This American Life #355: The Giant Pool of Money This American Life is the only experience I have in my life, where I pay for something that makes me cry and breaks my heart on a regular basis. This episode deals with what was at first called the “sub-prime mortgage crisis” and then called the… Continue reading Giant Pool of Money
This is absolutely hysterical. It contains phrases like this: “It’s like explaining mustard to a frog.”
Today is the birthday of Tennessee Williams and Robert Frost. Here are 2 excerpts from today’s Writer’s Almanach, both really beautiful: It’s the birthday of Tennessee Williams (books by this author) born Thomas Lanier Williams in Columbus, Mississippi (1914). He’s the author of the plays The Glass Menagerie (1944), A Streetcar Named Desire (1947), and… Continue reading the length and height of happiness
I found out about Han Han a while ago and I just love him. You can read about him here, in the Time’s article by Simon Elegant, but the article is frankly quite superficial, and the Wikipedia entry is not much better. The best article I read about Han Han was from a Chinese website,… Continue reading Han Han
I was born today, thirty-some years ago. I always think it’s not going to be a big deal for me, it’s just a day like any other, but my natural tendency is to want to ignore it, and then–when it’s too late to fix it–want to do something special to mark the event. I don’t… Continue reading gifts
3 findings tonight (late) 1) Crossing Delancey …a surprise of a movie about a microcosm of the New York Jewish community, and a meditation on singlehood and finding love. A 33-year old single girl–happy, successful, loving her life in the literary circles of the city–reluctantly finds herself in the talons of a well-meaning matchmaker who… Continue reading Evening of findings
The months that have slowly stretched, like a lazy confused cat, between January and August have been leading to a decision on my part. January is when I was laid off from my job with Disney, and I went from having the title of “Associate International Localization Producer” to a more nondescript status as a… Continue reading authenticity
I’m back from my trip in France. After the short and disappointing visit to Bretagne (I was so sick we only made it out to the beach that one time), I went to Auvergne where our family home is, in a village in the high mountains above Le Puy en Velay. I ate cherries from… Continue reading Epic confusion
The reasons why artists do what they do, maybe not the overt suject of today’swriter’s almanac but at least a running theme in three of the stories sent out. I’ve been thinking about why I write, especially given the fact that for a blog that’s updated as often and as much as this one is,… Continue reading safer than stealing
I hope it’s not becoming lame to you guys that I quote The Writer’s Almanac so often, but it deserves it. Today is July 4th and the essay today is about James Joyce’s wedding to Nora on this day. The whole story of their romance is fantastically interesting, peppered with witty Joyce aphorisms, but my… Continue reading give up your day job
I had to share this story from the Writer’s Almanac, because of a few things. 1) As you all notice, I’ve been writing a lot since I’ve arrived in Congo. The adage “write what you know” is true, and I was happy to see it exemplified below, as a piece of advice to Margaret Mitchell… Continue reading Madam, I greet you
I found out (thanks to The Writer’s Almanac) that today is Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s birthday. He’s one of my favorite authors and The Little Prince is, bar none, my favorite book. I carry it with me everywhere I go and read it many times each year. The Little Prince is singlehandedly responsible for my ability… Continue reading happy birthday, mon prince
This is a poem called “Cher frère blanc” by Léopold Sédar Senghor, a Senegalese poet best known for having created the concept of Négritude (He is also one of the only African ruler to ever have resigned from the Presidency): Cher frère blanc, Quand je suis né, j’étais noir, Quand j’ai grandi, j’étais noir, Quand je… Continue reading dear white brother
This is something I’ve been thinking about for a week, but also most of my life. It’s about the disappearing act of moving to a place like Congo. My mom and dad moved here when they were a young, artistic couple, with a toddler. Mom is French and at the time was a trendy… Continue reading Disappearing act
Mr. Kondo is a great, dear friend of my family’s. He has six kids, all between the ages of 36 and 22. He said he stopped having kids when he turned 32, and had a great last three decades. “Kids start out by being a pain in the neck and end up being the joy… Continue reading The dancing grandfather
This is a conversation I had with dad yesterday afternoon: Me: I almost just caused an accident and it wasn’t even my fault. Dad: What do you mean? Me: I was waiting on the side of the road to cross over, and there was a taxi, a mini-bus and a white guy in a pickup… Continue reading Conversation with dad
I broke down and bought a day pass for wifi. I couldn’t sleep anymore, I caught up on my sleep deprivation and have been wide awake for an hour. Landing in Paris last night was not something I was looking forward to. I had to get my luggage, get on the Air France Bus, get… Continue reading Paris at 5:49 AM
Found this really interesting article about Rose McGowan. She’s utterly fascinating, and her creativity in living her own life is something I relate to. She grew up in Italy (in the Children of God cult, same as the Phoenix family) and moved to the US after her formative years. Her choices, and reactions were so… Continue reading Rose McGowan
I was at OSH again today to pick up another brackets for my hummingbird feeder. They’re coming up to my balcony now that the finches have found their feeder. With the hummingbirds, the finches and the squirrels, I’m turning into a regular Snow White! Who says there isn’t wildlife in LA? Anyway. I figured out… Continue reading the weather men
I was driving home from Koreatown on the 110 Northbound today, after a fantastic lunch with my sweet and badass, next-big-thing-in-rock friend Luis today when my car was rear-ended by a bus. Yup, a big, blue, LAX Flyaway bus no less. The driver didn’t even notice he rear-ended me, and took the 6th street exit.… Continue reading hit by bus
The Three-Legged Duck 