Ephemera and Detritus
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Somewhat Less than Normal: Notes on actually coming home
After 25 or so years of living in vast, sprawling cities, far, far away- as far away as my impulses to dive into the unknown and unexpected could take me– I have landed with a thud…
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Just Like Starting Over (Again): Canada!
This is Nanaimo in the snow. This is one of the many bear-frequented trails that run above and below and alongside our little temporary Yew (tux wa’culhp) cottage on the campus of Vancouver Island University, where I’ve somehow found myself working. I get paid to put the ass back into assessment. This is not Saigon.…
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Tell Me All About Your Bookshelves (Past and Present)
Ten years ago, approximately, I left Istanbul, and along with a city that I loved/loathed, I also left behind a lot of books. By this, I want to absolutely emphasize that this was a heartbreakingly vast quantity of books that had slowly but steadily grown in number over my six years in Turkey, and…
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Damn, That Shit’s Elusive: The Happiness Project Revisited (Plus Books! I have books!)
About a year ago, probably longer, I announced that I would be revisiting the 100 Happy Days challenge. You know the one- you post every day for 100 days something that made you feel happy, no matter how small, how fleeting. I totally failed. And I am not exaggerating: this post was last saved on…
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Hey, Shanghai, I missed you, y’know?
I wasn’t sure if China wanted me back. The fact that I managed to set the Contagious Disease Carrier detector off at immigration at Pudong Airport was a moment of concern. I had casually strolled through, feeling robust and healthy, albeit tired from having left the flat at 6am, and I set it pinging…
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It’s been a while, Shanghai
Well now. Shanghai. Yo. I’m flying in to Pudong International sometime tomorrow afternoon, after nearly four years away from China. I don’t tend to return to cities or countries I’ve lived in: It’s been nearly ten years since Istanbul and seventeen since Cape Town. I feel a bit queasy when I think about returning.…
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I Like My SUVs Dipped in Gold and My Skies Tinted Milky Grey: Let’s Talk About New Money and Bad Air in New Asia
This is not a rant. This is an open question/discussion prompt. A week or two ago, one of my former students (now grown up, married and somehow happily living in Saskatoon, Canada) from my previous existence teaching high school English in the middle of Turkey drew me into a rather intriguing and thoughtful conversation…
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Insert Coherent, Concise, Astute Title Here: Notes on Starting the New Year with a Question Mark
One of the downsides to writing every three or six or eight months is that all of the half baked ideas that might have made up a dozen different posts all burble to the surface and battle it out to be the opening line. Hey, I’m still living in repetitive suburbia in Koreatown in…
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Are We Better Yet? Notes on Writing About Normal
When I decided to reopen the cobwebbed vaults of my semi-abandoned online hiding space, I first looked into the drafts folder to see if there were any false starts in there worth revisiting and finishing. Here are a few of the titles from the past year or so, which never saw the light of day.…
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Greetings From my New Expat Bubble
Hi. You might remember me from such posts as that one six months ago, back when we were still living in Hanoi, in a long, narrow railroad flat perched five floors above the reeking, oil-slick, sewage-milky, belly-up fish filled Truc Bach lake. Like many things in Hanoi, it looked lovely and atmospheric and serene from…
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How to be Happy in Denmark (and Vietnam): Notes on Getting it All Wrong Again
I’ve been sick for the past two or three (maybe four?) weeks. One of those fun, persistent malingering malaises that morphs from one form to another, then back again, sometimes overlapping in comical yet debilitating ways. I currently have twin ear infections that have swollen my already dainty canals into mere pinpricks, whilst at the…
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The Skies Are White, If Nothing Else: Christmas in Hanoi!
Christmas is back in Hanoi! Those creepy, hip swiveling robot Santas are playing their saxophones outside occasional pho joints and unexpected Christmas trees are popping up in lobbies and windows around town. At the overpriced expat grocery stores you can now buy the world’s tiniest Christmas puddings for the price of a three course meal…
Got any book recommendations?