I've had a revelation of sorts since starting this blog and it is this: I'm not an interesting person. Don't get me wrong, I love my life, well, the part of it that isn't spent at work, but I don't have varied interests nor am I the person who has a mass amount of knowledge about various arcane subjects, I'm not outdoorsy, etc, etc, etc. I am a homebody. I enjoy spending my free time watching movies and tv, or reading a good book or perusing the internet. And those aren't activities to turn your nose up at, they're a hell of a lot of fun, but they aren't conducive to being with the ones you love or meeting new people. And that is what I'm missing out on, connections strengthened and connections made.
So how does one go out and live the good life? And what is the definition of the good life? I know I want to meet more people, make new friends, try things I've always been too afraid to do, but how does one get the strength to do that? Is it something you build with your hands or is that seed already inside of you? Like I said before, I am naturally inclined to stay in, behind and out of view, so how do I change who I am fundamentally? Would it be worth it to try? And what would be the reward? Just knowing that I went out on a Saturday night? Whenever I have ventured out to clubs or bars, I usually spend my time wishing I was back at home on my couch.
I don't know, this is all so confusing. I'm gonna go watch Star Trek 2009 and worry about it later.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Drive-by Review
Busy life is busy, but have a quick review:
Janice Y.K. Lee's The Piano Teacher isn't just a novel; it's a fever dream. The colors and smells of wartime Hong Kong burst off the page, as vivid as any firecracker display on the fourth of July. The beauty of Lee's skill is the complete absence of the reader's awareness of it; you feel completely integrated into the world of the monied Hong Kong Chinese and the ex-patriat British with their unfounded superiority complexes. You feel completely surrounded by a world you never knew existed; Lee has delivered a magical debut that establishes her as an expert world builder and a plush, emotional storyteller.
The Piano Teacher is a frame story, simply, a story within a story. Our conduit into this strange new world is Claire Pendleton, a young British ex-patriat following her new husband after he's landed a job overseeing the building of the Tai Lam Cheung reservoir. Immediately she lands her own work as a piano teacher to the well-to-do Chinese family, the Chens. Claire gets the first of many life lessons working for the Chens; she sees for the first time that affluence and class aren't just the providence of the British. She is now a part of the servant class. While Clair and her struggle to self-aware womanhood is filled with milestones most women are uncomfortably familiar with, the story truly comes alive when she meets Will Truesdale and we're transported to 1942 Hong Kong and we meet the real heartbeat of the novel, Trudy Liang.
Trudy looms as large as Hong Kong in The Piano Teacher. She is its beauty, sophistication, confusion and broken heart personified. As a Eurasian, Trudy is neither fully accepted by the Chinese nor the Europeans and this is a metaphor for Hong Kong's culture; stuck between its ancient Chinese roots and the British imperialism bleeding into every aspect of Hong Kong life. As we follow Trudy and Will's love affair through its heady asccension and its tragic but inevitable end, we see a country reach a crescendo of of decadence and revelry, only to be brought low by war and it's utter destruction.
As Lee toggles between the ex-patriats in interment camps run by the conquering Japanese and Claire stuck in her own emotional prison, Lee evokes both horror and pathos with her words, daring the reader to judge these characters, most of them doing anything they can just to survive. The Piano Teacher is grand, lush, evocative and haunting just like the land it so lovingly describes.
Janice Y.K. Lee's The Piano Teacher isn't just a novel; it's a fever dream. The colors and smells of wartime Hong Kong burst off the page, as vivid as any firecracker display on the fourth of July. The beauty of Lee's skill is the complete absence of the reader's awareness of it; you feel completely integrated into the world of the monied Hong Kong Chinese and the ex-patriat British with their unfounded superiority complexes. You feel completely surrounded by a world you never knew existed; Lee has delivered a magical debut that establishes her as an expert world builder and a plush, emotional storyteller.
The Piano Teacher is a frame story, simply, a story within a story. Our conduit into this strange new world is Claire Pendleton, a young British ex-patriat following her new husband after he's landed a job overseeing the building of the Tai Lam Cheung reservoir. Immediately she lands her own work as a piano teacher to the well-to-do Chinese family, the Chens. Claire gets the first of many life lessons working for the Chens; she sees for the first time that affluence and class aren't just the providence of the British. She is now a part of the servant class. While Clair and her struggle to self-aware womanhood is filled with milestones most women are uncomfortably familiar with, the story truly comes alive when she meets Will Truesdale and we're transported to 1942 Hong Kong and we meet the real heartbeat of the novel, Trudy Liang.
Trudy looms as large as Hong Kong in The Piano Teacher. She is its beauty, sophistication, confusion and broken heart personified. As a Eurasian, Trudy is neither fully accepted by the Chinese nor the Europeans and this is a metaphor for Hong Kong's culture; stuck between its ancient Chinese roots and the British imperialism bleeding into every aspect of Hong Kong life. As we follow Trudy and Will's love affair through its heady asccension and its tragic but inevitable end, we see a country reach a crescendo of of decadence and revelry, only to be brought low by war and it's utter destruction.
As Lee toggles between the ex-patriats in interment camps run by the conquering Japanese and Claire stuck in her own emotional prison, Lee evokes both horror and pathos with her words, daring the reader to judge these characters, most of them doing anything they can just to survive. The Piano Teacher is grand, lush, evocative and haunting just like the land it so lovingly describes.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Work is driving me crazy
Work is currently WORK!@! and I have no idea how to handle it. This is the first job that I've had that's ever required MORE from me and I'm not sure how I feel about it. I ran away from responsibility for a LONG time and I know that it's no longer an option, but on my run, I didn't exactly equip myself with the skills to separate my professional life from my personal life. How does one find an acceptable work/life balance?
I've seen the beautiful 2009 movie "UP in the Air" and I do not want to mimic George Clooney's character's life, where work was number one and interfered with his personal relationships. I'm not a workaholic but this job is essentially making me one and I do not want to put it first. But...I can't remember the last time I hung out with my friends. When I'm done with work on Saturday afternoon, I just want to collapse on my couch and not move until Monday morning, and that's pretty much what I've been doing for the last three months.
How does one put work in prospective? How do you overcome extreme tiredness when you do want to go out? Do you sacrifice sleep and rest to have a social life? Simply, how does one handle an adult working life?
I've seen the beautiful 2009 movie "UP in the Air" and I do not want to mimic George Clooney's character's life, where work was number one and interfered with his personal relationships. I'm not a workaholic but this job is essentially making me one and I do not want to put it first. But...I can't remember the last time I hung out with my friends. When I'm done with work on Saturday afternoon, I just want to collapse on my couch and not move until Monday morning, and that's pretty much what I've been doing for the last three months.
How does one put work in prospective? How do you overcome extreme tiredness when you do want to go out? Do you sacrifice sleep and rest to have a social life? Simply, how does one handle an adult working life?
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