a grain of salt
She had the perpetual sense, as she watched the taxi cabs, of being out, out, far out to sea and alone; she always had the feeling that it was very, very, dangerous to live even one day.
MRS. DALLOWAY, VIRGINIA WOOLF
I'd like to say that I'm back, but that's not strictly true. Although I have started harnessing ideas for fics again, subtle hints at potential plot lines rather than an actual story, but it's a start nonetheless. It's hard to get back into the swing of things when you've been on-and-off (slowly churning out one fic per month!) but I'm hoping to get something done by mid-Feb, I really do miss writing :(
Flicking through omona a few days back, I caught sight of an article on North Korea, or rather a novel (of sorts) by an American journalist, Barbara Demick, who spent close to seven years at the Korean border, mapping out histories and picking memories of defectors from NK and slowly piecing together a less grainy picture of the quasi-Big Brother "Democratic People's Republic" for us Westerners. NK was, is, and probably will be for some time to come, a mystery to us. With the recent turmoil against dictatorship governments in Egypt and Tunisia (although I can't say I'm at all up to date), and the public hailing for political freedom and security and rights to a better life, NK is probably swimming in the back of heads somewhere, a small black smudge of a place, rarely recalled, but never forgotten. Unsurprisingly, it comes 167th out of 167 countries on the Democracy Index.
I'm collecting a copy of 'Nothing To Envy' from my local library tomorrow-go read it too! Also read the excerpt and the bits on Amazon if you haven't already (this book is almost a year old). Something interesting (and on topic): a friend of mine has truly philanthropic parents who foster kids from around the world-she has two North Korean sisters who escaped to China and are now living in the UK. They are also into kpop haha.
In other news, I've been missing Harry Potter lately, and was mindlessly procrastinating through HP portals for a while, and discovered THIS (Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality) = the only wiki-recognised HP fanfic to date (69 chapters!) with 3 translations into other languages and around 11,100 comments on fanfiction.net. Pretty darn impressive. It's a bit heavy going, with lots of psychological/science flourishes, but it is well worth a perusal, if you've got the time. I'm on Chap 2 haha, so a long way to go.
This is a few weeks late, but have you read the tiger mother''s Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior? I'll maybe post some of my opinions later, it's past midnight where I am. I need/want/crave sleep :)
[LJ related] I've created a doppelgänger account: etablir because I am a francophile and this account name is growing old and naff. I'm planning on moving there sometime soonish.
And, last but never least, Happy Lunar New Year! ♥
MRS. DALLOWAY, VIRGINIA WOOLF
I'd like to say that I'm back, but that's not strictly true. Although I have started harnessing ideas for fics again, subtle hints at potential plot lines rather than an actual story, but it's a start nonetheless. It's hard to get back into the swing of things when you've been on-and-off (slowly churning out one fic per month!) but I'm hoping to get something done by mid-Feb, I really do miss writing :(
Flicking through omona a few days back, I caught sight of an article on North Korea, or rather a novel (of sorts) by an American journalist, Barbara Demick, who spent close to seven years at the Korean border, mapping out histories and picking memories of defectors from NK and slowly piecing together a less grainy picture of the quasi-Big Brother "Democratic People's Republic" for us Westerners. NK was, is, and probably will be for some time to come, a mystery to us. With the recent turmoil against dictatorship governments in Egypt and Tunisia (although I can't say I'm at all up to date), and the public hailing for political freedom and security and rights to a better life, NK is probably swimming in the back of heads somewhere, a small black smudge of a place, rarely recalled, but never forgotten. Unsurprisingly, it comes 167th out of 167 countries on the Democracy Index.
I'm collecting a copy of 'Nothing To Envy' from my local library tomorrow-go read it too! Also read the excerpt and the bits on Amazon if you haven't already (this book is almost a year old). Something interesting (and on topic): a friend of mine has truly philanthropic parents who foster kids from around the world-she has two North Korean sisters who escaped to China and are now living in the UK. They are also into kpop haha.
In other news, I've been missing Harry Potter lately, and was mindlessly procrastinating through HP portals for a while, and discovered THIS (Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality) = the only wiki-recognised HP fanfic to date (69 chapters!) with 3 translations into other languages and around 11,100 comments on fanfiction.net. Pretty darn impressive. It's a bit heavy going, with lots of psychological/science flourishes, but it is well worth a perusal, if you've got the time. I'm on Chap 2 haha, so a long way to go.
This is a few weeks late, but have you read the tiger mother''s Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior? I'll maybe post some of my opinions later, it's past midnight where I am. I need/want/crave sleep :)
[LJ related] I've created a doppelgänger account: etablir because I am a francophile and this account name is growing old and naff. I'm planning on moving there sometime soonish.
And, last but never least, Happy Lunar New Year! ♥