Living in Beijing, China, with ties to New Orleans and Seattle, but wherever I happen to land, I'll be writing articles and stories and snapping photos as I go.
Regarding this whole Google + thing…
I’m not entirely impressed with the whole idea of “Here! Come check out our social network! But you can’t invite your friends!”
Good luck with that one, Google…
Crazy China Film Stuff
On Thursday, J is going to go film a “Menu Premiere”… basically a bunch of hot women walking around a fancy restaurant with trays of the new dishes on the fancy new menu.
I find this amusing…
“Oil of Okay”
Shanzhai- Chinese products that copycat off of other, real, branded products in an attempt to gather a portion of the market share of the well-known brand.
Gorgeous old home, photographed in 1937. According to the comments, the house still stands today (although now behind a fence)
Really amazing art using recycled Mardi Gras beads…
Baby Reflexes and Other Interesting Stuff
So I wrote an article about Baby Reflexes because I thought it was absolutely fascinating to learn about all of the weird innate reactions my son had when he was a newborn.
I find a lot of topics that way…by finding things that I’m interested in writing about and just going and doing it.
It’s kinda a cool way to live.
Plus, I get to spend time with my ever cute and adorable baby boy (who is quickly moving into toddlerhood as he wobbles around the room)
Moments…
There are moments when I glance over at my little boy- 10 months old this week- asleep on the bed next to me, the afternoon sunlight streaming in through the haze outside my window to light his precious gold-red hair, as I type yet another 400 words into my computer on my way to my daily goal and think…
Yeah, I really love being able to work like this. Being a writer rocks.
I’m addicted to a stupid Chinese soap opera…
Seriously.
The production quality is fairly good, as far as Chinese TV shows go.
The concept is excellent- four friends in Shanghai live, love, and cope with the sweeping historical changes that take place from the 1910s through the late 1940s when Mao takes over. (Through the two World Wars, Japanese occupation, civil war, etc)
It’s an awesome idea.
Unfortunately, everyone keeps getting beheaded.
It’s like the scriptwriter kept running out of things to do that would create drama and said “I know, let’s have the Japanese/ Kuo min tang/ evil gangster dude cut off someone’s head!”
There was one totally cool twist that we didn’t see coming when this dude shows up at someone’s wedding with a picnic basket, insisting it’s a gift they need to open right then. Like in the middle of the wedding, at the altar. And the picnic basket has a baby in it -from the groom’s ex girlfriend/ lover.
When the baby grows up, she doesn’t get beheaded.
But her twin brother (who the ex-lover kept with her to raise) does get beheaded when he grows up.
(She - the basket-baby twin - gets shot by a firing squad)
Yeah, I totally ruined it for you, but you weren’t gonna watch it anyway.
If you DO decide to try and hunt it down, its called “Shanghai Shanghai”
It IS addictive.
And I learned the Chinese word for “wharf” from it. (ma tou)
An interesting look at the tropes that make up all tv, movies, etc… worthwhile for any writer or filmmaker to peruse and consider.
