i want.
unh (with an imperious wave of her hand) means i want <what she is waving at> specifically.
noh! appears to mean "no".
\o/ is the universal request to be carried of course.
a tuneless wail means she is unhappy or engrossed or about to put herself to sleep. check context.
uh-oh, as observed, is an expression of glee. the little minx.
as you see, no mama or papa or anything pedestrian like that.
more specifically perhaps, about the west coast.
their houses are enormous and the space is full of stuff. perhaps over time one tends to a more minimalist wabi-sabi esthetic and finds the easy abundance a little overwhelming.
the vehicles are huge and high although to be fair J2 drives an (extremely dirty) antique compact stick-shift that is just my size.
costco portions are gargantuan the options are delightful the samples are exciting and i love our grocery runs. not to mention the chocolate almonds at trader joe's.
f&b options of the convenient accessible affordable variety are non-existent once you factor in taxes and tips. except for in-n-out burger which is one's absolute favorite burger joint in california. yes, sirree. gimme a double-double protein style!
public transport of the convenient accessible affordable variety is non-existent.
all transactions take longer because they like to talk here.
here two weeks now and it is quite clear that A's first recognizable word, at 13 months, is uh-oh.
uttered when she accidentally drops stuff when we accidentally drop stuff and also when she intentionally flings stuff just before she breaks out into that impish grin.
we bring A for a grocery run. it is an endurance sport. we need quick reflexes strong core muscles competent upper limbs and resourceful lower limbs.
i finally know the meaning of as happy as a kid in a candy store, HOM murmurs.
J2 and i go pottery painting and ta-dah!
you have a nice watercolor effect on your mug! J2 says. that would be because i didn't wait for the coat to dry to apply the second and third coats, but hey if it looks like watercolor who am i to complain?
my facebook feed is now full of pottery decoration videos, wouldn't you know.
in other news, i am zoster-pain-free. even if i am nursing a sore throat and a chest cough.
possibly emblematic of much that is not right.
glib garish consumerism dressed up in redundancy ostentation and plastic.
