DAILY PHOTO: Gulab Vatika, Lucknow
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Author Archives: B Gourley
“Bamboo Grove Cabin” [竹里馆] by Wang Wei [王维] [w/ Audio]
Sitting alone -- secluded bamboo grove:
I whistle or pluck my zither;
People don't know my deep forest;
Moon and I shine on each other.
Original in Simplified Chinese:
独坐幽篁里
弹琴复长啸
深林人不知
明月来相照
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PROMPT: Job
To pick nits, I think the defining characteristic of a job is that one earns money for one’s time and effort. Otherwise, it’s volunteering or a hobby — both of which are fine activities in which I’ve participated over the years — but they’re not “jobs.” In the case of a hobby, one should do it because one loves it and / or gains from it. In the case of volunteering, if you’re doing the work only because you love the activity, you’ve probably missed the point of the undertaking.
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Falling [Lyric Poem]
The days of riches are now behind.
I think I thought I lost my mind --
It fell into a deep, dark hole
When my severed head took a roll
Up to the lip, over the edge,
Falling -- I took a solemn pledge:
That my skull drop so straight and true
To hit bottom and rip straight through
To the other side.
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DAILY PHOTO: Shah Najaf Imam Bara, Lucknow
BOOKS: “Attack on Titan, Vol. 1” by Hajime Isayama
Attack on Titan, Vol. 1 by Hajime IsayamaMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Publisher Site – Kodansha
A bit like Starship Troopers in that it features a group of youths drawn into military service to defend humanity from an existential threat, this series revolves around humanity besieged by giants. This introductory volume opens many questions that it leaves to be answered, such as: what are the Titans? Where do they come from? Can humanity survive them?
What this opening volume does a good job of is building a cast of characters one can connect with, as well as showing how humanity has been losing ground to its mammoth enemies. The reader enters this conflict in the middle, humanity living in walled cities that periodically come under attack, and that not only sets a tone but builds engagement with the story.
I found this volume intriguing and would highly recommend it for comic book readers. Note: the book is formatted in manga style and thus reads backwards from the perspective of an English language book reader.
View all my reviews
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“Night Rain Sent North” [夜雨寄北] by Li Shangyin [李商隐] [w/ Audio]
When am I coming home? I don't know.
At Bashan, night rains swell Autumn ponds.
Recall, candles in your West Window?
Ah, through night rains, to talk and bond!
The original in Simplified Chinese:
君问归期未有期， 巴山夜雨涨秋池。
何当共剪西窗烛， 却话巴山夜雨时？
Note: This is poem #298 of the 300 Tang Poems [唐诗三百首.]
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PROMPT: Olympic Sport
Curling. I don’t know why. By all logic, it should be boring as hell, but – somehow – it’s like a slow-motion train wreck, and I can’t take my eyes off it.
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Bird on a Wire [Lyric Poem]
On a pleasant mid-Spring day,
A bird landed -- no bounce or sway.
It perched, chirping - as if in play:
I blinked, and it'd flown away.
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Purple Ring [Haiku]
ring of blossoms
around the tree trunk:
still, as shadows creep.
