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 […]
Chengdu
Same Work, Same Pay
About 200 pensioners are camped outside of the Chengdu municipal government office building to protest imbalances in benefits offered to private and public sector employees. They represent around 50 state-owned hospitals, clinics, and community health care centers and, from the looks of it, they aren’t going anywhere until the imbalances are addressed. “People from the […]
Insomnia
Sometimes I can’t sleep at night, I toss and turn, alarm bells and laughter going off in the street. Honking cars in my dreams. I can’t get no peace. So I get up and get dressed and toss on my shoes and walk through Hongpailou. Sometime I remember to bring my camera. These shots were […]
Don’t wink at me
I am a stranger in a strange land. I need connections or I will wither and die. And the connections I need are not just with my native people, or with people similar to me, but with the people who inhabit this strange land. I learned to speak Chinese out of survival instinct and I […]
That cess in yer chest
Tell me how to keep the smile on my face when I start every morning hacking like an old revolutionary until lung butter splatters the toilet bowl like adolescent lust. And clings to it like a first crush. Every morning ya’ll. I quit smoking and I remember someone saying that the first few weeks/months after […]
Ode to Third Ring Road
You can catch me on the Third Ring Road, zipping down the sideline on my Bad. Moduh. Scooduh. I’m on there enough to have found myself a little community, people who all come from different backgrounds but share one thing in common every time they slip onto the Third Ring from some obscure exit choked […]
Excerpts from an Interview with Luo Fahui
This is a companion piece to ChengduLiving’s Portrait of a Chengdu Artist: Luo Fa Hui. Here I put together some excerpts from an interview back in October. Stay tuned next week for more Chengdu artist love, both here and at ChengduLiving.com On China’s Future: -有希望。中国朝着良性方向发展，不是以前那样封闭。现在我们很多人，都有机会和权贵坐在一起。这是大趋势，不是一个政党可以控制的，所以这个是个很大的希望。现在慢慢的改变，慢慢开始尊重人权，尊重人的思想，自由度，精神上的，越来越宽。首先是看着这30年的变化，亲身体会，当年是怎么样，现在是怎么样，随便怎么比。 There’s hope. China’s is moving forward in a good direction, […]
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 […]
Up for Grabs
I spent a full year under the harsh lights of Ctrip’s corporate glare and I wrote a lot of stuff for them. It seemed like pissing into the wind, for the most part. I met great people there, but the Chinatravel.net site for which I worked is the mortally wounded man doggedly clinging to life, […]
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 […]
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 […]
What the Wenchuan Quake makes me think of
I still choke up every time I read about the kids that died in the 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake. I’ll remember the pictures of a girl impaled on rebar as screaming parents reached up to her … one of them balanced on crumbling concrete trying to reach her before she faded out. I’ll see the blood […]
My wrist hurts
And when I was in Chengdu a few weeks a go I told my shifu Li Cuan about it and he made me pound on the iron circle for a while. it felt better afterwards. i am back at the 9-5 grind after a few weeks on the road filming stuff for the China Travel […]
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 […]
Anti-Japan Protests Rock Chengdu
The conflict between the Chinese and Japanese is getting heated. First Chinese “fishing boats” enter “disputed territory” and snoop around.. Japan sends in destroyers to see what’s going on; the Chinese boats allegedly ram the destroyers. Japan arrests everyone then releases the crew while holding onto the captain for a week. China goes apeshit. Screams, […]
New ish has come to Light
If you have not noticed, I have a few Fiction tales up. I won’t be posting a bunch of tales there, just a couple to whet peoples’ appetites. The latest one is called, “The Imam who Sang” and I like it. Check it out. I also just recently updated Nonfiction to reflect some work i […]