Cut and Pastiche

I am definitely not posting with the frequency that I would prefer. I wonder if my lack of writing contributes to a sense of feeling overwhelmed with thoughts that I want to communicate; I also wonder if the converse is not true in that the vast number of topics I want to discuss and stories I want to relay make it impossible to focus my writing.



I would like to address an odd tug-of-war within the culture of my Chinese peers: a pull to individualism and uniqueness with a simultaneous anchoring in cultural and societal homogeneity. The Shenzhen mainstay of construction impresses and confuses me. This city is developing so consistently and rapidly with a variety of architecture that conflicts aesthetically--except for the parallelism of the metal bars on all the high-rise windows. What is behind the pull to be different, anyway? Why do people want to be unique?

But writer's block and exhaustion restrict further development.



I would like to recount a trip to Macau, but the passing of time and, again, exhaustion inhibit story-telling.

And I would definitely like to repaint the humorous Toaster-Oven Thanksgiving--including descriptions of the Frankenpie monster I created and details of improvised celebrations with taped-up American footballs--but I am too distracted to write anything but a diary entry.

2:10-2:37 is my favorite part of this video:



Even my half-inebriated experience of learning Mah Jong elicits only this passing mention. Maybe I will use the wishbone I smuggled from the Thanksgiving table to wish for creativity.

For now, I have this fluff post. I hope the videos included will in some way make-up for my lack of originality.



Books, Music, Movies, T.V.: I am about to finish a book lent to me that addresses how mythology plays into modern society. I should be starting "The Art of War" sometime between now and my winter break. I continue to reread "Leaves of Grass." "Come and Get It" by Eli Paperboy Reed, "Little L" by Jamiroquai, "Monster" by Kanye and Company, "I Need a Dollar" by Aloe Blacc, Mama Africa by Miriam Makeba. I just finished a great season four of Mad Men--I'll be taking a break from television series for a while to catch-up on reading and movies.