Don’t Burn The Day

SUPER quick read of Junot Diaz’ debut work, Drown. I read this in a day. (Thanks to long ass end-of-semester meetings, conducted all in Mandarin, where I sit with tunes flowing thru my intact earbuds and a book in hand.)

About:

With ten stories that move from the barrios of the Dominican Republic to the struggling urban communities of New Jersey, Junot Diaz makes his remarkable debut. In “Ysrael”, two brothers hunt a disfigured boy who hides behind a mask; in “No Face”, the mirror is flipped and perspective belongs to the tormented. In “Fiesta, 1980″, a spirited family gathering plays against the noiseless hum of a father’s infidelities. In “Boyfriend”, a young man eavesdrops on the woman next door and colors in the life overheard with the drama born of intense longing. And always, it seems there is the throb of waiting: in “Aguantando”, for the fulfillment of a promise; in “Negocios”, for rescue; in “Aurora”, for respite; in “Drown”, for resolution.

My Tops:

1. - Negocios
2. - How to Date a Brown Girl, Black Girl, White Girl or Halfie
3. - Fiesta, 1980
4. - No Face
5. - Drown

PS. This book left me hungry for some platanos, empanadas, tamales and ummmm a cuban sandwich!!

. . don’t burn the day. .

A fantastically written book by Pulizer Prize winner, Junot Diaz. His colloquial ala “yo, so check it” writing style as if you were hanging at an outdoor cafe for story hour with Mr. Diaz, pulls you in immediately and opens your ears to a tale of:  The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. I love Diaz’s writing!

About:

Things have never been easy for Oscar, a sweet but disastrously overweight, lovesick Dominican ghetto nerd. From his home in New Jersey, where he lives with his old-world mother and rebellious sister, Oscar dreams of becoming the Dominican J. R. R. Tolkien and, most of all, of finding love. But he may never get what he wants, thanks to the Fuku — the curse that has haunted the Oscar’s family for generations, dooming them to prison, torture, tragic accidents, and, above all, ill-starred love. Oscar, still waiting for his first kiss, is just its most recent victim….

Pick it up! Pick it up! Pick it up!

I also got a hold of Diaz’s first book, Drown – a collection of stories.  Stay tuned to hear what I have to say about this one!

. . don’t burn the day. .

Yeah, I wasn’t all so super-enthused to read a book, entitled “Disgrace” either… but I gave it a go.. in spirits to not disappoint our two-person book club. Plus, Nate had said it’d be a quick read, and that it was….

About:

Set in post-apartheid South Africa, J. M. Coetzee’s searing novel tells the story of David Lurie, a twice divorced, 52-year-old professor of communications and Romantic Poetry at Cape Technical University. Lurie believes he has created a comfortable, if somewhat passionless, life for himself. He lives within his financial and emotional means. Though his position at the university has been reduced, he teaches his classes dutifully; and while age has diminished his attractiveness, weekly visits to a prostitute satisfy his sexual needs. He considers himself happy. But when Lurie seduces one of his students, he sets in motion a chain of events that will shatter his complacency and leave him utterly disgraced….

Overall:

If you haven’t guessed it already, this book isn’t the most uplifting of all… but I’ve always had genuine curiosity and interest towards SA. In this novel, Coetzee probes the brutal complexities of his native, South Africa, vis a vis a man, who you may not at first show affection towards, but eventually, forced to pity. Through great characterization and variant categories of “love,” Disgrace offers on-the-ground insight into social and political relations in the rich, yet severely troubled South Africa. We give it an “aight.” Pick it up only if you’ve got the time…

. . don’t burn the day. .

Sooo apparently, many schools in US required this for reading… but not so much in my school system back in the day. (We stuck with the Catcher in the Rye, A Separate Peace, Lord of the Flies, To Kill A Mockingbird, Fahrenheit 451 etc.)

Anyhoots, upon recommendation from friend, Brittany (expat from VA) along with some random dude at the bookstore this last Sunday, The Giver was a must-read.

About:
Jonas’s world is perfect. Everything is under control. There is no war or fear or pain. There are no choices. Every person is assigned a role in the Community. When Jonas turns 12, he is singled out to receive special training from The Giver. The Giver alone holds the memories of the true pain and pleasure of life. Now it’s time for Jonas to receive the truth. There is no turning back.

Once he had yearned for choice. Then, when he had had a choice, he had made the wrong one: the choice to leave. An now he was starving… But if he had stayed… His thoughts continued. If he had stayed, he would have starved in other ways. He would have lived a life hungry for feelings, for color, for love. – The Giver

Overall:
Super speedy, quick read examining emptiness/ignorance found in an conformed society vs the value of true passion and pain in a “real” world. Great read for thinkers, dreamers, rebels and reformers at heart.. ahem, so obviously I enjoyed this book very much so! I can most certainly relate!

. . don’t burn the day. .

Book III: Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson & David Oliver Relin

About:
In 1993 a mountaineer named Greg Mortenson drifted into an impoverished Pakistan village in the Karakoram mountains after a failed attempt to climb K2. Move by the inabitants’ kindness, he promised to return and build a school….. Over the next decade, Mortenson built not just one but fifty-five schools — especially for girls — in the forbidding terrain that gave birth to the Taliban.

Overall, a dense book filled with details of place names etc., yet, adventurous in capturing the trials and tribulations of Mortenson’s mission to promote peace, one school at a time. I skimmed for the most part when it came to super details of names/places etc, as since all that becomes mumbled jumbled in my head… but a poignant excerpt that stuck out to me:

Mortenson took a breach. He felt an ember of the anger he’d carried all the way from Kabul flare. “I don’t do what I’m doing to fight terror,” Moretenson said, measuring his words, trying not to get himself kicked out of the Capitol. “I do it because I care about the kids. Fighting terrors is maybe seventh or eighth on my list of priorities. But working over there, I’ve learned a few things. I’ve learned that terror doesn’t happen because some group of people somewhere like Pakistan or Afghanistan simply decide to hate us. It happens because children aren’t being offered a bright enough future that they have a reason to choose life over death….. If we try to resolve terrorism with military might and nothing else… then we will be no safer than we were before 9/11. If we truly want a legacy of peace for our children, we need to understand that this is a war that will ultimately be won with books, not with bombs.”

Ya know, as much frustration there is when it comes to teaching… and especially in a foreign land, where cultures can at times, collide, I can honestly say… that, as is, in the start of my 2nd year of teaching, it truly is one of the most rewarding thing I’ve done all my life….(Sure, we can also check off, getting folks tipsy via drink tickets and bottles + arousing music sensors in crowds, but teaching is a different kind of reward.)

I had mentioned in a previous rant of a post that I had missed my former students and had been itching to make a surprise visit to check on my lil’ babies. But before I get into all of that, I’d like to say: for the record, all is getting a bit more dandier in the new school. No rocky boats since I last posted…. and the kids (and parents) have finally gotten into gear that I’m a teacher not to be messed with when it comes to providing a meaningful education to these brats, oops, I mean students….And you guessed it, my fantabulous school-wide presentation of the Ninja Turtles’ Introduction to Italy surely made the Director + school-wide staff + special professor guests from the University of Taiwan in attendance, RECOGNIZE that I’m not a force to be reckoned with…. + the awesomeness of me! HA!

Anyhoots, so last week, I decided to take my 1 day off from work…and travel 1 hour back to my former school to see my mini-me’s from last year. I was first bombarded by colleagues asking/encouraging me to return as since “my replacement” has been causing a lot of parental disturbance. But that’s a wholllllllllle other story. Basically, the “new teacher” isn’t so great and COUNTLESS issues have arose… thus, making me feel quite sad; I feel as if I have “abondoned” my lil cherubs. What hit home the most when when the students-themselves, came up to me and told me their own reasons for why they want me back instead of having their current teacher. I got the “the new teacher is nice but…….. we like you to teach us! The new teacher doesn’t ____________yada yada” Among the many complaints, the new teacher is slamming the kids with 25 spelling words on a Friday for a test on Monday…and they gotta look up and define each word from dictionary…and apparently the new teacher isn’t correcting the hefty assignments that she is giving out etc etc. It makes me sad… because these kids are REALLY, TRULY, ABSOLUTELY lil baby geniuses. They’ve learned more than the average 1st grader in USA last year. I’ve been receiving phone calls and emails from these former student parents in search of advice etc from me…and it, in some ways, makes me feel guilty a tad. I can only hope that these kids will not turn and feel overwhelmed, discouraged and disenchanted with their English studies. Le sigh.

Nevertheless, it felt GREAT to be with them again. The wides eyes and smiles as their heads turned when I silently and surprisingly walked into the classroom = PRICELESS!! One by one, I heard “Ms. Mimi!” Soon, they ran to give me hearty hugs and grafitti’ed their chalkboard with all sorts of loving messages:

Then, just the other night, a former’s student’s parents invited me out to dinner as a belated thank you… lovely family…and such a cutie of a son! He lost his two front teeth…but was still adorable as ever! He ordered a watermelon juice, “to be like Ms. Mimi.” This kid knew NO English at the start of the year last year. I ended up providing extra tutoring hours to him for the first semester…and just the other night, the kid was carrying on a conversation with me.. and actually, really “confiding” in me on things happening with his studies, new teacher etc. “When new teacher talks, I don’t understand. But, when Ms. Mimi talks, I can understand.” – verbatim from a Japanese/Chinese mix boy. Such a cutie!

Tea is good. Three cups, even better.

. . don’t burn the day. .

Book II: Brooklyn Follies by Paul Auster

Ummm about 3-3.5 weeks ago, I had met up for a fantastic “American-style” brunch deal at Element Fresh (Ritz Carlton/Portman location) with my fellow NY friend, Josh – who opted to be a “gentleman” and scooped me up from the metro stop with his red scooter-bike (that he purchased 2nd hand, off of our beloved NYC ABC Kim, who returned to the States earlier this July); we were zooming/weaving in/out of the fabulous Jing’an district, beeping our way through local traffic, drawing all attention (as 2 foreigners aka “lao wai” should be); I REALLY wish I had my camera for video, but ya’ll will just have imagine the hilarity, particularly brought forth by the reactions of the locals. Anyhoots, after a lil pep talk to brighten up the spirits of my then-slightly homesickened friend, we decided to bookstore-hop. (At that time, I was looking for guides on Taiwan for my then upcoming trip… after 3 different bookstores… I found nada! Hmphed! Go figure… PRC has no books on tourism in TW. Hmphed again!)

Onwards, while in “the” foreign bookstore, I got a text from Nate, checking to meet up for dinner and asking me to “pick up a book… a happy book… make it good… surprise” him. Errrrrr, of course, my stress level upped a tad. I had NO idea what to snatch up… esp at a foreign bookstore in a foreign land! Nevertheless, I scrambled and figured, I’d just pick up a book that I, myself would enjoy. HA! (I mean, if I was gonna pick up something, I might as well make it a worthwhile purchase, right? … Right!)

So, I perused and stumbled upon the title, Brooklyn Follies. I thought: Alright, alright, alright. I know Nate had also been feeling a bit on the homesick side and with a title like “Brooklyn” and “Follies” – gotta have some chuckles right? Turns out to be a “National Bestseller” and intriguing, light hearted, with happy lessons to be learned- all according to the write-up on the back cover. I showed it to Josh, but he turned to be of no help as since he was occupied with trying to find his own “Chinese Idioms” book. I went forth anyway, to the counter and made the payment.

Shortly thereafter, Josh and I parted and I met up with Nate for our western pasta fix at Wagas. I presented the book and he let out an “Ahhhh a Paul Auster book! This is good! I’m proud of you. Good choice.” Har har har, sarcasm will always follow me no matter where I go, eh. But yes, it was more than a good choice… turns out Nate’s father has a crazy, coincidentally fanatic story that involves the author himself, but I won’t get into that. Either way, I was quite relieved. I had made a good choice; though irregardless, I was interested in the read whether or not Nate had taken a liking or not. But I didn’t have to worry about the latter, as since he was quite enthused to read his first book from his father’s favorite author. (Ironically, lead character’s name is Nathan as well.)

Now………….A couple weeks ago, I presented ya’ll with our 2-person book club premiere (ha!): Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close.

I now present ya’ll with our 2nd: Brooklyn Follies.

Nate and I both agree that Auster could’ve done a better job at grabbing the immediate attention of the reader, … since it was quite a slow start for both of us. I’ll even admit, I had almost wanted to just drop the book, but I kept in good faith that at some point, its pace would start to pick up and that all the warm-up gibberish would amass to something more interesting…. and….. when it eventually did, the stories unraveled as its lead character in his late 50s, Nathan Glass made discoveries of his own self (worth), in spite of his self-loathing, depressed, divorced, ex-insurance salesman-state in which the novel opens up with:

“I was looking for a quiet place to die. Someone recommended Brooklyn, and so the next morning I traveled down there from Westchester to scope out the terrain. I hadn’t been back in fifty-six years, and I remembered nothing. My parents moved out of the city when I was three, but I instinctively found myself returning to the neighborhood where we had lived, crawling home like some wounded dog to the place of my birth…..”

My summation: With life seemingly worn and in the pits (divorced, lonely, recovering from lung cancer etc.), Nathan Glass commits himself to a place to spend his final years (“die” as he calls it) and decides to write a book of “Human Folly” to take up the time, thereby recounting tales of all “follies” he had encountered throughout his life – whether him or by those around him. Ironically, as he recounts, Glass realizes peepholes for self-redemption; consequently, instead of dying, Glass brings to life a cast of buoyant Brooklynites whose chance-encounters color up this novel of human folly, flipping it all for a wise narrative filled with pity, laughter, consideration and plentiful suspense! …. In the end of it all, Auster does a fantastic job of pulling it all together, making the shabby start all the worthwhile!

. . don’t burn the day. .

Sooooo I’ve for surely taken full advantage of my newfound recreational time: gym, occasional ultimate frisbee, weekly new restaurant discoveries with my SH Fam, Sunday Brunch deal finds, the arts, movies, live music (I really wanna build on this, this year: I saw a pretty cool Swiss/Chinese Mash Jazz band the other night, called Sonic Calligraphy: Thumbs Up esp since they performed one of my faves, “Summertime” by George Gershwin…. ) and …… reading!

Nate the Roomie (avid reader) and I have agreed upon a 2-person book club! …and it’s the coolest, most freshest 2-person book club ever!! (ha!)

Book One = EXTREMELY LOUD & INCREDIBLY CLOSE by Jonathan Safran Foer

Nate had first read this and suggested the book to me, despite admitting to how depressing and sad the story is. Yeah, go figure. But the premise of the story intrigued me enough:

Nine-year old, Oskar has a wonderful relationship with his father; one of their favorite games was a sort’ve scavenger/treasure hunt where the father would leave clues around for Oskar to detect and eventually unfold it’s mysterious treasure. One day, the father reveals a new kind of scavenger hunt in which he leaves no clues, though “no” clues could still be a clue; this of course, leaves little Oskar bewildered not knowing if anything was a clue or not.. and only receiving a shoulder shrug + smile combo from his father whenever he questioned if a certain something was a clue or not. Then…………. his father passed in the 9/11 WTC Attack, leaving Oskar devastated and also relentless in uncovering what this last treasure could be. One evening, Oskar finds a beautifully shaped blue vase on top of father’s closet in father’s room. Inside its vase is a plain envelope with the word, “BLACK” written on its outside, and an odd-looking key inside. Oskar racks his brain and decides that this key could belong to someone by the last name of “Black,” thereby, uncovering its treasure. He then, takes out a NYC phone book and starts to track down each and every “Black” in the NYC area from A to Z…….. knocking on each person’s door…….. and ………. the story unfolds magnificently ….. where you’re guaranteed to find it hard to put the book down! (I did!)

.. Letter Writing
.. I Love You’s

. . don’t burn the day. .