Christmas in Honeoye

I was worried that we wouldn't have a white Christmas, but the capricious weather of western New York always pulls through.

 

Chistmas Eve dinner: artichokes French, lemon-wine scallops, langoustines, Parmesan roasted cauliflower & broccoli, a spinach salad, and a few glasses of champagne. 

Present opening with the family on Christmas morning!

The standard brunch spread.  My mom has a habit to over-cook, and we were left with a few meals of leftovers (which isn't the worst thing).

// As requested, I didn't receive as many gifts as usual because my parents are financing my interview travels and attire (aka, shopping spree coming up!).  However, they still gave me a lot of useful objects, colorful jewelry, and objects for my hypothetical 'future apartment' (ha!), as well as books!  Now, I admit I have a habit of collecting books through discounted sales and then end up too busy with schoolwork, consequently leaving them unread.  I just reorganized my book shelf and was embarrassed by the amount of books I need to read, and rediscovered my Kindle.  I like the slim portability of the Kindle and the eLibrary is full of free downloads, particularly the classics, but it will never replace the palpable texture and binding of real books.  This is the sentimental pack-rat within me speaking.  Nevertheless, the books pictured here will fuel my food & travel-oriented mind even further: The Great Railway Bazaar and Dark Star Safari by acclaimed fiction, non-fiction, and travel writer Paul Theroux; On the Road by Jack Kerouac, in original manuscript form (which basically equates to the unvarnished, raw version of Kerouac, albeit more difficult to read); and The Gastronomica Reader, which is an interdisciplinary food journal published by the University of California Press.  I don't have the money for a subscription, but this enormous coffee table book of selected articles should be a valuable reference!

// A photo I captured from my friend Ally's home in Bow, New Hampshire last winter was published online here at RoosterGNN, an independent bilingual media agency based in Madrid, Spain.  I mentioned in a previous post that they published a food & travel personal essay on their GapBrave travel blog, and it turns out that I'll be contributing more to them in the future!

// I can't believe the year is almost over.  Here is a throwback to last year's Rubblebucket concert where friends from throughout western NY converged to sing and dance in elation~ I can't wait for tonight!

Listening: A brilliant 17-piece chamber band based out of Austin called Motherfalcon.  Listened to them last year on NPR's Tiny Desk concerts while in China and needing pseudo-live music, and now revisitingtheir sweeping tunes while on NPR's 2013 review.

Scenes from the rural Finger Lakes

Heavy fog and cold winds, but this time of year I'd rather have snow.  It's frustrating how dependent we are on vehicles to be mobile, though between the holiday shopping crowds and visits to the suburbs, I welcome the open fields and quiet roads.  These are shots from my iPhone, but I also took some at the lake with my Olympus camera.

A sole white swan drifting about with the Canadian geese on Honeoye Lake.

Book Review: The Dinner by Herman Koch (2009)

A few weeks ago, I received a bookstore gift card from our school’s study abroad office for winning one of the categories in their travel photo contest.  Rather than purchasing more branded gear, I took my time perusing the shelves for an actual book.  I didn’t quite know what I was looking for; I was all too tempted by cookbooks, travel novelists, and YA fiction… but I figured it was time to graduate to adult novels (what can I say, leisure reading hasn’t come easy to me since I’m always reading peer-reviewed journals or cultural theory texts).  The Dinner, by Danish author Herman Koch (2009) and translated by Sam Garrett (2013), leaped out to me because it’s a fiction novel that has food at the forefront, though obviously has much more to do than the course of one meal.  This is a tenet I explored this past semester in an applied theory course on Food Literature, and we had noted a larger absence of food fiction as a genre, vs. non-fiction memoirs.

The Dinner is told from the perspective of a Danish man named Paul Lohman.  It’s a quick read, as Paul vacillates between each course of the present meal with his wife, brother, and sister-in-law, and flashbacks that define his motivations in the situation.  The finely-constructed meal at the trendy restaurant is juxtaposed by the instability of the family’s relationships and the fact that they met to discuss the violent crimes of their sons. Like any novel, we are at the mercy of the narrator; their tone, their consciousness, what they wish to reveal or hide— and Paul’s family secrets prove to be particularly sinister.  But these secrets are not necessarily inhumane, which I believe is Koch’s way of rupturing the idealism we place on high society, and imagery of so-called “happy” and “normal” families.  Ultimately, we must ask ourselves to what extent do we hold loyalty to those we share blood, and how far would we go for them?  

I honestly was left a bit disturbed, not quite decided on how I felt about the narrator and his family.  If you’re interested in more official reviews, check them out at The Guardian and The NYT.  Next year, Cate Blanchett is directing an on-screen adaptation.

// New found freedom is being dedicated to music exploration, leisure reading, cooking, revisiting my water colors from China, and blogging.  

Listening: Thomas Jack, a Miam/Sydney-based DJ on Soundcloud.

加油!

加油  [jiā yóu] means "Add oil," or an encouraging "Refuel and get after it!"  One of my favorite Chinese phrases.

Despite this, I'm pining for the weekend, either this past or the coming.  There is a certain inevitability as a college student to face the all-nighter, no matter where you're studying.  It happened once or twice to me in France, numerous times at school, and now I'm about to go forth with it here in China.  Now that we're at the sixth(!!) week mark, it's midterms!  Hoo-rah, I have a three part Chinese test to prepare for, as well as three papers to write (one for International Relations, two for Issues in Chinese society).  I certainly could/should have planned this better, but I was having too much fun this weekend exploring Shanghai.  And blogging.  Right now.

Kat and I went to the Shanghai Museum in People's Square, an immense hall with free admission to see four floors of ancient Chinese furniture, ceramics, and calligraphy scrolls.  We had lunch together then moved forward in history to Shanghai's emerging contemporary art scene, the epicenter being Moganshan Road (莫干山路)!  It is a haven for contemporary artists (Chinese and otherwise) to display their work on graffiti'd streets, in quiet and intimate galleries, warehouses transformed into lofts, and off-beat cafes.  It's a stimulating, imaginative area, and hopefully grows in the future.  Contemporary art can be raw, shocking, creepy and confusing, which I like because you have to observe critically.  I'm a fan of the historical reappropriations, like Mao Zedong pop culture paintings.  Out of respect for the artists I didn't take any photos, but I really enjoyed the area because the gallery curators aren't scrutinizing when you come in to browse and appreciate the work, rather than buy.  It's also next to the river, so on an equally beautiful and sunny day, I will be back!  

On Sunday, I didn't try rousing my friends and took off wandering by myself at 9:30.  I had some locations in mind, such as the Confucian Temple 上海文庙 in the Old City/Huangpu District.  If you don't already know, I have a horrendous sense of direction, even if I can use a GPS street navigator.  So of course when I exited the metro, I walked for 20 minutes around the block in the entirely wrong direction.  But since this is Shanghai, walking the wrong way isn't necessarily wrong, because there is life to see everywhere, at anytime!  

 

Then I found the Confucian Temple tucked on a side street.  I was determined to go Sunday because of the weekly book market (how fitting!).  There were mainly male sellers and customers and browsers, and obviously lots of dusty books I may never be able to read, but what another enjoyable way to spend a sunny morning.  

  

 

I bought two Mao-era propaganda posters (lady power-related, the CCP was trying to promote gender equality) and went back and forth haggling for calligraphy scrolls-- looks like the work at the Shanghai museum left an impression on me!  I kept complaining about the condition of some of the paper, that some were too large and others not pretty enough, walking away and coming back-- pretty amusing!  I was pleased with the price I ended up with because I had all these men smirking and guffawing at my attempts to lower the price.  Later, Waipo told me that I really paid too much, but I think that if vendors sense your foreigner-status, you will always end up paying too much.  That would be great, if by the end of the semester, I could receive a price that a native would. 

I really spent too much money here this weekend.  It's deceiving with the exchange rate is in our favor, but aside from the art, I also bought some gear in preparation for my CIEE week-long trip.  I'm leaving Friday morning at 5 AM with 24 students and 3 teachers for the glorious southern province of Yunnan!!  I am absurdly excited, and I will be sure to post briefly before I go.  At this point, it's the light at the end of the tunnel.

Listening: A YouTube playlist of modern Chinese music.  Maybe it'll help me 更好听..?

My Own Moveable Feast

 I have this habit of accumulating a list of books that I want to read, be it British classics (Great Expectations by Charles Dickens), ancient Greek reference (100 Great Characters in Greek Mythology), social awareness (Eaarth by Bill McKibben), or contemporary memoirs (Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nifisi).  I have those along with probably ten other books marinating in my room, begging to be opened.  I'm realizing that I have ADD-esque tendencies, and being on winter break with all this time allows me to go through 2-3 day obsessions before moving on to the next activity.  So far, I've gone from organizing to shopping to watching Netflix to playing Chinese civilization-building games (trying to move past that one..).  That being said, as much as I would like to begin each book sitting on my floor and crammed into the book shelf, I'm forcing myself to finish one at a time.

Du moment, I have Ernest Hemingway's A Moveable Feast.  It's ironic that it's taken me this long to read, since I've been to France and Paris three different times in the last five years!  Before I studied in France last fall, our director recommended this to read during the summer, but long story short our director fell ill, no longer was our director and I never purchased the book.  But now I have it!  It is a post-humously published memoir of Hemingway's life in Paris after World War I in the 1920s with his first wife Hadley, and many other artistic ex-pats like Gertrude Stein, James Joyce, Ezra Pound and F. Scott Fitzgerald.  I like this restored edition of A Moveable Feast because it includes insets of Hemingway's original manuscripts and photos from his life.  His life is economically poor; he woes his lack of success as a story-writer after leaving his stable journalist career, yet he shares Paris through the clarity of insatiable hunger.  The city comes alive through horses galloping down the Velodrome track, fishermen on the Seine, the warmth and jabber of Sylvia Beach in her bookstore Shakespeare and Company, those rare occasions he dines lavishly with his wife, spring's reminder of life, and self-consumed writing on cafe terraces, with either a cafe or demi-blonde beer or fine a l'eau at hand.  It's brilliant, and I only wish that I had read this prior to visiting Paris.  I would have certainly sought his frequent haunts.
While I did consider taking a cafe at Les Deux Magots (outrageously expensive!), for the most part I found a different Paris.  This is my moveable feast to share with you.

Le Dome, one of the cafes to find Hemingway and other ex-pats.  Provided by National Geographic via Google Images.

March 2008



"I've seen you, beauty, and you belong to me now, whoever you are waiting for and if I never see you again, I thought.  You belong to me and all Paris belongs to me and I belong to this notebook and this pencil."


March 2010
My photographic skills and camera improved.  But barely!

Paris and France in general was quite glum during March, yet when the sky cleared...

"When spring came, even the false spring, there were no problems except where to be the happiest.  The only thing that could spoil a day was people and if you could keep form making engagements, each day had no limits.  People were always the limiters of happiness except for the very few that were as good as spring itself." 

October 2011
For my program we stayed for a week.  I had a nicer camera and better idea of how to compose a photo!

"Standing there I wondered how much of what we had felt on the bridge was just hunger.  I asked my wife and she said, "I don't know, Tatie.  There are so many sorts of hunger.  In the spring there are more.  But that's gone now.  Memory is hunger."

 "The blue-backed notebooks, the two pencils and the pencil sharpner (a pocket knife was too wasteful), the marble-topped tables, the smell of cafe cremes, the smell of early morning sweeping out and mopping and luck were all you needed." 

 "But Paris was a very old city and we were young and nothing was simple there, not even poverty, nor sudden money, nor the moonlight, nor right and wrong nor the breathing of someone who lay beside you in the moonlight." 

"But we were not invulnerable and that was the end of the first part of Paris, and Paris was never to be the same again although it was always Paris and you changed as it changed."

This city constantly amazes me.  There's no doubt that I'm going back.
Listening: "I get a kick out of you" by Frank Sinatra

The Perks of Being... On Break

I just devoured Stephen Chbosky's novel, The Perks of Being a Wallflower.
It was published in 1999 but this summer the movie was filmed and should be debuting soon this year!  I have to say I'm thrilled because Logan Lerman and Emma Watson are incredible actors and  being their age seems to make things more relate-able.  The book is an easy read--only 200 pages long--yet the naively contemplative letters from the protagonist Charlie are addictive and emotional.  What can I say, I am a fan of the coming-of-age genre.  Also, Charlie is incredibly awkward but accidentally wise because of his ability to observe, but I'm curious as to if he is perhaps autistic as well?  In my opinion he seems to exude mild characteristics, yet it's true that freshman year of high school tends to be a bizarre experience, socially.

Emma Watson, reading the novel and a blurry self-portrait of Logan Lerman. He had posted these on his twitter! Below is a photo on set; it should be interesting how Emma interprets her character, Sam.  And did I mention that I want to be Emma Watson (see side bar)?  She's an inspiration.

Photos courtesy of cambia.com

I haven't had the chance to enter The Hunger Games craze (blasphemy, I know), so this what I'm looking forward to for now!  I'm going to re-read it too, in order to make sure I didn't miss any of the good details in last night's late 3 hours.

When I came home from France it was pretty exciting because I had 4 Amazon book deliveries.  I already read one, Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen, which was a beautiful story.  Although, I couldn't remove Robert Pattinson's face from my mind as the protagonist, Jacob, because I had watched the movie first on my flight to France at the end of summer.  Nonetheless, I think the movie is a just adaptation of the novel.  In fact, I preferred how the film fused Uncle Al's character into August-- it just made him all the more menacing and complex as the owner of the circus.

It's been a few months so I can't remember well enough to critique any of the actors, but here is Reese Witherspoon who plays Marlena, and Rob Patz as Jacob. I remember reading an article about Rob's relationship with the elephant, how fascinated and practically enamored he was with her personality and abilities.

 

In other news... I don't think I have any!  Whoo, it's 2012! 2011 was quite the year for me and I hope this positive trend continues.  I spent a low-key evening with a few friends making fools of ourselves with Just Dance 3 and now I'm trying to make my break a bit more productive.  I'm studying up on Spanish (but I need to be more pro-active), reading and writing regularly, working on a knitting scarf-project and painting again!  And of course, blog posting.

So, my friends, I leave you with this lovely song/video and wish you the healthiest of brightest of New Years.

... Because it's supposed to end December 21st, right?