"Increasingly of late, and particularly when I drink, I find my thoughts drawn into the past rather than impelled into the future. I recall drinking sherry in California and dreaming of my earlier student days in England, where I ate dalmoth and dreamed of Delhi. What is the purpose, I wonder, of all this restlessness? I sometimes seem to myself to wander around the world merely accumulating material for future nostalgias." ~Vikram Seth, From Heaven Lake: Travels Through Sinkiang and Tibet

Sonya Larson wrote a funny short entry on Grub Street's blog entitled Toilets and Literature, on why short stories aren't more popular in America despite our ever-shrinking attention spans.

Since visiting other uncultured toilets, with many sighs of disappointment, I’ve wondered why not every household toilet has a Best American Short Stories propped up on the tank. Why don’t people read stories on the subway, or in line at the bank, instead of the novel they complain to have been reading since 1998? In short, why aren’t short stories more popular?

Indeed, it does seem that we prefer our other literature to be shorter and shorter. A recent Slate article estimates that the average Washington Post story is 25% shorter today than 30 years ago. Many glossy magazines nowadays are so photo-centric that words themselves are merely decorative (ironic, no?) An editor at a magazine where I had interned said articles slated for a feature can become shortened to a well article if the photos aren't good enough, and a mediocre tiny blurb can become bigger features if the photos are amazing.

A beautiful day on the lake...

...or .01% of the lake.

America: a country with some of the planet's best outdoor spots, and the planet's most worried and litigious people.

Over the weekend Vickie, Andrew, Jacob, and I went hiking in the Shawnangunks (aka the Gunks) near New Paltz. Near the trailhead was a large, beautiful lake ripe for swimming. Sure enough, there was a crowded "beach", complete with changing rooms, lifeguards, and sunbathers in beach chairs. The problem? The area allowed for swimming was about the side of my living room. The worst part? Nobody else swimming or sunbathing seemed to care, or even notice, that they were roped off from nature.

Luckily, about 5 miles into our hike, we found a pristine and virtually empty beach with a much larger swimming area. The water also looked clean enough to drink. The best part: with no kids around, the urine content was probably zilch.

Franz Kafka
Tom Stoppard
Dave Barry
M.F.K. Fisher

Here's to many more years of writing and blogging. :)

Along with tube-shaped pasta and thick udon noodles, dumplings are the food that I crave most often. (What can I say? I'm a carb addict.) So I was happy to find Gridskipper's dumpling map of NYC, though it only has 5 places listed. I would add Yeah Shanghai Deluxe (65 Bayard St., btwn Mott & Elizabeth) to the list: the most daydream-worthy soup dumplings this side of the Pacific.

If only big-budget American movies can be this good.

Last night we went to a screening of The Banquet, which opened the New York Asian Film Festival. Billed as the Chinese Hamlet, it stars Zhang Ziyi as the younger, ass-kicking version of Gertrude and Daniel Wu as the crowned prince. The story is set in 907 A.D, complete with period costumes, swords, and martial arts choreography by Yuen Wo-ping, who also worked on Crouching Tiger and Kill Bill. As is expected, much blood is shed in an artsy way.

I haven't read Hamlet since 12th-grade English, and have pretty much forgotten the storyline other than it has something to do with revenge and poison. But there's really no need to read the Clif notes before seeing the film. There are enough ingenius cuts and balletic slow-mo violence to appeal to both action-lovers and aesthetes. The climax, taking place at a lavish banquet, appropriately enough, goes from one heart-stopping surprise to the next without missing a beat. Remembering how Shakespeare's story actually went would probably have made the movie less exciting.

Or poems about wanting to travel. Way back in 2004 (doesn't that seem so long ago?) I had just started seriously writing and submitted a few poems to InkPot, a now-defunct literary magazine. To my surprise, one of them actually got published and became my first piece of published writing outside of zines and the college paper. It was a very small lit journal, and I got paid in copies. But the thrill of seeing my name in print that fall was enough to keep me writing, even through the many hair-pulling nights of writer's block that came after.

Between my day job and freelance writing nowadays I don't have much time or mental energy for poetry anymore, sadly. (Maybe someday.) In any case, since InkPot doesn't have my poem in its archives, I'm including it here as a tribute to all first publishings. However small the step, it's always a step forward.

Storyboard for the First Scene

Writers like coffee. Writers also like extended periods of internet connectivity to go with their coffee.

As someone who has spent a lot of time working on the go, I've compiled a list of cafés around New York with not only free WiFi but also a nice atmosphere conducive to getting lots 'o work done. (Which means, Dunkin' Donuts on 2nd Ave., you're out. You had spotty WiFi anyway.)

88 Orchard
88 Orchard (at Broome), Lower East Side, 212-228-8880

Bowery Poetry Club
308 Bowery (bwtn E. 1st & 2nd Sts.), East Village, 212-614-0505

Columbus Cafe
556 Columbus Ave. (at 87th St.), Upper West Side, 212-721-9040

Downtown Uptown Cafe Lounge
1626 Second Avenue (btwn 84th & 85th Sts.), Upper East Side, 212-327-1327

Earth Matters
177 Ludlow St. (bwtn E. Houston and Stanton Sts.), Lower East Side, 212-475-4180

Gizzi's Coffee
16 W 8th St, West Village (bwtn MacDougal St. & 5th Ave.), West Village, 212-260-9700

Lalita Java Espresso Bar and Coffee Lounge
210 East Third St. (at Ave. B), 212-228-8448

20088, a band out of Tianjin, China, can aptly be called precocious. Before the age of 7, all four members have already had live TV performances and interviews. They've also hobnobbed with Chinese celebrities.

Check out one of their live performances on YouTube, or visit their website for more pictures of the kiddie-rockers in action.