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The Perfect Halloween Treat for Ghosts and Goblins and Gumshoes
Got G.U.M.? What’s up with the NeverEnding Zombie Apocalypse in Hollywood? Why is China perpetrating celluloid genocide upon the Japanese (1 Billion + since 2013)? And why should one ever want to venture into The Vale of Shadows? Anybody who has the Sixth Sense will be able to figure out some possibilities to these vexing nether regions of the psychosphere. But for the rest of us, we’ll need Goggles of Umbral Moonshine. You can’t buy these Goggles at any store. They must be found or constructed. Which is why I highly recommend Nguyen’s insightful critique of the ethics and aesthetics of war stories, Nothing Ever Dies. Though focusing on the…
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Feigning Blindness in a Forest of Bared Necks
What does it mean when an elected official chooses to disbelieve in climate change? No doubt they believe they are following in the footsteps of Cato the Elder who once said, “It is sometimes the height of wisdom to feign stupidity.†And what a height we have climbed. Imagine two knights upon a great wall of ice. They quarrel over whatever the raven cawed. Meanwhile, winter is coming and legions of the undead march forth. We, the viewers, know the truth, but the knights know nothing. All we can do is watch in horror. A few us will get so upset we’ll throw the nearest object, maybe an ashtray, at…
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Happiness is a Vampire
Every day I discover other worlds so unlike the one I once called home. The possibilities seem boundless. I even fantasize about coming to America to become a Wal Mart door greeter or an assistant manager at McDonald’s. If I work hard for a couple years and save money, then I could return to paradise and buy a home and still have enough left over to start a business. Sometimes when I hang out with other expats we cannot stop saying, “I can’t believe this,” and we pinch ourselves to see if we are in a dream. It is as if we all had met Morpheus in our pre-expat lives…
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Dinner with the Yu Family
One late summer evening before the sun went down, I was at dinner and had what appeared to be a glass of Chinese wine at an open air restaurant from across the campus. Children surrounded me. It was cooler now and all the neighborhood children were playing. One by one they came by my table pretending to ignore me. Once they realized that I didn’t bite, they made eye contact with me and squealed in surprise. A university student saw that congress had formed at my table and we were all chatting amiably. I was trying to teach the children English and the children were trying to teach me Chinese. …