DAILY PHOTO: Buda Spires in Winter
Image
1
PROMPT: Favorite Holiday
Probably New Years as it’s the only one that there’s some excitement about no matter where one is in the world — even nations that have their own calendar celebrate it as a secondary new year. No use in getting too attached to single-country holidays if you’re a traveler, it just creates melancholy.
Also, because it’s not one of those roaming holidays that’s on a different date each year. Those are too hard to keep track of.
Share on Facebook, Twitter, Email, etc.
“A learned man came to me once” by Stephen Crane [w/ Audio]
A learned man came to me once.
He said, "I know the way, -- come."
And I was overjoyed at this.
Together we hastened.
Soon, too soon, were we
Where my eyes were useless,
And I knew not the ways of my feet.
I clung to the hand of my friend;
But at last he cried, "I am lost."
Share on Facebook, Twitter, Email, etc.
Ostrich [Lyric Poem]
"Oh, beware the trotting Ostrich!"
I'd never, ever have thought which
Would be a real concern for me,
As I sit in cafes and libraries.
Share on Facebook, Twitter, Email, etc.
DAILY PHOTO: Zebra of Amboseli
BOOKS: “Chinese Grammar Wiki BOOK: Intermediate” ed. by John Pasden, et. al.
Chinese Grammar Wiki BOOK: Intermediate by John PasdenMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Publisher Site – AllSet
I’ve found this series helpful in offering a basic guide to grammar for learning Mandarin through Simplified Characters and pinyin. It provides plenty of examples and is not dense with explanation and elaboration but rather focuses on the core principles as well as demonstrations of common pitfalls. It covers the B1 grammar points which is a designation used by, but not original to, the series. (As far as I can tell, it’s a European standard that has been applied across languages to organize the concepts one should be able to express at a given level of language learning.
This is the second book of the series that I’ve worked through (the third if one counts the “Just the Basics” level which is a subset of the Beginner level book,) and I intend to continue on to the “Upper Intermediate” guide.
This may not be the series you want if you’re a linguist looking for nuanced insight into Chinese grammar, but it’s excellent for your average language learner. [It also seems to be quite affordable compared to many competing grammar books and series.]
View all my reviews
Share on Facebook, Twitter, Email, etc.
“I shall go back again to the bleak shore” by Edna St. Vincent Millay [w/ Audio]
I shall go back again to the bleak shore
And build a little shanty on the sand,
In such a way that the extremest band
Of brittle seaweed will escape my door
But by a yard or two; and nevermore
Shall I return to take you by the hand;
I shall be gone to what I understand,
And happier than I ever was before.
The love that stood a moment in your eyes,
The words that lay a moment on your tongue,
Are one with all that in a moment dies,
A little under-said and over-sung.
But I shall find the sullen rocks and skies
Unchanged from what they were when I was young.
Share on Facebook, Twitter, Email, etc.
PROMPT: Camping
Many a time, and I hope to do more. I highly recommend the experience. Nothing like sleeping close to the Earth to realize that there exists no patch of ground on the planet as flat and rock-free as one’s mattress.
Share on Facebook, Twitter, Email, etc.
Pillbox Bunker [Tanka]
pillbox bunker from
a war a lifetime ago
sits in a field.
what the farmer must think
as he plants around it.
Share on Facebook, Twitter, Email, etc.
BOOKS: “Sightseeing” by Rattawut Lapcharoensap
Sightseeing by Rattawut LapcharoensapMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Publisher Site – Atlantic
This collection of seven short stories offers insight into Thailand and its culture, but the stories are also gripping and clever. It’s a rare thing for stories to so engage with issues such as poverty, class, the refugee experience, the human experience, and foreignness and to still be highly entertaining.
Farangs is about the interaction of Thais and foreigners in the form of a love triangle featuring a Thai protagonist, a Western girl, and the girl’s erstwhile (also foreign) boyfriend.
At the Cafe Lovely is about two brothers, the older of whom takes the younger brother to a “cafe” that is more of a bar with built-in brothel. The story shows the seedy side of Bangkok, but also the bond between brothers.
Draft Day is about two friends, one from a wealthy family and the other not, who have to go to the draft lottery to determine whether they will have to serve in the military or not. This story is potent observation on social justice.
Sightseeing is about a mother and son’s last trip before the mother loses her vision.
Priscilla and the Cambodians is about a Cambodian girl who, in a rough-and-tumble manner, befriends two geeky Thai boys. The story explores the woes of being poor outsiders in a world that cares neither for the poor, nor for outsiders.
Don’t Let Me Die in this Place is about an old American man who moves in with his son and the son’s Thai wife and their children in Bangkok after the man has suffered a stroke and is in recovery. It’s about the old man’s struggle to adapt to a very different life while at the same time coping with not being able to take care of himself.
Cockfighter is the longest and also probably the most visceral of the stories. It centers on a teenaged girl whose father is the titular “Cockfighter” and whose mother makes hand-sewn bras. It’s an intensely psychological work of fiction with some hilarious moments, as well.
I’d highly recommend this collection for all readers of short fiction. I chose it as my travel literature for Thailand (I read a work [or works] of literature from all countries I visit,) but I don’t think one has to have a particular interest in Thailand to find the stories fascinating and profound.
View all my reviews
Tiger Riding for Beginners 