The reason we moved back to the US is beginning to unfold, as spring takes hold, and the boys behold the burgeoning beauty of a land accustomed to a deep freeze, speckled with bodies of water long fat skinny round and winding. lakes and trees and sunshine. Minnesota when the sun comes out is a […]
family
Stay the course
I recently wrote a post about my Chengdu Compound, and the comments on the post, and on Reddit, reflect two things, in general: 1) Good job, enjoy the palace 2) Watch out, Chinese landlords are evil and will fuck you And the feelings I have in my own heart about the compound revolve around these […]
Free
My boy heard me singing this at 6:30am as I prepared for work. He woke up and padded out and hung out by the door waiting for me to to call his name. I did and he came in and snuggled for a bit. I put the song on repeat and he fell asleep to it. […]
like a chicken grease chord
Doing research for this project brought a picture to my mind of me in a field of yellow flowers with a long butterfly net chasing butterflies around and netting them as fast as I could. For each net full that I came away with, only one or two of the butterflies turn out to be […]
Adrift during the Holiday
I find myself sleeping, tweeting, taking notes. Talking to people I don’t know. Coffee and cigarettes. And carrying my son around on my shoulders so he can pluck leaves and people watch.
The Dreamer and the Rebel
When I look at my sons, I feel as if the complexities of my soul have been sundered into two separate facets and placed within each one of them. The following is a gross oversimplification of their as-yet undeveloped characters, but it’s what I think about, so I am going to let loose. My older […]
Foreign Men, Represent
If I were single and still in the Game, I would hold myself and all others to an oath of silence on the sociological phenomenon of overeducated, fine-lookin, lonely young ladies populating Starbuxes all across China. But I am out of the game and busy raising two of the most handsome muggle men this world […]
Mother’s milk under attack!
There are daily examples all across the world of the media mis-reporting the news and influencing public opinion. Some of them we just let go and forget about, but others have to be confronted and exposed. Today a story spread across parts of the Chinese web that attacked the natural power of women to breastfeed […]
Merry Christmas from the Family
Here are some recent pics of my two boys, Stinky and Plumpy. For family and friends 😉 Love, Sascha Yushi Dorian Damian
Imprisoned
Liao Yiwu is a Chengdu native and he recently escaped over to Berlin via the Horse and Tea Trade Route pathways of southern China. Reading his story today reminded me of a few things. Ever since I have lived in China, I imagined my escape route. There are a few, but the Yunnan-Guangxi one is […]
Many faces
I went to Carrefour aka Roundabout aka 家乐福 to buy a razor and shaving cream and it took me almost an hour. Carrefour is a five minute walk from my house, but they hide the entrance inside a labyrinth of shops and alleys and lanes. Unless you know that KFC is always located near the main […]
For those of you with lil ones:
The Little Mole is a super cute cartoon for kids up to around 2yrs of age. You can show it to older kids, but these days they might want to watch Shrek or porn or whatever. But while they’re still tiny, check out the rapidshare download links below, I use Fetch. You’ll need to extract […]
The Future is now
While avoiding the drudge work at Ctrip, I stumbled across the theory of neoteny in evolution. Neoteny is when infant features appear in adults ie when we evolve “backward” such that we display childlike characteristics, presumably mentally as well as physically. Paradoxically, moving backward is going forward: evolution in primates is a steady procession back […]
Scattered Fam
So we’re on the eternal search for “the Spot” that will allow me to sip tea and write best sellers while bean makes big big money and the lil ones scamper. Possible locations are (were) 1) Pacific Northwest, specifically Portland and Northern Cali, but also and not limited to Canada or northern Washington. 2) Dali […]
Raihan was right
When my man Raihan heard I was having baby, he wrote me a message that went basically: “When you feel the rage and are about to do violence, just remember that you can put them (the babies) down anytime.” Now when i read that I was shocked, because I couldn’t imagine ever really doing anything […]
Poo issues
All last night i pooped out water and wandered between dream states with these lines from J-Dilla’s Jungle Love going through my head over and over ” … i won’t take it like Shaq from three … with out that loot ya instrumentals stay instrumentals” But now daddy has the house to himself, the AC […]
Recent news and other tidbits
Once again, i have neglected my own personal blog in favor of other “cooler” spots that either pay me or raise my exposure level up a micron. Unfortunate, but a lot of it has to do with fatigue and time. With two sons (pic post coming up later, don’t worry) a brother truly has no […]
Laoba and Dorian
My father in law left last night and I have a feeling it will be a very long time until we see each other again. and thats a damn shame. For a total of six months that man spent every waking hour taking care of this family. Hanging out with Dorian, keeping the books for […]
Another Son
Two boys now, depending on me to show them the way. For at least half their lives willingly and then for another 1/4 or so even though they resent it (at least that’s the pattern right?) and then later in life as a friend. This time I was able to witness the birth first hand. […]
An anti-establishment radical caught in a corporate setting
Today I picked up the cash portion of my pay. here at Ctrip.com we foreigners have two different forms of payment: 1) Taxable income that is wired in 2) non-taxable income that is given in cash The non-taxable income is basically our rent. In the initial negotiations with HR, we were going to hand them […]
Dorian’s First Birthday
Lil Dorian turned one on February 8th and we went to our old stomping gronds in San Sheng Xiang to celebrate with good friends. The Love’s were there and we went to our neighbors Xu Lin’s spot for lunch and tea. Her son FanFan was there and so was Bean’s father Laoba. Chinese have a […]
Chinese Winters Suck
These past days I feel like I am just holding on … waiting for this miserable winter to end. Winters in China are exceptionally difficult because there is no escape from the wet, damp cold. Homes have no insulation, no heaters, no storm windows … cracks everywhere let the cold air in the hot air […]
Visa Issues
I made a very big mistake and assumed that I could re-new Dorian’s visa in Germany. His visa expired while we were in Germany for Christmas (close enough) and my plan was to apply for a tourist visa to China in Germany and then re-apply for a relative visa once we got back to China. […]
Christmas in Heidelberg
This Christmas Bean Stinky and I are spending time i Heidelberg with my family. Heidelberg is a tidy, historic old city on the Neckar River with one of Germany’s oldest castles standing gutted yet proud atop the highest point in the city, overlooking rows of warm roofs and houses as well as two beautiful churches. […]
me and stinky passed out at the hospital
Me and Stinkumz got birthdays today. I turn 33 he turns 9 months. I was just telling my pops how he says DaDa now about anything he likes and when I come home from work he starts jumping and squealing and calling out DaDa. Pretty awesome. One of our favorite games now is I do […]
Mixed Blood Prince
I wrote another small essay about raising children in China, specifically about mixed-blood babies and how they are treated here and what they can expect. Chinese grandmas swarm over any cute baby they see, but they tend to ignore Chinese babies in favor of mixed blood or all-foreign babies. There is a love and curiosity […]
Commando Style
Here is a post I wrote about the Big Bus Tour in Shanghai. The interview kinda goes into the exciting way things can get done here “commando style” in China without really getting into it at all. Be sure to peep the accompanying photo — that’s Chris Tucker with Jackie Chan. Love it. Check out […]
Chinese Baby Products Pose a Danger
Last night I spent about an hour putting together a baby bed for Dorian. It was a pretty shoddy little bed and a very shoddy set of instructyion, but with a little love it will serve its purpose. But after finding some little nails in part of the bed I am anxious about what else […]
Class Lines Apparent
I went on a little Man on the Street interview stroll yesterday, asking people what they had planned for the October Holiday. I pretty much knew what I would hear from the garbage collectors and the coffee jerks and how it would differ from people throwing trash and sipping lattes, but I didn’t expect 90% […]
Oh Lord lets figure it out ….
The love I made this afternoon is thanks to the following:
Ain’t got no Game
Sascha ain’t got no game. Today is a beautiful day. the tree in my backyard is drooping leaves down into my face and the sun pours threw them because they’re young yet and let the light through like its natural. when the sun is out like this, the fish kick it near the surface of […]
Little Man
Today has been a good day. above is a pic of lil man and his brother — the other boy was born in the same room, Yushi and the mom knew each other and she gave birth a few hours before Yushi did.
From Now On
Dorian turns two weeks in a little less than an hour. The following is an altered message I wrote to a friend and is the post I was trying to write all week but never really had the time or the energy to put it all down. So thanks, Melissa, for getting me to spit […]
My Rainy Poem
Zhang Yushi — Yu means rain, Shi mean poem or poetry or poet … depending. i met her for the first time back in the days when i was a real rake and rastabout. tenzin my man and i were playing chess in the ole cafe in Fanghua Gai in Yulin. I remember two giggling […]
Well well well
What Providence, What Divine Intelligence … so i am leaving the Wagon today and headed to a different brighter spot up the road a bit. I am looking forward to it very much and i believe its the best way to get my thing going before i head to China and begin life as a […]
Chirp Out Day
Chirp Out is the day of freedom and joy for my Tribe. Its the day when we hit the road again after a season of trimming and farting and smoking and such. we hold councils on the daily and estimate the exact date of the final chirp chirp. we figure less than 10 days. maybe […]
I got out of the house
My brother was sworn in yesterday and is now considered by the Supreme Court of Minnesota to be legit. Bonafide. Hey … here are some pics from that day (more pending from the actual swearing in):
me and my cat gimpy
Gimpy got his first taste of pussy last week. I can imagine the look on his face, that shocked yet determined screwed up expression. A dash of confusion. Thats Chou Gui on the bed takin it all in … Its been an eventful week. I met with a lot of people here involved in international […]
Irvine, CA
I had a very fine Thanksgiving Holiday with my family in SoCal (southern California) and it is about to end in a few hours. I am headed back to Portland this morning with a small band of adventurers and we all can’t wait to hit up the hot springs throw bills at the pretty ladies […]
We love the Bills
Here are some pics and a video from the last week. We had a Halloween Party and went to watch the Bills get beaten by that pill poppin cracker Brett Favre. I picked my brother up from the hospital and drove straight to Claudia’s on Hawthorne to watch the Bills game. You know how we […]
My brother can get you out the clink
In case you do some shady shit and get caught, holler at my brother, the lawyer Tim Matuszak, he’ll take care of you.
In Memory of Aintwortha, the Original Fleabag.
We had a cat when i was five years old that was called Aintwortha Shit. We just called him by his first name. My earliest memories in life are of my dad chasing this cat down, in speedo underwear, throwing couches around, cuz aintwortha reached up and clawed his toe while he was napping. My […]